ISRAEL First Impressions (one day in Tel Aviv)

We're Karen Nate. Yesterday we had a super long journey from New York to our 96th country of Israel. After a slightly rough start to the trip with Nate being sick and losing his luggage, we spent yesterday just relaxing on the beach. And by some miracle, his bag was delivered last night. Now that all that is behind us, we are super excited to get out and explore Tel Aviv.

This is a country that we've been looking forward to exploring for so long, but for one reason or another, in the past, it just hasn't worked out. So we are so excited to finally be here.

We are staying in the Florentine neighborhood, which is a really cool area, has lots of street art, really cool vibes. And it's also where the Levinsky Market is located, which so many people told us to go to. So that's our first stop for the day.

So the Levinsky Market was started back in the 1930s when several spice shop owners started opening up next to each other in this neighborhood. And today it's turned into a major spice and produce market. But what's interesting about it is they're not all housed in the same complex. It's more of just a neighborhood where all the shops on the ground level consist of spices and produce. So it gives it this super unique vibe. It's a really fun place just to come and wander the streets. And the reason everybody told us to come here is because it's like a less touristy, more authentic version of some of the bigger markets here in the city.

What goes well with ginger? I was gonna add apple and ginger. Yeah, yeah. Okay, I'll take that.

Thank you so much. Have a great day. This place is filled with fresh produce, so we had to get a fresh, fresh juice. And the streets here smell amazing. It's like a combination of citrus with spices and bakeries. And they're playing music. I love it here.

Thank you. We got invited to dinner tonight and we didn't want to show up empty handed.

Let's go. So one of the very first things that we noticed when we got to Tel Aviv is that there are these rideshare scooters everywhere, like more than we've seen anywhere else in the world. So we are taking the local form of transportation to the caramel market.

Watch out, everybody.

Also, it's half price if you ride together. Oh, we're going to kill them.

Oh, gosh. We're fine. Where do I go? I go up this round.

Keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going. We'll all get some of speed. Oh, this is so Much fun.

I don't know how you're listening.

Let's stop here. Let's stop here. Okay.

We have made it to Shuka Carmel, which is the largest market in all of Tel Aviv, and it is packed.

This is crazy. They have everything from spices to produce to sunglasses and bathing suits, fur, hat, cosmetics, jewelry, shoes, souvenirs, backpacks, suitcases, rugs, magnets, keychains, record players, stuffed animals, food boxes.

So today is Friday, which means this evening is technically the start of the Sabbath. So not only is this market packed with tourists who are shopping for souvenirs, but it's also packed with locals who are picking up food to prepare for tonight's dinner. It's a Jewish tradition on Friday night for everyone to get together, friends and family, for a big meal to kick off the Sabbath.

I love the energy in this market. Everyone just constantly yelling. Also, I've lost Cara.

Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello.

Wow. Wow. I love you.

So the plan was to take the bus to the Jaffa market, but as soon as we jumped on, Kara realized she didn't have her transportation card. So we illegally rode one stop, and now we're back on the scooters. But we're down by the coast, and this is, like, the best possible place.

You could ride a scooter until you hit these cobblestones.

So the Jaffa neighborhood is noticeably older than anything else we've seen in the city, and that's because this is the original port city that Tel Aviv grew.

Out of, if you haven't been able to tell by now. We love going to markets. It's one of our favorite ways to experience the local culture. And this one is so different than the first two we went to. It's a lot more like antiquey things and tons of jewelry and really cute clothes.

This is crazy. I'm not sure if this guy's telling us the truth or not, but he's telling us that the show Homeland was filmed in his shop. Madonna's been here. Arnold Schwarzenegger's been here. It's got a bunch of cool antiques. I don't know that's true or not.

This is so crazy. This is my favorite kind of restaurant. We're shoved in here. We're sitting at a table with strangers. They asked us what we wanted as soon as we sat down, and five seconds later, they threw our food on the table.

Thank you. Here we go. We're at a restaurant called Abu Hassan Hummus, and it's supposed to be the best hummus in all of Tel Aviv, which probably Means the best hummus in the whole world. We got classic hummus and masaba hummus, which is like hummus mixed with tahini and beans. Maybe they both have olive oil, parsley, spices. Looks amazing. I'm just gonna eat it with orange. I saw some locals doing that.

Oh, my gosh. I really think this is the best in the world. It is so green, so much flavor. This is nuts. I don't think I've ever had humm. This is such a good, like, kick to it. Like, it kind of tastes like it has lemon in the movie. Oh, look at that color of the olive oil. Amazing.

It's salty, it's creamy, it's thick, it's, like, lipped. Like, the texture of it. Absolutely incredible. Okay, this is the masava.

The masaba tastes a lot like the hummus, flavor wise, but it's warm and spicy. It might be even better.

So we've had two different people tell us that we should be eating our hummus with onion and using it like a spoon. It's less calories.

It's also making me cry.

But it is delicious. Wow. That was incredibly delicious and super stressful all at the same time. I don't think I've ever eaten a meal so fast in my life. I felt like I was so in the way. I was just shoveling it in my mouth.

Nobody was, like, rude or trying to get us out. Everyone was very friendly for how hectic it was.

Just, like, constant yelling and panic all around you.

I loved it.

I just loved that contrast of, like, the modern city in the background with the minaret in the foreground. Like, the old and the new. And I feel like it's just like a really good picture of Tel Aviv.

We've come down to the beach for the sunset and grabbed a coffee from a place that everyone said we had to go. Aroma. They said it's the best in Israel. Kind of like Starbucks. It lives up to the hype.

I don't think I'd tell everybody that came to the US that you have to go to Starbucks, but this is pretty good.

And this sunset is gorgeous tonight.

Tonight's what we've been looking forward to most all day because we've been invited into a local's home to experience our very first Shabbat dinner. That's why we picked up the flowers today. And we just got some kosher wine.

Just waiting on our taxi now because all public transportation stops running for the Sabbath on Friday at sunset. So the only way to get anywhere is if you have your own car. Or if you get in a taxi.

We really don't know what to expect. We're going to meet complete strangers. But I asked what we needed to do to be respectful. He said, don't ring the doorbell. Don't have your phone on. Kara should cover her shoulders, and I should wear on pants.

Okay, good.

Thank you.

If you aren't familiar with the Jewish Sabbath traditions, it's a holy day of rest when, among other things, no one uses electricity. This includes cell phones and cameras. So we weren't able to capture our first Shabbat dinner. But I wish we could have because it was a very special evening. It was a truly local experience that allowed us to immerse ourselves in Jewish tradition. We shared a delicious meal with over 20 welcoming Jews who were super open about their religion and eager to answer all the serious and silly questions we had. It was a night filled with no distractions and meaningful conversations that lasted until 3am we are so grateful we got to have this experience. And if you ever find yourself in Israel on a Friday night, we highly recommend seeking out a Shabbat dinner.

Not sure how this happened.

The Caramel Market. Carmel. Carmel. It's not caramel.

One of them ran into me. It ran into my body.

I'm staying right here.

You're going so fast. Please don't kill us.

Sorry. Just feels so free. I'm glad Nate has a cold. So we're not going to be kissing tonight?

This was a terrible idea.

All of my favorite things.

And this was terrible. Nothing so bad.

I have to go swimming after this to wash myself off.

No way you're gonna be able to hear any of this. Do you know where the mic.

It.