Our country wide sprint through Egypt had so many highlights and may have been one of our most exhausting stops so far. Vienna was the perfect cure for our bodies.
We walked of the plane dirty and tired, looking for an Austrian man, Peter Unterweger, someone who neither of us had ever met, but someone who knew both Bernard and Sean's parents very well. Turns out he knew them so well and they left such a lasting impression on him that he took it upon himself to put Sean and I up in a classy hotel. Peter had everything planned out for us by the minute, he was managing us like we were first year Micros dealers. We toured the whole city, seeing the opera house, the Hofburg, St Stevens cathedral, and The Summer Palace (which was less than a mile away from the Hofburg...go figure). The following day Peter was cracking the whip again, picking us up at 7 am and taking us to Saltzburg, the birth place of Mozart, and the location of one of the most notable castles in Austria.
After a second full day of sight seeing Sean and I got the opportunity to see some of Vienna by night with Isabel, Peter's granddaughter. She took us to the local hot spot, Flex. Sean and I loved the name and "flexedwalked" our way into the club, danced for a bit then called it a night.
Austria was great, Peter treated us like kings and we got to get some well needed rest before our trip into the middle east.
Israel
After our typical maneuver of staying up entirely too late and barley making our flight we arrived in Israel where Ann and Dalia met us with open arms. On this particular stop we were staying with one of Bernard's closest friends and unrelated twin, Daniel. They live in a beautiful area called Caesarea, the house was gorgeous with a pool in the backyard and a minute walk from the beach, Daniel wanted us to make sure we let Bernard know this was his heaven.
Our first full day in Israel we jumped into Toms (Daniel's son) VW Golf and made for the Dead Sea. The back seating was cramped and the driving in Israel is very similar to Egypt, no one really obeys speed limits, double lines don't mean much, and when approaching a speed bump it is crucial that you accelerate. So the drive was a bit nerve racking, but we maneuvered past the traffic of Jerusalem and made our way down to the Dead Sea.
After sneaking past what I was pretty sure was an admissions booth we made our way down to the bank of the Sea. On our way down we saw multiple signs explaining how to get into the water, what to do if you get any water in your eyes, and if swallowed immediately notify the lifeguards. This was not your typical beach.
We walked into the warm salty water and got in as instructed, butt first then lay onto your back. I was expecting to sink a bit and have to tread at least a little to stay afloat, not the case. We were bobbing around like a fat kid in a life jacket two sizes too big. You could have had an anchor attached to your back and still be floating in this overly salty water. We floated around attempting to swim, but really all you could do was drift, it was like trying to dock a Caroline Skiff. The mud made for some classy pictures as well as a free spa treatment, our bodies were smoother than a babies ass. After the spa treatments we simply floated around, hands behind our heads, nodding off, all the while in water.
Our next move was to make it down the Dead Sea to Masada where we would be able to see the sun set. Tom, aka Cole Trickle, drove like a mad man to get us there before the sun went down. After passing buses, dealing with Israeli troops, and speeding the whole way we got to Masada, only 15 minutes late for the sunset. No problem, instead of watching the sunset we ventured into the landscape that surrounds the Dead Sea, it was like Mars, made up of crater upon crater and a strange layer of chalk covering everything.
The drive back from Masada was where the real fun started. Just like in Day
s of Thunder our boy Cole had not hit the pits and we were running on fumes, not something you want in the middle of the Israeli desert. I could see Sean's face getting whiter and sweat starting to form on his forehead, he was certain we were running out of gas and hitching back to Caesarea. Luckily for us the good folks at VW make the 1.8L Golf one of the most fuel efficient cars on the market, we made it to a gas station safely.
That night we were back in the old Golf heading for Tel Aviv, going to one of Toms favorite spots, the Breakfast Club... what a great name. So after hyping up this place for the majority of the night he finally took us there, we strolled up to the door to find a wooden plank blocking the door. Turns out this place was so much fun and so out of control they were forced to shut it down, we thought Tom was going to cry. Lucky for us the manager from the Breakfast opened up another place just before getting shut down. We waited in line at this place with six other guys for what seemed like the better part of an hour. Tom and I said forget it and started walking away, then we heard a call from Sean, his good looks had got him past the huge Russian bouncers, he said something to some woman with an ear piece in and we were all in. It was like a scene out of a night at the Roxbury.
