When our church announced that they were going to Israel in Feb, 2020, we didn’t initially think we’d go. But eventually ended up signing up. It’s one of our favorite places and we love helping out with the worship. AND, Magnum Bars, you MUST enjoy many, many magnum bars in Israel! They’re made differently in the U.S., so don’t be fooled. The ones at home in our grocery store aren’t nearly as good.
We got in around 7:30pm from India, rented our car and grabbed some laffa near the Damascus Gate for dinner before we made it to the hotel. We’d used an online rental car company and learned the $40 way that there are extra taxes and fees if you do that. So when booking a car for Israel, book directly with the rental car company to avoid surprise fees.
Our first two nights we stayed at St Georges Guesthouse. It was such a great spot, we loved it. And breakfast was fabulous. Our first morning was rainy and cold. We bundled up and set out for a stroll in the old city. We hadn’t intended on going up on the Temple Mount, as usually guards are there harassing you for what you’re wearing. However, we were curious to see if it was different on our own. The rain was lovely and it wasn’t crowded at all.
We strolled through the markets, and found a couple places we’d read had good food. Jafar Sweets has amazing Knafeh, it’s best fresh and hot. YUM!
Another find was the amazing hummus and pita at Arafat Hummus. The onion, and jalapeño, oh man, my mouth is watering. And it’s right among the shopping in the Old City, which is always a fun afternoon.
Another cool spot we checked out on our own was Mehane Yehuda. They have all kinds of fun food spots in here, as well as bulk tea. Just be aware of what they’re charging you, we picked up some tea that ended up being $68!!! There was a great shawarma place too, you know it’s good when all the locals eat there.
Two of our dear friends flew in a couple days before the rest of the group, so we switched hotels to American Colony Hotel, to stay with them. Talk about luxury. I wished we’d spent more nights here, it was lovely.
We were excited to meet up with our group at the airport after a few days on our own. And I’ll admit, it was really fun to already be acclimated to the time change and watch our friends stumble around in the fog of jet lag. 🙂
It was great to experience Israel with them. We hit a lot of the same spots, and some new ones too.
It was too windy to go up to the Golan Heights, but that meant we got to brave the muddy hike down to Banias Falls. It was gorgeous! And they have have water spigots to wash the mud off your shoes.
In Capernaum, we found the statue of Homeless Jesus. And then realized a week later in Bruges, that there’s one there too! So that was kind of fun!
Another new spot was Sahne Springs. We were going to do baptisms in the Sea of Galilee but it was stormy and cold the day we were supposed to do it.
This trip was also our first visiting the American Embassy in Jerusalem, it was awesome to see it!
We had a few more stops on our trip after our friends left Israel. We spent one more night in Israel. We stayed at Okeanos Suites Herzlyia, where we had a lovely view of the ocean, and despite a rainy forecast, we had sunshine for our morning walk on the beach before we head to the airport. We found all kinds of shells and even heart shaped rocks, it was a wonderful end to what was another amazing trip to Israel.
