A great view of Tel Aviv from Jaffa
Modern Jaffa thrives on it's antiquity, with a quaint old town feel. Even the night street market reminds me of an old bazaar, completely different from contemporary Tel Aviv, which is just a 10 minute walk north. Street side stalls of shwarma, falafel and shish kebab abound, but we chose to visit Noa, a cute little Mediterranean bistro on a side alley. Noa is the little sister to Cordelia, the more famous and upmarket restaurant just around the corner, with the same chef, and from reviews, equally good.
They had a tasting menu going on with a couple of first courses to share, and then a main course each.
My dining partner was a great sport, and humored my appetite by allowing me to order an extra liver pate (which of course I absolutely love), even on severe warning from the waitress that it was a lot of food (rubbish!). The best plate was the sea bream carpaccio, which was thinly sliced (think Hirame), then dressed in olive oil, sea salt and chives. Super simple, super fresh, and super delicious.
As mentioned earlier the pate was fantastic, but what I really loved was the macerated raisins which became plump with a good dose of dessert wine, not unlike what I serve my foie gras with.
We tried the lamb kebabs which was stuffed with goat cheese, and a braised pork shank which had cooked for hours and was completely falling off the bone. The kebabs were a bit more unique, but the shank was a better dish. How can you go wrong with a good braising technique anyway, especially with all that good fat around the lean meat? Note to self - if you want to impress, braise.
After eating so well on Thursday night, by breakfast on Friday seemed comparatively blah - a Challah Egg Sandwich and mineral water, which I munched on while driving to Ein Gedi (I'm a safe driver, I swear!).
It wasn't a bad drive at all, in fact completely enjoyable, especially when I noticed the difference between the lush greenery on the West of Jerusalem, and then the acrid desert to the East. In the wilderness of Judea, I spotted a couple of very interesting things, included a decked out camel and goats on a hill.
My ears also kept popping as I drove further down the 400m towards the Dead Sea.
I arrived at Ein Gedi in the heat of the day, and I'm not sure what I was thinking (but the kiosk at the foot of the hike knows, trust me - they charge you 3X the price for water), but I took the hike up to Wadi David, cooling off in the freshwater pools along the way.
It amazed me to know that such beautiful oases could survive just a stone's throw away from the Dead Sea which can hold no life all (not known to man anyway).
After a float in the Dead Sea and a self-attending spa treatment by caking myself in the blackest of mud, my skin was ultra soft, and it was just in time for me to make the 45 minute drive further south to Ein Bokek, where I would spend the night.
This took me past Masada, unfortunately, I wasn't able to stop because it was just so damn hot (45C). I arrived just in time to take another dip in the salt pools which used to be part of the Dead Sea before it dried up and water had to be pumped in. Unlike the ultra-cool float at Ein Gedi, the water at Ein Bokek was like a hot tub - except that in mid afternoon, it was unbearably hot, so I headed back to my room to watch the sunset instead.
Fortunately, even on shabbat there was a great (relatively speaking) restaurant around the corner called Quattro, and I was able to escape the hotel buffet to have dinner there. The food was not bad, fried calamari and lamb kebabs again, served with a delicious eggplant mash.
For dessert, I had the Belgium waffle with ice cream and bananas, enough to feed another 3 more people and then some. I chatted with Maya, my friendly waitress, until she had to go back to work.
I woke up early the next morning (6am) to make the drive back to Jerusalem in time for the 9am tour. Conveniently enough, my GPS kept trying to take me into Jericho. It's a good thing I have a great sense of direction - for a girl anyway. Unfortunately, that was not enough to save me from Jerusalem, which is ridiculously complicated and has no city planning at all. I guess they didn't do that sort of thing 3000 years ago.
Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives
Mercy Gates
The day tour took us into Bethlehem, and to every single Jerusalem sight you can think of, including the Western Wall where I was yelled at for taking pictures on Shabbat.
The best picture I could get of the Western Wall
Incense at the Bazaar
Arab Sweets that I missed
Lunch was completely uneventful, and at the end of the day, all I wanted to do was... eat (no surprised there). After much trouble with trying to check in before sunset on a Saturday (that will teach me - next time just pick a name brand hotel, come on!), I headed out for dinner at a place which I was reassured several times that the food was very good.
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Askadinya is on Shimon Ha Tsedek Street in East Jerusalem, tucked away in a remodeled 19th century house with limestone walls and arched doorways. I was on my own again when it came to dinner, and on recommendation, ordered the beef steak with a tasty green pepper and garlic dressing and sauteed baby potatoes and squash.
Actually my first steak in Israel
I was desperate to have some Arab sweets for dessert, which unfortunately they did not have, so I had to make do with the peanut mousse cake, topped with an Italian meringue (marshmallow), which was quite unique, and something that I will probably try to replicate.
I finished off the night having drinks at the Blue Hole, an Irish (I know huh?) Pub , which was busy till the wee small hours of the morn, evidence that the Nightlife also exists outside Tel Aviv.
A crazy Shisha shop round the corner form the Blue Hole
Sadly, this was the close of my weekend in Jerusalem, and I left for Tel Aviv on Sunday for the coup de grace - but that, as they say, is another post!
your pics are making me hungry...
ReplyDeletehow did the mud feel?