Day 1 – Tel Aviv – November 6
After a long flight (4.2 hours), we touched down in the pitch dark of Tel Aviv. Immigration was a total nightmare and we spent over 45 minutes just standing in line at passport control. There were several kiosk stations but no real line demarcation, so it was a large blob of people pushing around. Eventually we made it through and received our visa cards. Because Israel isn’t recognized by some countries, they don’t stamp your passport, otherwise many Middle Eastern countries won’t let you in. Instead they give you a slip of paper with your information and picture.
We collected our bags and began the confusing process of buying public transport tickets and finding the train. We are normally pretty good at this sort of thing, but we struggled tonight. Maybe it’s because everything is in Hebrew script, and we’re used to Latin letters. Luckily, we made it on the train into the city just as it was pulling up, then transferred to a bus to take us to our discount hotel right near the beach. The hotel wasn’t very nice and still kind of expensive, but it’s right in the heart of Tel Aviv. We were pretty hungry so we walked a few blocks to a local joint for a pita and falafel. Really cheap and really good. The town was alive with young adults, bar hopping and eating dinner. We took our food to go and walked back to the beach. The beach was also bustling with all ages of people, from teens to the elderly, walking dogs, jogging, and showing off bike and skateboard tricks. We walked up and down the boardwalk happy to be back in 70-degree weather and wearing shorts again. Tired from our flight and a little thrown off by the time change, we fell asleep quickly.
Day 2 – Tel Aviv – November 7
The sun disturbed us bright and early at 6 am. After ignoring it for several hours, we finally got dressed and headed to the boardwalk to get in a little exercise and enjoy the wonderful weather. The boardwalk was abuzz with people exercising and using the various outdoor work out equipment. If we didn’t know better, we’d think we were in California’s Venice Beach. We walked past several sand volleyball courts where an international men’s and women’s competition was taking place. A few hours later we actually saw two players leaving our hotel, so maybe that’s contributing to why lodging is so expensive. We hung out in the shade watching bits of the game then jogged up the boardwalk to the dog beach. The strip of beach is huge and full of different bars, restaurants, playgrounds etc. we had no idea Israel would be like this!
After a brief jog, since Europe made us fat and out of shape, we tried using some of the exercise equipment. The men here are jacked and the women slim, beautiful and bronze. After feeling inadequate, we walked back to the sand volleyball area where a woman in a tourist information booth told us the USA men’s team was playing. We watched for a while, until we realized it was actually the Polish team. We went back to our hotel to shower and changed.
Hungry we headed towards the Carmel Market to get lunch. This area has a big Shuk, or market place, with canopies overhead connecting rooftops that made it feel like the markets you see in Aladdin. It felt very similar to Morocco but the people were less aggressive. We passed a bunch of delicious desert shops that had what looked like several baklava varieties.
We stopped for lunch at a restaurant called Shmuel. It was down an alley from the main shopping stretch and packed with people. Our waitress was very friendly and spoke English. We got two pitas, one with shawarma and one with Shmuel (a mix of chicken liver and ground lamb kebap patties). They may have been one of the most amazing things we’ve tasted. The meat was so juicy and it soaked into the bread, and the vegetables and sauces were so delicious. We washed it down with a cool beer and enjoyed sitting in the alley and people watching.
After we stopped in one of the dessert stations and grabbed a few treats. Each one tasted like a different ratio of bread, honey and pistachio- each tasting slightly different but hard to distinguish. We are so excited to keep eating here! After a little more wandering and walking through a park we made it back to the hotel.
Israel is on the far eastern edge of its time zone and should actually be in a different time zone if you look at its geography. This whole area of Cypress, Syria, and Israel all decided it wanted to be with the eastern European countries. The downside is the sun sets at 4:45 pm. We walked to the beach to watch it set over the ocean then spent the night lounging and catching up on planning.
