Miami 2025. Days 2 and 3. Kol Sason, veKol Simcha.
After a full four hours of sleep Wednesday night, I woke up at 9am.
The rest of the family didn’t get up until 10:30 or so. Lucky them. We moved slowly. Tzvi got us coffees in the lobby, and we finally made it out around noon. We met my parents, also staying at the hotel (but they arrived earlier on Wednesday), and took an Uber to Hadekel, a kosher dairy Israeli place.
Lunch was delicious. The vegetables were fresh, the pita was hot, and I had this great tuna sandwich. Every bite was so good. I’ll never understand why we can get this quality in the five towns. Can someone explain this to me?
After lunch, I went with the girls and my mom to Blo Bar to get our hair done. I have to say they did a great job. Hallie picked a bun which was so cute, and Madeleine looked like a little movie star with her curls. We got back to the hotel, changed for the wedding and headed out!
The wedding was at Beth Torah Benny Rock. We got there at 4:30 for a 6 pm start time. We had been forewarned that Florida weddings are different from NY weddings in that the schmorg is less stations and more pass arounds. That was true – there were only three stations – but the stations were very strong. The best was a tomahawk carving station with delicious steak and crispy fries. Even Hallie ate a ton of meat and she eats nothing. Of course Tzvi asked for the bone.
The wedding was great. During the chuppah there was some confusion as to whether or not it was mixed seating. A few men ended up sitting in the women’s section, including my father, but it mostly stayed separate.
Everyone looked beautiful in their dresses and we all had so much fun. The girls danced up a storm, amazing considering they slept so little. Madeleine spent half the wedding on Tzvi’s shoulders and just had the best time dancing. At some point the girls changed into pajamas and watched Hallie’s iPad in the bridal room with one of Jeremy’s little cousins.
We didn’t get back to the hotel until around 1 am, so another late evening! We stopped at my parents’ room, which is a shoebox compared to ours, but oddly seems to be the only room in the hotel with a mezuzah on it. It’s possible this building used to be apartments and no one ever took it down. Anyway, we said goodbye to them because they are flying home tomorrow, then went back to the room and put the kids to bed.
Goodnight! Mazal Tov! Great Day.
Friday
Once again we got up around 9:30/10. Tzvi got coffee and Hallie got a bagel. Today Tzvi was working, so I moved slowly and eventually took the girls for lunch. We walked to Mozart Café which is about a 10 minute walk, but it was hot, so Hallie was complaining. The food was mediocre, more like what we would see at home. The kids got pizza and pasta and I got a tuna sandwich that was sub par. At Hallie’s request we ubered back to the hotel.
We all got ready for the beach and met everyone there. Eli had called me when I was in the Uber and asked if I was already on the beach because there were people checked in under my name. Always a good sign. We all managed to get seats near one another. At this point it was HOT. Like St. Barths hot. Unbearable. Tzvi had to spend 40 minutes on a work call, so he sat in a giant chair on the shade, which was kind of funny.
We went in the water. Except there was so much seaweed in the water. Thankfully the seaweed is dry and not slimy and kind of feels like rope. Otherwise the water is very nice. Thankfully Hattie took Hallie and Madeleine in the pool, so they enjoyed that too. Hallie got some ice cream and a strawberry daquiri, her favorite. After we were in the water for a while people start yelling that there was a shark! I didn’t see it but everyone else did. We survived, but that was the end of the swimming.
As the day was winding down I started get antsy and I realized why. Every Friday, Tzvi makes me an iced Mocha at home, so I was itching for my Mocha Friday. After we packed up from the beach and showered, I opted to go to Publix by myself to get a coffee at the Starbucks and buy some snacks and fruit for tomorrow. It was basically a mini vacation. Of course I ended up buying three Dunkin Hines cake mixes that we don’t get at home, not that I frequently use Dunkin Hines mixes, but you know, the novelty! There was a Dolly Parton Coffee Cake, brownies WITH a fudge packet (which you NEVER see at home), and brownies with chocolate chips in them. I mean maybe it was the magic of Publix but I had to buy them. I also bought fruit, crackers, snack, etc. for tomorrow.
I got back to the hotel, changed and then we met everyone at 7:30 in the lobby. We walked to the Young Israel of Sunny Isles, where Sara’s parents were making Sheva Brachot. We had a lovely dinner, hung out, and headed back to the hotel. We put the kids to bed a around midnight, but Hallie didn’t fall asleep until 2am! Thank you Tzvi for dealing with that.
Good day.
Miami 2025. Day 1. Man Plans. God Laughs. I Cry.
And so begins the weekend of the wedding of Sara and Jeremy Jesselson, son of our good friends Hindel and Mendy Jesselson and Laurie and Adam Lesnick.
The wedding was Thursday, Juneteenth, in Miami. We had scheduled a 2:30pm flight on Wednesday. This way, the kids could finish the last day of school (it was a half day), we would get to Florida by 5:30, grab a quick dinner, and get to bed early. Well, I plan, and God laughs. Or Jetblue. Someone’s laughing and it’s not me. I’m just crying.
12:00 pm: Tzvi receives a text message that our flight is delayed about an hour.
1:15 pm: we leave for the airport
1:45 pm: we arrive at the airport. Check in is no issue and we get through security quickly. We walk around the airport, get Jamba Juice for $30 and see lots of people we know. Neal, Elisheva, Hattie and Jack Feit were scheduled for a 3:30 but were also delayed on Jetblue. Also, I find two former FIDF colleagues in the airport! One of them, Margot, is on my flight.
4:05 pm: We finally start boarding.
