it begins

my journey began, so long ago now that i'm not quite sure if i remember it all. . . . i left los angeles on october 1st, dave and christina accompanied me to my last meal on us soil (thai, in westchester) role it back at little, my lufthansa flight was scheduled with a center seat. so, i had it all planned out; we'd get to the airport 4 hours early, beat the rush and i'd get a bulkhead seat. then we'd go out and enjoy a nice meal for a few hours before my departure. well, come to find out lufthansa allows their passengers to check in as soon as they open at the airport. i found this out when i called to inquire about the check in process. this of-course through off my whole itinerary.

now i was panicked since i'd yet to pack, nor button up the few loose ends i'd planned on completing that afternoon. once i arrived at the airport, several bus loads of passengers were in line in front of me. this drove me a bit batty as for some reason eastern europeans seem to have a different sense of personal space, i started to think i was at a pick-pocket convention . the check in process took about 50 minutes, (thanks dave for hanging in there) so now the back story has caught up with the beginning of the tale. (got an isle seat)

flight to frankfurt, uneventful, slept some. at the frankfurt airport i walked around until i could find an outlet to plug in the puter. this was the first opportunity to test out my adapter, for those of you who've not heard let me give you the low-down. most of you know what a cheapskate, minimalist, weight conscious traveler i am, will not be surprised at all with my gerry-rigged adapter. i cut about 16 inches of a lamp power cable and using a three pronged to two prong adapter, some heat shrink, and electrical tape, i built my own universal adapter. i simply take the bare wires and plug them into any power outlet then plug my computer power cable into the three prong adapter. the transformer is universal and so is the battery charger i'm traveling with. so i don't have to drag around several different plugs and a transformer, it's all in one.

i arrived in tel aviv at the end of yom kipper, so there were no trains running from the airport into town. i contacted the tourist information center and a very friendly woman contacted a hotel for me and informed me of all the info i'd need to get there. the hotel maxim, was $55 a night with breakfast and wireless internet included. it was less than 100 yards away from the beach and my room had a slight view of the coast, (i had to walk over to the window to see it). the breakfast was pretty good, it's been the only hotel to date that has had internet access in my room (a must if i'm trying to use skype voice over internet).

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