Day 1 Israel 2023

 Today’s adventures actually began early on June 4th in the USA.  Our airport shuttle van picked us up at 4:30 a.m., which means I was up before 3 a.m. to get myself ready and go meet it.  I’m thankful for dear “early bird” friends who took me to the rendezvous point.  At airport check-in, I inadvertently locked one of the locks on my carry-on bag, which has been interesting to deal with today.  Our flight left out of ATL at 9:15 a.m. Sunday morning. We landed in Tel Aviv at 3:25 p.m. on Monday afternoon, after a 4-5 hour delay in the Montreal airport, our 6-hour layover becoming more like 11.  So, by the time we got to our Tel Aviv hotel, accounting for traffic snarls at rush hour, it was nearly 6:30 p.m.  We ate a delicious dinner together in the hotel dining room; Israeli food is so fresh and healthy!  Then, all 40 of us walked a block to the beach, where Joe Good, one of our tour leaders, began his orientation meeting and teaching.  Directly behind him was a group of young women, playing beach volleyball in the sunset.  It was a short teaching, as we were standing on the beach after a long, long day.  Then, we all retired to our hotel.

I’m writing this at 10:20 p.m., local time.  I don’t think any of us will have any trouble sleeping tonight!  My roommate, for instance, was “out” in less than five minutes!