Some general thoughts and other random things about the trip:

• People helped a lot when I asked tons of questions about directions.
• People are also impatient, often rude to unknowledgeable customers or those who don’t understand how things are supposed to work.
• Horrible, horrible directions on the road, if any at all. We lost so many hours going in the wrong direction. Sometimes sign comes up pointing to road right in front of it.
• I learned so much about the country (Ben Gurion, Abraham’s well, Makhtesh existence).
• Can’t believe we had to pay for parking at hotel where we were staying.
• Nickel and dimed so often at places (like parking, and internet); kinda reminded of Vegas in that regard.
• Unbelievably good breakfast(s) at every hotel.
• I still vomit too much when I fly- hate to fly really badly. Though Dramamine seems to help some.
• Just like CA, Israel has many terrains and faces. Amazing for that to be the case for such a small country.
• Humidity is unbearable.
• Driving is tougher in cities; pushier, more crowded, harder to park. I honked a lot and occasionally screamed out to people (seemed like I was right at home when I did).
• Frustrated that internet is blocked at every hotel and you must purchase plan for anywhere between 30 minutes to 24 hours- and it’s quite expensive.
• Impressed to see an Olympic sized hockey rink in Israel. Ice quality was not so good (maybe because of summer), and facility not as large as I expected, but still very nice.
• So much history, sites, faces, important people in Israel.
• Have learned a great deal about Israeli geography on this trip.
• Learned that there are a lot of places in the country (not just Jerusalem) that are important/holy to Christians and Muslims.
• Drove 2nd worst road ever, behind Windy Point Road (in Lost Coast near Punta Gorda Lighthouse)- en route to Mt. Sdom lookout.
• Way less censorship; for example, Nat’l Geographic is simply amazing in Israel, with better shows and the shows portray more without cutting or dumbing down content. Can’t imagine watching it the old way again.
• Only in Israel can a police man find it more important to lead me to the restaurant I’m going to eat at over stopping a guy driving the wrong way on a 1-way street right in front of him.
• We put 1889 kilometers on the car (3936 km – 5825 km) on our trip in Israel. This doesn’t include Petra, Jordan trip. The round-trip to Jordan was 230 km. (Mileage totals- Israel: 1174 miles; Jordan: 143 miles).
• Gas is really expensive in Israel. It was $50 just to fuel half a tank at most places. You pay sheqels per liter, and typically that’s about 6.40, which works out to roughly 6.37 dollars per gallon.

Last Breakfast (Dan Caesarea)

We woke up as late as we could, which was roughly 9am this morning. We packed and headed to breakfast at our hotel in Caesarea.

Following breakfast, we headed to Latrun to see a theme park that represented a mini-version of Israel. It had so many things in it, and the attention to details and little things were really awesome.

Mini Israel (Caesarea)	Mini Israel (Haifa)	Mini Israel (Zefat)	Mini Israel (Western Wall)
Mini Israel (Ben Gurion Airport)	Mini Israel (Mazada)	Mini Israel (Mazada, Roman Ramparts)	Mini Israel (Timna Park)

As it was still only 2pm, and we didn’t have to be at the airport until 8pm, we decided to drive off to Jerusalem, which was only 20 miles away. We found some free parking garage, took advantage, and set off on foot in the Old City. I could not believe how incredibly well Tobia knew the Old City. She led me through various parts of the city, going through souks and eateries (seemed like a confusing maze to me), and eventually we reached the Western Wall. We also saw the Mount of Olives and a few other significant sites.

Jerusalem

Me at Western Wall

Tobia at Western Wall

Golden Menorah

Lunch in Jewish Quarter

We had a quick and simple lunch of pizza and burekas at one of the small eateries near the Western Wall, and ultimately returned to our car to drive to Ben Gurion Airport.

We put lots of miles on the car

Our trusty rentral car

We got to the airport at 6pm, two hours before the initial check-in for our 11:30pm flight to Atlanta, so we pulled up at a cafe and took advantage of the free Wi-Fi that they have all over this place.

I took a couple of dramamines before boarding, and slept really well on the 13 hour flight from Tel Aviv to Atlanta. It also prevented me from vomiting. I also caught “The Hangover” movie a few hours before landing, and enjoyed it.

Beautiful Haifa

The Dan Panorama in Haifa was the best of all hotels we stayed at in Israel. We woke up around 7:30am and went to have breakfast. Around 10am we picked up my grandparents, as well as Rina a few minutes later, and the five of us headed to Bet She’arim. In typical style, the signs were really bad and we struggled to find the destination.

Once we got there, though, we had a wonderful time. We had a tour guide for the five of us. We saw catacombs of Jews from the 2nd and 4th centuries. There were a number of caves we were able to walk through as well.

Beit She’arim with Grandparents and Rina

Burial Sarcophagi

Cave where glass was made

Some folks joined our group

Great Restaurant in Atlit

After dropping the 3 at their needed destinations, Tobia and I started heading to Caesarea for Yaron and Inbar’s wedding. On the way we stopped in Atlit to have a great lunch which consisted of humus, various salads, fries, and fish. It was delicious. It was a quick drive to Caesarea from Atlit.

We rested in our room for a while and showered/prepared, and finally headed to the wedding at 6:45pm. We saw the bride and groom, hung out, had a nice meal, and ultimately came back to the hotel to wrap up the night.

Yaron and Inbar’s Wedding (set-up) in Caesarea	Beautiful View and colors	Self Portrait
Happy Tobia	Yaron, Inbar – Under Huppa	Yaron, Inbar- Dancing