Dead Sea, Qumran, Masada

Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Happy 60th birthday to Mom! Aren't we lucky to get to be with her on this big day?! We certainly thought so. Mom is so wonderful and we wanted to make her day feel special. The night before, Richard and I went to the bakery and bought 3 kinds of cake so that she could sample each. We also cut out about a million hearts. We used the old magazines in the apartment. I chose paper with pretty colors or patterns to cut from. Richard chose peoples heads. He found 4 of Pierce Brosnan - and it was hilarious! Good times. So in the morning, Mom came out and saw that we had decorated the table with hearts.

Dead Sea, Masada, Qumran. F-16's flying to the sinai peninsula and the egyptian border. This was right when all of the Egypt unrest started. These views and the history were so amazing. Even Elizabeth had a good time while she sported her bib turned rain poncho. Maybe she was just happy to get out of the car, as we all were. :)
Later we walked 2 minuets to Restobar for a yummy dinner of chicken Caesar salad and mushroom fettuccine.

Isreal and Jordan!

Sunday, January 30, 2011
We left at 2:30 PM to make the drive from Abu Dhabi to Dubai and make our 6:40 PM flight to Jordan. We arrived in Ammon really late, finally got through customs, and got a taxi to our Hotel, the Ibis. It was a 40 minute drive for 20 Jordanian Dinars, we rolled in around 10:30 PM. I put Elizabeth to bed while Richard and Mom walked across the street for water, bananas, oranges, pound cake for the next mornings breakfast.

Kamel

Monday, January 31, 2011
Early call to prayer. We had a good time on our Taxi drive to Allenby Bridge. Our driver, Kamel, was such a character and made us all Facebook friends on his smart phone while he drove. Jordan country side high mountainous hills to valley floor. I was surprised how mountainous and cold it was. It was  beautiful driving though an area with pine trees and dense fog. Because we settled on a price before getting in, we only paid 20 Jordanian Dinar. :)

delicious hummus

 It was so rainy and cold, we wore every layer we had

Next it was a shuttle to Jerusalem (200 shekel, about $50 for all of us) We flet so stranded when this bus dropped us off in the rain, with our luggage, and no idea where we were. So we called Sam. Sam was our contact for the place we stayed. We rented an apartment via Airbnb and it was so brilliant! So Sam told us the address and we found it in the King David area. We waited in a little bakery on the main level for Richard to come back with shekles (the currency) and met David who proved to be a great help to us.

fresh nan

Elizabeth bundled in towels to keep her toasty

Moved in. Went to an Israli dinner in market place. Harold ordered mixed grill but was not a fan of the chicken hearts and livers. :) Although it was rainy and cold, we explored the outdoor market a little and found some amazing bakeries. We were so tired! We were all in bed by 8:00.

Europe in a few

Okay World Travelers, I need your help! We are going to Europe in 2 weeks and I have been working on my homework, the site-seeing itinerary for

Barcelona
and
Paris,

but I need your advise.

If you have been to either city, and especially if you have lived there,
could you please help me out and tell me your
favorites and must-see locations.

Historical structures,
beautiful parks,
yummy food,
or where you bought that great neck tie,
I would love to know about it!

This is Richard and my first time going to Europe and I am a bit stressed that I will cause us to miss something amazing because I didn't know about it.
Do me a solid and share your knowledge!

Shukran! (Thanks)