The Weekend

(Left--view of the Old City from the Mt of Olives)

Weekends in Israel are Thursday night through Saturday night, with Friday being the Muslim holy day, and Saturday the Jewish Sabbath (Shabbat). We attended church at the "Mormon University" on the Mount of Olives on Saturday, and we must have scheduled our attendance just right, because they had a "linger longer" after church (a potluck luncheon) with all kinds of delicious foods. Since breakfast and lunch were taken care of by the potluck, we didn't venture out for food until after nightfall, as it was very warm and muggy (about 90F), and all the restaurants were closed until not only sunset, but until "three stars are visible in the night sky." I don't know what Israelis do on a cloudy Saturday night--wait an extra night to view the stars?

On Friday we went to the Mount of Olives for a beautiful view of Jerusalem, then the Garden of Gethsemane. There was a very spiritual feeling in the garden, as it was the only religious place we have been that hasn't been "improved" or commercialized. We then went to the King David Hotel, "the" place to stay while in Jerusalem, as evidenced by the long list of notables who have stayed there--from heads of state to actors and actresses. Their signatures are on a long scroll imbedded into the floor in the main lobby.

We have enjoyed our time at "Ariela's Place," the room we rented about a half mile from the Old City. We would highly recommend it for anyone wanting a reasonable rate for a convenient room in Jerusalem. Her phone number is (Country code 972) 052-380-7077. The rate we paid was about $68 per night, which we thought was great.

At right is one of the old olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane....we had such a peaceful feeling there in the garden...

We are now packing for the return to Tel Aviv today for a two day stay at the Renaissance, which is right on the beach --maybe we'll dip our toes in the Med....I will meet with my old IBM colleague, Moshe Abu, tonight, then another business associate on Monday night, before heading to the airport on Tuesday morning, heading back to Madrid. After that our plans are kind of fuzzy, which really means we don't know what we're going to do next.

Our trip to Jerusalem has been fantastic and memorable, truly a trip of a lifetime, and we feel very blessed to have been able to be here.

That's all for now--I'll post more in a day or two.

Goldenbear

The Garden Tomb and Jewish Quarter of the Old City

Today we took a cab to the Garden Tomb, which is a short distance north of the Damascus Gate, and therefore outside the current city walls. The owners of the site, a Protestant group from England, contend that this is the true Golgotha and burial place of Jesus. Archeological experts disagree, but not all agree that The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the correct place either. The problem is that there have been so many rulers of Jerusalem over the centuries, and so many demolishings and re-buildings, that it is impossible to tell exactly where anything happened.

Nevertheless, when one looks at the Garden Tomb and feels the tranquility there, one gets a totally different feeling than one gets at the Holy Sepulchre, which, as one tour book put it, "has been decorated beyond all recognition." Here is a picture of the tomb:

If nothing else, at least the garden tomb gives more of a true representation of how the site at The Church of the Holy Sepulchre once might have looked.

Next we walked back to the Old City and toured the Jewish Quarter, which has been extensively "refurbished" since the Six Day War in 1967, when Israel regained control of Jerusalem from Jordan. Many parts of the Jewish Quarter were destroyed under Arab control, and repair work and excavation of rocks and buildings down to levels existing at the time of Christ, or even several centuries prior to his birth, have been underway for many years. You can actually see the various levels in several areas cut away for viewing. We witnessed a couple of "parades" of young men - what might have been part of a Bar Mitzvah, because one of the young men was walking under a canopy that others were holding over him - they were led by a drummer, and it was very exciting to watch.

What must be a truly meaningful restoration for Jews is the newly completed (just opened last month) synagogue in this area of the city. At least two previous synagogues at this site were destroyed by enemies, and it has taken forty years to rebuild. You will notice in the photo below that the synagogue is interestingly juxtaposed beside a mosque, just as The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is.

Once again we had lunch at the same restaurant in the Arab Quarter - the host now recognizes us and begins to prepare our meal as we make our way to "our" table. We tried the delicious grilled chicken this time. Move over El Pollo Loco!

