Israel. Pesach 2022. Day 3. There is No Jelly in This Hotel.
Last night was okay. Madeleine woke up around 530 and started crying and wouldn’t let me go so I ended up sleeping in their room for the rest of the night. Good thing we have that second bed in there now that Robyn went home.
[Tzvi: I think I woke up around 7am feeling very lonely and wondering where everyone was. After I found Steph I tried to go back to sleep but couldn’t, so I just read for a couple of hours, which was actually kind of nice.]
Tzvi came in around 9am, then we all got dressed and went to breakfast. There’s nothing else quite like a good Israeli hotel breakfast and the Orient’s is pretty good. Because it shabbat there weren’t freshly made to order items, but I’ll describe the general breakfast. When you come in a waiter takes your order for coffee and eggs; coffee is always the weakest part of breakfast because they can’t really do decaf correctly. There’s one buffet table with lox, herring (ew), egg salad, tuna and other salads. There’s another buffet table with just cheeses, which Tzvi really enjoyed. There was another table with desserts and fruits – there was a really good fruit salad with apples. Then there were quiches, pancakes, waffles, grilled vegetables, scrambled eggs, hard boiled eggs and shakshuka. Finally, the center of the buffet was a table of just pizzas. That’s right – breakfast pizzas. Even for pesach, everything was really good. I cant wait for the last few days of the trip when pesach is over and they turn everything back to chametz.
By the time we were done with breakfast it was maybe close to 11am and we decided to take a walk so we went across the street to the Tahcana Rishona and walked through. Madeleine was enjoying walking and Hallie was enjoying being in the stroller (at this age isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?). Every time a dog would pass by Madeleine would want to pet it.
We walked for a while along the old train tracks, which have been turned into a park, kind of like the High Line in NYC. At one point we came to a book stand that was kind of like a take-a-book, leave-a-book kind of thing (like the old penny dishes in NYC delis). Basically people left books there and you could take whatever you wanted for free. There was a sign that said ‘please only leave books that are of general interest,’ except there were lots of random things like obscure textbooks and high school yearbooks from America. Hallie found a children’s book in English and took it home.
Eventually we made our way back to the hotel and made it to lunch around 1:30pm. Our friends Abby, Mordy and Ronnie Kehat joined us for lunch. We had a little snafu at lunch because the seating was all mixed up. Basically Tzvi sat down exactly where he wanted to sit (in the middle of the table – Tzvi’s a good middle), but then I (not realizing that he had been sitting where he wanted to) moved him to the end of the table where he couldn’t be part of any conversation, and so he spent the first half of the meal visibly sulking. But then my mom switched with him and he got to enjoy the rest. The food was good – another great buffet. The best thing was this amazing cold cauliflower that we ate several plates of. No idea what was on it – it kind of tasted like techina, but it couldn’t have been because the hotel is no-kitniyot.
Madeleine was going crazy and running around the whole dining room and by the end she had taken off her dress and was running around naked. So, when you see those families with naked children and think who are those idiot parents who let their kids run around like that, we are those parents. Finally I got her dress back on but then she took her shoes off, so you know, can never be fully dressed.
I think they kicked us out of lunch a little after 3pm. We went to the indoor pool. The water was kind of cold but the girls had a good time. Eventually they got out and we tried to look for some food for them to eat. We first tried the meat restaurant on the roof, but it was already closed. Next we tried the lobby bar, but the menu was just all salads and something called “salt-fish” so there was nothing for them. We asked if they could just give us matzah and jelly, but they said they didn’t have jelly. At that point we noticed that Abby was still hanging out at the front of the hotel (she had been visiting other people who were staying here). We told her what was happening and she said they must have misunderstood us because there was no way they didn’t have jelly, so she went back to the restaurant and tried again in Hebrew, but they confirmed they had no jelly at all. Next she went to the front desk and said they must have jelly because they have jelly at breakfast, and then after making a couple of phone calls the woman at the front desk confirmed that there was no jelly to be had anywhere in the hotel. Apparently the breakfast store room was locked and there was no way to get the jelly. Awesome.
At that point Abby said we should just walk back to her house to eat. Madeleine fell asleep on the walk. Abby fed the kids matzah and jelly and applesauce and corn tortillas (yes – on pesach, hooray kitniyot!). Madeleine woke up and ate as well. Then we waited for Mordy to get home to make Havdalah and then they drove us back to the hotel.
We quickly showered the kids and got them ready for bed. The plan had been to go out with my parents and Avery and Gabs and leave the kids with Robyn, but that didn’t work out, so Tzvi went with them and I stayed back.
[Tzvi: For dinner we had made a reservation at Luciana, an Italian restaurant at Mamilla mall. Originally the reservation was for six people, but when we showed up we were only five people and they were all mixed up, so they gave us a table for four and stuck a chair on the end. That’s Israel for you. The food took forever to come – like there were people who sat down, ordered, ate and left in the time it took us to get our food. Everything was actually pretty good though. I had a Caesar salad with egg and we all shared a pizza, which was actually delicious.
After dinner we walked through Mamilla a little bit. There was an American man who was trying to get people to book a tour with him the next day. He looked pretty crazy – I think he had signs attached to himself, as well as a little speaker system and was talking into a microphone. “Once in a lifetime opportunity, a tour of the conflict zone with the former mayor of Jerusalem. Once in a lifetime. Five hour tour.” We kept trying to avoid him, but at one point he started following us. Avery made the mistake of engaging with him. Avery said no thank you and that we had plans, and the guy asked what we had, so Avery was honest and told him we were going to the beach. Then he kind of freaked out and told him he was crazy if he thought going to the beach was more important than this once in a lifetime opportunity! You’re never supposed to engage with these people.]
Back at the hotel, the girls watched their tablets a little while I tried to pack up and prep for tomorrow, because we’re going to Tel Aviv tomorrow but also switching rooms. Then they went to sleep and I did a little exercise, and that was pretty much it.
Israel. Pesach 2022. Day 2. What Else Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Where was I? The day and night and day all just blend together.
Around 1am Madeleine woke up. I didn’t want Madeleine to wake Hallie and Robyn, so I grabbed her and put her in my bed. After a while Tzvi rolled the crib into our room and we put Madeleine back to sleep. Madeleine up like 3-5 and Tzvi was up 5-8.
Tzvi: I wasn’t really thinking when I brought in the crib, because I put it right in front of the bathroom door. I think I was awake from 5-8 and had to pee really badly but I was afraid to move because I didn’t want to wake Steph, and anyway there was no way to get into the bathroom without moving the crib.
