Israel, June 2008

I flew to Israel via Frankfurt, with a 12-hour layover there. We took a 747, and when we arrived in Frankfurt, we had to use the stairs and walk across the tarmac, rather than using a jet way. I’ve done on for smaller planes before (even 737s), but never for a 747. Walking past it to the gate, I realized what a massive plan it really is, and the tires (16 of them) were almost as tall as the maintenance guy leaning against them. It was quite a sight. I caught up on my sleep at the Steigenberger Airport Hotel, which was a five-minute shuttle bus ride from the airport. It was a very nice hotel. It borders the Frankfurt municipal forest, so I had a nice view of the forest with the downtown in the distance from my top-floor room.

 

 

 

 

I sat outside on the restaurant terrace and had a surprisingly delicious dinner. I would have liked to stay longer, but I had to leave for my flight to Tel Aviv. I flew on Lufthansa, on the new Airbus A340-600. Once again, we boarded from the tarmac, and climbed a very tall set of stairs to access the plane. I read in the Lufthansa on-line magazine that the A340-600 is the longest plane in the world! While the 747 carries 46 more passengers, the A340 beats the 747 by five meters in length, and is only one meter less in wingspan. There weren’t many people on the plane. The restrooms were located downstairs, which was interesting. I have never seen such a disregard for the standard airplane rules as on that flight. For example, about five people got up to use the restroom very soon after we took off, and were promptly told to return to their seats. When the plane landed, instead of waiting until right after the seatbelt sign went off, everybody jumped up before that happened. The plane had stopped temporarily, but it wasn’t done moving, and all of the people who were up were jolted upon the final arrival of the plane into the gate. The Ben Gurion airport is enormous, spotless, and hopping at 3:30am, which is when I arrived. I don’t recall ever having to walk as far from the plane to immigration. The lady whose line I chose was in training, and she asked me a fair number of questions, but nothing out of the ordinary. I caught a cab and was to my hotel about 4:30am. I was not tired, since I had taken a nap in Frankfurt. It was dark outside when I got to my room, and since there was not much else to do, I watched the sun rise. 

 

The beach got more active as the day went on, with the colored umbrellas on the public beaches opening up as the sun rose higher.

 

I went down to breakfast, which had an impressive array of food. A little later, I went to the hotel gym, then came back and took a nice nap. My co-workers and I met in the afternoon and decided to go to lunch at a place that the concierge had recommended that had local Israeli food. It was a 15-minute taxi ride, at the new harbor section of Tel Aviv. There were lots of interesting shops along the way (most of them closed). It was a good choice. We had our first taste of Israel hummus—I will never be able to buy Trader Joe’s hummus again. It came with this soft thick pita bread. We had grilled items (chicken, lamb, and beef) with lots of accompaniments. It was a local place. In the evening, I took a walk along the promenade next to the beach. It was the last day of a four-day holiday, and lots of people were still out enjoying the evening.

 

 On Tuesday evening, we went to dinner on the 49^th floor of a beautiful round office tower, to a Mediterranean-gourmet kosher restaurant called 2C (stands for "to see").

 

 

The views were great. We had our first taste of Israeli wine, a Merlot from the Golan Heights. It was outstanding. I ordered what I thought would be a simple green salad, but it had couscous on it as well as tomatoes, and it was delicious. My main course was a sea bream with mashed potatoes, which was very good. They had that same bread that you get everywhere (nice thick soft pita bread), but instead of hummus, it was served with three different dips, including one mayonnaise-based dip with fresh herbs, and a tomato-based dip. For dessert, we split three, including a chocolate soufflé that was very deep dark chocolate.

 

I guess I was expecting all desert in Israel. Was that a wrong assumption. The terrain is varied. One day, we drove past fields of sunflowers, grapevines, and other crops. There was a cornfield in one area. There are little villages set off by a group of trees. There are hills covered with pine trees. There are wide open golden fields with hay bales. Quite a diverse topography for a country the size of New Jersey.

 

 

The food at the company cafes is very good. They have the hummus and pita bread there, and every day they have had chocolate cake, so I was very happy! One day I chose an entree of ground beef wrapped in phyllo dough, and it was really tasty.

 

As for the people, they are very warm and friendly. Everything is very fast here. The people move and talk fast. The turnstiles move fast. The revolving doors move fast. The ants move fast!

 

Dinner another evening was at Rafael, French-Mediterranean cuisine with a pleasant atmosphere and a great view of the sea. We had an excellent table and great service. We ordered more Israeli wine from the Golan Heights, this time a Cabernet Sauvignon. There was warm focaccia-style bread that was incredible. I had an appetizer of scallops, then halibut with mashed potatoes. For dessert, they had an item on the menu titled “the Valhrona 2008 Chocolate Collection” which was a set of three little desserts that were very good.

 

Friday and Saturday is the weekend in Israel. It’s interesting that such a small percentage of the population is religious but there are still the observances of their traditions. On Friday, we went to Jerusalem. It was pretty warm, but it is a dry heat in Jerusalem, while it is pretty humid in Tel Aviv. First, we saw the parliament building and the Israel museum. Then we went to a spot where we could see a panoramic view of the old city.

 

Then we drove about 300 meters away from that view to see just hills and desert, with the Red Sea in the distance.

 

Then we went down to the old city. I was nervous approaching the Western Wall since I knew that the men and women had separate sections, and I was not sure if I would have to cover my head with a scarf. But it was very easy to figure out what to do. I didn’t stay there very long because it was so hot. I expected to feel something more than I did.

 

 

 

We walked back, drove out of the old city, and had a delicious lunch on the outskirts of Jerusalem. We had this huge round piece of warm pita bread with garlic, feta, rosemary, and sun-dried tomatoes on top. I had a kebab wrapped in a tortilla, with tahini sauce and a huge pile of delicious cucumbers and tomatoes. There was a store called “Chocolate House” right around the corner, and I bought two bars of handmade Israeli chocolate. I tried one bar and I was surprised how good it was. For $5, was a deal too. We drove through a Palestinian village that is one of the many “friendly” ones, where Israelis and Palestinians live peacefully together—there are good hummus places there. We’ve asked a lot of questions to our co-workers about the conflict; I’ve learned more but it is still very confusing and very complex.