Day 1: July 7th and 8th, 2010 (Atlanta to Tel Aviv)

Saffran Family at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv

Al’s parents came to our house at 5:30 PM and we were still in the process of packing and finally left around 6:30 PM. We got to the airport at 7:10 PM and met up with the rest of the tour group. We checked our bags and went thru security. I spaced and left my laptop in my knapsack which slowed us down at security. We were in no rush anyway since our flight wasn’t until 10:15 PM. Everybody was hungry so we stopped at the food court at concourse E. Zach got a pepperoni slice and Hannah and Al got Chinese food. We then went to the Delta Skyclub but you can’t bring food in. I wanted to grab a drink so I went in and had a quick beer and everybody else went back to the food court. I rejoined them in five minutes and they were sitting with the Rittenbergs. After a few minutes I invited Scott R. to the Delta Club and we had a few more drinks. 15 minutes later the rest of the Saffrans and Rittenbergs joined us at the Club for drinks and snacks. The Rittenbergs never flew overseas so they were anxious so we left early and went down to the gate and sat there for over an hour. I hung out with Hannah and Zach and watched episodes of “silent library” on YouTube. This is an MTV show that Hannah had seen and it was pretty funny. Around 10 PM we finally boarded the Boeing 777. Lift off was at 10:45 PM. It was an 11 hour and 19 minutes flight to Tel Aviv. I had a pasta dinner on board and watched The Book of Eli (not very good). It wasn’t until 1:30 AM that I started to dose off and maybe slept until 3:00 AM. It was a rough night not only due to the lack of sleep but there were a number of crying babies on the flight which didn’t help. For breakfast they served pizza, chick peas, fruit, Milano cookies and a coke (great way to start the day). As we entered Israeli airspace they informed us that no one is allowed to get out of their seat for the last 30 minutes of the flight. We finally arrived at 10:10 AM EST or around 5:00 PM local time on Thursday in Ben Gurion airport after a very nice landing. Our tour group all hooked up after we got off the plane and proceeded to get our luggage and go through passport control. We met our tour guide (Schmuel) and our bus driver (Shimon). The bus drive from the airport to the Crown Plaza hotel in Tel Aviv was about 30 minutes. During our drive the tour guide pointed out various landmarks and explained the local region. We finally arrived at the hotel at 7:30 PM and took a group photo with the sunset in the background. Al and I had separate rooms from the kids [Room 313 (kids) and room 316 (parents)] and unpacked our stuff, took a quick shower and met everybody downstairs. Our hotel was right on the beach in a good location of town. The group walked on the promenade along the beach and found a restaurant that could handle 24 people. We sat outside near the beach on a beautiful night and enjoyed dinner. I had a Maccabee beer (ok) and Al had a fresh lemonade. The kids sat at a separate table. Zach had a burger and ice cream and Al and I split a beef kabob and chicken schnitzel. The portions were huge and dinner took about two hours to finish. After dinner I walked over to a supermarket and bought a case of water for the room. I headed back to the hotel room around 11:15 PM, brushed up and got into bed around 11:45 PM. We were all tired from a very long day.

View from room of the Tel Aviv Marina from Crown Plaza Hotel

View from room at the Crown Plaza Hotel

View from room at the Crown Plaza Hotel