So every morning and night while we were Israel, there was a huge buffet at the hotel. There were also a lot of lunch buffets out and about, but Jon and I skipped those. Believe it or not, all these pictures are from our BREAKFAST buffet! 
If you click to get a bigger view of this picture, you'll see that the top three dishes are fish options (for breakfast). The olive trees were abundant in the area, and every meal we ate had the olives to prove it. The first hotel had the best grilled vegetables for breakfast that I really enjoyed. I wasn't as good at eating raw veggies for breakfast, though.
I've never seen so many choices of vegetable salads (for breakfast and also supper). I know I ate more vegetables there than ever before. Eggplant was abundant, prepared in many different ways and always delicious.
Keep in mind that nothing is labeled. There were always a variety of (I assume but am not sure) yogurty options for breakfast. They don't taste like yogurt here, and I could never quite figure out exactly what they were or if I liked any of them. There were also cheeses (again, I think they were cheeses) for breakfast. One always looked like cheese and tasted like cheese. The others were bigger mysteries. They were hunks of somewhat cheese-like substances that were pretty good. They might have tasted better if I knew what they were. Mysteries are great fun, but not when you are eating them.
Ah, the hummus! Every meal had a big ole plate of hummus. I ate hummus at every single meal. I learned to eat the hummus plain because I could never figure out what I was supposed to dip in it or put it on. There were only pitas nearby once. We were all tourists dining together so there was no one to watch for a good example of "how the locals do it." I should be sick of hummus by now, but I'm not. I miss their hummus.
Here's the hot food for breakfast: some sort of cheesecake thing, nowhere near as sweet as cheesecake but good, some awesome crescent rolls, and pancakes. They also usually had hard-boiled eggs and scrambled eggs. This particular hotel also had French toast each morning with a choice between regular syrup and thick, chocolate syrup. I'll let you guess which I would choose. The first hotel we stayed in also had an assortment of casseroles, also unlabeled. We figured out that one was macaroni and cheese. I know Basia would have enjoyed that one. I also enjoyed the variety of marmalades and thick jams that the first hotel provided. There was even a thick jam (I call it jam because it was near the jams) that was pure chocolate delight.
Bread! There was a huge assortment of beautiful bread at every meal. This picture doesn't represent how bountiful the baskets usually were. Jon and I would take a roll with us for our lunches. After a few days, I had had about as much bread as I could stand. There was also the most beautiful fruit you have ever seen. It was all so fresh and delicious. There were some dry and hot cereal options for breakfasts, too. The juices were thinner than ours but very good. There was Turkish coffee at the first hotel that the men really enjoyed, although I suspect they enjoyed them because they are MEN and feel that they should enjoy things like that. The Turkish coffee was made by putting the grounds right into the cup and then adding water. Jon was good at leaving those last few sips (full of grounds) behind. Falafel was an option for most lunches and a couple dinners. It was great. Their ice cream was amazing! I don't know what the difference is, but I liked it a lot. The other desserts were not as sweet as ours--yes, I have a few sweet teeth, possibly all of them. The baklava was my favorite.
If you click to get a bigger view of this picture, you'll see that the top three dishes are fish options (for breakfast). The olive trees were abundant in the area, and every meal we ate had the olives to prove it. The first hotel had the best grilled vegetables for breakfast that I really enjoyed. I wasn't as good at eating raw veggies for breakfast, though.
I've never seen so many choices of vegetable salads (for breakfast and also supper). I know I ate more vegetables there than ever before. Eggplant was abundant, prepared in many different ways and always delicious.
Keep in mind that nothing is labeled. There were always a variety of (I assume but am not sure) yogurty options for breakfast. They don't taste like yogurt here, and I could never quite figure out exactly what they were or if I liked any of them. There were also cheeses (again, I think they were cheeses) for breakfast. One always looked like cheese and tasted like cheese. The others were bigger mysteries. They were hunks of somewhat cheese-like substances that were pretty good. They might have tasted better if I knew what they were. Mysteries are great fun, but not when you are eating them.
Ah, the hummus! Every meal had a big ole plate of hummus. I ate hummus at every single meal. I learned to eat the hummus plain because I could never figure out what I was supposed to dip in it or put it on. There were only pitas nearby once. We were all tourists dining together so there was no one to watch for a good example of "how the locals do it." I should be sick of hummus by now, but I'm not. I miss their hummus.
Here's the hot food for breakfast: some sort of cheesecake thing, nowhere near as sweet as cheesecake but good, some awesome crescent rolls, and pancakes. They also usually had hard-boiled eggs and scrambled eggs. This particular hotel also had French toast each morning with a choice between regular syrup and thick, chocolate syrup. I'll let you guess which I would choose. The first hotel we stayed in also had an assortment of casseroles, also unlabeled. We figured out that one was macaroni and cheese. I know Basia would have enjoyed that one. I also enjoyed the variety of marmalades and thick jams that the first hotel provided. There was even a thick jam (I call it jam because it was near the jams) that was pure chocolate delight.
Bread! There was a huge assortment of beautiful bread at every meal. This picture doesn't represent how bountiful the baskets usually were. Jon and I would take a roll with us for our lunches. After a few days, I had had about as much bread as I could stand. There was also the most beautiful fruit you have ever seen. It was all so fresh and delicious. There were some dry and hot cereal options for breakfasts, too. The juices were thinner than ours but very good. There was Turkish coffee at the first hotel that the men really enjoyed, although I suspect they enjoyed them because they are MEN and feel that they should enjoy things like that. The Turkish coffee was made by putting the grounds right into the cup and then adding water. Jon was good at leaving those last few sips (full of grounds) behind. Falafel was an option for most lunches and a couple dinners. It was great. Their ice cream was amazing! I don't know what the difference is, but I liked it a lot. The other desserts were not as sweet as ours--yes, I have a few sweet teeth, possibly all of them. The baklava was my favorite. Overall, the meals were a vegetarian's paradise, although there was very little non-animal protein offered and often none with the supper meal. The first few meals, I would try a bit of everything to figure out what I liked. Then I got sick of the overabundance of choices and stuck with those that I knew I liked. Finally, I got nostalgic, knowing I was about to leave, so I tried a bit of everything again. I don't think I would ever get sick of someone else doing all the cooking and cleaning up after me. I have not found those to be the conditions now that I am home, and that saddens me greatly.
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