It was once again pretty hot by the afternoon, so we took a cab back to our apartment and hoped our laundry delivery would come this morning, because we were down to our last bits of wardrobe. Fortunately the man brought the laundry this morning - VERY expensive - must be more costly when you don't speak the local language.

One of the things we have really enjoyed is seeing so many cute children here. We were able to capture a photo of two young ladies having lunch together in the restaurant with us. They were obviously feeling very grown up to be having luncheon together and gave Alan permission to take their picture.

The Evening and The Morning Were The Second Day

We awoke rather late this morning, as we worked on sorting photos and writing the blog until 0100, so after a quick breakfast of hummus and pita bread, a banana and water, we walked to the Jaffa Gate of the old city, entered Jerusalem, and navigated our way to the Damascus Gate. Just before reaching the gate we stopped and bought fresh squeezed orange juice--very delicious! Debbie also had a taste of tamarind juice (which she plans to go back for tomorrow), but it was not for me.

We crossed the road outside the wall and walked up Nablus Street to the Garden Tomb, arriving just in time to see them lock the gates for the noon hour (really for 2 hours).

We decided then to get a cab to the Jerusalem Center for Near East Studies up on Mt. Scopus. The cab driver didn't recognize the name, so I said BYU Center. He still didn't understand, but questioned, "Mormon University?" I said "yes," and jumped in the cab. He said "40 shekels," and I responded with "just use the meter." He laughed and said "OK." We arrived in 20 minutes with the meter reading 28.9 shekels, so I paid him 30--he said, somewhat surprised, "oh, 30 shekels, ha ha." I'm SURE he had no idea that he would overcharge me by 33% if we agreed on a fixed price...

Unfortunately, we arrived at the center just as THEY were closing for lunch for 2 hours. The security guard took pity on us, though, and asked what we wanted. We said we wanted to see President Brown and deliver a message from our son, so he allowed us to enter and he paged Pres. Brown. We had a short chat with him, then thanked him for seeing us and left the building. We walked uphill for about a half mile, to the Lutheran Hospital at Augusta Victoria, and had a small pita pizza and water for lunch. We returned to the Center at 1400 and had a private tour of the magnificent building and grounds, including viewing a beautiful mosaic exhibit by local artists and a private organ concert performed by the Center's music director. It was very moving listening to the powerful organ while looking out at a spectacular panoramic view of the Old City, including the Dome of the Rock.

We then caught a cab back to the Old City and entered through Lion's Gate, which was a little bit tricky, since the street in front of it was closed and the taxi driver just pointed off in the general direction we should head. We ended up in the Muslim cemetery, which is closest to the Golden Gate (tradition has it that when Christ returns, or comes for the first time, depending on your religion, he will open the Golden Gate, and the graves closest to the gate will be the first opened and their deceased the first to be resurrected), and the gate leading to the Lions Gate was locked. We had to back track for a quarter mile and start again.

Once inside the Old City, we visited St Anne's Church. Anne and Joachim are the parents of Mary, the mother of Jesus, or Jesus' grandparents, and this church is supposed to be erected where their home once was - also counted as Mary's birthplace. Debbie took some great photos of the pools of Bethesda right next to St. Anne's. We then walked up the Via Dolorosa and entered the Austrian Hospice for some warm apple strudel and cream. It was a bit pricey, but the visit to the Hospice (hostel) was worth it - a little bit of Europe right in the middle of Jerusalem, complete with a waitress who spoke German (or was it Austrian?). By the way, if you ever visit Jerusalem and want to stay in the Old City, this could be a good choice. They charge 42 E per night per person, which includes a full breakfast, and it is right in the center of the city-unfortunately right across from a minaret with the loud speakers that blast the meuzzin several times each day - talk about a stunning 'wake-up' call.

After dessert, we walked to the restaurant where we had lunch yesterday and treated ourselves to another mezze salad meal. Yum! - and walked 'home' to our little apartment to cool off and relax - gathering energy for another day of adventure tomorrow.

Goldenbear70 and His Honey, signing off

Be sure to look for more photos on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/21984041@N08/

He Is Not Here, For He Is Risen!

