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Earlier morning, breakfast at the hotel with Frank, Jen and another couple from Toronto that we met. We finished packing and asked the hotel clerk which train station we needed to go to to catch the high speed train to Jerusalem. He said Ha-Shalom, so we got a taxi to the station, which took about 15 minutes. Found the train and bought tickets, about 22 shekels for both of us (apps. $7 each). We went down to the platform, and boarded the train. We were told we had to go to the airport first and then transfer to the Jerusalem train. While standing on the platform, we must have looked lost, so a kind employee told us that it would be easier to get on the Ashkelon train which was arriving imminently, transfer at Havana station, and then get on the high-speed train to Jerusalem. That is what we did and it was pretty easy. The train was modern, clean, and had an area for people with disabilities (and seniors, which we are!) so we didn’t have to drag the luggage down or up any more stairs. Quick ride to Navon in Jerusalem. Up at least four levels to the street where we found a cab to our hotel in Jerusalem, the five-star David Citadel. Now that we were just us, we decided to try one of the Virtuoso properties so we could visit and experience something different. Our contact at the hotel greeted us warmly, upgraded our room to a partial old city view, and assigned us to room 750. We decided we wanted to see how the food was in this beautiful place, so we had lunch in the lobby restaurant. It was Kosher, dairy at lunch and this is what we ordered: fresh onion soup (watery and tasteless, unfortunately), tuna sandwich on a baguette with watery cucumber/tomato salad, and a delicious halloumi salad with fresh greens and tomatoes in a sumac vinaigrette. I ordered iced tea which was the color of water with a bit of lemon in it. It was Clearly not brewed as it tasted like water, so I sent it back. Next came a glass with slightly darker but still no taste, tea. It was room temperature. Oh, well. Scott’s salad was clearly the best thing and the tuna was fine, just nothing special. The price for those few things was over $60 and they took the soup off the bill. We were hoping the food would get better. After lunch, we met with Nofit, who took us on a comprehensive and lengthy tour of the hotel and all its facilities. It is quite big and lovely and we even met the manager, a man from the UK. We were also able to tour the Mamilla, the Citadel’s sister hotel, with Ronit, their sales manager. It is lovely, much more Italian (read plain and spare) in decorative style. We did enjoy seeing their fabulous spa with a meditation room and hamam, open to all guests, and a fabulous, private wine-tasting area. After we unpacked, it began to drizzle again so for dinner we caught a cab to Chakra. Again, we had an amazing meal of delicious and unusual focaccia (thin and crispy, instead of pilloughy and doughy), mushroom risotto and a Caesar salad with a poached egg. The snowball for dessert that we enjoyed last time would just be too much, so we opted for a creme brûlée with something red on top. My guess is it was crushed dried raspberries, but I couldn’t be sure. Anyway, the food was fabulous as was the service and we highly recommend this restaurant. We climbed into bed early as we had to be up at 3am on Wednesday for our excursion to Petra, Jordan.

