Lazy Day in Eilat

TODAY'S PHOTO ALBUM: Israel - Eilat - Day 2

Last night was beautiful. Clear skies and very comfortable temperatures. Ventured out at around 6:30. Peaked into our local Israeli Grill & Sushi restaurant to scope out the menu. Looked good, but first we wanted to walk around a bit.

There weren't too many folks around. A lot of what goes on around the marina is for kids. There's the bazaar with the same old, same old stuff.  We knew we were back in Israel when nobody pressured us to buy anything. We crossed over the bridge and walked till we ran out of stuff to see - mostly shops. Eilat and Aqaba, Jordan are both tax free cities due to their proximity to the border. That explains all the malls and shops.

Back over the bridge, we spotted Doctor Dag fish spa. Well why not! Plopped our feet in the tub and in an instant the tiny fish were all over us. We met a young Israeli couple (20 somethings) in the tank as well. Had a good conversation with the guy about Israel and US. He just got released from service - he was a paratrooper. Our 20 minutes was up and we tingled all over with our feet as soft as a baby's.

Time for dinner. We headed back to the sushi bar where we enjoyed a very good and surprisingly inexpensive dinner.

Woke up to a very windy day. This did not fair well for our snorkeling plans. We put the snorkeling on hold and tried to figure out what to do in Mitzpe Ramon, our next destination. We leave tomorrow, which is sabot, so not much is open. After breakfast, we headed to the Eilat Tourist Information center to hopefully get more information on the place. Luckily, a very nice tour guide happened to be there waiting for a group to show up for her tour. She got out a map and gave us all sorts of helpful information. Mitzpe Ramon is the Grand Canyon of Israel. It would be nice to score some bikes, but if not, there are several hiking opportunities.

The guide asked us if we wanted to join her free tour of Eilat. We would have,  but we had to pick up the rental car - plus I think we have had enough of guides for a while. Saving up all our ruins, churches, temples, and  museums for Jerusalem. We took a stroll along the beach area by the marina and did our Jerry B. thing. Discussed trying to snorkel after picking up the car, but the winds were not cooperating. Not only were they strong, they were coming from the worst possible direction.

So off we went to Avis, which is at the airport, which as I said, sits right in the middle of everything. We can see the runway from the room, We passed the Eilat Museum - a modern looking pyramid structure - with fish art all over. Like the cows in Boston and the Peacocks in Coral Gables - very colorful. Managed to rent the car, a small Nissan, and only got lost for a little while trying to navigate the one way streets back to the hotel.

Now what?? No snorkeling. We got our stuff together to go down across the marina to where we have free access to the beach for this hotel. Down in the lobby some grips were moving in heavy sound and lighting equipment. Asked someone what was going on and found out a big name Israeli singer will be performing tonight at 10pm.  Last night I told Geoff I was sorry we missed the stand up comic - he said yeah -- it was all in Hebrew -- oh right....duh! The singer might be fun though. This guy also told us of a big water and light show the town puts on right near the museum on Friday nights at 9pm.  Well, the evening is taken care of.

It was now around noon. We went down to the pool to get towels to take to the beach. We looked around and said - let's just stay here! Grabbed ourselves one of those cozy lounging beds and camped out for the afternoon. The pool boys come around every now and then with water and fruit. It felt likes Grossman's in the Catskills! These past couple of days of not doing much have been much appreciated.

Showered and went downstairs for the Sabbath refreshments. I lit a shabbat candle and said a prayer for my Aunt Bertha who recently passed away. She lived to be 99. She was one of the good ones and will definitely be missed.

We walked through the marina madness to get to the Moses Cafe for our veggie burgers for dinner. The restaurant is on the beach hotel strip.  Walking back along the beach, it felt odd that looking left is Jordan and on the right is Israel. So close, yet so far.

Quick stop back at the hotel and we were off again to see the music and water show. It was a lot of fun. The music started with Star Wars and then some 007 before segueing into some Hebrew pop and ending with Beethoven. The park was filled. Friday nights are a big deal in Israel.

It was a short walk back but the wind really picked up. We are still hoping that if it is calm enough tomorrow morning, we can try to snorkel before leaving town. Doesn't look too good. C'est le vie! Back at the hotel, the lobby was packed with folks all waiting to get into the show tonight. We decided to skip it. Too crowded and we're too tired. It's back on the road again tomorrow.

Shabbat Shalom....

Next time..Mitzpe Ramon

TODAY'S PHOTO ALBUM: Israel - Eilat - Day 2