Flight Home, Amsterdam to Portland

Leaving Amsterdam

First Land in North America

Ice, Hudson Bay

Over Canada

Oregon

Had a daylight flight from Amsterdam to Portland which went over the center of Greenland. Except for Greenland which was covered with clouds the rest of the trip was mostly clear.
The flight from Tel Aviv to Amsterdam left at 3AM. After clearing customs in Portland flew on to LA. The next day flew from LA to Dallas for my mothers 94th birthday
Another travel tip if you want to visit Israel, avoid the time around Easter. It's not just Easter Sunday it is all the other days. On Saturday all the restaurants I had eaten at were closed so I planned to go into town Sunday morning. My first stop was to get bagels for breakfast. The bagel shop was open but no bagels as it was a no bread day having to do with Easter. Could get a salad but no croutons on it and forget about pizza. The next day I planned to go to my favorite restaurant for my last dinner in Jerusalem and even skipped the lunch stop in Jericho so I could have a good dinner in town that night. Walked up to town that evening, Monday, and everything was closed. Every place I had eaten at for the past two weeks was closed. Stopped at the Palestinian grocery on the way back to the room to get some snacks for dinner and the flight home. Needed to be at the airport, a hour or more drive, at midnight so called the recommended taxis companies and only got an Hebrew message on the answering machines. Called an hour later thinking maybe they had been closed for dinner during my first call. Still no answer so was able to call my tour guide at home to see if he had airport service telling him that there was no answer from the taxis companies. He did not but suggested I should call the taxis services in a couple days as they would be open then. Two days, I need to be at the airport in five hours. He gave me the number of an Palestinian taxis driver who was open was able the understand enough English to figure out how to find my place.
I had two guide books and none outlined all days businesses were closed during the time around Easter.      

On the way to Israel

Arrival in Amsterdam

Bikes at Central Train in Amsterdam

Had a layover in Amsterdam and with their great train service was able to get downtown from the airport in 15 minutes.
The top photo shows the plane in Amsterdam. There were two jetways  to unload including one that went over the wing making for really efficient unloading. There was an article last week that listed the Amsterdam airport as one of the ten best in the world and it is in my ten best also.
The lower photo shows some of the thousands of bikes parked at the central train station downtown as their riders have gone to work by train.

Amsterdam

Had a layover in Amsterdam and with their good train service between the airport and town it is easy to get into town. The weather however was damp, cold, and windy so after a walking to one of our favorite restaurants I headed back to the airport to try and get some sleep.

Train to Airport, Amsterdam

Had a layover for ten hours in Amsterdam so took the train into town and back to airport. After 30+ hours without sleep found myself falling asleep while walking around the Van Gogh Museum. Then on to Istanbul for some sleep, have twelve hours befor the flight to Damascus.

Amsterdam Canels