Long Overdue......

Alright, so this blog has been in the works for a week now. Our computer really does not get along with this lovely blogger program I chose and thus I have been having serious problems getting this blog out. Hopefully it will get posted today because this is fast becoming old news. And so I take no responsibility for any bad line spacing or large gaps between paragraphs or pictures that may appear when I post this. My only goal is to actually get this blog posted today and assure everyone that we are alive and well and didn't accidentally end up in Lebanon or anything.

So we are home from our little road trip (obviously, it's been like a week now) which turned out to be quite interesting, to say the very least. Not quite how I envisioned it, but good blogging material! So Chris arrived late on Monday night and I spent some time showing him the city for a couple days while Phil was at work. We went to the beach and ate falafels, shopped at the local art market and the Shuk and indulged in a fabulously decadent lunch complete with wine and a rich chocolate dessert while poor Phil was slaving away at work all day. (Sorry Baby! We wished you could have been there!) And one of the nights I made a nice dinner of eggplant parmesan while we enjoyed a fabulous bottle of wine that Chris bought us in Argentina. It was one very well traveled bottle of wine--Phil carried it from Argentina to NM, then we brought it to Oregon and finally to Israel. It was supposed to be for our first Anniversary but since Chris was visiting and our Anniversary is only a few weeks away (can you believe it!?!?!) we decided to uncork it and enjoy it together. Although it was quite a shame to waste such a nice bottle of red wine on eggplant when it really should have been enjoyed with a nice juicy steak. Damn you Chris for being a vegetarian!

Phil and Chris
Almost married one year!
On Thursday Phil was trying to get out of work early so that we could leave by about 2 that afternoon. Yeah.....that so didn't happen. Unfortunately this past week has been a super busy time for him at work and we probably shouldn't have planned to go anywhere that weekend, but that would have made too much sense now wouldn't it!?!?! So he got home around 3:00 and still had a few things to do before we could leave. Once we finally got on the road we drove right smack dab into the Thursday afternoon "the-weekend-is-finally-here" traffic. What should have been a quick drive up to Herziliya (just to the north of Tel Aviv) to grab a late lunch became an hour drive and thus we ended up having an early bird dinner minus the special instead. By the time we got out of the restaurant it was pushing 7 pm. So, yeah, we didn't quite make our 2 o'clock departure time but c'est la vie.

So we finally hit the road again and wouldn't you know it? More traffic! Woo-hoo! Tons and tons of stop and go traffic almost immediately after getting on the highway. We were starting to get nervous because we were under the impression that all of this traffic was headed in our direction, towards the town of Tzfat just near the Sea of Galilee. Chris had some friends in Tzfat which was the main reason we were headed there (he seems to have friends everywhere!) and it just so happened to be the Jewish holiday of Lag Ba'omer in which thousands of people head to Tzfat (one of the four holy cities of Israel) to trek up Mt. Mermon to visit the grave of a famous Rabbi. (And yes, this is my very very simplistic explanation. But no time for history lessons, these blogs already take too long to write! Google it if you're interested.) So as we had been on the road for over an hour and had barely made a dent in our journey we decided to pull over for a break at a gas station. We pulled into the gas station and immediately pulled into a sea, no, better yet, an ocean of Orthodox Jews. There must have been 50 or 60 tour buses and I have to say it was the first time in my life that I felt really, really, really, out of place. All the women were dressed alike in long skirts and of course all the men were dressed alike in black and white. Quite frankly it felt a little bit "cultish" to me, so we took care of our business quite quickly and got back on the road. (Not without an argument first about whether or not we should turn back and go home. Phil and I lost, thus we continued on our way.)

Surprisingly the traffic cleared up significantly and we ended up cruising the rest of the way to Tzfat and only narrowly escaped an accident when a crazy Israeli pulled out in front of us as we were cruising along the highway at a 100+ Km an hour. Needless to say our nerves were shot by the time we got there and made the windy and thoroughly confusing drive up into Tzfat. The town was spotted throughout with camp fires, as is the tradition for this holiday, however, in many places it just seemed like someone lit a weedy dirt lot on fire and I wasn't quite convinced that the whole town wouldn't catch on fire during the middle of the night. I was certainly relieved to not see any fires burning near our hotel. And I use the word hotel very lightly as it could not really be called a hotel at all because it was an absolute dump. Technically it was a "Guest House" but I think dump is the more appropriate term. Let's just say, I was not pleased to a) have to spend not one but TWO nights in this rat hole and b) have to actually pay a significant amount of money for the pleasure of sleeping in said rat hole. There were ants in the kitchen, the kitchen light buzzed so loud that you had to have it turned off or you would go crazy, the toilet was practically IN the shower and the duvet covers had a lovely blue fighter jet print that only a 6 year old can truly appreciate. It was awesome. Oh yeah, and the owners took a credit card number to hold our reservation yet promptly asked for their 1200 Shequels in cash because they don't actually take credit cards as payment. Can you say sketchy!?!?!?

