11 weeks in Jerusalem is a very long time, especially when the city essentially closes down on Saturdays. Here are some great things that Milla and I did during our time in this wonderful city!

Jerusalem Biblical Zoo – A fun outing that kept us entertained for a couple of hours. Not as comprehensive as Melbourne Zoo for example, however still a lovely morning out. There is a focus on animals which were mentioned in the bible and they house up to 140 different species. There is also a children’s area which has a fun petting zoo. You can pre-buy admission on their website which speeds up entry if you show your confirmation on your phone as you walk through the gate.

Jerusalem Aquarium – a fairly new attraction – our taxi driver didn’t even know this existed! It is next door to the zoo so you could do this in one day or space it out. This kept us entertained for 1½ – 2hours and was quite relaxing! Note: you need to book this in advance. You can do this on their website and just show the confirmation on your phone.

 

 

 

Bloomfield Science Museum – a great activity for kids of all ages. When we went there were school students going through but we just worked through at our own pace. We could have stayed here all day but Milla was very happy (and occupied!) for 3 hours. We loved the reading corner – all of Milla’s favourite books such as The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom and Dr Seuss were there in Hebrew! We had a lot of fun with the mirrors and the Fields of Tomorrow was great too. The outdoor tree houses were a huge hit – Milla explored these for almost an hour!

 

First Station – great restaurants and also fun kids activities like riding on an old style train and carousel. Older kids could scooter around this area too – really fun on hot summer nights.

 

The Old City/Kottel – This was such a special activity on our first Friday in Jerusalem. We walked from our apartment to the Old City, then continued on to the Kottel. Though I couldn’t explain to Milla the significance of the Kottel, she seemed to have an affinity and understanding of how important this was, even to the extent she seemed to have an immediate spiritual connection. Very important to note that there are a LOT of steps down to the Kottel, coupled with cobble stone roads, making this extremely stroller unfriendly. However, despite the hard work it was worth the effort for a beautiful pre-Shabbat experience.

 

Bus riding – though this is something so mundane for most, riding the bus was such a novelty for Milla! She loved it and we took the bus wherever we could. For the most part it was efficient (when the buses actually turned up) and usually we could get a seat. Important to note: you can no longer purchase a ticket on board, you need to have a preloaded rav kav. We went to the bus authority to get ours and we have our photo on it. Additionally, children under 5 or people with a disability do not need a ticket… would have been really useful to know this at the beginning of our trip as we paid for Milla every time we travelled!

 

 

The Shuk – the Jerusalem market is walking distance from our apartment and Milla and I spent a lot of time here. Israel is different than Australia – at home we have the luxury of big supermarkets with lots of variety and great produce, however here there are more small stores with limited variety and average produce. Also, our apartment is so tiny that we cannot stock up on anything, we literally buy today what we will eat tomorrow or the next day. We are lucky that not only are we living so close to the market but that the market is so fun, with buskers, yummy food and great people watching! You go to the Shuk for an experience, not the hygiene – removal of cigarette while serving customers is entirely optional. Plus, the benefit is you get to compete with Israelis to see who has the sharpest elbow to get served quickest. There is ample fresh (relatively!) produce and some really amazing grocery stores, but there are also amazing restaurants here too (Pasta Basta, Crave, Yishtabach, Azura, Darwini, Joseph’s, Hatch, Fishnchips are some of my favourites). If Milla leaves the Shuk without a gift from a merchant (banana, Kinder Surprise or chips) I have officially failed that day!

 

Parks – though this isn’t anything unusual, Milla and I also spend a lot of time exploring the amazing parks in Jerusalem. Because apartments are generally so small (and many families are so big!) there are parks throughout Jerusalem to keep both parents and kids sane. Our local park, called Gan Avinoam (20m from our apartment) is small but enough to keep us entertained for an hour in the afternoons and we are lucky to have made a few friends here too, with a similar situation near my aunt’s apartment in the German Colony. We also had fun at Gan Sacher (the cafe here is great but not open on Shabbat), Shalva Park, Independence Park (great for a picnic but not so much for kids) and San Simon Park.

 

Until next time,

J x