Departure hall "café"

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Merisi of Vienna chose this month's City Daily Photo Theme Day theme.
Vienna, coffeehouse capital of the civilized world! --  Merisi must have a thousand choices.
She is asking us CDP bloggers to share a favorite coffee place in our neighborhood.

Actually I am not a café type of person so I have few photos of such places, especially not Israeli places.
This strange one that I show you, well, I never sat there. 
But I LOVE walking by it.
Why? Because it is in the Departures terminal of Ben-Gurion International Airport, and that means I am on the way to a gate to a plane, to fly away somewhere!

The tables in the big circle are surrounded by over-priced coffee and cake stands; I think you just buy what you want and go sit down. 
In the center a fountain does its water show under the high dome, adding its noise to the general clamor.
All around the circle are duty-free shops and fast-food places. 
For some reason an "artwork" that always reminds me of a totem pole is part of the "decor."

People, a lot of them, sit and eat, drink and talk, and happily watch the screen on the wall show their flight's departure time getting closer and closer.  
(We have to be at the airport at least three hours before, because of all the security checks.)

If you want to see a real coffeehouse in the grand style, see my post on Café Museum, to which an Austrian friend took me in my first-ever hour in Vienna last November.
And check out the wide diversity of coffee places that City Daily Photo bloggers will be posting starting now.
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More about our nice airport in these earlier posts.
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Fly me away

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For today's City Daily Photo Theme Day I chose as my favorite blog photo of 2015 this shot of mountain- and highrise-flanked Hong Kong airport.
It is a happy reminder of much flying.
From August to November I was lucky to be either running through, or sitting and waiting in, the airports of Tel Aviv, Hong Kong, Sydney, Bangkok, Athens, Vienna, and Berlin.

It was wonderful spending a month in Australia and a month in Austria, first with my dear little grandchildren near Sydney and then with a nice farming community in rural Austria.
And the whipped cream dessert at the end was a visit (my first!) to friendly lovely Vienna!
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A happy and blessed new year to you all!
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UPDATE:  And even for this there is Jewish humor:
Q: Is one permitted to ride in an airplane on the Sabbath?
A: Yes, as long as your seat belt remains fastened. In this case, it is considered that you are not riding, you are wearing the plane.
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The airport at midnight

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So far it's a quiet night on the departures floor of our airport. 
It is midnight and my flight is not until 5:30 in the morning.
I took the next to the last bus out of Meitar to Beer Sheva, a train to Tel Aviv, and then a short train ride to Ben-Gurion; and that was hours ago.

N is for Natbag. It sounds funny in English but that is what you get from the initials Nemal Teufa (meaning airport) Ben-Gurion, NTBG.
I'll be flying, after a short change of planes in Athens, to Vienna, for a month of volunteer work in Austria.
Stay tuned. 
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(Linking to ABC Wednesday.)
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Above the clouds!

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Some aerial shots taken for this Skywatch Friday as I flew from Tel Aviv to Hong Kong to Sydney on Monday, Tuesday, AND Wednesday!

The little island seemed to attract clouds.

Approaching Hong Kong airport, my first time!

 A big dam.

Mountains around Hong Kong airport.
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It is nice to have a month on the earth now with my grandkids in Australia.
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Seven or nine? Or 8+1 ?

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A table outside a shop on Jaffa Street laden with all kinds of chanukiot.
And from the bakeries down the street the smell of soofganiot (jelly donuts) frying in oil.
Sure signs that Chanuka is coming!
The first light will indeed be kindled on December 20.

The Chanuka chanukiah, with eight arms and one for the servant candle (8+1=9), is not to be confused with the menorah, the lampstand with seven branches that was used in the Temple in ancient days.

The sculpture in the photo is "Menorat Hashalom" by Salvador Dali.
It is the first thing travelers see when they land at Ben-Gurion Airport and exit from Terminal 3.

In case you were thinking of climbing on it, note that the sign says "Climbing prohibited."
And just for fun enlarge the photo to see two young women stretched out for a rest.

The reflections in both pictures are for James' meme, Weekend Reflections.
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Airport City sky over shiny trees

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Ah, trees planted in the green center of a roundabout, each tree with a different colored fruit, under a clear blue sky.
One even has a bird perched on it.
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Click on the photo. Surprise! Aluminum trees!
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I didn't see much greenery or trees at Airport City, the sprawling business park not far from Ben-Gurion Airport.
But it is full of big modern buildings--industrial, storage, and logistical facilities as well as offices and hi-tech buildings to rent.
The park includes a conference center, a business hotel, a commercial area, with shops, restaurants, and leisure facilities.
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See photos at Airport City website.
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My sky over metal trees is joined to SkyWatch Friday.
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A is for arrivals and archaeology at the airport

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Applause for ABC Wednesday going into Round 9 today!
Mrs. Nesbitt and her meme team deserve straight A's.

