Israel & Jordan 2023: Touchdown Tel Aviv

Travel date for this series is from January 14 - 27, 2023.

Let me begin this series by saying we almost didn't make it to this trip, because someone from the front desk of American Airlines was not using some common sense. One of the documents we were required to carry (digital or physical) and present was a insurance coverage letter - assuring the countries we're traveling to that we would shoulder medical expenses should the situation arises.

Thankfully, I have secured this through my medical insurance from work that covers me and my husband anywhere thru reimbursement after the fact, should the medical situation occur in places where they don't offer coverage.

However, said front desk clerk was specifically wanting to see the words "covered for covid" instead of the generic one that my insurance company uses.

We were there early enough because I thought we'd get time to walk around once we put in our bags and all, but we were put on hold until the very last minute when a supervisor stepped in and approved our letter. The clerk claimed it's a British Airways policy and since we would be transferring to BA in NYC, they were making sure that all our docs were in order here in SFO.

So we finally got to fly and had a few hours to kill in JFK. We got coffee and tried the pizza, but mostly we were glued to the tube since our 49ers were playing the Seahawks, which was a crucial game. One that we didn't finish because we boarded before the game ended.

So many 49ers fans in JFK at that time.

The flight was smooth and we arrived in Heathrow on time. Went back to do the check baggage again, which was not so bad. We weren't in Heathrow for a long time and then we're back on the plane bound for Tel Aviv.

The flight from London to Tel Aviv was about 7 hours long and they served two meals, unlike only snacks served from NYC to London.

Welcome to the Promised Land.

We were so ready to get the travel ball rolling once we landed, but the line to Immigration was horrendous. We stood on this line for what seemed like eons. The husband had to call the company that was going to fetch us from the airport that there is a major delay in Immigration. He had to call because we know the guy has seen on the board that the flight has landed and probably we didn't show up or something. We don't want him to leave without us.

When we finally made it out of Immigration and had collected our bags, it was dark. The driver was waiting for us outside. He was chatty despite his limited English. We noticed that no one was wearing a mask. He saw both of us wearing masks and hurriedly put one on, then commented, "In Tel Aviv, no one wears masks anymore. Those that do have covid."

First sunset captured while on the move from airport to hotel.

Mural near our hotel.

Hotel lobby.

From our hotel room (we are 2 blocks away from the water), we could see the beach and a block away from us is the American embassy - the shorter well-lit building. We felt safe already.

Although I must say up front that we felt safe walking about in Tel Aviv. People are nice and we didn't see anything that would raise our anxiety level. Such a nice city, one they call the Big Orange.