Well, the flight to Israel is about 10 to 11 hours from NYC once you take off. This is long for me, but I just kept reminding myself that the sun, sand and hummus would be waiting for me on the other side. Speaking of beaches, I’m a huge fan of Herzlya. I planted myself on a daily basis between the beaches of HaSharon and Acadia. I would saddle up to the Q Beach Café for lunch and order ¼ of the sweetest watermelon with a bowl of feta cheese on the side. Sound strange? Don’t say a word until you’ve tried it.

 

At night we would try out a few restaurants always in the same section of Tel Aviv. We picked Catit one evening and to my surprise the menu was more expensive than many NYC restaurants higher in food standards. Putting the high prices aside, I wasn’t very impressed with the food, but the place is popular, so maybe my friend and I ordered the wrong dishes. Besides this one experience, we traveled into Neve Tzedek and drank fabulous Israeli wine at Nana’s (highly recommended). We witnessed the drinking crew at the Georgian Bar Nanuchka dance on the bar and ordered calamari like I’ve never eaten it before (personal favorite). The nighttime is always going in Tel Aviv, and I kept asking the same question that so many must ask when they visit my hometown in NYC- “doesn’t anyone have to get up and work tomorrow?” All in all worth the long flight!

 

Herzlya Beach

 

Nana Israel restaurant

 

Bug plate of hummus