Monday October 14, 2019
TEL AVIV, Israel – When planning your own trip and absent from the comfort of tour directors, expect challenges and road blocks never thought possible.
Our flight from Istanbul to here was smooth, uneventful and without stress. From our hotel, we took a mini bus to a central bus location and caught a modern tour bus to the airport. Total cost was about $20 and if we took a cab from the hotel to the airport, the cost may been, we’re guessing, several times that amount.
We have an air bnb in Tel Aviv and arriving here, the challenge was finding the property. With GPS and communication from the property owner, we usually find our way. From basic instructions, we were told to take a train to central Tel Aviv and then a few options. We could get a cab, a municipal bus or a Gett, which is a rude-share program similar to Uber.
We decided to call Gett and with some difficulty, the driver found the property.
Of the air bnb properties we’ve rented, the property here in Tel Aviv is clearly the most disappointing. Seemed like the property owner never cleans this place and my laptop could not find the WiFi network. I ended up writing today’s blog on my iPhone.
We are so dismayed about the property that we reached out to the owner of the property in Jerusalem and asked to add four nights. She agreed and now we have nearly two weeks there.
Tomorrow. Tuesday, we’ll chill out here and recover. At this point, I think we’ll visit Petra in Jordan this Sunday and Monday and recognize travel there will be time-consuming. Plus, we both need visas for Jordan but these can be secured at the border.
After arriving at the Tel Aviv property. we a found a mini mart and picked up up a few things. Waynette made some pasta and sauce and we finally had a semblance of dinner at 1 am
Approaching 2 on Tuesday morning, we’ve had enough for today. Still managed 11,000 steps and 5,5 miles.
PICTURES – welcome to Israel and images from from our Tel Aviv property
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