Shabbat

I knew that my flight out of Israel early Saturday morning might present a problem, since this was during Shabbat (Sabbath). So, upon initial arrival at the Harmony, I spoke with the staff upon about getting transport to Ben Gurion Airport early Saturday morning. Although I was repeatedly reassured about it though the week, I was not surprised that on Friday afternoon the transport arrangements had to be changed because my flight was… early on the Sabbath. Oy. Not surprised, but annoyed. The change meant that instead of a shuttle picking me up at 4AM for a 7AM flight, it was now picking me up at 2:45AM. It sort of works out, because on Friday night (the start of Shabbat), there isn’t a lot for a non-Jewish, non-connected tourist like myself to do. So, an early evening suited.

Shabbat itself in the center of the New City: the streets emptied, and the shops and restaurants shuttered. Only a few tourist places stayed open as dusk and early evening fell. I had an early dinner at my reliable retreat directly across from the Harmony: the Zuni Café. A coincidence – they never heard of SF’s Zuni Café. They did tell me that they named the restaurant after Indian tribe from the New England area of America. Oh well. Close enough.

After a short sleep: mayhem at 3AM. Thousands of young drunk people in the streets. But the windows at the Harmony are good! You could barely hear them, though when I opened the windows, it sounded like a rock concert outside my hotel. Such a contrast with the silence of the early evening before.

Waiting for the shuttle phone call in the lobby, I was actually a little worried. I could hear glass bottles breaking and not-so-friendly drunken shouts once the so-friendly, middle-of-the-night Harmony staffer David opened the windows. In idle chatter with David, he learned I was going to Iceland next. He got so excited talking to me about it, I think I almost missed my shuttle. We exchanged contact information, and he promised to send me information about Iceland, a place he always wanted to visit. In the last minutes of my stay in Israel, I had made a connection with someone.