We have been so blessed on this trip. The visibility our first day out in the Galilee region was a bit hazy, but we were able to take the best photos that day. Subsequent days' visibility was very poor, so we were happy to have been able to take the photos we did the first day. The heat wave continued even as we traveled to Jerusalem via Tel Aviv yesterday, but this morning, as we exited our apartment, the temperature was in the seventies, and a cool breeze was blowing. We are also very grateful to have found out about Safed Inn in the North and Ariela's Place here in The Holy City, where we have had excellent, clean accommodations for a fraction of what a hotel would have cost. Our location here is especially great - just a 20-min. walk to the Jaffa Gate!

We entered the Old City there and mostly toured the Arab Quarter today. It is ironic that the most sacred place for Christians is right in the Arab Quarter - the Via Dolorosa follows through the Arab Bazaar where shopkeepers hawk, calling for your business, and once they have you in their shops, they do not want you to leave without making a purchase. At one spot I thought one of us would have to feign a heart attack to get free of the proprietor (who promised us he would still 'love' us even if we did not make a purchase). There is even a mosque just across from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. We did not hear it, but we learned from others there are times when the meuzzin and the church bells are competing for the peoples' attention. There is an object lesson in that description.

Alan was a good guide since he has been here twice before. One shopkeeper even told him he remembered him from his trip a couple of years ago -- that's a good intro line, because it got us into his shop. (I'll bet he says that to all the boys.)

We had another scrumptious lunch at one of the Arab Quarter restaurants: lamb and multiple salads. We paid the price for walking downhill all afternoon when we walked back to our apartment - the walk was all uphill. We had asked a taxi for a price to take us back, but decided we needed the $10 more than he did (and we need the exercise).

The commercial setting and the overbearing religiosity of the various sites combined with the information I have read that indicates these sites were somewhat arbitrarily selected by Constantine's mother, Helena, combined with my own common sense that of course, it would not be possible to be walking on the same stones as King David or Jesus or the first Apostles, left me feeling spiritually untouched. One of the Greek priests actually had to ask a woman to leave one station of the cross, because, as he put it - "You cannot stay overnight here." I felt the need to sit somewhere quiet away from the worshipping throngs and read my guide book and contemplate the great sacrifice of those who have gone before us to preserve our faith.

I found my answer in one of the guidebooks I read after we returned: "It is important to remember that Jesus is not buried here; he was resurrected." As beautiful as this city is and full of all the names and places I have always read about, I know my testimony of the Gospel is not based on any icon or tangible location. So, while being here gives a context to the scriptures, the Spirit is always here for us when we open the door by prayer and studying the scriptures. "Behold I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he with me." Revelations 3:20

See more photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21984041@N08/sets/72157624041760766/

Goldenbear's Honey

Portions of Children and Other Israeli Menu Items

Above: Street in Rosh Pinna

We are in Jerusalem eating breakfast this morning in our tiny studio apartment, "Ariella's Place"(also recommended by the ladies in Jaffa who referred us to Safed Inn), just about ten blocks from the Old City. I find that I miss having salad for breakfast. After doing without fresh fruits and veggies for several days, Israel's menu offerings have more than satisfied my cravings, as most meals are loaded with salads, including breakfast. This morning we only had banana and fresh pita with hummus and hinni (both pronounced with a 'cchh' sound at the beginning) - the first made with chickpeas, and the latter made with sesame seeds. Alan walked to the corner market to purchase those items along with copious amounts of water.

One night we had dinner in Jish (near Tzfat) - fabulous meal that was mostly salads - and the menu had such sections as "Portions of Children." One might wonder how they prepared the children, but then realize it was their selections FOR children (i.e., smaller portions suitable for children to eat). Later that night we walked from Safed Inn to the pizzeria just around the corner, where Alan ordered salad and was told their only salad item was 'Grease' salad, meaning of course, 'Greek' salad, but we had a chuckle between us as we each pictured a refreshing salad made of crisp grease - from the pepperoni perhaps?

