Picture taken from Pinterest – snorts!
Daily Archives: 02/03/2016
Travels to Israel
Every Wednesday for the month of February, I’m going to bring you a travel story of a trip to Israel that my aunt went on during the Christmas holidays. This was indeed a once in a lifetime kind of trip full of great scenery, history and wonderful food and people. I’ve looked over my aunt’s pictures and I can tell you in one word a description of them – AMAZING! I hope you enjoy us every week this month so that we may all relive her travels.
A trip to Israel? Seriously? Do I have to scream YES?! Plans to be made – passports to be ordered. What do I pack? What will the food be like? The people? Okay, I’m getting ahead of myself. First things first, travel arrangements. Everything was planned months in advance.
Then the big day came – WOW! I’m so excited. I rushed around the house doing final packing and out the
door to the airport I was. I was happily counting down the hours until touch down in the old country. I get to the airport for the first part of my trip which is to fly in to Detroit for my connecting flight to Paris. However, this is where I met my first obstacle. My flight to Detroit was delayed due to damage the plane took on while in flight. Bummer. But safety first, right? So they put us up in a hotel overnight with food vouchers. Who can say no to that, right? It was part of our adventure.
The next day, we did it all over again and was able to get on the plane for Detroit. This flight took us a little over an hour. Once in Detroit, we then boarded our connecting flight to Paris – the land of love. This time we would be in the sky for almost 8 hours. And who says that airplane food is bad – especially served with free wine 🙂 
Airplane food – pastas, lentil salad
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Finally we touched down in Paris where we would have a six hour layover. Paris has lots of emphasis on style, perfume, alcohol shops and lots of smoking areas – thank goodness. Since our layover was only six hours, we decided to check out the airport and what it had to offer. Chocolates for one thing – yum! The Paris Airport has a Fauchon shop which is known for their macarons. Also at the airport, the have cheese and wine – who would have thought that huh? It just makes you want to pull up and nibble on some for a while.
Below is a picture of the ‘smoking rooms’ at the Paris Airport. Crowded huh? Also below is a picture of a coffee shop. Coffee in Paris is different than in the States, not only by taste but size. In Paris, the largest cup size that is offered is smaller than a Starbucks tall. What a difference!
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Finally, it was time to board the plane for our final connecting flight to Tel Aviv which would take us over 5 hours. Again, with free wine and great food – we were set for the destination of our travels. Please join us next Wednesday for more in my travels to Israel.
Pay it Forward
Okay Friends – Here We Go!
My sweet friends at Nikitaland have started this monthly issue of Pay It Forward. We asked for you to keep this in mind all month and to share things here today on what you have been able to do. Paying it forward is not for bragging purposes – it’s an attempt to show how many different things we can do to pay it forward – lots of them don’t even include money. Gestures that we take for granted may be a God send to another person.
You know my mom has been going to the plasma clinic now for several months. There is a nurse there named Val that mom has just fallen in love with. No matter how busy her day, she has a smile to open the sky and always a kind word. Last week, it was birthday. Mom surprised her with a small gift of appreciation – something she could share with her family. I hope it brought a smile to everyone like she always brings a smile to my mom’s face.
And speaking of the plasma clinic – mom has made her 20th donation this past week as well. When she started, she made a personal commitment to herself to do 20 donations. There have been up and down times – times she has wanted to quit – but she kept on to meet her goal. I’m not sure how many people mom has touched with her donations but we are proud of her here at the Hotel Thompson. And you know what, she is trying to do 20 more. At that end of 40, she will reevaluate how she feels.
My buddy Nikitaland made up a good deeds sheet. You can get it here. You can print it, hang it on your fridge and just jot some things down that you do during the month. That way at our next meet up, you can share what you have done to PAY IT FORWARD.
AND if you are interested in getting some Pay it Forward bracelets, check out Nikitaland’s post here for ordering information. Believe me friends – WE CAN ALL MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
Next meet up will be March 2nd – mark your calendars!
Piglove 