4:06 pm: Everything goes to shit.
First, we don’t move. Like for a long time. When we finally push back we taxi and taxi Eventually the pilot gets on and says that we are delayed due to “weather” (sure) and that we are trying to get another route.
6:07 pm: The pilot comes on to tell us they found us another route, but we don’t have enough fuel, so they are going to try to either find us a route we do have enough fuel for, or we’re going back to the gate to refuel. “Sit tight.”
6:28 pm: We are going back to the gate. “Flight attendants prepare for arrival.” Tzvi receives a text message from JetBlue that there has been a gate change.
Now it gets weird.
6:38 pm: They start refueling. Our scheduled departure is now 7:40 pm.
6:48 pm: They tell us that they know we’ve been on the plane for over 2 hours (after the delay) so we are allowed to get up and walk around on the Jetway to stretch our legs, but we’re not allowed to go into the airport. Except of course people start leaving to go into the terminal. It’s chaos. No one knows what is happening. I leave to get the kids food in the terminal because they will starve otherwise. While I am gone they make an announcement that if you go into the terminal you can’t get back on until “boarding”. Luckily they let me back on anyway. I bring back pizza for the kids and tuna sandwiches for me and Tzvi. They eat. We eat.
7:08 pm: Then announce that our first officer has timed out (pilots can only be on duty for a certain number of hours). It will be about a half hour until we could get a new first officer. Our scheduled departure is now 8:40 pm.
7:46 pm: Our first officer has arrived, but the pilot has now timed out and a new one won’t be here until around 930. We all have to deplane. It feels like JetBlue is being run by AI Chatbots that can’t anticipate the next move and just keep sending text messages with random updates about the departure times and gate changes. Our departure time is now 9:30pm.
I call the hotel to tell them odds are we aren’t arriving until much later, potentially 2 or 3am.
Tzvi goes to the counter and asks, ‘aren’t we supposed to get food vouchers?’ After four or five times they finally start printing vouchers... for $12. 8 hour delay and $12. Enough to buy a banana. We fill up on snacks.
The gate agent also tells Tzvi that he is entitled to an Uber voucher on arrival in Florida. She arranges the whole thing. He shouldn’t worry, when he arrives the people in the bag office will give him the code for his Uber app.
9:30 pm: Our pilot arrives. The whole gate erupts in applause.
9:42 pm: We reboard. Our new departure time is 10:15 pm.
10:10 pm: Doors are closed. The pilot comes on the speaker to tell us that the piece that starts the engine isn’t working so “we have to use a bottle to blow into the engine.” I have NO idea what it means, but somehow it means more delay.
10:13 pm: A man a few rows back can’t find his bag. He says he left it on the plane when everyone deplaned. Flight attendants are going up and down the aisles.
10:17 pm: The woman next to Tzvi whips out Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. I guess she purchased them with her $12 food voucher. Tzvi and I switch seats.
10:37 pm: They have finished blowing the engine and we start moving.
10:43 pm: The pilot gets on and says “ladies and gentlemen, there are so many planes ahead of us I’ve lost count. It’s going to be at least an hour.” I check the flight tracker and see at least 25 planes ahead of us on the runway.
10:50 pm: A large man comes to the front of the plane and tells the flight attendants he needs air. He says he’s hot and sweating. He appears to be having a panic attack. The flight attendant asks if this is a medical emergency, because if it is, we need to return to the gate. Thankfully he says he doesn’t have time for that and returns to his seat with a cup of ice.
12:01 am: We take off.
2:24 am. We land.
I have to say, the kids did spectacularly. They watched their iPads for hours, and it was great to spend time with Margot. The kids started to crap out at midnight, as we were taking off. Then they fell asleep for most of the flight. It was a horrible experience, but they were champions.
We got off the plane and waited a few minutes for our luggage. Of course the baggage office was closed and there was no one to give us that Uber code. We got our bags and we were off to the hotel!
We are staying at the Sole Miami where the whole wedding party is staying. We pulled up at 3:35am and found it dead. No one working the door or to help with bags. We saw one woman at the front desk, but she wasn’t helping us. We had to shlep all of our stuff in ourselves, and we don’t travel light. I stand at the front desk and she just gives us a blank stare. I walk up and nothing. No “hello” no “welcome” no “can I help you?” So at this point it’s just awkward and I say “Hi, can I please check in?” and she looks at me with a blank stare and says, “our system does a reset at 3:30 so I can’t check you in for 20 minutes.” I was ready to smack her in the face. I was like that would have been good to know when I called and said I wasn’t arriving until 3am. So she goes, “well the notes say you were supposed to arrive around 1:30.” You can’t make this up
We waited 20 minutes. When she finally does check us in she tells us nothing about the hotel, just gives us our keys and says that there’s no one to help us with our bags, but don’t worry, we can fill up a cart and bring it upstairs. Then she thought she was doing me such a favor when she told me I didn’t have to bring the cart back downstairs. I mean this woman was something else.
Well, we finally made it to our room at 4:00am. We have a two bedroom suite which is really a one bedroom suit connected to a regular hotel room. The girls were happy they each have their own bed. I think the kids went to sleep at about 4:30, me at 5:00 am.
I have no words. Only complaints.
Israel - Pesach 2025. Exodus.
After my last trip to Israel, when the airport lines were so outrageously long that I had to call my friend Einav — who wasn’t even working at the time — to help me get through before I missed my flight, I knew I couldn’t go through that again. Especially not with kids. "I just don’t think, at this age, that I’m meant to live an uncomfortable life.” So before this trip, we booked a VIP airport service for the flight home.
