May 2006 • Page 2 of 3 • Deep Fried Kudzu

May 17, 2006November 24, 2017

Sheraton Tel Aviv Hotel and Towers, Tel Aviv, Israel

I think the last time we were in Tel Aviv, we stayed at the Renaissance, but this time we tried the Sheraton. Both are on the beach – actually, I think all the hotels that say they are ‘on the beach’ are actually across the street from the beach. This hotel was fine, and we were upgraded to the club level. See how the beds are singles? This is very, very common in Israel (I won’t go into why just now) but the beds are always on wheels so you can just move them together.

Here’s the view from our balcony:

The hotel was nice, but isn’t one of my favorites. I think next time we’re in Tel Aviv we’ll try the Dan.

May 17, 2006November 24, 2017

Dan Panorama Hotel, Jerusalem Israel

We stayed five or six days in Jerusalem at the Dan Panorama. The last time we were in Jerusalem, we stayed at the Hyatt Regency (which I *loved* – our room had a magnificent balcony which I just wanted to live on) and is now called the Regency Hotel.

The Dan Panorama was fine, though. Almost every afternoon they came by with some sort of gift for us and the other people on our floor, which I thought was really nice. When we checked in, they had left a bar set as a present on our bed, and our room had fresh fruit and nuts to enjoy.

The room didn’t have a balcony, and our window view was just of another section of the hotel. It really didn’t bother me too much, though, since we spent almost all of our time outside (until I got my cold). Also, we were on the club level so it was free to use the internet, but if you’re in your room after club hours, internet costs $20US/day! Wow!

The breakfast that’s included with the room cost is *excellent*, and I ordered the spinach lasagna one day from the room service and it was really, really good.

The old city is walking distance from the hotel – probably about a 10 or 15 minute walk. There are plenty of taxis, too, so if you just want to visit the Wall (the Kotel), that’s easy too.

I think the next time we stay in Jerusalem, we’ll try the King David.

May 16, 2006January 7, 2020

Pics of Amsterdam

I have *such* lovely memories of Amsterdam, as it is the first place we visited on our honeymoon! We stayed that time at the Le Meridien Apollo, and they made a huge fuss over us being newlyweds, which was so sweet.

This time, since we were spending less than a day in Amsterdam, we just took the train from the airport to Centraal Station and walked all over. Here are some pics:

Ah! Here’s one of the beautiful canals.

See the hooks at the top of the buildings? This is because the stairways are *very* narrow here, and to get furniture in an upper floor, they would it tie it with rope and use the hook to pull it up and through a window.

Here’s Centraal Station, the big train station:

May 16, 2006

Hilton Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Our next flight from Amsterdam was to take place very early the next day, so rather than get a hotel in town, we just decided to stay at the airport Hilton. The Hilton let us check in right when we arrived – at 11:30am – rather than wait until 2pm. We took a *really* good nap right away (it’s so hard to sleep on the plane!), then got up and took the train into Amsterdam (pics in next post).

This Hilton was fine – the room was a little small, but we weren’t expecting anything really great since it was an airport hotel, and we really just needed it as a place to sleep for one night. We were put on the club level, so Av went over at one point just to get a drink…he said it was pretty nice.
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One note: this didn’t matter much to us, but the Sheraton is the closest hotel to the airport.

May 14, 2006January 7, 2020

Blue Willow Inn, Social Circle GA

Av and I finally got over to the Blue Willow Inn in Social Circle, Georgia. It was soooo very nice.

This was our dining room (below). When we arrived, we were asked if we had reservations (I for some reason didn’t even *think* about reservations) but we only had to wait about ten minutes to be seated. I think the idea is that entire rooms of the home get seated at about the same time (but I might be wrong about this) because when we were called, so were people for every other table in the same dining room. We all had the same waitress, who was wonderful and really was sort-of a fan herself for the place and what to have…sooo nice.

These are the Blue Willow dishes:

The serving room:

Here’s my plate – some dressing, sweet potatoes, collards, biscuit, and chicken livers. All of it was *delicious*! For dessert, I had peach cobbler (one of my favorites) and it was really terrific, too. Av had the fried chicken which he really enjoyed (plus dressing and potatoes), and for dessert had pecan pie, which he says was really, really good.

May 14, 2006January 7, 2020

The Varsity, Atlanta GA

Since Av and I were already in Atlanta, there was no way we could go and not run over to the Varsity. We always try to get over there if we have any time – even just for a sweet tea.

Whenever you walk in, you’ll hear the people taking orders saying, “whaddya have, whaddya have” – so be sure to have your order figured out before you step up to the counter.

Av had a couple of hotdogs – they’re beef, but I don’t know what brand – and some fries. I had a sandwich (they have yummy egg salad, and pimento cheese!) and a fried peach pie.

Here’s the peach fried pie. Yum!