We were so tired from our long day yesterday, that we decided today would be a rest day. Up late, breakfast at Center-Chic and then to Jaffa on the bus. The only complication was that the bus we were on had no English on the crawler, so we couldn’t tell which stop was ours. As we were discussing among ourselves where to get off, a woman nearby heard us and offered to help. She was an American from Boston who had recently emigrated to Israel. She got off with us and walked us around Jaffa, leading us to her favorite place for lunch, called Old Man and the Sea, right at the port of Jaffa. It was a huge restaurant with many people already outside enjoying the food. She greeted her friend and we were seated. Immediately, appetizers began arriving, perhaps 20, in some cases quite different from what we’d been served at other places: two different cabbage salads, a potato/egg mixture, marinated tomatoes, hummus and tahini of course, two different eggplant preparations, sautéed mushrooms with red pepper, avocado, corn with olive, parsley salad, cabbages, pickles and olives and cucumber in tahini. Warm thin pita bread was brought along with a big pitcher of fresh lemonade with mint. Everything we are was fabulous, fresh, flavorful and we were almost full just from the appetizers. But, no, the salads were included as long as each of us ordered an entree and we knew we wouldn’t be able to do that, so we opted for two entrees, one of chicken, one of squid and shrimp in a light broth, and paid 55 shekels extras for the salad. The grilled chicken was a full, spatchcocked breast that had clearly been marinated and then cooked quickly on a flattop. Yummy! The shrimp was also delicious and the calamari tender. We left half of each, decided not to order dessert, and then were ready to finish touring Jaffa. The bill for four of us was about $130, pretty reasonable for all the great food. We meandered around Jaffa, looking for the flea market, which was pretty filled with junk and uninteresting. Later, we discovered a big open-air market which was much more fun. Tons of fresh fruit and vegetables, almost all twice the size of what we have back home, and in addition, many places that sold nut confections, Mexican food (I know, a woman there assured us she was the only one doing such food in Tel Aviv!) and halvah. We also watched a Druze woman prepare some type of crepe that was cooked on a domed pan. The young man who was buying it said it was delicious and we should try, but we were full from lunch. I had been looking for halavah, so we tasted several but none compared to what we had at the Arthur Hotel in Jerusalem, so we didn’t buy any. Fun to wander around there. We walked from the market back to our hotel, started packing up, and met our friends later for happy hour. We were all still stuffed from lunch, so we walked around the neighborhood a bit more enjoying the beautiful weather and great energy of the city, then we had delicious gelato and headed back to the hotel.

We were up at 5:30 am today for a tour. The company called Bein Harim picked us up at our hotel at 7:15am in a minibus, delivering us to a central location where we got in another mini bus with our guide Jacob, a senior citizen with tremendous zest for life and lots of good information. There were only 14 of us on the tour – six from the US, and the others were from Belgium, Amsterdam, France, Philippines and Germany. The tour was conducted in English and German and the guide did a good job with both languages. We drove out of Tel Aviv and our first stop was Cesarea. Amazing Roman ruins, including a completely-intact theater and the remains of another of Herod’s castles and pool. About 2000 years ago Cesarea was an important port city and has had some earthquakes and tsunamis that have pushed some remains into the sea. Next we went to Haifa where we stopped to see the lovely Bahai gardens (only able to access about two levels, the rest is private). Too bad my mom isn’t here – as a card-carrying Bahai she would have been delighted to enter the temple and enjoy the stunning architecture and full gardens. We were also able to see the gardens from down below and both ways, they were beautiful. Next we drove along the coast to Rosh Hanikra which is where the limestone caves and grottoes were. Originally, the British had plans to tunnel through the caves to connect rail service (on the Orient Express) to the rest of Turkey and the Mediterranean. However, they only got as far as dynamiting the tunnels, the rail tracks were never finished. Right after WW2, the Israelis realized that having access from Lebanon through the tunnels was dangerous, so they blew up one of the bridges so no one could get to Israel. The tunnels remain otherwise intact and we were able to walk through and admire the stunning grottoes. Our guide, Jacob, said he used to come to the grottoes as a young boy and swim, as the cable car from the top wasn’t built until 1971 which is how we were able to access the caves today. After Rosh Hanikra, we drove along the coast for a while and finally ended up at Akko (Acre) our last stop of the day. We wandered around the old city, stopping at two artisan-owned shops to look at jewelry and hand-hammered copper and silver platters. They were quite beautiful but we decided not to buy as we couldn’t figure out what we would do with them. I did buy some jewelry, though, made from Roman glass, which is a big deal here. The type I bought is greenish and very pretty. Acre was a major port and one of the longest continuously-used ports in the world. We visited the Arab market and saw some amazing -looking confections made out of nuts and fruits which some people sampled and said were fine but nothing special. Jacob said they all used to be made with real honey and are now prepared with sugar. We toured the Crusader’s castle which was absolutely astounding and required very little restoration. It had been turned into a prison after WW2 and several Israelis were hung there. Lunch was at a place our tour guide organized, run by a Muslim family he knows. We sat at big tables and were served freshly-made lemonade, falafel, shawarma, warm pita bread, a variety of salads with cabbage and cucumbers/tomatoes, pickles and french fries. Dessert was sweet dates and an espresso-sized cup of coffee scented with cardamom. Sated, we hopped on the bus and headed home for the almost two hour drive back to TelAviv. Dinner was at a restaurant near us called Souk and it was fish prepared in some type of crust and shrimp with cheese. I was still full from lunch so didn’t partake, but everyone said it was fresh and tasty.

