Thursday 19/6

Tim, poor man, had to get up early today, having a meeting scheduled in Jerusalem. I spent an extra two hours in bed (so much space to myself, I almost got agoraphobia) and then enjoying the breakfast and the view again. Decided that my red burn had gone down enough for me to be brave and go down to the beach. Spent an hour there, before deciding I didn’t want to risk it. Midday sun and Scandinavian skin (especially one that haven’t been in the sun for over two years) is not a great combination. So, went back up to the hotel room, enjoyed some free chocolate and fruit (great lunch!) and wrote the blog posts for the first two days (because of Tim’s paper we had to bring a laptop, which occasionally was a bit stressful as it reminded me about the writing I should have been doing). Unfortunately internet access was rather expensive, so thus the actual posting had to wait.

At around two I decided the sun was less bright (!?) and went back to the beach, well prepared with water and sunscreen (and also some work related papers which I never even looked at).
Enjoyed the sun and the sea till about 17.30, when I returned to the hotel to shower off some of the salt. Discovered in the bathroom mirror that I had completely burnt my back. Not a great surprise, really, since it was quite hard to put sunscreen on by myself. Tim came back at the same time, and was absolutely terrified to see it! Oh well, didn’t care about the back. The more embarrassing was my bright red left ear! How can one burn one ear?

We were originally going to go to a dinner with a client in Jerusalem, but it was cancelled. Instead, I pushed Tim into ordering room service. I know it’s pathetic (and not very special), but in my head that is the height of luxury (what can I say? I’m quite a simple person). Had the best hummus I had ever had! (Also some really good sea bass, but that sort of gets forgotten in comparison.)

We had been suggested to go to Jaffa in the evening, but in the lobby we started chatting to a man who instead recommended a music festival in town. Said and done, we took a taxi to one of the main boulevards. It was quite magic. We strolled down the green street, listening to different artists/groups/performers. The evening was dark and warm, but not unpleasantly humid. Lots of people in the streets, and some good music. It was the first time we saw Tel Aviv as the lively and rather liberal it is.

And yes, I have now learnt to say goodbye. Very simple: 'Shalom'! And after all the walking I have done, I have also picked up the word for 'street': 'rehov'. Very useful!