Israel Day 1: Jerusalem (The Old City)

We arrived in Tel Aviv on Saturday (an hour early!) and we were met at the airport by Zach's brother, Tom, and his girlfriend, Kaley. After getting settled in at the beautiful David Intercontinental Hotel, we headed out for a walking tour of Tel Aviv followed by dinner at Raphael. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was great--especially when we found out that Madonna was sitting two tables over from us. Very exciting! After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to get a much-needed night of rest before our first full day in Israel.

Sunday started out bright and early because we were headed to Jerusalem. It was about an hour and a half bus ride, but Jerusalem seems worlds away from Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv is very cosmopolitan, with high-rise hotels, office buildings, fancy restaurants, expensive shops, and everything else you would expect a major city to have. Jerusalem is very old world, with crowded cobblestone streets, tiny shops in hidden back alleys, and amazing religious and historical sites.

We started out by walking through the market (called a shouk in Hebrew, or a souk in Arabic) where every stall had amazing fresh produce, every kind of dried fruit imaginable, and tons of nuts and spices. Kaley showed me all the good stuff to buy, like dates, figs, and pomegranates. Tommy was a great tour guide, navigating us through a confusing maze of streets with only minimal time being lost. More to come from Jerusalem....