Day Three--First days in Israel

The first days are the hardest days to remember, due to a bit of jet lag and much running around with no time to record.  However, due to the quick draw of my photo hand I am able to recall many things.
Saturday night December 25, after flying approx. 12,000 miles on two airplanes, I arrived into Tel Aviv International airport. With no muss and no fuss got a cab to The Dizengoff Suites where Emily was awaiting my arrival.  After a quick shower we ventured out to get some dinner.  The first of many misdirections.  We asked the front desk person at our hotel how to get to Shenkin Street, as Emily had a restaurant in mind that she wanted to go to.  In following the directions we were given we found ourselves very far off where we wanted to be.  But, not to be lead astray we persevered and found Shenkin Street.  We found Suzettes and had a good meal.  Well anything probably would have been good as I was extremely hungry, you can imagine, the food on the plane was less than appetizing.  By the time we finished our meal and walked back to the hotel I was ready for bed.  It's a long way to get here from Santa Barbara.  On the walk back it struck me that I had left my new permaloft (fake down) jacket on the plane.  I was bummed.


I was actually able to sleep fairly well and woke the next morning ready to go.
Emily and I walked back to the same neighborhood we had dinner in, without getting lost this time, and met a few of her friends (Leo and Tamara) for breakfast.  This breakfast was my introduction to the Israeli specialty, 'Shakshuka'.

Emily and her friends

After breakfast we were off to the Tel Aviv Shuk 'Ha Carmel' where you can get just about anything you need for fairly good prices, from food to clothing to beauty supplies, fabrics, you name it I'm sure you can find it.  Also, there are lots of juice bars with fresh fruits and vegetables of all kinds; pomegranet, orange, apple, pineapple, carrots, beets, etc.  I had a fresh squeezed pomegranate and apple juice, yummy and so refreshing.

pomegranates

 I can't believe the hot weather here.  Once we walked through the marketplace we continued down Shenkin Street, which is a mix of Melrose (in L.A.) and Soho (in N.Y.) rather hip and somewhat expensive with some deals to be had.  I will say that most of the clothes/fashions here are similar to America.

We continued our days journey by walking next to the beautiful Mediterranean Sea.  The tiled concrete walkway goes for miles along the beachfront.  We walked all the way to the Port and watched the sunset.  The one thing I am sad about is that the sun sets so early in the winter.  By 5:00 or 5:15 it's dark outside.  However, in Tel Aviv that doesn't mean much as there is activity all night long.  The horns of the cars and buses are never ending bundled in with the ambulance sirens.  Not the most peaceful.  Which is why I wouldn't live in a big city.

For dinner we ate at a very hip restaurant "Rustico" on Rothschild Street.  What a great beginning.