At last...

It is currently 8:03 p.m. and Kevin and I have been sitting in the Ben Guiron Airport in Tel Aviv for the last three hours...and will be here for another four. At 9 we'll pick up our luggage and venture over to the Continental Airlines counter (please no problems this time) and check-in. So why, you ask, have we been here for so long? Simply put, we ran out of things to do. 

This morning we woke up, made coffee, ate our market pastries, and set out for the Carmel Market once more. From there we hopped on a bus to Jaffa's Old City, where I adopted a little old lady as my Jewish grandmother. Of course, this wasn't intentional, but she was sitting directly across from me and clearly didn't like the way I was sitting (crossing my legs) so she decided to correct me by grabbing them and straightening me out. Then she followed her action with a short lecture in Hebrew, which was half to me and half to the other old lady sitting next to me. By her tone and patronizing looks, I'm pretty sure it was all about how "young people" don't sit right or take care of themselves and need to constantly be reminded of how to do things. Either way, I was pretty intimidated, and EVERYONE on the bus was staring. Thanks, grams.

IN the Mediterranean Sea

After making a few final purchases, we headed back and to the beach. Unlike the last few days, today was sunny and warm and perfect for walking down the beach, collecting sea shells, and terrorizing pigeons. The beaches in Tel Aviv are well-groomed, and you'll find little trash within the soft, tan sand. The water, as I mentioned before, is crystal clear and chilly to the touch, which of course didn't prevent us from peeling off our shoes and running in so that we could say we've been "in" the Mediterranean Sea. I mean, come on...wouldn't you? That's three major bodies of water we've experienced!

So after we got our fill or sand and salt, we headed back to the apartment to shower, change, and check out (late, much to the dismay of our anxious landlady who was reluctant to let us stay late at all). We brought our bags downstairs and left them in her care as we went once more to have Hungarian Blitzes before heading to the airport. 

At least it was kosher...

And so here we are, sitting in front of a lot of closed shops and open cafes, including a KOSHER McDonald's, which, in a weak moment, I decided to partake of (don't judge me...it was only fries and Kevin had a drink). Soon we'll check in and head to yet another waiting area where we can browse the Duty Free shops and try to fight off boredom with reading (thank GOODNESS I have a nook!). 

Fingers crossed that my checked luggage doesn't have any problems getting on the plane with a *blank* in it. 

More to come.