My Defining Decade: Israel Day 1

We made it! Our last flight landed in Tel Aviv around 10am local time this morning, so we had a full day after traveling for 20 hours. We drove through Tel Aviv where our tour guide informed us of its rich history and present accomplishments. Did you know that Tel Aviv has the second most tech start-ups to Silicon Valley? I didn't! Actually, almost all of our devices have some sort of Israeli technology in them! Point for Israel.
We got off the bus at Jaffa, which is a city adjacent to Tel Aviv. Our first stop was the most prominent port in ancient Israel. It's where Jonah boarded a ship to Tarshish to avoid going to Nineveh and was the port-of-entry for the cedars of Lebanon when building Solomon's Temple and the Second Temple of Jerusalem. Because this port was used for so much transportation and trade, empires often fought over its control. It remained the main port of Israel until 1936 when the British empire built a new, more accessible port north of Tel Aviv. Today, the Port of Jaffa is mainly used for fishing and some transportation.
After walking around the city a bit, we were given free reign to eat lunch and explore for an hour. The majority of us ended up at a famous pastry shop, but it was probably more similar to what we'd consider a bread bakery. It was HECTIC. Our tour guide warned us that Israeli people don't have much concept of personal space, but it was still a shock to experience the chaos first-hand. At most food shops, the counter to order faced the outside and there was no real line or structure to ordering. You just shoved your way to the counter and started talking (in our case, pointing since we don't know the names of anything). I honestly have no idea what I ate. I had two items - one was potentially a spinach and onion (?) flatbread, and the other was similar to a cheese pizza calzone with sesame bread instead of pizza dough. I don't have pictures because we just ate them out of paper bags. They weren't bad but were heavy after a long day/night/day so I couldn't finish either. Then, we found a little sit down street restaurant where I had a delicious and much needed cappuccino.
Then, we met back up with the rest of the group and made the ascent to Jerusalem. The landscape here is uniquely beautiful. The hilly terrain is covered in natural terraces and olive trees, with classic-style homes at the top of each peak. Tomorrow, we'll be able to really take in the scenery as we go to the Garden of Gethsemane, Palm Sunday road, the City of David, Hezekiah's Tunnel, the Pool of Siloam, and finally, a First Century Tomb. Should be a fun and busy day! But for now, we sleep.