Israel at last....

It's Friday the 3rd of July and we left for the airport in London at 4AM, way too early.  We flew to Israel with a change of planes in Frankfort, Germany.  The TSA like inspections are much more thorough than in the US.  I was surprised.  We were inspected thoroughly before leaving London and again in Frankfort before boarding the flight to Israel.  At the second inspection after my carry ons were thoroughly searched I cleared the metal detector with no problem and then I was patted down which included having my shoes squeezed while I was wearing them.  It was a bit ironic flying on Lufthansa, the German Air Line, in a plane where over 90% of the passengers were Jews.  We got a taxi to Tel Aviv where we checked in to our hotel and were later picked up by a Cousin of my Mother and his Wife.  We drove to his Mother's house (Faiga Burstyn, 94 years old) and had dinner with about 10 relatives, including a 26 year old woman from New York visiting Israel on the Birthright program which provides free trips for Jewish young people.   It was a wonderful welcome for us.  Good food and great company.  We looked at family photos until late.  See Family photos which I hope are not too boring to you. The old man in the sideways photo is my Grandfather's Father.  In a week we'll be at the scene of that picture in Poland.  Tomorrow we walk around Tel Aviv which will be quiet because a lot of Israel is closed on the Sabbath....