Monday morning we got up EARLY and got ourselves to the Gard de Lyon, the train station where we would be catching the really fast French train called the TGV. It was very luxurious. We had comfortable seats and a table to work while we whizzed along through the French countryside. We changed trains at a place right next to the border of Spain. We waited about one hour, then got on a not-so-nice slow-and-stopping-all-the-time train. We arrived in Barcelona, Spain at about 10:00 at night. We got a taxi and made it to our hotel where we had a HUGE odd room. We fell into bed ready to get up early again on Tuesday.

Tuesday morning my Mom woke me up and I took a shower in the biggest round bathtub I have EVER seen! It was weird. But fun. Then we went to the airport to get checked into our flight to Israel. We got on the plane and had good seats. Hannah and I sat together and watched a movie and before we knew it, we were landing in Tel Aviv. We went through Passport Control and found a taxi to the home of my Dad’s cousins where we are staying. What we didn’t know was that they have a great golden retriever called “Milky” who is fun and friendly. It is great to be with a dog again. We fell into bed and slept and slept.

Wednesday my Mom and Dad let Hannah and I sleep as long as we wanted to. It was great! We did some packing for our trip on Wednesday to Eilat at the Red Sea. We only need to take a few things, like bathing suits and shorts! It’s going to be hot and we are going to swim a lot. I got to have dinner and ice cream with my Grandma Rachel, my Dad and his other cousin Ezra, his wife Ronit and their three children.

Thursday morning we got a taxi to take us to the bus station for our trip to Eilat. Many hours later, hot and dusty and tired, we arrived in Eilat. We checked into our hotel and went to the beach to go for a swim. The Red Sea was amazing. Hannah and I jumped in and swam for a long time. There are piers where you can sit in the middle of the water. Our room is very good, and there is a HUGE lobby with three restaurants and two shops. I bought a pair of goggles for swimming. The Red Sea was much better than the pool. You can swim in the Red Sea with your goggles on and look down and see some fish. The water is very salty, but it is very hot water. When you get out, you rinse off in a shower at the beach. We had Indian food for dinner and then we went to bed.

Friday morning we did our schoolwork and then headed for the beach. Hannah and I swam and swam and swam a little bit more. It has been a good day. We need to go to bed on time tonight because we are getting up early for a day trip to Petra in Jordan.