Tel Aviv Bliss

!שלומ

The day after the hike I rallied to go to Tel Aviv with my friend Michelle. We got up bright and early, grabbed some fresh baked goods, and made our way to the train station.  When we arrived in Tel Aviv we walked through downtown and stopped at a cute bistro restaurant. It's one of the more famous in Israel, especially Tel Aviv. It 's called  Orna and Ella. I ordered these butternut squash pancakes and they were pretty much amazing. After our brunch we walked to the beach and strolled along the coast until we made it to Jaffa.

Old Jaffa was one of the biggest ports in Israel during earlier times and has some very pretty gardens and buildings that are built throughout the town. It was so relaxing to watch sailboats as they cruised by and to be able to walk around beautiful green alleyways. We stopped for some fro-yo (of course) and then went shopping through the Old Jaffa market. I put my bargaining to work and then was on my way to  the old train station.  It was rustic and beautiful. There were multiple photoshoots of wedding couples scattered throughout the area and it just added to the blissful state that defined the day.

We walked through the new Jaffa area, which was noticeably upper class. Boutique after boutique lined the alley and we stopped into an organic market for some smoothies. Mine was made with lettuce, it was surprisingly delicious. We then walked all the way through downtown Tel Aviv back to another train station. We were back in Haifa just in time for dinner and it was nothing short of a successful day.

In other news, recently within the past couple weeks, the American portion of the international school have been holding potlucks in our apartment. They have been total successes every time and it has almost become a tradition of sorts. This will definitely be something I miss when I leave.

The other night me, and a couple other friends hit up the movies here in Haifa. My first Israeli movie theatre experience was well,  the same as an American movie theatre experience. Except for the Hebrew commercials...

We saw the movie Drive  with  Ryan Gosling. It was one of the most awkward and weird movies I've ever seen but hey, it's Ryan Gosling, right?

Before the movie we went to this burger restaurant called Black Burger. It was trendy and really fancy. The food was delish. Oh, I forgot to mention  that in the movie theatres here they sell coffee and gelato as well as the normal movie foods.  I would be at the movies alot more often in America if they did that...

Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah. It's pretty cool being here to experience this. Did I mention the doughnuts? Yeah, well apparently it's a Hanukkah thing here. I've had 3 today. It's a problem. Presents aren't a big deal here either. Apparently it's an American tradition.

Happy Hanukkah!

!חג שמח

סטפני-