I was a flight attendant for over 8 years and never got the chance to visit the Holy Land but last April 27-May 4, 2013 I got this once in a lifetime chance.
My husband was travelling for business there and so I tagged along. It was quite a journey to go there as you know we live in the middle east and quite frankly they are not good friends. So, we had to travel via Cyprus, we took Gulf Air to Larnaca via Bahrain . Larnaca airport was small, we had an 8 hour transit and so we decided to rent a car for the day to see the City. Cyprus was beautiful, people there were friendly. We even got the chance to cross the border and enter the Turkish side, how cool is that!
Travelling to Tel Aviv was a smooth flight via Cyprus Air. Business Class ticket was 50euro more expensive than economy and so we decided to take business class to give us a good rest (I always hate night flights). Immigration personnel in Tel Aviv look so tough, but I got through easily with no problem, although I still had to wait as my husband's passport was confiscated for further investigation. *Since February 2013, they don't stamp passport anymore instead they will give you an electronic paper of your visa entry to Israel.
We landed almost midnight into Tel Aviv, and we were so tired. We stayed at Leonardo Hotel which was very nice. They upgraded us to Junior Suite which was so big! Although we arrived late, I still woke up early, I was feeling excited to be in a new country (I always get this feeling when I was still flying and it was a new destination for me, I kinda miss that feeling). I was glad that my husband did not have meeting that very next day and so we went together to Jerusalem.
DAY1
I am very good in self travel. I rarely do arrange tours because it limits your time and more expensive. And so from Tel Aviv we took a bus going to Jerusalem. It was very easy and it's very cheap. One way bus ride will cost you 30shekels (that's about $10) and a taxi will cost you 250shekels ($70) which one should you choose? It's a no brainer for me! Anyways, our hotel was conveniently located where you can catch a bus easily.
I was impressed and amazed with Jerusalem. I feel so blessed that I was finally there! We went straight to the Old City. We went down at Lion's Gate, where the start of the Via Dolorosa. We toured the Old City by following the Via Dolorosa. Some guys will offer you a tour of the Old City for $10 each, we did not take it as I thought it will take much of our time, but I highly recommend it because it took us more time trying to find our way through our map.