And I was at the airport today to await the arrival of two dear relatives who are moving back to Israel after many years in America.
Ahalan!
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Archaeology, even at the airport!
This big mosaic carpet hangs on a wall in Terminal 3.

Appropriately, it is a mosaic that was discovered in Lod.
Ben-Gurion International Airport was formerly called Lod Airport because it is near the town of Lod.
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A rare airport-closing fog

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For SkyWatch Friday

Some mornings our village on the hill wakes up to a cloud of fog sitting in the valley around us.

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Last Monday night and Tuesday morning we had no fog in the Jerusalem Hills, but 45 minutes west of here Ben-Gurion International Airport was totally covered with fog.

So thick it was that the airport was closed to landings and take-offs for 8 hours, something unheard of in Israel.

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Apparently the fog could occur intermittently but instead of joining queues over Israel, the pilots chose to land safely in Cyprus, Jordan, and Egypt and wait until they could guarantee a landing at Ben-Gurion.

Thank God for nice neighbors.

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But why is our "alternative airport" in the neighbor countries and not in Israel itself, we started wondering.

Ovda Airport near Eilat used to serve that purpose but it is owned by the military.

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And as Transportation Minister Katz said yesterday,

“Most countries have an air force; in Israel the air force has a country. The main problem is that even when the government decides that an alternative airport is necessary, the air force expresses reservations and things don’t go ahead."

Haaretz has a very telling interview with El Al Airlines chief pilot in which he explains the sorry situation, and why Ben-Gurion can't use its ILS instrument landing system, and why fog can shut down the country.

Catch 22.
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Up, up, and away

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Somehow the length and incline of this bridge remind me of an ancient Roman aqueduct.
In reality, it transports not water but carloads of passengers going to and from the airport terminals.
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It's the best I can do today for Louis la Vache's Sunday Bridges.
Bon dimanche.
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The new year dove

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The dove of peace climbs upward into the sky.

The banner on this building at Ben-Gurion Airport proclaims that --
El Al announces "This is going to be a good year."
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Shana tova, may it be so!

We are now near the conclusion of the Days of Awe, those awesome ten days between Rosh Hashana (New Year's day) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) when fateful decisions are made above and below.
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The blue skies, both real and painted, are offered for SkyWatch Friday.
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Your love is coming back

"Your LOVE is returning."

Ben-Gurion Airport's Terminal 3 Arrivals is always full of excited stay-behinds anxiously waiting for their loved ones to return from abroad.
What joy when the sliding doors of Customs open and they step out.
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For James' meme, "Weekend Reflections."
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Various vending machines in Israel

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V-Day at ABC Wednesday.

A vending machine for fresh flowers?!
Ben-Gurion International Airport has one in the arrivals hall. Honest!
Written above in Hebrew letters is "La bouquet."
Enlarge the photo to see prices in shekels.

Select the number of the bouquet you want, swipe your credit card, and the appropriate door will open.

A vending machine for holy books?!

I saw it with my own eyes at Jerusalem's big Central Bus Station.

Before you board your inter-city bus you can quickly equip yourself with a prayerbook or a part of the Talmud to study or pray from on the way.

And each book costs only 10 or 15 shekels, a fraction of the price of a bunch of flowers.

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I learned about the organization dispensing the books in a Jerusalem Post article. Here is part of what it says:

"The vending machine is there because of Meoros HaDaf HaYomi, an organization dedicated to spreading the study of Judaism in general and Gemara in particular. HaDaf HaYomi has more than 500 classes around the country and publishes books, videos and audio clips on the Internet. . . .

Daf yomi means 'a page a day,' and refers to the practice of studying the entire 2,711-page Babylonian Talmud, one folio (double-sided page) at a time, in a cycle of seven and a half years, followed by many Jews around the world. Part of Meoros HaDaf HaYomi's mission is to involve more people in this enterprise."

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Judaic studies and siddurim from a vending machine. . . . It makes me remember, with a smile, something from a college literature class: deus ex machina, literally, "God from the machine."

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Reflecting on the airport

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A backward ISRAEL reflected in the entrance to Terminal 3 at Ben-Gurion International Airport.
The 60 is for our country's 60th year celebrations in 2008.


If you walk on past the top-floor entrance, there is a lonely place to sit on a bench.

But you would have to stand up and look down to see the pretty palm trees.

Across the street from the bench you can also zoom in to see the top of the control tower.

Enlarge the photo and you will be greeted with "WELCOME TO ISRAEL."

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BTW, a marked security car came and stood near me. Guess the guard wanted to see what kind of nut was out there in a lonely place photographing benches (AND control tower). And well, I DID have a (suspicious?) small backpack on my back.

He honked and I put the camera in my pocket and moved on, trying to look like the innocent grandmother that I am. :)

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We bloggers just have to get our shots--oops, I mean photos--for RuneE's "Benches on Friday" and James' "Weekend Reflections." Right?

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This week's animal sightings

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Cat and birds for Camera-Critters Sunday meme

More fun at Ben-Gurion Airport.
The cat was alert to the flashing arrow

"Hey, where did it go?"