The most irresistable eating establishment was Chocolatte in Rosh Pinna. Yes, an entire restaurant based around the ingredient, chocolate! We could not resist. Their menu offered 'chocolatte' (self-expanatory) and 'spicy chocolatte' (the former plus Tabasco and Chili). There was a soup like that too, as well as any drink you could imagine - hot and cold/alcoholic and non- - adapted for chocolate - 'pina colada chocolate' anyone? There was a whole room devoted to desserts and confections in glass cases that I am pretty sure they had to clean often to get all the drool marks off them. We settled for: 1. Deb - quiche (no chocolate added) and salad; and 2. Alan - Shakshuka (a Mediterranean dish of poached eggs in thick tomato and veggie sauce); and 3. Shared - the inevitable piece of decadent chocolate cake, pictured below.

While driving through the Golan Heights and Hula Valley (northeast corner of the country, bordering Syria and Lebanon), we saw such verdant fields of olives, every kind of fruit imagineable (bananas, cherries, dates, peaches, apples...), and we stopped to buy cherries (one of Alan's favorites) and an apple. Our innkeeper back in Tzfat told us we must bless the cherries, as they were the first of the crop this year, so we did. She prepared a nice platter of them to have with our after-dinner herb tea.

Yesterday we drove south from Tzfat, through Cana and Nazareth, where we did not stop, because it was an oppressively hot and humid day with wind coming like the worst Santa Annas in California. Besides it seems the most sacred spots of Nazareth are commercialized past any chance of a spiritual experience. What used to be a quiet isolated town is quite a busy metropolis - a lot can change in 2000 years. It was interesting, however, to get a geographic perspective of the location of the various places mentioned in the New Testament. Cana is in such close proximity to Nazareth, there is almost no delineation between the two cities in modern day. It would have been quite a long walk from Nazareth to the Galilee area. No wonder having ones feet washed was such a treat!

After that I fell asleep, telling Alan to just stay on route 60 all the way to Jerusalem. He woke me up saying he did not like continuing on that route - just did not feel good about it. When I asked why, he said he just had a bad feeling come over him - thought we might be headed for the West Bank. (You have to realize that most of the road signs are in Hebrew and Arabic, so we are somewhat illiterate as drivers.) It was clearly the shortest route to Jerusalem according to the map. Shortly after Alan's "bad feeling," we saw up ahead a checkpoint - a clear border-crossing just before Jenin. Alan asked me to name some of the other towns along the route ahead, and I said, "Ramallah" - and at that point we made a quick u-turn and backtracked back almost to Afula and took the route to Tel Aviv, where we dropped off the rental car and took the bus to Jerusalem. We did not want to be at the mercy of whatever mood the Palestinians were in at the moment. The experience reminded me that in ancient times Jews traveling to Jerusalem went around Samaria, because they did not get along. It was Jesus who traveled through Samaria and there encountered the 'woman at the well.'

Today we are off to explore Jerusalem. Stay tuned...

Goldenbear's Honey

The Galilee and Golan Heights

Today (Sunday) and yesterday, we toured through the Galilee area and the Golan Heights. The Golan is an area in NE Israel that was captured from Syria during the 6 Day War in 1967, and that Syria has been anxious to get back ever since. Galilee, of course, is the area of Jesus' ministry, and we have seen the general area of the "multiplication," better known as "Feeding the 5000," the Mount of Beatitudes, Capernaum, Bethsaida, and Tiberias. We also visited Belvoir, a Crusader fort from 1187--astounding ruins! We have some great pictures to share, so please check Flickr (see link below) for all the labelled photos. Pictured above is the Mount of Beatitudes from the Sea of Galilee.

I only have a few minutes before they pull the plug on me at the hotel, so I'll keep this short. We're leaving the north for Jerusalem tomorrow, so maybe Debbie will add more then.

OK, so we are NOT 'Hostel' People

for more photos see: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21984041@N08/sets/72157623888348517/
We arrived at our Hostel in Tel Aviv (Gordon Inn) and got to bed at about 0400 Thursday morning. We were so tired, we did not care that we had to climb four flights of stairs, the shower wet the floor all the way into the bedroom, and the 'view' out the window was of the wall of the building behind us. The bed was clean, and as a matter of fact, so was the room, but the a/c did not work. It was about four hours after turning it on that the somewhat cool air began to flow. We just could not face another night of heat and humidity, so, after a complimentary Israeli breakfast buffet, we packed up, walked a few blocks and booked a room at the Renaissance on the beach. I know: "Travel Snobs" and "Wimps" - we own up to those labels.

