Home / Countries / Israel

Center City

31.776,35.218

Our hotel, the Leonardo Plaza, was located in the Center City area of Jerusalem, close to the Old City and close to numerous dining options. It overlooked Independence Park a pleasant - and very 1970's oasis of green amidst the built environment. The area just to the north of our hotel on Rehov Harav Avida housed some old abandoned buildings that I found strangely compelling.

As a student of Chinese restaurants, I made it a point to seek out Chinese restaurants on our few evenings of non-catered dining. Compared to their ubiquity in New York City, I was surprised to find them comparatively rare in Israel - although the scope of our tour was likely not a thorough random geographic sampling. The closest I could find in Jerusalem was the River Noodle Bar, a pleasant establishment which would probably be better categorized as Pan Asian than Chinese. I would have to wait until our last meal in Tel Aviv to find something more closely resembling what Americans call Chinese food.

05/26/2011 18:29:34
Ben Yehuda Street
05/26/2011 18:25:42
Ben Yehuda Street
05/26/2011 18:56:38
Dinner
05/26/2011 19:29:02
Restaurant
05/26/2011 19:37:04
Shoes
05/26/2011 19:37:18
More shoes
05/26/2011 19:50:06
Our hotel - Leonardo Plaza
05/26/2011 06:22:16
Leonardo Plaza
05/26/2011 06:25:08
Leonardo Plaza
05/27/2011 05:45:18
Leonardo Plaza
05/27/2011 05:46:36
Leonardo Plaza
05/26/2011 06:24:08
Apartment building
05/26/2011 06:27:56
Abraham Lincoln Street!
05/26/2011 06:30:50
George Washington Street!
05/27/2011 05:42:16
Sunrise
05/26/2011 06:22:30
Harry Wilf Park (Independence Park)
05/27/2011 07:42:56
Independence Park
05/27/2011 05:44:34
Independence Park
05/27/2011 05:44:52
Independence Park
05/27/2011 05:45:10
Independence Park
05/27/2011 05:45:44
Curb your dog
05/27/2011 05:46:00
Cool 70's design
05/27/2011 05:46:18
Water fountain
05/27/2011 05:51:30
Water fountain
05/27/2011 05:49:28
King David Hotel
05/27/2011 05:49:20
Hooded crows
05/27/2011 05:51:12
Hooded crow
05/27/2011 05:51:42
Independence Park
05/27/2011 05:54:38
House on Gershon Agron
05/27/2011 05:54:50
Waldorf-Astoria
05/27/2011 05:55:00
Waldorf-Astoria
05/27/2011 05:55:06
Waldorf-Astoria
05/27/2011 05:56:26
Waldorf-Astoria
05/27/2011 05:58:00
Waldorf-Astoria
05/27/2011 05:57:50
Alrov Mamilla Residences
05/27/2011 05:59:28
10 Kariv Street
05/27/2011 05:59:36
10 Kariv Street
05/27/2011 06:00:28
10 Kariv Street
05/27/2011 06:06:14
Hassenfeld Amphitheatre
05/27/2011 06:06:20
Hassenfeld Amphitheatre
05/27/2011 06:06:28
Hassenfeld Amphitheatre
05/27/2011 06:08:16
Hassenfeld Amphitheatre
05/27/2011 06:09:00
Hassenfeld Amphitheatre
05/27/2011 06:09:20
Pomegranite tree
05/27/2011 06:09:26
Pomegranite tree
05/27/2011 06:09:38
Hassenfeld Amphitheatre
05/27/2011 06:15:18
Water bottle recycling bin
05/28/2011 20:27:16
McDonalds
05/27/2011 06:34:16
Old building
05/27/2011 06:34:20
Old building
05/27/2011 06:34:36
Old building
05/27/2011 06:34:48
Old building
05/27/2011 07:43:18
Old buildings
05/29/2011 06:04:44
Old Buildings
05/29/2011 06:07:50
Old buildings
05/29/2011 06:15:36
Rehov Harav Avida
05/29/2011 06:16:40
Interior
05/29/2011 06:18:00
Old building
05/29/2011 06:04:32
Sunrise
05/29/2011 06:04:58
Center City
05/29/2011 06:05:10
Independence Park
05/29/2011 06:20:46
City of Jerusalem banner
05/29/2011 06:21:14
King George at Ha'Keren Ha'Kayemet Le-Israel
05/29/2011 06:23:12
Old Knesset Building
05/29/2011 06:23:38
Old Knesset Building
05/29/2011 06:24:36
Old Knesset Building
05/29/2011 06:25:46
Man reading newspaper
05/29/2011 06:26:02
Cat watching man reading newspaper
05/29/2011 06:27:04
Truly transworld delivery
05/30/2011 05:20:14
Hotel bomb shelter?
05/30/2011 05:21:42
One last sunrise in Jerusalem
05/30/2011 05:26:52
Cat in garbage
05/30/2011 05:34:26
Container being delivered
05/30/2011 06:13:24
Central Synagogue
05/30/2011 06:15:52
Floor bomb shelter
05/27/2011 06:25:02
River noodle bar
05/27/2011 06:25:08
River noodle bar
05/29/2011 18:53:40
River Noodle Bar menu
05/29/2011 18:57:38
River Noodle Bar
05/29/2011 18:57:56
River Noodle Bar
05/29/2011 19:11:32
Kim Chee was just cabbage
05/29/2011 19:17:48
Dinner

Next: Day 5: Driving to the Dead Sea