flying el al

Over the last few days, I’ve been entertaining you with blog posts about travel must-haves, products I love and other tidbits of travel talk. But today, we’re actually traveling, not just talking about it! Yesterday, I boarded an El Al flight to Tel Aviv. The 10-hour and 44-minute flight from Toronto to Tel Aviv was as easy as can be. That might be because I travel with an endless assortment of ways to amuse myself on long-haul flights. What was in my carry-on bag? Well, for starters, there were snacks. I never travel without snacks! Plus, I had three magazines, my book, my iPod Touch (good for music, games and movies) and my laptop. But I didn’t really need all of that to while away the hours. Truth be told, when you’re comfortable on a plane, the time really does fly. And that’s how I felt on this flight. They played four movies: Mall Cop, Bride Wars, Yes Man and Unforgiven. I admit, I only watched Bride Wars but it’s amazing how easily a movie passes two hours. The food was great; I pre-ordered the Asian vegetarian meal, which consisted of stir-fried seasoned zucchini, potato wedges and rice. Breakfast was a fresh and tasty bagel with butter and more veggies. The flight attendants were friendly and attentive, ready to serve juice or hot tea at any point during the flight.

El Al, which means ‘to the skies‘ in Hebrew, is Israel’s national carrier and flies daily between Toronto and Tel Aviv. Its hub, Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, is bright and modern and provides a wonderful welcome to visitors, especially first-timers like me. Airport security at both ends and during the flight was tight (El Al is one of, if not the, world’s most secure airlines) but it wasn’t aggressive, obvious or intimidating. Door to door, the experience was pleasant, easy and yes, even relaxing.  To say I was excited to land at Ben Gurion here in Tel Aviv would be an enormous understatement. Visit elal.co.il for more information or join their Facebook group to learn more!

After landing, I took the 35-minute drive from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which is where I am now. I look forward to telling you more about that soon!