Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Our trip to the beach
On Monday, we headed to the beach for some much-needed R&R. We've stayed in Nazareth pretty much the entire summer, with a couple of day trips here or there. Since we don't have a car, we don't get out often! And as hubby is going off to Scotland in a week, we wanted to have a family vacation before we are parted for the next three months.
Eilat is a city on the southernmost tip of Israel on the Red Sea. It is quite a drive from Nazareth (it took us about 6 1/2 hours to get there, 5 1/2 to get back), but we really wanted to check out the city and see what it was like. We had planned to leave early on Monday morning, but several issues came up that prevented us from leaving before noon. Oh well. Then, we got lost in a little town south of Nazareth. We just couldn't find the turn-off to the highway we needed, so we drove around the (small) city of Afula for a good 40 minutes before finding the correct route (things are not always marked as well as they should be).
When we finally arrived in Eilat, it was pretty late, about 7:30. The kids were restless, but fortunately we found our hotel without much trouble. We got to the gate, only to discover that there is NO ONE at the reception desk to give us the key to our place or even open the gate. There is a telephone number posted at the door, so hubby tries calling it. He gets a message in Hebrew, but no answer, so he assumes the guy isn't answering his phone. At this point, we're all pretty frustrated!
Eventually, we find someone to check us in and he makes all sorts of excuses, but we really don't care. We just want to get to our room, turn on the A/C, and get the kids in bed. Within an hour, the lights are off and all of us are asleep.
The next few days were much better! We went swimming almost every day in the pool, plus an excursion to the beach, the mall, and the aquarium. The kids (especially Culacha) really liked that last bit! Hubby and I both enjoyed the restaurants. The cuisine in Nazareth, while quite delicious, is not very interesting. So going to a steakhouse one night and a tapas bar the next was quite a treat!
Aside from some, uh, hiccups with the hotel, we had a blast. Here are a few pictures of our time there:
Eilat is a city on the southernmost tip of Israel on the Red Sea. It is quite a drive from Nazareth (it took us about 6 1/2 hours to get there, 5 1/2 to get back), but we really wanted to check out the city and see what it was like. We had planned to leave early on Monday morning, but several issues came up that prevented us from leaving before noon. Oh well. Then, we got lost in a little town south of Nazareth. We just couldn't find the turn-off to the highway we needed, so we drove around the (small) city of Afula for a good 40 minutes before finding the correct route (things are not always marked as well as they should be).
When we finally arrived in Eilat, it was pretty late, about 7:30. The kids were restless, but fortunately we found our hotel without much trouble. We got to the gate, only to discover that there is NO ONE at the reception desk to give us the key to our place or even open the gate. There is a telephone number posted at the door, so hubby tries calling it. He gets a message in Hebrew, but no answer, so he assumes the guy isn't answering his phone. At this point, we're all pretty frustrated!
Eventually, we find someone to check us in and he makes all sorts of excuses, but we really don't care. We just want to get to our room, turn on the A/C, and get the kids in bed. Within an hour, the lights are off and all of us are asleep.
The next few days were much better! We went swimming almost every day in the pool, plus an excursion to the beach, the mall, and the aquarium. The kids (especially Culacha) really liked that last bit! Hubby and I both enjoyed the restaurants. The cuisine in Nazareth, while quite delicious, is not very interesting. So going to a steakhouse one night and a tapas bar the next was quite a treat!
Aside from some, uh, hiccups with the hotel, we had a blast. Here are a few pictures of our time there:
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Madrid
Well, the time we've had in Spain has been great so far! We arrived on Wednesday to Madrid, tired from the 5 hour flight (Julian didn't fall asleep until the descent, about 15 minutes before the plane actually stopped. You can imagine what it's like trying to entertain a 3 year old for that long!). We all made it to the hotel without any complications; the metro in Madrid is really well laid-out. We did have to change trains a couple of times, and between that, carrying our luggage, and trying to keep track of our son who has a knack for wandering off by himself in large public places, we were busy to say the least! So, once we made it to the hotel, we hit the sack for a couple of hours, then went off to wander around the city.
Our first stop was the Teleférico, a gondola ride that takes you out to the west part of Madrid, Casa de Campo, close to the zoo and amusement park. However, when we got there, the ride was closed... bummer! Apparently, there was either an electricity shortage and the ride was not functioning, or there just weren't a lot of tourists around on a Wednesday so they closed it down. So, we went to a park and Julian had a blast playing on the slides and swings and sand toys that he had procured from other children :-) Since we had taken such a late nap, and Madrid doesn't get dark until 10pm, we decided to stay up and explore the town a little bit. After living in a desert for the past two years, we are perfectly happy just walking around in a city that has trees, fountains and green stuff everywhere.