Day 3 – Tel Aviv – November 8
Elizabeth’s field camp roommate, Britney, lives in Tel Aviv with her boyfriend Itay. She is from California but moved here five years ago after getting a job in wastewater treatment and desalinization. She was able to get her Israeli citizenship since both her parents are Jewish. Interesting tidbit, Israel is a Jewish State and has their weekend on Friday and Saturday, as the Sabbath is celebrated Friday night. Everyday is a Saturday for us though, so it didn’t really take any getting used to. Britney met us at our hotel at 9 am and we rode the bus towards Yafo. Yafo is an Arabic town that merged with Tel Aviv some years ago and the official name is now Tel Aviv-Yafo. They curated this awesome park and green space that stretches down the beach and attaches the two cities. Yafo is older and has more Arabic architecture so it reminded us of Morocco.
We went to a restaurant called Café Pua right in Mahane Yehuda Market, or as the locals call it The Shuk. The Shuk here is like a giant antique market and Britney said they furnished their whole apartment finding gems here. The restaurant is fully furnished from the markets too and everything inside is mismatched and for sale. We ate so much food, and were given free tap water! Holy Land indeed. Elizabeth got the shakshuka which is a dish of eggs poached in a tomato sauce and Ryan got a dish with fried eggplant and a pita/naan-like bread. They also had a variety of sauces and spreads to put on the bread. It was all very, very tasty.
After a very filling lunch, we walked all around The Shuk and along the sea. We found an old catholic church called Saint Peters and popped inside while they were holding a Russian mass. There are three official languages in Israel: Hebrew, Arabic and Russian. English isn’t an official language, but a lot of people speak it. Next, we hopped on a bus back north to Britney’s neighborhood.
It was strange to think of a Friday afternoon like a Saturday afternoon but people started coming out to grab beers and enjoy the nice weather. Britney was so excited we came when we did, because we are lucky to be experiencing unseasonably warm weather. Less tourists on the beach! Since the country is under religious rule the buses stop running at 3 pm on Fridays for the Sabbath and resume Saturday evening. Any establishment that is open on the Sabbath has to pay a fee, so it’s a bit harder to find dinner restaurants open and everyone makes a reservation, evidently well in advance. We were a little late to the game and had reservations at 5:15, but we were excited for an early dinner. We found a bar and enjoyed a few Gold Stars – Israeli beer. Britney taught us a lot about the Israeli political system and all the issues their country is facing. She also talked about Iron Dome, the anti-missile protection they have to intercept things coming over the border. She told us that the alarms sound whenever a missile is shot but they are always intercepted and missile debris falls to the ground, generally harmlessly, but not always. It’s fairly uncommon for the missiles to make it all the way to Tel Aviv.
We separated from Britney for a couple hours to lounge and get dressed for dinner, then she and Itay picked us up and we headed to dinner at Magazzino, their favorite Italian restaurant. They are both Jewish ethnically, but not practicing, so we enjoyed bacon pizza and salad for our appetizer. Next, we shared calamari and mushrooms on polenta, then finished with a couple pastas, ragu and carbonara. We had a long, tasty dinner, which they capped with shots on the house. Apparently, it’s quite common here, and the waitress typically takes a shot with you. Ryan tried their classic Israeli liquor, Arak, which smelled like black liquorish and tasted like poison. For dessert we had what is fondly referred to as crack pie, and if that’s what crack tastes like, sign us up.
After dinner, we dropped the car off at their apartment and met their crazy dog Loki, a French bulldog. We grabbed some beach equipment, some wine and the dog then walked towards the beach to hang out and let the dog go wild. After we found a stretch of basically deserted beach where we could lounge and enjoy our wine, Britney and Itay let us know again how lucky we were; usually this beach would be packed with tourists in this weather. We spent the next few hours learning more about Israeli culture; Itay just finished his mandatory army service and was telling us all about his postings on the various borders of Israel. Around midnight, we called it and we took a Lime scooter down the boardwalk back to our hotel, two people on a Lime with their bellies full of wine is surprisingly tough to handle.
