Guiding Star, our tour company, arranged for us to have a farewell dinner at Notre Dame Jerusalem Center. This is a beautiful hotel and convention center owned by the Vatican.
Multiple tour groups come here as evidenced by the many motor coaches lined up to drop off guests.
We ate a buffet style lunch here one day during the tour, but our evening meal was a full-service dinner at the rooftop restaurant. In traditional fashion, we had a variety of “salad” which could be used as filling in pita bread. But this time we were also served a true salad, or at least what Americans would typically call a salad. they also brought us an entree and a dessert I had never seen before: Kanafeh – Hot and crispy-layered angel hair pastry with white cheese, hot rose water syrup & Vanilla ice cream.
From here we went back into the Old City.
to the Jerusalem Light Show at the Tower of David Museum. Since we arrived close to start time, we found seats near the front; however, I think seats further back would have given a wider view. The Old City walls in the museum are used as a screen and scenes from the life of David are projected there. My pictures will not do it justice, and I never thought to get a picture of the walls before the show began, but these two photos may give you some idea. The first is from the opening scene and the second gives a little background of David – showing his lineage through Ruth, who is gleaning in the field.
This theater is within the Tower of David museum, but is outdoors and susceptible to the weather. It was pretty chilly that night so we wrapped up accordingly.
We headed back to our hotel for a good night’s rest and were whisked away to the airport the next morning. Ben Gurion Airport is a modern, bustling airport. Our guide was amazing. He could have dropped us at the airport and we would have scrambled around trying to figure out how to check in, but he guided us to the correct line for our flight, made sure we seemed settled, and then bid us a safe journey.
It took a little while to get checked in. One thing I found interesting is that they asked who our group leader was and then pulled my husband aside privately to ask him some questions about our trip. Then they picked someone else at random from the group to ask the same questions to be sure they matched. The wanted to know how many days we were in Israel, where we had been, etc. The goal was to make sure the answers all matched. Fortunately our guide had explained this process to us and we were expecting it.
Once we were screened and dropped off our checked bags, everyone pretty much made a bee-line to the nearest restroom before going through security. Security was pretty typical for most major airports. Everything on a conveyer belt to be imaged, people walking through a scanner and some people being “wanded” or patted down, and a few carryon bags being searched.
There were plenty of shopping opportunities for that last minute souvenir or snack as we made our way to the terminal for our flight.
Israel has long had a reputation as a hot bed of civil unrest. Many tourists avoid Israel because of this. In fact, we had not been home for long when the news was reporting missile launches from Gaza toward the city.
I felt safe the whole time we were in Israel. Maybe that was naive of me, but I followed all the rules of international travel: Use a reputable company, Stay with your group, Stay in the typical tourist areas, Never flash money around, Be aware of your surroundings, etc. I loved this experience, and I recommend it to everyone. We saw “Pray for Israel,” and “Pray for Palestine” signs throughout our tour depending on where we were. I’m sure the groups posting those signs have differing outcomes in mind for the prayers they are requesting, but I believe that a prayer for peace and fairness would be desired by all.