Nove 8-11: Tel Aviv, Israel
You were invited to teach a class in Tel Aviv and neither of us had ever been, so we decided to make a weekend out of it!
My main takeaway from Israel is that it might have my favorite food. Like for real. We got in on Friday night and wandered over to North Abraxas to see if they could get us in - they could, but not until 9:45 so we went and got a drink and a snack at a bar down the road. When we arrived back at the restaurant, there was still no spot for us, but they brought us wine outside while we waited. Finally a spot opened up at the bar and we were in! The food was worth the wait - whole roasted cauliflower with sea salt and tahini for dipping, lamb shawarma, chocolate pudding that they literally squished on the paper in front of us. It was all amazing. Plus, it turns out Israel makes some nice wine. Who knew?!
Saturday we headed out for the beach (we were staying downtown). We stopped into a cute coffee shop and had a bit of breakfast on our way. And then in to a bar for a glass of bubbly. It was hot, we needed refreshment. Then on to the beach where we rented an umbrella and chairs and relaxed. The water was colder than expected, but wading in was refreshing. That night we had yet another amazing meal. This time at Shila - all seafood and some of the best tasting fish I’ve ever had. And more Israeli wine, of course. Then on to Imperial cocktail bar, which was kind of a hilarious hole in the wall, but one with really interesting drinks.
Sunday we decided that, since we’re here, we should see Jerusalem. We hopped on the bus and headed that way! We walked to the old city from the bus station and stopped in the Mahane Yehuda Market for some lunch at Azura (which was delicious!). Once we made it to the old city, we went up on the ramparts to walk around. We were up above the Muslim Quarter during a call to prayer and it was really beautiful. The stone that so much of that city is built out of glows in the sunshine. For some reason part of the ramparts walk was closed, so we had to exit earlier than we had planned, but we walked over towards the Western Wall which, as various soldiers told us, was closed. It turns out it wasn’t though - just the area behind it was due to some construction. It was very impressive to see, but also very crowded so we soon hiked out of the crowds and headed back up towards the bus station. We returned to the market where we had earlier spotted a beer bar. We stopped in for a tasting and then headed back to Tel Aviv.
