An Ol’ Broad’s Ramblings
Archive for Travel
Playing Tourist On Day 10
This morning, we started our day right next door to the kibbutz. There is a small, but rather impressive museum, housing just one item. Well, honestly, if there are other items, we didn’t see them. This was quite a sight, all by itself. Click on the link to read all about the discovery.
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Playing Tourist On Day 9
As has become the norm, we were up bright and early, rarin’ to go! After a decent breakfast at the ‘guest house’ of the kibbutz, we’re off. (Warning: I took a lot of pictures today…be happy I’m not posting ‘em all! heh)
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Playing Tourist on Day 8
This morning we took flew back to Tel Aviv to be picked up by Avi, our guide. Now, I’ve had some issues with my first name getting through security, but this was by far, the most interesting. The guy was unbelievably polite! Honestly, TSA could learn a LOT from Israeli security folks!
We got to Tel Aviv around 11 and immediately started our trek north. First stop, Caesarea! The Mr and I both noticed this sign before heading into the park:
Well, why not! Vegetarians need love too, I suppose. 
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Playing Tourist On Day 7
We actually got to sleep a little later today. However, since we have gotten use to waking up early, sleeping till 7 was later. No major rush to go anywhere, but we did want to take in the The Underwater Observatory Marine Park here in Eilat. I’m not real big on fish stuff, but the Mr likes it, so I guess it’s only fair to let him choose what we do once in a while, right? J Well, I do kind of like looking at the different types of sea critters, I just don’t know diddly about them, other than I don’t like to eat them. They taste fishy, don’cha know.
So, we took a cab ride. The town isn’t all that big, and we thought perhaps we could walk….well HE thought maybe we could walk, I didn’t think it was such a great idea….but the lady at the tour desk said it was a bit farther than you’d think. She was right. Perhaps 30 years, and quite a few pounds ago, we could have walked it in an hour. Now? It would have taken us a couple of days, and a trip to the emergency room.
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Playing Tourist On Day 6 - Day Trip
(Ok, so it’s no longer Day 6….obviously. I had some computer issues, and ya know what? Didn’t much care. LOL I have been way too tired every day to head to the lobby or fight with a weak connection in the rooms. I have been keeping track, not to worry. Have more. 
)
Our day started earlier than normal. Since we had to be in the hotel lobby at 7:30am, I thought it would be a REAL good idea to have a wake up call at 5:30. Well, I’m not much of a morning person, so it’s better to have a little extra time to get at least a half eye open, right?
Breakfast is served at 7am, and since we didn’t know when we’d get lunch, thought it prudent to eat something. We ate, and waited. And waited. Ok, it wasn’t that bad, but it seemed that way. The mini bus finally showed up, and we were on our way…..to wait some more.
Why is it that customs, in any country, seems to take longer than any other country? This is just a portion of the people milling around, waiting in the same area. What was suppose to take about 15 minutes, took more than an hour.
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Playing Tourist On Day 5 - MOVED!
We are no longer in Jerusalem. I would post pictures, but it’s now too dark to go out and take any.
I would say we “hopped” on a plane this morning, but one thing you don’t do in Israel is hop on a plane! I will NEVER complain about going through security in the states again. Although, truth be told, the Israelis are a LOT more efficient! We only go through one security check point, the Israelis have 3! We only had to go through 2 of them, although, I’m not sure why. However, my first name did get them some pause, and I got asked a lot of questions I had never had never been asked before….like what does your name mean, what is it’s origins, do you belong to any sect, are you a member of…. Stuff like that. I was named after my mom, who was Lebanese. I didn’t mind answering the questions because I understand the need for the security.
Our flight was suppose to leave at 11:00am. It left 20 minutes late. Not bad, eh? Yeah, I was impressed too. LOL Unlike our flight over, there weren’t too many Orthodox Jews on our flight, with one exception, the lady sitting next to me. She quietly prayed before the flight took off, during take off, and again upon landing. As a matter of fact, I was doing a bit of praying myself, since the plane was doing some shaking and noise making that set me a bit on edge. 
At one point, she dropped her Prayer book, but when I attempted to pick it up for her, she was adamant about picking it up herself. I’m wondering if, perhaps, me not being Orthodox, or even Jewish, had anything to do with her refusal of help?
45 minutes later, we landed in Eilat. It was an 8 minute drive to the hotel, not too far from the Red Sea, but dang! It was HOT!
This is a really terrific place, other than the fact I had to battle to get connected. Turned out they had to reboot the whole hotel. Dang, I just love causing problems. Heh. And ya know what??? They have Fox News! 
It is rather odd to watch the morning bunch in the afternoon, but we’re talking about an 8 hour time difference. It’s also rather amusing to watch Russian television with Hewbrew subtitles. Since this seems to be a big destination for Russians these days with their new found wealth, I guess it’s only natural to have a Russian idjit channel.
Tomorrow is going to be a really big day trip, and I will be posting some pictures. This afternoon is R & R time….although, it’s not really afternoon anymore since the sun has gone down. 
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Late Afternoon - Day 4
The Mr has pointed out some of the mistakes I’ve made in my posts, wrong names for wrong places and such. Hey, YOU try remembering everything you’re told without taking notes. Heh. It was the Robertson Arch, not Davidson. Davidson is the guy who footed the bill for the little museum they have at the dig. So, sue me. The gray cells ain’t what they use to be. 
I’m starting to regret out decision to bypass the Shrine of the Book this morning. There were already too many people lined up to get in, and we’d had enough of crowds for a while. Maybe if, and when we can get our last night’s reservation changed, we can come back and stay here, hopefully begin able to take in the Scrolls .
