Chapter 3 Dinner and first night

The weary travelers head to dining room after brief instructions in operating the elevator - the buttons are on the outside so you press your floor first and then look at the indicator that tells you which elevator is the next to arrive. On Shabbat , there are 2 elevators that are pre-programmed to stop at every floor. Instructions in Electricity 101 are also in order - the room keys are slid into a slot behind the room door which turns on the electricity in the room. That way when you remove your key all the lights in the room go out. Nice theory but mine didn't work that way. Room also has a 115 V outlet in the WC hairdryer so our electronic devices could be charged without adapters. Everyone speaks English and everyone accepts US currency. Sometimes it was cheaper to us Shekels and sometimes US $.

We get to the dining room shortly before 8 PM but the wait staff won't seat us and direct us outside onto the patio overlooking the beach. At exactly 8 PM a siren wails and all of the wait staff stand at attention. All traffic stops, people get out of there cars and stand at attention. All pedestrians walking along the beach stop as well. It is totally silent except for the siren. It's eerily quiet like a snowy day in New England. Try to imagine an entire country coming to a standstill to pay homage to fallen comrades. I can't begin to describe how emotional this made me feel. Siren wail ends and we go to dinner.

Dinner is a fabulous buffet which makes up for the long day. Stuffed turnips, eggplant with cilantro, lamb chops and other meats are the highlights (well, they're my highlights).

After dinner, we walked as a group down Ben Gurion Blvd. for 20 minutes passing his house (flag at half staff) to Rabin Square for a Memorial Day Concert.

What is that crunching beneath our feet? Strange aroma too. OMG, it's olives that have fallen from all the olive trees lining the boulevard.

The outdoor concert is jam packed with people, the mood is somber, jumbotron's showing various scenes and also interviews with parents of fallen soldiers. There are musical acts but there was no clapping, no talking, no drinking and I didn't see any smoking. We stayed for about 30 minutes and then walked back to the hotel.