We didn’t actually get up until 10ish when we got a call from my mom that breakfast was ending soon. Well, we sprang into action and got ready in minutes and made it to breakfast with a few minutes to spare. Everything was already pesach, but still a good breakfast. Obviously it’s better if you love dairy and all the vegetables. The girls didn’t care for the pancakes or waffles, but we managed.
At breakfast we had our first sighting of Grant, who I used to work with at JCRC. Tzvi said that now he was part of our trip and would be featured in the blog. Grant was excited about that, so, welcome to the blog Grant!
After breakfast we went back to the room and got ready to go out for the day. We thought everything was finally going smoothly, but of course that was not to be the case! Robyn let us know that her father was going to have to go to the hospital due to a chronic medical condition he has and that would mean she wouldn’t be seeing him when she went home next week (the plan was to have her go home Monday – Thursday). Obviously we told her to go home today so she could see her dad, so she packed up and left. I pray to God she comes back to us.
So, now we are on our own.
We decided to venture out! We took a cab to Machane Yehuda. We’ve given up on safety here on Day 1 and are just holding Madeleine on our laps in the taxi. We arrived at Rosemary, where we get all of our (overpriced but delicious) dried fruit. Madeleine was so excited because we were at the “mango store.” We walked around some more and ended up stopping at Roladin for snacks and iced coffee. Apparently the ice café (not iced coffee) is Kitniyot. Who knew? (And who cares?). We also had some borekas, which basically tasted like regular non-Pesach borekas. The girls enjoyed watching the light rail go back and forth. We got some strawberries (it’s amazing how good the fruit is here, probably because it's freshly picked on some kibbutz and shipped directly to the shuk) and bucket hats, because those are apparently a thing now. Then we got a taxi to my parents’ brand new apartment.
The apartment is beautifully set up. The ovens are tiny, so I guess Thanksgiving in Israel is out. We hung out there for a little. All of the furniture looks very nice, but it seems my mother has taken her quest to fill the world with uncomfortable couches to the Israel. Eventually we took a cab with Avery and Gabriella back to the hotel. We are really learning a lot of Hebrew here. Gabriella asked how to say “trunk” in here. Tzvi immediately answered “mepalpelet,” which apparently means “pepper,” but everyone believed him.
Back at the hotel we put Madeleine for a nap and Tzvi took Hallie to the pool. [Tzvi: We started at the rooftop pool. The rooftop is very nice. Most of the seating is sort-of uncomfortable chairs, and there’s only a few day beds where you can actually lay down. The view is incredible and you can basically see Jerusalem in every direction. We got chairs and Hallie went in the pool, but it was freezing cold (I guess it’s not heated) and I couldn’t get in, so we abandoned the rooftop and moved down to the indoor spa pool, which was heated to about 85 degrees. Avery joined us at the pool and Hallie had a lot of fun.]
I had my hair blown at 4. I asked them for a later appointment and they said no because they close at 4, except when I was sitting there a woman walked in and asked for her hair to be dyed and they said sure. Anyway, during this time we saw that a family had checked into two rooms on our floor and kept running back and forth and being loud in the hallway. At one point the dad was just sitting in a chair in the hallway and watching a video loudly on his phone, so I asked him to keep it down. Oy.
We all got ready for the seder. For the girls that meant taking a shower, which meant them sitting on the floor of the shower while Tzvi held the handheld shower head and sprayed them.
I think shabbat started around 6:30/6:45. We were able to take pictures before, which never happens. We went down to the lobby to take photos outside, where we found Grant. Madeleine decided she wanted to take a picture with him. She just loves everyone.
Then we waited around until davening was over to start our seder. I tried to get the girls some food before the seder but the kitchen was closed so we relied on snacks. We hung around for a while. The seder didn’t start until maybe 8:30. Unless you had a private room (which we didn’t), the seders were in the same room as breakfast. It’s large and bright and we had a nice table. Everyone was pretty loud but you could still hear each other. I think this room was louder than when we were at the Inbal. Anyway, the seder was interesting. The girls were nuts and it was tough without Robyn. I couldn’t hear most of it, but I will say the Charoset was pretty good because it was more Israeli and made from dates and really seemed like you could build something out of it. Also, I have to say Israeli grape juice is pretty bad in comparison to Kedem. Like basically undrinkable. They also gave us little bottles of concord wine, which was also pretty bad. You had to pay if you wanted other good wines. They didn’t have any kind of Moscato, but Tzvi had preordered a bottle of red and a bottle of white, both of which were really good.
The actual food for the seder was good too. It was all buffet, and Tzvi instructed everyone on how to organize their courses. To start, we did a fish course, which meant gefilte fish, ceviche (for those who ate it), and some kind of whitefish and potato salad with hard boiled egg that Tzvi really liked. Next was the soup course – they had chicken soup with matzo balls and a carrot ginger soup; both were good. After that we did a meat appetizer course, consisting of some kind of dried meat that I think was a dried duck breast, chopped liver, and foie gras. (I didn’t eat any of those but Tzvi loved it all.). Next up was the salad course – there was a full table of leafy salads, israeli salad, cold grilled veggies, matbucha, etc. Finally, if you were still hungry, you could move on to the entrée course. Thankfully there were very large plates and Tzvi filled his with entrecote (steak), pargiot, carved lamb, veal and goose leg. I think there were also some hot veggies on that same plate. It was quite a feast. Oh, and I forgot to mention dessert – there was of course a full table of little cakes, macarons, merengues, mouse cups and pastries (I think the best was a little pecan tart), as well as a mouse crumble with nuts and caramel sauce. Most of the desserts were actually really good.
The girls made it through dinner and to Eliyahu. We filled the cup, sang the song, then Tzvi told Hallie to look at something across the room while he spilled out half of Eliyahu’s cup. She was amazed that Eliyahu had actually come to drink it. After that I took the girls back to the room and put them to bed while Tzvi stayed until the end, which wasn’t that much longer.
Tzvi: For the end of the seder, it was basically me on one side of the table, and Lisa, Sheldon, Avery and Gabriella on the other side facing me. They basically did Nirtzah and the end of the seder like davening, while on my right was an Israeli family that was singing and dancing their way through the end of the seder. I guess everyone has their own customs.
I definitely missed having our own seder, but hey, tradeoffs.
