Day 23: Saying Goodbye (July 4)

We wanted to get to the Tel Aviv airport the recommended three hours before our flight, so ordered a cab to be picked up at 7:30 am.  Julia had to get all her stuff back up to her dorm and then get all the way back across time to work, so she left when we did it. We had a final Israeli shakshuka in the airport and boarded our plane. Our strategy of choosing a middle and an aisle and another aisle worked this time (it so rarely does) and Rachel and I were able to enjoy 11+ hours with no one between us.  Layover in Canada and landed with fireworks around 10 pm on July 4th, nearly 24 hours after we began.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 16: Wadi Rum (June 27)

Image
Rachel and I popped out of bed early (yes, Rachel popped up!) to say goodbye to Lachlan and Bec, who were spending another day in Petra and were scheduled to be picked up at 7:00 to have a few hours in Petra before the crowds.  Rachel and I enjoyed a simple breakfast and great conversation with Baha, our Bedouin host.  He is one of 17 kids and he told us about his experiences growing up and how expensive it is to get married.  I mistakenly thought it might be hard to find the person he wants to marry, but he said that's the easiest part; he just has to call his mom and tell her to find him a wife.  By the time our van arrived to pick us up at 8:30, Lachlan and Bec were still there, their pickup forgotten by the guides.  So, our van drove them over to the entrance to Petra and we set off on our way to see the desert of Wadi Rum.  We were reunited with Ben in our van and joined by a new couple John and Yael from Washington DC (via Philadelphia).  ...
Read more

Day 4: Cordoba to Sevilla (via Carmona) (June 15)

Image
We considered getting to Cordoba's star attraction, La Mezquita, sometime during the 8:30 - 9:30 hour when admission is free (they don't charge during mass) but quickly gave up that idea in the morning, deciding on a more leisurely pace (ie it's hard to get Rachel out of bed and I'd rather let her sleep).  We tried to get breakfast at our cute hotel but walked into the room and both knew immediately that we could find better.  We walked around the corner and sat down at an outdoor cafe but then saw that we were about to pay more than we had yesterday for our toast, tea, and OJ and were going to be served Minute Maid in a bottle.  So, we sprang up before the server came to our table and continued on to the next place where our OJ was fresh-squeezed for less money.  After breakfast we packed our bags and walked them to the parking lot,  popping back into one of the music stores we had visited yesterday so that Rachel could buy a new harmonica in a different key --...
Read more

Day 2: 25K+ Steps in Granada (June 13)

Image
After eating a so-so breakfast at our hotel, we went to the Tourist Information office to activate our Granada cards that I had to purchase since regular tickets to get into the Alhambra today were sold out.  Though the older woman at our hotel advised us to take a bus up to the Alhambra, the young woman at the TI office felt that we could easily handle the 1 km, entirely uphill walk.   We set off knowing this was going to be a day of much walking.  Along the path up, we met an American woman traveling alone and got to talking.  She is on a month-long vacation through Spain after just finishing nursing school, is from Portland but lives in Oakland, and went to Pomona College!!   I failed to mention that our vacation really started last week when we flew to LA to celebrate Otis' 2nd birthday with the family and squeezed in a perspective student tour of Pomona.  Then we met Greg on the flight followed by Tara outside the Alhambra in Granada, Spain....
Read more