Getting to Israel

Zach didn't go with us on our short trip to Israel, but we had breakfast together that morning. We had plenty of time because our flight didn't leave until 4:15 p.m. Normally getting our tickets and going through security at the airport in Larnaca takes us less than 30 minutes. Not so going to Israel, and I should have known better.

 The whole process felt like complete chaos! After standing in line for a while, an employee told us that check in closed in 10 minutes, and that we had to go to a kiosk to print out our tickets. Elsa and I had trouble printing our tickets and I was starting to panic just a little. Leaving mom in line to watch our bags, Ryan tried to print our tickets while I asked an employee what else I could do. Fortunately, they were able to print them out and we waited in line for a while longer before we were questioned by security...before we got to the actual airport security. They asked us numerous questions about our trip. After giving us the OK, they let us go through airport security and customs. We made it to our plane and within an hour, we arrived at the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. 

 Before entering Israel, we were again asked several questions by customs officials. Afterwards, we were given a temporary visa to enter into the Holy Land. The currency is the New Israel Shekel (NIS). At that time, the exchange rate came to about .26 US dollars. We pulled out some money from the ATM before finding a shared taxi to take us to our residence. 

A taxi ride from Ben Gurion Airport to Jerusalem is about 275 NIS. We decided to take a shared taxi, which came out to 65 NIS per person. While this was slightly cheaper than a taxi, you can wait up to 45 minutes for a shared taxi to fill up with passengers which was, unfortunately, what we had to do. We were lucky to be dropped off first! 

We got to the apartment Elsa booked on TripAdvisor a little after 10 p.m. It was a two-bedroom apartment with one bathroom and kitchen area. There were double beds in each room and a full size sleeper couch. It was perfect for our short, two-night stay. There was a burger joint next door called Burgers Bar and several convenience stores nearby. It's not a far walk to McDonalds or other little places to eat (which are all still open, even at 10 p.m.). We ate our dinner that evening at the burger joint, and I don't know if I was just really hungry, but it was delicious! Mom and I shared a burger because they were just so big. 

We planned on visiting the Dead Sea the next day and tried to figure out the best way to get there. Our two options were to take a bus or taxi. We opted for the bus, ensuring quite a fun story to tell!