Who knew Jerusalem was a party town?

Or maybe it's just that whenever I'm with my hubby, he manages to find the par-tay. Spiritual experience? Not so much. What we did experience were a few little travel snafus, resulting in a few tense words being exchanged, I am sorry to say. In an ideal world, I would have smiled, said no biggie, hey--stuff happens. But however much I vow to always be patient, open hearted, understanding and communicative, it doesn't always happen like that. (Vows to be better in that department influenced the little note I left in a crack in the Western Wall this morning. We'll see if a possible higher power can help me.

Randy arrived in Jerusalem safe and sound and ready to blow off steam. We met up with a Sabra (native Israeli), an ex boyfriend of a friend, who I hadn't seen in more than 25 years. Other than some gray around the temples, four kids, and a divorce behind him. He was much the same fun loving person he appeared to be at 26. He and hubby instantly bonded, due to a mutual interest in engineering optics. That led to much shared wine, followed by beer, followed by Scotch, downed in a pub nestled into the famous Jerusalem outdoor market. It was wonderful seeing the city by night through the eyes of a Jerusalemite--he led us through the second oldest neighborhood in the city (outside the ancient walls), a warren of narrow streets and tucked away Sephardic synagogues and more feral cats...a feature of the city. (My Israeli friend likens them to squirrels in NYC. The same way New Yorkers don't coo at squirrels, Israelis don't coo at cats.)

Our tour by night ended in...a karaoke bar, where my s.o. and I performed the Eurythmic's Sweet Dreams Are Made of This, followed by Randy's solo performance of Blue Suede Shoes. Memorable.

Today was a trekking day, also with our Israeli friend, exploring in the City of David, the very first Jewish settlement in the area (King David, King Solomon and all that...). Hot and tiring (partly due to the 3:30 AM bedtime last night). Right now, we are en route to the Dead Sea for the family part of the trip---tonight we meet my sister and nephews and the group for dinner, tomorrow my nephew has his bar mitzvah at Masada, then on to the sea resort of Eilat...etc. etc. When we get back to Tel Aviv, we will be ready for more decadent lounging on the beach. (Below, Tel Aviv's famous Carmel market, more beach fun, and a taste of Jerusalem.)