What to do in Israel - Israel by car

This trip will always stand out in my memory. Not only because it was Faidon's first time in Asia, but mostly due to the fact that Israel has made us face challenges that no other country ever did.

The objective was rather simple. I desperately needed some place warm, with not too much to do for Christmas break. That is why we decided to go for Tel Aviv, where the must-sees are limited and the beaches are neverending. We also couldn't find tickets for Jerusalem that was kind of important...

Let's just say that the beginning of our trip was...well...explosive...

Yeah, I got a horrible food poisoning from an egg salad sandwich at the airport in Warsaw, so I had the opportunity to visit every single bathroom at the airport in Tel Aviv. And gotta say, they were all pretty decent. Speaking of airports...

Entering the country (and exiting)

I was really scared while buying the tickets, due to the UAE stamp in my passport. As a matter of fact, a lot of people are afraid because of the very unclear procedures when entering and exiting the country. The truth is that you have nothing to worry about. While passing through the passport control you will be asked a few random questions. Some will be pretty classic (ex; how long are you staying?, what are you here for?, who are you with?), and some might appear a little bizarre, like "what is your father's last name?". However, no matter how long they keep you answering you will safely be granted permission to enter the country and then leave it without stress. For instance, me and Faidon passed almost directly at the entrance, but were kept for about 10 minutes at the exit. If you're still unsure, because maybe you have visited many Islamic countries, I can tell you a story of a man who we have met in a taxi. He was a Croatian who came to Israel to visit his girlfriend and complained a lot about the security guards really taking their time when questioning him (they took like 10 minutes). The reason? He used to live in Saudi Arabia...

What you should bare in mind are the replacements for passports. You will be given a peace of paper the size of a credit card (a different one at the entrance and the exit) that will serve you as your most important document durig the entire trip. I suggest putting it somewhere where you KNOW you won't lose, because not only you need it to travel around the country, but it will be very hard to return home without it.

Choosing location

Israel is a small country. That is very good. We like small countries. They're easy to travel through and you have better chances of seeing the most of them. However, I didn't realise how fast and easy it would be to move around. Remember when I said that we didn't find any tickets from Warsaw to Jerusalem. After a few days in Tel Aviv we would take a train ride to the capital every day. It takes about an 1h30, so we could've easily booked a flight to Tel-Aviv and a hotel in Jerusalem. But that really is your choice.

If you're looking for a place that's;

• Sunny and warm

• Has plenty of beautiful and big beaches

• Will give you chance to relax and not do much all day

Then Tel Aviv is certainly for you. After months of hard and exhausting work I really looked forward to enjoying doing nothing. We spent the first 2 days chilling at the Crowne Plaza Tel-Aviv City Center Hotel. But of course, after taking a long rest my nature took over and we started getting a little hungry for more Israeli culture. So, if you feel the need to;

• Discover the Israeli culture and history

• Have easy access to other cities and attractions

• Have a more active trip

Then it will obviously be Jerusalem.

Tel Aviv - Things to do

Close your eyes, after reading this sentence of course. Now, what is the first thing that comes into your mind when you hear about Tel Aviv? There's a 99.9% chance that you thout of the beach. Even Gal Gadot recommends going to a restaurant at the beach in her home town. And is it amazing? Yup, yes it is. The beaches are long and huge, the waves are just majestic. The jellyfish are obese. You can spend hours walking on the shore and admiring the sunset. We decided to take it a step further and limed through the coast at night. That made it even more magical.

As you're walking/driving/liming, listening to the waves and feeling the wind in your hair, there is a high chance you are heading towards the Jaffa Port. That is the most beautiful part of the city. You can tell it's way older than the rest of the city and very touristy. You can sit at one of the restaurants or cafes and stare at the sea or look for the iconic local street art. If you wanna read about the scary adventure I had at the Jaffa port keep reading.

The view from our window (excuse the brag)

If the weather isn't suitable for beaching, you might want to visit a mall, but definetely not for consumption. The hotel we stayed at was directly connected to a mall called Azrieli. The shops and boutiques were unique and will be perfect for looking for souvenirs, including clothes and the Dead Sea based cosmetics. In addition, if you have a lot of time you can check out the gym and the swimming pool.

The one thing that we found truly repulsive was the dirt, nothing too special, just normal, urban, humanly dirt. The kind of dirt we're used to in Europe (I'm talking about hobos, dog shit, trash etc.), but don't expect in Asia. The amount of good food was limited, but the omnipresent garbage wasn't inviting. That turned a casual walk with an ice-cream cone or sitting in a bench with some traditional shakshouka into a traumatising experience.

Jerusalem - Things to do

Yeah...I felt that city calling me during the 2 days I spent in bed. After I finally rolled out of bed and used all of my strength to consume some traditional local breakfast at the hotel, we managed to catch a train that took us to Jerusalem. By the time we arrived I knew we had very limited time to do the things we had planned. That caused some stress and here's what happened...

Public transport is an issue to every tourist in every new country, which is why I'm discussing it right now. The train will take you to the city center where you will find buses, that might resemble trams. Right next to the station you will see a line of ticket machines, let the fun begin. We didn't take any cash (big mistake), so we tried following the instructions for all the newbs who were using credit cards. Click here, choose ticket, choose amount, choose payment, enter card, enter pin... and nothing. As we looked around we realised were surrounded by many equally confused tourists. In consequence, we behaved like any responsible adult. We entered the bus and decided to pay a fine. The moment the controller approached us Faid declared that the machines must be broken and that we'd like to take responsibility by paying for taking a ride without a ticket. The controller got offended and told us that the machines are perfectly ok, we're just stupid and can't use them. He also refused to give us a fine and kicked us out at the next stop. Turns out you have to insert the card and take it out right after. There, you're welcome. Now back to the fun stuff!

