Farewell to Israel

It had been a long, full trip to Israel which was finally coming to an end.

I managed to pack a lot into my final day in Israel, which actually stretched on for nearly two days.

I woke up at the Dan Hotel Tel Aviv and lingered over my final Israeli breakfast. I was going to miss the fruit, salmon, cheese, and of course, the halvah and cheesecake.

I could resist taking a final photo of the beach before heading off to the Carmel Market.

I had loved this market on my first day in Tel Aviv and wanted to go back to pick up some items before I left.

The halvah was at the top of my list, but I also picked up some of the Middle Eastern spice combinations I knew would be delicious over rice.

Soon after I returned to the hotel my cousin Marge joined me. She had brought my mother to Tel Aviv as we were both flying home very early the next morning.

Mom decided to stay and get organized for the trip while Marge and I headed to Nini Hachi, a top sushi restaurant in Tel Aviv which my cousin and her architectural firm Sitton Plus Tannous had designed.

She was anxious to show me it and introduce me to her bosses, and I was thrilled to have kosher sushi, which I could eat since the fish had never been near shellfish  (You can read more about my sushi experience on Yahoo!).

We had a long lunch of Asian food, including fantastic vegetarian sushi, a beef bowl, and an unforgettable salad with salmon, and a bit of sake at Nini Hachi.

I really enjoyed hearing about the perfect partnership of Jacob Tannous and Sharon Sitton – an Arab and an Israeli.

After lunch I headed back to the Dan Hotel Tel Aviv to pack, rest, and get ready for dinner. Mom was coming along for our farewell dinner to Messa Restaurant.

The restaurant was elegant and the food was amazing. Through no fault of the restaurant, though, they didn’t have my allergy menu and my mom was hit with a very hefty bill.

The trip home was pretty awful. We had a 1:00 am flight from Tel Aviv to Istanbul and were dropped at the wrong terminal. I had to maneuver four suitcases and a wheelchair to the right one.

The layover in Istanbul was four hours in the middle of the night that turned into six hours. I do have to compliment Turkish Air on excellent service and food on the planes. 

Mom and I separated at JFK in New York, where she took a flight home to Florida and I continued on two more flights to my home.

Despite all the problems, in the end, I had no regrets about going on this trip. I got to see my cousins and visit a lot about a country I hadn’t seen in nearly 40 years.

The trip certainly could have been better had it been coordinated more carefully between all of the parties involved – especially the flights and the tour guide.

I am still grateful to Israel Tourism and Tel-Aviv Non-Stop for giving me a chance to learn so much more about Israel.

From King David to More Tel Aviv

I woke up in Jerusalem, surrounded by every comfort imaginable. Everything about The King David validated that it was one of the most luxurious hotels in the world.

My room was beautiful, with attention to every detail, and the service was just impeccable. 

Every time we turned around, someone was waiting, anticipating our every need.

I had been thoroughly enjoying the Israeli breakfast buffets throughout my stay in the country, but The King David took it one step further. In addition to a magnificent display, they offered made to order omelets and eggs benedicts – with ingredients such as truffles and salmon.

I chose a fresh vegetable filled omelet, and filled a plate at the buffet with cheese, fruit, and salmon, adding a small pastry and some halvah to satisfy my sweet tooth.

Before I packed up to leave, I walked around the hotel a little to check it out. 

I also ventured out to the courtyard and took note that it would be another pleasantly warm day in Israel.

We drove to Tel Aviv and heading straight to the Sarona Market. It was nothing like the markets we had been to on previous days.

Sarona Market is indoor and set up like a mall, but all of the stores and kiosks are focused around food and drink.

I wandered through the market with Jo Piazza, the former Yahoo! Travel managing editor who was one of the other members of our group.

Our first stop was at a very unusual spirits store where you could buy barreled liquors, such as cognac, whiskey, and liqueurs. We sampled a few and they were all good.

The Vom Fass store next door also had some interesting spirits, as well as a selection of Vom Fass oils in casks. They had everything there, including grapeseed oil, ginger sesame oil, and even avocado oil.

We stopped at a wine tasting room next to sample some Israeli wines. The store gave us the option of tasting a few little glasses, or purchasing a larger one. They were all kept at proper temperature inside a Wine Station.

I really like the pinot grigio from Lueria in the Upper Galilee and the Carmel Valley Winery Gewürztraminer.

It was hard to resist buying a bagful of the luscious cheeses at the next store we were at, but I knew they wouldn’t travel very well. It was also almost time to meet the group and head to the hotel.

On the way out, we walked past the Freestyle Raman Table, where it many locals were enjoying lunch, Fiori Fresh Pasta Bar, a store filled with spices, dried fruits and nuts, a fish market, and a bakery with many tempting breads.

We had to wait a while for the bus to come and pick us up, but I still had some time before dinner to take a walk down to the beach for probably the last time in Israel.

