Day 1-2 (May 27-28, '08): After a 2 hour limo bus ride to Los Angeles, a 14 hour flight, and another 2 hour bus ride, I am finally at the hotel in Tiberius! The only travel drama occurred at LAX - El Al "selected" me to be extensively searched. They ended up keeping all of my carry-on luggage (minus my wallet and passport) until it was time to board the plane (3 hours later). It was annoying, but if if that's what it takes to maintain safety, I'm fine with it. I'm curious to know what (if anything) made me so suspicious! :) My first impressions of Israel are that it is very similar to San Diego, with regards to climate (maybe a tad warmer), vegetation (palm trees, bouganvilla, & wild flowers), and landscape (lots of hills). If it weren't for the Hebrew signs everywhere, I would have forgotten that I was not at home. On our way to the hotel, we visited Caesarea, an ancient city located on the Mediterranean that was built by King Herod. There we saw the ruins of the Roman theater (heavily restored), Herod's palace, and an aqueduct. Finally we made it to the hotel - the room is decent, not fantastic, not bad, but the view of the Sea of Galilee is gorgeous, and thus far, the food at the hotel has been excellent.