I had an awesome time walking around Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. There is so much history in Jerusalem; I highly recommend taking a walk above it all along the ramparts around the Old Town. The Wailing Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre are excellent places to see the importance of religion in people's lives. At the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, we saw many people weeping as they touched their garments on the Stone of Anointing.
Tel Aviv is very different; the city is very modern. It seemed like at every corner of Tel Aviv there was a new shop opening or building being built. It felt like most of the people in Tel Aviv were young and the city pulsed with an energy not found in other places. The beach is also clean and beautiful; I spent an afternoon just sitting on the rocks and people-watching.
Sadly, I don't have many pictures since this was mostly a work trip but here are some of my favorite restaurants in Tel Aviv:
Cafe Noah (Ahad Ha'Am St 91) - this place is so cool. It is the perfect place to hang out and work on your laptop for the afternoon. They have wi-fi and an outdoor garden as well as fresh lemonade and iced tea (key beverages for a non-coffee drinker like me). I'm told their coffee is also quite good.
Mizlala (Herzl St 114) - I had lunch here by the bar. Since it was so hot in Tel Aviv, I wasn't in the mood for anything heavy so I got the mullet fillet entree. The fish was fresh and crispy and came with a tangy yogurt on the side. The dish was very light and refreshing. They also get bonus points for being very nice about me bringing my carry-on suitcase into the restaurant and storing it while I ate.
Aboulafia Bakery - this bakery is in Old Jaffa Town near the clock tower. It is open-air and the workers are super friendly. It's been around forever and is well-known for serving delicious treats. For something savory, get the pita with za'atar and olive oil, for something sweet, get the fried circular looking thing with syrup and sesame seeds (it kind of looks like a very compact funnel cake).
Side note: one of the funniest things I ordered at a cafe in Jaffa was a watermelon and feta salad, expecting it to be some small pieces of watermelon and a bit of feta. It turned out to be a quarter of a watermelon with the rind with about 20 cubes of feta. The watermelon was juicy and sweet and the feta was also quite good but be warned that the watermelon and feta salad might be more than you bargained for.