As we were worn out from two long days of touring in the north of Israel, we woke up late, had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel (the food is definitely not as tasty here as the food in the Arthur in Jerusalem) and then took a walk to the beach, about two blocks from here. Easy walk and we enjoyed going toward Jaffa on the beautiful promenade that was filled with walkers, joggers, hikers, bikers and scooters. Everyone was out because the weather was sunny and about 69 degrees, couldn’t have been much nicer! Upon returning to our hotel which is in an absolutely wonderful location in the center of Tel Aviv near shops, restaurants and cafes, we had a lovely lunch at the Jenia, not far from our hotel. We ate fried eggs with warm eggplant and artichoke hearts, tapas-size fried cod with pea puree, and sautéed mushrooms over warm goat cheese. It was delicious and we had fun people-watching. There are tons of babies and pregnant women here which speaks to a hopefulness among young people, in spite of the political instability. Dinner Saturday night was at a well-known Turkish restaurant called Onza where we enjoyed a fabulous meal. We started with “simit” which is a Turkish bread with sesame, then eggplant puree, fennel said with dried blueberries and pecans. Next we had something called “pide” which is a bread boat filled with bits of chopped bacon, lamb and shrimps mixed with some sort of greens. Then we had a seafood stew in a cream base with squid, shrimp and mussels. The dessert was amazing – we had knaiffee which is a flaky pastry made with nuts and honey over sweetened, warm mozzarrella/goat cheese. It sounds a bit strange but was heavenly. We also shared a rice pudding seasoned with cardamom and served with caramelized bananas and toffee pieces. We were stuffed!

Today we went to the Kibbutz Merom Golan and took a tour in a four wheel-drive jeep of the Kibbutz and the surrounding area in the Golan Heights. Unfortunately it was foggy, cold and windy, so we didn’t get good views into Syria. But it was a fascinating tour. We were at first on a very rugged road that led into various plantings. There had been a lot of rain recently, so the road was muddy. It was full of rocks, and was very steep when we crossed the tank ditch that had been dug after the 6 Day War. We saw apple trees, grapes, date palms, kiwi, and the newest project: truffles. We saw an Israeli Defense Bunker, though we didn’t go in due to recent rains and the fact that there might have been predatory animals that had used the bunker in previous weeks. We saw the stacked shipments of huge wind turbines, waiting to be unboxed and set up to power the pumping of water from the cisterns. We went to the former Syrian defense hq, now full of multicolored graffiti, and had herbal tea heated from a portable burner on the back of the jeep. We listened to an interesting presentation on the Syrian civil war, complete with pictures of territories within Syria in different colors for different groups, changing over time. It gave us a much better understanding of what has been going on in the Middle East in the recent past. After the jeep ride, we hopped back in the car with Ofir and began the ride down toward Tel Aviv. He took us to his house which was not far, where we met his mother and father-in-law, four-year old daughter and lovely wife. Ofir made us a delicious infusion of cardmom pods and cinnamon sticks, served with a chocolate babka-style cake from a Tel Aviv bakery known as Shemo. It was all yummy and we enjoyed our visit with his family. On the way, Ofir stopped at a place where there were tons of date palms and a market that had lots of cooking products ( a small Williams-Sonoma-type place) that also had fresh medjool dates and other dried fruits, nuts and liquors. We picked up a kilo of dates for $6.00.Then back in the car and eventually we stopped about 50 minutes away from Tel Aviv for a quick lunch at Aroma, a well-known Israeli chain (they call it the Israeli Starbucks. By the way, there is NOT even one Starbucks in Israel, except for a small outpost at the airport). Lunch was tuna sandwich with spicy paste on the bread. After that, to Tel Aviv where we got into our hotel the Center-Chic, around 5:15pm. Unloaded luggage, found our room 209 which faced a main square, and then dressed quickly for a 150 shekel cab ride to Kefar Sava where Jen and Frank’s friends Moshe and Rosie live. She prepared for us a lovely dinner of fish, chicken, roasted potatoes and an assortment of Israeli salads. Dessert was apple or carrot cake. She sweetly drove us back to the hotel where we all collapsed into bed.

