After a hectic week of finals, I needed to unwind a little. So, I tagged along on Shaina and her sister Beth's trip to Ein Gedi. It was a great trip! After procuring the rental car and with Shaina behind the wheel, we headed down to the Dead Sea. It took about an hour to get there and after stopping at the Ein Gedi Kibbutz Guest House where we were staying to get the discount pass, we went over to the hiking area. It was pretty hot so we constantly applied sunscreen. The Nahal David trail was pretty empty until we got to the waterfall swimming area which was crawling with kids. That was a little annoying since they seemed to think we were part of the scenery, grabbing us for support or stepping on us. Still, it was a lovely hike and we rewarded ourselves with a little ice cream!
Then, we headed back to the kibbutz which is also a botanical garden to check into our rooms and relax a little. I read a little Psalms and the girls headed for the pool. I joined them after finding an exceptionally large roach in the bathroom; the room wasn't big enough for the both of us! Fortunately, Shaina took care of it which I think is why our roommate relationship worked so well. After cleaning up, we enjoyed the buffet dinner which kibbutzim are known for but since it was part of the guest house, it was pretty good. We were pretty tired after dinner , but we decided to have a drink at the bar. That's when things got a little exciting. Let's just say it involved a glass breaking almost in my face followed by my new wine glass tipping over before I could drink it. The night ended with a rousing game of "Who Can Name all 50 States?"
The next day after a yummy kibbutz breakfast, we headed over to the Ein Gedi spa. I wanted a facial but they weren't available but Shaina and Beth signed up for massages. We spent a little time floating in the sulfur pools before heading down to the beach area to apply the mineral rich Dead Sea mud. It felt so disgusting rubbing dirt all over ourselves and I put some in my hair. There was a particularly hilarious moment when I looked up from the mud bin to see Beth applying the mud to a random old lady's back! We waited in the shade until it hardened sufficiently and then rinsed. My skin felt so soft afterward. The hair, not so much. :)
Afterward, there was a lot of hanging out by the pool and chillaxing at the spa and then back on the kibbutz. It was great. After dinner, we tried our hands at putt putt, but we were barely into it. But we tried...the next day, we headed out for Tel Aviv. Getting there isn't so easy due to bad signage through Jerusalem but we made it. The girls checked into their hotel and we headed out for the Nachalat Binyamin area. It's my second favorite place to spend money here (the first is Yad Lakashish of course). We looked for a place to eat on Sheinkin street. I realized that I wasn't in J'lem anymore when the menus looked like LA menus...still, the street is super cute and of course I would have wanted to boutique and shoe shop. But we focused on the task at hand: Nachalat Binyamin.
We get there and see and hear Miri Aloni singing and playing keyboard (unless it was guitar?). I wanted to take a picture but she held a sign over her face preventing me. The sad truth is that she used to be big here in the music scene but now plays for donations near shuk hacarmel and the nachalat binyamin area. Of course I had no idea who she was until I randomly saw an article on her in the paper.
I love shopping at Nachalat Binyamin! I did a lot of damage there but on great stuff! Then I had to say goodbye and get my sherut back to J'lem. But I had some time to get a yummy fruit shake with the girls back on Sheinkin.
After a few days of non stop Wassermans, it was lonely without them! I deserve my tshirt!
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