Day 4 – Tel Aviv – November 9
Itay and Britney picked us up around 11 to take us to the best hummus in town at Abu Hassan. It was back down in the old town, so the boys parked the car and the girls stood outside waiting for a table. We didn’t wait long; it’s very fast paced: you’re seated and have food within seconds. Then it’s an eat and get out situation. Much unlike most of the places we’d been in the past few months, no time was wasted. Itay said he’s been coming here his whole life. We got 3 cold hummus, one hot, and one Arabic cheese. The pita bread was endless and oh-so-soft. We added a salad and lemon oil and the dense food quickly filled it. We washed it down with potentially the greatest lemonade of Elizabeth’s life.
Itay had homework to finish, so he dropped us off at a giant park where we had the intention rock climbing at their big outdoor wall. A substantial portion of Tel Aviv’s population live in apartments or small homes without yards, so on the weekends all the families are out playing in the parks or the outdoors. Thus, the rock wall was slammed. Not wanting to fall on a child or fight to get to a route, we hopped on some scooters and road along the river back to the ocean. We went back to the same beach we’d gone to the night before, but it looked much different in the daylight and was packed with scores of people swimming, sun bathing, and playing a paddle ball game (an Israeli pastime).
We lounged for a few hours, chatting and cooling down in the Mediterranean. We were next to a beach with tall walls, where religious Jewish women can enjoy the beach away from men. Looking around at everyone on the beach, we decided that Israel has the most beautiful and fit people we’ve seen on our travels thus far. Eventually, it was time to shower off and find a drink at one of the many overpriced beach bars. The views and ambiance were worth it and we shared French fries and enjoyed the sunset.
After saying good-bye to Britney and teasing her about having to go to work, we walked back towards our hotel along the beach. Tel Aviv has been such a surprisingly awesome modern city. Britney tells us things will be different outside the Tel Aviv bubble. We needed a little more food so we stopped by a restaurant called Red Meat and shared a beef patty sandwich with mustard, guacamole, lettuce, tomato, and at least 5 other sauces. It was awesome.
Day 5 – Ein Gedi and the Dead Sea – November 10
The next morning, we grabbed some yogurt and snacks from the grocery store then headed off to the car dealership for what we thought would be a breezy pick up. Israel doesn’t really believe in lines or efficiency. We waited in line for about an hour to pick up our car reservation before they slapped some extra fees on as “it’s the law.” It was pretty frustrating, since we only wanted the car for one day to see a nature reserve called Ein Gedi and visit the Dead Sea. After an eternity, we were off and battling the brutal traffic. For being such a young country with relatively new infrastructure, we aren’t quite sure who designed these narrow and windy roads.
We were on the main Highway 1 and passed by Jerusalem and a lot of desert. For being called the fertile crescent, at times it doesn’t look too fertile. We left Israel, kind of, to enter the West Bank. This area is still Israeli controlled, but part of the conflict with the Palestinians. Don’t worry we were assured it was safe for travel and the border control waved us through. We drove along the Dead Sea for about 30 minutes passing a lot of palm tree farms and we could see the rings from the water of the Dead Sea receding over the years. Towards the southern edge we crossed back into official Israeli territory and arrived at the Ein Gedi Nature Reserve.
Since we got off to a late start, due to our rental car slowdown, the ticket woman said we’d need to hustle to make the hour-long hike to the cave. We took off walking like maniacs and passed several small waterfalls collectively called David’s Waterfall. Next it was slick limestone stair after slick limestone stair and we had to use a few metal railings to pull ourselves up as we climbed along the cliff and up towards the cave. The views of the surroundings and the Dead Sea were breathtaking. We slowed down halfway when we realized we were way ahead of schedule and out of shape (we’d only been walking for 15 minutes). The path took us deep into the river oasis, through a thicket of reeds that had formed a tunnel. We climbed up and down and over a few streams before descending a makeshift ladder into the cave. The whole hike was gorgeous and we got to see what Elizabeth had pictured Israel to look like.
