Eilat of Fun

I walked out of my room this past Thursday night at 10 PM with a large Vera Bradley "weekender" bag packed to the brim with multiple options for the weekend (because that's how a girl like me packs) and a big smile as I went to catch the 12 AM midnight bus to Eilat. Eilat is Israel's southernmost city, a tourist attraction and a serious, serious hotspot to be -- because of how hot it is, if you didn't catch that one. Myself and four other friends arrived at the central bus station in Eilat at 5:45 AM, we wanted 3 full days in Eilat, so we figured we'd take the midnight shift bus until we got to our hotel and were unable to check in...woops. So instead, our loopy, delusional no sleep selves went to the beach boardwalk and watched the sunrise which was beautiful.

 As the day got later, we checked into our room and headed to meet our other friends in their room where we surprised one of them for her birthday! It was one of those plans that went extremely smoothly, although rest assuredly I almost ruined it multiple times leading up to the trip. Anyway, we tanned on this "mattress beach" for the day, and went to two bars at night: 3 Monkeys and then The Bear Bar. Both had a completely different vibe than the ones in Tel Aviv - 3 Monkeys felt like a bar mitzvah...I kid you not, congo lines and all, but the Bear Bar was funky and the music was great. The next day, we tanned and some friends and I walked around the beach boardwalk of Eilat because needless to say, I was burnt-out (pun seriously intended). Although thankfully, this was the least amount of sunburn I've ever gotten -- I'm learning Mom :) !!! We went out again that night to another bar called: Beatles. Ironically, in a party city like Eilat, the club scene isn't too big on Saturdays so we stuck mainly to the bars. The best part about Eilat is how small of a city it is, everything is within walking distance of each other, so on the walk home, I got some killer calve muscles in my wedges #wedgesarethenewsneakers. This weekend was my vacation getaway, a well-needed, relaxing weekend with friends who I've gotten so close to in the past 3 days, friends that I know will be friends even when abroad ends.

The craziest thing about Eilat is it's location...it's in between the surrounding countries of Jordan, believe it or not, I could see the Jordanian flag and some of the city on my boat ride around the red sea. And off to the distance on the other side is Saudi Arabia. I found it mind-boggling that here I was, a 21 year old Jewish girl on vacation in Eilat, maxin' and relaxin' in the sun and to the left of me is Jordan and to the right farther out is Saudi Arabia (which at the time I thought was Egypt). But like...what???? I can't even explain it in words, but to see some of the houses - now that was insane. I've never really thought of Israel being surrounded by other Arab/Muslim countries, and there I was, sitting on a boat staring into Jordan. Needless to say, it was quite an experience.
Eilat was EI-LAT of fun and I hope to go back soon, but next time, I'm making it across the border to Petra, Jordan - one of the 7 wonders of the world with my mom, dad and brother by my side and a camel waiting for us at the entrance.