Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Jerusalem Day#1: Acclimating and Eggplant

Good morning! I’m feeling surprisingly fresh this morning  after 22 hours of travel yesterday.

I don't have anyone here to take pictures of me so I must use the elevator mirror because I am just that vain.

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Because I am such an optimistic I had expected the worst of yesterday's flights. I don't like flying…something bout being 35,000 feet n the air without any control over the ocean at night.

Adding to the flight experience was a 2.5 hour delay in Newark. Wine + the Bachelor made it manageable.

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I am pretty sure I got the stink eye for requesting they put the show on in the bar.

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The overnight flight…what can I say? A whole lot of neck pain, holding in farts, and being startled awake by babies.

We got to Tel Aviv about 5:30 p.m. local time. I found my person.

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Steven, who writes for Youth Running, as on my flight – he’s also with our group. We had about an hour’s drive up to the holy city. Our animated cab driver and I discussed the upcoming election and dual climate control in cars and how that is the best invention ever. I try to tell him about the Sleep Number bed (the bed version of dual climate control – kind of?) but I think he thought I had a sleep number bed in my car, so it got all confused.

We got the the hotel and had 2 minutes to put our stuff in our room before we were whisked off to the Eucalyptus Restaurant for endless plates of food that just kept materializing at the table. The tastes, textures and spices were amazing. My favorites were the artichoke soup, the eggplant with tahini sauce and pomegranate seeds, the fresh hibiscus iced tea and the lamb pie. Sorry I didn’t take pictures. I’m just not that blogger. But here’s a picture of the outside area of the restaurant:

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This city is all hills. Friday’s marathon will be painful in the best way possible. I’m glad I have Teresa from Eat, Drink & Be Skinny to suffer/sightsee/laugh with.

My room. Not huge but not bad:

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And the perfect place to watch “Friends” with subtitles because that’s what you do when you travel 6,000 miles to another country.

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SUAR

PS: And just because it’s cute, a picture of Heidi hogging my neck pillow the night before I left.

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24 comments:

  1. You realize Heidi was just trying to get her fur onto your pillow, so it would get onto you, so she could keep track of you, and know when you got back if you'd been consorting with any strange dogs. Have fun on Friday. I'm sure you'll be done before us in the slack ass sleep in central time zone wake up.

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  2. Have fun with my friend Teresa! I am so jealous she gets to hang out with you in Jerusalem! Not even fair man! But watch out - she's trouble. I always tend to drink way too much with that girl.

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    1. We wish you were here!!! Teresa hasn't shown me her true drinking skills yet. Maybe after the marathon she will break loose

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  3. Good luck! That is so exciting I would love to do something like that one day!

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  4. Have fun! Can't wait to hear about your trip :)

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  5. Are you a little homesick? Or just really full and glad to be able to release gas freely? :)

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  6. We never travel without picture of the puppies...

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  7. All the best on Friday! Go chew those hills!

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  8. Cheering for you from New Smyrna Beach, Florida! Run happy tomorrow, and good luck!

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  9. What a start to your great adventure, enjoy!

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  10. you must be tired...... "Not huge but not bad"??? and no TWSS from you :)

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  11. Enjoy every moment! That food sounds AMAZING! Can't wait to hear more.
    Sarah
    www.thinfluenced.com

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  12. What a trip. I can't give you enough credit for travelling all that way on your own to run a marathon. You are amazing. Hope it proves to be as much fun and as beautiful as you expect.

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  13. That just looks so fun. Hebrew subtitles and all. Enjoy!!!

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  14. Have fun and enjoy your trip. I can't wait to hear about the run!

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  15. following and love it all. Good luck and have a great time!

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  16. Through the hills of Jerusalem - that is once (or twice) in a lifetime! Best of luck to you. Juat take it easy and enjoy! Was Jesus a runner? Are you following in His footsteps?

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  17. Sure Kate -- blame it on me. That's fair ;)

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  18. Awww that's Heidi's way of saying, don't go mom!

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  19. How did it go? Hurry up with some news. Dying to hear how it went.

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  20. Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip! I've only just started following you on Insta as I started reading your blog from your very first post this year and have only just gotten up to speed.

    I just want to say that your journey has been so amazing and inspiring so far, and certainly made me believe more in myself as a runner :) it's also crazy how big your kids are now compared to when you started blogging!

    Thanks again for making my life that much more entertaining and enjoyable with this blog

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