Travel Comments and Israel Update May 2024

I am writing this blog as I fly back to Toronto from Israel via a circuitous route of Amsterdam and Paris. A fairly crazy route but $1,500Cdn less in economy than flying any other available route (other than via Ethiopia which didn't interest me).  I thought I would write a bit about the routes I have been taking back and forth and then deal with some other issues.

Flights Between Tel-Aviv and Toronto these days - via KLM/Air France or El Al

It is a close competition between KLM and El Al as to which is the more unpalatable flight between Israel and Europe. KLM uses bare-bones Boeing 737 planes for the 4 hour 50 minute flight from Tel Aviv to Amsterdam. There are no entertainment screens or plugs for charging devices. No wi-fi available, even for texting. The airplane configuration is 3-3 and it's very cramped. The seats don't recline. The "meal service" is one sandwich (served warm) of kosher egg and vegan cheese with tomato - served to everyone. In fairness, slightly better than the El Al offering of a yam and gouda microwaved sandwich but only slightly.

There is also drink service so I was able to get a red wine - a South African Shiraz that was passable. That is one up on El Al which only distributes bottles of water.

This would be fine for a 2-3 hour flight - but for a five hour flight it is really unpleasant. Air France, by contrast, for flights between Tel Aviv and Paris - about 4 hours - uses beautiful new planes with wi-fi, entertainment systems, full meal service and full drink service - even cognac.

Given the circumstances in Israel these days, I am not about to complain too much. But there is a major difference among the airlines that are still flying between Europe and Tel Aviv.

I should mention that Air Canada recently cancelled all flights through August. United and Delta are scheduled to restart sooner. As far as I understand, ITA (Italy), Lufthansa, Austrian and Swiss are all flying to Israel - along with Lot Polish and Emirates/ Fly Dubai.  There may be others.

If you are planning to fly to Israel any time soon - and you want to be sure (or almost sure) that your flight will take place, a connection with El Al is probably the only itinerary you can really count on these days. (Though an economy ticket, if you can find one, might cost $2,500-$3,000). Other airlines are likely to be cheaper and more comfortable. But they may not actually fly.

Landing in Amsterdam is very inconvenient. The immigration area is understaffed and overcrowded. It can take 45-60 minutes to get through immigration. This is a huge contrast with Rome and London, both of which have reasonable immigration procedures in place.  I would strongly advise against any kind of short connection through Amsterdam.

For the rest of the route, I had a stopover in Paris. We were required to go through French exit customs before getting to the gate - which was almost as bad as Dutch immigration.  Long lineups, understaffed area and some out of order machines.  For all of those people who complain about Canadian airport immigration incompetence, try going through Amsterdam or Paris and then report back.

The Air France flight back from Paris to Toronto was incredibly crowded - one of those 3-4-3 configurations (in what felt like it was designed for a 3-3-3).  It was very uncomfortable.  The English version of the announcements was unintelligible.  The entertainment selection was lame and the wi-fi was spotty.  I guess you can tell that I miss being able to take direct Air Canada flights to Tel-Aviv on the 787 Dreamliners but, as I said, these are not the world's worst problems.

For my next trip back, I have booked a connection through Vienna using Air Canada and Austrian.  I was planning to come back on a direct Air Canada flight - but these have been postponed until late August at the earliest.  It seems like Air Canada is not likely to restart its flights to Tel-Aviv until the war is over.  And that does not look like it is going to be anytime soon.

April/May Holidays and Commemorations

We have completed observances of Pesach, Yom Hashoah, Yom Hazikaron and Yom Haatzmaut. I have written about these days in earlier blogs.

Yom Haatzmaut was the strangest national observance. The official government sponsored event was taped without an audience and broadcast on the evening of Yom Haatzmaut. It is usually held as a live event. The minister responsible, Miri Regev, one of Netanyahu's most reliable "yes people" announced that this was due to "security concerns.". Mainly that seems to mean the risk of Netanyahu getting booed at the ceremony.

