Oh, What a Late Night

Most nights at the hotel, we’ve been staying in – most of the reason being that we spend the entire day at the bowling center that we’ve got no energy to even THINK of going out. Well, since there was no bowling on Saturday for either the men or women, everyone stayed up a little later together for quality time on Friday. Right after dinner, we made our way to our lobby – the hotel has us set up on the 3rd floor, with a dining room and “rec” area that we hang out in. We were talking and eating and enjoying some fine beverages together, when some of our new Israeli friends arrived to join the party.

We were amazed and excited that some of the Israeli team members had come over. During bowling, there’s not much time to socialize, and since they are not staying at the hotel, they are (unfortunately) the only bowlers we have not had a chance to bond with. Well, this was our opportunity. They stayed here and just hung out with us – EVERYONE was happy that they came.

On top of that, one of the Israeli women, Yifat, had made a reservation at a bar in Tel Aviv for those who wanted to go. Sam, Michelle, Howard, and I, as well as Brad from Canada and Matt from Australia (there are three Matt’s in the competition), made our way out with Yifat, Nofar, Yonit, Yahav, and Tali (Yahav’s girlfriend). Though the service was really slow, hanging out together, talking with one another, and sharing some time away from the lanes was not only needed by much appreciated. From there, we got munchies and went to a 24-hour restaurant and finally got back to the hotel about 5:30 a.m.

Sam was the first to rise – he actually made it to breakfast but quickly went bad to sleep on the couches in our lobby. I got up about 2:30 p.m., and enjoyed some lunch and pool time. Michelle, well, she is a champion sleeper as well as champion bowler.

To cap of a relaxing day, we went back to Tel Aviv, right near where we had gone the previous night, to a bar on the water so we could watch the sun set over the Mediterranean. Though it was a little cloudy, the view was breathtaking and the company divine.

Since the women were bowling today, and I was going with them, we wanted to get back to the hotel early. A quick stop at the ice cream shop down the street (our favorite non-hotel hangout) and it’s off to bed. Til tomorrow.