Right now, at this moment, we are sitting on the rooftop patio of our little 12 bedroom hotel in Tel Aviv looking out at the city lights around us. Getting here took most of the day and was an education in logistics. For future reference, try to avoid traveling in Israel by public transport from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown as it can be a little frustrating.
Last night we arrived in Eilat just after sundown having just missed the ticket office at the bus station. The phone reservation service had also just closed and would not reopen until sundown Saturday. However, the bus station opened at 10am and the ticket office opened at 11am at which point the first bus to Tel Aviv, the 11:30, was sold out. In fact, all the buses until 4pm were sold out.
The trip to Tel Aviv is 5 hours and a few minutes. We bought tickets for the 4 pm bus and then tried to talk our way onto the 11:30 bus with no luck, as there was quite a few "stand bys" ahead of us. We tried this again at the 1pm bus and the driver finally let us on saying we would have to stand the whole way (we agreed but immediately found empty seats). Not sure how it all works since we still don't know much Hebrew but at one point the bus driver stopped the bus and told us all to figure it out, or at least that is what we think he said. Several people were upset, some telling us to stay sitting, several men trying to give up their seats for us (we think). In the meantime the driver continued to pick up passengers along the highway until there were 7 people sitting in the aisle and 3 on the steps. We were too scared to get out at the first rest stop as we didn't want another seating incident but did brave the second stop. While this all sound terrible un-Canadian we were not the only ones with tickets for other times.
Once we arrived we followed Peggy's instructions to get out of the incredibly busy central bus station and walked for about 40 minutes to our cute little hotel. The receptionist sent us to the local pub for dinner and it was excellent, potato soup and a cooked vegetable plate with couscous. And of course, a beer. We seem to be in a trendy neighborhood near the Carmel market with lots of young people out walking and sitting at the bistros. The weather is mild, maybe 20-22degrees, a little cooler but mugger than the south. One more day, till we are flying home, to explore Tel Aviv.
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