I was hell bent on turning around and going home that night but it was already after ten and I got overruled by the boys. So while Chris headed out to meet up with his friends (and check out the happenings on the mountain) I put on long pants, socks and a long sleeved shirt, did a quick bed bug check, folded up my sweater to serve as a pillow and crawled into my fighter jet bed. Oh yeah, and there was a very loud clanking noise coming from the roof which I could hear all night, even with my ear plugs in. Needless to say, it was not the best nights sleep and I awoke just as cranky (if not more so) in the morning. (I don't think Chris enjoys traveling with me as much as he does with Phil! If the wifey ain't happy....ain't nobody happy!) In all seriousness, I don't consider myself a high maintenance person, but I'm sorry I have to draw the line somewhere, and this place seriously crossed that line.

But once we got outside and out of the hell hole my mood started to pick up a bit and I was looking forward to the day. Our plan was to tour around the town in the morning and maybe head out toward the Sea of Galilee in the afternoon. Well, that didn't end up happening and I will save you the details of why (let's just say there was a difference of opinions that day!) but in the end it ended up being a pretty good day. We spent some time with Chris's friends, one of whom is an artist (the whole town is known as an artists town as well as a very mystical town which is heavily influenced by the Kabbalah), and she showed us her awesome newly opened gallery. Check out her work at http://www.shevachaya.com/ .

Me in my "modest" looking outfit (I was trying to look the part.) Chris and Phil by Sheva Chaya's blue door
Sheva Chaya's Gallery
Then we spent the afternoon walking around the town and galleries (unfortunately because Shabbat was setting in many of the galleries were already closed) and even found an awesome view of the Sea of Galilee at the top of the hill in town. So I guess we did get to see it after all, just from a little further away than expected.

The Sea of Galilee (They call it a sea, but really, it's just a lake!)Really, I'm not that "plump" looking.....
The best friends
The "mystical" town of Tzfat
Our lunch spot...
In the end we decided it made the most sense to head home that night instead of the next day. Phil still had some work to do and his cousin Dan was in Tel Aviv for the weekend too, so we wanted to be sure to see him before he left. And of course I was ecstatic to not have to endure another night in our lovely room. So we headed to a nearby town (Rosh Pina) that we were told would have restaurants open during Shabbat and enjoyed a nice meal overlooking the town. Then we were on the road again (which amazingly with no traffic took less than two hours instead of 4!) and headed home to our nice clean apartment. And even though I never found any bed bugs I still went home with a few unexplained bites on my neck and face, and Phil had several as well. I shudder to think what could have been in that bed. I hope to never see the "Shalom Inn" again!

So on Saturday we hooked up with Phil's cousin Dan for lunch and took a short walk up the beach to get back home. Dan had been in Israel for two weeks on a Birthright trip. I spent the afternoon reading and relaxing while Phil and Chris headed out to the beach for some frisbee and some "male bonding" time sans the high maintenance wife! Dan was, as his Mom put it, busy with a "friend" much of the day. (FYI Aunt Denise--she was very cute and we approve!) So we all had dinner together at our favorite pizza place and then Dan headed to the airport at 4 in the morning and Chris followed shortly thereafter. It was great to see both of you guys, even though I know neither of you reads this!!!!! We enjoyed your visit!!!!

Since then I have been busy sweeping up the mountain of sand that the boys tracked into the house from the beach and just getting back into the regular routine. And also fighting with the IRS about money they claim I owe them. Liars! I so do NOT owe you $2000! Thanks Mom for all your help with that! We do have some exciting news though, as we have planned our first trip out of the country. And it is coming up very very soon---like this Friday soon! We are going to Turkey with our friends Adam and Debbie for an extended weekend. We are staying at a resort on the Southern coast of Turkey for three nights. We opted for one of their all-inclusive packages (mostly because that is all they really offer) and because the Hubby's are in some desperate need of some R&R after having to work so hard the past few weeks. Hopefully this trip won't be as filled with too many unexpected/unfortunate events. But I guess that is what makes things adventurous! All I ask is that the rooms are clean and tht I don't return home with unidentified bug bites.