In my view, however, there was one highlight. Israeli superstar Omer Adam, sang the song "One connected Human Tapestry" (my preferred translation). "If one of us dies, a part of all of us dies. And if one of us dies, that person takes a part of us with them." I have included the link - hopefully it works.  It begins with an interpretive dance, commemorating the October 7, 2023 massacres.  Midway through the song, families of victims of the Hamas massacres joined Omer Adam and sang with him. It was chilling, emotional and one of the most intense things I have seen in quite a while. The song was originally recorded by Chava Alberstein (one of my personal favourites) who included a version of the song on a commemorative album after the assassination of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Omer Adam's rendition was outstanding, though tear evoking for sure.

We also watched the annual event hosted by Eidan Raichel, which I have written about previously. Raichel travels around the country to army bases to pick 10 soldiers to sing with him on Yom Haatzmaut. The soldiers or their friends have submitted demo tapes in advance. Raichel surprises then at their bases and invites them to sing at the main event. He also invites their friends and family members to attend. At the end of the evening, he picks one winner to record a song with him. He introduces each soldier, shows a video clip about them and speaks to them in a way that exudes empathy and genuine appreciation. One of my favourite events of the year.

The Situation (in Hebrew "Hamatzav")

Israel remains at war on several fronts. I don't see any near term resolution to any of this.

The Gaza front remains the focus of attention. Israel is fighting to defeat the Hamas regime - and eliminate Hamas' military threat (by capturing or killing the Hamas leadership) while releasing as many living hostages as possible.

Hamas continues to hold 128 hostages (though some may no longer be alive). It also continues to fire rockets at Israel and has vowed to carry out more attacks like the October 7 massacres.

Israel simply cannot allow this to continue and cannot agree to a cease fire deal that does not ensure that this won't happen again. There is heavy fighting now in the last major Hamas stronghold of Rafah (Rafiah in Hebrew/Arabic). Deaths of Israeli soldiers are being reported every day - and there are also many Hamas casualties. There are also Palestinian civilian casualties.

I have no idea, quite frankly, whether a ,"victory" is actually achievable - and if so, what the cost will be - in terms of the number of Israeli soldiers, civilians, Hamas fighters and Palestinian civilians. Israel likens this to the fight to rid Germany of the Nazis. The idea is that total victory is the only option when dealing with a genocidal, dictatorial regime.

Perhaps this is a proper analogy if the Palestinians can be left with a new leadership committed to resolving things peacefully with Israel coupled with a rebuilding and education plan. But so far, there is no such emerging Palestinian leadership option. And, the current Israeli government does not seem to be Interested in backing or bolstering such a government.

Contrary to the South African allegations, bolstered by Ireland, Norway, Turkey and some other countries, there is no genocide. Israel is not massacring civilians. (If you want to discuss genocide - check out what is going on currently in Sudan).

Moreover, Israel did not start this war (unlike Russia which launched an unprovoked invasion of the Ukraine).

It was Hamas that attacked Israel - murdering, raping, and torturing civilians on Oct 7, 2023. No country in the world would allow this to occur without taking every possible action in response to ensure that it does not happen again. (Hamas spokespeople have vowed that they will do the same thing over and over again).

Gaza is not an enormous area though it is a very densely populated place. I do not think this can continue indefinitely. I would imagine that Israel will soon conquer the area and take control or reach some kind of brokered agreement. But this may still take several months. And there needs to be some kind of plan for what happens next.

Who will actually govern Gaza? Who will rebuild it? Who will fund it? Who will ensure that it is demilitarized? Clearly it can't be Hamas. And it can't be UNRWA, which is essentially Hamas. At this point, I really have no idea.  

