I arrived and travel went smoothly…until we landed in Tel Aviv! But that’s another story! For those who have been here, you know the joy of landing and rolling up to the terminal. Welcome signs are everywhere and Israel is happy to see tourism increasing slighty. (Still nowhere near the pre-Covid/pre-war numbers when they were breaking tourism records every year.)
What was to be a quick taxi ride to the hotel turned into quite an ordeal as the taxi line was outrageously long. Winding from its origination on the curb, it backed up around the corner into the exit doors and well into the Arrivals Hall. If you have never been here, you have no concept of how far that is, but suffice it to say, there were probably 1,000 people in that line!
No one seemed to know why, other than it was early Friday evening and Shabbat had begun. That means no public transportation, so everyone was trying to catch a cab. But, it’s not like it’s the first Shabbat ever, and the natives told me there is always a longer line on Friday evening, but this is very unusual. No one seemed to have an answer as to why.
I looked around and suddenly realized that every young Israeli male, all of whom serve (or served) in the IDF, was on his phone seemingly telling someone how to fix the problem! It was quite funny…and very Israeli! These people know how to jump in and get things done! Before long, shuttle busses began showing up to take people to the train station in Tel Aviv. Now my dilemma became: do I take a free shuttle ride into Tel Aviv to a station I don’t know where is in relation to my hotel….or do I continue to stand in a taxi line that is potentially going to take an hour or more just to catch a cab?
Feeling adventurous, I jumped on the shuttle. But what I haven’t told you is that I was supposed to meet two early-arriving tour guests for a joint cab ride to the hotel! After arriving and searching all over the Arrivals Hall for them, I attempted to text and call. Not receiving an answer, I assumed they had made their way to the hotel already. Bad assumption! Once on the shuttle, my phone rang. You guessed it…the two guests, wondering where I was. About that time, the shuttle pulled away!
But, never fear…it all worked out! I guided them by phone on to the next shuttle bus, we connected at a train station in Tel Aviv, caught a cab together, and arrived at the hotel just in time for dinner with another earlier-arriving tour guest.
Why do I tell you this? Because it is all part of the adventure! Two things are true about visiting Israel apart from a group flight: 1. things never work exactly as you think they will, and 2. Israelis are incredibly friendly people who are happy to help! It is part of the adventure and we experienced both in full measure! I love Israelis!
So, though we have met on monthly Zoom calls, tomorrow we gather the entire group in person for the first time. As this post drops, the vast majority of our group will be arriving on various flights and will be picked up by our tour bus and brought to the hotel. This time, no taxi to catch! Instead, they will load up on the bus we will call our own for the next few days and, after a rather short ride to the hotel, we will gather, take a walk on the beach, enjoy dinner together and complete our orientation.
Tomorrow we’re off and running! This is the Return to Israel Tour, geared toward those who have been to Israel before, so we’ll see lots of new sites…one or two that I have never seen! I’m excited about that!
Stay with us for the adventure!