On Thursday we got on the big red bus tour (it's a double decker with a hop-on, hop-off tour around the city) and got to see all the historic and modern buildings of Madrid that are located downtown. We went to the Prado Museum, which is probably the best art exhibit in Europe after the Louvre. At this point I realized how helpful a stroller would've been because my son, as I mentioned before, is great at leaving my side when we're in a busy place. I spent a lot of time chasing him around the museum, but we did get to sit still a couple of times so we could explain some of the paintings. There is a lot of religious art on display, and Julian especially liked the story of (young) Jesus in the temple teaching the elders and Pharisees. After the tour of the museum we got back on the red bus and enjoyed a nice lunch at TGIFs out in the business district (and at this point may I remind you, this is actually a treat for us, as there is no TGIF in Jordan). Dinner was tapas and wine at a bar, and Julian was great. He even tried some exotic cheeses (although he didn't really like them all that much).
Friday was a trip out to Moncloa Tower, kind of like the Tower of Americas in San Antonio, but without the restaurant at the top. Guess what??!! It was closed too! I was being to feel like I had a real knack for finding places that were not open, which is not a particularly desirable quality while on vacation. However, we decided not to let that spoil our day. I took Julian back to the hotel for a nap while Duane went out to see the Cathedral and Palacio Real (Royal Palace). Later on, we gave the Teleférico another try, and it was actually open! So we had a pleasant gondola ride out to west Madrid, and had fun at the HUGE playground on the other side. We met a Bengali family from Texas (who would've thought we'd run into someone from TEXAS all the way in Spain?), and Duane had a really good conversation with their uncle about culture and religion.
That brings us to yesterday. Not much, just a train ride to Southern Spain (Malaga), where we will spend the rest of our trip soaking up the sun by the Mediterranean Sea. We might take a trip out to Gibraltar, but there are no definite plans at this point.
I'll post some pics later.
Our first stop was the Teleférico, a gondola ride that takes you out to the west part of Madrid, Casa de Campo, close to the zoo and amusement park. However, when we got there, the ride was closed... bummer! Apparently, there was either an electricity shortage and the ride was not functioning, or there just weren't a lot of tourists around on a Wednesday so they closed it down. So, we went to a park and Julian had a blast playing on the slides and swings and sand toys that he had procured from other children :-) Since we had taken such a late nap, and Madrid doesn't get dark until 10pm, we decided to stay up and explore the town a little bit. After living in a desert for the past two years, we are perfectly happy just walking around in a city that has trees, fountains and green stuff everywhere.
On Thursday we got on the big red bus tour (it's a double decker with a hop-on, hop-off tour around the city) and got to see all the historic and modern buildings of Madrid that are located downtown. We went to the Prado Museum, which is probably the best art exhibit in Europe after the Louvre. At this point I realized how helpful a stroller would've been because my son, as I mentioned before, is great at leaving my side when we're in a busy place. I spent a lot of time chasing him around the museum, but we did get to sit still a couple of times so we could explain some of the paintings. There is a lot of religious art on display, and Julian especially liked the story of (young) Jesus in the temple teaching the elders and Pharisees. After the tour of the museum we got back on the red bus and enjoyed a nice lunch at TGIFs out in the business district (and at this point may I remind you, this is actually a treat for us, as there is no TGIF in Jordan). Dinner was tapas and wine at a bar, and Julian was great. He even tried some exotic cheeses (although he didn't really like them all that much).
Friday was a trip out to Moncloa Tower, kind of like the Tower of Americas in San Antonio, but without the restaurant at the top. Guess what??!! It was closed too! I was being to feel like I had a real knack for finding places that were not open, which is not a particularly desirable quality while on vacation. However, we decided not to let that spoil our day. I took Julian back to the hotel for a nap while Duane went out to see the Cathedral and Palacio Real (Royal Palace). Later on, we gave the Teleférico another try, and it was actually open! So we had a pleasant gondola ride out to west Madrid, and had fun at the HUGE playground on the other side. We met a Bengali family from Texas (who would've thought we'd run into someone from TEXAS all the way in Spain?), and Duane had a really good conversation with their uncle about culture and religion.
That brings us to yesterday. Not much, just a train ride to Southern Spain (Malaga), where we will spend the rest of our trip soaking up the sun by the Mediterranean Sea. We might take a trip out to Gibraltar, but there are no definite plans at this point.
I'll post some pics later.
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