EL-AL From Israel, joined Oct 2001, 1007 posts, RR: 6 Posted (2 years 3 months 3 weeks 6 days 1 hour ago) and read 20655 times:
Hello everyone,
Welcome to my 3rd Trip report.
Background:
This one came by surprise. Just 10 days before I departed I got a call from my father, telling me that he has a business meeting in Valencia, Spain, and asking me If I want to come along.
Well, I am in the middle of my exams season at the University, I have no time and I must study. Naturally I agreed, A.netter after all.
Shamefully, I have never been to Spain. I was just about to fly to Barcelona in April 2008 but I was forced to cancel it just a 3 days before my flight (already had tickets for Israir A320), and this looks like a good chance fill up the gap.
Booking:
We booked the flights just a week in Advance. Lucky it’s winter, since BCN is one of the popular destinations out of Israel flights can be very busy during summer and Holidays. When I flew to Italy during the jewish holydays on October, I saw a B767-300 (LY) heading to BCN.
The cheapest offer was on LY’s website, for non-stop flight in a class called “El Al Basic”, low-cost seats within LY regular flights. When flying to Europe, LY Basic passenger gets drink service only (no meal), every luggage item is $20 extra, check in online is free, however check in at the airport is extra $10. The seats are regular economy seats, but basic passengers are been seated at the back of the plane. Booking this class saved us more then $100 per passenger, better saving that money and bring sandwich from home, my opinion at least. (About LY basic: http://www.elal.co.il/elal/english/a...eyourflight/en_economy_basic230709 )
Online check in:
I did the check in on LY website for the first time and I was rather disappointed. The system does not let select the seat you want, and therefore does not show which seats remain vacant. We received seats 58J + K, in the last row on the plane, with no ability to change it or to see if there are any other seats available.
I have no idea if a passenger who check in online is getting the worst seats in advance or that the plane was full, but the inability to choose a seat, or at least see if the rest of the plane is full, is very disappointing.
Pre-flight:
SDT was 04:30. When my poor brother came back home after his work as bartender at 1 am, instead of letting him sleep, he took as to the airport, where we arrived pretty early, at 02:00.
Drop off area:
Cross section of terminal 3: the bottom floor for arrivals, the upper floor for departures:
When we arrived, we saw that the terminal is almost deserted: except for 4 europe bound flights of LY (BCN, MAD, LTN & AMS) there were no other flights. Why? TLV is usually closed for takeoffs till 05:30, but on winter Friday mornings El Al is permitted to fly earlier then that in order to allow planes to fly to their destinations in ‘far’ Europe and return before the jewish Sabbath starts. Take a look for yourselves:
El Al Check in area – not very busy:
While the rest of the check in counters were empty:
FIDS:
Security was nothing special, maybe 7 minutes wait. Because we checked in online, we went to special check in desk counter for passengers who checked in online with no line at all:
I asked if it’s possible to move few rows ahead, in order not to seat at the last row. The lady at the desk told us that the “basic” class rows are only the last 3 rows, but she can move us to row 56, the first at the basic cabin – the fact that she could move us anwhere she wanted meant that the basic class is not full, good. More at the check in desk, the approval that we paid in advance for the luggage did not appear on the computer screen, therefore we proceeded to the ticketing office, were the problem was solved immediately.
Shakim hall, between check in (and ticketing) area to passport control, open to public:
After all that, I went to the passport control hall, just to discover it with no one else exept myself and 3 bored border control policemen.
Heading to the gates area:
Duty free area:
Deserted B wing:
El Al’s 737s were dominant that night:
Departures from C wing:
The end of C wing, empty again, all passengers wait, like me, to BCN.
Our plane stood at gate C8, usually gate used by larger jets then a 737 (I had CO B777 from it in 2005):
We flew ‘basic’ so no lounge pics. While we were waiting, the regular Europe morning flights (that leave on 05:30) landed on RWY 12, including Luftansa A330, KLM B739 & Malev B738. TK A321 & AZ A321 were there the whole time also.
