israel - post 1

 

Ok everyone! All four of my readers :) Here I go! Post #1 of my Israel posts...there will be many! I must preface this by saying -- our pictures just honestly don't do our travels justice.

Above, you will see me and my hubby in the Newark, New Jersey airport...awaiting our long overseas flight to Tel Aviv. Funny story -- about 20 minutes prior to boarding our flight to Israel, I received an email from our credit card company saying I needed to contact them immediately because our card had been compromised.  Uh, what!?! This was the credit card we were taking with us to Israel to cover most of our expenses. We had a chunk of cash with us as well, but we were really counting on the credit card! After a frustrating conversation with the company, we had to CANCEL the card. I was in near panic mode, but our CEO and friends promised we would be covered if needed. So, onto the plane we went.

The plan ride took almost 11 hours...that is a long time on a plane! Thankfully, they had lots of movies for us to watch. Each headrest had a screen and we each could choose whatever we wanted. Chris slept for the majority of the ride, and I watched a few movies. I took some sleep meds but they didn't really work for me. I watched "The Odd Life of Timothy Green" (average), and "Life of Pi" (actually, quite good!). I also read some and slept some. And then finally, we arrived in Tel Aviv, Israel!!

From the airport, we boarded shuttle buses and took off for our first of three hotels. The Dan Panorama! It was the best of the three hotels by far, and the food was AMAZING! Even better, we were right across the street from the MEDITERRANEAN SEA!!!

After getting a little settled (but not too settled, as we were only here for one night...had to pack and load our stuff up the next morning to be taken to the second hotel) we joined up with Kim, Gary, Marcus and Thomas to do some sightseeing along the Mediterranean boardwalk across the street from the hotel. So much to see and experience! We were blessed to have been the first of many flights to arrive, so we had almost a full day of sightseeing after we ate a wonderful breakfast buffet at the hotel.

We started at the sea, walked through the beach area, and then headed miles down the road to Jaffe, a 4000 year old city. Along the way, we were able to experience the wonderful mixture of ancient and modern, which is seen all throughout Israel.

The Dan Panorama Hotel was amazing!

The Mediterranean Coast

The Mediterranean Beach -- quite crowded!

Chris wading in the Mediterranean Sea...this was the first step, then the shirt came off and he went all the way in! It was pretty chilly...

There were so many dogs on the Mediterranean beach, we enjoyed seeing them play in the waves!

A street vendor on the Tel Aviv Mediterranean boardwalk, making fresh squeezed juice.

The beautiful view from our hotel room...

Me with the Mediterranean as a backdrop...perfection!

A tower in Old Jaffe, a 4000 year old city.

I loved all the turquoise that showed up throughout the city...

Me and hubs with the Tel Aviv skyline behind us.

It was quite a walk back from Jaffe...and we discovered that it was HOT! We were expecting temperatures between 60-80, and somehow it was in the upper 90s instead. This was the first of 9 very hot days, and yes, let the sunburn begin :) We made it back to the hotel, then took showers and cleaned up for dinner.

It was our first of many group dinners where all 200 people in our group gathered for amazing food and fellowship. Loved the food at Dan Panorama...it was different than anything we've ever had, but so delicious!  Our CEO gave a talk to prepare us for the week, and then we retired for our busy day the next morning. Wake up call at 6:00 am, on the bus by 8:00 am. With an eight hour time difference, it took some adjustment!!

More tomorrow! (excuse any errors, I'm only half awake...actually proud that it is 9:30 and I am still up!)