Tel Aviv
We caught the bus to Tel Aviv and the first thing we did, even before dropping off our bags at the hostel, was try one of the hummus restaurant recommendations we received from our hiker friends. It didn't disappoint. We tried something a little different and added mushrooms to the mix and it was sensational. The restaurant itself was pretty understated and kind of cramped but that was probably because we brought our bags in. It was cool, though, that the seating area stuck into the sidewalk but was still enclosed so you didn't feel like you were in people's way.
With our bellies full, we walked the couple of blocks to the hostel I found online a few days before. From the moment we checked in, Andrew was very pleased with the establishment. We were given two free drinks at the bar that was located inside the hostel and of course Andrew knew he would get to use both of them. After all of our stuff was stowed away and we claimed our bunks we went out to explore.
The sun was setting already and we found ourselves in what I can only assume was one of the shopping areas and there was even a vegan protest going on! Pretty cool to see though it had disbanded by the time we walked back to the hostel.
We found the hummus restaurant that google search brought to our attention and it is this hummus that has ruined all other hummus for me. My expectations of what hummus can be is set way way WAY higher now. Additionally, Andrew's hummus eating habits have been altered forever... Every table also receives a plate with pickles, jalapeños, olives, and white onion. Dipping the white onion in the warm hummus is a very different experience for your tastebuds compared to hummus and pita but in a good way. I highly recommend trying it (maybe not if you are about to be in close proximity with other humans though).
After finishing our dinner we went back to the hostel and discovered they had popsicles next to the front desk... The same popsicles we discovered at Timna Park what feels like ages ago. Pretty much every time I walked through the lobby I would stop by the freezer and grab a popsicle... I was probably 85% popsicle by the time we left for the airport.
We visited the Jaffa Port area and spent some time getting sprayed by the sea water that crashed against the barrier. Andrew had to walk around for about five minutes to dry off. We visited the Jaffa Port Market just to check out the location because most everything was closed due to the holiday weekend.
We walked along the water on a boardwalk that separates the city with the beach and even saw a jelly fish in the water. Andrew wanted to go swimming but we ended up renting a pair of bikes and riding the other way on the boardwalk.
We dropped off the bikes at a different station and meandered back to the hostel - to which we arrived to a text message warning us our rental was going longer than two hours! If we had still been using the bikes this wouldn't be a problem... but we returned them an hour ago! We scrambled back to the bike station where Andrew found his bike was just not completely clicked into the bike mount. This was a relief because the fine for an unreturned bike was over 1,000 USD!
Once we had that figured out we walked along the water again to watch the sunset and then walked back to the hostel in the dark (without getting lost).
More pictures of hummus for your enjoyment:
At the end of our last day in Tel Aviv we returned to the hostel for the last time and picked up our bags. We snuck into a ride-share to the airport that ended up feeling like a rollercoaster ride down the highway. Despite trying to leave as late as possible we still got to the airport eight hours before our flight left. We were not allowed to check in until two hours until departure, so we did our best to entertain ourselves. This included desperately trying to read without falling asleep, playing games on our phones without running out of battery to display our boarding passes, scavenging for food in the limited array of open shops and finally when all else failed making a little nest with two chairs and my sleeping pad and trying to nap.
Once we were checked in everything went really quickly... for me at least. Andrew wasn't able to use the electronic passport scanners because his looked completely different from the bearded backpacker that it was trying to compare to his passport picture.
I hardly remember anything between getting on the plane in Tel Aviv to arriving in Seattle the next day. Oh. I do remember a wonderful pretzel during our layover in Frankfurt. Yum.
After such a wonderful experience in Israel it is nice to be back in the States getting some work done on our Airstream restoration and settling into post hiking life.