Israel. Pesach 2022. Day 1. The Long Journey Home.
I don’t even know where to begin. I guess to really begin at the beginning, we need to go back a year.
April 25, 2021: My mother makes a reservation for a trip to Israel for Sukkot 2021. The travel agent emails my mother to confirm:
“Here is what we are holding as of now at the Orient: ORIENT Jerusalem; On request- room connectors. check in sep 20, check out sep 29”
September 2021: Israel remains closed to tourists. The sukkot trip is cancelled and all reservations are switched to Pesach 2022.
Monday, April 11, 2022: My mother sends Tzvi the email confirmation from the travel agent for the upcoming Pesach trip. There is no mention of connecting rooms. Tzvi expresses concern.
Tuesday, April 12, 2022: Avery and Gabriella arrive in Israel, two days ahead of the rest of the family. They check into the Orient Hotel in Jerusalem and inquire about the rest of our reservations. They are told that the Kaplans will not have connecting rooms, as all of the hotel’s connecting rooms have been filled, despite us having made the request back in November and having been told we would have connecting rooms.
Tzvi expresses grave concern, followed by losing his shit.
Wednesday, April 13, 2022: Tzvi spends hours agonizing over the room situation.
“So basically Steph and Robyn and Madeleine will be in one room, and me and Hallie will be in another room, and I have to spend 12 days sleeping apart from my wife. Great. That’s just great.”
Later in the day, the travel agent sends an email, which makes very little sense, and reads (in part):
Ok- got down to the bottom of the rooms..
They had rooms next to each other but not connecting as there weren’t any of those on the different level rooms.
So, if it has to be connecting rooms- it would mean the heritage house building- that’s the building next to the main building… Now, the manager told me that this would be an additional $6000 but I told him we can’t pay that kind of money but we can’t have the current situation either for everyone to be comfortable. He got the chain manager on the phone and we discussed it again. He said that he would be willing to charge a supplement of $3000. It’s a much larger unit/ complex than the regular rooms.
We decide two separate rooms is untenable and that the Heritage building is the only option. Tzvi looks it up online. The Isrotel website provides that “The two heritage buildings grant guests an exceptional hospitality experience surrounded by a truly unique ambiance, alongside many exclusive benefits: personal concierge from the moment of arrival, special chef's gift, daily newspaper delivered to the room, complimentary access to the deluxe business lounge (8th floor of the main hotel building), welcome cocktail in the room or at the Khan restaurant, tour of Jerusalem, and bicycles available for complimentary use.” The website shows spacious rooms with oversized clawfoot tubs.
Lisa is bitter that we now have the better rooms. “Enjoy your amenities.”
Tzvi is now relaxed. A weight has been lifted. He is excited.
Thursday, April 14, 2022: The day was crazy but our cab arrived at 8:30pm. Our driver’s name was Hez and he was Israeli from the Five Towns.
Every single time we travel we have the same issue. We tell the driver that we have a lot of bags and make sure they bring a big enough car. Of course, Hez showed up in a minivan to take 5 people, a stroller, 7 large suitcases, 2 carry on suitcases and a half a dozen other small bags. He was nervous that he wouldn’t have enough room for all the bags, but we managed to fit. I don’t know why they don’t just send a larger car.
When we got to the El Al terminal we saw this massive steel security truck, and when you walked in there were two soldiers with machine guns. I guess they knew the airport would be full of Jews. My parents had already arrived at the airport and told us that they paid one of the luggage porters to take their bags. They’re just supposed to get you on line, but for some reason this porter took them to the business class check-in line, which saved a ton of time. We initially got on the regular line, but then my parents sent their guy to us and he took us to the business class line. Worth the money.
Check in went smoothly. We had to pay for one extra bag which was $130 dollars. It’s really crazy because an overweight bag is $110, so you may as well just pay an extra $20 for the extra bag. Then we went to the security line, but when we got there the agent sent us to the left instead of the right, basically having us cut off the entire line, “because we had kids with us.” We met up with my parents who were standing with Koby, the guy who owns the computer store on Spruce.
We made it to the gate and waited around for a little. The kids were doing great and eventually they announced boarding for families with small children. Well, I guess we weren’t moving fast enough because someone actually came over to us to tell us to board. So, we boarded the plane and had pretty good “economy plus” seats (which just means an extra inch of legroom). The problem was we took off almost an hour late because apparently there was someone who checked in their bags but didn’t get on the plane, so for security reasons they needed to find his bag and offload it from the plane.
On flight days we wear grey.
The flight went smoothly. Madeleine slept in her car seat for maybe 4 hours and then she wanted to get out, but then she slept on me for another couple of hours. Hallie slept on me for a few hours also. It was just difficult that I couldn’t move or pee. Amazing I didn’t develop a blood clot. The food was awful and no one ordered kids meals for our kids. Thanks Joe travel agent. Also, they never came around to serve drinks or snacks; apparently you had to get them yourself in the galley, but they never actually announced that. Finally we landed and had to go through a whole other process.
We got off the plane and were quickly met by Einav, who used to do Sheirut Leumi at HAFTR and was friends with Ofek (our first au pair). The wait for the stroller was really long. I think we actually waited a full half hour, but finally it came and then we headed to passport control where we found another long wait. Thankfully, Einav just walked over to one of her colleagues and asked if they could just send us through, and they did! Solid amount of time saved. She said goodbye at baggage claim and we took a few photos. At baggage claim we tried about 20 times to get luggage carts because the stupid machines don’t work well.
Thankfully we had all of our luggage and headed over to our covid tests (which we pre-paid for)! Once again, because we had kids, they sent us to a separate area with no line or wait. The tests were fine. Madeleine was just upset she couldn’t do it herself. I will say on this trip, both in America and Israel, they were trying to cater to families with young children. Then we were off!
We headed outside to the van to meet the driver we ordered from Avner. We don’t really know what Avner’s business is (whether he owns the cabs or contracts with drivers, or what), but basically we call him and he sends a Russian man with a big van. As my mother says, he’s a “cab pimp,” Well, surprise surprise, we had too much luggage for the van he sent. Our driver was pacing back and forth and muttering in Russian trying to fit everything into the car, but it just didn’t work. (Not surprising since my parents brought 5 suitcases). At one point another van driver came over and was surveying the situation and just kept saying it wouldn’t fit and we needed another car. We thought he was trying to get us to go with him, but it turned out he was waiting for someone and he also worked for Avner! (I think my parents ended up tipping him.) Anyway, my parents had to take a separate taxi. I don’t understand why people don’t just take us seriously when we say we have more luggage than people.
