This morning I was up at 4am to catch the 7am flight out of Oslo. The airport is about 40 minutes to an hour away from central Oslo, so I had to get an early start. I caught the bus out at 5am and watched the sun start to come up and a few thoughts crossed my mind as I thought back on my short stay here.
People here seem content, even subdued, in their peacful existence among the glaciers that meet the clouds. The golden sunrise with splashes of blood red hues all turn to gray. I have a sense that I'm on the edge of something truly different. This land is like no other I've visited. Multiple layers of clouds, some floating just above and gently kissing the highpoints of the land. Rugged lakes with splatters of land between them stretch as far as I can see. I'd like to walk this land with little more than my backpack and son with me.
We landed in Vienna, Austria via Austrian airlines. I had fun flexing my measly German speaking muscles. I'll be sore in the morning and the flight attendents will still be chuckling. I was actually still able to read the German newspaper, although some words were just beyond my recollection.
Later we landed in Tel Aviv. As I left the plane, there was a lady standing by the exit with my name on a board. This wasn't the normal exit where the rest of the people stood, but right outside the exit ramp. I was a little shocked, one, that she was there inside the security space and two, that someone was there to pick me up. I asked her who she worked for and she said "The veep company". I said "The huh?" She said, "The veep company" I gave up only later to read the sign on the side of the van that said "The VIP company". Oh, the local sub had hired this company to make sure I got where I was supposed to go.
First time I've ever been a VIP. Kind of fun, but I'd almost rather have just done it like usual. The van was old, rusty and the turqoise velvet seats that were meant to be fancy, were hard, uneven and painful because there were springs poking up between the buttons on the upholstry. If I was supposed to be impressed, it failed. Must admit that going through customs was much easier with the "veep" company though. She just flashed her badge around everywhere and people just let us through. The customs officer hardly looked up at me. Only when the next guy, a tall dark and hansome fellow that the customs officer obviously knew, did she look up and become animated.
Anyway, we waited for Marin to come in from London. Marin is my partner for the talk here because Grant couldn't get a visa into Israel. Marin is also the person that put the whole roadshow together. Anyway, he joined us after exiting his flight and we took a prearranged taxi to the hotel.
First impressions : Tel Aviv is a lively, clean and modern city. I love the smell of the air and being that it is early spring, it's still a bit chilly. It's also the sabbath here so the city was very quiet. Somehow I expected a bomb to go off or to see and hear a bunch of alarms. After all, that's the only time we ever see Tel Aviv in the media at home, right?
Later, after checking in, Marin and I took a taxi to the beach. I've never seen the Mediterranean Sea before. So, I took off my shoes and walked around in the water. The water was cold, but not nearly so cold as the Pacific off California. The beach was very much like a california beach. There were large hotels and little restaurants all up and down the frontage. Lots of people jogging on the beach and a few folks sleeping under the cabanas on the beach.
We went to a restaurant nearby. As we approached, a burley security guard stepped outside the door and stood in our way. He didn't say anything, he just stood there with a burley look on his face. The receptionist, peeking over his shoulder said something in Hebrew. Marin said, can we come in. She said, no, we don't have a table for you yet. The whole time I'm thinking this is very wierd and it slowly dawns on me that we're dealing with the aftermath of so many suicide bombings. So, Marin asked "Can we wait inside?" The burley guy just looks at him like "Are you crazy?" The receptionist simply said "No, you can't." So, there was some patio furniture out front. We sat there waiting when a bus boy came out to clean up the table we were sitting by.
We asked him about the whole security guard thing and he said that the strip where we were at was unfortunately a popular place for suicide bombers to kill themselves and take a few others with them. It's a popular place where lots of people get together in small restaurants like the one we were at. In fact, he pointed out a few locations where suicide bombers had done their thing only a few meters away.
Kind of explains things, don't it...
Anyway, we had a hamburger and fries and a shake. Then went home.
The hotel's great and I can see the sea from my window. I'm on the 17th floor. I'm looking forward to catching up on some sleep.
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