Coral reefs looking out the Observatory's windows.
Hub being hub.
Red Sea Observatory and Aquarium
Our last day in Israel was a bit surreal.
After desert, desert, and more desert...we took a cab further south along the shore of the Red Sea and visited the Observatory and Aquarium.
A very neat place...just a few miles from the Egyptian border and far enough from Eilat ....to forget you're in a resort area.
We tackled the observatory first....We climbed several sets of stairs and ended up on the walkway. Oh.....even on a hot day...there was a cool breeze off the water! You could see the Jordanian mountains, Saudi Arabian Mountains...the base and mountains around Mt. Sinai in Egypt and of course the Israeli foothills and desert. Amazing....and if you looked down into the clear water...you could see scattered coral reefs all around the base of the structure.
What is neat about this observatory is you can then climb down the stairs and descend a couple levels down into the Red Sea so you could see the the coral reefs and eye level. That was amazing.....so many colorful fishes....mantra rays....eels.....and gently swaying colorful coral. It made you feel a thousand degrees cooler just to touch the cold viewing windows.
After our morning looking at fishes....we headed back to the hotel...packed....and did one more walk around the promenade. We ended up at the Mall....and although I had absolutely no desire to eat at McDonalds.... we did....we were told by several people that the burgers taste so much better because they are kosher and not made with strange fillers. So we ordered two hamburgers and chomped....hmmmmm.....I did think it tasted more meaty....like there was actually beef in the burger. Hub thought so too....maybe if I lived here I'd eat one occasionally but not at home anymore...the burgers have gotten too tan and salty and suspicious.
We flew out the next morning from the Eilat airport to Ben Gurion next to Tel Aviv. Two domestic airlines leave about every 30 minutes headed north. Some of the planes are older and propeller driven...fortunately I had a jet...but you'd never know.....since it filled up with people in a matter of minutes and everyone was talking and walking around when they could...it reminded me more of a bus trip than an airplane ride...and it was only 30 minutes long.
Still surprised by our good luck, we rendezvoused in Rome where we stayed overnight and caught planes home.
This time I was the lucky one and flew business/first class home and hub flew to Ireland and caught a flight to New York then home. I must admit...business class is nice...not for the food...(its more plentiful but it's still airplane food) but for the leg room...lots of leg room. Oh my seat had a lever and I could adjust my back, my legs, my angle...amazing. How comfortable....I'm ruined because I'll know the next time I fly cattle car section....I'm going to pass those comfy seats and return to the stiff cramped seats of coach.
We arrived home all on time.....with all our bags....and with our souvenirs intact. It's always startling to find yourself home and still in one piece after traveling 14,000 miles. Of course, in 5 minutes...you wonder if you ever left home...as the familiarity starts surrounding you and you settle back into your routine.
My Shutterfly book just arrived today documenting our trip haven't opened it yet......planning to look at it when I arrive in Hawaii tomorrow.
Yes....I'm off early in the morning for Honolulu....and then the Big Island.......we have a family wedding there....and hub's siblings are getting together for a reunion. Should be interesting...we are on the "sunny side" of the island for the wedding and the "rainy side" for the reunion and there's a big belching gassy volcano in between.
But oh....another long plane ride....and not in business class.