Next, we drove back towards the northern end of the Dead Sea to Kalia Beach. We gladly paid the entrance fees then made the hike down to the water’s edge. Since the only water source to this ancient cutoff ocean is the Jordan river, which is being used more and more by industry and municipality, the Dead Sea has been shrinking. You can see the salt lines from previous water levels as you walk down the slope to the beach. Kalia Beach has free mud (some places either mine it all to sell or just charge for it), and Elizabeth was ready to cover her body and rejuvenate her almost-30-year-old skin. The seafloor was surprisingly sharp in places due to all the crystallized salt, but we carefully made our way into the water. This section is 430 meters below sea level and the deepest land on Earth.
The water was slightly cool and you could instantly feel the difference to any other body of water we’d been in. It just felt heavier. After walking to our mid shins, we gently sat down and lifted up. All of our pictures look like we are laying on the ground in shallow water, but we are floating atop at least 4 feet of water. It was so much fun and an intense ab work out when laying on your back. We took lots of high school senior picture poses.
Finally, it was time for the mud bath. Elizabeth found a nice chuck of mud and spread it over every bit of exposed skin she could find; maybe it’ll cure her wart. Ryan didn’t partake in the mud, but accumulated a lot of salt in his beard and hair.
Since the sun sets so early, and our various orifices were burning from all the salt, we didn’t get quite as much time in the sea as we wanted, so we showered and headed for the bar. We couldn’t miss an opportunity for a Gold Star at the Lowest Bar in the World. It got dark fast and we battled the traffic an hour and half back to Tel Aviv. Exhausted, we picked up cheap Chinese food and had a hotel room party, still finding salt crystals in our hair.
Day 6 – Jerusalem – November 11
The next morning, we got up early to be first in line to drop the rental car back off. It was again a partial nightmare, but we made it through and were out the door. Today’s journey would take us to Jerusalem. We hopped on a city bus to get to a major bus terminal, then got on a coach bus to make the non-stop 50-minute journey to Jerusalem. The bus was full of both civilians and soldiers, and the soldiers just ride with their machine guns dangling down in their laps. After arriving at the main Jerusalem bus terminal, we hopped on another city bus to take us to the old town.
The bus driver must have been having an off day and we were held captive for a bit, while he skipped stops and eventually let us off at the Western Wall. The Western Wall is the only remaining part of the Second Temple (Herod’s Temple) where Jesus used to teach. This is one of the most holy sites for Jews as the majority of the temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. To get in, you have to go through security and it’s separated for men and women. You can mingle together in the main plaza but if you want to go to the wall, there is a men’s side and a women’s side. There seemed to be a number of Bar Mitzvahs happening and large bands were playing and balloon bouquets led young men towards the wall for the ceremony. After the ceremony, you throw candy at the new man, and since women can’t go on the men’s side, they climb up and throw it over the wall. Ryan put on a kippah and was able to go into the side room for prayer. People lean on the wall to pray and stick pieces of paper with prayers into the cracks in the walls. It was a powerful experience for Ryan. Places like this, with such an intense history, leave an impression on your soul regardless of your personal beliefs.
It was a truly interesting experience and amazing to see something so old and so revered. We walked back outside the old cities walls and walked towards the Garden of Gethsemane. Along the way we passed the Mount of Olives, where thousands of Jews are buried; allegedly, when the savior returns the people buried here will be resurrected first. We passed some very old graves of important Jewish families in Absalom’s Tomb. The gates were open and we were alone to wander through the crypt and old monument. The ceilings were black from years of smoke from fires lighting the paths in the crypts.
We walked up the hill and into the Garden of Gethsemane. Olive trees can live longer than 2000 years, so while walking around the garden we saw the trees that could have been around during Christ’s agony. You can’t walk through the gardens, but you can walk around the perimeter then go into the Basilica of Agony, the church right next to it. The church was built around a rock that they believe is the rock Jesus prayed on the night before his crucifixion. The church was beautiful and the mosaic ceiling was decorated to represent the various countries who contributed to the building.
Next, we walked to Tomb of the Virgin the site of Mary’s tomb. We weren’t able to go in, as the priests took a lunch break from noon to 2:30 pm, but we were able to stand in the square and see the grotto behind it.
