Carolann Garratt , Flight Log - Visit to Israel 12.10.2011 – 16.10.2011

CarolAnn Garratt , Flight log - visit to Israel 12.10.2011 – 16.10.2011 AOPA meeting in Haifa LLHA – front row left to right, Yigal, Dror, Yaron Efrat AOPA Israel Chairman 10/25/2011 What a day! When I arrived in Haifa, almost two weeks ago, Yigal, who took care of me, helped me with the clearances to fly to Israel and organized some of the meetings, also asked if I would like to fly to Masada. I’d read about Masada in AOPA Pilot Magazine about a year ago. I actually looked for the magazine and article before leaving home, thinking that I could contact the person in the article and fly there. But, I couldn’t find the article and then I learned that I couldn’t fly alone in Israel, so that was as far as I went. When Yigal asked me, I said yes, but it was not possible. He said with a smile, “Leave it to Yigal.” As with everything else, he made it happen! Today I flew to and landed at the lowest airstrip on Earth, 1240 feet below sea level. Not only that, but I received a guided tour and learned the history of Masada, the fort built by Herod on top of a mountain. It was fascinating. The only unfortunate part was that the weather had deteriorated a little and it was hazy. I flew there with Dror, who met me at Haifa airport when I first landed. At Mesada, we were hosted by Haviv who I had met at the presentations in Tel Aviv. Yigal had coordinated everything. With Haviv, after being initiated with a little history, he drove us up to the entrance and organized a guided tour. The history and engineering of the fort was elegant and efficient. Herod had the stone for the fort quarried right out of the mountain, then he used the quarries as cisterns to save the water that fell on the nearby mountains in winter. He also had plenty of storage rooms for food. His room on the top and point of the mountain had a spectacular view overlooking the desert and Jordan River below. The return flight to Haifa followed the same route we had taken to get there. VFR flying in Israel is CVFR, controlled VFR. There are certain routes that pilots must follow, no free flying. You talk with the controllers all the time. We had to slow down on the return leg as we were behind a slower plane going to Haifa, so we had to stay in line and fly slower. What an amazing day. This certainly tops the list of accomplishments. Thank you for making in possible Yigal!! And, thank you for flying with me Dror and hosting us Haviv. I’ll be back! 10/20/2011 The Rockefeller Archaeological Museum is a free treasure. There we only two other people there while I was visiting; but a group was arriving just as I was departing. It is a beautiful building built in the 1930s to display archaeological finds from important sites that had been excavated in the Holy Land. These artifacts are arranged in chronological order to tell the story of human habitation in the region from prehistoric times to the 17th century. Then I joined the tour (that I had missed on Tuesday) to the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock. This area is important and has become holy to Judaism, Islam and some factions of Christianity. The Temple Mount has been the scene of many religious upheavals, however since the early 8th century, is the site of two major structures, Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. The site has 10 entrances but only one can be used by non-Muslims. Israeli soldiers are the security checkpoint for all entrances with the most guards at this entrance. On top, the Muslim guards insure correct dress. Non-Muslims are only allowed in between 12:30 and 1:30pm. It is a huge expanse of land (equivalent to 12 football fields) with only the two structures. One area is a playground for children and another is a family picnic area. On holy occasions up to 400,000 people have filled the area. It is fascinating, given the size, that other structures have not imposed on this site, as in the rest of the Holy City where everything is exceedingly congested. The Protestants were a little late coming to the Holy Land however, they had some land that had been a gift to Charlemagne and was handed down through the centuries. In the 19th century, the Protestant awakening movements fostered a renewed interest of European Christians in the Holy Land. In 1871 the Chapel of St. John was renovated on this property. In 1898 the present church was inaugurated. It is the Church of the Redeemer and hosts four congregations in different languages: Arabic, German, English and Danish. It has one of the tallest bell towers, 178 steps, but, worth it. The view from the top is outstanding. 10/19/2011 I went to Bethlehem today. I thought I’d have to join a bus tour, but the hotel receptionist said that it was easy to take a city bus and do the tour myself. So I did. No problem catching the bus, the driver was very helpful. I was a little shocked when I saw the wall. I’d heard TV reports of a wall being built by the Israelis to separate the Palestinian land; but to see it was something else. Especially for me after being in Berlin just a few months ago and reading about the building of the Berlin wall and the fall of the wall. This wall is much higher. Then I had to go through Israeli and Palestinian checkpoints to get into Bethlehem. Once on the other side, I walked along the wall for a while. The was a lot of graffiti, messages and pictures on the wall (on the Paestinian side). The shops by the wall were doomed. No-one visited. They pleaded with me to come in and buy something. In town things were much quieter than in Jerusalem. Everything was cleaner, but not many people on the street. In the tourist area things were more lively with lots of groups and tour buses. I did the tourist visits and walked back to the wall and checkpoint and took the bus back to Jerusalem. I walked up to the Mount of Olives and looked over the other side. The city ends and the desert remains. It goes on as far as you can see. It’s pretty quiet looking out into the distance, over the desert. All the noise is behind me, in Jerusalem. I sit on the wall, eat a plum and take a rest. 10/18/2011 October 17th, 2011 Heading to Jerusalem Yesterday Yigal had organized a presentation to a large group of Israeli pilots. Many of them had flown from Tel Aviv to Haifa for the meeting. It went very well with lots of questions well-timed with the next slide of the presentation. Luckily the books, which Liza was mailing from the US, arrived that morning. With the holidays and Israeli security I was worried that they weren’t going to be delivered in time. The pilots made nice donations and bought all the books. Good job Liza has already mailed more to Jordan for the next meetings. I’d reviewed the train and bus schedules and decided to take the train to Jerusalem. From the hotel, I needed to take a taxi to the station. I’d taken a taxi to the rental car location several days previously, so had an idea of the prices. This taxi driver had quoted a price that I thought was too much and I told him so. He said that he’d turn the meter on, so I got in. He didn’t turn the meter on and we had a big argument at the train station. Overall, my traveling has not been difficult and most people have been extremely helpful. The only exception has been taxi drivers and some have been very good. However, others, like this one, have definitely left a sour taste in my mouth. With Yigal and Dror the other evening along with a Greek pilot who was visiting, we were discussing countries that are tourist friendly. They have all traveled with their planes to a number of different countries. Their view is that Israel is not tourist friendly. In general, I have to agree. Not because the people aren’t friendly, but because I can’t read any signs. I had a lot of trouble driving around and finding stores to buy food, etc. Because everything is written in Hebrew, with very few translations in English, it made life very difficult. Luckily Avis has a big AVIS sign, so I could find my way back. When I asked questions, people were as helpful and friendly as in other countries. However, I have to add, that as Wes noticed when we were in the Azores and Porto, the Portuguese people went out of their way to help us. They did more than expected every time. They were exceedingly tourist friendly. On the train to Jerusalem I talked with an Australian woman who was having the same problem as me. With all the signs only in Hebrew, it made travel here very difficult. Now I must add that the train station signs have also been in English and now in Jerusalem, many of their road names are written in English.

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