In fact, the thing that sticks out most in my mind is a comment made by my cousin Hanita. We were walking back to our hotel after the festival-- my sister, my American cousins, their friends, and me-- and we were laughing about something. My cousin turned to me and said, "You girls are always laughing. I think that's so great."

It struck me then, as it does now, how true that is. We spent two weeks together, seeing and doing so many things, and I don't think we ever stopped laughing.

Sure, we all had our cranky, whiny moments. At times we suffered through things we didn't want to do, and we missed out on things we wanted to do. We got stressed and annoyed and hungry and tired. It was all part of the experience.

But somehow, we always seemed to find something to laugh about. Usually one of us had done or said something stupid, fallen down or spilled something. Like when I asked a cute ice-cream salesman what his favorite pub was, and he said "Drink or eat?" in kind of a thick accent, and I said, "Okay! Where's that?"

Even in Hour 18 of our long, long, long trip home (bus, train, plane, customs, immigration, layover, delay due to lightning storm, plane...) when we were dying of exhaustion, my sister turned to me and said in the most perfect sarcastic voice, "Thanks again for booking these great tickets!" and we cracked up. It might have been hysterical laughter, but it was still laughter.

So of all the things I saw, and all the stories I have to tell, that's the first thing I wanted to say. When I remember our vacation, I'll remember A) walking until my legs felt like they were going to fall off, and B) laughing until my stomach hurt.

Here and here are larger versions of these pictures.

More to come!