Our flight was scheduled for 1:00 a.m. Normally, that would mean arriving at the airport by 10:00 p.m. at the latest, and even then, you’re cutting it close with those infamous lines. But the VIP service told us we could arrive at 11:00 p.m., which was amazing. We booked our car for 10:00 p.m., and everything was going smoothly—until it wasn’t.
About halfway through the ride, traffic on the highway came to a complete standstill. Something had happened—possibly an accident—but nothing was moving. And we were creeping up on 11:00 p.m. fast. Then, in true Israeli fashion, cars started backing up on the highway toward the nearest exit. Our driver joined in, reversed along the shoulder to the exit right nearby, and managed to get us around the blockage. We ended up arriving at the airport around 11:10 or 11:15 p.m., which was pretty incredible given the situation.
When we arrived, a woman from the VIP service was waiting for us with two carts ready to go. Instead of going to Departures, she took us through Arrivals. We loaded our luggage onto the carts, and she wheeled us over to security. We still had to wait—but instead of the usual hour-plus, we were behind just two people.
Now, normally with VIP, they would check you in right there and take your bags. But my friend Einav—who you might remember from her Bnot Sherut days at HAFTR in 2019—was working that night and told us not to check in downstairs. She said to come up to her station. So we did—and at that point, we were being walked around by two VIP reps. No idea why two, but we weren’t complaining. I guess they just knew we were that hopeless.
At Einav’s counter, not only did she check us in, she let the girls come behind the desk and help with the whole process. It was adorable. The VIP reps were entertained too. I don’t think they had ever seen passengers working the computer and tagging the luggage.
From there, the VIP team (plus Einav) walked us straight through security, where there was no line at all. They even did the passport scanning for us. The whole process was seamless. Between the four of us and the three of them, it was almost a one-to-one ratio. They walked us all the way to the terminal. That’s where the VIP team left us, but Einav stayed.
We made a quick stop at the duty free toy store (somehow ended up buying a doll), picked up water, and by the time we got to the gate, they were already boarding. No surprise—it was already close to midnight. Einav walked us to the front of the line, scanned our tickets at the gate, and got us on the plane without waiting. It was amazing. Thank you Einav. Usually going home from Israel is such a nightmare, but this was smooth, calm, and actually enjoyable.
The flight itself was fine. As usual, I was sitting with the girls, and Tzvi was across the aisle—but he wasn’t feeling great and was mostly out of commission. [Tzvi: Getting on the plane I actually felt pretty good, much better than I’d felt all day and almost normal. So normal, that I thought, ‘hey, why not eat the airplane meatballs.’ They weren’t bad and then I dozed off. When I woke up, I went straight to the bathroom and felt like I was going to black out on the way. The rest of the flight I felt nauseous, until the nausea was replaced by a headache that made my head feel like it was going to explode. It wasn’t fun.] The girls slept on me for most of the flight. I watched Frequency, which I hadn’t seen in years and is still a great movie. I also watched Crazy Rich Asians (again), and something else I don’t even remember.
When we landed, Tzvi rushed off the plane to hit the bathroom. Global Entry took all of two seconds, and when they asked if we had anything to declare, Tzvi said, “Yes, we have five bottles of wine.”. The woman just said ‘that’s fine’ and told us to move on.
Then—shock of all shocks—when we got to baggage claim, our luggage was already there. No waiting. I don’t know if it was the VIP sticker on one of our tags, or maybe because Hallie and Madeleine did the check-in magic. Last time, we had to wait over an hour and they lost a bag. This time, everything was there and ready. Amazing.
Our driver showed up after just a few minutes, and we were off. I think we were home by 7:00 a.m., maybe even a bit earlier.
It was truly an excellent flight home. [Tzvi: for some of us.] A perfect ending to a wonderful trip. [Tzvi: perfect?] Huge thanks to my parents for making it all possible—we’re so grateful. [Tzvi: thanks.]
Until next time.
Israel - Pesach 2025. The Tenth Plague. Stomach Virus.
Monday morning, we headed to our 11:00 a.m. breakfast reservation at Café Ramban, located in the Ramban Hotel (a place I’d actually never been before).
I think it’s fairly new (both the hotel and restaurant). All of the food is under the supervision of Asaf Granit – we wrote about him before, he’s also in charge of the food on El Al and is the chef from the Israeli restaurant in St Barths. It turned out to be a great spot. We met Nettie Levine there, a close family friend of the Kaplans from Los Angeles. She’s the mother of Zach Levine, who grew up next door to Tzvi and now lives in Singapore, and Nettie and her other two kids and their families all live in Efrat. Netti came into Jerusalem to meet us, and we had a really lovely breakfast together. The food was delicious — we got croissants, cinnamon buns, avocado toasts, great coffee… everything was really fresh and well done.
After saying goodbye to Nettie, Hadar went off to meet a friend, and the rest of us took a cab to the Old City. We stopped at the Kotel one more time. It was still crowded — not quite as packed as our first visit, but still very busy.
From there, we walked through the Jewish Quarter, stopping at the new Rosemary dried fruit store. The same guy who used to work at the location in Machane Yehuda was working there, and while there were still a few flies, it definitely felt much cleaner than the shuk. We bought just a small amount of dried fruit this time — not taking chances after last time (we brought home a ton of dried fruit and let’s just say we ended up with an infestation of tiny flies). We also stopped at Hadaya jewelry, then tried to make our way to the shuk. We waited a long time in the shade for a cab — it was hot, but manageable, and everyone held up okay (except for cranky Tzvi).
