More in Eilat

Day 33: The Shapiros split for the day. Scott had been talking about going to Petra (in Jordan) for as long as we had been planning this trip, and today was the designated day. But as this day approached we began to have second thoughts about going to Petra with the kids in light of the two hour taxi drive each way, the complications of border crossings, the 6 kilometer roundtrip hike, seeing yet another set of ruins, and the cost. At the last minute we decided that Scott would go alone, and Monica and the kids would have a down day at the hotel pool.

Scott left the hotel at 7:00 am and endured two bus rides, a border crossing, a quick tour of Acuba (Jordanian town across from Eilat) to finally arrive at Petra at noon. Petra was remarkable! Scott’s familiarity with Petra was from the final scenes from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusaders. But Petra turned out to be so much more, including over 13,000 man-carved caves that supported a city of over 50,000 residents. The city also has more than 7,000 carved monuments, such as the facade of the Treasury Building featured in the film. The Treasury Building was believed to have been carved by a team of 18 craftsmen over a 22 year period. The scale of the City is remarkable, both in terms of the number of carved caves, and also in terms of the size of some of the caves. The largest that Scott entered was comparable to the Social Hall at Mosaic Law Synagogue in Sacramento, both in terms of width and height. Plus, the rooms were largely carved with perfect right angles, not as rough hewn caves. After a little more than 3 hours in the city, Scott took the return trip back, arriving at the hotel around 7:15 ending a great day. Meanwhile, Monica and the kids enjoyed all that the hotel had to offer, including lots of time at the pool and kids’ competitions sponsored by the hotel’s Kids Club. We all ended the day together watching the variety show at the hotel. The kids loved it and Monica and Rebeka followed some of it (they can both follow some of the Hebrew). Scott kept remarking that it was a lot like watching the Spanish Channel on TV! We finally all got to bed late.

Day 34: A day at the aquarium. We awoke late (yes, again at 8:00 am), ate a quick breakfast, and headed off to the Underwater Observatory Marine Park. While not a uniquely Israeli attraction, this aquarium had lots to keep us busy. We watched the sharks be fed, learned about jellyfish, and went on a glass bottom boat ride to see the fish and the coral. Actually, only the four youngest Shapiros went on the boat in light of Scott’s history with small boats. When we got to the boat he asked if the Sea was smooth or rough today. The guide said particularly rough, but that Scott could ride up top if he wanted to. Scott asked if this was supposed to help with seasickness. The guide responded that it made it easier to throw up!

Our favorite parts of the aquarium were the Oceanarium and the Observatory Tower. The Oceanarium is one of those theatres where the chairs move in coordination with the film. The film was particularly interesting and did a great job of teaching the kids about sharks. The Observatory is a tower built 300 meters out into the Sea. You can go up 100 feet for a great view of the Sea and Eilat, or down to the Sea floor to see the fish, turtles, and coral. Following the Aquarium we headed back to the hotel for some swimming, a quiet dinner in our suite, and then a magic show put on by the hotel staff. All in all, it was a nice day.

Days 35 and 36: Even those on vacation need a vacation. As the title says, we needed a vacation. Sometimes, kids just need to be kids and hang out at the pool. Plus, our friends the Karwans arrived from Moddi’in (near Tel Aviv) with their kids to hang out with us. Thus, these two days consisted of pool, water slides, food, water slides, food, pool, sun, and food. The highlight may have been the pool at the Karwan’s hotel (the Isrotel Royal Garden) which has a man-made beach complete with synthetic sand. Remarkably, even though it is synthetic, it still gets everywhere. Day 36 ended with a nice Shabbas dinner and promise of more fun the next day.