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Tags: Pet Travel / El Al / Airline News / Airlines / → All Tags

El Al Wants To Make Sure Your Pets Are Getting Plenty Of Travel Love

Israeli airline El Al is very proud of having a pet frequent flyer club, where your dog or cat will get a free trip for every three round-trips they survive. What's more, El Al has been kind enough to offer us some tips on flying with our pets, and speaking as people who've never done it, we think they sound like good ideas.

The most important tips seem to be to exercise your pet shortly before the flight, but feed him a few hours beforehand to avoid a poor air-sick doggy. El Al also suggests getting the appropriate pet carrier far enough in advance that your pet can get used to the contraption before they're stuck in it on a flight.

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Tags: Travel Deals / Israel Travel / Religious Travel / Package Tours / → All Tags

Head To The Holy Land This Holiday Season For Cheap

Why not consider going beyond the commercialized gift-giving this holiday and make a trip to the Holy Land? Travelzoo offers a package that'll take you to the sacred spot and other sites in Israel. It's a 10-day, eight-night trip with airfare and accommodations included that'll cost you $1,299.

For the three-city tour, you'll be shuttled around in a bus to places like the ancient Roman port of Caesarea, the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth and the Old City of Jerusalem. You'll stay four nights in Jerusalem, two in Galilee and two in Tel Aviv. As part of the package, you'll get nine meals—eight breakfasts and one dinner.

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Tags: Israel Travel / Events / Jerusalem Travel / Religious Travel / Festivals / → All Tags

Party After Dark In Jerusalem During Autumn Nights

Israel's Ministry of Tourism has to deal with one of the travel industry's more challenging balancing acts: promoting the country's historical significance to religious travelers without freaking out secular tourists who should be attracted to party cities like Tel Aviv, all the while showing a side of Israel that goes beyond the headlines.

Israel hopes to pull off exactly that trifecta with a series of upcoming "Autumn Nights" celebrations in Jerusalem's Old City, emphasizing the Israeli capital's ancient religious heritage in a quintessentially modern way.

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Tags: Most-Shocking-McDonalds-Locations / McDonalds / Most Shocking McDonalds / Israel Travel / Negev Desert / McShawarma / → All Tags

Eat Your McShawarma In the Middle of the Negev Desert

A "shocked" tipster sent in this shot of a shocking McDonald's location yesterday saying:

While driving from Tel Aviv to the Israel’s resort city Eilat, on the Red Sea, we stumbled upon a random McDonalds in the Negev Desert…the middle of nowhere!!

We actually had quite a tough time trying to find the address of this place, namely because we can't read Hebrew. But we think we've got the right location on our map, thanks to a translator. (If it's not, let us know.)

And like our tipster, you will probably roll through the The Negev Desert as you make you way to the south of Israel to the resort towns. So perhaps sensing a need for a fast food stop for all these resort trekkers, someone opened up McDonald's (with a McCafe!) along this route.

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Tags: Mistakes / Maps / BMI / Israel / → All Tags

BMI Wipes Israel Off the (In-Flight) Map

Imagine for a moment that you are traveling with a major airline, and winging your way from one major world city to another, but your destination fails to appear on the in-flight entertinament LiveMap. What do you do? If you're an Israeli heading home from London on a BMI plane, you file a complaint against the airline with your tourism ministry, and get that stuff fixed before it becomes an international incident.

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Tags: Jaunted Field Trips / Embedded Travel Guides / Tel Aviv Field Trip / Restaurants / → All Tags

Eats in Tel Aviv: Pasha

Today we wrap up Jaunted contributor Sedona's culinary trek through Tel Aviv. Don't worry, she is still hitting the gym to work it all off! We hope her recommendations have inspired your tastebuds.

Try Turkish in Tel Aviv? It sounded like a tongue twister to us, but we jumped on the opportunity to sit down to the swankiest version of Kosher Turkish food in town at Pasha. One of a two-restaurant chain (the other, original branch is in Jerusalem), Pasha is decked out in Asian decor, but serves authentic Turkish dishes. It's family style, so sit back and down kebobs of all kinds mixed with rices, soups, dips, and veggies that continue to keep coming. The eggplant dip is deliciously smoky and the koftes (meat dumplings) were spiced and perfectly shaped.

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Tags: Jaunted Field Trips / Embedded Travel Guide / Tel Aviv Field Trip / → All Tags

Eats in Tel Aviv: Dr Shakshuka's

Jaunted contributor Sedona recently spent a week in Tel Aviv, and happily ate her way through the city so she could share her picks with you.

After a morning walk through the extensive flea markets of Tel Aviv's port city, Jaffa, don't shortchange yourself with a standard falafel that's easily gettable at any nearby stand. Instead, head to the Doctor's--Dr. Shakshuka's that is.

Serving traditional (Kosher) Libyan and Moroccan cuisine, Dr. Shakshuka's is like stepping into a family's house for a meal. Long wooden tables line the indoor and outdoor eating areas and guests are encouraged fill them, mingle and try everything.

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Tags: Jaunted Field Trips / Embedded Travel Guide / Tel Aviv Field Trip / Nir Zook / → All Tags

Eats in Tel Aviv: Nir Zook's Culinary Trifecta

Jaunted contributor Sedona recently spent a week in Tel Aviv, and happily ate her way through the city so she could share her picks with you.

Today's Tel Aviv culinary secret revealed is the magical kingdom of Chef Nir Zook. His three hot spots - Cordelia, Noa Bistro and Jaffa Bar are hidden gems in Jaffa, the area's ancient port city.