Boarding pass:
Boarding:
Boarding was done according to rows. When we boarded, I sat on one side of the row and my father on the other, 3 seats for each, thinking that there will be no more passengers. We were damn right: the 2 other ‘basic’ passengers sat at the row behind, 3 seats each. That’s nice: while the ‘regular’ Y class who paid more had just a regular seat, the ‘basics’ had each a row to himself, nice. Y class was pretty full, 85%-90% maybe, while basic was 4/15 seats taken.
Flight details:
Flight: LY393
Airline: El Al Israel Airlines
Airplane: Boeing B737-800 4X-EKH “Yarden” (Built 2009)
Route: Tel Aviv - Ben Gurion Israel to Barcelona - El Prat, Spain.
Seat: 56K
Date: Friday, January 22nd 2010.
Gates: C8 (Terminal 3) -> A16 (Terminal 1)
Runways: 26 -> 25R
SDT/SAT: 04:30/08:25
Actual Timing:
Pushback: 4:36
Taxi: 4:42
Weels off: 4:53 (GMT+2)
Touchdown: 8:22 (GMT+1)
Full stop: 8:27
Airborn time: 4 hours 29 minutes (one of the longest flights for narrow body jet).
Gate to Gate time: 4 hours 51 minutes (scheduled 4:55).
We taxied to RWY 26 and departed after pretty short takeoff run. I had a nice view of Tel Aviv by night since the sky was clear, no pics, sorry (my camera takes terrible night “moving” pics).
Right after the seatbelt sign was off, the FAs started breakfast service; I think that when a 4.5 flight departs on 4:30 am, it’s wiser to serve breakfast before landing, not right after takeoff when it’s still dark outside.
Since it was 5am and I was tired like hell, since I knew I wasn’t about to get the meal (who is hungry at 5 am anyway?) and I since I had the row to myself I put my eye cover on and lay dawn, still, I don’t think I fell asleep at that part. About an hour after takeoff, when the meals (of the rest of Y class) were already collected, I got up (because of some turbulence), saw the end of the movie (“the informant” with Matt Damon) and half of the channel 2 news addition from last night and ate one of my dad’s home made sandwiches. Half way through the program, I lay dawn again, this time falling asleep all the way till descending. I usually can’t sleep on airplanes, but this time the 3 seats all to myself made the difference. I arrived to Spain good as new. My father slept through most of the flight as well.
My legroom:
Regular legroom wasn’t bad either:
My window view when I got up at the first time:
My window view when I got up during descending:
My first view of Spain:
Barcelona’s coastline:
Montjuic (Mt. Of Jews) and the seaport:
Landing as on RWY 25R, and we taxied to gate A16.
Post-flight:
We arrived to the brand new Terminal 1 in El Prat, opedned just a few months ago.
Baggage claim – no less then 16 belts here:
Arrival hall:
And I thought I landed in Spain: Catalan is the first language, English second and Spanish only third:
To he honest, during my entire stay I heard everyone, including young and teenagers, speak only Spanish.
After getting our luggage, we exited the impressive Terminal and took the “Aerobus” to the city center (5 Euro each). This is the Aerobus station at placa Catalunya:
Here are some pics from Spain:
La sagrada familia:
Parc Guell:
Olympic stadium:
More at the Olympic park:
Espana square:
Same location at night:
Gaudi’s houses:
Same location at night:
3 days later, we took a train (shame on an a.netter to take a train and not to fly, I know) to Valencia. Do trains deserve Trip reports also?
Barcelona Sants station:
Routing: Bacelona Sants Estacio to Valencia Estacion del Norte
Company: Renfe
SDT/SAT: 10:00/13:00
ADT/AAT: 10:01/12:59
Platforms: 11 -> 2
Legroom (Notice the safety card):
Since the train load was light, I moved to 4 seats:
‘Renfe’ sturdiest handed all passengers headphones (for free); entertainment was the movie “Bolt”.
My ‘entertainment’ – studying (I had an exam 18 hours after landing…):
What can I say, that’s faster then a bus:
Most seats on the train faced forward; I liked that because I hate that in most intercity trains in Europe half seats face backwards, I hate sitting rearward.