We were excited to get to the Orient and relax, but of course it’s never that easy. We started checking in and they confirmed that we were in the Heritage House and had connecting rooms – really it was two adjoining rooms with a connecting hallway (you could close a door to close off the hallway leading to our two rooms from the outer hallway leading to other rooms). Tzvi started asking about what amenities were available as guests of the Heritage Building, but Fadi, the assistant manager, explained that since we were not paying for the Heritage Building but had been upgraded, we weren’t getting any perks. As my mother said, “if you want to pay $6000 you can have perks.” I think she was feeling a little better at that point.
Well, apparently not only do you get no perks, you get the worst rooms in the building. First off, the Heritage Building is actually a separate building, so the easiest way to get there is to go out the front door of the hotel and walk into the Heritage Building. Then you need to go up a flight of stairs to get to our room (there’s no elevator that goes there directly from the ground floor). There is a way to get there without leaving the main hotel building but that entails going down to Level -1, walking down two long hallways and then up three different flights of stairs. So in short, yes, it’s great for a family with small kids and a stroller.
All of that aside, we must have gotten the smallest rooms in the building. They were really tiny and cramped and had small bathrooms with no bathtubs. Also, I get the aesthetic they were going for – old building, boutique hotel, but it just didn’t feel luxurious. We went to see my parents room and it was huge in comparison – it had a balcony and a big bathroom with a bathtub and a window into the bedroom. It was also just very modern and bright and did feel luxurious.
So Tzvi and my mother went to the front desk to talk to Fadi. I think Tzvi basically just went up to him and a said “I don’t get it.” It turned out they weren’t even planning to charge us the $3000 for the Heritage Building, but Tzvi said it was ridiculous to have all those stairs when we have a stroller, and we need the bathtub for the kids, and by the way, these rooms suck compared to the main building and how can you possibly bill this as being better. Interestingly, Fadi didn’t even argue or even seem surprised. He basically just said ‘yep, I get it’ and then started making phone calls. Eventually he said the hotel is totally booked for the weekend but he could move us into a similar room (adjoining with connecting hallway) in the main building on Sunday.
We were starving at that point so we ordered some room service. They kept making mistakes and forgetting things. Then Hallie ate all of Robyn’s chicken nuggets and still wanted more so we ordered that. Then Hallie needed more ketchup and made Tzvi call again. Tzvi really didn’t want to call again but Hallie looked at him with big sad eyes and said, “Do you want your daughter to go to bed hungry?” Finally it was pretty late, maybe 11, and I put Madeleine to bed. Oh, there was also an air conditioning issue because the air wouldn’t go on if the door to the room is open, but the point of these rooms is to have the door open, so it makes no sense. So, a maintenance guy came and did something. Finally we sent Hallie to bed and showered. Except around 1am Madeleine woke up.
I guess that’s as good a place as any to end Day 1.
Winter Break. January 2022. Day 11. The Long Road Home.
Last night was rough. We woke up around 4am and the boat was a rockin’. We were up for a while. I’m shocked the girls didn’t wake up at all.
Finally we fell back to sleep and woke up around 7am and sadly were docked in Fort Lauderdale.
Our flight was 11:15am, so we planned to be the last ones off the ship at 9am, which was the latest they’d let you stay on. I was very optimistic about the day, thinking we’d get home and then have dinner by my parents before they left for Hawaii. How wrong I was.
We had a final buffet breakfast, which is where we received the email that our flight had been delayed from 11:15am to 5:15pm. FML. We very slowly made our way off the ship. I think we were literally the last off the ship. When we got our bags they were the last ones left in the terminal.
Tzvi called JetBlue but they didn’t have anything helpful to say, so we got an Uber and headed to the airport where we checked in and dropped our bags. It was bad, people trying to reschedule flights, packed with Jews trying to get home. Then we got another Uber and headed to Sawgrass Mills, a massive mall about twenty minutes away. It’s kind of feels like if you combined the Tanger outlet mall in Riverhead with Woodbury Commons and then also threw in a regular mall. It was big.
Our first stop was Target, because we were literally out of diapers. I guess that’s almost good planning? Then we walked for a while and finally ended up at the Rainforest Café for lunch, because we can never pass up a Rainforest. Hallie walked around and made me take pictures of her with lots of different things that she said she wanted for her birthday. She didn’t know what most of them were, but there was a plush snake I now have to buy. unch was good. Madeleine enjoyed the thunder and lightning and the fake animals. Classic rainforest. Tzvi and I both had Caesar salads with grilled salmon and the kids had pizzas. It’s tough to come down off the glutinous foodfest that is cruising.
Then we walked through the higher-end outdoor part of the mall. I got a bag at Marc Jacobs and some kids clothes at a store called Monna Lisa that I’d never heard of before.
Around 3pm we Ubered back to the airport and went through security. We found Elisheva Feit who was also very delayed and sat with her and her kids for a while. Thank you for the entertainment.
We were supposed to board at 4:40pm, but around 5:15pm the gate agent made an announcement that the plane had arrived but they didn’t have any crew to fly it. They said the crew was guaranteed by 9pm, but hopefully they’d be there by 7:30. The gate agent was really obnoxious. She kept making announcements that no one could hear because the PA system didn’t work, and then she kept saying things like “Don’t ask me any questions” and “I don’t know if you saw but there was a snowstorm in New York.” So, we went back to the Feits to hang out and ended up eating their leftover food.
Around 6:30 the gate agent announced that crew had arrived and they would start boarding soon. She continued making announcements that only those standing right next to her could hear, and when more and more passengers crowded the boarding area she started making comments like “well I’m not going to board like this.” Finally they started boarding wheelchair passengers, and then stood in front of the line to say “I’m just going to make you all think you’re going to board.” She then waited several more minutes before allowing us to board.
The flight actually wasn’t that bad. A little turbulent, but okay. It was a small plane (only four seats across) and the girls each sat in a window, but I think keeping them apart may have actually helped. Tzvi tried to watch the Rams game, but the TVs weren’t great. Also, the crew must have been upset about having to come to work early because they didn’t do much – the bathrooms were gross and I don’t think they cleaned them once during the flight, and then after drink service they never came around to collect garbage.