Eventually, we made it to Machane Yehuda, where we did our last shopping. We went to the spice store — and of course, as soon as I walked in, the guy told me he was out of onion soup mix and to come back in 15 minutes. We stocked up on candy and tried to find a potato bureka for Madeline, but every stand was out by then. Tzvi went to a sabich place across from the shul called Aricha Sabich, which is run by a chef that he follows on Instagram. The girls also wanted plain pitas which for some reason was really difficult to order. He enjoyed his sabich and the girls enjoyed their pita.
Eventually we headed back to the apartment and started packing up for real.
For dinner, we originally planned to take my parents out to a fancy restaurant as a thank-you (and leave the kids with Hadar). But my mom was still sick, and my dad didn’t want to go out without her — so we scrapped that plan. Then we decided Tzvi and I would go out alone to a bar after dinner (stay tuned to see how that worked out).
We left my mother at home and all headed to Tzidkiyahu for dinner. The restaurant is actually a nice space, and the food is very good, but it’s just ridiculous. . With every main dish, you get an endless spread of salatim — all kinds of Israeli salads, thina, three different types of eggplant, matbucha, pickles, carrots, beets, eggsalad, pickeled veggies, cole slaw, plus falafel, fries, and laffa — and that’s all before your entrée even arrives. We ordered entrecote skewers, chicken, a filet mignon (which was a bit too rare for me), and schnitzel for the girls. It was truly an exorbitant amount of food, but it was delicious. Highly recommend — would definitely go back.
We got back to the apartment stuffed and exhausted, and just focused on packing. By this point Tzvi was starting to not feel well. On top of that, he had a ton of work to do. I think he ended up working until 3 am. Not great.
Tuesday (Departure Day)
Our last day — and what a classic “end of trip” day it was. My mom was still sick, and now Tzvi wasn’t feeling great either. [Tzvi: I think that’s an understatement. I woke up with such a headache that I thought my head would explode, and Tylenol didn’t see to do anything. On top of that, I couldn’t stray too far from the bathroom (sorry if that’s TMI).] So much for ending on a high note!
The plan was originally for all of us to go to breakfast at the King David Hotel — but with my mom and Tzvi down for the count, Hadar (who was supposed to leave later) ended up heading home early, while I went alone to breakfast with my dad and the girls.
The King David is still such a gem — there’s really nothing like it. The breakfast spread is smaller than it was pre-COVID, but still beautiful, elegant, and classic. The same waiters have been there for decades. It’s just a special place. Madeleine had me walk up and down the hallway and read all the names to her — she wanted to know who everyone was. It was actually really sweet.
After breakfast, my dad headed home, and I took the girls to Mamilla. We walked from the King David, stopped at a few art stores on the way, and then walked up and down Mamilla doing a little shopping.
From there, we walked to Ben Yehuda Street, stopping at a small play area on the way. The girls were doing great. Hallie had the brilliant idea to get McDonald’s for lunch — which was honestly perfect. It wasn’t crowded (because nobody actually likes McDonald’s), it was air-conditioned, and it gave us a comfortable place to sit and relax. And Hallie thought it was the best thing ever. After lunch, I really wanted to hit the Ne’eman Bakery — but specifically the one on King George, not the lower one on Yaffo (which isn’t as good). So we walked up there and I bought a whole bunch of cakes, cookies, and pastries to bring home. Then we finally got a cab back to the apartment.
Later that afternoon, we went to see the apartment above my parents' second apartment, which is for sale. It’s a two-bedroom with its own private pool — and it is stunning. You can literally swim while looking out at the Old City. It’s just too small for real family living, which is a shame, because otherwise it’s kind of a dream space. Not that anyone is looking to drop 5 million shekel on an apartment at the moment.
Tzvi spent the afternoon alternating between working, packing, bed and bathroom. I ran to the supermarket to grab last-minute essentials: choco krispies cereal, Tony’s chocolate bars, and of course, Shoko (we hadn’t had any all trip!).
We finished up packing and finally, Tzvi felt well enough to come out for our last dinner. We went with him and my dad to the Hadar Mall, where we ate at Waffle Bar. The girls got malawach, Tzvi and I both had tuna sandwiches (his was very plain), and for dessert, we shared an Oreo waffle. It wasn’t quite as good as Waffle Factory (they’re definitely more creative and indulgent), but it was a solid final meal.
After that, we went back to the apartment, finished getting everything ready — and just like that, the trip was over.
Israel - Pesach 2025. The Ninth Plague. Bacterial Infection.
Sunday morning, we got up early — we had a van waiting for us at 8:15 because we were heading to Ra’anana for a candy-making activity.
This was the one activity I had researched and booked myself, so I was pretty excited for it. I think we were actually on the road by 8:45 which wasn’t that bad. At this point, my mom started not feeling well — so, another one bites the dust. The drive went smoothly. We had a nice, spacious bus – Hallie said it was like a party bus because it was all captains’ seats and one was even backwards. We arrived in Ra’anana only a few minutes late and headed to Tomo Candy.
Tomo is run by an Australian man named Tony and his assistant (I don’t remember her name but she was American, originally from Queens). Tony said he used to be a corporate lawyer but decided to change careers during Covid and opened the candy shop.
The activity itself was so fun. It’s a hard candy-making workshop (like, we made hard candy, not that the workshop was particularly difficult): you choose your flavor and colors, then watch as they melt the sugar, add in the colors, and start shaping it on the metal table — just like those Instagram videos I always watch. We helped mix the colors, rolled the candy, and then cut it into designs. It was really hands-on and just a great experience overall. We made little hard candies with designs, swirly lollipops, and rose-shaped lollipops. The only one who didn’t get much out of it was Tzvi, who doesn’t like candy — so he just took pictures. They also let us sample some of their other flavors and sent us home with a bunch of candy. Highly recommend!