After passing out for about a half hour, we decided it was time to in search of food and that specific t-shirt in the Old City. I even managed to walk the whole way in my new Israeli sandals. I’m not real sure what make them Israeli, but that’s what Avi calls them, so that’s what I’ll call them. I think they’re actually made here, but I have seen immitations elsewhere. Food was first and foremost on my mind, the Mr thought it best to get the buying in first. We did buy a few items, but no matter how many t-shirt shop we snooped, not one Carolina Panther shirt was to be found. Sorry Bushy! We did try! I’m not giving up yet, but according to one of the shopkeepers, that name is just not known in these parts. 
Now, shopping in a place like that is a real learning experience. We’ve learned to ignore people trying to sell us something, in a round about way, of course. They sure do come up with some creative ways to get your attention. This happened as we were walking in through the Jaffa Gate. A man asked the Mr if he spoke English. Well, of course he does. So the man asked him to help with his English. He wanted to put an ad in the weekly paper about his new third shop he was opening. The Mr, being the polite person he is, was glad to help out, and wrote it down for him in English. What am I doing while I am standing there waiting to continue our quest? Well, I’m looking, of course! At jewelry. Stuff that sparkles. I’m like a magpie when it comes to sparkling things. Doesn’t matter what it is, I’m drawn to it. This just happened to be some very uniquie jewelry. Well, while the Mr is working out the wording for the man, he turns into one of the sweetest, butter would melt in his mouth, salesman. Needless to say, we walked out of there with a ring, a pair of earrings, and a cool box through in for free. I saw the brat when I saw that box. Don’t ask me why, I just did. After the jewelry, him throwing in the box was just the icing.
Now Arab men, this one being Armenian, have a habit of holding other men’s hands. I’m not sure why, but they do it. Gotta tell ya, the look on the Mr’s face was fairly priceless. He finally put a stop to, in no uncertain terms. That might be fine for Arab men, but you know those American men and their macho mentality. 
After repeatedly explaining our need to hurry back to our quest, he drags us over to another shop. He takes into the back of the shop, with the proprieter and asks us to sit down. Now this got me leery. Well, it turns out the man had t-shirts as well and many other beautiful things, but not the one we wanted. After munch rangling, we finally got out there. I think he was about to start modeling his tshirts for us, and that just wouldn’t do. He had to be at least 65. Somethings just shouldn’t be experienced.
After making out great escape, we hurried about our business. With no success. I am not going to give up. I’m just going to have to elsewhere. Someone in this country must have heard of the Carolina Panthers! Surely, they must!
The Mr finally relented, and we got to eat. We went to a sister of the chain expresso coffee bar where we had eaten on Friday. I had to try something different, and different it was. Goat cheese, sliced eggs, and tomato on whole wheat bread. Doesn’t sound all that great, but believe, it was mighty tasty. Personally, I would rather have eaten at the Lebanese place right next to the t-shirt modeling salesman, but Mr was looking for real meat. What he got was tuna.
While we were walking back the mile or so to our hotel, it struck me. I felt safe walking on the streets after dark. Not many cities you can say that about, can you. At least not a big city. Yeah, they’ve had some serious problems, but in recent years, not so many, other than a raving lunatic on a bulldrozer or two.
So, while we may not have had the luck we were searching for, we did have….I should say I had some luck. :) And I wasn’t even asking for anything. Hmmm….
What’cha think? Now where am I going to wear something like that? Reckon he’s gonna have to let me put on my dress and take me out to dinner so I can wear ‘em, eh?
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Playing Tourist On Day 4
Lucky for me, this has been a short day. My feet are so swollen, we spent a good chunk of the morning trying to find me a pair of shoes that won’t cut off the circulation to my brain. Yeah, it was getting that bad. AFTER we did a little snooping of course.
We went back over to the Old City were there is an archaeological dig. Many levels of history, from the 1st Temple era to the Crusaders, and Turks and….well, you get the idea.
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Playing Tourist On Day 3
To say that today was a LOOOOONG day would be an understatement. We started out at 8:30am and didn’t get back to the room permanently until 8:30pm. Needless to say, I’ve got a LOT of pictures, and this is only about half of them.
First stop, after driving past where we would go later, Masada! Talk about an impressive sight. You can’t see much until you actually get up to it.
View from the top. That’s Jordon on the other side of the Dead Sea.
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Shalom!
Just a few minutes before we head to breakfast, and start out day. I was thinking about some of the things I’ve observed, and wanted to share them.
No ice. I thought this was a European thing, but evidently it has spread. LOL Just kidding.
Drivers LOVE their horns. And of course, I’ve always got a rude comment in the back of my head that someone said once….but I won’t repeat it here.
Roads are not meant for more than one tiny car at a time, much less a big ol’ van or truck, which there aren’t many of, but the HUGE tour buses are enough to make your heart stop as you watch your life pass before your eyes.
This particular hotel room is about the size of a postage stamp, but since we aren’t in it too often, not a problem. You have to ask specifically for washrags. Evidently, using a cloth to wash the bod isn’t common practice. 
Having my purse checked before going into a coffee shop by a security guy with a VERY large gun is a new experience. Totally understandable, but new.
There are security cameras EVERYWHERE! Look up no matter where you are, and there’s a camera moving back and forth. Also, a pretty good idea.
Now, off to face stuff with fruit and such. They don’t have cooked foods on Saturday mornings, since it’s the Sabbath. Makes sense. It IS suppose to be a day of rest. Speaking of which, there are very few cars out this morning. Awfully quite.
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