I love airports. I really do. Which was a good thing for this trip - there was a lot of airport.
I left Ottawa early afternoon on Monday, July 2. I had a ride to the airport from my friend Susie, which was a lovely treat. Being carless, my options to get to the airport include a long-ish bus ride or an expensive cab ride... or an offer from a wonderful friend. And it is always nice to have someone take you to the airport. My luggage was checked through all the way to Israel - pretty amazing, thinking that you can go from Ottawa to Tel Aviv in a relatively short amount of time.
The most exciting thing about the short flight from Ottawa to Toronto was seeing the Peace Tower from the air, and a free glass of wine. Thank you, West Jet :).
I met up with my sister-in-law and travelling buddy Janelle at Toronto's Pearson Airport. We ate expensive, sub-par airport pizza and mocked an extremely expensive container of Skittles.
The flight to Heathrow Airport in London was also fairly uneventful, save for a few crying children. We didn't get much sleep, and thoughts of "What were we thinking?!?" were present as we rushed to find the gate for our flight to Tel Aviv. A six hour, overnight flight over the Atlantic and a time change of five hours will do that to you.
Somehow my ticket for our last flight was upgraded... this meant a little more leg room. That's it. Still screaming babies.
And finally we made it - late Tuesday afternoon, Tel Aviv time. At least that's what we were told - our bodies had no idea what time it was. But the tired apprehension of Heathrow had given way to excitement and a bit of nervousness (on my part, at least... Janelle is much more laid back than I am!).
We had been warned that Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv can be a bit of an experience in itself. We had all of our answers ready for their probing questions about why we wanted into the country, and when we finally got up to the desk... we were asked very few. What are you doing here, what holy sites are you visiting. Janelle got a few questions about her last name, and then we were through! No problem at all.
Our luggage made it too, and after a quick stop for water and chocolate, we found the shuttle bus to Jerusalem without any trouble. It deposited us at the New Gate of the Old City in Jerusalem, and from there was just a short walk to the Knight's Palace, where we would be staying for a few days. (Note: roller bags are not good on cobblestones.) After a quick email home to tell family that we had made it, and being quite proud of ourselves for making this far without any trouble, we ventured into the Old City for falafel and hummus. And then it was definitely time for bed.
I left Ottawa early afternoon on Monday, July 2. I had a ride to the airport from my friend Susie, which was a lovely treat. Being carless, my options to get to the airport include a long-ish bus ride or an expensive cab ride... or an offer from a wonderful friend. And it is always nice to have someone take you to the airport. My luggage was checked through all the way to Israel - pretty amazing, thinking that you can go from Ottawa to Tel Aviv in a relatively short amount of time.
The most exciting thing about the short flight from Ottawa to Toronto was seeing the Peace Tower from the air, and a free glass of wine. Thank you, West Jet :).
I met up with my sister-in-law and travelling buddy Janelle at Toronto's Pearson Airport. We ate expensive, sub-par airport pizza and mocked an extremely expensive container of Skittles.
The flight to Heathrow Airport in London was also fairly uneventful, save for a few crying children. We didn't get much sleep, and thoughts of "What were we thinking?!?" were present as we rushed to find the gate for our flight to Tel Aviv. A six hour, overnight flight over the Atlantic and a time change of five hours will do that to you.
Somehow my ticket for our last flight was upgraded... this meant a little more leg room. That's it. Still screaming babies.
And finally we made it - late Tuesday afternoon, Tel Aviv time. At least that's what we were told - our bodies had no idea what time it was. But the tired apprehension of Heathrow had given way to excitement and a bit of nervousness (on my part, at least... Janelle is much more laid back than I am!).
We had been warned that Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv can be a bit of an experience in itself. We had all of our answers ready for their probing questions about why we wanted into the country, and when we finally got up to the desk... we were asked very few. What are you doing here, what holy sites are you visiting. Janelle got a few questions about her last name, and then we were through! No problem at all.
Our luggage made it too, and after a quick stop for water and chocolate, we found the shuttle bus to Jerusalem without any trouble. It deposited us at the New Gate of the Old City in Jerusalem, and from there was just a short walk to the Knight's Palace, where we would be staying for a few days. (Note: roller bags are not good on cobblestones.) After a quick email home to tell family that we had made it, and being quite proud of ourselves for making this far without any trouble, we ventured into the Old City for falafel and hummus. And then it was definitely time for bed.
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