Tourists

Shabbat started with us both going to the gym before packing our case for our overnighter in Tel Aviv at the David Intercontinental, what a big hotel that turned out to be, that was after we had used Waze to direct us there that is, it is easier than leaving My Beloved to find his own way, so we arrived threw our bags into our room with a view and headed out for a walk along the beach front.

We walked right along the beach front eventually stopping for refreshments, we sat and watched the sun go down, and also watched as the waitress bought out blankets for the customers sitting outside with us, whimps thats all I can say. We strolled back to the hotel via Dizengoff and I showed My Beloved the sights and sounds of Tel Aviv he has never managed to catch yet.  We arrived back at the hotel and showered and changed, having packed all our gym gear we have since found out the spa and gym are being refurbished, but its ok we have done a lot of  walking today, so we headed out again, taxi was hailed and we headed for Yermiyaha street, which the taxi driver informed me is pronounced yeameow!!!!! go figure. Any way we were dropped off and headed for Jeremiah's for our dinner, the whole street was buzzing, and it was lovely, well until one of the four legged creatures they call MANS best friend turned up, this thing although lovely could have cleared a table with one head turn, luckily for me the owner thought better of it and went outside with said friend, it wasn't that we were inside as such it was just that parts of the restaurant are now undercover as apparently it's winter, so said doggy probably has his own spot, but unfortunately for him they now have it under cover.

Ok back to our evening, we were invited by the waitress to join in the lighting ceremony for the Hanukkah candles, we were given a glass of bubbly and at 8pm the waitress began to sing, then we as watchers would join in with Amen, it was lovely to be involved in the tradition of the candle lighting, and the singing. There were also little pancake type things laid out on the bar to eat, 

Hanukkah Food

A favorite Hanukkah food is latkes,or potato pancakes. Originally, the pancakes were made of cheese. Eventually, the custom grew to incorporate eating pancakes of all kinds.

During the Middle Ages, Jews explained this custom by connecting it with the story of Judith, which they linked with the story of Hanukkah.

Judith, according to legend, was a daughter of the Hasmoneans. She fed cheese to the leader of the enemies of the Jews. He was made thirsty by the cheese and began to drink much wine. When he grew quite drunk she cut off his head. For this reason, it was said, Jews eat cheese delicacies on Hanukkah.

Potato Latkes

We eat latkes (potato pancakes) because they are cooked in oil and thus remind us of themiracle of the single cruse [pitcher of oil]. Rabbi Solomon Freehof, a great contemporary Jewish scholar, has hypothesized that the eating of latkes may have grown out of an old custom of eating milchig (dairy) foods on Hanukkah. Milchig foods evolved into milchig pancakes and then into latkes, possibly because the main potato crop became available about the time of Hanukkah. No-one knows for certain how the association began, but for anyone who feasts on latkes at Hanukkah time, a historical rationale is unnecessary.

12 large potatoes, grated
3 medium onions, grated
4 eggs, beaten lightly
5 tbs. flour
3 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
Oil for deep frying

The secret to great latkes is to remove as much liquid from the potatoes and onions as possible. Put the grated potatoes in a clean tea towel and squeeze the liquid out of the mixture. Do the same for the grated onions. Combine all the ingredients and mix together well by hand. In a heavy skillet, put a 3/4" deep layer of oil. Heat until sizzling. Form individual pancakes by hand and carefully slide into the pan using a slotted spatula. Fill the pan, but leave room between the pancakes. When the latkes are nicely browned on one side, turn carefully and cook until browned on the other side and crisp on the edges. Remove with a spatula and place on paper towels. Let the excess grease drain onto the paper towel. Serve immediately for the best taste. You can keep the latkes hot in a warm oven. Serve with sour cream or applesauce, or sprinkle with granulated sugar.

Lighting the Hanukkah Candles

We eventually left and walked the short distance to Rubi the venue for our night out with the Internations, it was tucked away around the corner of a street we had been to many moons ago, we would never have found the bar had we been on our own.

The christmas decorations were still being hung as we arrived it was nice to see them, all sparkles and glitter, we met in with some very nice people, Rachel who moved here when she was 19 from Sheffield, Rachel is a secretary and very shy, we also met another couple of ladies one of which was from Italy and over visiting a friend who is studying in Israel, Nir and Ian were both there and it was lovely seeing them, Nir and My Beloved have now organised for a boys night out at a football match, I was invited but I declined, I like football but only from the comfort of my own living room and even then I turn the sound down low, all that shouting and testosterone does nothing for me, Svenja and Martin also came along and the place was very busy, and small upstairs, it was also on the toilet route which mean't we were being jostled constantly by people heading through, but all in all it was a good night, great music and nice company.

Sunday arrived and we were woken by noise coming from the beach, we looked out to see many many people, because of the distance it was difficult to know if they were little people or big people, initially I thought it was football but when we left to explore Tel Aviv again we discovered it was actually Scouts, that would account for the circles of people we had seen from our room.  We headed up to the market, this was the first time My Beloved had been to the market, and we walked up checking out the stalls as we went, I have never seen so many Africans in the market as there were on Sunday, and loud, we decided to buy something at one of the stalls, and we were deafened and almost squished by this rather large African lady, she was obviously deaf as no one would speak that loud if they weren't, her friends were equally as deaf and I found myself shaking as we left them at the stall mainly because their booming voices had interfered with my inner ear, in fact I would go so far as to say she had tickled my labyrinth.......

We took our breakfast at one of the lovely cafes on Shenkin street, the sun was shining the streets were busy and it was lovely to be with My Beloved as he never sees any of this because of work, he has had three whole days of and it was wonderful to have him all to myself and explore Tel Aviv together.

We left Tel Aviv and drove home, then took ourselves off on a bike ride through to Herzliya town centre, we discovered all sorts of things you just don't see when your in a car or on the bus, we have found the cycle and running paths, which has the most fantastic climbing area for grown up kids in the middle, can't wait for the Princes to get here and we can get out there and try everything.