Avi, a former Pennsylvanian who made aliyah to Israel over 38 years ago, and our tour guide for today, met us at a street near our hotel as the pedestrian zone is inaccessible to cars. For the first time, we had pleasant weather and blue skies, maybe 60 degrees and the day just got more beautiful from then on. We started our drive out of Jerusalem and out first stop was at “sea level” (Jerusalem is appx 900 feet above) where there was a young Bedouin man and his father and their camel. After a bit of negotiating, we all thought we were just going to take a photo, but it turns out each couple got on the camel and we were walked around for five minutes, Then we took our photo – each couple cost 20 shekels. Off we went to Masada where we were guided through the history of the site, learning about the people who made their last stand here and how they survived with their own food and water for about three years. Afterwards, we had lunch at the cafeteria and the food was acceptable, nothing more. We drove to Ein Gedi where we began to walk on the handicap-accessible path which shortly became dirt and rocks with some significant climbing. We got to the first waterfall and realized it was not suitable for Scott, so we headed back down to wait in the entry area. Our friends continued on, telling us later it was much more than they had bargained for, with steep inclines and places where the stones were slippery. However, the views of the waterfall at the top were stunning! It was getting late by this time so we began our drive to the Dead Sea, to the Ein Bokek resort, a public beach. Because Avi’s company had agreed to have us listen to a few minutes of a spiel about Ahava, we didn’t have to pay the entrance fee – good deal! However, it was 4:15 when we arrived and we only had til 5pm to get in the water, shower off and dress again. The weather was sunny and warm, about 70 degrees, and it was quite a hike from the resort down to the sea, a couple of staircases and switchbacks. Finally we get down there and the water is definitely on the cool side, with lots of people speaking many different languages. I get covered with mud and Scott sat and then leaned back in the water. It felt good and after about 10 minutes we waited in line for a warm water rinse at the beach and then we showered off up top. Not nearly enough time and I wish we had skipped Ein Gedi in favor of more time at the Dead Sea. At the hotel, Frank and Jen and Scott went out to dinner at a cute Italian place called Piccolino and I went to sleep!

Another full and exhausting day today. We had a long walk to the old city where we went to the Western Wall to pick up Kotel (tunnel tour) tickets. It was super crowded nearby and it was iffy whether we were going to make it on time. We did and got on our tour with a very dramatic (but otherwise not particularly good) guide, originally from the US, who took us all around the cisterns, old aqueduct, the three-year-old synagogue hewn from the rock underneath the wall, and the remnants of the wall down below. Very interesting to see all of the recent excavations and learn about what the remains tell us about what was once on the site. Then we exited the Damascus gate and walked through the Muslim Quarter to the Garden Tomb where legend has it Jesus was buried and subsequently risen. Beautiful location and it is probably stunning in the spring when flowers are in full bloom. After that, we walked to the American Colony hotel, built in the 1930’s with stunning mosaics in the public spaces, where we had a late lunch of mezze Palestinian style with falafel, meat and potato fritters and a huge variety of salads including eggplant, hummus, tahini, tabbouleh, etc. Also had lentil soup which was yummy and tasted as if it had been mixed with dried peas and some sort of rice. We took a cab from the hotel across town to the Israel Museum, for 90 shekels, and spent the next couple of hours exploring the stunning exhibits. The one that especially called to us was the history of this beautiful country from earliest times, including how modern Hebrew was developed, and how Judaism became monotheistic. After the museum we headed home for wine and snacks at the hotel and then sleep. Tomorrow off to Masada and the Dead Sea where we hope it’s warm enough to get in the water.

