Snowy Night in Prague

I flew from Kyiv to Prague this afternoon, and had a layover there for more than seven hours. I debated taking a cab into the Old City to see the Moldau, the main square and the other incredible sights of this great city, but realized that it was already dark and snowing, and so elected to remain in the airport until my flight. There were many flights scheduled to Tel Aviv through the evening, and so enjoyed watching large numbers of passengers assembling, including this large group which broke out their guitars and tambourines to sing while they waited.

I spent the evening watching the people, listening to music and writing.

November Itinerary

I just booked my flights to eastern Europe and the Middle East for this November. I will be traveling to Kyiv by way of Detroit and Amsterdam on Saturday and Sunday, November 7th and 8th. On Monday November 23rd I will travel from Kyiv to Tel Aviv, Israel by way of Prague, arriving early in the morning on the 24th. I will then spend five days or so in Jerusalem, and fly home from Tel Aviv by way of New York City on Sunday the 29th of November.

My itinerary allows for me to have about three days of unscheduled time in Kyiv at the end of my teaching responsibilities, which will enable me to explore some of the sights I missed during my 2007 trip. For example, I want to spend more time in Pecherska Lavra.

One of the big adventures for me will be finding my way from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and then to Hebrew University (which is technically on the east or Palestinian side of the 1949 Armistice Agreement Line), especially since my flight arrives in Tel Aviv from Prague at something like 4:00 in the morning! My nephew (and Jerusalem resident expert) will no doubt give me pearls of wisdom about how to get to his house, but from what I can read online, the best solution is to take a Sherut (or shared taxi van) from the airport right into Jerusalem. More about this later.