Arrival

4/19/2009 we woke up over the Med, and landed in Tel Aviv right on time 4:05PM, then to catch a taxi! Taxi rides around the world are always an adventure! And taxis worldwide are usually small, so 3 big pieces of luggage, 3 carry on, and a camera case plus us STUFFED in a taxi from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Our driver wanted to know if we had guide service set up, because he could do that as well as be a body guard, he was a Major in the Army Reserve. He was also divorced from a Jewish woman who caused him trouble, but was now married to a Russian Christian who just gave him a son. And our interesting fact for the day was he drove a taxi 2 days a week to pay alimony. He really was a nice guy, he gave me the Israeli flag he had flying from his taxi to welcome us.

We checked in, and being late in the afternoon started checking out the hotel since it was too late go anywhere, so we met this guy in the lobby, not a manager or concierge, I forgot his title. He ask if there was anything to do, and Sam had just ask the desk about the Executive Club upstairs so we view the city from atop the roof, but it was $20 each so we said no thank you. He said NO problem, come on, and he took us to the roof top!

So the picture you see on the left is looking at Old Jerusalem behind the old city wall. If you start from the left you’ll be starting at Jaffa Gate, move to the right and you see King David’s Spire, move to the center and you see the gold dome, that is Dome of the Rock, and it is a Muslim site that sits atop of the Palace of David and Saul before him.

The other picture is that of the 25’ wall that divides the Palestinians and Israel. The outcome is all the same with how they feel about each other, it’s not very nice, and they don’t hesitate to let you know about it either.