Israel - Holy Cultures Day 16

Day 16 - Saturday, October 30, 2010 - Flight Home

The alarm went off at 3:00 am and surprisingly we saw many cars and taxi cabs out on the streets. We completed our last minute packing and were in the lobby for the shuttle to the airport at 4:00.

A full size bus came to pick up eight of us who were all going to depart at about the same time. As soon as we arrived at Ben Gurion International Airport, we went to the international departure hall and got in a security line.

A young woman asked us the standard questions about our bags and then our luggage was scanned for dangerous materials. We passed and then checked in with the gate agent who checked our bags all the way to Denver and gave us boarding passes for each flight.

The next step was to go through security and then a long line to go through the Israeli passport control to leave the country. The flight left on time and we tried to sleep a bit on our way to Paris.

We actually arrived a few minutes early so we had time to go to the Air France Lounge. The representative there told us that the Airbus 380 we were to take to JFK had had “an incident” and that there would be a change of aircraft making it necessary to change our seat assignments. She gave us new boarding passes and we were able to write a quick message home.

When we got to the gate there was a line a mile long of those who had not gotten the word and needed to make seat assignment changes. We found out that the problem was the Big Bird was on the tarmac and hit by another aircraft – heads will roll because of that accident!

The Airbus 380 holds over 525 passengers so the gate agents were trying to reassign all of those people on to a 300 passenger Boeing 777. Our friends Joe and Sandy along with other 225 people were delayed and sent on a later flight.

Because of the delays, our aircraft took off at 2:55 but we arrived at JFK at 5:00 in plenty of time to go through customs and then walk to Terminal 3 from Terminal 1 to catch our Delta flight at 7:25 and on to Denver.

Security at JFK was a nightmare; everyone was on edge because of the terrorist threats from Yemen this weekend. But we made it to the Delta Lounge to post the journal from yesterday and catch up on a few e-mails.

We went back to Gate 1 where we had a short wait and then boarded the last leg of our journey. The flight was easy until we got close to Denver and then we were hit by the front that would bring us a weather change for the weekend.

We caught a shuttle that took us right to our car and we were on our way south to Monument Hill. After a short stop at Safeway for groceries we were home at a little after midnight.

Another wonderful journey, a very talented tour director, and a harmonious travel group made this a trip of a life time! But as we always say, there is no place like home!

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A CD OF EACH TRIP IS AVAILABLE.

These CDs are compilations of slide presentations of each day (pictures of the events during the day) accompanied by music reflective of the nation and day.

On most CDs there are presentations on the people of the country, people traveling with the group, flowers, and panoramas.

On more recent trips, short videos have been included on the web pages and these videos are also available in the CD.

The CD is available for $20 US. Shipping and handling is included for US addresses. Slightly higher for overseas shipping.

To view an example of the presentations Click Here

As it is an 8:13 presentation, give yourself time to see it in its entirety.

Please contact garciatrips@gmail.com for more specific information and a screen capture

of the CD menu.

Looked forward each day for your daily journal

Welcome home!! Journal was fascinating. Thanks for sharing this interesting trip.

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