Shalom! Today we visit Israel, a small country in the Middle East almost everyone has heard of. It goes without saying that there are many perceptions of what Israel is, and should be. 

To keep this light, I’ll stick to some facts and share some of my experiences visiting Israel. Depending on how you measure, Israel is a tiny bit bigger than Slovenia. Actually, scratch that even facts can be contentious today!

Joe and I visited Israel a few years ago to see our friend Paul who was living there. Israeli food is incredible, and the bars have Scandinavian prices.

The airport security was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before, and their anti-missile system equipped airline El Al does not fly on Saturdays in order to observe Shabbat. Come to think of it, all public transport was shut down for Saturday in Israel until very recently.

The thing that surprised me about Tel Aviv was how relaxed and friendly it seemed. All of my life I’ve always heard about Israel being a country on a knife-edge, but my experience in Tel Aviv couldn’t feel further from this. I think I also saw more pride flags hanging from windows in Tel Aviv than anywhere else I’ve visited.

We went to nice restaurants, explored the old town of Jaffa, and relaxed on the beach. I’d definitely love to visit again one day.

Right, time to sign off with some Israeli Eurovision courtesy of Netta.