1001 Nights at Mt. Zion Hotel in Jerusalem

It is winter in Jerusalem and there are alarming news running on TV about the imminent coming of a serious wave of snow - to be read that will last maybe one, two days instead of a couple of hours. As winter is not my friend and the last place on earth I want to be bothered by snow is in Jerusalem, I dream about a warm place where I can forget about cold and other bad snowy news. At least for one night, Mt. Zion Hotel is the perfect choice.

I passed near the hotel many times when on my way back from the city center, but was never too curious to have a look inside. Now, I have enough free time for slowly walking there from the city center - around 30 relaxed minutes. It is situated very close from the lively Tahana Rishona, where regularly events are taking place, but also from the tasty and affordable restaurants in Rehavia. Although close to entertainment areas, it is very quiet and discrete.

As the check-in takes place around 14.00 o'clock, I still have time to admire the stylish metal furniture with comfy blue pillows and the old Oriental carpets. I try to move from a place to another, curious to test many vantage points. The hotel overlooks the Hinnom Valley, the old city walls and the David's citadel and the historical Yemin Moshe area.

Everything is suited to bring you peace and relaxation. I instantly fell in love with the painted wood of the furniture and the mixture between delicate vegetation and metal works. I fill my time reading various leaflets with information about tours and other attractions in English, Russian, French or Spanish or having a look at the good looking cakes from the bar. The friendly reception personnel, fluently English speakers, can help the guests to make various reservations, including airline and various flight details confirmations.

I reach my room through a maze of corridors leading to a small courtyard and a garden surrounding a pool. Once I open the door of my suite, I am exactly in the kind of room I am expecting to have when on the road for a long time. Smooth colours, moderately stylish interior, a lot of space to both work and rest and relax.

The metal framed furniture is also present here, but the intensive presence of wood brings the ambiance in the room to a more feminine, easy to cope with presence. I am in love with the colourful glass doorknobs of the close. I instantly find my place to the working table and happily start using the advantages of the very fast Internet - as everywhere in Israel, listen to that, dear Germany...Working in a space without windows is not necessarily my favourite type of office though.However, I can move with my laptop in the living room or on the balcony, but I am afraid will be too distracted to work by the beautiful view. The inviting bottle of red Yarden wine - one of my favourites - or the crafted cakes and fruits as well as the arabesques of the tables will be too disturbing. So I better go back into the windowless room to have some work done fast. 

The rooms are fully equipped with everything you need in your modern life: big TV screen in the main living room and another small one in the bedroom, phone, hair dryer, tea and coffee making facilities, personal safe, air condition in every room. The doors lock automatically upon closing and everything makes you feel safe and relaxed. The beautiful smell brings you back to the world of 1001 Nights.

For longer or more family oriented stays, the kitchen offers the chance for preparing healthy meals. Out of the 137 rooms of the hotel, recently refurbished, 38 are Deluxe and family oriented, out of which 11 do have a balcony. The mini fridge can accommodate enough food for a couple of days. By request, a crib can be offered to families traveling with infants. Babysitting service is also offered. The Moroccan sink of the bathroom is another episode of the Oriental nights, with scents of lemon soap and various fine toiletries. 

A day in Jerusalem, either as a local or as a tourist is never easy, so spending time in the balcony and admiring the view is an inspired choice. Otherwise, those with more time can book a relaxing hammam stay or a spa treatment. The outdoors swimming is open from April till October.After going out to one of the many restaurants of the Tahana Rishona or Rehavia, the sweet treats from the room are the happy ending of the day. Bite after bite, I like to look more and more around in the suite, trying to figure out all the small details of the interior design. It seems that there is a duel between different strength of strong materials: stone, leather, metal, wood. Every single details is well balanced and harmonized by the choice of colours.In the morning, I woke up in the sound of the birds. The ecological and ergonomical pillows took a good care of my dreams and I feel fresh for a fresh start into the day. Just another beautiful day outside is waiting for me. Clearly, there is still a chance that there will not any winter in Jerusalem.Soon, I have to leave my secret retreat for the night, and I want to have one more look around my suite. These big walls were used since the end of the 19th century, at the beginning as an eye hospital. Mount Zion (Har Zion) is used as a hotel only in the last two decades, but it seems that the various redesigns brought the best from all worlds, with a lot of facilities and exquisite furniture and decoration choices for the guests.

