Rolling in Black Mud at the Dead Sea

400 meters below the average sea level: the last stop of our road trip through all of Israel was the famous "Sea of Death" - or Dead Sea - the deepest hypersaline lake in the world! After visiting Masada, we seeked for a refreshment and went to one of the Dead Sea's beaches (beware of sinkholes!) to jump into the supersalty water...(the water was warm like a baby's bathtub, so far for the refreshment, lol).

Lilly, completely covered in black mud, enjoying the Dead Sea. (Washing that stuff off is another story *sigh*).

Very creepy experience (later funny): The high salt content (~ 34%) keeps you easily afloat. Swimming is not really possible, because the "water" is very thick. Never duck your head under, it literally burns your eyes out (not that I tried or something). Why the shoes? Well, you have to walk in and the underground nearly scratched our soles.

The shore of the Dead Sea (lonely beach^^).

Bizarre salt formations at the shore (try to walk on that!).

Rather typical Israeli breakfast: you realize something?? Yes, half of it is salad and vegetables. (That ratio also accounts for the rest of the diet here O-o).

Flower tree in En Gedi - I had to climb it!! (and I did, haha).

~*~

End of my Israel Road Trip =) I hope you enjoyed the travel report!

Love,

The Thunder Storm Adventure

Yesterday suddenly the sky darkened and a thunder storm approached the city from the North. I was already in my bathsuit and decided to jump into the sea for a short swim. The waves became higher and it started to rain. I could hear the thunder in the distance... still I was to eager to find out how the under water life is reacting to it. It turned out that they seemed fairly unaffected. I dived down to look below one of the coral ledges and totally freaked out: !!! Quietly in the shadow sat a yellow ribbontail ray with blue dots! It eyed me curiously, not sure if I am a danger or about to be ignored. He appearently felt save and I was able to dive down several times to watch him closer! Later I found out that his tail spines are venomous. Lucky for me that I did not get too close! What an event, my first wild stingray and such a beautiful one!

The Bluespotted ribbontail ray (Taeniura lymma). Source.

Black Lionfish (family Scorpaenidae). Source.

I was already sure that the stingray would be the highlight of this snorkel trip, when I suddenly detected a black lionfish! You remember the first ones I saw here? Usually they are brightly red coloured, actually I did not know that black speciman do even exist until then! What a surprise. I watched him, how he checked out a black long-spined urchin patiently and realized after a while, that the rain increased and I got seriously cold. I managed to run out of the water before the first few lightnings occurred over the now grey sea surface. By now, I was really shivering hard and escaped from the natural forces to a warm shower! What an adventure!

Blue Christmas-tree worm (Spirobranchus giganteus). Source.

A few days ago, I was lucky to catch a glimpse of a rare Christmas tree worm! Such beautiful creatures! It was the first time I saw one for real, well hidden in a massive coral. And also a small 'colony' of red sponge. I was not aware of this species so far. Doesn't it look incredible?

Red sponge (Cliona sp.). Source.

Do you agree that the most colourful creatures can be found under water? It's so inspiring! I am looking forward to explore the reef much more! What else will I find?
Love,


Edit: I consulted my reef guide and found out that the black lionfish can be considered as the juvenile stadium of the (later red) lionfish. Interesting, I had no idea.

Impressions from Work ♥

Everything you need to survive on a hot work day:
Coffee and strawberries!

This is my office ♥ (I am serious!). When I get inside, it feels like stepping into a fridge. No idea who left the boat there. Captain Sparrow?

It's too hot to walk barefooted. Do you agree that these shoes were the best investion? You walk in them like on a piece of butter.

Favourite time of the day? Running along the Pier after work and jumping into the sea with a loud scream!! Waaahh!

Creativity Rules! My colleague T. did this last week. Imagine her sitting in the middle of it!

Today the sky is surprisingly cloudy. This evening there is going to be another work beach barbecue. I have to prepare salad and go out to buy bread and meat! All the best to you and have a wonderful weekend! :-*

By the way, how do you like the new header?!

Love,

The Kingdom of the Lionfish

A pair of lionfish (Source).

WOW! That was a surprising encounter. After work I often take the time to go snorkeling over the coral reefs here. My wish to find a (rare) lionfish was finally fulfilled yesterday afternoon: I swam to my favourite place on the reef: a small cleaning station. Fishes of all sizes and colours swim there to have any parasites removed from their bodies by smaller cleaning fishes. So there is always a lot of action going on at this spot.

At first I wasn't sure and dived closer: But it was a beautiful lionfish for sure! After I caught my breath again, I went down more times and found out that he was not alone: He had the company of two other lionfishes! I was so excited that I swallowed a lot of sea water and had to force myself to breathe normally. They did not feel disturbed by me at all and I could take my time to look at them closely. I got so close that I could have touched them (which I did not of course). They are just as beautiful as I imagined them to be!

A white moray lurking under a coral-covered rock. (Source)

Another (at first frightening) encounter: I saw a long white moray eel moving over the sea floor (at least 1 m!), trying to hide himself in the cracks and crevices of the reef. Lucky me it wasn't a sea snake (lol).

A sea cucumber, surrounded by curious Anemone fishes. (Source)

And those creatures also are a little alien to me: Black holothurians (sea cucumber)! I dived very closely to them, but how can you guess that you deal with a living organism? They are not moving at all! And heaven they are big! I also saw anemonefishes, close to their host anemone (now everyone: "Neeemo!!"). Haha. More about my underwater adventures soon. :D
Love,

Why Lilly nearly broke her Neck on the Catwalk

"I should not have tried. These shoes seemed killers from the beginning. I should have wondered when HJ already tripped over in them. Didn't help. Lilly - trying to survive the catwalk in one piece...".
Those plateau heels seem to come from an ancient Asian culture! Here are the pics from our visit to the shoe exhibition (shoes through times and ages). At the end there was a catwalk (with a cool screen playing fashion show videos), where visitors could try on all sorts of shoes. And I had to try them out - bad idea, very bad. I pity all professional models. Walking in heels is difficult enough, if they are your size already. Imagine walking, when you slip out of the shoe or its to small for you...this is pure horror.

Cheesy posing. Sorry, my facial expression was to weird. Lady Gaga sunglasses instead.

Whoops, my hair did seriously grow long. Did not realize until I saw that photo.

I am changing between contact lenses and glasses (in case you wonder). Close-up on those strange shoes!

C. and me. Lilly wears: pullover+cardi vintage, shorts hm, tights+earrings ca, ring+overknees six, necklace primark, shoes from the museum.

Yaay! Thats from left to right: C. , HJ and Lilly. Heart the shoes!!

Snake pumps - oh lá lá!

And HJ's favourites. (Cute pose!)

Something must have gone wrong the last days. Due to the sudden weather change, I somehow got a cold. Now I am fighting against it in order to keep working....snoozee. So not fair. Everyone outside walks around in ballet flats and without jacket and I have to stay inside or wear a thick shawl and a winter jacket when I go out - like a total freak!! :/
Love and Kisses,