Wednesday we boarded the fli8ght, preparing for an 11 hour flight.  Most of us were able to fall asleep after dinner was served in-flight.  The rest of us enjoyed the crying of cute babies, various TV shows, and woke up to The King’s Speech.  It was already Thursday afternoon in Israel when we arrived at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. 

Coming out of the airport we were introduced to our fabulous tour guide Phil, a knowledgeable father and witty comedian.  We also met our guard and medic Maria.  Although she packs a gun, she is a genuine sweet heart.  Our Israeli bus driver, Eran took us to our first destination in Caesarea.  Although there was some pekok (traffic), the bus dropped us off at an ancient aqueduct by the beach that was both beautiful and intuitive.  For many of us it was our first time seeing and stepping into the Mediterranean Sea.  Our next stop was the Golan Hotel where we sat down for our first meal in Israel and slept in rooms overlooking the Sea of Galilee.