Next, we headed back towards the Old City walking through Herod’s Gate to walk the Via Dolorosa, or the stations of the cross. There are a couple different versions of the walk, and it’s not believed to be entirely historically accurate, but it’s in the ballpark of where things went down. You can find the stations along the buildings on the Via Dolorosa, but they aren’t large and can be tricky to find. The roads are quite narrow and you have to share with large tour groups who huddle around the various stations to say a prayer or sing a song. We got lost a few times, but managed to see all but one of the stations before it ends at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was hard at times to focus on the stations of the cross since you walk through market stall, after market stall of souvenirs with shop people beckoning you to their piles of crap.
We didn’t know what to expect out of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, but we would describe it as the most disorganized church we’ve ever entered. This is celebrated as the site of Jesus’s death, burial and resurrection. Inside there is hardly any signage to know what you’re looking at or order to walk through this maze of a church. It was packed with people and had a lot of small rooms that offshoot from the major area which was multiple stories. There is a stone on the floor which is celebrated as Jesus’ stone he was laid to rest on. People rub it, but also rub all of their souvenirs on it, so you have to stand in line behind a lady with 15 scarves to rub down the stone before you can get your turn. It’s unfortunate that such an important piece of Christianity is not respected more by those professing the faith.
We were hungry and began our search for shawarma. We’ve been told that Jerusalem is the best place to get this type of spiced meat on a spit. We settled for one in the tourist area because our phone reception wasn’t great and we couldn’t figure out how to escape the Old City walls. We split a beef wrap with sauce and veggies. It was heavenly! The actual meal was cheap and we only felt screwed when we bought a can of Coke for $5, though it did taste wonderful.
We found our way out of the old town through the Damascus Gate and walked up to the Garden Tomb area. This is another site that claims to be the burial place of Jesus. The people working the gate were incredibly friendly and gave us a brochure explaining why they think this is the actual burial place of Jesus. Jesus was put to death at Golgotha which translates to the place of the skull and here, above a bus station is a rock formation that looks like a skull. They explain that crucifixions often took place near busy roads, so more people could see the crimes committed – similar to public executions. They have dated an old wine press and believe that the garden area next to the rock formation could have belonged to Joseph of Arimathea and there is an old tomb there.
We walked through the garden, which had a number of side grotto areas with different church groups praying, singing, and taking communion. We then had the chance to view the tomb where Jesus may have been buried. It was amazing to get to walk where Jesus walked, but just slightly frustrating that there is so much confusion over where things may or may not have happened. We made the journey back to the bus station and caught the hour-long ride home. That night we met Britney for dinner at a Thai fusion restaurant, where Itay’s brother happened to work. He wasn’t there tonight unfortunately. It was delicious and spicy.
Day 7 – Nazareth – November 12
We got up around 6, just after sunrise, and scooted across town to Britney’s house. The roads were practically deserted, which helped us navigate the roads, as we attempted to ride our scooter and balance our laundry bags. We made it to her house in one piece and she kindly let us start a load of laundry. She works in northern Israel, which happens to be a short bus ride away from Nazareth, so we kept her company on her one hour commute up north. She commutes anywhere between 1 to 2 hours one way each day. Crazy. She dropped us off at the mall so we could hang out before the bus came to take us to Nazareth at 8:30.
Not 5 minutes after dropping us off, she called to let us know that Gaza had been pounding southern Israel with missiles – a few even making it to Tel Aviv. Apparently, the alarms started sounding about 15 minutes after we left, then we didn’t listen to the news as we chatted our way up north. She said we were safe in the north, but her boss would let her off early after lunch so she could take us back to Tel Aviv. Early this morning, Israeli launched an airstrike in Gaza, killing their Jihadist commander who had been orchestrating attacks on southern Israel. This set off a furious retaliation from Gaza, who vowed revenge. Iron Dome is far more technologically advanced than anything the Palestinians have, so the dozens of missiles they fired in return had virtually not affect on the residents of Israel.
