New Year's Eve in Jerusalem?
December 4, 2008 9:51 AM   Subscribe

I'm excitedly returning to Israel for the first time since I lived in Jerusalem for a year in the mid-nineties. I'm co-leading an intergenerational synagogue trip in a few weeks, and I'd love any recommendations.



-New Year's Eve in Jerusalem? (We're staying at the Mt. Zion hotel, near the Liberty Bell Garden). Any happening places in the Russian Quarter? Nice restaurants downtown that would have a New Year's celebration (I know it's not a holiday in Israel, but still...)

-Shabbat afternoon in Tel Aviv (we're staying at the Marriott Renaissance, on the beach). Are restaurants, museums or shops generally open or closed on Shabbat?

Thanks for your help!
posted by ericbop to Travel & Transportation around Jerusalem, Israel (3 answers total)
 
Best answer: American living in Israel here.

1. For New Year's Eve in Jerusalem, you're set. The Russian *Compound* has a number of good bars/nightclubs and there are dozens of bars and restaurants celebrating NYE around Ben-Yehuda/Zion Square, Talpiot and the German Colony. I enthusiastically recommend the monthly English language edition of Time Out Israel (http://digital.timeout.co.il/activemagazine/welcome/israel_16.asp) and jerusalemite.net as well.

2. Saturday afternoon in Tel Aviv is relatively hopping. Museums are most shops are closed, but restaurants and a minority of shops (mostly boutique/specialty stores or chains) remain open. Although it's touristy, most of the shops around the Port in North Tel Aviv are open - and in Jaffa as well.
posted by huskerdont at 10:50 AM on December 4, 2008


Response by poster: Would you recommend any bar/nightclub in the Russian Compound (I can't believe I wrote Quarter!) in particular, either to a) give our congregants the best "taste" of the RC, or b) have the best New Year's hang?
posted by ericbop at 11:05 AM on December 4, 2008


Hey, I'm leading an intergenerational synagogue tour then, and we'll be staying at the Mt. Zion too! Let me know (or MeFi Mail me) if you want to meet up for a shawarma while we're there.
posted by AngerBoy at 11:55 AM on December 4, 2008


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