But soon the luggage trolleys were redistributed to the empty stations, into the railings with the green arrow. And the airport cat had to scat and seek a new source of amusement.

Sitting at the computer today, on a quiet Sabbath day in my quiet village, I heard unfamiliar bird chatter out in the yard.

A whole flock of wild parrots!

I had to think a second, "Wait, am I still in Australia?" Never have I seen parrots flying in the Jerusalem area!

I had to use full zoom, but if you enlarge the photo you can just make out two parrots in the fig tree.

(The fig branches have lost their leaves for the winter, which gives me a better view of Jerusalem over across the valley.)

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Apparently these are the Dhara (pronounced Drara around here) parrots that love to feed on fruits. Well, the folks in this moshav/village certainly have plenty of assorted fruit trees in their gardens. I can guess that now that we have been discovered, the flock will be back again soon.

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The most recent information I could find was from this 2004 article in The Times of India:

Desi parrot is Israel's enemy No 1!

1 October 2004

JERUSALEM: Thirty years after they slipped unnoticed into Israel, Indian parrots are number one enemy of the Jewish state. The green Indian parrot, called "Drara" here, have been declared by the Israeli authorities as "harmful" for the fruit growers and their growth needs to be controlled, said the Yediot Ahronot newspaper.

The bird has undergone an "incredible multiplication" during the last few years as its predators have rapidly decreased in numbers, Dr Yossi Lasham, an ornithologist, told the paper. The rich and natural food available all over northern Israel has aided its growth and they have wreaked havoc on date plantations in Amakim, Lasham said. Alarmed by the development, the authorities have issued directives to adopt measures to control or even reduce their numbers.

"Large Drara parrot cause great damage to the cultivators of dates, apples and other fruits," Glozner, a senior cultivator from the Beit Shean valley, said. "We have identified it as our real enemy". "Following the declaration, it would be possible to make a thinning process in places where the bird was causing great damages," the farmer said.

Drara parrots are seen flying joyfully in the national parks in Tel Aviv, where there is an "ongoing dialogue between those living as pets and those who managed to flee, narrating the sweet life outside the cage," the daily said.
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Airport synagogue

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This is the little synagogue in Terminal 3, one of two synagogues at Ben-Gurion International Airport. The ends of the pews even have the airport logo in the wood.

The table on which the Torah scroll is opened and read.

The covering of the holy ark has a representation of the Temple as it may have looked two thousand years ago.

The words describing the Torah are from the Bible: "Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace."

Lots of holy books in case you have hours of waiting at the airport.

You can even get a Torah lesson by touching the screen.

Behind the beautiful men's section is the drab little corner where the women must stay in order not to be seen or heard.

Yes, it is an Orthodox synagogue.

The posts at the entrance remind you to leave your luggage trolley outside during the prayer services.

Yesterday was the first time I found the synagogue empty and was thus able to enter and shoot some photos.

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Haaretz had an interesting article about this in Nov. 2009. Apparently a Muslim prayer room and a Christian chapel had been in the original plans for Terminal 3, which opened in 2004.

Haaretz says "Ultra-Orthodox political pressure has stalled the construction of a church and a mosque at Ben-Gurion International Airport for the past five years ...."

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(Linking to inSPIREd Sunday and signs, signs.)
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Airport fun

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Whenever I go to Ben-Gurion Airport to welcome an arriving friend I like to spend hours enjoying the sights and sounds.
There goes another El Al jet!

Whatever rain we last had seems to have stayed trapped just outside this side entrance to Terminal 3. It is really only an emergency exit, but I was standing inside when a uniformed airport personnel lady waded through the deep water in high heels, making faces as she swiped her card to open the door.

The huge puddle on the roof was perfect for reflecting the clouds though.

Good for both SkyWatch Friday and Weekend Reflections.

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Of joy and Jews

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Just some Jewish symbols here for ABC Wednesday J-Day.

I went to pick up a friend today at Ben-Gurion International Airport near the city of Lod and I picked up some J words too.
This 5-meter-high menorah welcomes people at the arrivals terminal.

It contains another Jewish symbol--the shield of David, magen David.
And written under the word SHALOM is the artist's signature: Salvador Dali.
The work is titled "Menorat Hashalom" (the Menorah of Peace).


Jillions of luggage trolleys were snaking their way toward the menorah.

Joy will soon light up the faces of these people when their loved ones emerge from the baggage claim and customs area.

Jews poured out of flights originating in cities such as Bratislava and Kiev. These Jewish men were returning from their annual Rosh Hashana pilgrimage to the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav. Nachman from Uman is buried in Uman, a city in the Ukraine.

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If you are curious about the Na-Nach Nachman meUman graffiti that sprouts up on almost every vertical surface in Jerusalem, please revisit my post about the miracle mantra.

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The airport was fun, but it's good to be back home hearing the jackals in my beloved Jerusalem Hills.

Happy J-Day.

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