Thursday, October 23, 2008

We love vacations Eilat!

The morning after Yom Kippur Laurel, her roommates Chelly and Miriam, Laurel’s friend Teri, and I all went to Eilat. The girls had ordered the tickets ahead of time to insure seats, and got to the central bus station 45 minutes early to reinsure seats incase the situation was different (which happens a lot here). After going through security, asking about the tickets, waiting for the bus to arrive, and pushing with the herds of people, the girls finally settled down for a nice little four-hour bus ride. Laurel took Dramamine and knocked herself out for the ride. She was smart, I not so much. A family of the loudest Americans, the kind that give everyone else a reason to hate us, kept me awake. If the ride had been any longer I think someone would have off-ed them.

When we reached Eilat we took a cab to the Guest House. We had no idea what to expect and were pleasantly surprise. The guesthouse was a few steps up from a hostel, and by a few we mean leaps and bounds. The four girls and I had four beds, a shower, two sinks, a bathroom, fridge, and a TV. We felt like we were living in luxury. Laurel, who had mentioned a sore throat stayed in while the Chelly, Teri, and Miriam all went walking on the boardwalk. Being kind of shy, I stayed back and slept.

That night they went to dinner at Patty’s Irish pub, in Israel. I was amused. They traveled all the way to Eilat to go to an Irish pub. Even though it was Shabbat almost everything was open! They got ice cream and walked along the boardwalk. The Eilat boardwalk is lined with shops selling smoothies, ice cream, dresses, henna tattoos, bags, scarves, rings, t-shirts, pizza pockets, corn on the cob, and anything else you might possibly want. Beyond the shop on the left are stores and hotels, and the right is the beach and Red Sea. We could look out and see the Jordanian mountains on one side and Egypt on the other, with the tip of Israel right in the middle. Eilat is like a small resort city, nestled in between two sometimes-unfriendly neighbors. It is hard to fathom a time when the mountains on either side produced falling rockets. The picturesque city glitters at night, lit up by the bars, restaurants and hotels all within walking distance from  the borders of Egypt at one end and Jordan at the other.

The next morning they set out for the beach, and lay around in the sun all afternoon. The water was warm and there was just enough breeze for the heat to be bearable. I even tried to get a little more color. Laurel almost left me because I had snuck out of her bag and was sunning myself in the sand at her feet. I had to jump out and trip her to get her attention! I hope she doesn’t form a habit of forgetting me. That night the girls went to a nice Asian restaurant for dinner, and then off to bed early because Laurel, Miriam, and I were going to go to Petra in the morning! That adventure was a story in itself, one I will have to save for another post.

When we returned Laurel and Miriam napped, and then we went to a bar called The Monkey Bar, which had live music! At midnight the band stopped playing, which was around the same time Chelly and Ter decided they were too tired and had to go back. When the band left the bar put on dance music. Laurel and Miriam stayed and danced until 3am, when the bar made it very clear they were closing. I was very proud of Laurel, who normally is the first one to go to bed! She told me she had never literally danced the night away, and thought there wouldn’t be a better place to do such then looking out over the sea, with the warn night air around her.

Every day the girls were given a complementary breakfast buffet. Many times in the history of hostels, hotels, and what have you this means toast, bagels, doughnuts, and maybe a yogurt or two. This breakfast buffet was the mother of all buffets. A large table of different cheese and salads, a table with cold cereal and cakes, bread, coffee, tea, yogurts, and a hot table with cheese cake, eggs, French toast, and Laurel’s favorite Israeli dish, shakshuka. Shakshuka is a made of tomato, bell pepper, and onions cooked together to with a tomato sauce to make a stew. Then eggs are cracked on top and the pan is covered so the eggs cook. The end result is a wonderful mix of tomato and egg goodness, to be scooped up with thick slices of bread. 

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