Israel Day 3: Tel Aviv

After spending Days 1 and 2 outside of the city, we stayed close to the home base on Day 3. Tom and Kaley let us sleep in a little, so we didn't start our walking tour until about 10:00 am. They picked us up at the hotel and then we headed south, to Jaffa (Yafo in Hebrew). Jaffa is the old port city of Tel Aviv, about a 10 minute walk down the coast from our hotel. Along the way, we walked past beautiful beaches, with insane playgrounds (which just made me miss Dan even more) and really cool outdoor workout facilities, with weight and cardio machines (all mechanical, using body weight as resistance). I'll try and get some pictures of those for another day--maybe even a video of me demonstrating the different machines!

When we arrived in Jaffa, we headed straight for Dr. Shakshouka, a restaurant specializing in shakshouka, of course. According to the restaurant's website, shakshouka is a "North African dish of tomatoes, bell peppers, eggs, and spices....a cousin of Huevos Rancheros." It was served in a sizzling hot cast-iron skillet with a side of very thick bread, almost like soda bread. Needless to say, it was just what the doctor ordered (ha!) and we all licked our skillets clean.

After breakfast, we just walked around Jaffa, in and out of the markets selling everything from antique couches to ice cream machines to figs and dates. Jaffa is the old Arab part of Tel Aviv so the architecture was beautiful and very different from anything else that we had seen. We just walked around and enjoyed it all.





In the afternoon, Kaley and I headed to the nail salon for manicures while Tom and Zach enjoyed a different Middle Eastern delicacy--the shawarma. Shawarmas are pitas with shaved meat inside, either lamb or goat or beef. Zach is now a big fan, of course.

For dinner that night, we had reservations at one of the hottest spots in Tel Aviv, Messa. It's been named one of the world's 80 best restaurants by Conde Nast magazine. The restaurant is white-on-white, with white walls, white tables, white chairs, white everything. The bar is just the opposite with black everything. Very cool. I definitely did not feel hip enough to be there, but everyone was very friendly and not snobby. The food was unbelievable and we all agreed that it was one of the best, if not the very best, restaurants that we'd ever been to. (Side note: Tom and Kaley made reservations for us every night, never before 9 pm. That's just what time people eat dinner in Tel Aviv. Zach and I are more used to eating at about 5:30 and being in bed by 9, so this was a bit of an adjustment!)