It was an unexpected holiday.  There was a flash 48 hour Internet sale and there happened to be a hotel on the beach in Tel Aviv for $87 per night.  And then there also happened to be some frequent flyer tickets available.  So without much investigation we were suddenly off to Tel Aviv for 4 nights.  We started doing our homework, checking in with friends and contacts, and researching the Internet.  We read the news reports that it snowed in Jerusalem just the week before (wondering if our beach front hotel was now an out of the way destination).  Even as we were taking off, we didn’t know what really to expect.

We were more than pleasantly surprised.  Our fears of intense airport security policies were completely wrong (in fact when Kai fell asleep during check-in on the way home they never asked us to take him out of the stroller).  Weather was sunny in the 60’s the whole time.  The city and the people were incredibly child friendly — the candy hawker in the market was more upset with us than with Kai when he kept sampling the candy — “let him enjoy, he’s a kid”.

We ate well through the trip.  Our friend Babak took us to a great local hummus place built in an old synagogue.  We dined with our friend Matan a local chef’s place which could have rivaled any joint in Soho. When we sat down at the Old Man and the Sea at the Jaffa Port, with two minutes we were presented with the obligatory 20 salads (yes 20).  And they were fantastic.  And we even managed to indulge in some fine patisserie delights at a beautiful restaurant/bakery.

We decided to take a day trip to Jerusalem even though we couldn’t find a babysitter for Kai.  We rented a car which worked out fine — the traffic however was intense both ways. Both boys cooperated for the most part during our explorations in old city Jerusalem.  Kai slept shortly after arriving.  Needless to day, the old city was not the ideal place for a stroller.  Overall, it was a bit heavy on the tourist souvenirs (the entire inner city is a middle eastern marketplace) but it was good to connect with the past.  When we were flying in, the Israeli next to me commented on my first trip to Israel, “you are closing the loop that is over 2000 years old”.

It was a great trip, and certainly on the radar for a revisit.

Our Hotel — Crowne Plaza Tel Aviv Beach

The Family at the Jaffa Gate

The Western Wall

The Western Wall

The Church of the Sepulchre

Dining as Kai Sleeps

Dining as Kai Sleeps

Patisserie at Dallal

Outdoors at Dallal

Market

Market

Great Hummus

Hummus Restaurant

Creme Fraiche Pizza at Abraxas

Fresh Tomatoes at Abraxas

Kai loving the beach

Pilgrimage Completed