Blogs from Jaffa, Tel Aviv District, Israel, Middle East

All good things must come to an end. The Israel portion is about to join the fond memory books. Today is the last day of our Israel portion of the tour. We got up a little later today, almost like we were on vacation, and prepared for our final 1/2 day of touring. We traveled around Tel Aviv and came to the site where Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was fatally shot by an assassin in the center of the city. Politicians in Israel, like politicians everywhere, have their lovers and haters. Rabin was loved by many but a radical few felt he had sold out Israel in favor of a peace accord and, for this reason, a radical hater ended his life during - of all things - a peace rally. It is a chilling experience ... read more

Dear Blog Readers, Today's breakfast contribution came from 'salad dressing woman' sat next to us. Once coiffed, we packed our bags for a day in Tel Aviv. First stop was filling the hire car with petrol (more expensive than back home at £1.30/litre). Amazingly, we had a sprinkling of rain on the way into the city centre! Once the car was dropped off, having tried to get another $15 out of me unsuccessfully, we got the tram to the bus station. Our attempt to get a hat-trick of modes of transport was successful as we were soon on a full bus to Tel Aviv. The traffic was pretty bad but it took just over an hour and the bus was fairly comfortable but minimal leg room for my lanky legs. We hopped on a local bus ... read more

After many months of waiting for this day to come, we finally were packed and ready to embark on a trip of a lifetime, a Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. We drove to Pete’s house and he drove us to the airport arriving 3-1/2 hours early. We were one of the first to arrive to meet Dennis, our tour director. After going through security which was a snap, we went to the gate and since we had lots of time we had lunch and then proceeded to the gate where our fellow travelers were starting to show up. We spent time getting to know them and introducing ourselves before it was finally time to board the plane. The first leg to Philadelphia was uneventful, a mere 3 hour flight. We had about a 3.5 to 4 ... read more

Il nous reste trois jours à organiser, dont deux que l’on aimerait passer à Jérusalem. Comme aujourd’hui est un samedi, et que les juifs de Jérusalem sont encore plus orthodoxes que ceux de Tel-Aviv, on ne préfère pas se risquer à découvrir la ville un jour de Shabbat. On se propose donc de profiter de notre dernier jour à Tel Aviv, mais nos plans sont contrecarrés par un Roumain qui vient m’offrir une bière vers 11h. Je replace le contexte : rappelez-vous, c’est une auberge qui accueille seulement les gens de moins de 45 ans. Ce Roumain, Georges, doit avoir une petite quarantaine, est ici avec sa femme, et tous les deux ne parlent pas un mot d’anglais, seulement français et roumain. Je l’avais aidé il y a un jour ou deux à la réception, et ... read more

17:41, plage de Tel Aviv. Levés 9h (pas de répit pour aujourd’hui), direction le bus pour l’aéroport. R.A.S. dans l’avion, atterrissage impeccable à l’aéroport Ben Gourion. Je suis un peu tendu quand vient le fatidique contrôle des passeports, mais tout semble bien se passer. On joue les petits touristes bien sages : non, nous ne connaissons personne là-bas, non, nous ne voulons pas aller dans les territoires palestiniens, d’ailleurs qu’est-ce que c’est ? La policière nous fait un sourire, je me dis que c’est dans la poche. Jusqu’au moment où, tournant les pages de mon passeport, son sourire disparaît. « You’ve been to Lebanon ? ». Eh merde, ça il fallait s’en douter. Immédiatement, elle me dit d’aller dans une salle au coin de l’aéroport, sans me rendre mon passeport. C’est une espèce de salle d’attente, ... read more