Bus ride and vacation plans

This week I used the public transit system. My neighbors were anxious to show me how fun it is to ride the bus. I told them I when I worked downtown I rode the bus everyday back and forth to work so I knew what a bus ride felt like. Nonetheless, we went on an excursion to the city center and back. We did stop at a bakery and chocolate shop once we got to the city center. They sold "sticky buns" for 1 shekel and also had something similar to a sugar donut. The donut was not of Krispy Kreme quality :-( It wasn't bad though, just a little chewy. The chocolate shop had all sorts of candies. The kids handed me a bag to fill to the top. I told them it would be okay if we shared a bag and they eagerly filled the bag full. They ate so much they weren't hungry for lunch. Oops! Then we walked on the promenade for a bit (not long enough to burn any calories) and headed back to the bus stop. I must say that the experience was relatively similar to Tri-Met (other than the slight thought of a terrorist act which I tried to dismiss as soon as it came into my mind).

Now we are anxiously packing for our vacation to Barcelona this weekend and the cruise next week. The cruise will leave Barcelona and be out to sea for a day. Arrive in Malta for a day. Sail at night to Naples, Italy. Leave that evening for Rome. Stay the day in Rome and sail through the night to Livorno (Pisa). After a day in Livorno we sail to Nice, France and then back to Barcelona. It should be a very exciting trip. I've been spending my afternoons at the bookstore in the mall to read up on each of these places to find out how to spend our time. So much to read!!!! Hopefully we will be able to spend some quality time at a few places. We are also looking forward to the food (there's gotta be bacon on the boat right?) I've been talking about a Meditterranean cruise for the last 2-3 years in anticipation of Ken's sabbatical. We can hardly wait!

Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs have been popping up everywhere. I remember a few years ago something similar (only it was cows) in Portland. Apparently there is a Dinosaur exhibit at one of the museums and to ensure everybody is aware of it there are 60 dinosaurs that have been painted and placed throughout the city. Interesting.... maybe I should check out the exhibit?

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's not every year you get to celebrate twice! We stopped by our neighbors yesterday evening for a quick visit. After a while they said they were going to a pub so Ken and I joined them. When we got there red heart shaped balloons were everywhere and roses on the tables. Turns out its valentines day! Our neighbors said it's not hyped up nearly as much here as it is in the States.

Mini Israel

Ken and I thought we would be adventurous this weekend and walk through all of Israel. We started in Haifa and moved North to Acco and then to the Lebanon border. Then East passed Mt. Hermon and into the Golan. We headed South through the Upper and then Lower Galilee. Jerusalem was quite entertaining especially since we were just there and all the sites were fresh in our mind. We wandered south through the Judean Desert, Masada and the Dead Sea. Further South was the Negev and Eliat. Our final stretch was through Tel Aviv and Caesarea. Quite a day! And to think we could walk all of that in less than 3 hours!

A visitor center half way between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem has miniature models that highlight all of Israel so you can literally walk the through the country. It was pretty interesting and we found a few sites that we have not yet seen. Some of the models were interactive and had moving trains, cars or planes. I'll try and post some pictures tonight.

Brunch

Ken's co-worker invited us out for brunch this morning. We accepted and wondered what brunch would be like here in Israel. Maybe lots of cheese and yougurt? We reached the restaraunt and looked at the menu (all in Hebrew). Rachel and her husband was nice enough to try and translate. We decided on plate that consisted of 2 eggs, salad, 2 types of cheese and olives. I'm not sure what they had; one looked like a spinach quiche with herring and the other plate had eggs and eggplant cooked together. It looked interesting. I was glad to have regular old scrambled eggs :-) We had a nice time with them, the restaraunt was a little cafe outside. The only downside to eating outside is you run the risk of getting in the way of bird droppings falling from the sky. Yes I know its a small risk but apparently I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got a little splatter from the friendly flyer up above :-( One good thing about hanging out with friends that have children is that they always have wet wipes :-) I just got a very small dropping on me so it didn't ruin my day. All part of the adventure...

Helicopters and ships

On the way to pick up Ken today I noticed some activity down at the sea. We went for a walk on the boardwalk and oggled at the Helicopters with long guns coming out the front as they hovered over the water (5 miles off the coast?). They also had planes flying over head. Often we will hear the fighter jets go by... but I can never see them (already out of sight once you hear them coming). Anyway, no one else at the beach seemed remotely interested in what was going on in the water so we finally decided they were either doing a search and rescue or practicing their hovering skills. It was interesting.

August 9th

Saturday we took it easy and slept in. It was refreshing. We had reservations for late afternoon to try and go to the Haifa gardens again (this time I wore a skirt so I wouldn't get kicked out). When we got into the gardens they told us, the tour will end about a mile or so down the hill and you will need to find your own way back to your car. Hmmm. Sounds like a fun walk in the hot afternoon sun will be in our future. We took a stroll through the garden (actually we just walked down 1,000 steps to the end of the garden. We weren't supposed to stop unless the guide did which was only 2x to talk a little about the garden). It was a nice garden, but we didn't feel we saw anything that we couldn't see from the observation point that didn't require a tour. Oh well. The most memorable part was the hike up the hill. We literally had sweat running down our faces (sorry, that's too gross!). There was a taxi, but we opted to save our 15 shekels and get icecream at the top of the hill. It was a great incentive for us. We made it back to our car and drove down the main street looking for an open shop. We found a spot (although it was marked no parking) where at least 10 other Israelis had parked and decided to follow suit. It was shabbat so there weren't any meter maids out :-) We shared a delicious chocolate crepe and a small scoop of cookies and cream ice cream. Perfect! The ice cream is a little disappointing here, but the crepe more than made up for it. It was quite a day.

Monday I finally met my "virtual" friend who is also an expat here, but has been on home leave for most of the summer. We have only exchanged emails, but hit it off right away and we have been anxious to meet. Anyway, while in the states my mom put together a care package (an entire suitcase full of necessities). We met up with her last night and she delivered the suitcase. It was like having my birthday only a month early! Even Tillamook cheese survived the journey. It was so enjoyable finally meeting each other. Their five year old daughter is adorable and she stole Ken's heart. They were out on the balcony and she had Ken wish upon a star (it was obvious he wasn't going to get back in the house without saying those magic words "starlight, starbright, first star I see tonight..." It was cute. We are excited to have another connection here in town :-)