We slept in a bit today as we were worn out and sore from all the walking yesterday. Breakfast was awesome again, with the addition of a couple of different salads. One of our favorite items is the halvah with freshly-roasted pistachios on top – so yummy I want to bring some home. We took the light rail from Jaffa St. to Yad Vashem, an easy 20 minute ride to the end of the line at Mt. Herzl. 6.90 shekels for each person one day – pretty reasonable cost and speedier than sitting in traffic. Yad Vashem is a solemn, quiet place with unusual architecture meant to echo the cold and inhumane conditions of concentration camps. The main exhibition hall is free and there are several squares (the Warsaw ghetto square), etc. that in the summer would be quite beautiful with fragrant flowers. This was a Monday about 11:30am and we were astonished how very crowded the museum was with large numbers of Israeli students in tour groups and groups of people from other countries, all being guided through the multitude of video, audio, and print exhibits plus artifacts (shoes, suitcases, household items, jewelry, documents, letters) chronologically depicting the rise of antisemitism through the implementation of the final solution. Sobering to walk through and see how it all happened, with some analysis of the historical precedents and how various governments actually perpetuated myths about Jews. As one looks back 70 years, the experience of being at Yad Vashem (different from other holocaust museums around the world), is painful and heart-rending. It is exhausting to go through the museum and there really is nothing more than a few small ottomans in a couple of rooms where one can even sit down and take a break. At the end, one can go to the bookstore and gift shop and also to a cafeteria that serves passable snack items. After the museum and a rest, we got back on the light rail to the Mahane Yehuda open-air market. Not so pleasant in winter, but we had a great light lunch at Azura where we ate silky-smooth hummus and tahini with fresh bread and a plate of baked eggplant with beef and pine-nuts in a savory, cinnamony tomato sauce. The tahini was so good that I asked the restaurant owner where he got it and I was directed to a stall where, supposedly, I got a jar of the “best local tahini”. I’ll reserve judgment til I get home and try it out in some recipes. Back home around 5pm for a rest, then wine and snacks at the hotel. Dinner was at Chakra, an 8 minute walk from our hotel. Fortunately we were coached that the restaurant is below King George street down a steep driveway behind a round building. The food and atmosphere were great. We shared a whole sea bass with an herb pesto and mushroom risotto. We got a complimentary focaccia that was among the best we’ve ever had, thin-crusted and brushed with a delicious seasoned olive oil. We also ordered a bottle of Rioja wine by Lopez de Haro that was really tasty. Dessert that all four of us shared was a “snowball”, whipped cream mixed with bits of sweet meringue and fresh strawberries and raspberries- decadent and delicious.

We had the most amazing, exhausting day today with our tour guide Roni Stern. He met us at 8:30am and took us through the Jaffa gate on a comprehensive tour of the Old City. We began with the view from the Tower of David where we had an excellent view of parts of the city, then to all four quarters of the Old City, enjoying the festive atmosphere. From there, we visited the southern wall excavations (where a parking lot stood fairly recently), and looked at all that had been unearthed and is still in the process of being catalogued. Intriguing information. A quick stop for delicious coffee and then to the City of David and the cardo with much more to see. We passed by the art area of the Jewish quarter and visited an artist named Udi who painted a very famous painting of soldiers standing at the wall and praying. He welcomed us warmly, offered us tea, and our friends bought a lovely painting. On the back, Udi took the time to do some line-drawings using their names, which makes the artwork very personal. Then we we went to the wailing wall. There is a small section for women on the outside and a larger section for men that includes a covered portion. Most of the men inside were dressed as Orthodox Jews and were praying mostly alone with some in groups. We went then to the stunningly beautiful Hurva Synagogue and were able to go to the women’s section as we watched Orthodox Jews study in pairs with texts. You an also go to the third floor and see a stunning view of the old city by going outside. Afterwards, we had lunch at Al Kareem cafe where there was a line for the most amazing falafel – well-seasoned, fried balls, served in pita with french fries, pickles, cabbage, and cauliflower. I had a drink of freshly-squeezed pomegranate juice which was heavenly. By this time we were getting tired, but we walked along the Via Dolorosa and the Stations of the Cross, to Holy Sepulchre Church and back out through Jaffa Gate walking to our hotel. 5:30 and we had walked over 20,000 steps and climbed up 19 flights of stairs – we were justifiably tired and sore. Said good-bye to Roni, had wine and freshly-made mushroom soup at the hotel and later went to dinner at Cafe Rimon. Nothing special but the lentil soup was tasty enough.

