And Then We Came to the End

End now, to finish up on the honeymoon, because if i wrap one more thing in newspaper I'm going to go insane.

So, Israel. Yay! First time back since Brovender's, and obviously, the first thing of note is the ridiculously different Ben Gurion Airport. WTF? But in a good way, I think, although it does seem to make everything take much longer. However, spoiler alert, we got fries from McDonald's before the flight back to NY (approximately 4 am) and so overall, I give it a thumbs up.

I love Netanya. While I'm there, I realize that I'm blessed enough to have four places that I so strongly associate with childhood that each gives me one of those little nostalgic pains. However, as my more recent memories of Vacation Village are not so fond, Camp Morasha is a different place, and my hometown will always be a place to which I return, a stop in Netanya is exciting in a way the others can't compare. And nothing could be greater for me than getting to bring Yoni. The only thing I severely lament is that I managed to get my husband all the way to Netanya, but seven years too late to meet the heavily accented, cane-sporting, Scrabble-loving, sharp-tongued little Czech woman I called Savta. But we went to the beach, we ate at The Milky Way and Pizza Hut, and we went to a flea market and walked through the park on Smilansky Street so I was happy.

Also truly fantastic? Finally getting to see Ricki in her new natural habitat. We took the bus to Tel Aviv one night and met Ricki for dinner at Pasha, a Turkish restaurant. Ironic, I know, seeing as we just came from Turkey, but since Carne wasn't exactly abundant with true Turkish fare, it was nice to get a more accurate experience, if not authentic. We had to sit at the bar, despite the place being empty, but that came with free shots and no complaining on our part. Then we saw Ricki's enormous apartment, listened to her have fluent Hebrew conversations on the phone, and became totally envious.

Onward to Jerusalem! Yoni and I rented a car (Yoni drove in Israel, how cool is that?) the day before to visit his cousins on a kibbutz near Ashdod and we kept it to go into Yerushalayim via the Mevaseret Mall, for a quick stop at KFC, naturally.

ONLY IT WASN'T THERE.

Now, I realize some people may have already known this. Well, this is the kind of information you need to share with people who haven't been to Israel in years, people! Anyway, after the gravest disappointment in the world, we checked in at the Dan Panorama, returned the car, and promptly walked to Emek for Burger's Bar, where we were in for our second raging disappointment of the day.

No, it's not the food--the food is still great. But the Americanization! The commericialism! The enlarging of the restaurant and the menu! What happened to the hole in the wall we've all come to know and salivate over? And then, to go to the Kotel later that day and see that there's now a Burger's Bar in the Rovah? What kind of joke is this??

But no worries, the trip was eventually redeemed--we spent the day at Malkha Mall, ate some delicious Burger King, bought me a couple of a shirts from Castro, and all was right with the world. Other restaurant stops included Caffit, Vaquiero, and, of course, Olive, and we even had a cultural day at the Israel Museum.

All in all? Honeymooning definitely gets an A+.