Shalom,

  Before too much time passes, I want to introduce to our new friends Nilly and Eitan.  Thanks to them we knew about the free museums day and also about interesting places to stop on our way to and from Eilat/Petra.  They also provided the maps.  It seems a while ago that Nilly and Eitan came for dinner but it was really only 6 days ago.  Nilly is the cousin of our Roanoke friend Gabriel Szego (and his wife Ellen.)

We invited Nilly and Eitan to dinner as it was easier for them to get to us than we to them, but then they brought most of the dinner!  Several salads, fruit, several Israeli dishes and even dessert and wine!  Randal did cook wonderful salmon and I made potato salad and everyone was very full at the end. 

  Nilly and Eitan are also world travelers and have been far more places than I.  Randal probably wins the travel prize because of his world bike trip back in 2000.  But Eitan is definitely the Israel expert and we are definitely benefiting from his insider tips to free stuff and what to see.  Our next free tour will be Tel Aviv thanks to a tip from Eitan.  But that will have to wait until we return from Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Jericho.  We are leaving early on the # 90 bus and switching just outside of Tel Aviv to the 480 to Jerusalem.  We’ll return late Tuesday evening…with a zillion more photos.  The problem is that we don’t seem to be able to keep all the facts and dates straight so I have to keep researching everything before I can send out an email.  Boy, am I ever sorry I didn’t pay more attention in Hebrew school and Sunday school classes. 

Ru

Randal, Eitan, Nilly and me.