Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Getting to Israel

It was a long day (or was it two days?). The Austin pilgrims got on our bus around 10 a.m. for our trip to Houston's Intercontinental Airport. We arrive around 1 and met the Houston pilgrims. Our British Airways flight was on time. Flying a 777 is nice. Fortunately, we weren't full and I had an empty middle seat next to me.

My seatmate was an interesting woman. A Jewish woman who is a commercial real estate broker in Houston. She was thrilled we were all going to her homeland and, in fact, knows one of the Houston pilgrims from her business. She wasn't threatened at all hearing about Jesus and how we were all expecting life-changing experiences in the Holy Land and walking where Jesus walked.

 We arrived in London on time (8 a.m. London time, 1 a.m. Austin time.) We only had to wait an hour-and-a-half for our flight to Tel Aviv. Another flight that wasn't full and, once again, I got an empty seat next to me.

Ben Gurion Airport (Tel Aviv) was a madhouse. Lots of 777s and 747s arriving at the same time. Everyone speaking different languages and everyone standing in the same lines to go through Customs.

 Our tour bus is a brand new 2010 Mercedes. Pretty nice.

The drive from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is beautiful. Reminds me of the Texas Hill Country and also the area around Albuquerque. Hills, trees, valleys. It's a 2,400-foot climb from Tel Aviv (on the Mediterranean Coast) to Jerusalem so we got to see a lot of tall hills and deep valleys.

2 comments:

  1. Dad - Glad to see you survived the long trip (and your first Blog post!!!) Way to go on both counts!! Please be safe, and have a fabulous time! Say some extra prayers on the Holy ground. Take lots of pictures, and enjoy every minute of this trip of a life time. Your Houston girls love you mostest!

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  2. Sounds like your journey is off to a smooth start. Praise God and enjoy the hummus!

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