I don’t know where to begin when trying to tell you how absolutely incredible this trip was last weekend. 

Should I begin with talking about the city?  Or the food?  Or my family?  Or meeting all of these long-lost distant relatives? Or should I tell you about the absolutely incredible wedding I went to?  So much to say!  But lucky for you, I’ll get to everything.  😉

A few months ago, my parents got invited to a 2nd…or 3rd? cousins wedding in Tel Aviv.  We knew it would be on the beach and we knew it would be incredible, so they said “why not?”, bought tickets to London and then Israel, told me to see if I could get off work, and a short time later, I had a quick 3.5 day trip booked for myself!!  My school graciously let me off of work for a day, combined with my 3 day weekend, I knew I was in for an amazing trip!

I caught a red-eye out of Madrid on Wednesday night, tossed and turned in my seat, while trying to digest my plane-provided albondigas (meatballs), and landed in Tel Aviv at the ripe hour of 4:00 am on Thursday!  A missed train, then a caught train, a short taxi ride, and insane exhaustion later- I was at the Airbnb where my parents were sound asleep!!  We booked a small, but functional, Airbnb two blocks off of the beach (on Ben Yehuda street) and it was perfect.  Nothing incredible, but perfect for what we needed it for!  We said some quick hello’s and then goodnight’s and all went back to sleep for a dreamy 4-5 hours or so.  I woke up a few hours later to the smells and sounds of my mom unwrapping some traditional Israeli baked goods, a healthy hunk of cheese, and some perfectly sweet raspberry jam.  

She had gotten up, made coffee, gotten dressed, gone out, AND come back, without me hearing a peep.  I was completely knocked out, huh?

The first day was all about exploring Jaffa!!  We walked from our house, all the way along the BEAUTIFUL and breath-taking coast.  

I couldn’t stop staring at the shimmering, turquoise water!  We walked along for about an hour, stopping occasionally to take pictures or to play 🙂

We walked and talked and walked and talked, until we finally arrived at the base of Jaffa!  

Jaffa is the oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo.  If you want to read more, here is Dr. Wikipedia.

We were planning to do the walking tour, but the high heat and mid-day sun deterred us.  Instead, we walked around Jaffa for a bit, admiring the beautiful buildings and flowers!

And then we set off in search of the famous flea market.

 I was getting to my cranky-hungry state, so we stopped to refuel with an insanely good falafel.

My dad also wanted to try something from this bakery that was recommended.  Look how happy he is 😉

And then we continued walking through the winding streets, stopping to look at jewelry and the various things they are trying to convince you that you NEED in your life.

We stopped for a refreshing orange-carrot juice and it was perfect.

We walked around for a bit more, popped in and out of the market stalls, and then stopped on the water for some refreshments at Sea Food Bar.

Beautiful place if you’re ever in Tel Aviv!!

We ordered some deliciously fresh Israeli salads and beer to share…

RIGHT!!!!

The views were incredible

Once we finished, the sun was starting to set so we made the long walk back along the boardwalk to shower and get ready for dinner with new friends and family.

None of us were all that hungry, so we got a few plates to share, as well as this fudgy, peanuty chocolate dessert!!

I was past the point of exhaustion, but full and happy from such a good time.  The next day, we were up and ready for some wedding time!