Blogs from Jerusalem, Jerusalem District, Israel, Middle East - page 4

The flight to Ben Gurion was uneventful, despite the Cadburys special offers in Duty Free, meaning a plane full of people armed with 'Fruit and Nut'. We arrived at the airport and tried to follow signs to the Jerusalem bus without success. We gave up and took a Sherut (shared taxi). Our fellow travellers included a family who lived not particularly on the way to Jerusalem, but we made it eventually, but a somewhat circuitous route. We were dropped at the Metropole Hotel, which was unfortunate, as we were staying at the New Metropole. Luckily it was only a few doors away from our hotel, and we traipsed up the hill and checked in. Our hotel was in the predominantly Arab East Jerusalem. It had seen better days. The biggest issue was the leak from the ... read more

Day 2 in Jerusalem Today we took a taxi up to the Mount of Olives. It would have been a real chore to have to have gone through the old city down into the Kids on Valley and up to the Mount of Olives. Church of the Ascenion. Big view of the old city. Walking down all of the views, seeing all of the cemeteries. Down to The Garden of Gethsemane and the Church of All Nations. Then climbing back up to the Lions Gate and up the Via Doloroso. We Also went to the Church of the Holy Speulcher. Let's admit it. We are really tired. There are so many tunnel like streets. Loads of steps, vendors and bazars. Tomorrow is our last day in Jerusalem. Hope to go to Mount Zion which is also ... read more

It was different from the very beginning - extra boarding security, and justifiably so, at the El Al Airline counter in Toronto as we waited to board for an almost eleven-hour flight to Tel Aviv, Israel. We must have been two of very few non-Jewish passengers on board and our flight was excellent, with attentive service from the flight attendants. We got our first surprise just as we began our descent into Israeli airspace when the young male flight attendant asked "Do you know that you will arrive at a very special time for Israel and that everything will be closed?" In ignorance, we both showed surprise and inquired as to why. We had no idea when we selected our date of arrival that we would land at the time of Yom Kippur, the Day of ... read more

I wasnt going to do a blog this time but im at dubai for 9hrs and had time to find my old blog and start a new one not sure how much I will do but we will see we are currently resting at the marhaba lounge cost 53 american but you get unlimited food and drink and comfortable couches and even some reclining lounges so we can sleep a bit after 12 hr flight... read more

Dear Blog Readers, The Sun is setting and the evening prayers are being blasted from the speakers nearby. The evening leaves a dusty haze as the Sun sets which makes a change from the haze of Heathrow induced pollution back home. Another action packed day as I write this post nap before heading out into the city centre for some dinner. The plan of waking at 7am fell through predictably but we were sat down for breakfast at the hotel by 8am somehow. The breakfast buffet here is something to behold. We think it has catered for pretty much every nationality. Just some of the things on the menu include noodles, smoked herring, pickled onions, and my personal favourite, tuna pasta salad. As is White family tradition, we attacked the buffet with gusto but didn't find ... read more