After a good nap, we took a walk down the beach to the port of Jaffa, had schwarmas at the restaurant Alan found two years ago,

and walked back up the beach to take photos of the sun sizzling down into the Mediterranean (Deb's first time to see the

We're now (Friday evening) in Rosh Pinna, on a hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee (really just a lake). We rented a car and drove up the coast from Tel Aviv, the northeast from just south of Haifa, past the turnoff to Nazareth, and up a long hill to the Safed Inn (near Tzfat/Tsfat/Zafat, etc.). It is much cooler here than Tel Aviv, and there are trees on most of the hills--part of the 235 million trees that Israel has planted over the last 50 years.

The weather and land resemble California a good deal, except for the mugginess. I think that Israel is the only other country, besides the US and Canadia, in the world where (1) people speak English, (2) they drive on the right, (3) you can drink the water, and (4) many places will accept dollars.

Debbie gave me a scare after dinner by wandering out of sight into a souvenir shop in Jaffa last night. I could not find her for about ten minutes! While there she spoke to two Canadian ladies last night in Jaffa who recommended the Safed Inn so we ditched our plans to travel from Tel Aviv daily and have the comforts of the Renaissance Hotel, to "roughing it" in Safed in a B & B. the Renaissance was wonderful, with crisp sheets, A/C that could put icicles on your wet hair, and a sumptuous breakfast, but it was very expensive and not near any historical sites, so we rented a car, filled it with the most expensive gas I've ever bought (must be good stuff at $9/gallon), and headed for the hills.

The proprietor of the inn is the third generation owner, who told me his grandfather hauled water 10 km up the hill with a donkey in order to plant the first trees here in 1936. The owner's wife is American, so we feel right at home. They directed us to a restaurant about ten minutes' drive down the mountain to Jish to a fabulous Mediterranean meal of about a dozen salads and side-dishes and lamb/cow kebab accompanied by lemonade and a Baklava-like dessert of shredded wheat, cheese and honey. If we did not know better, we would think we had driven through the Napa Valley, as there were vineyards on either side of the road most of the way. There were also forests of pine, eucalyptus and cedar flanking the roadway's hairpin turns.

Debbie has spent the day reading of all the places we should visit here in the north. After dinner I'll find out what tomorrow holds in store!

For now, "Shabbat Shalom" from Goldenbear70 and his Honey

Day Five: We Are No Longer Tourists – We Are Pilgrims

This morning we had a wake-up call scheduled for 0615, with the plan to order a taxi for 0700 pick-up, so of course Goldenbear70 could not sleep past 0500. We had walked to the ‘bear’ necessities store last night where we purchased frozen food to heat for our dinner in our room’s microwave. We also picked up frozen food for our breakfast this morning. I have not had five daily servings of fruit/veggies since our trip began (some days not even one serving), and right now I would pay almost any amount for apples, carrot & celery sticks, or something similar. Honey out.

Goldenbear70 taking over here: This morning we took the taxi to the Puerto train station, but when we tried to purchase tickets, the attendant told us the tickets for Madrid were sold in a different building, across the street; the only one I saw was a decrepit shack with barred windows and doors, so back I went to the “estacion.” The guy told me, “Ahh, cerrado hasta los ocho, mas or menos.” It was 0725, dark, and freezing. The weather is very much like California’s weather, with cool/cold nights, warm sunny days, and low humidity. The difference is that Rota must be on double Daylight Savings Time, because it doesn’t get light until 0745 or so, and it stays light until almost 2200. We were still in the dark, so it was COLD! (ßto Gbear70, but to Honey it was refreshing!)

When the Madrid guy showed up, he tried to sell me a first class ticket for 30 Euros more than “turista,” but I was too smart for him! I bought two turista tickets, and got on the same train as the primero clase gent; we arrived at the same time as the rich folk, too J. The train was on schedule, super quiet, with reclining seats, headphones, music, movies (en espanol), and a rest room. It also went 250 kph –(150 MPH) and got us to Madrid in 4 hours, passing through Cordoba, Seville, Ciudad Real, and countryside that very much resembles California. Even the graffiti was the same—all in Spanish!

