Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #40: Don't Fear Those New Prefab WCs, Pleasantly Surprised

Unlike my previous Pishers' Guides, the list can be found at the end of the post, not the beginning. 

A couple of weeks ago I was in Jerusalem and entered Machane Yehuda via Shiloh Street. I'm at that age when it's unwise to delay visits to the WC, but I was nervous about trying this prefabricated one. I also know that there aren't many "nice" public toilets in the open market. 

So, I figured that worse comes to worse I could "hold my nose" or flee and search for another one.

This funny looking prefab structure is on the corner of Agrippas and Shiloh Streets. No nauseating odor greeted me, and I found it easy to open the door. The "lock" was pretty automatic after I shut it.

As you can see the instructions are in three languages plus icons on the outside.

Inside it didn't smell either. I was impressed.

As you can see in the photo, the toilet is stainless steel, meaning that it should be easy to clean and relatively unbreakable. It took me a few seconds to realize how the sink worked. I was pleasantly surprised by the warm water.

Now I don't fear entering these WCs. Of course, there can always be problems. Cleaning staff isn't there 24/7. 

What's your experience with these public toilets? If you reply in the comments, then please indicated location and hour.

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #39, Wonderful Surprise-- WC at Bus Stop

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #38, Gan Sacher Room for All

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #37 Jerusalem's Safra Square's Renovated

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #36 Cinema City- Not Just for Intermission

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #35 Pleasant Surprise at the Jerusalem Central Bus Station

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #34 Binyan Clal Public Toilets Renovated

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #33, New Public Toilets Downtown

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #32, Har Chotzvim, Not The Gas Station

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #31, Good Deal in "Supersol Deal," Givat Shaul

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #30, Speedily Out of Order at New Train Station

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #29, Kotel WC, Prayer Come True

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #28, Machane Yehuda WC, Fright at First Sight

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #27, CBS Revisited, Worth The Shekel

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #26, New Kraft Stadium, Complaining May have Helped

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #25, New Park, New Loo

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #24 Horse Park WC Staff Horsing Around

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #23 For One Shekel in the CBS

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #22 "High Tech" Loo, Not for Use

Pishers Guide to Jerusalem #21, Perfect "Pit Stop" on Emek Refaim

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #20, Gan Hasus, Horse Park, Like Russian Roulette

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #19, Center 1 Has Gone Downhill

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #18, Shuq Loo for You Ladies

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #17, At Least It was Clean

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #16, Iconic Location-- Nauseating WC

Pishers Guide to Jerusalem, New Loo #15 Up Close

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #15, New Guy in Town

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #14, Mega Yuck!

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #13, Hadar Mall: What Public Toilets Should Be

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem # 12, Center 1, Usually OK

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #11, Never Fear The Rami Levy WC

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #10, At Least There were Toilet-paper and Soap

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #9, Watch Out for Peep Holes!

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #8, Kupot Cholim to The Rescue!

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #7 A Supermarket to Avoid. Plus WC Tips

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #6, Bring Your Own Paper

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #5, Mamilla Mall Where Modern Stinks

Don't Be Afraid, A Pisher's Guide to Jerusalem #4

Historic Jerusalem Building, A Pisher's Guide to Jerusalem #3

A Pisher's Guide to Jerusalem #2 

A Pisher's Guide to Jerusalem #1

Bus Changes, Again, Finding a New "Pit Stop"

The Most Unusual and Best Beer at "Beer in Dizengoff Center" Festival

 

A few weeks ago, I traveled to Tel Aviv with the beer tasting crew, led by our Beer Maven Doug Greener, to "Beer in Dizengoff Center" Festival. We tasted lots of beers and enjoyed most plus the unique atmosphere. It was a Thursday night, and most people were in Dizengoff Center for pre-Shabbat shopping, but no doubt some shoppers were happy to sample and buy some beer. 

There was a nice selection of Israeli and a few foreign beers. We were most interested in the Israeli beers, especially the craft beers from the smaller breweries.

I will just mention one specific beer. It's Tomer, made in memory of Tomer Nagar, who was killed in the October 7, 2023 massacre. His family and friends make the beer in his memory. I tasted them, and they were all good, though my favorite was the most unusual. Rarely do I like flavored beers, since it's rare to find a fruit or vegetable that has the power to work well with a good strong beer. 

Davka Tomer's friends flavored one of them with אגוזים egozim, walnuts. Yes, it's not the usual, but the rich, earthiness of the walnut worked well with the beer. The citrus aroma doesn't prepare you for its special taste. I loved it, and when I was offered a choice of a gift beer by the festival's organizers, it's an easy guess to know what I chose.

If you hear of an Israeli beer festival in your area, I definitely recommend that you visit. Get yourself a bunch of tasting coupons, and take advantage of the opportunity to taste a good variety of beers. Then, before leaving, treat yourself to some bottles of your favorites to take home.

Recycling and Bottle Deposits for Charity

 

In Israel recycling is suggestion, not required. I save bottles, glass and plastic, for the deposit money, but it's not for me. There's a neighbor who keeps bins for people to drop their bottles off, which I do weekly. Then another neighbor collects them in large strong bags, each holding fifty 50. 

This week, I found myself going with that neighbor to a couple of large supermarkets, one in Ariel and the other in Rosh Ha'ayin to get the money. I want to make it clear that she uses the money from the bottle deposits to donate to a charity for IDF soldiers. 

The supermarkets limit the amount of bottles a person could bring to fifty 50-- and they're counted--, so my attendance was necessary. We were able to bring one hundred 100 bottles to each supermarket.

Many, actually most, supermarkets don't have enough space to accept bottles. This is big business, or at least bulky. And obviously they have to send the bottles to somewhere... after accepting them.

I'm glad to have helped. To be perfectly honest, I had an ulterior motive traveling with her. She works near where I had to be...