Everything started for us on Thursday, 02.09.2021 at 7:15 a.m. at Munich airport. After each of us (except for Philipp, who had already been in Munich for a few days anyway due to his visa application) had already spent about 1-2h in the car, we became
now really aware: Here we go! Since we had already checked in together online the day before, the luggage check-in and also the security check-in worked without any problems. After exchanging money and saying goodbye to our families, we were suddenly at the gate waiting to board for our 10:15 a.m. flight. Boarding was delayed for what felt like an eternity due to our anticipation of finally getting on the plane - but in reality it was only about 15 minutes. The flight went smoothly and we arrived in Istanbul on time at 14:00 local time despite the initial delay. Philipp, who unfortunately had caught quite a cold in his hotel room in Munich, slept for a while while we waited for about 4.5 hours in the airport in Istanbul for the onward flight to Tel Aviv. When the gate was finally opened, we had to walk through the entire airport, because our gate was located at the other end of the building complex. Thank God our luggage was booked through, so at least we didn't have to worry about that anymore. Again, the security check went smoothly, so we took off at 6:20 p.m. heading for Tel Aviv. Before departure, there was a strange, but also funny situation, because in the row in front of us a young man changed his SIM card in his cell phone.
Lea then said to Andrea: "Look, the guy in front of us is changing his SIM card, we'll have to do the same in Jerusalem." What followed was that said man stared at us, we stared back at him and he just said "Hi!". When no answer came from us perplexed young Germans, who had not expected to be understood, the "conversation" was actually over. Silent seconds and funny looks followed before we started laughing. The rest of the flight passed again without much happening, so we were soon on approach to T
el Aviv. It was already dark, but Tel Aviv looked really cool from above (see picture). At the airport itself, we first got our residence permit and were then questioned by three very unmotivated security men, although you can't really call that a questioning. Lea was the only one who had to explain why she had flown to Israel via Turkey, to which she of course didn't really have a good answer. Philipp and Andrea, on the other hand, were sent on without a word, so that the three of us then went to customs, to the baggage station and to the PCR test. At the test station we had to wait for a while and poor Philipp was really completely finished after the two flights. We quickly realized: This is not Germany anymore, because there at least would have been a reasonable order and we also could have paid faster for our PCR test (100 NIS). Finally out of the airport we also had to wait for Barbara Podborny (our contact person here on site), because she was at the wrong gate. But that was also cleared up, so Lea and Andrea were with Barbara in the car, and Philipp with the provost and the cab driver from the Church of the Redeemer were speeding down the highway toward Jerusalem at about 10:00 p.m. local time. "Speeding" is definitely the right word here - Barbara wanted to win a race against the cab driver, which ended in a draw due to the holiday-related road closures in the Old City. While Philipp arrived almost half asleep and dragged himself with his last strength through the streets of Jerusalem to the Church of the Redeemer, Lea and Andrea were wide awake due to the complete sensory overload. Acoustic and visual impressions, as well as especially the smells, made us aware that we had now really reached our home for the next year. Arrived at the Church of the Redeemer, we quickly moved into our apartment (room tour to follow) and then fell into bed.
So, now you made it to the end of our first entry. We hope you already got a little insight into our adventure in the Holy Land and will be back for the sequel!