We finally landed around 10:40pm, only to be told that there were no gates available and the delay on the tarmac would be approximately 60 minutes. At least they let people get up and use the bathroom; the next day we read in the Post that there were tons of these delays, and in Newark people were forced to sit on the runway for ten hours and weren’t allowed to get up and had to pee in their seats. Not sure that all makes a lot of sense, but okay. When the pilot finally announced that we had a gate he told everyone to sit down asap. He kept making this announcement and we couldn’t figure out what he was waiting for because it looked like everyone was sitting. Then we saw a flight attendant walk to the front galley. He was talking to someone in the galley that we couldn’t see, and telling him over and over again he needed to sit down. Finally a chasid who perhaps didn’t understand what the pilot was saying came out and walked down the aisle. Not a good look.
Finally, we got off the plane only to find chaos at JFK. There were people sleeping all over the place and tons of bags all over baggage claim. After about a half hour our bags came down, we called an Uber and headed home. I will say for most of the day the girls did great. They really only started to lose it at the end of the flight and at the terminal. And then it was freezing getting into the Uber. But, we made it home alive. Then Hallie ate chicken that my mom had dropped off earlier in the evening, at 1:15 in the morning.
What a great trip. What an awful journey home.
Winter Break. January 2022. Day 10. 20 Foot Waves, 60 MPH Winds.
Last night we had to turn the clock back one hour, so the girls got up at 7 something. That was fun.
We went to the buffet and then went to look outside. Today was cold and windy! It was NOT a pool day by any means. It was also a bit rocky. At some point the captain came on and said that we were going through a cold front (along with the entire United States) and that the waves were twenty feet high and the winds were reaching 60mph, but he said that he’s “done this before, I got this, and were going to just speed through it, before we slow down later.” So, that was fun.
Hallie went to camp and we spent a little time in the Solarium before lunch at the buffet. After lunch Tzvi took Hallie while Madeleine napped and I was in the room packing. Always a sad activity. [Tzvi: Hallie and I first went to Café Al Baccio where we ordered hot chocolate and coffee. Then we sat near a window going through Hallie’s reading and then played war. We were sitting on deck 4, so we were pretty low and you could really see the waves crashing against the ship. After that we walked to Eden to look out the back of the ship. At Eden we found one of the entertainment staff sitting folding origami. It was just him and one other girl, but apparently it was an origami activity, so we sat and folded some origami. Hallie enjoyed.]
Tzvi and I went back to the solarium for some final hot tub time and a last mudslide (even when it’s cold out we still mudslide). In the hot tub we made sure to sit as far away from the button as possible so we didn’t have the awkwardness of someone asking us to press the button to turn the jets back on and needing to say no. While we were in there the Jewish woman came in and sat down right next to the button. I don’t know why. Then the jets turned off and she just closed her eyes and sat there until finally someone got up and went around her and turned on the jets.
We showered and changed for our final dinner. Before dinner Tzvi took Madeleine to the Martini Bar to sit and listen to music, which she loved. Then we met for dinner in the Cyprus dining room, which we haven’t eaten in before. One of our waiters was Adityi, the guy who made the Caesar salads at the buffet. The girls were nuts, but we had a nice table near a window. I’m not sure what we ate, but Madeleine ate a lot of bread. Didn’t we all. [Tzvi: I think I had a cheese sagnaki, which was just a pot of hard melted cheese with bread. I also had a seabass seviche and a cream of mushroom soup. For mains we both had salmon.]
Shabbat ended and we all went to see tonight’s show, Black Magic (yes, it was a Black magician). He was a British guy who used to do magic on the street, so it was a lot of sleight of hand type tricks which were actually pretty impressive. For the finale he showed a video about Henry Box Brown, a slave in the U.S. South who escaped by mailing himself in a box to the free North, then moved to the U.K. and became a famous magician. In tribute to Henry Box Brown his final trick was to have his assistant seal him inside a cardboard box handcuffed. Then she stuck a dozen sticks straight through the box, then removed the sticks, opened the box, and he popped out uncuffed. No idea how he could’ve done that. Hallie sat through the show and was pretty impressed.
After the show we walked Hallie to her final night at Camp at Sea. I think they were supposed to color special shirts, but they ended up watching a movie instead. So, she came back with a Celebrity shirt with a dot of orange on it. At least she had fun.
While Hallie was at camp we walked around with Madeleine for one last time and made a stop at the Tiffany boutique where we bought Hallie a necklace for her birthday (which she will receive on her birthday and then probably complain that we didn’t get her an extra-large plush snake, but more about that tomorrow).
We put the girls to bed and then went out for our final evening.
Before bed, Hallie told me I had to give her hot air balloon to the lady photographer with the straight hair. We couldn’t bring the balloon home so I couldn’t say no. So, we found her, and I’m sure she will treasure it forever. [Tzvi: she actually did a very good job of acting like she was actually touched to be receiving the balloon. She was probably thinking ‘What in my camera bag can I use to pop this?’] I took a picture just so I could tell Hallie I did it.
Then we walked around trying to find certain servers we wanted to tip. Then we went to the buffet to get a free scoop of gelato that I was entitled to with my status. We got coffee. It wasn’t great.
We went to the Martini Bar, which is really just the big atrium, and ordered Martinis. Up a flight I could see some of the singers and dancers, including one who was the main character in the show last night. I went up to him and told him that my 5 year old was very concerned about him and wanted to know why he was so sad during the whole show. I think he really enjoyed that. He ended up saying that he was so sad because his world was just in black and white, and by the end of the show it was in color. But he also said he agrees and doesn’t know why he has to be so sad throughout the entire show.
Tonight the house band was playing the atrium and it was 80’s night! So we sat through that show which was fun. We obviously ended the night at Café Al Baccio for a final Kahlua, coffee, and pastries.
Then we went to sleep, and of course, I was up all night rocking away. At one point Tzvi was actually nervous, but for some reason I wasn’t, I was just bothered. Also, nothing in the room was moving. Maybe the hangers were? I don’t know. Next cruise I’m bringing my own sound machine because the phone isn’t cutting it. Anyway, good day.
Winter Break. January 2022. Day 9. The Calm Before the Storm.
Today the girls didn’t wake up until around 9:15, which was nice.
Tzvi and I had to be at the spa before 10am for our massages. It was supposed to be 1030am, but they called yesterday to ask if we could move it earlier and said it would still last until 1130am (so we’d have a free half hour) and something about not wanting gaps in scheduling. Alright, I’m not turning down free massage time.
