Photo of Pundak Ein Kerem from its own webpage
I'm getting the feeling that my humor in the previous post took a wrong turn.
I didn't mean to diss the restaurant that much.
Probably only a photo blogger's eye would even pay attention to the sign on the dusty car, because the Ein Kerem Inn is always full of people.
You can read a glowing review of the place here and see a video on YouTube .
Next time I'm in the village of Ein Kerem I should go in and take a first-hand look.
Helen in Australia asked what an inn is in the Israeli context.
I think pundak, meaning inn, is nowadays just a cute name for an eatery.
In olden days it meant a caravanserai, a place on the trade routes where caravans could overnight in safety. Also called khan.
I discovered that the pundak that we now use in Hebrew is like the فندق funduq in Arabic (from the Greek, pandocheion, an inn).
Arabic has no p sound, so the Greek p here came into the Arabic as funduk, which went back into Hebrew as pundak.
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I haven't heard that word caravanserai since we left Turkey. It immediately brought back some memories.
ReplyDelete"Caravanserai" shows up as a clue in crossword puzzles.
ReplyDeleteI might have used yesterday's photo for one of my Zen Mondays.
As long as the food is good - what's in a name?
ReplyDeleteI stand by my impression, glad for them if it is wrong!
ReplyDeleteReminds of a small child in a Christmas pageant. A few words can 'attempt' to alter history. He was the innkeeper and when Joseph came to the door, seeking lodging for Mary and himself the line was, "sorry there is no room at the Inn".
ReplyDeleteHe got nervous and sad, "Sure, come on in." Ha! Only kids could do this.