I showered and changed before the bus came back to take us to dinner at Herbert Samuel Restaurant. Joining us was Mira Marcus, the International Press Director for Tel Aviv.

Although they had prepared a menu for us, they did adjust it for my seafood allergy.

The group did rave about the calamari, but I enjoyed a fresh tomato salad and beef kabobs.

The desserts at Herbert Samuel Restaurant, while complicated in description and name, all proved to be scrumptious.

We headed back to the Dan Hotel Tel Aviv more than ready to retire. The next day would be our final one in Israel.

An Unforgettable Day in Israel

Some days of travel are amazing and some are not. Then there are the ones which are a little of both. This was the case for my fifth day in Israel.

The day certainly started out right as I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast from my balcony at the Dan Acadia Hotel in Herzeliya, a suburb of Tel Aviv.

I was getting spoiled by these Israeli breakfasts, which were filled with fruit, cheese, and sweet treats.

It looked to be another beautifully sunny day and I wished I had time to check out the pool and the beach, but I had to get ready to meet the group.

We were heading for a tour of Old Jaffa. I had discovered my passport and glasses missing and thought they might have been left at the previous hotel so I asked our tour guide to have the bus make a stop at the Dan Hotel Tel Aviv.

Unfortunately, despite the urging from my fellow journalists to stay, Carmela felt they were running late to get to the Jaffa tour and wouldn’t wait for me to check at the hotel.

What was a simple errand turned into quite an ordeal.

I’ll skip all the details, but, needless to say, it was a stressful day trying to catch up with the group that finally ended with me having to take a (very expensive) cab back to Herzeliya in the late afternoon.

The experienced certainly dampened my time in Old Jaffa, but I did at least get to have an amazing apple strudel at Opel Cafe, catch some Mediterranean Sea views of Tel Aviv, and see some of the market while I was searching for the group!

While the rest of the evening certainly didn’t compare to the afternoon debacle, the schedule was a gain changed on us.

An excursion to Drummers Beach was eliminated and we headed directly for dinner at Port & Sons restaurant in Tel Aviv.

By the time we got to the restaurant, I was more than ready for a glass of wine. Porter & Sons concentrates more on a big beer selection, but they did bring me a satisfying Israeli chardonnay from Dalton Winery in Galilee.

Porter & Sons also brought out a selection of food family style.

Even though they hadn’t been informed in advance of my fish allergy, managed to come up with some wonderful dishes for me, including spaetzle, eggplant, and pasta. The desserts were also quite good.

After dinner, we headed back to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art for the Piano Festival.

We saw a popular Israeli singer, who sang a lot of her native songs.

On the way out of the festival, we heard some jazz music as locals and visitors danced around them.

We returned to the Dan Acadia Hotel in Herzeliya and I did my best to relax after the stress of the day.

It had taken a lot of convincing from myself and my fellow writers, but Carmela had agreed to take us to the Dead Sea before Jerusalem the next day so it was time to try to move past the bad experience. 

Celebrating Food and Arts in Tel Aviv

I was up early at the Dan Hotel Tel Aviv for another busy day on my press trip with Israel Tourism.

After breakfast, I met with the rest of the journalists and our guide, Carmela, in the Executive Lounge at the hotel with our luggage. 

We were heading to two more hotels in Israel before we would be back at this one.

Since most of the group had arrived later than me, they were all heading to the Bauhaus area I had toured on my first day.

I decided to check out some of the boutique shopping area around Sheinken Street in Tel Aviv with another journalist, Jo Piazza.

We stopped first at a café for some coffee. As interesting as the pastries looked, we had just finished a big Israeli breakfast, which focused on the sweets.

As we walked through the blocks we noted that they all looked simple and understated from the outside, despite the fact that most of the clothes and shoes were high-end.

I window-shopped while Jo picked up and dress and then we headed to the Levinsky Market to meet the group.

This market was quite different than the Carmel Market I had been to a few days ago.

Instead of booths, there were more permanent stores, though a lot of the food and products looked the same.

Our driver brought the bus to Levinsky to pick us up and take us to the Tel Aviv Art Museum.

It was a big and beautifully designed building and extremely modern.

Inside we found most of the art to be Israeli, although it spanned different eras.

Before we left the museum complex, we went to eat and greet the chef at its restaurant, Pastel.

I sipped a mint tea, which in Israel includes large mint leaves in the water.

Most of the food was fish based and not kosher, so I couldn’t eat very much. I did have some warm rolls and salad.

The chef brought us into the kitchen for the making of the desserts – a giant Rocher-like chocolate ball filled with hazelnut. It was delicious.

Since we had just had lunch and no one was in a rush for dinner, a couple of the writers suggested we head to the Florentin neighborhood, which had recently been called by Thrillist one of the hippest in the world.

