Both of us have a little jet-lag this morning. Upon arriving at Ben Gurion International Airport, we had to get our passports stamped and a Visa was issued. After we got our luggage we looked everywhere for the taxi that was supposed to be there. We never found the taxi so we had to get our own.
Lesson #1 in Israel - Make sure the taxi driver turns on his meter. When we got to our hotel, The Vital, I tried to pay the driver with my credit card. He shook his head No. He said $172. I almost fainted! Marilyn knew that he meant Shekels! We settled on $50 US dollars. Yes, we are naive. When we mentioned this to the very nice girl at the front desk, she said, in a nice way, that we got ripped off. You MUST insist that the cab drivers turn on the meter!!
The Vital hotel is very nice. Our room is small, but comfortable. We have two twin beds and the bathroom does have a shower/tub. I was told that the room didn't have a shower, but that was incorrect. We have an electric tea kettle so boiling water for tea will be easy. We were cold last night, the air conditioner works very well so we'll be asking for extra blankets!The service here at the hotel is 5 star, we asked for blankets, they were brought almost immediately.
As you can see, our room is a little messy.
The breakfast that is included with our room is nothing short of amazing! Marilyn will be writing about it! She is the foodie! My favorite morning drink is Chai tea with honey and almond milk. So, the first thing we did last night was to buy almond milk and honey. I brought my tea bags in the suitcase. After seeing the breakfast, I didn't need to bring all those tea bags.
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| View from Breakfast |
The big part of today was going on a free tour of Tel Aviv. First stop was the diamond headquarters, then to Jaffa. They drive very fast here and don't pay attention to the painted lines on the streets!
It is a little scary.
Marilyn just got back from working out at the gym that is included with our room. She said it is very nice and it has great classes and equipment.
The Business Lounge, which is also included with our room is great. I think we will
be visiting there everyday! Note the coffee/espresso machine and the treats! Marilyn is in
coffee heaven.
We explored the mall that is attached to the Vital hotel. It has a natural food store and we recognized many of the brands that they have, but we can't read a word! We ate at the coffee shop last night there and the sandwiches we had were very good. There are small clothing stores, electronic shops, a cell phone store and even a Toys-R-US in the Mall. We have not found a laundromat yet.
More to follow...........
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