The breakfast helps me to forget that very soon I have to leave everything behind. The welcoming Israeli breakfast is waiting for me, with a mixture of various fruits and vegetables, fresh juices that can be made on the spot, traditional shakshuka. even cheesecake. For the summer mornings, the buffet can be tasted on the outside terrace. During the day, the restaurant and bar near the reception offers various special easy local meals, such as salmon filets, cheese plates, Greek and haloumi salad, falafel, kubeh or hummus as well as fresh sandwiches.

It is time to say 'good bye', but after such a lovely and welcoming stay, I plan to go back to enjoy some more spa and wellness one day. The sooner the better!

Disclaimer: I was offered a complimentary night at Mt. Zion Hotel, but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Jerusalem like a local

This summer, I spent around 3 weeks in Israel, the overwhelming part of the time in Jerusalem. Although all the travel dreams I had did not materialize, at least I had the chance to live as a local. Here are my old and new discoveries of a very uneventful travel life in Jerusalem.

Since its opening, the First Train station remains the main gathering point for both locals and tourists. You can find here food and various events like concerts and book festivals and small artisans displaying their paintings and jewellery works, and a playground for children. From there, you can reach within minutes the Emek Refaim street, with its special designer stores and a lot of good foodie choices, such as the Waffle Factory. Another advantage of this place, especially if you are a tourist, is that it is open also on Shabbat - the Saturday is officially the day of rest here and most of shops and restaurants in Jerusalem, as well as the public transportation cease to work from Friday evening until Saturday evening. If you are looking for organic stores, you can find here a quite big one, overpriced but with quality products. There is another one in Moshava Germanit and another very small one in Malka mall, just if you are a bio-family or individual on the road.

If you have children, a visit to the Zoo is always in the cards. I particularly appreciated the chance of admiring special animals - like the hyrax in the picture - that you cannot find in Europe, specific for this part of the world. There is an area with fish too, and green grass for picnicking. 

The Israel Museum is not only for tourists. There are special programs for children, and even a particular block of buildings dedicated to activities for the little ones. As for the museum, it is an impressive collection of cultural treasure about Jewish people and artists, from centuries old synagogues in India or Caribbean to archeology and modern art. The revolutionary design of the building, the perfectly shaped long box reflected into the clean waters is another reason to go there, even only for a photography session. It is usually always crowded, some of the visitors coming here regularly, due to the impressive collections that you can hardly overview in only a couple of hours. 

For shopping fans, there are the malls (the Hebrew word for mall is canion): Malka and Mamilla and Hadar, are only few of them. There is a different consumerist culture there, compared with Germany, for instance, and expect a lot of temptations, as all round the year, the customers are tempted with special offers (2 products for one etc.) and big discounts. The food courts are also very well represented and if you are a meat lover as me, count for getting some extra pounds here. Another destination where locals love to go is the Cinema City, not necessarily for the movies - which are not doubled in Hebrew, but maintained in the original English language - but also for the many coffee stores.

The Western Wall is always crowded with tourists, especially during the summer. Behind the walls, there are still many archeological workshops where new discoveries are made all the time. The hot summer does not deter the scientists to do their job and once in a while you can see them overviewing the sites or searching assiduously in some very remote corner. During the Jewish holidays, places like the Western Wall and the Ramat Rachel are usually very crowded with people from all over the country or even the world arriving to pray. 

Very close from the city center, but relatively quieter, the area around the Italian Jewish Art Museum is a good choice for a short walk - summers are very hot and long here and you need an umbrella generally only from December until February - if you like small art shops and even smaller local restaurants. You can even rent bikes at Herbert Shmuel street station, a relatively new fashion in the holy city. In the Nahalal Shiv'a neighbourhood, that used to be in the 19th century the third Jewish neighbourhood outside the old city walls, you can find the discrete Hebrew Music Museum, or the fine ceramics and judaica Azoulay store. The area is overviewed by huge skyscrapers, but this is all for now.

Let's be honest, that a visit at the Shai Agnon Museum, dedicated to the Israeli Nobel Prize for literature, is not necessarily what locals do all the time if ever, unless they are children in school, but this was my tribute to an author I studied and read a lot, and appreciate for the taste of the old country he succeeded to preserve through his writings. The English audio guided tour of the house is quite comprehensive and offers many insights about the architecture of the house and the cultural and historical ambiance of his life. Close to the house, the Arnona neighbourhood is a mixture between old houses and bold skyscrapers, with jogging lawns and huge vegetation covering the gray buildings. From Walter and Elise Haas Promenade, you can have a full overview of the old city, while you rest on the grass or watch a music concert on the small stage.

