About 1/2 hour out of Jerusalem, I asked Susie to call the Maccabiah to get directions, so Laurie and I could get tickets for the opening ceremonies. It was a mistake. While they were talking, I mistenly got onto Israel's new Turnpike Route 6. This took us far north of Ramat Gan adding more than 1/2 hour to our trip. Once we did eventually enter Tel Aviv, we tried the Cell Phone again. We got clear directions and eventually found the ticket office where Laurie and I bought tickets for the evening's event. You can find pictures of the opening ceremonies by clickinghere. After the Ceremonies, we had dinner at Howard Johnson's Shalom Ranch across the street from the Tel Aviv Hilton. We awoke the next morning and headed north for Caesarea and Haifa.

      Later we would return for Shabbat services and dinner with Susie, Jonny and Amy Schiffman and Jimmy Rosenthal. We had a nice swim in the Meditteranean, a wonderful dinner at the Old Port and headed south in the morning for the Negev.