On the way to VLC I had an impression of Spain’s real estate crisis: deserted neighborhoods, sometimes even whole ghost cities, one after the other, without a living soul of the street or any car at the parking lots. I know some houses are used only for summer, but the amount of ghost cities and neighborhoods was huge.
We arrived to platform 2:
Valencia del Norte station is one of the best looking stain stations, in my opinion:
Entrance to the station:
Some other pics from Valencia – the old city gate:
City Hall at night (the building is just as impressive in daylight):
Plaza del Ayuntamiento (city hall square) at night:
Place Alfonso el Magnanimo:
Apollo fountain at plaze de la virgen:
Conjunto cathedral – beautiful cathedral with ceiling paintings, just like in Italy:
City of art and science:
Palau de les Arts:
When talking about ‘birds’ in this website, those kind of birds are rarely mention (taken at the ocenografic):
In Valencia, I checked in online on LY’s website from an internet café. Again, we got the last row of the jet with no choosing option.
The train back to Barcelona:
Routing: Valencia Estacion del Norte to Bacelona Sants Estacio
Company: Renfe
SDT/SAT: 18:05/21:05
ADT/AAT: 18:05/21:09
Platforms: 2 -> 13
Dining car:
Again, the train was pretty empty and we had 4 seats for each:
Destination:
A bit faster this time:
Return leg - preflight:
Sleeping in Barcelona, we got up, had breakfast then we took the same bus that we took after landing back to the airport, the ride lasted 25 minutes, to the brand new Terminal 1.
Drop off area:
Check in Hall:
FIDS:
My flight:
BCN has a special zone for MAD flights. MAD-BCN route used to be the busiest in the world. Now when a new high speed train link the two cities, I Don’t know if it’s still true.
MAD check in counters:
FIDS – not much variety:
The corridor itself:
Security and Check in:
Security questioning was done by Israelis, and the check in itself by locals. We had the nicest security guy ever, afterwards we were told at the counter that we are the only 2 passengers at the basic class, therefore there is only one row, and no option to move forward.
The (local) security area:
Again, my deodorant was considered a major security risk and thrown away.
Then came a surprise: T1 is divided to 5 gates area, from A to E. Once you enter your area, you can’t move to other zones. The shopping center is in Zone A and B, while we were in zone D, so no shopping access for us. Not that I care about shopping (I’ve done my 50% discount shopping at Valencia), I just wanted to find some interesting airplanes. I failed to find common ground to D wing: flights to TLV, LHR & SIN, so no EU thing. Zone E used a US flight (DL B763 to JFK).
“The forbidden land” – zone A:
The shopping area, no access to passengers from D & E. Isn’t it the airport interest that the largest possible number of passengers will pass through it?
Separation between the gates sign:
Maybe something with the Euro zone?
The only duty shop in D zone. This, with one McDonalds restaurant, was the only thing the D wing passengers could go to, except for sitting at the gate. Just one gate away from us, there was a Singapore Airlines flight (B773) that was been delayed for 2 hours. What did the hundreds of SIN passengers could do while waiting?
Deserted Zone D:
Ramp action – landing every minute, with A320 dominant. Surprisingly, Vueling and Air Europa were the dominant airlines, not Iberia.
Iberia A321:
My ride home arrived at 10:10:
Gate:
Airport action around my ex North American Airlines jet; it’s in Israel since 2002. I flew it in june 2007, ZRH-TLV (LY334) when it had still the basic NAA livery and leather seats. It was painted to full LY colors last year.
Boarding:
Nothing special here. After boarding the flight was delayed a bit due to late passenger.
Boarding pass:
Flight details:
Flight: LY394
Airline: El Al Israel Airlines
Airplane: Boeing B737-800 4X-EKI (ex. NAA - N802NA, Built 1999)
Route: Barcelona - El Prat, Catalonia, Spain to Tel Aviv – Ben Gurion Israel.
Seat: 58K (last row of the airplane to the right)
Date: Wensday, January 27th 2010.
