After sleeping all day, I met up with my friends Tomek and Ola for dinner. Sad as I am to leave Jerusalem, it is nice to be in a familiar city with familiar people. This afternoon when my room was finally ready, I stopped at the front desk to take care of registration, payment, etc. The clerk waved me away, "We know you. Don't worry about it. Go to sleep and we will do it tomorrow." It's a good feeling to be known, at least in a small way, in a place so far from home. I have the distinction of having been the first-ever guest at this hotel when it opened back in 2004 and all but two rooms were still under construction. It's sweet that they remember that.
Tomek met me at my hotel, and we walked down the street (in the cold rain) to meet Ola at the restaurant. It was fun to talk and laugh and catch up with everything from the past year. We had a really nice time, and it is so good to be with old friends again. Tomorrow we are going to the flea market together. Also, Ola is going to come up with a coat for me, since my thickest sweater, featured in the photos below, doesn't offer too much protection from this weather.
