I was hesitant about traveling to Israel. The security situation there is, at best, complex. But my husband had an invitation to a work event in Tel Aviv and our current policy is to go with the flow, travel-wise. So, we scrapped whatever trip idea we’d originally had for May and set off for a weekend in Jerusalem, followed by a few days in Tel Aviv. It turned out to be one of my favorite travels ever.
Standing in the religious sites of Jerusalem is immensely humbling. Though you generally have to walk through the sometimes chaotic labyrinthine alleyways of the Old City to get to them, a visit to the Western Wall, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, or al-Ḥaram al-Šarīf (Temple Mount), takes you to another place and time and begs an extended moment of quiet contemplation. In Tel Aviv, everywhere I went I was greeted by a chill vibe, which, as a local taught me, can be summed up in one word: sababa. Sababa can be used in place of OK, great, alright, cool, but also captures a laid-back feeling. In Israel, I also enjoyed the food more than I have probably anywhere else. I mean, look, while it’s one of my favorite things in the world to discover cuisines that are completely unlike anything I normally eat (I’m looking at you, Prague and the West Fjords of Iceland), I like what I like and Israel had everything I like. Fresh food, ALL THE VEGETABLES, and chickpeas and falafel out the wazoo.
Standing in the religious sites of Jerusalem is immensely humbling. Though you generally have to walk through the sometimes chaotic labyrinthine alleyways of the Old City to get to them, a visit to the Western Wall, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, or al-Ḥaram al-Šarīf (Temple Mount), takes you to another place and time and begs an extended moment of quiet contemplation. In Tel Aviv, everywhere I went I was greeted by a chill vibe, which, as a local taught me, can be summed up in one word: sababa. Sababa can be used in place of OK, great, alright, cool, but also captures a laid-back feeling. In Israel, I also enjoyed the food more than I have probably anywhere else. I mean, look, while it’s one of my favorite things in the world to discover cuisines that are completely unlike anything I normally eat (I’m looking at you, Prague and the West Fjords of Iceland), I like what I like and Israel had everything I like. Fresh food, ALL THE VEGETABLES, and chickpeas and falafel out the wazoo.
