Israel
General information, logistics, and safety
Did you feel safe in Israel?
Why YES! The media focuses only on the negative, controversial, or shocking because that sells. Few folks in the West who have not been to Israel yet can picture the real Israel: cosmopolitan cities, best-in-the-world archeology, beautiful well-marked hiking in forests and deserts, and agriculture in both rolling farms and city blocks.
Other reasons Israel is a great destination: efficient public transit in major cities, widespread English usage, amazing food (with lots of ease for those with gluten, dairy, vegetarian needs), and affordability. (You CAN spend a lot, and Tel Aviv is an expensive city to live, but food can also be really cheap and there are many options for free entertainment.)
Children as young as 2 or 3 wander alone or with their friends in the Old City of Jerusalem. These are Muslim children, and Jewish children, and Christian children; they are free to roam because it is safe to do so.
Fruit trees explode not only on farms, but in random patches near the airport or on city blocks. The socialist founding of the country still influences a sense that if there is food growing, and you need it, take it.
People are incredibly friendly. Because diversity and politics are on everyone’s mind, people go out of their way to make connections with each other and with tourists.
We highly recommend having a quest on whatever journey you take.
We find if we are looking for something–nigella paste in the case of Israel, but past quests have also included:
filling pharmacy prescriptions (way cheaper outside of the US! Now I always have a paper copy of a prescription with me when I travel),
a good brimmed hat,
a rain shower (we had a great hotel shower and were in the midst of a remodel back home; what a great souvenir from Barcelona!),
rice crackers, chocolates, or other local food specialty
and industrial-style work clothes.
In searching for our item, we always learn something about the country, or visit some neighborhood, that we otherwise would not. It sometimes challenges us with new vocabulary (yes, buying bathroom hardware in Spain required some translation patience), but in a good way.
We were ‘befriended’ by a nice guy named Amin
As we exited near the Tower of David, a young man came over to us and said “You just missed my shop!” Then he asked if we needed help, a tour guide or something else. We showed him a picture of the black nigella-seed based tahini that is our food quest. Yes, he knows this, and eats a spoonful every day. He would take us to a place.
So along the way he talked to us about the Armenian quarter. He grew up in the Old City, attended a school that was mixed Muslim and Christian and commented that the fighting is “for the army and the Palestinians. In here, we all share and get along.” He brought us to a spice seller (webstore for King of Spice) and I showed him the picture of the product I wanted. He had it! Amin eats this with 50/50 sweetener, like honey. The shop owner eats it 50/50 with tahini. He also showed us a grape-based sweet liquid that is made from the must of grapes–not alcoholic. He said this is used to cut the paste as well. We bought a bottle (30 NIS) and 2 of the nigella paste (15 NIS each), some saffron (20 NIS), an herbal cream for pain relief (25 NIS), and then he threw in some spices as his gift.
With the quest completed, we owed our guide some thanks, and he asked that we purchase something from his family shop. We knew how much we felt we owed him for his time, tour, and local insights, and after an hour of haggling, conversation and several cups of tea with Wahid, his brother, we settled on that price for a beautiful scarf.
Pharmacies
If you would like to try filling a prescription in Israel, what you need to know is they ONLY accept a paper copy of the official prescription.
Logistics
If you are going to use any public transit in Israel, get the Rav-Kav card. The Rav-Kav card works on all the transit systems in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem (bus, light rail, tram and the train between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem), and it’s easy and convenient. So, you can get one card and use it for most of your trip. The Rav-Kav card comes in two flavors – personalized or anonymous. Our son, who lives in Tel Aviv, got a personalized Rav-Kav card by presenting his passport at a Rav-Kav office. The card itself is free (costs about 6 NIS with the anonymous version) and if you lose the card, theoretically it can be returned to you.
We chose the anonymous version, which is sold at most pharmacies and many grocery stores. Load the app onto your phone (via the Rav-Kav website) and you can load more value on it using your phone. If you have a later model iPhone or Android phone you can also check the balance by holding the card to the back of your phone. Each public transit ride costs 6 NIS, with 90 minutes for free transfers. The train between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, depending on the exact stop in Tel Aviv (there’s only one stop in Jerusalem), is about 20-25 NIS.
Cell phones
Before we left, I did a fair bit of research on what network(s) we wanted to use. Several mobile networks have pretty good coverage in Israel and we ended up buying data cards from HOT mobile on Amazon before we left (this is not an affiliate link; we’ll set that up sooner or later…). We got 40 Gb data with a one month expiration for $30. This included an Israeli phone number, which turned out to be handy when we made reservations (restaurant, museum, etc.) and they wanted to confirm or send tickets by text. We had great coverage throughout Israel, including in and around the Golan Heights, where it’s more rural.
Rental cars
We don’t frequently rent cars overseas. For me (Dan), it’s an extra hassle with parking, fuel, and focusing on driving and driving rules (while Sarah just looks out the window and admires all the scenery…). We usually rely on public transit or walking to get around or move to different locales. But getting around in Northern Israel and, in particular, being able to wander and stop at random, necessitated a car. We rented a car just for Northern Israel. I don’t recommend a rental car for Tel Aviv or Jerusalem – there is a lot of traffic, and public transit or walking work better (and are faster).
Note that in Israel (and in most foreign countries) US auto insurance generally does not provide coverage. I had been told and found to be true, that Israelis are hard on their cars – there’s a joke about parking by touch (figuring out how much room you have to park by hitting the car both in front and behind!) and I saw that happen multiple times. In addition, those credit card CDL (collision damage loss) coverages are often quite limited (I spent an hour on the phone with my credit card company to confirm the exact coverage in Israel). So, for the first time in my life, I selected the rental car CDL waiver. It increased the car rental cost by about 100%.
We had a 9-day rental of a Toyota Yaris through Thrifty (and booked via Priceline) – the rental itself cost 760 NIS, the CDL waiver cost 789 NIS, the required Super Theft protection and Airport service fee (we picked up the car at Ben Gurion airport) were 392 NIS. Total cost for 9 days – 1942 NIS ($598.00).
One last note: There are a few toll roads – the main one being Route 6 that goes north-south through much of the country. The toll system is wireless (they take a photo of the license plate) and all rental cars are in the system. You get a bill for the toll plus 15 NIS for each toll.
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