Israel...we miss you

Travel Blog

Apr 8

It feels like yesterday that we were just walking down the busy street of Dizengoff, one of the liveliest streets in the city of Tel Aviv. The sounds of mopeds racing by, the aroma of fresh baked bread paired with fresh ground coffee, and the laughter of children riding their bikes on their way to school.

If you love to travel and have never been to Israel, surely add it to your list.

Having traveled out of the country only once in my life, I was very excited to do it again. When I first told my family and friends I was going to Israel, the immediate reaction always seemed to ask the question “Why?!” followed up with “That’s not a safe place!”

I personally love to travel. Whether it’s a car ride to Chicago, or an airplane over the sea, the world is such a beautiful place! Unfortunately I think the news media often creates a false sense of reality of what’s really out there. Now I’m not saying that the world is full of peace and happiness everywhere, I’m simply saying that sometimes experiencing places around the world through your own eyes can give you a better understanding of what’s really outside of the bubble that many people live in.

Leza and I spent a little over a week in this lovely country and below are the stories and pictures of our journey.

Statue guy along the beach of the Mediterranean Sea. The sand is unreal!

The Journey there

We started off flying from Minneapolis to Boston, to Istanbul and finally arriving at Israel all within about 18 hours. It was a relatively painless process. However, when we first got checked in at Minneapolis, they were unable to print the remaining passes for the other flights. They assured us that it wasn’t a big deal and that we could get the passes at the next airport in Boston. Funny thing is, when we got to Boston, the Airline showed that we never flew from Minneapolis! So after a few phone calls later by someone behind the desk, we were given our remaining boarding passes and we were off to our next flight.

While we waited for our boarding passes to get figured out.

All in all, the flights were great. We arrived in Israel just after sundown at about 8pm and then took a private taxi to our apartment. Our first goal was to find the guy holding a sign with our name on it. It was just like what you would see in the movies, however his sign was clipped to his zipper so he didn’t have to hold it and look up. Instead he was staring deep into his phone. Can’t blame him though…pretty genius. It’s not like he knew what we looked like. I should have taken a picture, but at that point we just wanted to see what our home for the next 9 days was going to be!

Many trees like this along the streets of Tel Aviv

So with a quick ride into Tel Aviv, we unpacked our bags in our little, quaint apartment and headed to the streets for something to eat. I don’t think either of us had any expectations of what our first impressions would be, but the moment we stepped foot into streets of Tel Aviv, you just felt alive. The locals are so social, pets are welcome EVERYWHERE, the trees are beautiful with the wrapping of the roots up the trunks, cats roaming the sidewalks. Just everything was beautiful! We were in awe. We were also hungry and sleepy, so we got some ice cream and headed to bed.

Day 1 - Streets of Tel Aviv - Carmel Market

The next morning we woke up excited to explore Tel Aviv. We had a game plan for the majority of the trip as we were determined to see as much as possible. On the list of things to do was visit the Nahalat Binyamin Craft Market. This market is special as it’s only twice a week, and it has a wide variety of unique handcrafted items for sale. Everything from jewelry and art, to live performers crowded the small streets filled with energy.

Another spot on the list was the Carmel Market. Here you found everything from clothing to fresh squeezed pomegranates. It was packed from side to side, and had there been a dirt road without all the buildings, it would be like walking through the opening of the movie Aladdin. The spices were so bold and strong you could smell them before you could even see them, the fruit was so fresh and tasty and the atmosphere was chaotic with the charm of so many different people and so many different languages. It was just amazing to be there.

There was no shortage of giant fresh pomegranates!

After spending the majority of the day admiring the work of many talented artists and filling our bellies with fresh falafels, we headed toward the beach side of the Mediterranean to enjoy some amazing food and beautiful views. While we were there we couldn’t help but notice how active and pet friendly everyone was. One beautiful husky caught my eye as he happily played with his owner as they walked the water. From the outdoor workout gyms, bikes, scooters, and running, I rarely saw people on a phone. Everyone was engaged with someone else living in the moment. Enjoying life. I fell in love instantly. That’s how life should be.

Beautiful Husky. Notice the two colors of the eyes?!

Day 2 - Old Jaffa

For the 8 full days that we had scheduled to be in Israel, the first two Leza and I would be on our own until day three where we would meet up with Leza’s father, Mike and his wife, Tatiana. Luckily they rented a car (Thank You Mike!) to travel outside of Tel Aviv, so as far as day two is considered we did a little more exploring.

This time we decided to travel south toward the Old City of Jaffa. It’s an ancient port city that has Biblical references and is just simply gorgeous. Instead of walking there, we decided to try out their bike rental options.

