My brother and I flew via BRU for three weeks in Israel. This started out as a Birthright trip with a two-week extension. We flew a quite leg on United from CLE to LGA. Next, we ubered to the Ohel for some prayers before heading off to get food. We choose
Chimichurri and ordered fried chicken, fried chicken wraps and burgers. We loved the fried chicken wraps and ordered several for the flights.
We walked up one block to
Giant Bagel and bought breakfast bagels for the next day. We got an Uber and headed to JFK to meet the group. After the introductions we checked our bags and made our way to the flight. With some
luck I got exit rows for the flight giving us plenty of legroom. Thankfully we had our own food as the kosher meal was spoiled.
We landed in Brussels with enough time to change terminals and find our next gate. After boarding a bus, we were taken to the next plane where we were packed in only to be told the AC would not work on the flight, and water would be for sale though exact change in Euro was needed as credit cards would not work on the flight. Shortly after the excruciatingly long four-hour flight came to an end as we touched down at Ben Gurion. We made our way through passport control where an agent jokingly told me I was a famous spy and would have no trouble surviving the apocalypse the group rejoined to find our bags had not suffered on the flight from Brussels as they had yet to arrive. After some introductions to Israel we piled onto a bus and headed to a mall to buy clothing. After a dinner of pizza and some amazing ice cream we felt at peace with the past few days of travel.
The next day we went to the Golan Winery where we received a tour of their wine making process and a crash course in wine tasting.
Following the Winery, we went to
Har Bental overlooking Syria.
The next day we went to Tzfat were we picked up some very good schnitzel from
Hashnizelia. To finish the day, we made our way to Jerusalem and checked in at the Jerusalem Gardens. The next morning, we went to the Kotel to daven and watch the Virtual Reality Experience. We then made our way to the Shuk erev shabbis. It is a very busy place with many unique stores, I grabbed fresh Kabukim, and rugalach from
Marzipan their chocolate are out of this world and their cinnamon are incredible as well.
Sunday we visited Yad Vashem followed by Har Herzl to finish off the day. Monday we went to Masada, Ein Gedi, and the Dead sea. The final day of birthright we traveled to Tel Aviv where we were given an introduction to Israeli startups by
Yossi Rabinovitz before going to the Carmel Market and Independence Hall. To finish the day, we went to Jerusalem to Barbeque in a park and heading to the Kotel Maariv.
My brother and I broke off from the group at this point and made our way to some new accommodations with family in Rechavia. The next day was a Thursday coinciding with a large parade which we decided to take advantage of by getting a late start to the afternoon. We went to
Memphis for burgers and ate the best burger we had in Israel on par with the best US burgers.
We went back to the Shuk and picked up more rugalach and wine for Shabbos. Friday I went to
Shabes Bistro and picked up food their dark meat Chinese was fantastic and was eaten for lunch Friday. Their schnitzel was good as was their roast.
Monday, we went on the Kotel tunnel tour which was very entertaining. For lunch we went to
Pear and Apple we loved their Onion soup with homemade croutons and fresh bread and plenty of cheese. The eggplant parmesan was a little too smoky and their tomato sauce was not very good. The ravioli was good with the Rosa sauce and the fettuccine was excellent with the extra garlic alfredo sauce. The sauce was so good we ordered gnocchi to have the sauce for dinner. The pizza and tiramisu were not good. We walked to the embassy to take a picture and were strongly told that photography was forbidden of any part of the site except the flag and eagle emblem.
Tuesday, we went to the
Israel museum, which was not what we expected it to be at all. There are many interesting exhibits, with plenty of architecture, sculptures, art, and fantastic archeology. Wednesday, we went to the Ramparts walk and spent the rest of the day exploring Jerusalem and shopping. We went to Waffle Bar for lunch we ordered the Oreo waffle, shakshuka, and iced coffee of which the coffee tasted like chocolate milk; the eggs where overcooked and dry.
Thursday, we booked a tour to chevron with the
Hebron Fund. With
this helpful list we arranged to be there on a day where all the Ohels would be open to Jews. The pickup was in front of the David Citadel hotel at 9:15am, we went to Kever Rochel and then to chevron where we walked around with the guide explaining to us the fascinating history of the area both recent and ancient. We were taken to a Pizza store just outside Me'arat Hamachpelah for lunch and then walked up the steps to go inside. After spending about an hour at the Ohels we boarded up the armored bus and made our way back to Jerusalem. Once we got back we walked to the film festival with rides and games, situated right next to
Lechem Basar where we planned on eating dinner. The restaurant has nice indoor and outdoor seating but with the festival and music outside we opted to eat indoors. We ordered lamb lahmacun, a hamburger, and the 300g filet mignon cooked med rare. The waitstaff comped us a house bread which was like an excellent pretzel type bread served with great dips and sea salt. The lamb was good though the burger was a bit chewy and flavorless. The filet mignon with a cup of Galil Yiron was excellent easily one of the best meals I have ever had, the only regret was ordering the burger and sharing one between the two of us instead of getting a second filet.
Sunday, we went to
Sixt to rent a car with an under-age driver. We stopped by
Usis for breakfast falafel though they did not have pita or extras like onions when they first opened. We made our way out towards Tel Aviv. Along the way we stopped at the Maccabees kevarim just before Modiin there is a very nice monument for them as well as for Israeli soldiers who were killed in the area. Next we made our way to Kfar Chabad where we went to 770 and kehot, we went to eat lunch at
Zalmen's pizza they have the best falafel we got in Israel. We went to Herzliya to meet a friend and watched a soccer game at
Mikes Place.
Monday we went to
Alternative for breakfast they have good breakfast special with a sandwich, eggs, and coffee. They also have good CY Ben&Jerrys milkshakes. We made our way to
Harmageddon which is a very nice hike. Next, we went to Caesarea which is beautiful place. For dinner we went to Hayekev in Netanya a nice restaurant overlooking the water. The fish and chips were perfect and the eggplant lasagna was fantastic and the service was wonderful. We made our way towards the airport with one more stop to kfar Chabad. We went to
Udaika they have a large selection we picked up shofars and made our way back to
Zalmen's for dinner and to get food for our flight. We picked up two falafels each with the dressings on the side put into a Ziplock we brought with us. We also bought mushrooms pastry’s a mix between a bourekas and a calzone which was very good. The falafels traveled very well and being 15nis and 15 minutes from TLV were well worth it. While eating dinner we met
Eli Naiditich who was very helpful he serves as American shluchim in Tel Aviv.
Returning our car to Sixt at Ben Gurion was very easy and they shuttled us to our terminal. Our flight to the states was uneventful and the entire trip was very enjoyable.
fried chicken Chimichurri
fried chicken wrap Chimichurri
KSML
ben and jerry’s ice cream
an expert mixing each bottle of champagne by hand
the finished champagne bottles
view of Syria from the Har Bental
the American extra schnitzel sandwich
cinnamon and chocolate rugalach
Memphis burger with egg (always ask for extra sauce)
schnitzel
onion soup from Agas Ve Tapuah
Ravioli
Fettuccine Alfredo
Gnocchi and Pizza
Tiramisu
A Sephardic Aron Kodesh at the Israel Museum
Waffle bar coffee
Oreo waffle
Kever Rochel
Lechem Basar hamburger
Lamb lahmacun
House bread
Filet mignon
Monument for the Maccabees
Sadly the monument for the soldiers seems to be vandalized
Mikes Place
Alter Native
Creme Brulee
Tel Maggido
Water tunnel
Caesarea water
Caesarea ruins
Gold Dinarim found at Caesarea
Hayekev fish and chips
Eggplant lasagna
