Tel Aviv, Israel

Note to Self: If you want a good night sleep, DO NOT fly all night!!!!!!

Our flight from London to Tel Aviv was scheduled to leave London at 10:15pm, but our airplane broke and British Air had to find another one that could fly the route and hold enough people. We finally left at 12:15and arrived in Tel Aviv at 7:30am (2 time zones ahead). We are now 11 times zones from Juneau and home.
This was a one-time shot. Israel was on our Wish List - the deciding factor was 3 groups of Israeli's who stayed with us at the B&B in the last 2 years. They all decided that we were going to visit them, and wouldn't let up. We finally ran out of excuses.
Besides being stressed from very little sleep, we managed to see a little of Tel Aviv today. Bruce went to check in at the Embassy - the most heavily fortified building in Israel according to the contract secruity - while I got a little nap. Our motel was once a movie theater, and is a delight. The promenade along the Mediterranean Sea is Tel Aviv's playground, and sunset was gorgeous. Awesome pictures, then to 2000 year old Jaffa where Jonah launched his encounter with the whale and Paul set off for Rome.
We have NOT seen any signs of war. We have seen enough security to feel comfortable. My purse was checked before entering the mall, and signs say "if you see a suspicious person or an unattended bag, report it". Israeli's in Army uniforms walk home with M-16's over their shoulders and nobody blinks an eye. People are walking around town at night and walking to the beach after dark without a care. Someone said "an armed society is a polite society".
Israeli's are incredibly friendly and frank people, and visitors are treated like family.
The first of our B&B friends picked us up in Tel Aviv and made us feel at home. This evening we had dinner with Nir and Michal Bar-Lev overlooking the Med. Nir has off from work and is going to take us around Tel Aviv tomorrow and show us their town. At 4 tomorrow we meet Shimshon at Ben Gurion Airport (we have to turn in our rental car. I will NEVER complain about US drivers again!!!) and will join Naim's family the next day for the beginning of Shebbat (Sabbath) in the north.
Shabbat Dinner was hard to describe -- 2 candles were lit at sundown; both families gathered around an incredible array of foods and wines -- everything grown and produced in Israel. Their father stood at the head of the table and sang the prayer and blessing in Hebrew .. It was magical.
Shimshon and I went mountain biking the next day from his home into some incredibly productive agriculture groves, past the Minister of Defense's home, along the fence between Israel and the West Bank (Israel is only 24 miles wide at that point) and back in time for breakfast.
Shimshon drove us north into the Galilee region to his brothers' home, and we spent the next 5 days with Naim and his wife Schlomit, the community MD.
On to Galilee!