So here’s a little info on not only bikes, but other transportation rentals if you’re there. Tel-O-Fun is a popular bike rental with many stations set up to throughout the city to come and go as you want. You use the kiosk to pay and unlock the bikes and then you pay based on how much time you use them. Fun fact, the first 30 minutes is free! But even after that, it’s only about 6 shekels per hour which is like $3 US dollars. The other popular bike rental is a company called Mobike. They’re a little bit different as it requires you to have a phone to track one of the unused bikes and then unlock it. Unlike the Tel-O-Fun bikes, you just leave these bikes where ever you’d like and someone else will eventually get it when needed. Download their app from the app store, or check out their website!

The other popular transportation is scooters and there are two companies called Lime and Bird. Both have the same concept using the app on your phone, scan the QR code to unlock and off you go! They are relatively inexpensive and they are everywhere! And if you’re wondering, two people can ride on one scooter. :-)

Now on to the Old City of Jaffa!

So this place was only about a 15-20 minute bike ride if that. There are walking and biking paths that stretch the whole beach side of the Mediterranean coast and it’s a delightful ride. So when you get to Jaffa, it’s almost like there are two parts. They have the Old City entrance that isn’t really advertised, and I’m not even sure how we stumbled upon it. Then the other part is the Jaffa Port where there are boats and restaurants throughout.

When you go through Old Jaffa, it’s like traveling back in time. There’s no rhyme or reason to the layout of streets and paths, they just go. The stone walls and walkways glow with the sun and it’s just so enjoyable to walk through.

We made our way to the very top, bought an ice cold lemonade, and caught some amazing views looking back toward the city of Tel Aviv along the coast.

We eventually made it back down to walk through the port to check out some boats and found some delicious food at a nearby cafe.

Just a side note, I think it was nearly impossible to find bad food. Throughout the entire stay, the food was so fresh, so real and unprocessed. The flavors, the passion they have for their food is just so amazing. America…you should seriously take note.

After the day of exploring this historic location, we walked back to our apartment to rest for the next adventure.

Beautiful greeter to the entrance of Old Jaffa

Day 3 - Caesarea National Park

Today we met up with Mike and Tatiana and traveled the north coast of the Mediterranean toward the Caesarea National Park. This was an ancient town built by Herod the Great and was a highly sought after location in that time period due to the access to the water. We covered only a fraction of what was there, but what we did see what just spectacular. The Caesarea Amphitheater, the tunnels, the harbor - all was so cool to see and imagine what it would have been like to be there over 2,000 years ago! We ate some amazing food and then headed back to Tel Aviv. Leza and I parted ways with her father and did our nightly walk through Tel Aviv before catching some shut-eye.

Day 4 - Old City Jerusalem

The Western Wall, sometimes referred to as the Wailing Wall is considered the holiest place where Jews are permitted to pray. You can see prayers on paper stuck within the cracks.

This day was going to be a long, but very exciting day. We had a private guide scheduled to walk us through many parts of Jerusalem. Wow. Just wow. I didn’t really know what to expect here. I’ll be honest that I know very little about religion, but to be in this city was purely a lifetime experience. I would attempt to name off where we went and what we did, but there was so much we saw, it’s hard to remember so many details. We visited the Tower of David, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Western Wall, all four Quarters of Old Jerusalem which includes: Muslim, Christian, Armenian, and Jewish Quarters. We traveled to roof tops to see sights overlooking the city stretching to the Mount of Olives.

There were a few things that stuck with me. One is the Western Wall. It’s considered to be the holiest place where the Jews are able to pray. It was fascinating watching people write a prayer down and put it in the wall. This was also a location where the women were separated from the men and there were many Bar and Bat Mitzvah’s being held. It was really a powerful moment.

Another heart-rending moment was traveling through each of the Quarters of the Old City. As we walked through the streets, I realized that to everyone there it was just another day. Kids were at school and people were running their shops and restaurants. Yet, it wasn’t uncommon here to see soldiers carrying large assault rifles. And speaking of that topic, throughout the whole experience of our stay, we never once felt unsafe, in danger, or threatened. It is absolutely amazing to see the different cultures coexist with the best of their abilities despite their religious views.

After our tour guide left our brains on overload, we ate some food, got in the car, and headed back to Tel Aviv for the evening.

The Western Wall or sometimes referred to as the Wailing Wall. It’s considered holiest place where Jews are permitted to pray. You can see prays on paper stuck within the cracks.

Day 5 - Masada National Park

The first few days we covered a good chunk of the midsection of the country. Today was the day to cover the south end of the country. After the long day of walking the streets of Jerusalem, we were now heading toward the Desert and Dead Sea.

First stop was a place called Masada. It was a fortress/palace built by Herod the Great sitting up high on top of a rock plateau. It was a prime location to see enemies from afar. You can either hike up the trail in roughly 30 minutes or take the cable-car to the top in less than three. We choose the cable-car! This place was pretty neat. It was like a giant outdoor real-life fort. It was fun to explore, and even though the tragedy that occurred here is pretty sad, it’s a place I would add to your list to visit!

