Tuesday March 5th 2019

Waking up, we had already agreed that this hotel was better than the Prima in Jerusalem. Better room, better beds (two separate ones!) and better service.

We went down for some breakfast and discussed our final day in Israel.

My flight would leave at 16:00 (to Gothenburg via Brussels) and Henrik's flight to Stockholm several hours later.

We decided to start with taking a stroll down to the beach (too cold to take a swim).

Then to be at the hotel to relax, before I had to leave for the airport (30 minutes to the airport + be there 3 hours before the flight was to leave).

But of course, while sitting in the hotel, I got a call telling me my flight was half an hour delayed which meant I would miss my connection in Brussels.
However, if I came to their check-in station they would try to solve it by putting me on another flight home.

Saying goodbye to Henrik, I left for the airport (a smooth ride for once!), payed the 170 ISL to the driver and went to the check-in.

They managed to get me on a Lufthansa flight via Frankfurt.
I would be arriving at home one hour later than expected, but at least I would be landing there today.

Feeling fairly OK with the change, I went through the multiple check-in and security stations before I finally got to the gate.

The flight was uneventful and I got home to my apartment at 01:00.

Home at last!

Middle East Medley

A great journey came to its end. I have finally seen all seven of the New Wonders of the World!

I am glad we took the detour to Israel.

I have never been that much into Jerusalem and the religions around here, but it is an interesting place and it was fun to see it.

I wanted to avoid going to Petra in the summer heat so my initial plan was to go during the winter.

The trip ended up being in March and it was surprisingly cold and (in Jerusalem) rainy.

Since we walked around a lot in Petra, the cold wasn't a problem, but my plan of wearing T-shirt and shorts was a no-go. The wind at the top of the mountains was chilly.

The sun still radiated so a sunhat would have been good though.

Something I did have issues with was the buses and its problems of keeping time. I need more punctuality when it comes to travelling.

Apart from that, the buses to/from Israel was nice. Not sure what the better option would be.

Airplane (to Eilat) and taxi can be too uncertain and too much hassle with transfers.

Total cost of this trip was about 15500 SEK.