Old City and German Colony

Monday we ventured into the Old City with its stone walls and narrow streets.  One would think they were too narrow to drive on, however there seemed to exist a sort of controlled chaos consisting of pedestrians, carts, wagons, cars and gaggles of tourists...and somehow it worked.

First we stopped for some Turkish coffee, delightfully powerful and fragrant with cardamom.  

 We passed a pastry shop and offerings of many kinds of spices, some shaped into pyramids.

 Our lunch options in the Muslim quarter were somewhat limited given that it was the holy month of Ramadan in which a day-long fast is observed, however we managed to find a place that was open for the business of feeding tourists.

As usual we were presented with an array of sides and salads to start, this time Israeli salad, green salad, green tahina, cucumber and yogurt salad and a salsa of sorts.

For my main course I ordered kebabs:  ground, seasoned lamb mixed with parsley and molded around a skewer and grilled in the back of the restaurant by two young boys who served us.  And some french fries. (?)

 At long last I was taken to the most sacred spot in the Old City...the halva guy (can you see the light shining down above the halva???)  Pictured is my host standing next to what is indeed the best halva I have ever had.  I brought a few chunks home and will be very sad when it has disappeared.

As it was quite hot, we stopped for an iced cappuccino.  I can't say enough about Israel and coffee, they really know how to do it.  The one pictured here was so creamy and foamy, very cold and the flavor was strong.  I've never had anything close to the iced coffee concoctions that I sampled on the trip back here in the US.  I think we should take some lessons...

We stopped to see the Western Wall, I purchased some Turkish coffee to take back home and thus our pilgrimage to the Old City for halva and coffee was complete.  

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Later that afternoon we strolled through the neighborhood known as the German Colony and stopped into Cafe Marzipan on Rachel Imanu St. for some out-of-this-world rugelach.  

 

However, my absolute favorite item that I ate on the entire trip turned out to be this exquisite little pastry on the right.  It was savory, flaky, topped with caraway and sesame...the cheese seemed to be a part of the dough and so it was so perfectly balanced--not too rich and not too light, just incredible.  

And I have no idea what it's called!!!