A Decision of Great Import

"Ahh, that's more like it" says myself in fresh white sheets I didn't have to put on the bed, sitting under a fluffy matching white comforter.

Our trip to Eilat has started off with a wee bit of adventure.  We weren't initially going to go to Eilat, so when we decided to go I wanted the trip to be super high on fun but VERY low on cost.   We decided to stay at an uber cheap hostel with a shared bathroom and shower.  That's fine, we've done that before.  But when we got there it appeared to be part homeless shelter, with mattresses and scattered bedding decorating the courtyard, and the promised "Air Conditioning" was pretty much non existent.  Ewe.  I just cringed a bit when I read that.  I'm not really a "fancy" traveler, but at 104 degrees yesterday...I was feeling like I needed a little somethin' to make it through the night.

But no bother, we got exactly what we paid for so we dropped our bags and headed for Coral Beach.  I went camera-less yesterday (and Chapstick-less - which really shows my desire to go swimming and get out of our room if you know me) so I'll post some pics tonight as we are headed back.  The beach was lovely, but I didn't remember being such a snorkel wimp last time we did this across the bay in Aqaba.  After a few initial panics, rearing my head above the water with my snorkel equipment to make sure there were no sharks, I was just fine and we spend a lovely afternoon snorkeling around the reef.

Just last week when The Husband and I were recounting the things we were looking forward to at home, but bemoaning the fact that all those restaurants were going help us add a good 15 pounds, I said "But I am looking forward to just one meal at one of those ridiculous meaty, western-ish steak and fries places back home".  Say it and it shall come to pass.  After swimming and a long bus ride without lunch we were starving and we came across "Casa Do Brazil" ... a Brazilian steakhouse and churrascaria.  Enter angelic choir.

When we got back to our hostel the hotness in the room had exploded, but it was another kind of explosion that really tipped the scales.  We had, in what must unfortunately be our latent colonialist tendencies, downloaded "Lawrence of Arabia" before we left and we settled in to our respective bunk beds to watch it in the sweltering room.  About halfway through I stopped the movie, turned to Max and said "...I don't know if I can sleep here."  The kicker came for my husband when he realized that our proximity to the shared bathroom made everything audible through the wall.  And someone was sick, my friends.  The kicker came for me when, out of necessity I had to use said bathroom and almost lost my Brazilian appetizers.  End grossness.

So The Husband, being the dear husband he is, started searching for a new hotel within our price range that would be suitable for the next two nights.  It was a little hard for me to articulate why I wanted to leave the hostel so bad.  I hear our Mom's saying "Really?  It was gross.  That's why."  But I've stayed in gross places before.  I think it was a combination of my expectation of a relaxing weekend (I painted my toenails hot pink before we left if that tells you my expectations) and the realization that our days of sleeping in the same room are numbered with Italy's separation ahead of us.  Or maybe somewhere this year I started to feel like a grown-up with an employed husband and without my permission my standards have been raised.

So we paid 8 bucks for a days use and took off down the street at 11:30 with our packs to find the new hotel.  But not before stepping over a dirty wanderer asleep in front of the gates.

Our new hotel was a very short walk and after a quick shower we finished Lawrence of Arabia and now all is right with the world.