We then proceeded through the train station to find a snack bar for a bite to eat. I bought what I thought were two ham and cheese paninis, but mine turned out to be Spanish ham (smells like a stable) and last week’s scrambled eggs on a bun, while my honey had a REAL sandwich of ham, cheese and lettuce grilled on the Panini maker. I ate the bread and left the “filling,” not wanting to come down with hoof and mouth disease. This delicious meal, including two flat Coke Zeros and two 44 gram bags of chips, was 13E or about $17—and it wasn’t even the aeropuerto!

I asked a security person if we should take the autobus to the aeropuerto, but she said, “no, el Metro. Va a gobbledegook waa waa waa, y entonces mas gobbledegook naa naa naa, en linea seis.” Sure, no problema. We walked to the Metro station, right inside the train station, and tried to buy two billetes por el aeropuerto, but the cussin’ machine wouldn’t take a 50E note. I tried 6 stores for change, without success, and the last guy told me to try el banco. I entered the bank, got in line for the teller, and he shoved a “cerrado” sign in front of his window just as I got there.

I then got at the end of the line for the other teller, and when my turn came, he asked me for my number. “What number?” I asked. (“I don’t gotta show you no stinkin’ number!”) He pointed to the number machine on the far side of the bank and wouldn’t change my 50E note without my number. I got a number and saw that I had to wait for 4 more people to be served—this was taking a LONG time! Well, there were only two other people in the bank, two young ladies (with short skirts—I noticed that) talking to each other. The teller announced number 154—no takers. 155—same thing. 156—nobody home—this was going to be easy! 157—the two young ladies got up to the window, then pulled out a paper bag full of bills that they wanted to deposit. I wonder where they got all those bills by noon? Hmmm….

Anyway, the teller had to put each denomination of bills through a counting machine, even though some denominations only had three bills, so this took quite a long time. When I finally got to the teller, he acted like he didn’t know what I wanted, so I had to tell him again that I wanted to cambiar the 50E note. All this took about 15 minutes—I thought Debbie was long gone, shopping or worse, but there she was, standing right where I left her, dutifully guarding the bags. What a trooper!

We rode the Metro #1 line three stops, got off to catch the #10 line, rode it three more stops, then transferred to the #8 line. These transfers sometimes required us to go down to the depths of Hades. Luckily the escalators were going down, so we didn’t have to carry the bags, just let them ride. The poor people traveling the other way—they have to carry their bags up 16 flights of stairs L. I think this will be our fate in several days.

We finally made it to the aeropuerto, but there were no signs to tell us which stop to use to get to Alitalia, our airline to Rome and Tel Aviv, so we just followed a big guy with tattoos who seemed to know where he was going. This was Debbie’s idea – she said he “looked” American. It worked, though, as we exited the Metro at the stop for Terminals 1, 2, and 3, and our airline was in Terminal 2.

We are now awaiting boarding at our gate for our flights (Madrid-Rome & Rome-Tel Aviv), with the only casualty occurring when my IBM backpack, containing my $2500 iMac and $1000 Canon camera (with two lenses, I’ll have you know), fell off the back of the men’s restroom door when the guy in the next stall slammed his door, causing my backpack to crash to the floor. The iMac is dented on the right end, right below the On/Off button, and the DVD player no longer works, but I am typing this OK, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed that I can connect to the internet (thanks Algore, for inventing it) and post this Thursday. Let me know if you can’t read it, OK?

Summary overview for today:

1. The train in Spain [stays mainly in the plain?] = prompt, clean, spacious, quiet, fast transportation.

2. Based on the people we encountered, fewer people in Spain & Italy speak English than in France.

3. Toilet paper in the public restrooms resembles the tissue one lines gift boxes with – ineffective and uncomfortable.

4. It has been a very loooooong day since our Jimmy Dean frozen eggs, ham & potatoes, and we still have had no fruit/veggies. Dinner was identical to lunch.

