I am so thankful that on a daily basis I get to do what I love: cook and take photos. I am also very grateful for all the wonderful opportunities that come with having this blog. I recently experienced the trip of a lifetime when I was invited by Vibe Israel to be part of their Vibe Comida tour with a group of Latin/Spanish food bloggers. This trip was supposed to be about the food. And it was about the food, the food was amazing: tasty, colorful, vibrant, and full of flavors and influences from many different cultures. But there was a lot more than the ridiculous amount of delicious food I tasted, this trip was also a wonderful experience thanks to all the incredible people that I met in Israel. From my fellow Latin & Spanish food bloggers: Clara from Dominican Cooking, Heidi from AromasnSabores, Bren from Flanboyant Eats, and the lucky only guy Txaber from El Cocinero Fiel, to the warm and welcoming local Israeli bloggers who took us into their homes for an afternoon and taught us how to prepare their favorite local dishes: Natalie from Oogio.net, Raheli from Food Page, and Efrat from What Efrat blog. Huge thanks to the amazing Vibe Israel team for the invitation, to Joanna Landau, and especially to Rotem Wiesman who organized our tour and was extremely patient as we constantly stopped to take photos of everything in our way (which tended to make us late for the next event). Thank you Haim Yosef for taking so many photos of us – and also for being a very knowledgeable source about Israeli food. Thank you to all the chefs, waiters, guides, restaurants, hotels, local food experts, and everyone who helped make this trip so memorable.
So, is it safe? I’m sure this is a top question on many people’s mind when they think about traveling to Israel. Yes, it is. I felt very safe and didn’t have that “I am tourist and I stand out” feeling that I get in many places. I was very comfortable taking my camera everywhere we went. Even in my home country of Ecuador I am usually extra careful about which places I take my main camera and which places I take my smaller less valuable camera. I love Ecuador and haven’t experienced any theft in my recent trips, but I always go there mentally prepared that my camera/phone/other physical belongings could be stolen. In most crowded places, including cities in Ecuador, but also big touristy cities like Paris, London, Venice, I almost always carry my bag/camera in front, and am constantly keeping a cautious eye on my surroundings. I didn’t feel like that extra paranoia was needed during my trip in Israel, everywhere from religious sites to markets to walking around at night, I felt at ease.
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