From there, we walked a few minutes to a bakery that Hadar had found on Instagram. It was one of those very over-the-top, picture-perfect pastry places — they had croissants shaped like bows, square croissants stuffed with chocolate, and just wildly beautiful baked goods. We were all starving by that point, so we got sandwiches and pizzas, and shared a bunch of desserts. The standout was this chocolate cookie with white chocolate chips and strawberry — it might honestly be one of the best cookies I’ve ever had.
What blew my mind was that this was all happening the morning after Pesach — and they were fully stocked and operating like it was any other day. Compare that to being back home, where it takes places four days just to find the flour!
From Ra’anana, we drove to Tel Aviv and picked up Inbar, who was coming to hang out with us again — yay! We drove to Hostage Square, which Tzvi had actually never been to before (and neither had Hadar), so we walked around and showed the girls the area. We bought some merch. It’s all very depressing, especially the section for the Bibas family. There’s also a whole tunnel that’s supposed to be like the tunnels in Gaza and show you what they’re experiencing. So you’re walking through and there’s sounds of explosions and digging and its dark and claustrophobic.
After that, we went to Sarona Market. Before going inside, the kids played at a little playground nearby. Actually, first we stopped at another one of those outdoor gyms where the kids climbed all over the gym equipment, and then we moved on to the kids playground. Then we went into the market. We first stopped at a bureka place, where we got a bunch of burekas. The guy working there told us he used to be a backup dancer for singers like Miley Cyrus and Jennifer Lopez and used to live in Pico-Robertson in LA (where Tzvi is from). And now he makes burekas. Very random, very Israel.
We also stopped at Bread’s Bakery and Delta (a clothes store), because Tzvi wanted to buy more of the Israeli underwear he bought last trip, and then we dropped Inbar off at the train station and headed back to Jerusalem. I think everyone fell asleep on the ride back except for me.
That night, we had dinner at the Ticho House. I think we have a meal there on every Israel trip, and every time, it’s a different dairy restaurant. I don’t know why nothing can last there, but hopefully this one does because I think it’s the best thing to ever occupy that spot. The new restaurant is called Eser and its run by the same chef as 1868 (another really good restaurant in Jerusalem).
We started with vegetable tempura and these roasted potatoes coated in a ginger syrup that were absolutely incredible. Madeleine had pasta and Hallie had pizza, which was good. For mains I had the salmon, which was fine, and Tzvi had an artichoke ravioli that he loved— but I think the apps and sides were the real stars. Oh, and Tzvi and I both had really good cocktails. For dessert, we had a lemon tart and a chocolate mousse on a brownie base — both excellent. It was funny because I wasn’t even in the mood for a big meal, but it ended up being one of our best dinners of the trip. While we were there, we ran into Suzanne and Barry Gurvitch and their kids, so it was nice to see them.
When we got back to the apartment, my mom took her temperature and, sadly, had a fever. Not the best way to end the day — but otherwise, it was a great one.
Before we turned in for the night (although do we really ever get to sleep here?), my mom really wanted us to go see the light show at the Tayelet (the Jerusalem Promenade), so we rallied. My dad drove us — it was only a few minutes away — and while we were there, we randomly ran into family friends, Miriam and Neil Kugelman. The light show was about 25 minutes long and really well done. Basically there are lights set up all around the city and its themed to the music playing at the Tayelet.
Great way to end the day.
Israel - Pesach 2025. The Eighth Plague. Cramping.
We got back to Jerusalem and were welcomed with open arms — and by that, I mean two children completely engrossed in the television who barely noticed we were back.
My mom was busy cooking because she was hosting Friday night dinner. Tzvi immediately went to work, and I decided to take the girls to Cafit for lunch. Hadar was in the middle of making matzah balls and a cake (thank you, Hadar) so she stayed back.
I walked the girls over to Cafit and we got seated pretty quickly. I had a tuna salad. The girls ate fish and chips. Tzvi met us a little later in the meal and had a salad, and then we all walked back to the apartment together. We made a brief stop at the wine store by the apartment, where Tzvi picked up two more bottles of wine, bringing our total number of bottles to bring home up to five.
I had originally wanted to take the girls to the First Station to ride the rides, although I’m not sure they’re actually still there. However, on the walk back, I suddenly started getting horrible, horrible cramps. I barely made it back to the apartment before a lovely bout of food poisoning hit — that was fun. Let’s just say I was in the bathroom for so long that the girls slid a card under the door that said “we miss you mommy” (this is not a joke).
After that I still had to make matzah arrayes, which took forever. It was a combination of a very involved recipe and not really knowing what pans to use, because we had never actually cooked in that apartment. But we got it done. I also had to make veggie fritters because one of our dinner guests was vegetarian. Then it was time to get ready for Shabbat.
For dinner, my parents' good friends, Abby and Mordy (who we visited last week), came over. They even brought presents for the kids, which was really sweet. Overall, we had a very nice meal — they stayed until after midnight because we always just have such a great time with them, even the girls had fun hanging out. Tzvi learned a new party trick from Mordy — he can now tell you what day of the week you were born on, on the spot. (If anyone is interested, feel free to message... or you could just check a calendar.)
Shabbat morning, we got up and my mom was already dressed and leaving for shul. We had to hustle, because shul ends pretty early here, and we made it out of the apartment around 10:15 or 10:20.
