My big plan for today was to attend the Tu B'Shvat celebration (free admission) at the Botanical Gardens. So, a little before 9:15, I set out walking there. It's located at the extreme north end of town, so it took me about 50 minutes to get there. I wore a long-sleeve shirt over my t-shirt, and I carried a small pack on my back containing a big bottle of water. It was sunny but windy enough, especially after I started walking on the by-pass road, that I was glad for my long-sleeve shirt. When I arrived there, though, the first thing I did was take it off and put it in the pack, and that's where it stayed for the rest of the entire walk.
The Botanical Gardens are beautiful! And there were lots of people, booths selling things, activities, and music. There was even a big pile of snow that they had brought in for the kids to play in! The people tended to stay mostly in the main area near the entrance, though, so it was relatively uncrowded and peaceful on several of the peripheral trails, which were really lovely. There's also a large shop where one can buy all kinds of plants, trees, pots, and some garden supplies. However, it's also a very pretty place just to browse.
I walked around, rested in several places, and took lots of pictures. Finally, when I had seen just about everything and felt well-rested, I started on the next part of my walk.
I decided to walk around the other side of the airport and planned to have lunch at the Gulf Restaurant. On the way, though, I chose to lengthen my walk by following a drainage ditch around the back of the salt factory, walking on the levy road (a dirt road not open to vehicular traffic, at least according to the sign at the far end!). It was quite a long walk with no shade but with some great views of Eilat and Aqaba. Also, there was the big, very white pile of salt. At the end, I made my way diagonally to the tayelet (the walking mall that runs along near the north beach), passing the new lagoon. I did go to the Gulf Restaurant and enjoyed my favorite there, the Greek salad, not to mention all the lovely little salatim and soda bread that they bring for free.
The final leg of my journey was the walk home, which, of course, was uphill almost all the way. Despite stopping and resting at least 4 times, I felt quite tired by the time I got home. I sat in my comfortable chair and played a little on my iPad but finally dozed off a bit. Still feeling tired, I even lay down in my bed, but I don't think I slept any more at all. After half an hour or so, I got up, drank a little coffee, and completed the first week of my new class, Algorithms, Biology, & Programming for Beginners. It's proving quite interesting, and I aced the quiz on the first try. I also did all the little programming exercises correctly.
In the evening, I went out for another walk because I was feeling so refreshed. First, I headed directly for the outdoor gym, where I worked out on several machines for a while. Then I walked on Harim Road over to Los Angeles Street and down just past the gas station there, where I turned toward home, following a basically level route except for 12 steps near the end and the short walk from the market there to my place. For this walk, I wore just a light jacket over my t-shirt and felt very comfortable the whole time.
I walked a total of 16.18 kilometers today, which is a new daily record for me.
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