Day 1 - Mom and I arrive safely around 2:00pm and with little sleep between us. That did not stop us from making the most of our first day. After checking into the hotel, we showered quickly to refresh and made our way to explore.
First stop - Yad Vashem. Since my mother has not been here in 36 years, for her it is like visiting for the first time. While she has strong memories, the country has changed so much in that time, including Yad Vashem. We got there just before closing, did the fastest tour ever and it still made an impact. I showed my mom some specific areas of the museum and also just roamed. Under the best circumstances, 3-4 hours is necessary to immerse yourself into the lives of those who were murdered and survived. Each individual has a compelling story.
We then took a cab to the Mamilla shopping mall to walk around and maybe find a place to have dinner. Weather is great for outdoor walking, perhaps a bit cold, but after being on a plane for 14 hours, we loved it.
We wanted to do some research for our next day, so we went into the David Citadel for dinner and while we ate, I checked out a few sites on my iPad. Food was delicious and our waitress was very nice. Even with some language confusion, we had a great meal.
We then walked back to our hotel (got lost for 1 minute) and happily returned to try to get some sleep. I got some sleep, though I am writing this at 2:35am local time and will now try to go back to sleep so I am rested for our day tomorrow.
By the way, both cab drivers we had were very talkative and friendly. One talked about recent news stories and pointed out sites. It definitely adds to my experience when I listen to what locals have to say. That is one of my favorite parts about traveling.
More to come...good night.
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