Israel, Day 1 1/2, July 7 and 8

Finally, after a lot of struggle getting past my blog defaulting to Hebrew, I am now up and running blog wise and will catch up with anyone who is dying to hear the latest in my saga. Madeleine Rosemond picked me up at 2:30, and with my suitcase, backpack and purse made it to Terminal D with enough time to spare. Flight 50 boarded on time for London, and I spent the next several hours seated on the aisle of Row 37, with a couple from Louisiana beside me. They were flying to London and then catching another plane to Edinburgh. Meals were indifferent, and the reading lights were incorrectly set and bright beyond belief. I soon gave up on reading, and, with the help of a sleeping pill, dozed fitfully. An hour before landing at Heathrow had breakfast and then landed at Heathrow in good weather and on time. It took quite a bit of time, effort, and a bus ride to get from Terminal 3 to Terminal 1, and once I had gone through security, I arrived at the Departures Hall and waited there for Marthe and a posting of the next British Airways flight to Tel Aviv. Finally spied Marthe and the gate announcement, so we both arrived at the gate and munched on grapes and pistachios which she had brought along. The gate was bizarrely decorated in a kind of Astroturf motif, with fake bushes and greenery, but we really had a very easy time of getting through. At about 11:30 we boarded and departed at just about noon for a five-hour trip across the Mediterranean. A small lunch was served (a lamb dish with rice and salad), and by this time my contacts were giving me fits and I was getting mighty tired of sitting in an enclosed space. By 5:30 we arrived at Tel Aviv Yafo Airport, beautifully appointed in sandstone; cool and spacious. No trouble with passport control; however, both of us were questioned about the length of our stay and our whereabouts. Customs was a breeze too, and finally we stepped into the Arrivals Hall. Our taxi driver was there and took our bags for the 45-minute ride to Netanya, a town on the Mediterranean Coast. A resort, it is full of high rises. Our room was on Floor 14, and we had an absolutely stunning view of the shoreline from our room, which also featured a small balcony, where the sound of the surf rolling in was ever so soothing to our by-now jet lagged bodies. We went down to dinner at 8:00 p.m. and met Father Houk and a few of the rest of our travelers, and then, after taking a nice walk along the darkened shore, we called it a night and went back to our room. As we were only staying one night, we did not bother to unpack. My one concern was to finally get some eye rest, so I took a shower, then couldn't find my passport and was about to go crazy when I spied it in the bathroom with my toiletries! What a bizarre ending for the day! Really knew then that I was jet lagged and neede some shuteye. One more realization that invincibility is not in the cards here.