Gates: D14 (Terminal 1) -> D4 (Terminal 3)
Runways: 25L -> 12
SDT/SAT: 11:15/16:25
Actual Timing:
Pushback: 11:30
Taxi: 11:33
Weels off: 11:43 (GMT+1)
Touchdown: 16:27 (GMT+2)
Full stop: 16:32
Business class seat – this photo dedicated to Philip:
My seat - as far from Biz as possible – at the very last row of the a/c:
The basic row had special headrest:
We sat down, with no one in the middle seat. The 3 seats on the other side of the row (A+B+C) were “reserved for crew”, and remained empty throughout the whole flight (well, almost, read on):
Terminal 1 view during taxi to RWY 25L:
After relatively long takeoff, overview of the southern part of BCN:
Adiós España!
Right after seat belt sign was turned off, drink service started. Lunch was served afterwards to the regular Y class. We were still full from breakfast and from the home-made sandwich we ate at the airport (and still had few on the plane…), so I used the time to study for the exam I had the next day. After meals were served, the chief FA asked us (the only 2 ‘basic’ passengers) if we want to eat something. We refused, since we were really full, but thanked her for the offer.
Later on into the flight, the same FA, nice women in her late 50s, told us that there were so many meals left, and it’s a shame to just throw them all away.
She demonstrated LY service at it’s best, again: when a 3 year old (or so) passenger started to cry, she came to her father and gave him a glass of water.
FA: “Give it to the child, it will calm her down for sure”.
Father: “Really?”
FA: “Even thought my oldest (child) is already 27, I still remember something” –
(“למרות שהקטנה שלי כבר בת 27, משהו אני עדיין זוכרת”)
- Water were served every hour or so till landing.
Safety card and airline magazine:
Entertainment: A Sandra Bullock movie (haven’t noticed which one) followed by channel 2 news from last night, and right afterwards – episode from the Israeli version of the cash cab. That’s of course in addition to the music channels.
Even though we had the exact same legroom like the rest of the plane and we were offered lunch, the ‘basic’ seating at the last row had disadvantages: the toilets line (after the meal) was right behind our shoulder, passengers tent to stand and talk near the last row, the storage room is taken by the FA’s stuff on one side and by the plane’s video entertainment system on the other. In addition, the seat recline is limited also.
“No storage, video equipment”. Errr.
An hour before landing my father moved to the empty “reserved for crew” seats, assuming that no one will ask him to move. He was right, no one did. With 3 seats to each, again, I moved to the left side when the plane started descending (16:07) and stayed there till after landing.
Cabin during descending, taken from the ‘crew’ seats at the last row:
During most of the flight, almost till landing in Israel, clouds covered our flight path and nothing could be seen from the plane except clouds.
Good visability today, I could see the Shoreline all the way to Lebanon, so as Mt. Hermon in Syria (the white thing under the wing is mt. Hermon):
Approaching:
Afternoon sun over Tel Aviv:
ATR72 on SDV’s runway:
Some more of Tel Aviv and parts of Ramat Gan:
Afternoon rush hour on Ayalon highway (road 20):
Ramat Gan National Park:
Touchdown on RWY 12 - Afternoon landings are usually done one RWY 30.
After Landing we taxied to gate D4, with another B738 next to us (EKB):
Duty free area from arrival floor:
Heading to passport control:
Baggage claim belt for our flight:
Arrival hall:
Conclusion:
Extra charging for check in, luggage & no meal served, even on 4.5 hours flight, El Al basic is not a competitor to regular Y class service. But no matter, with the best legroom that can be found on low cost flight, free entertainment, drinks and excellent service El Al basic is one league above compared with other low cost airlines.
According to my experience, LY basic is the best arrangement for anyone who is looking for cheap flights to/from Israel on one hand, and avoiding ‘regular’ low cost airlines flying to Israel like Easy Jet, Air Berlin or TUI.
This is it, thank you for reading. Comments and feedback are welcome as always.
OA260 From Ireland, joined Nov 2006, 23091 posts, RR: 60 Reply 1, posted (2 years 3 months 3 weeks 6 days 1 hour ago) and read 20600 times:
Hi Jonathon,
Great report. I have to say you made me want to visit TLV again, Its a fab airport. Love the design. Nice photos of EL AL. On my list to fly them since the Summer. Maybe this Summer I might get a 747-400 from LHR and a few days on the beach again.