We left the girls with Robyn and ran to the buffet for a quick breakfast, but who is even hungry. Then we checked in at the spa, filled out the forms, and got ready for our massage. Mr. Peyos was in the relaxation room, shirtless, as usual. The spa was very nice and the room we were in was spacious. I think the last massage we had on a cruise was on Royal Caribbean Adventure of the Seas, and the room was quite small and windowless. This was much nicer. My massage therapist was named Ana and she was great. [Tzvi: Something that I’ve noticed is that every time we get a couples massage there is always one masseuse who seems to be in charge. She does all of the talking, leads us into the room, gives us the bill. And for some reason, Steph always gets the one in charge and I get the timid one. Anyway, not complaining. It was a great massage.]
After our massages we got ready to sit by the pool. Hallie went to Camp at Sea and we hung out with Madeleine.
We went to the buffet for lunch. I don’t know what the theme was but they had Madeleines, which was nice. Hallie ate corn, hardboiled eggs and Chinese noodles, and Madeleine dipped Chinese noodles in the frosting of a donut. So yeah, we’ve just given up. We met a very nice waiter who has a 2 year old niece. She lives in Russia because her father is an engineer, but they are some other nationality, I forget. Anyway, the girls liked watching the videos of the niece.
Then, it was naptime for Madeleine. We went back to the room and she was on Hallie’s bed for like two seconds and then she fell off. I don’t think she was badly hurt, but she was scared, but it was also funny. Lucky for me we happened to be facetiming my mom when it happened. Anyway, then she napped, and then she woke up. Unharmed (at least none that we can see).
I don’t really remember the afternoon, it was some combination of Camp for Hallie, some pool time, and Robyn went to an art thing. Somehow the afternoon kind of went off the rails as we skidded toward Shabbos. The art guy was running late, so by the time Robyn got back and I got to the hot tub I only had about ten minutes, at which point Tzvi went to get drinks, and by the time he got to the hot tub it was time for me to leave.
I went back to the salon for a 5pm hair appointment. Today we decided to keep my hair curly, so she put in all these products and then diffused it. I told Tzvi I wanted everyone ready to go by 5:30 so we could take photos before dinner and not be rushed. Well, at 5:20 Tzvi was still at the hot tub. “I lost track of time.” Yea.
[Tzvi: At some point I was in the hot tub with a big group of people and an older Lebanese man asked me if I was British. Then I was in another hot tub where a man asked me where my family was from. Apparently, people are very interested in my background here.]
Tonight was the second “chic” night and I wore the dress that I bought when we were honored at the shul dinner. I think it was me and maybe five other people wearing like gowns, but I don’t care because I needed to wear this dress somewhere. Somehow we managed to get Madeleine to smile for a photo, so a celebration was had by all.
Dinner tonight was at Cosmopolitan again and this time we ordered fully kosher. We ordered steaks, lamb chops, and then some packaged challah, a turkey thing, and soup. The soup was the only thing that was inedible. We had a nice conversation with one of the Maître D’s who said he was kind of in charge of all the kosher stuff for the ship, just because he’s had a lot of experience with it. He told us how people come with different levels of strictness and how on this cruise “people aren’t so strict.” We had the same waiter we had the first night we ate at Cosmopolitan. His name was Rodrigo from the Philippines and we kept apologizing that the kids were making such a mess. He told us he’s been working for Celebrity for 20 years and his son just graduated college and is about to start working in Guest Relations on another Celebrity ship, and he’s hoping that soon they can work on the same ship. Nice man.
The show tonight featured the singers and dancers again. They were good, but the show was weird. It was all modern pop music, and the main character was a guy who was very sad throughout the whole show. We couldn’t really figure out the story and Hallie kept asking why he was so sad. Surprisingly, the girls sat through it! After the show we walked around a little and then I took Madeleine back to the room to put her to bed while Tzvi took Hallie to the pool deck where the silent disco was happening. [Tzvi: Hallie wasn’t interested in trying it out so we just sat and watched people dancing to no music. Then we played some cornhole.]
It was after 10pm by the time we got the girls to bed and then we rushed to the theater for the Liars Club. Apparently this is something they do on other Celebrity ships but it was the first time they were doing it on Edge. (It’s based on an old game show from the 1970s.) Basically, the host gives a panel of three participants a word that sounds made up, and they each have to give a definition, but only one of them is telling the truth, and then the audience votes for which one they think is real. The host was a member of the Cruise Director’s staff, and the three panelists were Captain Tasos, our Greek captain, the Cruise Director (Rich from Las Vegas) and the Concierge (David from Jamaica). I think it was one of the best things we saw on the cruise. The Captain is really hilarious and had the best dry delivery. Every time it was his turn to talk he began again, “Good evening, everybody.” I don’t remember that much of the show but I remember one of the words was “Fullfart.” The Cruise Director said it meant a very fast game of golf. David the Jamaican concierge told a story about being on the bridge of a Norwegian cruise ship and a slovenly captain yelling Fullfart, because it means “Full speed ahead” in Norwegian. Then the Captain told a story about being on a date with his ex-ex-ex girlfriend Dimitroula. He explained the difference between quarter fart, half fart, and fullfart. Apparently it really is Norwegian for “Full speed ahead.” Anyway, it was all really funny.
From there we went to the Grand Plaza and had our nightly Kahlua pastries. Good day. I can’t believe there’s only one full day left.
Winter Break. January 2022. Day 8. White Night.
Today was St Maarten day. We had to be off the ship by 9:45am, which wasn’t easy for us.
We decided to order room service for breakfast to speed up the process, but they forgot some things and Tzvi changed his mind about what he wanted to eat so he went to the buffet and brought back a couple of plates.
We made it off the ship and then ended up waiting until 10 to actually start moving. We had to walk through the dock (again, herded) until we got to the water taxi that was taking us to the beach. I think the water taxi was owned by Diamonds International (the diamond shops they have in every Caribbean port, which apparently is owned by a Jewish family from Great Neck), because the whole ten-minute ride was basically just a pitch to go buy things. They also gave us a coupon for a free bracelet. Great.
We got to the beach and got our chairs and umbrella, which were included in the excursion. There was a DJ playing music that was so loud. I don’t understand why it had to be so loud. We were right next to the Blue Bitch Bar. Do you think that’s like where mean depressed ladies go to drink away their sorrows? At least there was a regular bathroom.
