This morning I was suffering from no Baby Bear and hung out on the rooftop patio at the hotel writing a blog. I prefer writing using the computer science algorithm of “first in, first out” meaning that I would not skip any days. Unfortunately, I have postponed writing about the last day in Cyprus so that I can keep up with the Israel trip. I’m two days behind on that now too.

Here are a couple of what I found unusual trivial items from the Melody Hotel. Apparently, it used to be the Canadian embassy until they decided to move to a larger and more secure place. Mickey jokingly (I hope) asked if I found any spy devices in the room.

The toilet flush handle in many places is this half circle cut into two unequal parts. It took me a little while to find it at first.

I don’t think this shower is typical. It consisted of a vertical strip of water at the top and 4 lower sprays. It took some getting used to.

I’ve promised myself to try salad for breakfast. Mike from the humus place feels that it’s unnatural to eat a salad for breakfast. I like to try almost any food but some sensibility I have makes me rebel against salad for breakfast. My Israeli guide and Mickey think it’s a great idea. They also had hard boiled eggs, cereal, and many types of breads.

My hotel was just a 3 minute walk to the Mediterranean. Since it was Saturday, Israelis were treating it as a Sunday in the US. Lots of people walking around with kids, just taking in the shops and the breeze. As always, I had to touch the water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Site of an almost 3 millenium old fort along the beach in Tel Aviv

Finally figured out who was supposed to clean back in our apartment in Montreal in 1971

We had a deli sandwich and when Mickey mentioned that we would be comparing it to the famous “smoked meat” sandwich from Montreal, the owner jumped at the chance to get more details from us. Unfortunately neither he nor I are experts in the finer points of deli meat but that is something I miss from Montreal. The sandwich and the “smoked hamburger” were delicious though. I like this picture with Mickey and Orly.

After the walk and a nap, Mickey and I got together for a beer. I had a breakfast item for dinner (just to spite the salad for breakfast), which was two poached eggs floating in a sea of pasta then baked. Sounds disgusting but it was good. Add some Palestinian beer and I was happy.

Mickey and I talked about the old days in the late 1960’s and the early 1970’s. We both made choices that were very destructive and could have lead to permanent damage. We felt as though the world was in such profound chaos that there would never be a stable functioning society again. I wouldn’t have believed back then that in 2011, I would have a very good steady job, an outstanding steady relationship with a wife, a great son, and so on. I started making good choices in 1977 when I decided to get into teaching math. I think a lot of people don’t have it figured out until their late 20’s like me. Many figure it out after high school and others are still working on it in their 60’s.

 

Mickey found this picture of me from the McGill student newspaper. I’m the guy with the beard and darkish glasses second from the left just above the white fold line.