We had another adventure today. It's getting to be quite the habit, isn't it? It rained again today, and our whale shark tour was cancelled. Bummer but one can't control the weather. We were promised a refund within a week. Instead we took the bus down to Tulum. The ADO buses are fancy, new ones and not cheap. It's a two-and-a-half hour ride down to Tulum (with a couple of stops on the way), and it rained every minute of the way. We got off at the central bus station and started walking towards one of the cenotes. At least it wasn't cold! Just wet. Very wet. We walked to the Calavera cenote, about 45 minutes walk away, but we stopped at a small restaurant for breakfast. It was nearing noon already and they were just ... read more

So, today we finally arrived in Mexico! We woke up early and got our lives in order. After our goodbyes and thank yous (very well deserved!) Noah took us to the Tijuana airport. We drove right through the border with no problems. Barely even slowed down at the border! Noah took us through Tijuana and with all due respect, it looks like a great big sprawling Arab town. A little bit of a disappointment, even though we really didn't have any expectations. We were forewarned about the inefficiencies and shenanigans at the airport in Mexico, but we got through the whole thing in less than 20 minutes! Put our suitcase at the check-in, zipped through security and to the gates in no time. The airport itself is undergoing some serious face lifting so lots of areas ... read more

We spent the day today with Noah, Tali and the kids and had a lovely time. It took a while for everyone to wake up and get organized, so in the mean time I managed to get some quite good pictures of hummingbirds in Noah's garden. After we finally got organized and piled into the car Noah took us to Coronado Island over the Coronado bridge. Now that's a bridge! It crosses the San Diego bay, towering high above the water before dropping down to the island. Coronado Island is a high-end neighborhood of San Diego, with lots of large, expensive houses and fancy cars but not really much to do there. Still, driving over the bridge was an experience, and driving back gave us a good view of the naval shipyards and all the aircraft ... read more

So, we're finally away! Tamar and I got to Ben Gurion airport with plenty of time to spare, and a good thing too! Apparently almost 50 flights took off today to Uman (crazy religious)! But once we got through the check-in line things went smoothly, and we got past the security and passport control easily, with time to spare to stroll through the duty free and make terrible puns with the stuff they sell there. The flight was, well, I'd rather not do that again anytime soon! 15 hours on a plane with uncomfortable seats and lots of loud kids & babies. We reached San Francisco on time, if a bit ragged, and got through the airport smoothly and on time for our next flight. The next flight was just a short hop to San Diego. ... read more

We're going whale watching today! Very exciting! So we got up and had the regular hotel fare, then got ready to go. Just a few minutes ride took us to the Gentle Giants tour offices, where we signed up, and then walked down to the dock. Our boat was waiting and the guide handed out overalls. Our boat, apparently, was an old whaling boat, until the whalers realized that the whales are worth more alive than dead. Tourists coming to see them bring in more money than they can get from hunting the whales, and with less risk. So the whalers converted their boats to tour boats and opened tour offices. Anyway, we boarded and pulled on our overalls. Within a few minutes all the other participants of the tour boarded and as the captain took ... read more