We all had fun on the beach. Robyn helped Hallie become a mermaid and they collected a lot of shells together and filled up two big Ziploc bags of shells. Around 12:30 Madeleine said she was tired and wanted a nap, which kind of messed up the nap plans, but I couldn’t say no, so I walked her around.
We had to meet the water Taxi at 1:15, but not before stopping at Diamonds International for our free bracelet and charm (it’s actually a bracelet that has a “DI” charm on it and the world’s smallest diamond). On my way in I hear “there’s a familiar face!” and who do I see but Molly Lilker. Small world. She has a time share on the island and says she’s right near the Chabad. They get around 60 families.
The water taxi back was pretty much the same as the way there. They were blasting music, but somehow it didn’t wake Madeleine up, and she didn’t wake up until just before we got on the ship. Sadly as we went through security, they told us that you weren’t allowed to take the shells off the island and confiscated Hallie’s bag of shells. They said it was for “environmental reasons.” She was pretty sad and spent all day asking why. However, her spirits were lifted when she realized they didn’t confiscate the shells that were under the stroller. Tight security. Perhaps we brought back disease, who knows. The security officer was an Israeli named Eyal. He said that a lot of the Chief Security Officers on Celebrity ships are Israeli, and a bunch of the security officers are also. I think that’s the first time I’ve seen an Israeli working on a cruise ship. Once again Robyn had no interest in disclosing her nationality, as she avoids Israelis at all costs. I guess that’s like us and the religious Jews.
Back on board we ate lunch at the buffet. It was Mexican day and they had lots of different types of churros that came with different creams. There is an older Jewish couple that we’ve seen frequently around the ship. They’re clearly Borough Park chasidim – he has a beard and peyos tucked behind his ears, and at night we’ve seen her with tights and a sheitel. Except, during the day she’s also at the pool in a two piece bathing suit and a baseball cap. Anyway, today we saw them at the buffet eating mashed potatoes and carrying around two glasses of red wine, which is interesting because the sommeliers at the restaurant told us they only have kosher white wine on this ship. No judgement, obviously. [Tzvi: I think it’s interesting because who drinks red wine at 2 in the afternoon when it’s 80 degrees out?]
We spent the afternoon at the pool. Madeleine and I went to movie soundtrack trivia, but we were late so we didn’t get to actually play. Madeleine just jumped on all the furniture. Hallie went to camp where she made a hot air balloon.
For dinner Tzvi and I were scheduled to eat late in one of the specialty restaurants, so Tzvi went with Robyn and the girls to the Normandie dining room so the girls could eat, and I went to see the show. Tonight was a performance by the Barricade Boys, a group of three guys who all met in the theater and all of them had been in some iteration of Les Mis. One in London, one in New York, and one in the movie. Of course, when I saw them later and asked who he has in the movie, he was just a guy standing in the rain. Anyway, they did a bunch of random Broadway songs but it was a very good show.
On my way to the show a woman in an elevator asked me if I was the singer from the house band. The singer from the house band is Chilean and probably in her early twenties. I don’t know if that’s a compliment to me or an insult to her.
We sent Hallie to camp and Robyn walked around the ship with Madeleine, while Tzvi and I went to dinner at Eden. I’ll write about dinner in a minute, but first let me talk about Hallie’s camp experience. Tonight was spooky night. We didn’t really think about it before hand, but it probably wasn’t the best idea to send her. Apparently they were telling scary stories and Hallie got really scared and started crying and they tried to call our room but no one was there. Around 9pm, when Tzvi left our dinner (as planned) to pick her up and take her back to the room, she was a mess. He tried to tell her that the stories weren’t real and there are no monsters eating families who are camping in the mountains, but she just wouldn’t hear it and kept saying that the woman at the kids club told her it was real. Not great. Jen Bernstein also sent me photos of their family camping to show Hallie that camping isn’t scary. I also told Hallie that never will the Kaplan family actually go camping. Tzvi came back to dinner and then I had to go to Hallie and I think the waiter was getting annoyed because they didn’t know when to bring our food. Oy.
Anyway, dinner was very nice. Eden is the area at the very back of the ship and it’s kind of like an indoor garden with a bar, restaurant and performance space where there’s always acoustic music. The meal is a five course pre-fixe menu, but they have a vegetarian option. We started with cocktails. When you arrive, they give you a signature drink which was delicious, but then we ordered our own drinks. Eden is supposed to have the most “craft” cocktails on the ship. They were certainly the most creative. I had a “Garden,” which was basically a whiskey sour with honey syrup but was served sort of like watering a garden where the sommelier poured it from a watering can into a class with tons of herbs. Tzvi had a “Veldt,” which was served inside of a treasure chest. It was mezcal and something called Verdita, which they apparently brew on board out of pineapple juice, jalapeno and cilantro. He said it was good, but a little spicy.
For the actual meal we started with an amuse bouche that was some kind of strawberry that came in a dish of ice and was stuffed with something jellied that we didn’t eat because it probably had gelatin. Now I’ll just list out the dishes we had. They were all so odd I can’t really describe them, so I’ll just tell you what the menu said and you can see the photos.
· Soleil –tomato tartar with capers, fingerling potato and tomato water (Tzvi had this)
· Garden – season veggies, green asparagus, fondant potatoes, tarragon oil (Steph had this)
· Namaste – creamy cauliflower, garam masala, cashew nuts, cilantro and roasted baby carrots
· Tidal Pool – halibut with green apple, grapes, crystalized fennel and a yuzu butter sauce
· Forage – celery root pappardelle pasta, white truffle oil, seasonal mushrooms, buttermilk, dry aged Parmesan
Again, this was one of those meals where I could appreciate that everything was good, I just didn’t like any of it. [Tzvi: As a person with a sophisticated pallet, I would say this was a pretty good meal. The tomato tartar kind was actually reminiscent of beef tartar, and the pasta made out of celery root was actually delicious.]
For dessert I had the “Looking Glass,” which was actually delicious. It also looked like a garden in a cup. It was pieces of pistachio cake and chocolate mouse and raspberry and chocolates and lemon and I don’t know what else. Both options on the menu had nuts, so Tzvi got a crème Brule instead, which was actually very good. They also brought us a dessert (which everyone gets) that was a white chocolate orb that they pour hot chocolate over and it cracks open like a flower. Inside was more chocolate. I was almost licking the plate by the end.