5. If you’re reading this, it means we got to Tel Aviv and obtained internet access (and the computer still functions).

Goldenbear70 and His Honey

Goldenbear's Honey Here - Days 3 & 4

Goldenbear (a/k/a Alan) is hibernating at the moment, after another walk across town. I am wisely saving my energy today in preparation for a very long day tomorrow - more on that later.

I find myself in "catch-up" mode for this blog, as Alan has only covered the flight to Rota. After we arrived, we checked into the Navy Lodge and showered - ahhhh! that felt great! Alan also did some laundry, and we walked to dinner in town with Bob & Kate (the father/daughter team we met on the flight). Between Kate's excellent Spanish and Alan's remedial Spanish combined with his supreme confidence, we found the restaurant the NL manager had recommended - Meson los Arcos, where we ordered Paella per the server's suggestion. It was a beautiful dish, but a little too fishy tasting for us - nevertheless, we were hungry (all I had to eat for breakfast and lunch was the Milky Way and Nutri-Grain Cereal Bar from the box 'lunch' we had on the plane), and we enjoyed the company and the setting. I found myself coveting Kate's steak and sauteed mushrooms and making a mental note not to order Paella again - 'ever in life,' as one of my cute daughters-in-law, Polina, says.

The next morning (Monday), we again walked to town, first to the ATM to obtain some Euros (amazing thing how you can buy money); then to the police station to have our passports stamped; and then making it across town to the Atlantic Ocean. The beach was beautiful - too chilly for swimming or sunbathing, but we enjoyed the gorgeous Bay Area-type weather and stopped to sample some local fare, including delicious homemade patitas fritas (potato chips) and helado (ice cream). We shall start the low-calorie diet another day.

We could see the town of Cadiz to the South as we stood at the beach. Alan took some good pictures of the lovely rows of houses and charming narrow streets. We found we were strolling during the siesta period of the day - most of the shops and restaurants close at 1400 and reopen at 1700. Alan was happy, because that meant I could only window shop and not purchase. I did treat myself to an orange thinking they must be fresh, as I could see them growing on the trees along the street.

For more photos see: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21984041@N08

I was surprised that the Naval Base only flies the Spanish flag and is manned by Spanish military staff. Alan explained that the US Navy is only a tenant here, and as guests and not residents with permanent orders, we are not allowed to purchase items from the NEX or Commissary - there is a convenience store where we can buy the bare necessities, however.

So...tomorrow (5 May) we will have a taxi pick us up about 0700 and take us to the train station for a trip to Madrid, and later in the day we will board an Alitalia flight to Tel Aviv that will get us there about 0230 6 May. I am going to have to get the olden, goldenbear up soon to walk me into town for some supper - last night we waited too late, and we had to get by with only a bowl of cereal.

Day Two--We Finally Board!

We returned to Dover at 0900 Saturday, eager to finally fly to Europe. Our plan was to fly to Rota, then on to Sigonella, Sicily and Souda Bay, Crete, from whence we would have a short flight to Tel Aviv. That was the plan, anyway...

We waited patiently--ok, not so patiently, for the 1440 anticipated show time, when the AF guys would hand us our coveted boarding passes, based upon our category (we, as retirees, are in Category VI of 6--bottom of the priority list) and sign up time. Luckily, I had shotgunned an e-mail sign up to any and all bases from which we might fly back on 8 April, so we had 3 weeks "seniority" on our side, in case too many people wanted to compete for too few seats. About 1300, however, our friendly terminal attendant silently changed the coveted seat count from 19 tentative to zero firm seats, meaning that the plane would go to Rota without passengers, or "pax" in AF jargon.

Several couples waiting for the Rota flight were as upset as we were. One couple, Bob and Kate, a father-daughter duo, were making a Spanish-language immersion trip as a college graduation present for Kate. Another couple, Dave and Judy, were trying to catch a cruise ship in Barcelona on Sunday for a tour of the Med. They had left Travis a week earlier, and had several flights fall through and were in danger of missing their ship. In the Navy, missing ship's movement was a Captain's Mast offense--they could be reduced in rank and forfeit half a month's pay!