The next day I awoke to Daniel "Drew guest will be arriving shortly." Just by pure randomness Sean and I happened to be in Caesarea for Gabby's (Daniels mother) 75th birthday. After about three hours of sleep Sean and I found ourselves surrounded by relatives and friends with curious looks on their faces all asking the same question, "who are you again." The majority of the people at the party spoke little English, which may have been a good thing due to the hung over state our minds were in, but overall the lunch was great.
That afternoon we once again hoped into old faithful and headed north for horseback riding in the Golan Heights. Alex, Daniels cousin runs a ranch and was nice enough to take us on a ride through the mountains. If you didn't know Sean and I are regular rancheros when it comes to horseback riding, by rancheros I mean we have no clue what were doing on a horse. We mounted our glorious steeds, bike helmet and all, and started our ride through the hills. Following Sean I was forced to constantly slow my horse down, it was either Sean's fear or the horses general disregard for the trot, but we never really made it past the walk when it came to speed.
So after a long day you would figure Tom and Dalia would give us a night off to relax, no chance. That evening Sean and I found ourselves in one of our favorite nights of the trip so far. It was a little hidden treasure on the coast of Caesarea, a beach party in this small lagoon. There were about 25 people hanging out under a make shift tent with lights, music, and food, all powered by your standard generator. It is hard to say it but this spot made the Gentlemen's Club look just a bit amature, but it did remind me of being at home. The people in Israel love Americans more than Chris Hansen loves catching predators. They treated us like we had been friends for years, we danced, drank, swam, and even helped the hipppie chicks make their open fire beef stew, which I must say was some of the best late night food I'd ever eaten.
Okay so now onto the real history of Israel, Jerusalem. The first stop was the Wailing Wall, where Sean and I (wearing cardboard yamikas) felt that the only way we could have been more out of place was if our passports had the name: Mel Gibson on them. We squeezed our way up to the wall, dropped a little prey in a crack and moved on, Sean looked so nervous I thought he was going to faint. Next up was the Holy Sepulchre (the place of Jesus's crucifiction). We explored though the church, seeing the place of the crucifiction as well as Jesus's final resting place. The Dome of the Rock was last, where a lovely mosque sits above the Temple Mount. Overall Jerusalem was unbelievable, not being a very religious person it was really interesting seeing how so many different faiths intertwine throughout one small city.
On the way back from Jerusalem we stopped in at Gabby's (Daniel's mother) for her world famous schnitzel. My previous experience with schnitz was in Vienna and I loved it, Gabby showed me that the Austrian schnitz was the JV squad when it came to the stuff. She prepared a feast of pasta and chicken schnitzel for Sean and I. There was more food than a Boston Market Family Meal for six, Sean and I took it upon ourselves to eat every last little bit. It had to have been one of our top meals of the trip.
So much had happened in Israel, it had to have been one of my favorite stops of the trip, between floating in the Dead Sea to horse back riding through the Golan Heights, it was truly a memorable experience...until we tried to leave. Getting out of Israel is harder than digging a tunnel out of Shawshank. Waiting in line Sean was nervous as usual about the time situation, I said "Sean when has it ever taken us longer than an hour to get to our gate?" I was eating those words two hours later.
After a passing all the tough questions like "Why were you in Egypt? Do you have family in Egypt? Do you speak any Hebrew? What is your Faith? etc etc" it was time for the real stuff...the bag examination. Well my bag failed the bomb test, which pretty much means you are completely screwed. They got out a box, unpacked my whole bag, scanned ever article of clothing with a medal detector, took my bag to some back room, all the while our plane was boarding. After making sure every part of my bag was clear they told me to start packing, normally it takes me about 30 minutes to get my bag just right, I had five minutes. We scrambled to make the plane, but got on none the less. Bag molestation aside Israel was a stop we will never forget.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
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