In July I travelled with my Czech friend Ilona to Israel to attend friends' wedding in Kiryat Malakhi, which is a small town about one hours drive from Ashdod, where we stayed. We arrived on Sabbath evening, so we had to ask our friends to pick us up as there would not have been many taxis around.
I had booked West Hotel Ashdod, which is a 5 star hotel with excellent breakfast and à la carte restaurant. The view from our hotel room was breathtaking and the beach was (regrettably) very inviting..... the sea was full of tiny stingy jellyfish! Thankfully a Ukrainian sunbather gave us some vinegar to apply it on jellyfish stings. Vinegar worked!
 |
| Andalusia eggplant — love the vibrant colours! Crispy eggplant on harissa cream, garlic confit & pickeled lemon. |
 |
| Fancy fish & chips: tempura fried chunks of cod fish, juicy and crispy fries, Dijon cream and harissa cream. |
 |
| I learned that Helena and Ilona are actually same names. Ilona is a variant of Helena. |
 |
| I placed my prayer note in one of the cracks of the Western Wall in Jerusalem. |
West Ashdod All Suites Hotel! What a view! #Ashdod #Israel
 |
| Women's party before the wedding. Bride's sisters and mother prepared quite a spread. |
 |
| In Tel Aviv. Swimming prohibited, but people are swimming and surfing nevertheless. 😄 |
 |
| There was a big silverfish (Lepisma saccharinum or Ctenolepisma longicaudatum) on the hotel room floor. It must have been minimum 4 cm long! |
