Hello! When we last spoke I had just run the Jerusalem Marathon. Now let’s talk about what I ate after and how I almost tried mystery paste…
After the race the entire group waited for me to finish the full marathon. That was really sweet. They 100% didn’t have to do that. Plus, I took a long time! Once I was done I grabbed my stuff and we made the short walk back to the hotel. I showered and decided to head out in search of food. Some of the others were going out to lunch, but I didn’t feel up to it and wanted to do my own thing.
I walked two blocks from the hotel to a small grocery store. Note: I felt 100% safe walking alone in Jerusalem. If I felt unsafe at all it was with the group in religious areas just because of the ideas I already had about this place.
Most of Jerusalem is completely bilingual – all the signs are in Hebrew and English. Most people I encountered spoke both languages.
But a lot of the food at the store was labeled in Hebrew only. It wasn’t that big of a problem since I can tell what most of the foods I wanted look like without labels.
I grabbed a few things and headed to the check out. One of the foods I was most excited to eat here was the HUMMUS. I made sure to get some crackers and picked out a hummus…
But when I got to the checkout to pay I asked “Is this hummus?”
“No. You want hummus?” In Hebrew the guy advised another worker to grab me a small hummus and he came back with two options. I grabbed one and was potentially saved from eating pate or something.
We had a few hours to relax after the race so I watched Sweet Home Alabama with Hebrew subtitles. I put my feet up and caught up on some email and called my family.
We stayed at the Dan Panorama Hotel in Jerusalem. It was really nice. The gym was just okay, but did the job. The breakfast and dinner buffet was amazing though. Loved it.
After our time off to relax the group met in the lobby to head to the Western Wall. We went to see Shabbat at the wall. Our guide wanted to show us this special time of prayer and tradition. It was sunset and a really beautiful moment.
After Shabat we headed back to the hotel for dinner. Since it was the Sabbath a lot of kosher places are closed (on Friday night). We ate at the hotel’s buffet. They included this wine that was basically like syrup (so of course I liked it).
I made an epic salad with all the goods. Plus, there were eight different kinds of bread and a bunch of different desserts. I didn’t take pictures of round two or three because I was very busy talking to my friends eating.
I loved all the food in Jerusalem.
Every meal (including breakfast) had a lot of different fruit, vegetables and vegetarian options. One of the bloggers in our group had a nut allergy and that was a bigger issue than the vegetarian journalist. Each sit down meal started with several small salads, vegetables and bread. The hummus was amazing (so smooth). There were a lot of fruit options too. The one thing I thought was weird was that our pre-race food didn’t include a banana and there weren’t bananas at the breakfast buffet. I think of bananas as a runner food and a breakfast food. Outside of that there was nothing lacking at each meal. A lot of times when I travel I come home craving a salad because I’ve missed my usual veggies and big salads. But that wasn’t an issue in Israel. In both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv there were plenty of veggies. I loved the food. (I already said that. Ha!).
The food looks unreal – When I was in Greece I fell even more in love with the diet along the sea – Seriously – all sorts of fresh fish, fruit, and NUTELLA. That is where the NUTELLA obsession started for me back in 2010. I would say I miss the fish and the olives the most – I have an affinity for Olives like nobodies business – for real.
I am so glad you enjoyed your time there – what was the weather like??
Great pics and recap! What I’m craving depends – if I really let loose, I’m with ya, I want a big ol salad and a plate of veggies. If I eat like a reasonable human, I usually want some tacos and maybe texas style bbq. 🙂
I loved following you on this amazing journey! All of the food looked so good, but I really liked your pictures of the all the sightseeing you did. I can’t even imagine what that felt like to be in such a holy place! Thanks for sharing!
What an awesome adventure that was! The food looks great too 🙂
I miss green smoothies when traveling. The bottled green juice usually isn’t the same.
Mmmmmm. Love this yummy post.
When I travel I miss being able to eat ice cream late at night (or really anytime I want). I’ll leave the hotel to go get some….but it’s just not the same as enjoying it straight from the tub!
Your posts on your time Jerusalem are wonderful and I appreciate that you are taking the time to share it with your readers. The pictures at sunset are lovely. And love that Skippy was the only food in English. I guess it’s goodness is universal :0
Yum, all the food looks delicious!! I always miss my green smoothies when I travel. My body just craves them!
I miss my pantry full of nut butter when I’m traveling and I seem to have a really hard time finding my favorite brands when traveling.
looks like you kept yourself well fed! Did you try the peanut butter from the grocery store? Im always curious if things taste different in difference places. Ketchup in London…not the same as USA!
I would miss pizza if I traveled there. But I love mediterranean style of eating….olives, hummus, pita and veggies is yummo!
I am wondering what you mean by the statement “if I felt unsafe at all it was with the group in religious areas because of the ideas I already had about this place.” Can you please explain further?
Yeah, I was asked a few times about feeling safe by readers and wanted to explain in a recap. I was worried before coming that it was unsafe based on my fairly uneducated thoughts on Jerusalem. I felt safe walking down the street. Thoughts on being unsafe went through my head a few times when I was in religious areas where previous violence had occurred (I had read some about this). But again, it was based on my thoughts on previous instances of violence and not because I was seeing a dangerous situation in front of me.
Always miss my simple boring roasted veggies with sea salt…..maybe you should plan a group to go to Jerusalem and simply WALK 26.2 miles. I would totally sign up for that; because I am sure you want to add tour guide to your list of jobs. 😉