Israel: ~ Me and Sivan with the Coast ot Tel Aviv, View from Yafo

~ View of Yafo from Tel Aviv Beach (my fave)

~ The girls, Rivka, Netta and Sivan, my bed

~ Friends- Rivka, Edie, Len and Aron

~Netta on the plane to Zurich, (Road to Nice) ~ Netta is so excited to be flying

~ Netta in Zurich's Club Lounge

France: ~ Antibes, the Old City, Picasso Museum from the roof

~ Me and Netta on the roof, Picasso Museum in the background ~ The Z3 in Juan Les Pins- Monaco Plates

~ Our table at the beach at Juan Les Pins

~ Juan Les Pins

~ Me and Netta on the road from Juan Les Pins to Antibes

I fell off a horse today (Oct 1) at a full gallop. :( Not sure what happened... have been a bit dazed, was pretty scary there for a few, but I am at this health spa type place (Termi Di Saturnia) and they have a doctor and he said there was no brain damage- (no more than usual I guess) and probably no broken parts, but I am confined to the hotel for a while :-(. I did get back on the horse and ride it to the barn though :). Very convenient that it happened at this moment- like it was convenient for Netta to get food poisoning on Yom Kippur- (if food poisoning is ever "convenient")...all she missed was airplane food ;-D and she was fasting anyway. Poor thing pulled herslef out of her room in France to ask me about the sirens. The sirens were to signal the local fireman, she said "In my country that is how they call us to the bomb shelter" Makes ya grateful :)

It was very cool riding lesson though, I fell only at the end. ~ On the horses before I fell

We also got a great car- upgraded 3 times because they ran out of the class I reserved- a very chic Lancia manual ~ Me and BB

Getting here was really a breeze, lovely Italian roads, well marked. We got in around midnight and found food and wine- ate and drank it all like Alice in Wonderland- got completely drunk and fell asleep. Netta is with her family in this dreamy ancient place, Pitigliano, while I recover here at the hotel. No problem signing on- I use the hotel room phone's jack. :-) And the doctor here gave me some good happy pills that make everything AOK. (Ever hear of "Voltaren 50, diclofenacsodico ??? I dunno, but they work)

I also had no problem changing my return ticket with the nice man from Alitalia at Florence airport. He wished us "couragio" for our long drive, raved about Pitigliano ("stupendo") and kissed my hand. :-) after he revalidated my ticket. ~ Pitigliano, ::::sigh::::

~ Raphaela and Netta In Pitigliano ~ Me in Pitigliano...Ciao! :)

~ Pitigliano in the Rain

So, now we are scheduled to return on the 9th, I already reserved Netta's flight to Israel also on the 9th, I may sleep all day tomorrow, I am pretty beat, and besides I am not allowed to do anything.

Man, this place is gorgeous, beyond description. We got so many toys and gifts from the plane and the hotel (which also upgraded us to a suite for no apparent reason) that I have already filled my second suitcase. After blowing a fuse in the hotel in Istanbul with my hairdryer catching on fire, Sivan and I went all over Tel Aviv to replace it (it was only 2 months old!) then El Al gave us new ones on the flight to Zurich, so now I am carrying 2 (plus Netta's makes 3) and this hotel gave us new big terry bathrobes as gifts. Saves me the trouble of stealing them. ;-)

Tomorrow we head to Florence, which is sold out like crazy but we have a plan. I wanna see the Bottecelli's at the Uffizi Museum and Michealngo's David. Netta will stay with her grandmother and I will stay in a hotel in Montecatini, and we will discover the mystery of Italy's trains. (Do they run on time?) We plan to meet at the Bottecelli. We'll see.

Italy: ~ Netta's Step- Grandma, Elena, in the kitchen cooking, in Pitigliano

~ Lasagne!

~ Netta's family- Netta, Massimo, Enrico, Elena and Paula enjoy lasagne (eat your heart out!:-p ) note the local Kosher Tuscan wine...

Tuscany Trip