I take back what I said earlier about Israel security not being too bad, the passport control is not bad, the security is taken to the extreme. Not only did I get stopped outside the airport a few times for brief interviews and one bag search, but on my flight to Eilat I got the whole nine yards from airport security, which included several interviews by increasingly senior security personnel, followed by a complete bag search and metal detection of me and my clothes. Thankfully after they cleared me and my bags they helped me bypass the regular security everyone else has to go through so that I could make my flight. I also got 30-45 minute interviews for my flights back from Eilat and on to Dubai. But even on those two, they also swabbed everything in my bags and put the swabs on some machine, I think to detect for traces of explosive. I can’t blame them though and you sure feel a lot safer knowing what someone would have to get past to get anything on a plane. I guess I look suspicious…

Someone I met at the Jaffa Gate hostel in Jerusalem also told me about some wind tunnel machine they make you pass through on your way over some bridge from Jordan, which is supposed to blow off any particles which may be on your clothes to tell them if you have been around any suspicious materials. Then the receptionist said that he likes to go through there, once three times in the same day, to cool off when it is really hot, haha.

I was only able to stay one night in Jerusalem because I got there around 9 at night and had to leave for my flight out at 1:45 the next day. I really should have set aside more time for Israel, and I’m glad I went with 5 days instead of 3 like I originally planned. Still,I feel like it is one of the places with the most left undone, and I definitely want to come back. Also from Eilat you can take day trips to Sinai Egypt and Petra Jordan, both of which look very cool.

Check back later for some pictures of stuff I saw/did in Israel.

After a long, long day I finally made it out of Athens last night only a few hours before a general strike began which would have meant I would have been stuck at the airport another day at least and it would have really thrown my plans off. I ended up flying Turkish Airways through Istanbul which was kinda cool but I didn’t get my passport stamped. They have a pretty nice airport terminal and a smoker’s wonderland of duty free shops selling packs of cigarettes in aisles like a grocery store. My layover there was long enough I was able to get dinner and have some Turkish beer, which was pretty good, and it helped me sleep on the plane a little, and on the train station bench, and the bus terminal bench…

I had heard stories that Israeli customs can be really tough to get through, like they ask you a bunch of questions about your family and stuff but it was pretty quick. Probably about the same level of questioning Paul, Phil and I got when going to Prague. One question that I probably should have seen as a warning of things to come was “Where are you staying?” “Oh, I forget the name of the place, it is some hostel in Tel Aviv,” I know what you’re thinking, but give me a break, I only made the booking less than 24 hours ago at the Athens airport, also I didn’t technically have a room for this night, since the website said there was no availability on the 9th, but I figured at the least I could drop my bags off and find a couch to lay down on.

But I made it through immigration and customs with no problems, and I was feeling pretty good at this point and was excited to find a bed to sleep in instead of this airplane seat stuff. After a quick review of my guide book, notes and my hostel info, I headed for the train station, only I literally missed the train that runs once every hour at that time of night/morning by about 10-15 seconds, it started to pull away as I put my ticket in to get through the gate to the platform. Not that it would have mattered that much, since the buses don’t start running until a little after 5 am. Then I got bad directions and got on the wrong bus, couldn’t see any street signs, no stops announced, my map didn’t cover the area the bus route was taking, … ahhh. To make a long story short, I finally made it to my hostel around 8 or 9 am, and thankfully they let me check in so early. I went right upstairs and took another nap.

The place I am staying at has a great location. Literally one block from the beach, which is gorgeous:

So I spent the afternoon soaking up some sun on a Mediterranean beach in December. Also I think my favorite walking shoes that I have had since 9th or 10th grade got a little too wet one too many times in Madrid or Rome because they had been stinking up a storm any time I wore them, so I just had to toss them and get some new shoes. Hopefully these new ones are as good to me as that last pair. After my shoe shopping I went back to the beach and watched the sunset and played in the sand a little, which is probably the best sand on any beach I have ever seen. It feels like something between brown and powdered sugar.

Tomorrow I am going to Eilat on the Red Sea for some snorkeling and/or diving, but I will be back after a few days to visit a little more of the city and hopefully I will have a chance to take a day trip over to Jerusalem before I have to leave. Anyway, just wanted to let everyone know that I made it out of Athens, and am doing well.

Last night in Athens was nuts, the rioters did a lot more damage than the other nights. Lots of stores on the major street two blocks from where I was staying got smashed up or burned. Trash cans and dumpsters were on fire on the other side of the same block, I think I saw what was left of someone’s motorcycle or scooter. Several government buildings were burned down, and so was the Olympic Airlines main office building in Athens, who just happens to be my carrier out of Athens.

I was supposed to leave at 1:20 am tomorrow morning and wasn’t really sure what I was going to do today, but I wanted to get out of the city and I didn’t want to try to do a day trip and then have to come back through whatever madness is in store for tonight to get my carry on bag, so I just packed up and left for the airport this morning for another ‘Terminal’ day. Only when I got here and checked my email, I had a message saying that the flight is moved to the next day!.. But apparently its not due to the fire, but another damn strike! I clearly picked the worst time to come to Greece.

So I went into panic mode for a few minutes trying to think “what am I going to do now,” but I was able to book a flight with another carrier out of Athens today that will get me to Tel Aviv earlier than my original flight. I also had a refund form filled out on the original ticket at the Olympic ticket office, where they said I would get a full refund.

But back to last night, it was crazy out, really like nothing I’ve seen before, and a bit more than I bargained for when I decided I wanted to come here. I went out after sundown and walked up some small streets and a path that leads up to the back side of the Acropolis where I had been wanting to take a couple pictures of the city at night since my first day when I found the place but didn’t have my camera with me. And from there I could see about 5-6 different areas of the city with large gray or black smoke columns rising into the night. One area I could see embers from whatever was burning… When the distant shouting, booms and other loud noises seemed to calm down a little I came back down from the hill, which is when I saw what had happened right by where I was staying. I guess the rioters had come right through that area while I was up on the hill, kinda crazy. Thankfully no one has been killed or seriously hurt as far as I know, but I am ready to get out of here, hah. I don’t know how much longer my laptop battery is going to last but I will try to upload and post a few pictures and a video I took on my way up the hill.

Photos

Video

Sadly I had to leave Rome, I had such a good time though that I’m sure I will be back.

Athens has been a little bit of culture shock, since they use an entirely different alphabet and I had to really look closely to compare train/metro signs one in lowercase one in uppercase in order to figure out how to get to my hostel, but after 10 minutes or so I finally figured it out and was able to get on the right train (with no guide book to help either!).

The hostel thing is working out pretty well, other than the snoring guy… Oh well its a trade off, and it is making my time in Europe a lot cheaper.

The weather in Athens has been great. I’m wearing flip flops for the 3rd day in a row, and its nice and sunny.

But it’s not all warm and happy, unfortunately the ticket workers at the main attraction, the Acropolis, are striking and it has been closed since I got here. I hope they end the strike soon, I’m getting tired of taking pictures of it from the bottom of the hill. And then there are the riots (!! see comment below). But I’ve been making pretty good use of my time in spite of it, thankfully the other things like Temple of Zeus, Ancient Agora, and Archaeological Museum are all open. And yesterday I took a half-day trip down to the southern tip of the Greek Peninsula to see the Temple of Poseidon with a nice group of girls I met at the hostel which was a lot of fun and had some amazing views. Photos later.. now added!

Photos

Temple of Poseidon