We walked to Nitzanim, their shul. My mom gave us directions, but we still got a little bit lost. [Tzvi: a lot lost.] Eventually we found it, just in time for musaf. It was really hot, and for some reason, there was no air conditioning inside. There’s no kiddush there usually, so after davening everyone pretty much just leaves — though we stood around for a bit, said hello to some people. We saw Annie and Jeremy Watman, which was very nice! The kids complained (understandably) that it was hot and they wanted to go home.
We walked back to the apartment, eventually had lunch, and just hung out the rest of the day. I even got to take a nap, which was very nice. Later in the afternoon, we took a walk and ended up hanging out at a playground for a bit. By the time we got back, Shabbat was almost over.
Shabbat ended and so did the holiday. We decided to order pizza but we can never move quick enough. I think part of the issue was that we just couldn’t believe that everything was available so we kept waffling over what to order. The app was allowing us to order pizza and salads and tuna and fries, and we just couldn’t fathom that all of this could be available forty minutes after Pesach had ended. Hadar kept saying if it’s available in the app that means they have it. We couldn’t believe it so we made her call, which was embarrassing for her. By the time we actually put the order in, the app said the restaurant had received too many orders and was no longer accepting orders.
Anyway, I ended up walking over to American Pie Pizza, which was just up the block, and picked up a couple of pies. It was pretty good — especially considering we hadn’t had pizza in over a week. Tzvi ate way too much pizza – like five slices – and then had cramps. But we all still enjoyed it.
Then we went to bed. Good holiday.
Tomorrow we get bread!
Israel - Pesach 2025. The Seventh Plague. House Music.
We checked in at the Setai, which is in Yafo, not central Tel Aviv. It’s a gorgeous historic hotel and feels like it’s built around 19th century ruins. Oddly there was no one at the door to help with our luggage when we arrived, although we experienced the same thing at the Setai up north in 2023.
When we checked in we were told that we had been upgraded to a bigger room, which was nice. We changed quickly, and cabbed over to dinner at Dvora, an Eyal Shani restaurant.
The food was surprisingly good! I only say that because Eyal Shani restaurants can be hit or miss. We had a good meal at Malka in NYC, but the food at HaSalon leaves something to be desired. We had artichokes, steak, beets. It was all very artistically plated and tasty. We did have the bag of beans, though they were better than others we’ve had. For dessert, we got a strawberry pavlova because—after the Super Hamzirach incident—we’re not taking chances with allergies.
We went back to the hotel and took a relaxing bath. Then it was bed time. Finally, a restful sleep.
One problem. We could hear the DJ from the downstairs restaurant inside our room. Apparently, there’s a live DJ every night until 1:00 AM. I could feel the beat inside my head. By some miracle, I was so wiped out that I actually managed to fall asleep.
Thursday morning started early-ish—we had booked a couples massage for 10:00 AM, so we set the alarm for 8:15 to get up and get moving. Rather than rushing through breakfast we stopped at the spa to see if we could reschedule and ended up rescheduling for 5:30 PM instead. No idea why we thought we were going to be ready for a massage by 10 AM on vacation.
Instead, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. The hotel breakfast is really nice—tons of options (and all kiyniyot): pastries, eggs made to order, salads, cheeses, fruits, smoked fish, and even champagne if you're in the mood (we weren't... but still, it's there). . We sat outside in this lovely courtyard. It was warm but the whole courtyard is shaded. It was perfect.
After breakfast, we walked around the area a bit. There is an art/design store that Tzvi follows on Instagram and wanted to check out—very cute, very curated, with prints, home decor, and little design-y things. We wanted to buy a specific print, but it was out of stock. We also had already purchased art this trip, so I didn’t feel the need to get something else. To get there we walked through the Jaffa flea market. I was worried I might actually get fleas.
Then: pool day. We made our way back to the hotel and claimed chairs at the pool, which was already filling up. We basically didn’t move for hours. The only break we took was to get lunch—we didn’t feel like eating a heavy meat meal by the pool restaurant, so we went down to the lobby café and grabbed tuna sandwiches before heading right back to our spots. There was no food service at the pool, only drink service. And you could barely call it service. We ordered “mojitos” and Coke Zero from a waitress, and a half hour later we still didn’t have our drinks. It became like a joke – every time she would walk by she’s say ‘it’s coming now, two minutes.’ Eventually we asked a different waiter to get us our drinks. The “mojito” was not a mojito. Whatever it was, it wasn’t great. It was some kind of thing that tasted like they had blended a pineapple – skin and all – and added a little vodka.
The pool itself is gorgeous. It’s on the roof of the hotel with beautiful views. The vibe around the pool was... interesting. It was great for people watching. I’d say it was almost exclusively Israeli and French (we may have been the only Americans). There were quite a few religious women who took off their long sleeves and long jean skirts and were practically naked. I’m talking more thongs than I’ve ever seen in a Caribbean resort.
Around 4:45, we headed back inside to get ready for our 5:30 massage. And let me tell you—the spa was bizarre. Normally, you walk into a spa and are shown to separate men’s and women’s locker rooms. Not here. There was just one hallway with lockers and then separate bathroom and shower stalls. The "relaxation room" was situated directly next to the gym – I think you actually needed to walk through the relaxation room to get to the gym — so you’re sitting there trying to “relax” while men grunt next door. Classic Israel. Like, here we are in this beautiful five-star hotel, and this is the setup?
