And so the journey begins.....

We have a five hour lay over in Philly. Elizabeth & I are finally feeling the excitement of visiting The "Holy Lands". Since I was a kid in vacation bible school, I was taught about Jesus Christ and his time on earth in this distant far away land. Now, in less than 12 hours we will be landing in Tel Aviv.
Tel Aviv was begun by a small group of Jews who migrated from the long established area of Jaffa. The city dates back to 1470 BC. An Egyptian pharaoh mentioned it in letters he wrote. The area is also mentioned in the bible, the book of Jonah. According to some readings, the name of the city was given in 1910. In the book of Ezekiel it says, " Then I came to them of captivity at Tel-Abib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar". Abib or Aviv means "spring" in Hebrew. The city population is only 392,500, however the metropolitan population is 3.268 million people. It is only 33 miles northwest of the Biblically significant area of Jerusalem. It is the second largest city in Israel and is situated along the Mediterranean Sea.

We will only be in Tel Aviv for one night and then The Holy City.