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Review: Obika Mozzarella Bar, Rome, Italy

So the review in our travel guide (and most of the online listings) gushed about Obika Mozzarella Bar in Rome, and it wasn’t hard to seduce me. A restaurant entirely devoted to artisinal Mozzarella Di Bufala, each with the DOP seal of approval? Are you kidding me? I practically had to be restrained from clawing …

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Breakfast In Israel – So Amazing! (including Reviews of the Dan Panorama Jerusalem, Metropolitan Suites Tel Aviv, Vered Hagalil, and Yotvata)

Breakfast at Yotvata Kosher (Dairy) Restaurant in Tel Aviv

Breakfast in Israel is kind of an amazing thing, and a vegetarian’s paradise.

Our first venue was the Dan Panorama Hotel in Jerusalem where we were treated to an unbelievable buffet that is included in the room price. Five enormous tables had perhaps fifty or more choices …

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Spice Stalls at Mahane Yehuda Market In Jerusalem, Israel (What Kind of Harissa Is This?)

One of the things I look forward to most when touring other countries is to see the spice markets. In Delhi, my driver / guide and I braved one hour of traffic to go about 1.5 Km from where we were to Khari Baoli market and then we had to park in an underground garage …

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Review: The Legendary Abulafia Bakery in Jaffa, Israel (near Tel Aviv)

Sambusac Stuffed with Potato, Mushroom, Cheese and Hardboiled Egg

Here are your directions. (1) Board plane for Tel Aviv (2) Clear immigration and customs (3) Ask taxi driver to take you to Abulafia. You could tell him that it is in Jaffa, but he already knows.

SP’s dad, you mention anything related to the Middle East …

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Foraging Tour of The Sea of Galilee (Kinneret) And The Golan Heights

Freshly liberated mango near the Sea of Galilee

SP has just about got me convinced that these private guided tours are the way to go when in an unfamiliar place with a lot to see and limited time. Along with Mini-Me and SP’s Mom, we just spent two nights at the Vered Hagalil …

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Halvah at Mahane Yehuda Market, Jerusalem, Israel

Continuuing on with our previous theme of the amazing goods at Mahaneh Yehuda Market in Jerusalem, here are a couple more pictures that capture the flavor. The first (above) is of dozens of varieties of ultra-fresh halvah, sesame candy flavored mostly with various nuts, chocolate, and sometimes lemon or rose water.

The shouks (the Hebrew word) …

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Dairy Products at Mahane Yehuda Market, Jerusalem, Israel

I think this one speaks for itself. The fresh dairy products in Israel are outstanding. In this picture, at a tiny dairy stall in the Mahane Yehuda market (the Jewish shouk), you can see yogurt, labneh (yogurt cheese, foreground with the basket texture), feta, and several flavored cheeses including zatar spice and olive. There is …

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Tour of the Old City of Jerusalem (with More Falafel and Pomegranate Juice)

When we met our tour guide for the Old City of Jerusalem, Nurit Lessem, she was surprised to hear that we hadn’t had lunch yet, but was more than happy to take us to one of her favorite falafel places for a break. I knew right away we’d found the right chaperone!

SP and I …

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“Panzanella” Salad at Spaghettim, Jerusalem, Israel

For years, everyone I know that has gone to Israel has told me how incredible the produce and therefore the salads are. "The cucumbers taste like cucumbers". I didn’t know whether to fully believe this or not given how great the farmer’s market produce we get in Seattle is. Now I know what they were …

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Falafel In The Old City, Jerusalem, Israel

This was our first falafel in Jerusalem. Of course it came in a sandwich, but we took one apart to give to Mini-Me, and that makes for a more descriptive picture than the whole sandwich. Falafel over here is so much better than you normally find in America. The falafel itself is always fried to …

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