Well, we arrived yesterday evening all in good order. The flights were all good, though we had some troubling moments. The first was in Saskatoon at 5 am when our seats didn’t seem to be booked and supposedly the flight was full! They did find several files for us, and wondered why we weren’t on the manifest. Fortunately there were 2 cancellations which were scooped up for us. You won’t write home about Alitalia’s meals, but they have very friendly staff. Rome’s airport is amazingly confusing and seems to be about 20 years behind the times. If they have more than four jetways I’ll be surprised. Mostly everyone is bused to their airplane and you walk to the stairs for access into the airplane. Just like the old days or in very small airports. Maybe they are building a new airport, we couldn’t tell. Then came Istanbul! Nice modern, clean airport, with typical access. But as we weren’t staying, just changing planes, we didn’t exactly have fun figuring out what we were to do. In the end, it was fine. The visa you pay 60 dollars each for is good for ninety days, so we won’t have to pay again when we arrive for a holiday after our pilgrimage is over. As we were flying to Tel Aviv, there were a few extra security checks, but we were aware this would be the case. I’m happy to see them being extra cautious! Turkish Airlines serve wonderful meals, you even get to see a menu before they start service! We were only 1 hour & 37 minutes from Istanbul to Tel Aviv and they still gave us dinner.
Tired we were, but unpack we did. Good way to get organized and see if we made any packing mistakes. Had a very nice sleep too.
Today, after meeting up with our new friends who are Americans living in Finland with grandnephew in tow from California, and going for breakfast we then walked down to the Pilgrim’s Reception Centre. There we proceeded to make more friends and also to meet up with the 6 Columbian Baha’is we shared a sherut with from Tel Aviv to Haifa. So much to take in today, but so well organized and orchestrated. At lunch time we are off to Ben Gurion Avenue and the Haifa Information Centre. Then lunch at a place that escapes me now … well the name of it escapes me, not lunch, nor the memory of the place either.
My only disappointment is that the Shrine of the Bab is draped while restoration work is happening. Guess we really will have to apply for pilgrimage as soon as we are eligible to once we get home. Listen to me, looking into the future instead of enjoying the present! The walk to the Shrine and the prayers offered inside will stay with me always. We do not understand what an absolute blessing this time is, but I’ll keep trying. Lawrie is wondering if there is a way to organize a gospel choir workshop at the World Centre with the performance happening on the stage of the International Teaching Centre!
Well, I’m sort of dropping off to sleep as I sit here wondering what I should be saying … maybe I should just leave you with a first batch of photos. I shan’t try to title them all as they are mostly Baha’i Garden shots. We are off to Baha’u’allah’s Shrine tomorrow and it is a 5:30 am start to our day. If you are reading this and wondering what I’m talking about, well seeing you are already on the Internet to read this, here is where you can find a much better explanation than anything I could write.
Okay, I’ve just spent half an hour and only managed to upload these two photos out of the prepared 31. Must be a very limited bandwidth here. Will try again sometime tomorrow at the Pilgrim Centre where there is an internet connection too. Just new there, so don’t really know if it will be faster or not. I’ll just promise that the rest of the photos will come, the when I’m not sure of!
Well two very busy days later and I figured a way around the uploading problem, I think! And so here are the rest of the intended photos from Day 1. I’m not spending a lot of time with the camera in hand as that isn’t the focus of these 9 days. But I will spend lots of time camera time in Istanbul and maybe even a bit more when we are on our own time here.
But the weather was lovely today, rather than raining like yesterday. Israel needs the rain so I’m not complaining, just commenting! I didn’t forget about the phone Ruth, just haven’t had spare minutes. If anyone’s ears are burning, they will understand that questions about family and community abound as we get to know our fellow pilgrims. And everyone that has left a comment has been pretty steadily in my prayers too
Great to hear you made it. Love the pics even if there are just two.