They did have a sauna and a hammam. The sauna was actually really cool—it was built into the old original 1800s stonework of the building. We sat for a few minutes and then waited in the relaxation room. There was another couple there, the man was wearing just a robe and an M-16. How does that work? What does he do with it while he’s getting massaged?
The couples massage itself was actually great—two Russian women who knew what they were doing, strong hands, and no chit-chat. Just what we needed.
We went back to the room, changed quickly, and headed out to dinner at Poupée. It’s one of those trendy Tel Aviv restaurants—Instagrammable decor, DJ, the whole vibe. Unfortunately, the experience was a little poopie.
We had a reservation for 8:30, but when we arrived, they tried to seat us at the bar even though the bar was empty and there were plenty of open tables. We were told, “Reservations don’t guarantee tables.” Huh? After asking again, they finally moved us to a table, but like every restaurant in Israel they gave us an end time. “You have the table until 1030.” Then we waited a solid 15 minutes before anyone came over to take our order. Finally we stopped someone and asked if we can order and the waitress was like, “sure.”
The food, to be fair, was actually very good. I had a salad, Tzvi had some tuna tartare, and we both got the beef medallions with mashed potatoes and asparagus. Delicious. Our second waiter (I guess there was a shift change) was much nicer and more attentive. Then came dessert: we ordered a chocolate dish and a frozen crème brûlée situation served with passion fruit sauce and pineapple. Sounds weird, right? It was bizarre—but it somehow worked. Probably the best part of the meal. Then another guy (not our waiter, we never saw him again) came over at 10:00 sharp with the check and said, “now here is the check, you know, because you need to leave the table now, its 10.” We didn’t even bother arguing because we were done and ready to leave, but again, it was just bizarre. There were empty tables everywhere. Maybe we’re just not the “trendy Tel Aviv restaurant” crowd. Or maybe they just didn’t like us. Either way—food: solid. Service: strange.
Back at the hotel, the DJ downstairs was in full swing again. The music blared into the room until well past 1:00 AM. This time we couldn’t fall asleep. HOW do they sell these rooms with zero soundproofing right above a literal nightclub? I just don’t get it.
Finally we got to sleep, only to be woken up at 6:30 AM by the Houthis. We could hear the siren outside the hotel. I’m like, all right, what happens now? So we just followed people to the stairwell. Nobody seemed too alarmed, thankfully. After it ended, we actually managed to fall back asleep, so that was good.
When we woke up for real, we had a nice breakfast. For some reason, though, no one could understand the coffee situation. I just wanted a cappuccino — simple. They had it (I had one yesterday!), but today the staff couldn’t figure it out. You could get regular coffee easily, but anything else seemed to totally throw them off. I don’t get it.
After breakfast, we packed up and checked out, and we were on our way back to Jerusalem.
Unfortunately, we had Yoram again.
Israel - Pesach 2025. The Sixth Plague. Rhinovirus.
Tuesday morning, we got up and had to be ready by 9:30 to be picked up by our little minibus and tour guide, Shulie. The day’s destination: the Shomron.
By this point, my cold was in full swing. It was back. Achy, congested, exhausted. But do I complain? Am I a drain on anyone else? I’ll let you answer that.
Madeleine, who’s currently obsessed with turkey for breakfast (don’t ask) fueled up, and we somehow managed to leave only a half hour late. Before taking off Hadar and Hallie ran over to Roladin to get coffees and borekas. Even though she’d finished a good amount of turkey, Madeleine also polished off one and a half potato borekas. She loves them now.
The ride was about an hour to our first stop. We drove through a checkpoint into Yehuda and Shomron, or the West Bank as some like to call it. We passed some beautiful Arab villages with streets lined with palm trees, where the poor occupied Palestinians live. Looked pretty nice to me, reminiscent of Beverly Hills.
First stop: a small village called Kida, where we visited a woman with a glass art workshop. Not to be confused with glassblowing—this was more like layering glass for decorative plates and bowls. You design something, layer on the little glass shards, and then she puts it in an oven and it all melts together. We’ll see how that comes out when we get them in six weeks. I made a plate, Madeleine made a bowl. It’s crazy because we were literally working with little glass shards (I think there were a couple of cuts) and you never would’ve been able to do an activity like this in America, at least not with little kids. Also, Hallie was working with a diamond knife, which is literally a tool for breaking up pieces of glass. The kids jumped on a trampoline outside while the adults finished up. Tzvi also bought a bottle of wine because of course the woman’s husband helps run a winery in Kida, because I think everyone in Yehuda and Shomron makes wine. It was a very nice morning activity in a very serene setting.
From there, we went to the Shiloh Winery. A few weeks back, we’d actually met the winemaker at a One Israel Fund dinner. He wasn’t there that day, but he connected us with Matanya, who gave us a great tasting and tour. We toured the facilities and then sat for our tasting. We tried a bunch of different wines and also had lunch, a spread of dips, turkey, crackers—it was lovely. When we registered, we had ordered four food platters, but when we got there they told us that was too much, and we really only needed two. Well, after consuming the two I. think we are all in agreement that we could have used at least another platter. It was weird that they kept trying to convince us otherwise when we were more than happy to pay for more food.
The highlight was at the end when he took me, Tzvi and my mom into the basement barrel room (not even the one that’s part of the tour, just special hidden room). It was rows and rows of barrels. He opened some at random and used a wine thief to give us straight-from-the-barrel tastes. He said some of them may never end up being sold, or may end up being added into some new wine blend. The barrels are stacked five high and he was just climbing up the sides of them. We were worried they’d topple but he said he’d done it many times. It felt like a behind-the-scenes peek into something really special. He kept giving us big tastes that were too much for my mother, and when she couldn’t finish them he just spilled them on the floor. We stayed way too long at the winery and then bought two more bottles of wine (that brings Tzvi’s trip total to three). I think our tour guide Shulie was getting antsy, even more so than our kids.
