One Day or Tel-AvivILoveYou#1

This weekend has started with a sunny shishi boker* at Kerem haTaimanim (vineyards of yemenites), in Tel-Aviv with my dear newly married friends Debbi and Yonnatan(whose few wedding pictures you can see here). We sat at a lovely hole in the wall eatery "Shimon Melech haMarakim"(Shimon the king of soups) and ate an authentic Yemenite zoharaim* with Lahoh, Hilbe and Yemenite chicken soup. 

the kitchen

the menu

Hilbe-authentic yemenite sauce made from fenugreek seeds with harif* on the side. 

spicy chicken soup

meatballs with rice and beans with Lahoh in the background (a spongy Yemenite bread).

Galushki was attracting all the attention as usual. The owner of the place was enthusiastically insisting to give her some soup, which from her words, her kids were eating from the age of 4 month. However we decided that hummus and falafel is enough by now :0.

the plates are empty. Yoshvim be keif*.

Kerem haTaimanim is one of the oldest neighborhoods of Tel Aviv, which was founded around 1904. It is adjacent to Shouk ha Carmel and Tel Aviv beaches and probably concentrates the majority of today's Jewish Yemenite population of the world. The neighborhood was built similarly to the Jewish ghettos back in the days in Yemen, with some ancient Hebrew and Colonial British features. Since the rest of Tel-Aviv was constructed in a Bauhaus style, this neighborhood, as much as Neve Zedek( which I will mention in the following post) stands out with its smaller scale of buildings, narrow streets and the intimate atmosphere that somewhere reminds  Nahlaot of Jerusalem. 

From there we continued to the Souk haCarmel. This place is visited by thousands of people every Friday, so you are literally under the risk of being run over or smushed into the nearest basta, especially when you are with a stroller and a baby in it. It is loud with Mediterranean music and sellers who are shouting shalosh be eser! shataim be eser!* etc. It is a cultural phenomena of Middle East. The experience is a must, but be ready to the dirt and smells all around you as well.

We continued to stroll on Nahalat Binyamin blv,which hosts Friday Artisanal market near the souk. The whole area has gone through significant changes since I left 5 years ago. Now it is a lovely hood filled with designer boutiques, cafes, fabric stores and hand made goods. It is also very touristic, but still pleasant and interesting to look around.

colonial building in need of restoration at Nahalat Biniamin

 I I stumbled upon this beautiful store off the blvd and immediately loved it. It is called Carmelita and is run by talented Naama Brosh, who gave up science career for the beauty and jewelry design. She makes truly stunning pieces from non precious materials like glass, plastic and pvc. I definitely recommend to stop by and to check it out. Rehov Harambam 9, Tel Aviv (just off Nahalat Binyamin).Naama herself

Alenby st, King George st, Shenkin st intersection.

After a tiring walk, my friend Zoya came to Tel Aviv with her beautiful 2 y/o son Ido and took me and Galushki to the Old port of Tel-Aviv, which got significantly renovated and expanded as well.

New bridge across haYarkon river to the port.

zemer yam tichoni* at Shalvata

Ido haMatok*

All this havent been there 5 years ago..

This is the place where once we were going out to parties at Zoom and Dugit. Today all the hangars got filled with designer stores, restaurants, bars and cafes. 

Tons of space for biking, rollerblading and fooling around..

Galia and Ido are taking a bread break..

Zoya and Ido

Bubik moves on to Bamba

After the kids ate, we sat down at cafe Landver for cafe ve uga*, and it have never felt so good ...When the sun went completely down, me and Galushki were off to the Shabat dinner at Debbi's and Yonnatan's place  too bad couldn't take pictures of the delicious food she made. Needless to say I slept late the next day...

Hebrew vocabulary:

shishi boker- friday morning

harif-spicy 

yoshvim be keif- sitting and having fun

zemer yam-tichoni- Mediterranean singing

matok- sweet

cafe ve uga- coffee and cake

shalosh be eser! shataim be eser!-3 for 10, 2 for 10