Jerusalem

Jerusalem
It was such a long flight for a short week to visit the family. How blessed I am to be able to spend quality time with my daughter and all the family. Three of the four granddaughters are married and there are now 3 great grandchildren. They all gathered at my daughter’s house and 12 of us spent quality time together taking in the sites and having a lot of fun. What a great memorable experience.
Jerusalem is indeed a special city. It is spectacular in appearance. All buildings new and old are constructed of stone. It gives the feeling of the ancient past and makes for an aesthetic uniform appearance. Be prepared to walk up and down hills and steps. I certainly got my exercise. Needless to say the old city is a must and a visit to the Western Wall is mandatory. There are no cars inside the old city so you certainly will do a lot of walking. My favorite sound is the Arab call to prayer from the mosque in Eastern Jerusalem. At the same time the chanting can be heard from the synagogues. The underground tour of the former ancient city is a must. It begins on the campus by the Western Wall. The Superior Court and the museums are all spectacular. Yad Vashem is the best museum I have ever visited. It is the holocaust museum. It is a series of buildings and exhibits on a large tract of land. It is very emotional and a must visit. I go to Jerusalem annually and thought I knew most of the spots to visit. On this occasion I came across two very tiny eating spots that were both fun and delicious.
Hummus Adumin M’aleh Adumin Jerusalem
This tiny ‘shack’ is located in an industrial area about 40 minutes from the central city. There are automotive places and some light manufacturing. It is quite a desolate area. At the end of the section there is a tiny restaurant that I would label a shack. There are a few tables inside and 2 picnic tables outside. It is very busy as the industrial workers come here during the day. It actually closes at 5:00 p.m. They serve only three items.
My favorite Israeli dish is Shashouka. I actually eat it almost every day when in Israel and love to compare the various recipes in restaurants. Basically it is a tomato sauce prepared in a copper frying pan. Two eggs are poached in the sauce. It is served hot in the frying pan at the table. It is traditional to serve it with a small Israeli salad, hummus and bread. Some recipes add cheese to the top. I have had eggplant and Italian spices at other restaurants. This was the best as the sauce had obviously been prepared with fresh tomatoes.
Falafel and Fries are the other foods served here. The falafel balls were so tasty and not at all greasy. The chef ran out of pita and sent one of the workers to a bakery outlet across the path. We later went to the bakery and of course purchased some of the delicious cookies. It is so exhilarating to discover a small budget tasty food spot. This was a winner for me.
Hummus Ben Sira on Ben Sira St at the bottom of Hillel St.
One of my granddaughters was recently married in Jerusalem. Her husband Chanina is adorable and so much fun. He wanted to show me his favorite spot in central Jerusalem to meet with the ‘guys’. I felt so honored that he wanted to take ‘Nana’ to this delicious hummus spot. There are very few tables and long lines .A very large portion of hummus is served with a variety of toppings with sides of pickles, falafel balls, tomatoes and onions. This was one of the highlights of my visit to Israel. The Mushroom Hummus was a great treat. My granddughter enjoyed the Beef Hummus. What a fun tasty treat!