Our 14 hour flight to Tel Aviv on United was uneventful, but I would prefer not to fly United again. Even Polaris Business looked cramped and unappealing! First off, although we had premium seating, we were in the second to last boarding group, and by the time we boarded, even though the section was not full, there was NO overhead bin space. No flight attendants were anywhere nearby and no one offered to assist. Also, the area under the aisle seat was partially blocked (in every aisle seat, from what I saw) by some sort of technology box, which significantly reduced the amount of space available for my small, under-seat carry-on. The two adjoining seats had one large area for both people and our seat mate was likewise irritated that he had no storage underneath except for something very small and his bag wouldn’t fit in the overhead bin either. While the flight attendants were not surly, neither were they particularly welcoming or gracious, unlike our typical Southwest experience. The food was adequate and we were given water quite frequently, so that was fine. Also, there was an outlet at each seat for power but lighting and vent buttons were inaccessible as they were located above the window seat near the ceiling. Whose idea was that? Arrival to Tel Aviv was a bit early, the terminal is built of beautiful creamy limestone, very modern, clean, with a gorgeous central rotunda and atrium. Baggage pickup was a breeze, as was immigration and customs and we were quickly on our way to meet our driver. His name was Alex and he had a lovely, clean Mercedes van that took us quickly to Jerusalem. After arrival at the hotel, which is small and charming, if a bit tired in the decor of the rooms. Scott and I didn’t sleep more than an hour or two, but our first day in Jerusalem neither of us was particularly tired. We’ll pay for this tonight, for sure! Our room has its own Nespresso Vertuo machine and we had delicious espressos first thing. A bit later, we had a bountiful breakfast in the lobby from 7-10, including two different types of fish, a multitude of vegetable and tuna salads, cheeses, freshly-baked mini croissants, bread, jam, date syrup and tahini. Plus there was a frittata and soft-boiled eggs, and some potatoes in cream as well as delicious pink and yellow grapefruit and a big bowl of fruit for us to help ourselves. There were a couple of pastry-type desserts, but I didn’t try them. There was also a variety of types of yogurt, including Kefir, plus milk and lots of cold cereal options. Our plan for the day was to include a walk to Jaffa Gate through the Old City, and wandering around the Arab souk. Lots of tourist-y items and shops, but a couple of the interesting ones held unusual spices and herbs, and mixes for tea. The tea mixes had different flavors made with dried fruits, herbs and candy, and the idea was to use two teaspoons in a cup of water, drink the tea, and then eat the remaining herbs and candy. Halfway through, we had a delicious (looking back, though, pretty pricey) lunch of two plates of shawarma and two bowls of well-seasoned lentil soup. We’ll check billboards for pricing next time, as most places charge half of what we paid! The weather is very cold (38-40 degrees) with heavy rains and winds. Although we had the right clothes, our umbrellas couldn’t stand the onslaught and promptly broke. Arthur Hotel to the rescue with big umbrellas for us to carry with us. We walked around until we were thoroughly exhausted, and soaked, and then returned to the hotel for a much-needed rest and warm-up. Later, we took a cab to the old train station which has been turned into an amazing outdoor area with a stage for live events, and many restaurants. We had made reservations in this are for Adom and it did not disappoint. We had an interesting cocktail made with Stoli vanilla, red berries, cinnamon, elderflower and some “broken meringue” plus appetizer and main plates of shrimp in butter with polenta tortellini, fish stew with a thin flavorful broth with nary a tomato in sight, an orzo paste with spicy chorizo, clams and shrimp and my dish which was roasted cabbage that had been marinated in some vinegar, served with a swipe of labneh and a rib of bacon, that was more like a fatty spare rib. All of us thought the flavors were awesome and the presentation and service exceptional. Dessert was an intense chocolate souffle with housemade vanilla gelato and crisp meringue pieces. Dessert was no match for four greedy spoons! Taxi there was about 35 shekels, 65 on the return, and we couldn’t get an answer as to why. Oh, well. Tomorrow we have a tour with Roni through the Old City beginning at 8:30am.