We drank our coffee and boarded the bus towards Nazareth. Again, there were lots of soldiers with their machine guns, but no one seemed concerned about the missiles. We got to Nazareth and walked 20 minutes to the city center. We were there early, so no tourists seemed to have arrived yet. Our first stop was the Church of Annunciation. This church is built upon an old living quarter where they believe Mary lived and where the Angel Gabriel came to her to announce her pregnancy with Jesus. The church was huge and beautiful. On the lower level you can walk up to look into the old dwelling. The ceiling is open to the second floor where you sit around the hole looking down and can see the large altar and big windows. The tour groups were starting to arrive but still didn’t feel crowded.
From here we walked up to St. Joseph’s Church. Out front is a large statue of St. Joseph and his legs are polished bronze, it seems like people are rubbing his knees for good luck.
Inside the church was again two floors and build on old dwelling places of people during Jesus’ time. This is thought to have been a carpenter’s shop where Joseph worked. On the upper floor is a modern chapel that hosts mass. We walked further north, passing an old Muslim Cemetery and finally to a landmark called Mary’s Well, which is supposed to have healing waters. Unfortunately, no water was running from the fountain and there were piles of trash lying around.
Nazareth isn’t very large, but we are glad we came to see where Jesus grew up. We wish we’d had more time and a car to drive up to see the Sea of Galilee (which is actually much smaller on the map than we thought it would be) but alas, next time. We hopped back on the bus and wandered around the mall until Britney could pick us up and we drank a few Israeli craft beers. On the commute home we drove along the coast. The missiles were no longer making it up to Tel Aviv, so it was safe to return. She played tour guide and pulled off in a town called Caesarea to show us some old Roman Aqueducts on the beach. You could see one of the giant desalinization plants she works on in the distance.
We dropped the car off at her house and ate a late lunch at a restaurant called HaKosem, home to Britney’s favorite falafel. Elizabeth got a falafel pita and Ryan a shawarma wrap. Both tasted heavenly. I think we like Israeli cuisine.
We hung out at her apartment the rest of the evening playing a board game called Blokus and eating various Israeli cookies and cheese and crackers. It’s been so wonderful seeing friends again! We kept the news on all evening and saw videos of a few near missile crises but luckily there haven’t been any injuries on the Israeli side. We grabbed our clean clothes and walked back home through the city. We asked the hotel front desk if there was a bomb shelter and he told us not to worry, everything is very safe thanks to Iron Dome. He said he walked around outside during the earlier siren. We didn’t hear a siren all night.
Day 8 – Tel Aviv to Istanbul – November 13
After a final long jog and walk along the beach it was time to say good-bye to Israel. It’s been such a great week here, but since the missiles are still flying, we weren’t disappointed to have to leave. We caught the city bus to the train station and were to the airport nice and early. We couldn’t check our bags so we hung out watching Netflix until the kiosk opened. Only once we tried to check our bags did we realize we’d missed a security check. We had to go back out to the main area and wait in a long line to be asked several questions by immigration/security. Once we got our stickers, we checked Elizabeth’s bag and Ryan’s had to go to special luggage since he had exposed backpack straps.
The special agent gave Ryan lots of trouble about the Banana Grams and shampoo in his bag repeatedly asking if he’d bought it in Israel. Finally, his bag was approved and we walked to regular security. The lines weren’t horrible but lots of old people who couldn’t figure out how to take their coats off. Then, just when you think you’re done waiting in line, there was one final passport check. Elizabeth made it through on the machines but Ryan’s beard confused the computer since he is clean shaven in his passport, so he had to wait for an agent to wave him through. We spent over 2 hours getting through all the various securities in Israel, something we were warned about but didn’t think it’d be that intensive. We spent our last hour in the lounge across from our gate eating hummus and tahini before boarding our flight to Istanbul.
Things we’ve learned in Israel:
- They call shots ‘chasers’. Seems backwards.
- They pronounce A.M. and P.M. like am and pom. Example, “let’s meet for drinks tonight at 9 pom.”
- Hebrew is the only dead language that has been successfully brought back to life.
- You can’t be buried in Israel with tattoos, so they cut them off your dead body.
Ryan and Elizabeth Goss 