Somewhere warm for vacation

In August we flew to the Greek Islands of Mykonos and Santorini for a week.  We spent four nights with six friends from Toronto and Ottawa on Mykonos first, where we shared an apartment, worked on our tans, drove ATVs around the Island, and enjoyed the nightlife. 

Then we took a 2 hour ferry over to Santorini and met up with 30 others for the wedding of a friend from Canada/NYC.   

Their ceremony was held at the Captain's House at the northwest side of the Island, overlooking the white-washed cliff houses of Oia. 

On our last day, we took a catamaran cruise to the volcano, sulfer hot springs, and beaches around the Island. 















When we landed in the Tel Aviv airport at 4am, we were greeted by fans of the local soccer team, who were drumming, waving flags and chanting in the arrivals hall so loud that we could hear them throught the walls in the baggage claim area. 

Everyone else went home to northern climates, and we returned to the heat and sun of the middle east.  Strange feeling....


Hamsin

The sea was as warm as bath water yesterday.  Not bad for October 16th.

Sure would like a cooler afternoon today though. 

Matkot - the new olympic sport

Matkot is a beach game that Israeli's love.  It's like ping pong without the table.  Each player has a slightly larger paddle than in ping pong, and a rubber ball is bounced back and forth in the air between players.  The edge of the ocean is lined with Israeli's playing this game on Friday and Saturday all summer.

Walking with cousin Tom the other night, he said, "Matkot should be made an olympic sport.  Israeli's would be great at it because there are no rules." 

Well, that sounds about right.  Israeli's are good at not playing by the rules, and quite comfortable in situations where there are none. 

Out my window

A wedding on the beach at sunset.  It's 85 degrees today, absolutely lovely.