A Little Pampering

No touring today and tomorrow. This is family time at a hotel spa at Yam Hamelech, the Dead Sea.  I treated myself and the kids to two family suites at the Isrotel-hotels Dead Sea.  (Thank you again to my Grandma Jenny a'h and Grandpa Murray a'h for making all this possible!) We took a taxi to the Central Bus Station. At the station, I got a famous iced coffee I had read about. It is NOT ice coffee. It is sorta like a coffee flavored milk shake. I ordered a small, because Shauly told me it was made with heavy cream.  The guy holds it out to me and says, iced coffee gadol (big). I said no, I want a small. He says, iced coffee gadol, and again I said, no, small. Then he says, katan means small. I'm like I know, but I thought you said gadol. He thought I was a meshugenah American who doesn't know Hebrew (I am). Then I laughed and said, I haven't had coffee yet. I'm not fully awake yet. Bwahaha! Boy, was that good. I only drank half because I was concerned about the calories. The bus itself was really cool. I rode an Egged bus once, and it was sorta like a regular city bus. This however was more like the tour busses I've been on. Semi-plush seats, foot rest, minuscule overhead storage. The taxi driver tried to convince us to let him drive us. He wanted over $100 for the trip, and we paid under $40 combined. Yeah, it took longer, and yeah, we didn't get dropped off right at our hotel, but I got to see more of the country this way. I really enjoyed the ride, even if I did drive Shauly berserk in the process with asking him a million questions... What's this, what's that, where are we...  I got a real Israel experience.
Rikki did not join us. She is staying behind with Zahava's sister Pnina. It was easier this way. We had a two hour bus ride that would have been so hard for her.
We passed some cool places. One had a sign, Lowest place on the earth.

Now how totally cool is that? I spent the entire two hours looking out the window and taking a million pictures. I can't drink this in enough. Every inch of this country is the most amazing thing to me. I'm already getting sad about leaving next week.
After we checked in and got settled in our rooms, we went for a walk. We walked on this sand bar that was not made of sand, but of salt.

We unfortunately saw a rainbow (it's not a good sign). We saw a spectacular sunset over the mountains surrounding the Dead Sea.

I didn't want to walk away from the Yam Hamelech with out putting my feet in. Although it was cold, it was fun.

We strolled down to the Cafe Café. It was a milchig restaurant. Sruli ordered a personal pizza. Shauly, Zahava, and I ordered pasta dishes. The portions were HUGE! I only ate half. For a special treat, we all ordered a dessert. Again, another huge portion. At least I have a snack for tonight or a lunch for tomorrow.

Back at the hotel, it was time to kick back. Our rooms have a hot tub outside. The air is cool, in the mid 40s if my app is right. (I don't think it is; I think it's warmer, maybe mid 50's.) I filled the hot tub with very hot water. Shauly and Zahava share a balcony with me with a wall partition. However, we were able to talk to each other. After a while, they hollered over that Sruli should come over. Then they told me to come. When I walked in, the three of them were on their lounge chairs in their hotels robes ...  ON THEIR CELL PHONES!!!  I thought that was hilarious.
Anyhoo, the hot tub and shower that followed has completely tired me out. We are hoping to get up to see the sun rise in the morning. And so ends another super fantastic day in the Holy Land.