Friday
Breakfast consisted of five tables laden with cheeses, salads, pancakes, regular cakes, breads, cereals, and an omelette station, all of which were kosher. After gorging, Rina, Jonathan, Eric and Mitch went on a jeep/hiking tour of the mountains that surround Eilat. The guide explained the city's background in terms of geography, history, and politics, and gave pertinent examples of each as we passed them by. Highlights included a tour of the Egyptian border, fossil-sightings, and a view of granite mountains and the three Arab nations closest to the city from atop a windy peak with winding 4x4-only accessible roads. Without a doubt the best part of this event was the hike through the Red Canyon, a (relatively) level section between the mountains where high concentrations of different chemicals and whose location along a fault line have rendered some breathtaking natural rifts, shapes and sculptures. Following all this we headed back to the hotels for some relaxation and swimming.
Shabbat began with services at the hotel's shul, which, like all other synagogues in the area, was Sephardi, meaning extra long, loud, and weird. Aside from all of the different tunes and additions, the minyan also included a shouting match between attendees over whose tunes and additions were right. Once the ruckus was finally concluded we all met at the Parker-parents' hotel for a monstrous dinner, one whose scope easily eclipsed the massive breakfast. Soups, salads, breads, desserts, ten types of meat - wedding planners should take notes from this hotel. Dinner was followed by a peek in at the hotels' free entertainment, which was groups of over-excited teens in awkward costumes lip-synching and dancing to Israeli music of the past four decades.
Saturday
Wiped out by the festivities of the day before, everyone but Eric slept in, then got together for a Shabbat-themed breakfast of the same proportions as Friday. Today the pancakes and egg-products were replaced with kugels, jach'nun, and cakes. The balance of the day was spent lounging around poolside. When Shabbat ended and the Godlbergs were seen to their cab, the remaining folk had dinner at an Italian restaurant and wandered the boardwalk.
Sunday
Breakfast as above, then Daddy-Parker, Rina and Jonathan went on a glass-bottomed kayak tour of the Red Sea's coral reefs. The water is too cold for snorkeling to be comfortable, so this was an excellent substitute. We got fantastic views of the many colours and shapes of the coral, and even saw schools of fluorescent fish swimming by. After tired out by paddling, we were loaded into a boat and taken to see the dolphins playing in their enclosure. Lunch with Cheryl, another walk around the boardwalk, and it was off to the plane home for us.
In typical Israeli style our plane was massively delayed but we were not informed. The plane eventually delivered us to our destination of Sde Dov, a secondary airport in Tel Aviv. While we knew it wouldn't be an impressive structure like Ben Gurion airport, we were shocked when we discovered that Sde Dov is nothing more than a landing strip with a tent - an actual fabric tent - next to it. We collected our single bag, and began the search for a way back to Jerusalem. After some quality eavesdropping we found a family heading to Ben Gurion, and some sad-faces and forward questioning won us a place on their minibus to the airport. The group was six people large, with four Chicagoans headed by a Brotherhood-type who had come to celebrate their daughter's Bat Mitzva on Massada, and two Phillipinos. Eventually we got to the actual airport where we caught a sherut home, ending our vacation within a vacation.
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