Day 11 – Saturday, April 14 – Travel back to Israel, Conclusion
On Saturday morning we slept to the leisurely hour of 8:30, and finished re-packing everything into our two bags. Leah, Jeremy, and I piled our things and ourselves into the car, and parked the car near the tube stop. We took the tube a few stations away, and had a lovely brunch at Giraffe. Jeremy got to try a “Flat White,” which is a double shot of espresso with some foam. He became a real fan of British hot drinks on this trip. After brunch we jumped back on the tube and into Leah’s car, and drove out to Luton. Luton is a bit outside the city, but there was barely any traffic and it didn’t take us long to get there.
The airport itself was interesting. You have to pay to stop, even to just drop someone off. Once you get inside, EasyJet had a special desk to check in if you were running late and were about to miss your flight. Seems to me like that would encourage people to arrive later so they didn’t have to stand in a long line. We checked in our two bags, and proceeded to security. Along the security line, there were these creepy hologram projections of people giving liquid and safety announcements. Very strange. We waited about 15 minutes for my laptop to come through security (apparently there was a new girl who had no idea what she was doing), and made our way to the gate, where people were already lined up to board.
easyJet #2087, London-Luton (Sat. Apr. 14, 1:25 PM) - Tel Aviv (8:25 PM)
G-EZTM, Airbus 320
Seat: Window/middle, Exit row
LTN: Depart 5 min late at 1:30
TLV: Arrive on-time at 8:25
Duration: 4:55
Notably, we never went through any kind of passport control before getting on the plane. We stood in line, had our boarding passes checked, then stood in line again for about half an hour. Like Jeremy’s flight into Luton, we boarded the flight via the tarmac through both the front and back of the plane. Surprisingly, we filled up the plane in only about 15 minutes. When we boarded, we were able to get ourselves into an exit row, meaning more leg room, but also meaning our baggage went up in the "locker." Again, there were meal and snack sales, but this time they were only accepting Euros and Pounds and not Shekels like on the TLV-LUT flight.
After pulling into a real gate and a quick walk to customs (where we passed a flower field that was in the shape of the national brand of cottage cheese with the saying, “waiting for you at home…”), we boarded a sheirut, which filled up pretty quickly. As we were leaving, the driver asked if it was ok if he stopped for gas. Given that he didn’t have any, we all agreed. A short hour later Jeremy and I were home. It feels good to be home after more than two weeks away.
Here are some of Jeremy’s thoughts on our arrival at Ben Gurion:
After all of the traveling we have done this year, this will be my last time walking through the arrivals area for some time. Ben Gurion is a beautiful airport, and there are things that I will surely miss. I'll miss walking out around the main departures area with the Mikveh. I'll miss walking down the long path towards passport control and seeing art from the Israel museum on one side and a flower display outside forming the logo of the national cottage cheese brand. I'll miss Israelis who don't know how to deal with us. (Why are you here? And why aren't you also Israeli?) I'll miss the bust of Ben Gurion greeting us, next to a huge menorah designed after the one that was illuminated in the Great Temple. But most of all, I'm going to miss the arrivals hall. Its design is astounding, with Roman columns, and my favorite part: a gorgeous water feature that not so subtly says: you are like the People of Israel, completing a journey by walking through parted waters and arriving in the Promised Land. When we arrived, we were walking at our normal, quick pace. Seeing this for the last time on this trip, we slowed down.
We savored every step.
We took in the view.
We crossed through the waters from the Diaspora to the Promised Land.
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