Quoting EL-AL (Thread starter): Business class seat – this photo dedicated to Philip:
LOL... thanks , I like their J class seats. Very comfortable they look.
Valencia looks cool. Im familar with Barcelona of course but never got further down the coast sadly.
Thanks again for the great report.
Regards
OA260
OLYMPIC AIR - ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΚΗ "Η ΕΛΛΑΔΑ ΨΗΛΑ" "GREECE FLYING HIGH"
LIA310 From Trinidad and Tobago, joined Mar 2008, 405 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (2 years 3 months 3 weeks 6 days ago) and read 20325 times:
Nice TR ! I noticed you said that this is a long route for a narrowbody. My national airline (Caribbean Airlines) flies from POS to YYZ twice daily using B738's. Block to block time is 6hrs 5mins.
LYchemsa From United States of America, joined Oct 2009, 686 posts, RR: 2 Reply 4, posted (2 years 3 months 3 weeks 5 days 22 hours ago) and read 20075 times:
So Basic Class does not seem to be so popular. Nice crew to offer you a meal. Trains in Spain look great. I wish we had trains like that here.
ELAL772 From Israel, joined Jun 2008, 158 posts, RR: 0 Reply 5, posted (2 years 3 months 3 weeks 5 days 20 hours ago) and read 19849 times:
Great report!! Everytime you fly you get LY's best crews.
Quoting EL-AL (Thread starter): The shopping area, no access to passengers from D & E. Isn’t it the airport interest that the largest possible number of passengers will pass through it?
a little tip for your next trip: once you're past local security instead of walking left to passport control, take the escalator downstairs, eat, shop, and when you're done, you go back up to go through passport control and to the LY gate -
מניסיון
Directorguy From Egypt, joined Jul 2008, 1554 posts, RR: 12 Reply 6, posted (2 years 3 months 3 weeks 5 days 10 hours ago) and read 19093 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW CHAT OPERATOR
Hey Jonathan,
Great TR-although I don't like red-eyes or early morning departures, the arrival time in BCN gives you an entire day there. Barcelona as a city looks amazing, plus some great pics you took. I also love the pics you took of the coastline while descending into TLV-that's always my favourite part of a journey.
Regards,
DG
Quoting LIA310 (Reply 3): I noticed you said that this is a long route for a narrowbody. My national airline (Caribbean Airlines) flies from POS to YYZ twice daily using B738's. Block to block time is 6hrs 5mins.
Thats is a long ride for narrow jet. Even tough I didn't care, since on the TLV->BCN leg I was sleeping during most of the flight, and that was back was shorter. LY longest narrow jet flight is TLV-MAD, which takes around 5 hours.
Quoting ELAL772 (Reply 5): a little tip for your next trip: once you're past local security instead of walking left to passport control, take the escalator downstairs, eat, shop, and when you're done, you go back up to go through passport control and to the LY gate -
מניסיון
I wanted to do just that. I went to the information center (after security) and asked if I can do to area A then to D, and I was told that I can't. I don't care from the shopping area - just wanted to see some jets I can't find at home.
Quoting Directorguy (Reply 6): I don't like red-eyes or early morning departures, the arrival time in BCN gives you an entire day there
I don't like them too, but that was the sole direct flight to BCN that day (friday). the other option was to fly in 06:30 (instead of 04:30, that meant been at TLV at around 7) on TK flight via IST. Knowing what I was going to stay up all night, I kept myself up the night before (cleaning my apartment at 5am is a good way to stay up, apparently), then going to sleep from 1700 till 2300, and going to TLV around 0100. I still thought that I was going to get to BCN tired like hell, but since both me and my dad slept through the whole flight we had no problem staying up all day in Barcelona till 2200.
Quoting Directorguy (Reply 6): I also love the pics you took of the coastline while descending into TLV-that's always my favourite part of a journey.
You are not alone on that one. Even Israelis who fly twice a week stuck their heads in the window while descending into Ben Gurion.
