Flying east we lose time, very interesting looking at the flight map and seeing the day/night boundary across the globe. Sometime in late morning I look out the window (thankfully I had a window seat) as we are flying over Athens, Greece. I can see the whole city right on the Mediterranean. I’m not certain, but I believe we also flew directly over the island of Crete. I recently read the book of Acts and looked up the map in my Bible. Thinking of Paul’s adventure sailing along the southern coast of this island.
We finally reach the coast of Israel and I can see the whole coastline along the Medeterranian. Tel Aviv is a very large metropolitan city, looks like any large US city but with lots of undeveloped areas scattered around for farms or trees. Nice not to see a strip mall on every piece of available land. This city is modern day “Joppa”. We land around 3:50p, that’s 5:50a pacific. We all congregate at baggage claim, I exchange my cash for sheckels and head out to our tour bus. Our bus driver is Joeshi (Joseph) and our guide is David. He is touted as the best guide in all Israel.
We head out north along the Meditation coast highway (not called that actually) and already I’m amazed at how lush and fertile everything is. The landscape is beautiful and manicured; I don’t see any trash along the road. This area is called the Sharon Valley. Over 240 million trees have been planted across Israel since 1948. This area was once infested with swamps and malaria. But countless Eucalyptus trees were planted (this tree being a very thirsty tree) which drained the swamps and cured the malaria.
Our bus arrives at our first hotel, the Dan Caesarea, a beautiful hotel only a mile or so from the Mediterranean Sea. While checking in, I spot a famous person in the lobby. Our first dinner was unbelievable, pictures say it best.
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