Chef Zook is a 30-year-old foodie dynamo who grew up on a farm in southern Israel where he learned a thing or two about putting the right ingredients together. He started hosting dinner parties with friends at his apartment in Tel Aviv after which they insisted he open his own place. The result is Cordelia restaurant, where he infuses French classics with Mediterranean touches.

Think ostrich meat with cocoa or a light fish fillet paired with green and white asparagus shavings. One of the best parts about Cordelia is its decor, it's a sort of collection of found objects - from cutlery to mismatched tables and chairs to funky chandeliers, and everything miraculously just goes together. Chef Zook sources the items himself and spends time scouring flea markets for finds continuously.

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Tags: Jaunted Field Trips / Embedded Travel Guides / Tel Aviv Field Trip / Markets / → All Tags

Eats in Tel Aviv: The Carmel Market

Jaunted contributor Sedona recently spent a week in Tel Aviv, and happily ate her way through the city so she could share her picks with you.

We're major fans of visiting open-air markets while traveling, and Tel Aviv's got one of the best: The Carmel Market, at the intersection of Allenby, Nahalat Binyamin, King George and Sheinkin Streets. Make sure you set aside ample time to stroll through the hundreds of stalls where you can pick up everything from sunhats to nuts to nougats to spices, fruits, coffee and more.

Skip the "Clothing Only" section at the start (unless you are looking for overpriced Levi's) and walk towards Sheinkin Street for a great path through all the food stands. The Mediterranean produce is amazing and cheap and vendors are happy to comply with taste-testing for potential buyers.

We scored ourselves some delish burekas (traditional breakfast bites with filling) and fresh strawberries to take to the beach later.

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Tags: Jaunted Field Trips / Embedded Travel Guides / Tel Aviv Field Trip / Restaurants / Tel Aviv Travel / → All Tags

Eats in Tel Aviv: Benjamin Siegel Bistro & Bar

Jaunted contributor Sedona recently spent a week in Tel Aviv, which is throwing itself a year-long fiesta in honor of its 100th birthday. She headed to the Holyland expecting seven days of hummus, pita and falafel but she left pleasantly surprised by the city's fabulous food scene. This week she's filling us in on her favorite picks, none of which involve chickpeas.

Benjamin Siegel Bistro & Bar is neatly tucked into the Opera Tower (above) on Tel Aviv's famous beachfront promenade and it's a great alternative to the fast-food shacks and stands along the water. And yes, it was named for the famous Las Vegas mobster, Bugsy Siegel. (Something to do with the desert, say the owners.)

The decor is on the Baroque side with plenty of twinkly crystals and interesting knickknacks to keep it from being too dark. Also, the atmosphere's more on the elegant side, so don't wander in with sandy flip-flops.

Prices aren't cheap (around $20 for an entree) but the daily fish specials are worth it, prepped to order with a Mediterranean bent (usually a special sauce or dip). We say get there early and watch the sunset with a signature cocktail. Later on, a DJ will spin some tunes giving you the best of the both worlds.

The restaurant is open Sunday-Thursday from 12:30pm to 1am, Fridays from 9:30am to 2am and Saturdays from 9:30am to 1am.

Related Stories:
· Benjamin Siegel [Official Site]
· Where Does Bar Refaeli Dine When She's Home in Tel Aviv? [Jaunted]
· The secrets of a successful bar [Jerusalem Post] [Photo: hanneorla]

Tags: Tel Aviv Travel / Marathons / Athletic Travel / Sports / Running / → All Tags

Marathon on the Mediterranean

One of the most-covered travel stories over the past few years has been the rise of voluntourism and do-gooder vacations. But we've also noticed an uptick in do-good-for-yourself vacations—scheduling a trip around a big athletic event like a marathon or bike race.

So as spring marathon season swings into full gear, we'll be looking at some of the marquee 26-milers around the world (especially the ones in places we love to visit).

Coming up on April 24 is a somewhat surprising entry—the Tel Aviv Marathon. The race is back after a 15-year hiatus, starting up again as part of this Israeli city's centennial celebration. The marathon course is appealing for anyone who wants to get a good look at this diverse city—it winds through the Old City and Park HaYarkon, ending along Tel Aviv's main draw—the stunning Mediterranean beachfront. The race, which also includes 5K and 10K versions, is expected to bring 15,000 runners.

Related Stories:
· Run the Tel Aviv Marathon for 100 years of history [Israel 21c]
· Marathons coverage [Jaunted]
· Israel travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: vacilamos]

Tags: Amazing-Race-14 / Amazing Race 14 / Chasing Racers / Television Travel / TV Travel / → All Tags

'Alright Guys, We're at War'

Chasing Racers is back, with a brand new Amazing Race 14 mashup. This map will update the morning after every new episode. Send along tips, rumors, gossip, locations and spoilers to our map editors, become a member and comment on the stories below and add to the Jaunted-Flickr photo pool to get in on the fray.

Remember to zoom in, out and around on the map--with so much happening in each episode, it's easy to miss a map point.

Last week, Christie and Jodi landed in last place, and were marked for elimination, but Phil informed them that they were spared, but would have an additional challenge this week also known as a Speed Bump. Will they be able to maximize their travel smarts and synthesize it into a victory, or will the other teams maintain leads? This week, the Race heads to India, with lots of taxi troubles and interesting livestock. Who will have the smarts and strength to make it to the Pit Stop first?
LET'S FIND OUT!

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