"In our country, those who do not believe in miracles are irrational" - David Ben Gurion.
PlaneHunter From Germany, joined Mar 2006, 5425 posts, RR: 81 Reply 8, posted (2 years 3 months 3 weeks 5 days 6 hours ago) and read 18759 times:
Hi Jonathan,
very interesting report with many great pictures from Barcelona.
Quoting EL-AL (Thread starter): She demonstrated LY service at it’s best, again: when a 3 year old (or so) passenger started to cry, she came to her father and gave him a glass of water.
FA: “Give it to the child, it will calm her down for sure”.
Father: “Really?”
FA: “Even thought my oldest (child) is already 27, I still remember something” –
airbuseric From Netherlands, joined Jan 2005, 3735 posts, RR: 52 Reply 10, posted (2 years 3 months 2 weeks 6 days 2 hours ago) and read 17090 times:
Hi Jonathan,
thanks for the interesting and very positive read about LY. I didn't read much about the airline yet, so it's a welcoming story. Interesting to hear about their 'lowcost' concept, definitely an option to look at. Seats, also Y-class, look pretty comfortable indeed. btw, nice pics from Valencia! I really want to visit that city someday.
Regards,
Eric
"The whole world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going"
CVG72 From United States of America, joined Feb 2006, 161 posts, RR: 1 Reply 12, posted (2 years 3 months 2 weeks 5 days 16 hours ago) and read 16590 times:
Toda raba, Jonathan. Awesome TR with awesome photos. I finally get to go to TLV in April, and now I know what to look for. Keep up the good work.
BA319-131 From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2001, 7884 posts, RR: 57 Reply 13, posted (2 years 3 months 2 weeks 3 days 6 hours ago) and read 16060 times:
Hi Jonathan,
Nice report & pictures, looks like both flights were fine and you had a good time in Spain.
Quoting EL-AL (Thread starter): Online check in:
I did the check in on LY website for the first time and I was rather disappointed. The system does not let select the seat you want, and therefore does not show which seats remain vacant. We received seats 58J + K, in the last row on the plane, with no ability to change it or to see if there are any other seats available.
I have no idea if a passenger who check in online is getting the worst seats in advance or that the plane was full, but the inability to choose a seat, or at least see if the rest of the plane is full, is very disappointing.
- Perhaps LY are missing a trick? Perhaps they could charge for seat assignments?
Nice touch that the crew offered you a meal even though you were not entitled to it.
airCatalonia From Spain, joined Nov 2007, 520 posts, RR: 0 Reply 14, posted (2 years 3 months 2 weeks 3 days 5 hours ago) and read 16039 times:
Very good TR.
Last Friday I flew for the first time out of the new T1. I have to say that building is impressive. It makes the rest of the airport look very small.
Good choice taking the train to Valencia. There is a good service, and even if the TGV line is not yet completed it is still faster than City to airport + flight + airport to city.
Quoting EL-AL (Thread starter): And I thought I landed in Spain: Catalan is the first language, English second and Spanish only third:
Funny your pictures of Palestine show signs written in Hebrew only
Fully detailed, together with nice pics, especially the local pics from Barcelona and Valencia and also you´re
Renfe experience, real interesting.
Thx.
Quoting CVG72 (Reply 12): Toda raba, Jonathan. Awesome TR with awesome photos
Thx, it was a pleasure writing it.
Quoting BA319-131 (Reply 13): Nice report & pictures, looks like both flights were fine and you had a good time in Spain.
Thank you, the first flight was excellent since I slept through most of it. The return flight was also good even tough seating at the very last row on a day flight is annoying; still, it save us a lot of money.
Quoting BA319-131 (Reply 13): Perhaps LY are missing a trick? Perhaps they could charge for seat assignments?
I think all passengers except basic class can choose seats. I'll check that out next time I fly El Al.
Quoting BA319-131 (Reply 13): Nice touch that the crew offered you a meal even though you were not entitled to it.
If they have meals left (and they always do), why not?