Back to my passion for meat, there is an old and a new place I visited this time. The old is the Bibi restaurant, with its infinite choice of salads that accompany the generous skewers or other meat plates. The new finding is Hummus Talpiot, with its minced meat in the middle of a big olive oily portion of hummus. Eaten with fresh pita. Whatever the meal I chose, the lemonade is the natural companion, with exactly the amount of sugar and the number of mint leaves you need for a great taste. 

In the Moshava Germanit, the French pleasures abund, either as baguettes - not everyone come along with pita as perfectly as I do - or as fine choices of cheese or (French) wines too. The prices are a bit higher than usual, but the taste of France delights is priceless. As for now, I am still looking for some high-end French delights and a normal pastry shop, except the very special one at King David Hotel, which I love a whole lot.

There is street art in Jerusalem too, not only in the hipster Florentine in Tel Aviv, but the art here has more style and some combine the old Jewish art with the challenges of wall spray. The most colourful area is around the Bezalel Art Academy, a very respectable university, with a high record of training very talented book illustrators and fashion designers.

The Nachlaot area jumped lately high on the top of expensive real estate areas because it is authentic and doesn't have the impersonal touch of skyscrapers - which I love in NYC, but not that much in historical cities such as Jerusalem where they look like a giant grotesque implant. The small streets and colourful doors, with their generous green vegetation are a nice refuge from the buzz of the city around. Many artists and local famous people live there, and you can also find small potery shops or workshops.  

Near the Behar Art Center, more elaborated street art. Even in Berlin I cannot find anything that detailed and painted like a real work on canvas. 

The Jerusalem Synagogue is of relative young age, being built 25 years ago. Many locals choose this location for bar mitzva or other joyous celebrations like weddings. It can host over 1,000 people, it has a big hall and special classes all round the week. I particularly appreciated the exhibition of mezuzot - doorposts - with centuries old items from all over the world, as well as the colourful stained glass displaying various natural and religious scenes. I usually love small spaces of the synagogues without too many people, when you know everyone and where you feel like home, but I can also understand the strong message of big synagogues like the big Belz one. For religious people, Mea Shearim area is the main destination, either for purchasing various religious items or for spending holidays in an authentic environment. Everytime I am in Jerusalem, I make sure to visit a specific bookstore, with books in both English and Hebrew.

Between Talpiot and Emek Refaim, there is Baka neighbourhood, in the South of the city. There is a skate park for active youngsters around, many fruit stalls and European looking cafe places. Out of the beaten path, I had a tasteful afternoon at the Caffe b'gina - coffee in the garden - restaurant. In the huge garden, I had my experience of Armenian Wineleaves - very sweet, and it was not only because of the vinegar - and salmon tagliatelle. 

During these three weeks, I developped a new visual habit: voyeurist of art galleries. At Beit Hasid Gallery on Emek Refaim, I admired the exhibition by the professional musician and self-made painter David Louis,depicting everyday Jewish life, but also thoughtful human profiles and daily activities. 

There is not high art, but a lot of visual kitsch, at the Elvis Restaurant in Abu Ghosh, one of the most famous destination for Elvis fans in the Middle East. Groups of tourists arrive here regularly, having a look at the image of the Memphis idol jumping or singing or doing other activities in every corner. Michael Jackson visited this place too. And me. But I am not a fan of Elvis, only of the good food they serve here: a lot of salads, and meat, and freshly baked pita. It is also opened on Saturdays, so expect to wait a bit if you did not make a reservation or if you don't know the owner, who is often around, either asking people about the quality of services or debating daily political evolutions. Fans and owners of vintage cars meet here regularly as well.

On my last days in Jerusalem, I visited an area that was mostly foreign to me until now: Ein Karem. It has a high concentration of churches, but also its share of art stores and ceramics and art galleries too. And some delicious icecream that you can buy from the small store of the House of Chocolate. The ups and downs streets are full of colours and recently, of bikes too.

This last trip to Israel was this time completely out of the planned path, but at least, when I look back now, I learned some new tips and, at least, had enough time to see, even for a short time, some of my favourite people in the world. Not that bad, after all.