ah Jerusalem, the city of gold. on almost every single guided tour of Israel, after tel aviv, this is the first stop. nothing makes me feel more at home than winding up the giant, green rolling hills and taking in the scenic view. walking through the old city is a must with the cobblestone streets and the Jerusalem stone buildings towering over you while strolling through the narrow alleyways.
located on a plateau in the Judean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea, is one of the oldest cities in the world. It is considered holy to the three major Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times. The Old City became a World Heritage site in 1981, and is on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
According to the Biblical tradition, King David established the city as the capital of the united Kingdom of Israel and his son, King Solomon, commissioned the building of the First Temple. As a result, despite having an area of only 0.9 square kilometres (0.35 sq mi),[18] the Old City is home to many sites of seminal religious importance, among them the Temple Mount and its Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque.
All branches of the Israeli government are located in Jerusalem, including the Knesset (Israel's parliament), the residences of the Prime Minister and President, and the Supreme Court. Jerusalem is home to the Hebrew University and to the Israel Museum with its Shrine of the Book.
there are so many amazing places to eat in this maginificent city so here are some places that come to mind and put a smile to my face, even in thought of them:
Roza (Meat)
Where else can you enjoy the best of Italian, Mexican, and Jerusalemite dishes? We’ll put our bets on nowhere – except, that is, for Roza in Jerusalem. With branches in two different vibrant, nightlife-rich Jerusalem districts, Roza stands out for its intricate cuisine and settings both. Satiate yourself on their varied meat dishes, with main courses such as chicken fajita, steak tortilla, lamb sausage, meat-filled foccacia, lamb bolognaise, and veal-stripped salad.
Hachatzer (Meat)
HaChatzer means “the courtyard”, describing its initial grand entrance space, welcoming you when you reach the restaurant grounds in the First Station complex area, just on the cusp of the upscale German Colony.
HaChatzer’s first courses feature such culinary intricacies as goose liver terrine (delicious!) with red wine poached pears and sauteed filet mignon with tahini and village eggplant. So, if you’re looking for solid, yet extremely creative Mediterranean meat cuisine with a warm, comfortable atmosphere, HaChatzer is a secure bet. In fact, several people we surveyed actually claimed they had one of the best meals of their life in this restaurant.
1868 (Meat)
The 1868 restaurant repeatedly gets listed as a top restaurant in Jerusalem, be it popular, upscale, or as in this case, kosher. It’s simply a successful venture, run by French-trained Chef Yankale Turjeman.
1868 has a varied and intricate meat menu. You can delight in meals such as Arborio Risotto (with asparagus, Jerusalem artichoke, and black truffles); 28-Day Aged Entrecote (with onion confit and spinach, topped with mustard sauce alongside crispy potatoes); and Beef Fillet (with crusty sweet bread, cream of wild mushrooms, and marrow and bordolz sauce).
Ryu – Asian Kitchen (Meat)
After dazzling many a Hollywood star with his cooking talents, Ryu‘s master chef Tomer Biran gravitated towards Orthodox Jewish observance and landed up in Jerusalem where he established this kosher Asian cuisine restaurant in the upscale area of Emek Refaim Street, the heart of the German Colony. A variety of Asian staple dishes are represented: Sushi, dimsum, noodles, and several meat and poultry dishes, including a specific menu section called, “From the Wok”.
Café Inbal – Ein Karem (Dairy)
Relatively new to the Jerusalem restaurant scene, Café Inbal (not to be confused with the Inbal Hotel) is located in picturesque Ein Karem. The cornerstone of Café Inbal’s offerings is its mini loaves of bread of sundry varieties both in taste and shape, from challah types to foccacia. The breads are highly tasty on their own, with or without their zestful dips. Offerings include lasagnas, quiches, crepes, soups, and the like. A highlight is the cheese, chard and tomato lasagna. Additionally, one can find the expected salads from any Israeli café restaurant, however these will wow you. And to top it all off, the cakes are at once scrumptious and aesthetically designed.A plus: breakfast is served during all open hours.
Al Dente (Dairy)
Al Dente feels like a place you might just happen upon and become intrigued. Chef Shuki Shukrun knows his Tuscany cuisine, offering up the likes of filet of red snapper in a chestnut wine sauce; ricotta, cream cheese, mushroom and spinach rotelle in sage butter; and a goat cheese salad with endive, beets, carrot strops and macademia nuts on a pomegranate vinaigrette. Al Dente has gone through a few renovations since its inception a few years back, each time upping the already-good feel of its friendly service with delectable tastes.
alright so after you've (tastefully) stuffed your faces with asian, mexican, italian and israeli delicicies, here are some places that will be sure to entertain the family:
HaMifletzet (The Monster)
The best things in life are free. The Mifletzet has been thrilling Jerusalem children day in and day out for nearly 40 years, and nobody pays a dime. Erupting out of the ground in a modest Kiryat Yovel park, the grotesque glory is the work of renowned sculptor Niki de Saint Phalle, and literally every single person in Jerusalem knows it by one-word name alone (even though, technically, it's called "The Golem"). Sure, your kids have gone down slides before...but were the slides erupting from the rouged mouth of a creature that looks like a Picasso interpretation of a melting cow? No. No they weren't. So head over to the Mifletzet and join a venerable Jerusalem tradition.
The Bloomfield Science Museum
There is no child-oriented institution in the world that wrings as much fun out of so modest a premise as the science museum. Lightning balls. Houses of mirrors. Play gyms. Robots. Bright lights, loud noises, and more interactivity than you can shake a TV-addled attention span at. The Hebrew University's Bloomfield Science Museum does not let down. The museum pursues its worthy goal of making every Jerusalemite child love science by putting together scads of hands-on science-made-real activities and exhibits, giving your child the opportunity to literally climb all over learning.
The Israel Museum Youth Wing
Here, it's all about art, and reading, and self-expression, and creativity, and all those other things you try to instill into your munchkins between rapt Dora the Explorer viewings. Whether your child is exploring a cave/tower of books seemingly constructed by Georgia O'Keeffe or participating in one of many craft workshops, you'll be able to proudly watch as their artistic sides grow, develop and start getting designs on your hard-earned money for art school.
The Biblical Zoo
Officially known as the Tisch Family Zoological Gardens, a name far too cumbersome for anyone to bother remembering, the Biblical Zoo gets its more pedestrian nickname from its main (and entirely unique) draw: the zoo houses dozens of animals mentioned in the Bible as being native to the land of Israel - some of which had gone locally extinct and had to be brought to Israel from other countries. But little kids don't really care about neat stuff like that. They can also climb all over a massive Niki de Saint Phalle sculpture garden of animals spilling out of Noah's Ark.
The Time ElevatorThere has to be a better way to experience history than reading a dusty old book. Maybe if Haim Topol was somehow involved. Maybe if there were moving, vibrating seats. Maybe if water occasionally sprayed from the ceiling. That's history Jerusalem Time Elevator-style. It's actually exactly like that scene with the filmstrip and moving seats in Jurassic Park, except instead of dino cloning, the Haim Topol-augmented movie documents 3,000 non-stop years of Jerusalem history, using those wobbly chairs to make your kids believe they're taking an active role in the grand history of Jerusalem, which might not be such a stretch after all.
(there is much more to be discussed which will be talked about in part 2. stay tuned)
