Day One -- or is it Day Two? Part One

We are here! Tired but so excited, nonetheless. We arrived at Ben Gurion Airport and were treated to a most remarkable Hanukkah present: a brand new, state of the art, gorgeous terminal. It is spacious, well lit, with lots of glass and enough duty free possibilities to tempt us to get to the airport a day early!

We were greeted by a representative of our tour company who herded us to all the appropriate places. In no time at all, we had our buses, our group together, and our sanity, too. Not bad for a bunch of Jewish folks who hadn’t slept in a day… And special kudos go to Lisa and John’s three boys. Our youngest travelers, they were absolutely terrific through it all.

Our bus is a big vehicle; not too many fancy gizmos on board, but ok. The driver is a Sephardic guy (we’ll be hearing his story soon, no doubt). It is HIS BUS. His name is painted on the bumper, so you know it. David is my age and has slightly more hair than I do and a very grey pony tail (I do not have a pony tail…).

As we drove off to Haifa, our first destination, our tour guide, Ya’ara offered us delicious dried fruits, a part of the bounty of Israel’s harvest. We ate the sweet fruits and listened to Israeli music… and we were happy, exhausted, but happy. I looked at the group on the bus and I was so touched: we're here, really here, and all of ready for an unbelievable, unique adventure. More soon.