Next stop: Ancient Shiloh, where we learned about the historical site of the Mishkan (the tabernacle) and got a surprising introduction to the Parah Adumah (Red Heifer) program. We saw a short film about it, and they even had real red heifers on-site. Apparently, there are so many rules like if one hair isn’t red or the cow is used for labor—even if someone leans on the cow—it’s disqualified. Wild.
There were also a bunch of activities for the kids that they really enjoyed: making a hoshen (the kohen gadol’s breastplate) with stones, clay medallions, fabric dyeing. It was cold, but the kids had fun. After that we trekked up to where the ruins are where they believe the mishkan once stood. It was cool, but we were exhausted. Also doing all of this while feeling half dead was super fun.
The drive back to Jerusalem wasn’t too bad and the driver dropped us at the First Station where we had dinner at Lechem Basar, a meat place. We ordered a platter to share that had different kinds of steak (most of which was too rare and needed to be sent back), schnitzel, chicken, and fries. We asked the server if one platter and then one additional entrée was enough for us, and he said yes. Well, it wasn’t. Don’t these people know Americans need more food? The bathroom had no toilet paper—always a bonus. By this point Tzvi was complaining that I wasn’t being aggressive enough about my cold. [Tzvi: I know how this goes. Every time. She gets a cold, it turns into a sinus infection, a week later she’s dying and finally calls a doctor and gets a z-pack. We’re supposed to go to Tel Aviv tomorrow, I don’t have that kind of time to waste.] So I called my doctor, who was out of office, but with some back and forth with the secretary she told me I also had this last April and I should start a Z Pack.
Back at the apartment, we got ready for the next day. Tzvi had some work to do, and at some point—despite feeling like death—I got it into my head that I had to make matzah crack. So my mom and I did. Then we tried the Ben and Jerry’s charoset flavored ice cream. It was mediocre. Tzvi had calls scheduled basically between 11pm and 2am, so he worked in my mother’s apartment. Of course she was awake and also working. And then at around 2:20 AM, I heard a loud crash from the kitchen—Tzvi had come into the apartment and it was pitch black, and in trying to feel around in the darkness for the light switch he knocked a glass bottle off the counter. Of course. [Tzvi: yeah, that was fun to clean up at 2 in the morning.]. Can’t I just have one uninterrupted night of sleep? I did manage to get a few hours of sleep after that, from about 2:40 to 6:30 but not great. At least tomorrow we’re going to Tel Aviv, so I’ll be in a hotel with no kids and no noise to bother me.
Right?
Wednesday morning started bright and early. The girls were excited—today we were seeing Inbar and Robyn (former au pairs) again! We all got up and met Shulie at the entrance to the Old City at 10, of course after Madeleine had her morning turkey sandwich.
First stop: Tower of David Museum, which was recently renovated. I’m not sure if I’d ever been there before. It gives a good overview of Jerusalem's history and the interplay of the three major religions. Tzvi and my dad both fell asleep in the Muslim room. From the top of the tower, we saw Inbar and Robyn arriving—it was cute. The girls were thrilled.
Then we all walked to the Kotel, which was packed. I hadn’t seen it that full in years. Still, we made sure the girls got to touch the wall and put in their notes. Afterward, we wandered up into the Jewish Quarter for lunch—which was, predictably, chaos. The girls and Tzvi got burgers, I found a random salad, my parents went for Pesach pizza. It was every-person-for-themselves. [Tzvi: they just couldn’t figure it out at Burgers Bar. I had to go back to the counter three different times. I ordered the lamb burger, but they gave me a regular burger, so they ended up just throwing a lamb patty on top of what they’d already gave me, so I had something like 600 grams of burger for lunch. It was actually pretty good.]
We made a stop in the Cardo to visit Udi, our favorite artist who I’m sure we’ve written about many times in the past. Naturally Tzvi spotted a new painting he wanted, so now we have a new painting and don’t know where to put it. I should also mention that Udi is working on a piece for our dining room, that we’ve been discussing for years. But he said now that he spoke to Tzvi he has a better idea of what he wants. By the time this painting is finished we will probably be hanging it up in our Jerusalem apartment. We then made our way through the Arab shuk. Shulie gave the kids a scavenger hunt with stickers to fill out a paper. They really enjoyed it. I should say that she was great with the kids.
Eventually, we hopped on the light rail to Machane Yehuda. It was so crowded there was actually a woman standing there pushing people in to get the doors closed, like they do in Japan. Then we got to the shuk where we said goodbye to Shulie. The shuk was beyond crowded and a little overwhelming. We bought some dried fruit and candy. Then a little dance party broke out, so that was fun to watch.
We made a quick stop for coffee at English Cake, said goodbye to Robyn, and then headed back to the apartment to regroup. Inbar came back to the apartment and hung out for bit.
At 6 we were picked up by Yoram who drove us to Tel Aviv. This was the same driver who picked up Tzvi at the airport. Tzvi didn’t mention that Yoram drove like he was in a video game—so much gas/brake/gas/brake. It was nauseating. Inbar tagged along for the ride as she was going to Tel Aviv for her own plans. I had to pee so badly the last 30 minutes. Also, I couldn’t stop coughing and felt like I couldn’t breathe.
So yeah, our little two nights away from the kids was off to a great start.
