Arrival at Tiberius

We're here, in Israel. Of course, since we left New York Saturday night at midnight, and arrived in Israel at sundown, we haven't seen anything yet other than Ben Gurion airport.
The flight was actually two flights, mine and Stu's. After a momentary lapse in sanity, immediately following the airport announcement calling our flight number and stating, El Al flight leaving at 11:50 for Los Angeles and then through to Tel Aviv, it took about 15 minutes for the passengers to realize the announcement was in error. Stu and I were frantically trying to call our friends Susan and Joel to tell them that the flight would be actually leaving from LA, and that they might want to go there directly instead of coming to NY first. Stu was already considering requesting a refund from the tour company for routing us through New York when LA is just around the corner. All was made clear, not by another announcement, but by the ticket agent asking why is everyone asking about LA? So, no, the geography remains, and you fly to Tel Aviv from JFK or other points east.
Stu and I might have taken separate flights, so different were our experiences. I did my usual settling in, popping an ambien, and sleeping until breakfast. Stu tried settling into a seat way too small and cramped, popped an ambien, then proceeded to stay awake for the next 9 hours. He saw a lot more than I did. Our fellow passengers included many orthodox who dovened, donned tefellin and tallit, whose wives corralled their multiple young children and maintained crowd control. The orthodox, we both saw, don't wear the same clothes. The women had stylish wigs, some lovely faces and calm smiles--in spite of the 3-5 young children in tow. The men, wore any manner of black brimmed hat, pais in styles ranging from very long and curly to tucked behind the ears or woven into the beard. Garb was black broacade, wool blend, with black pants full length or below the knee with knee socks. Reminded us a bit of the French revolutionary dress with knickers and stockings for the men. We certainly felt safe with all of the praying and the flight was eventless.
Our arrival at Ben Gurion went without a hitch. Our luggage arrived, we got our Budget rent a car (A Hyundai), arranged for a GPS system, and headed north for Tiberius. By the time we left the airport it was dark, a bit drizzly, and chilly. If it weren't for the GPS we'd still be driving because the route numbers didn't always match the map. There were, however, plenty of signs in Hebrew, Arabic and English. Most of the roads, with a few pot holes as the exception, were well lit, easy to travel, and used the international driving symbols. We even passed 3 different McDonalds on the trip north.
Hotel Club Tiberius doesn't quite look like the photos in the Interval Directory. At least not at night, and not from the inside of our room. The rooms have everything we need including a small fridge, microwave, a balcony with chairs and table, full bath with plenty of towels. But all is old and small. The lobby computers are out for repair and will return in a week or two or maybe more. But the desk manager was very helpful in setting up my computer to go wireless from the lobby internet. It is a challenge when the instructions come up in Hebrew, but I'm working it out.
We're set tomorrow to take the driving tour of Tiberius, self guided, to see the historical sites, Christian and Jewish, the Sea, and burial grounds of Maimonedes and others. We're not quite feeling Israel yet, in the dark most towns look alike. Tomorrow morning should be the beginning of our real adventure.
PS. It's great that my cousin Audrey and Aunt Roz fed us so well during our brief NY stop, we haven't eaten yet in Israel. The airplane breakfast on El-Al was about as tasty as most airplane food, with one exception, okay, two exceptions. The breakfast bagle didn't come wrapped in plastic, it lie fresh in a basket. And, there were green olives served with the fruit. We loved that. For us, for this beginning of the trip, it's the green olives that most seem like Israel.
Good night, Adrienne and Stu