Yad Vashem - a museum I had on my bucket list for a while. In case if you don't know, it's a very modern and immersive memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It also happens to be one of the museums which evry person should see at least once in a lifetime. As someone born in Poland, I have been studying WWII way before I could even read or write, ergo I didn't learn that much. However, they do have an impressive collection of authentic exhibits. Looking at them I realised how many of them are placed in reconstructions of actual places in Poland, like the one designed to resemble a barack in Auschwitz. From what I'm aware, it inspired the Polin (Polish Jews) museum in Warsaw. I got to admit Polin is a little better, but that's for another article. Generally, whether you're an expert in history or aren't very interested, it will be an emotional experience which everyone should have.

Ok, I don't care where you come from or what's you're knowledge. You have heard of The Western Wall. The good thing about the Western Wall is that it's pretty much the Eiffel Tower of the city, so you'd have to be really stupid to struggle to find it. We took a taxi and experienced a bit of the local driving, that's how we died. Just kidding, but we did have an accident. The journey to the famous wall led us through the charming view of the old town, which is a great place for a bite, in our case a tasty shakshuka. The wall itself is a vibrant festival of the local culture. First of all, we had to part, since the place is seperated by gender. Second of all, Faidon had to borrow a Kippah in order to enter (how emersive). Next, I tried very hard to approach the first row, since the vast amount of people made it a little difficult. Finally, I found myself surrounded by a great variety of women of all nationalities and religions praying in their native languages. Every crack and hole was filled with tiny pieces of paper, where people from all around the wolrd wrote their wishes and prayers. I can tell you that these few moments felt like in a different universe. On the men's side (from what I saw at the entrance) there's a door to a huge library, on the women's side there's a cool clock.

After Faidon returned the Kippah and we took a taxi to the station the adventure finally began...

Israel by car

Long story short, the driver overheard us discussing going to the Dead Sea. very naturally he said "I'll drive you there!". Seeing our shock he added "And Bethlehem too". I was surprised, I was scared, I was about to make the best decision of that trip. Yes, I got frightened, so faster than ever I looked up if it's normal thing. Yes, it is. In the meantime Faid was looking up prices and quickly it was obvious that the deal he was offering was more than good. At the hotel we asked the concierge about the trips organised by their company. Not only did he tell us that the road we described didn't exist (Tel Aviv - Bethlehem - Dead Sea - Tel Aviv), but the number he gave us just for going to the Dead Sea with a bunch of other people was twice as high as the one offered by the driver. We texted him the adress and he picked us up right from th hotel in the morning. We had our new Israeli passports, bathing suits and towels. On our way the driver told us that with his father and brother in law they drive people around the country all the time and the way he showed us around proved it to be true.

Bethlehem

I was a little worried about crossing the Palestinian boarder, mostly because the information I found on-line was very confusing. In the end we entered with no trouble, all we needed were the small passports. In Bethlehem we were welcomed with some good tea and the Middle Eastern hospitality hit us hard. The locals were more opened and kind than anywhere I've ever been. Our stop was at a small souvenir shop, where I bought a small manger made ou of the olive tree. Imagine my face when right next to it I saw a Stars and Bucks and a Biedronka. From there we walked to the biggest attraction, the Nativity Church. The building is a temple for three different relationships: Roman Catholic, Armenian Apostolic and Greek Orthodox, so perfect for me and Faid to get married. The guid told us everything about the history, said we should get married and helped us crawl to the place of Jesus's birth, the one here ⬇️

The Dead Sea

The next stop was the Dead Sea. We went through the desert while looking at palm trees and donkeys. Finally, we got to the resort, where we could eat lunch, take a camel ride, change and of course swim.

Facts about the Dead Sea

1. Don't come here in summer. We went there in January and the temperature was perfect, but between the months of April and September it's so hot that people can only stay in the water for a few minutes.

2. Don't wear white and don't bring white towels, the mud will instantly make them black.

3. You will read a lot about not shaving and not having open wounds. I learn the hard way that thanks the sharp ass rocks you can't enter the water without getting open wounds. And you will be very aware of them.

Other than that the feeling of floating was unforgettable.

At the end of the day we were driven all the way back to the hotel and agreed that the day was successful.

Safety in Israel

Our last evening we wanted to do something special. Many of our friends recommended the Jaffa port (thanks Jonathan) with it's braethtaking view of the sea and street art. While taking a walk between the beautiful coast and the crowded bars and restaurants some kids came up to me, not sure what they were saying or in what language, but they were loud and kinda touchy. Faidon pushed them away and that really annoyed them. We walked away by about 100m. Suddenly one of them ran up to us and in front of everyone pushed Faid...and then he ran away. At this point I was way too freaked out and wanted to go back. Of course, we saw them again. They kept staring and shouting at us, but when they aggressively started approaching I just had enough. I came up to the waiter at a bar next to us and asked him to call security. The 3 thug/kids reacted like true men...by ranning away again. We stayed at the bar for a while, tried calling the police and even asked the security for help, but finally we returned to the hotel. There I asked at the reception desk for a taxi to the police station. The manager got involved and even offered free dinner. Here I would like to thank the Israeli protective services for being more attentive than anyone ever. We waited max 5 minutes for the chief to invite us to his office and to my surprise listened and even thanked for reporting the event.

Conclusion? Israel is a must see. It's a melting pot of religions and the center of both Western and Oriental culture. Just remember to ask, talk and stay present...