I definitely felt it was eclectic, a little bit Brooklyn and meat-packing in one, with everything from art galleries and trendy restaurants to furniture stores and whisky bars.

There were also cats everywhere and I have to say they made for some great Kodak moments.

We walked for a while and Carmela said it wasn’t far to the restaurant so we decided not to get back on the bus.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t true. It was actually about two miles. Everyone was tired and hungry and my back was aching.  It had been a long day.

We arrived at Social Club for dinner and it was a set menu. I had pasta and cheesecake, which was pretty good.

The plan was to continue on to an Israeli dance performance. 

My back was still bothering me from a very long day of walking.

A few of the others in our group were also exhausted so half of us chose to go back to the hotel

I heard it was actually a Bollywood show no one liked so I didn’t miss anything.

I did get to check into an amazing room at the Dan Accadia Hotel in Herzeliya, a suburb of Tel Aviv.

The bathroom was loaded with first class amenities and the staff had left me flowers, wine, fruit, and chocolate.

What a wonderful way to end the day in Israel .

From the Mediterranean to the Vineyard in Israel

I was in Israel for the first time since I was a teenager on a press trip with Israel Tourism.

Since we just ended up with a private guide with us since no one from the visitor’s bureau or public relations had joined us, and there were some mix ups in the schedule, we decided to fill in a bit of what each of us wanted to do for our stories.

I woke up fairly early at the Dan Hotel Tel Aviv. I knew it would be a long day and I was ready to get started.

Despite the fact that I had a full dinner the night before, I couldn’t wait for another Israeli breakfast. 

I anticipated it would be as good as the Dan Panorama in Jerusalem, and I wasn’t disappointed.

My sweet tooth was more than satisfied. It took a lot of self-control not to totally fill my plate with luscious desserts!

I managed to collect my favorites into a fairly well-rounded plate of fruit, cheese, tomato, halvah, a cheese blintz, a small raspberry tart, and a sliver of my favorite breakfast food – cheesecake.

After breakfast, we took a tour of the hotel and saw photos of many celebrities who had been there recently, such as Richard Gere.

We also learned that Dan Hotels are Israel’s leaders in luxury hotels, and Americans are their most frequent customers.

The Dan Tel Aviv was after all in the perfect location – steps from the beach and in the city.

We finished the tour in the executive lounge, which had a breathtaking view of the beach.

The plan for the morning was to head to the Gindi Fashion Week shows. A few of us did not do any fashion writing and decided to skip it.

I went for a walk along the beach with my friend and fellow About.com writer, Karen Tina (KT) Harrison.

Tel Aviv is such an ideal vacation spot with both the city and a spectacular beach in one spot. It was clean and not at all crowded, with the crystal blue Mediterranean Sea and a well-kept promenade to walk along.

Walking is just what we did, for about an hour, before heading back to our rooms to get a little work done.

In the afternoon, KT and I went to Tishbi Winery, along with another writer, Jo Piazza, who was the Managing Editor of Yahoo! Travel.

It was about an hour and a half away from downtown Tel Aviv, but well worth the trip.

My cousin Marge had arranged for us to tour the winery and it turned out to be a most memorable experience.

Everyone was incredibly welcoming. We had one of the best meals ever and every wine we tasted at Tishbi was fantastic.

I especially loved the Tishbi Brut Sparkling and the Viognier. As for the food, we sampled nearly every fresh and delicious dish on the menu and I don’t think I could distinguish a favorite.

Everything we ate was from fresh and local meat and vegetables. The fish was straight from the Red Sea.

We were all quite impressed with the whole operation at Tishbi , which also included a bakery and chocolate shop.

We finished in the tasting room, where we went home with wine and treats (I love their Mango Chardonnay Jam in my baked brie).

It was tough to leave Tishbi, but we had to go return the car and meet back with the group a few hours later for dinner at Dr. Shakshuka Restaurant in Old Jaffa.

The restaurant, a popular one for locals and visitors, was quite good, but it was hard to top our afternoon.

The dishes served here originally came from North Africa.

We sampled a little bit of everything from salads to dessert. They didn’t stop bringing out dishes from the moment we all sat down.

After dinner, we walked through Old Jaffa. Our guide Carmela showed us the old soap factory, which has become a favorite hiding place for the local bats.

KT and I finished the night with drinks at a very busy and colorful nightclub, the Flamingo Bar at the Brown Beach House Hotel.

We met up with the public relations reps from the hotel for a nightcap from their eclectic menu.

I settled on the Green Crush, Bombay gin with cucumbers, mint, verbena (a flower), and ginger ale.  It was pretty good.

We stayed about an hour. It had been a very long day and it was a bit crowded for our tastes, though younger crowd seemed to love it.

It was just a short walk back to the Dan Hotel Tel Aviv. I was so tired I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.