There was a glimmer of hope, though: there was a C-5 flight to Charleston leaving that night, and there was a tentative flight to Rota late Saturday night from Charleston. We crossed our fingers, changed our flight requests to Charleston, and boarded the busses to the flight line... oops--flight delayed 30 minutes--back to the terminal!

Once again we boarded the standard issue military busses (meaning "no frills" like A/C--it was 90 F), and weaved our way through the various plane types on the flight line: C-5s, C-17s, KC-135s, C-130s, and contract 747s. We boarded and strapped in for the 90 minute flight to Charleston. The crew, a reserve outfit recalled to active duty for the third time in 8 years, was great, and we arrived in Charleston without incident.

After processing through the terminal for our flight to Rota, we visited with our other "special category" travelers in the "special category" lounge, complete with 4 inch cockroaches. These lounges used to be called "VIP" lounges, then "distinguished visitor" lounges for E-9 and O-6 and above travelers, but someone must have been offended--twice--so the name was changed to protect the guilty. Kate and Bob were there, as were Dave and Judy, and "Doc" Ramon, going to visit his son in Spain. A great bunch, all things considered.

At 0100 we boarded the same C-5 that carried us to Charleston, with the same affable sergeant in charge of the pax, for the flight to Rota. We each grabbed a row of seats, and were soon sleeping our way across the Atlantic. We awoke about 30 minutes prior to landing, for the 1500 Sunday touchdown in Rota. We made it to Europe!

Our First Space A Trip--Or So We Thought

My wife, Debbie, had always wanted to go to Israel. My standard response was "it's too dangerous, (or too expensive) at this time. Let's wait a bit..." So almost 40 years have passed, and she still hadn't traveled to the Holy Land.

I, on the other hand, went to Israel twice in 2008 to set up logistics processes for shipping a new computer for a company that IBM purchased that year. My excuse of safety concerns was thus rendered null and void, so I started thinking of ways to travel there as a couple.

What came to mind was a "Space A" trip via the US Air Force using AMC ("airplane maybe come") flights, but to do so we had to have a lot of time at our disposal. Well, we both retired from our jobs in March, sold our home, packed all our goods into storage, and took off for Europe via Las Vegas, Denver (where son Mark and his wife, Katie, put us up for a month), back to Provo to visit son Carson, NYC (where son Andrew and his wife, Polina, hosted us for a week), and Philadelphia (to visit son Chris and wife Anne, and grandchildren Isabelle, Chase, and Heather).

After making a recon trip to McGuire AFB, NJ on Thursday 29 April to ensure all was set for a flight to Rota, Spain on Friday, we learned that the incoming plane had been diverted to Dover AFB, Delaware, so we made plans to be there early Friday to sign up and wait our turn to get aboard our first "hop."

Debbie and I started out from north Philly just in time to catch all the morning rush hour(s) traffic, and I was feeling anxious about making it in time to beat all those "others" who would be competing for our spots on the plane. We crawled through stop and go traffic on I-95 in Philly for over an hour, made several questionable turns in Wilmington trying to get on the right road to Dover, but arrived at Dover AFB about 10 AM for the 1440 "show time" for the flight to Rota. We waited in the brand new USO lounge, sans bags, as they were not allowed inside--they had to remain in the main terminal, unattended, while every 15 minutes an announcement was made to report any unattended baggage to authorities, supposedly so they could be blown up as possible terrorist-planted bombs. Who reviews this stuff, anyway?

After waiting an hour, we were informed that the flight to Rota had been "scrubbed," meaning it was cancelled for now, and we were to come back tomorrow. We took our bags and headed for the BOQ, only to find out that it was a reservist drill weekend in Dover, so all on-base rooms were taken. We drove back to Wilmington to get a room at the Fairfield Inn, using Carson's employee discount, but had to pay the $1 highway and $1 bridge tolls for Delaware highway 1 again, as we had just paid them on the way down. (Funny thing--the next day the tolls had been raised to $2 each, under the assumption that anyone traveling on Saturday must be doing it for fun and could pay double.)

So to recap--flight from McGuire diverted to Dover, so we delayed a day, went to Dover, and then were delayed another day. Not off to a good start...but good for the toll-takers and motel operators!