Talya is in Tel Aviv!
Well - some of you already knew this, but today was my first full day in Israel!
So today was my first full day in Israel (I got in yesterday afternoon but nothing very exciting happened with the exception of a SHOWER. Hillary came and got me at the airport, which took a little longer than usual because one of my bags (fortunately the one with all her stuff in it, not mine) was left behind in Paris. I had to fill out a form, but didn't have Hillary's phone number OR address! I knew Hillary was waiting for me, so the lady escorted me through Customs in order to get the info from her. I didn't have to worry about anything! Anyhoo, I gave her a big hug, apparently choked her, lol, and we went to her home in Herzliya Mercaz. She has a TWO-story apartment. Gorgeous. She cooked shabbos dinner (YUM - sweet potato soup, salad, and noodles with parmesan cream sauce). We chatted, caught up, and I passed OUT by 11pm or so. I was so freakin' tired.
Hillary and I were up and ready to go to the beach today by 11:30am but the guy was late delivering our (her) bag from the airport. It got left behind in Paris... very sad. Apparently it wanted time to tour.
The guy finally delivered it and we headed out. We took a cab to Hof Acadia and hung out there reading and chatting for a few hours. Hopefully I'll be coming home with a tan - haha to those stuck in the snowy, windy weather. We got some food (and drinks) at Avi's Place on the beach and when Eye of the Tiger came on, Hil and I started singing to it (Hil got a little tipsy after 2 drinks - I wish I could)... that's when the Brits next table over started talking to us. About baseball, no less. Yea, do they really think that they're going to know ANYTHING about baseball? We insisted that the Tigers were going to kick the Mets' asses in 5 games. I totally mixed up what day it was, and didn't realize the Tigers had won Game 3 until Hil mentioned it to me. 3-0! WHOOO HOOO! GO TIGERS!
We also had a cute dog (belonging to the beach, I think) come by our table. He was begging for table scraps (can't blame him, we had shnitzel, salad, and fries) but we wouldn't give him any. So he decided to just stay by us, laying between our two chairs. He was so cute, so we were petting him. He sat by us almost the whole time. So of course I took a picture with him :). He was sweet - even sat when we told him to in Hebrew.
After the beach, we started walking back and stopped at Arcaffe for some cappuchinos (sp?). They were SOOOO good. Dee-lish. I'll have to go back there tomorrow! We continued on to the mall (finally open after shabbos) so that I could get my Israeli sim stuff worked out, but the Orange cell guy told me that my current Israeli chip was no good since it wasn't used in 13 months and I'd need to get a new one. But I could only do that at the bigger mall in Herzliya Pituach. So - I'm still without an Israeli phone, which isn't so good when I'm trying to get in touch with people. ARG (I did borrow Hillary's cell phone to call Ilana and Big Avi - left messages at both).
I bought a swimsuit because I stupidly forgot to pack one. DUH. Fortunately, I borrowed Hil's today - it worked just fine too. The one I bought is a Roxy suit, red and white and pale blue. It's cute! Then we went to Super-Pharm and got some stuff (toothpaste, Dr. Fishcer shampoo for a friend back home, and mosquito repellant cloths). The mosquito repellant is for when I sleep at night. I get the whole second floor of the apartment to sleep on, but because it's so warm at night I have to leave the windows open. Windows open = mosquitos. And apparently I taste good. Very good. I have at least 7 bites from last night - one is on my cheekbone >:(. Stupid mozzies. But I will outsmart them tonight!
Anyhoo, we're resting now so we can go out a little later. We're gonna go get drinks I believe, but not stay out too late because Hil has orientation tomorrow morning at 8:30AM!!! EW! So she's giving me her keys and I'm gonna wander around tomorrow. I'm thinking I'll go back to the beach and read more Nora Roberts. :D Well, that and go to the big mall and get my damn phone taken care of! I'll probably do that first since it's more important.
Anyway, I'm taking lots of pictures here so you'll all have what to see when I return! Talk to you tomorrow!!
P.S. Herzliya beach is great... it reminds me of when my whole family went there in 1991... :D Everything brings back memories this trip. I LOVE IT. Happy Sigh :)