Second stop - Ein Gedi

Ein Gedi is only about a 15 minute drive from Masada and it is a National Reserve park abundant in animals, little waterfalls, and green plants mixed in the middle of desert mountains. There was a nice path that walks a loop through the whole area and you see some beautiful views of the Dead Sea when you’re near the top.

Third Stop - Dead Sea Public Beach

Just down the road to the Dead Sea. If you’ve been to the ocean and you think it’s salty, guess again. The Dead Sea is almost 10 times saltier than the ocean. The water was warm, but the ground was hard and almost rocky due to the amount of salt build up. When you walk in deeper, there’s a little sand, but you just start to float. You don’t sink, your feet just kinda raise up from underneath you and it’s like you have a permanent little kid floaty attached. It’s pretty cool!

The day was coming to an end and we were tired, salty, and had to drive about two hours back to Tel Aviv. These three locations made a really nice day trip to the southern part of the country. All three places are very close to each other and you can easily do it all in one day! Highly recommend. Plus then you can say that you floated in the Dead Sea! How cool is that?!

Day 6 - Mount Bental/Tal Al-Gharam

This was the last day we had big plans to travel to another location and we booked a tour to head to the very north of the country through the Golan Heights. Golan Heights is completely opposite of where we were the previous day. Instead of desert and dirt, we were among fields and mountains of flowers. We booked a tour through Ben Harim Tours and it wasn’t bad at all. We may have lucked out with the tour guide, but for the money to get a ride three hours north of Tel Aviv, it was worth it.

It was a long bus ride, but we stopped at multiple locations along the way. Some of the views included the Sea of Galilee, which is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth in addition to the place Jesus walked on water.

The views here were spectacular. The weather cooperated well as we were even able to see Mount Hermon off in the distance with its snowy peaks. We saw many old abandoned bunkers, and then had a special place to visit for lunch at Olea Essence, an olive oil manufacturer. I honestly have never tasted anything like it. It was so pure and smooth. It was amazing! We learned about the whole process of making olive oil, and they even make a variety of health care products with the the olive oil and it was all so good!

Mountain view standing in Israel overlooking Syria towards the top left and Jordan on the top right

Sea of Galilee, which is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth in addition to the place Jesus walked on water

After lunch we had one last stop before our long trek to Tel Aviv and that was to the Jordan River Baptismal Site. This was pretty cool as we got to witness people being baptized in this famous Biblical river.

Day 7 - Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum

So for this day, Mike and Tatiana departed for Germany, and Leza and I still had two solid days of sightseeing. Our original plan was to head back to Jerusalem and explore more at a leisurely rate than we previously did, but since our transportation with a car was no more, we decided to take the train to Jerusalem.

However, after getting on the train and realizing the distance from the train station to the heart of Jerusalem, we quickly figured out we would waste more time traveling in traffic than seeing what we wanted to see. So instead of heading into the city, we stayed on the outskirts and visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum. And boy are we glad we did. This museum tugged at your heart every corner you turned. We spent five hours there and didn’t even see a quarter of the whole museum. The exhibit left you speechless. The Jewish people are amazing to have fought for so long despite their unimaginable and inhumane circumstances. I pray that nothing of that nature ever happens again. May history not repeat itself.

Day 8 - Tel Aviv Museum of Art

After a long educational day of history and train rides, we were now in shock that our whole time in Israel was coming to an end. This was our last full day as we needed to leave for the airport by 1am for a 5am flight. So for our last day, we decided to take it easy. We only had two things we wanted to accomplish: Lay on the beach and visit the Ferrari Store. Yes, I do like Ferraris, and since one of my brothers is also a fan, I make it a point to seek them out when I travel and get some pictures for him. So after we woke, we ate at a delightful place called Benedicts which again was absolutely marvelous, and then we leisurely walked to the Ferrari dealership which turned out to be a museum which was free! The Yad Vashem Museum was also free!

Now on the way back from the Ferrari Museum, we passed by the Tel Aviv Art Museum and we couldn’t pass that up, so we delayed our beach time and spent a few hours looking at art! This place was pretty amazing also as it had so many famous pieces from Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, and Vincent van Gogh. We were just in awe. After leaving the Art Museum, we finally went to relax on the beach before we packed our bags to head back to reality.

Our Journey Home

Our 1am taxi surely did come quickly. We made it to the airport with ample time to check in and get things squared away for traveling back. Unlike the journey here which was only 18 hours, our trip home would be double that. With a 7 hour layover in Istanbul, and 12 hours in Boston, we became quite familiar with where the comfy coaches were located for sleeping.

Overall, I would say this trip was an absolute success. Even more so, the day we traveled back was the one year anniversary for Leza and me. I’m not quite sure what I did in life to be able to date the most amazing woman I’ve ever laid eyes on, but I surely do feel lucky.

Leza, thank you for the opportunity to have me be by your side on this adventure half way around the world. I loved every minute of it with you. I am so looking forward to many more journeys around the world in our future together. I love you.