After dinner we went up to the pool deck for the White Party. Woo woo. Actually, it was one of the better white parties I can remember (every cruise has one). This one was actually fairly well attended considering how few people are on the ship, and was actually fun. They gave out flashing light sticks and the house band was playing. Also, having been through all of our usual drinks we decided to try one of the frozen cocktails from the pool bar, and it turns that they are delicious. We got a drink called a French Caribbean that had rum, raspberry liquor and passionfruit puree. Thank you Jen for the recommendation. It was basically a smoothie and Tzvi drank most of it despite having been too snobby to drink frozen cocktails all week. [Tzvi: Yes, I am a snob, but yes I am sad that it took me this long to discover how wonderful the blended cocktails are.]
While we were at the white party another woman came up to me and asked me if I was the singer from the house band! She must have been pretty drunk though, because the singer was literally singing right behind her at the party. I’ve also decided that it’s a compliment. Anyway, remember the Christian couple from last night? Well, at some point in the party one of the guys jumped in the pool (fully dressed), and it was NOT super warm out. Praise the Lord.
my doppelgänger
if you look closely you can see the guy in the pool
Once the band finished the DJ came on and it was time to call it a night, so we went back down to the Grand Plaza for our nightly cake and Kahlua. Good day.
Winter Break. January 2022. Day 7. Are you From Mexico?
Today we had a relaxing morning. It’s amazing how we never make it out of the room before 9:30.
There is dining room breakfast, but it closes at 9am, so don’t expect to read about that. We went to the buffet for our usual breakfast and then spent some time at the pool since we weren’t scheduled to pull into Tortola until 11am and our shore excursion wasn’t scheduled until 130pm. We ended up watching the docking from the Magic Carpet, a bar that hangs over the side of the ship.
We hung around by the pool a while and then ate lunch at the buffet. Today was Italian day, because everyone wants to eat spaghetti and eggplant parmesan (Tzvi, not me) before heading to the beach.
We met in the theater where they gave us our little stickers, and then led us out single file and across the ship. Somehow Tzvi was late and didn’t make it to the theater. First he was running around trying to get cash because he realized he had nothing to use to pay for things at the beach, and then he tried to follow us, but couldn’t because he was pushing the stroller and they kept taking us down different staircases. Every time I go on a shore excursion I feel like we’re being herded like cattle. Eventually Tzvi found us at the gangway. I think we were the last ones off the ship for our shore excursion, right behind one of the other families with kids, and were led to an open-air bus.
The ride to the beach was just that, a ride. We docked on one side of the island, but Cane Garden Bay, where our excursion was, was on the other side, so we basically went up to the top of the mountain and over to the other side. And it was windy. And there were no seatbelts. But there was a bar to hold onto so you didn’t fall out. It was an experience. The girls enjoyed.
Finally, we made it to the beach and got set up. There were lots of chairs and umbrellas lined up, and there was a woman walking around collecting money for them. We asked for four chairs and she said it was $20 for two seats. Then other people from our ship who were already set up said they only paid $10. The woman argued for a minute, then said fine and we paid $10. At one point we tried to order a bag of chips from her and ended up with French fries. I guess it is the British Virgin Islands. I also tried to order the rum punch and Dark and Stormy. She forgot the rum punch. Then, she wouldn’t let me pay her right away. I had to wait for her to come around again, I don’t know why.
I started walking Madeleine in the stroller to nap. We were surrounded by roosters and dogs, which were making a lot of noise, but she fell asleep anyway. I mean, the beach was lovely, but this is why people stay on the ship. “Oh yeah, we visited the beautiful island of Tortolla where we were surrounded by poultry and wild dogs. It was lovely.” I think Madeleine slept an hour, so not terrible.
The water was really nice, but Hallie was kind of afraid to go in for some reason. But she and Tzvi built a sand castle, so she had fun. We were there until 515 when we got back on the little bus to go back to the ship. The ride back was maybe a little shorter, but just as bumpy!
We took the girls immediately to the buffet because they were starving. It was about 530pm and it seemed like all of the families with kids – all five of them – were there feeding their kids. There was also an older Indian man who came over to our table and started by asking Tzvi if he was Mexican. Then he told us he’s seen our family and wanted to tell us what a beautiful family we have. Then he said he’s from Atlanta. Anyway, the ship left Tortola and the captain came on to announce that one person had tested positive for Covid. They didn’t say whether it was a passenger or crew member or whether they’d been quarantined or thrown overboard.
We gave Robyn some time off, Hallie went to the kids club and we bathed Madeleine and got her in pajamas, and then Tzvi walked around with her. [Tzvi: Near guest services there’s this huge screen with a moving photo that Madeleine can’t stop looking at. While we were there, an older woman and a crew member both came over to tell me how cute she was.]
First we watched the Martini Bar show.
Then we took some photos.
Then we watched this image at Guest Services.
Then it was time for bed.
We got Hallie from kids club and turned them over to Robyn to put them to sleep. Then Tzvi and I went to dinner in the Normandie dining room. Last seating is 9pm, and got there at 8:55. Our waiter was Nyoman, who told us that he works in the dining room from 5pm to 10pm and then from 1am to 6am he is part of a 6 person team that cleans all of the dining rooms and restaurants. He said he sleeps all day. Sounds rough, but I’m sure he’ll work his way up.
Dinner was great. I got a salad to start and for the main I had salmon with veggies. Tzvi had an Alsatian potato and gruyere tart and cheese ravioli to start, and then halibut for the main. For dessert we had an opera cake with raspberry coulis, an apple tart tatin and an olive oil cremeux with oranges and white chocolate crumble.
I think we were the last people in the dining room. For most of the meal there was a table of two couple sitting behind us. One of the women had a tattoo on her shoulder that said דודי לי ואני לו, which I guess means my beloved is for me and I am for him, but it’s just kind of backwards because usually you say I am for my beloved and my beloved is for me. We listened to them talking and they were clearly devout Christians. The conversation actually didn’t sound that different from listening to a table of Jews. They talked about their church and how they’re trying to grow and get people to come to things. One of the guys mentioned something called Bible and Brews, which kind of sounds like an event Beth Sholom would put on. They also spoke about several books they were reading. One of them was about how Jews are very successful in business because they follow the bible. The conversation bordered on adminiration and anti-Semitism. I should have said hello.
After dinner we went to The Club where there was a show with the dancers and aerialists that was really great. It was more “risqué” than the regular shows, and because you were standing right next to them you could really see how hard they worked when they danced. Then we went for our nightcap at Café Al Baccio.
Good night.