Quoting airCatalonia (Reply 14): Good choice taking the train to Valencia. There is a good service, and even if the TGV line is not yet completed it is still faster than City to airport + flight + airport to city.
That's exactly why we choose the train. Our hotel in Valencia wasn't near any metro station, so flying VLC-BCN meant taking a bus to a metro station, then (with the luggage) to take the metro to the airport and getting there an hour at least prior tp the flight, not to mention the 10 euros (for 2) bus from BCN to the city. Taking the train, all we had to to is taking a bus (which stops right at the hotel entrance) for 4 stations and getting to the train station just 10 minutes before the train is leaving. In Barcelona, Sants station is connected to the subway system, so we just moved from one train to another then got to the Barcelona hotel. Besides, arrival by plane to Valencia meant more difficult navigation than reaching by train, since the station is right in the city center.
Quoting airCatalonia (Reply 14): Funny your pictures of Palestine show signs written in Hebrew only
Don't get too surprised, but most signs in Israel (in airports also) are in Hebrew, Arabic & English.
"In our country, those who do not believe in miracles are irrational" - David Ben Gurion.
RAFVC10 From Spain, joined Sep 2005, 1978 posts, RR: 9 Reply 16, posted (2 years 3 months 1 week 5 days 8 hours ago) and read 15521 times:
Hi Jonathan,
great trip report of my marvelous city.
Let me recommend you another great sight to see if you ever come back again... Santa Maria del Mar church is impressive and amazing even when there are some classic concerts inside.
Regards,
Gerard
El dia que los gilipollas vuelen, no podremos ver la luz del sol!
EL-AL From Israel, joined Oct 2001, 1007 posts, RR: 6 Reply 17, posted (2 years 3 months 1 week 4 days 13 hours ago) and read 15341 times:
Quoting RAFVC10 (Reply 16): great trip report of my marvelous city.
Thank you, your city is very nice.
Quoting RAFVC10 (Reply 16): Let me recommend you another great sight to see if you ever come back again... Santa Maria del Mar church is impressive and amazing even when there are some classic concerts inside.
I'll remember that for next time.
"In our country, those who do not believe in miracles are irrational" - David Ben Gurion.
ODAFZ From Greece, joined Jul 2004, 337 posts, RR: 6 Reply 20, posted (2 years 2 months 2 weeks 3 days 5 hours ago) and read 13436 times:
Dear ELAL,
It was indeed a very nice report and I really enjoyed all the photos in particular of TLV airport and aerial pictures of
TLV . In My home country (Lebanon) we can seldom see pictures of TLV (though I have emigrated to Greece since) and I am pleasantly surprised to see that TLV looks like a beautiful city.
Having said that, I wonder if you could have imagined that instead of taking the LY flight, you would have boarded ME flight 060 on dhc8-300 bound to BEY and took the connecting to BCN.
Likewise I would have dreamt to take an LY flight to TLV and took a connecting flight to BEY when i used to visit friends and Family.
It was indeed a very nice report and I really enjoyed all the photos in particular of TLV airport and aerial pictures of
TLV
Thank you.
Quoting ODAFZ (Reply 20): Having said that, I wonder if you could have imagined that instead of taking the LY flight, you would have boarded ME flight 060 on dhc8-300 bound to BEY and took the connecting to BCN.
Likewise I would have dreamt to take an LY flight to TLV and took a connecting flight to BEY when i used to visit friends and Family
Going off topic for a sec, there is no reason in the world that there won't be peace between Israel and Lebanon. Both countries accept the international border as it was decided by the UN in may 2000, Israel do not claim one meter of Lebanese soil or one drop of Lebanese water. Now, that Syrian army is out of Lebanon, the Lebanese government refusal to disembark Hizballah, armed military within Lebanon taking orders from Syria and Iran (and not from the elected government of Lebanon) and using Lebanon as a base for attacking Israel for no reason, is the only thing standing between peace agreement. Lebanon and Israel are very much alike, I am sure that if a peace agreement is signed there will be a train from Tel Aviv to Beirut every hour caring tourists on both sides
"In our country, those who do not believe in miracles are irrational" - David Ben Gurion.
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