Waiting in the wings, Israel is on the precipice of a massive war with Hezbollah, Lebanon, Syria and perhaps Iran. There is a very active war taking place right now, as we speak.  Northern Israel has been evacuated and many of the border towns (like Kiryat Shemona) are ghost towns, filled only with army personnel.  Hezbollah continues to attack Israel with drones, rpgs, rockets, and all sorts of other weaponry.  Israel continues to fight back. But Hezbollah has not yet started using its medium and long range missiles - and Israel has not launched an all out attack against Hezbollah.  Most Israeli commentators seem to feel that this war is inevitable.  The only way out is some sort of agreement whereby Hezbollah agrees to move its forces well back from the Israeli border (which was part of a previous cease fire agreement).  But so far Hezbollah has shown no inclination to do so.

The latest "front" is the growing publicity and public opinion front being fought by Israel against an increasingly large number of countries.  The latest salvo as you know, came from Ireland, Norway and Spain, which decided to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian State.  I really don't think that this decision is likely to assist anyone.  It will bolster supporters of Hamas and and other violent Palestinian groups - who will view this decision as a "win" emanating from the Hamas massacres. That will obviously encourage more violence.  It will also antagonize Israel and diminish the credibility of these countries as partners in any negotiation.  I saw one commentary that suggested that Israel should recognize the Catalan Independence movement or the Basque separatist movement in response to Spain's decision.  

This new front that Israel is facing - worldwide pressure - is in the arenas of political, economic and public opinion.  Backers of Hamas have used social media to circulate fake videos, disinformation, TikTok clips and all means of other trickery to distort the events that took place on October 7, 2023 and that have taken place since then.

You may have read one of the most recent examples - that some people - as a joke - put up a post that the Iranian leader was killed by an Israeli Mossad agent named "Eli Copter."  Apparently, this spun out of control and Israel was being accused on all sorts of channels (including some mainstream news media) of having assassinated the Iranian leader.  Yes, the crash was caused by "Eli Copter" - or in English, Helicopter - as in a Helicopter failure.  But there is nothing to suggest the Mossad was in any way involved - and I doubt there is an Israeli agent named "Eli Copter" - though there are probably lots of "Elis".  

Although the current Israeli leadership is not helping the situation, there is a clear worldwide current of outrageous and ridiculous anti-Israel activity.  The proposed criminal charges against Israeli leaders are a massive overreach - and seem to create a new standard of allegedly criminal activity - just for Israel and its leaders - even while there are so many worse conflicts taking place throughout the world - and many in situations in which civilians are being actively targeted and murdered. (That is clearly not happening in Gaza). 

There have also been waves of anti-Semitic incidents throughout the world including firebombs thrown at synagogues, physical attacks against Jews, and of course, anti-Israel (and often, quite clearly, anti-Jewish) encampments with Nazi symbolism and rhetoric calling for Jews to be murdered.  It's a crazy world out there for sure.  For those who might attack Israel and say that Zionism is a racist ideology or that Zionism (and the Jewish State) is unnecessary - that the Jewish people do not need a homeland - the events since October 7, 2023, throughout the world, have demonstrated that Israel is, right now, one of the only places that is really willing to defend its Jewish population.  

At the same time, to ensure its long-term survival, Israel will need to resolve many outstanding issues.  It will need to come up with some kind of long-term peaceful solution with the Palestinians.  It will need to resolve its own internal issues, that were raging before the war and continue to simmer on a back-burner even while the war continues on.  How to reconcile being a "Jewish State" and a "Democratic State."  How to ensure equality for all of its citizens. Whether to finally put a constitution in place.  How the powers of the Israeli Supreme Court should be delineated - and what the boundaries of the Court's jurisdiction should be.  How to manage anticipated demographic changes.  These are all incredibly complex challenges facing the country - but they are also challenges that the country will only be able to address once this war has ended.

Sports and other Competitions

To end on a positive note, I wanted to mention that a high school team from Binyamina, Israel, recently won an international robotics competition in Houston, Texas.  This was Israel's first win in that particular competition in 20 years.  

Israel also recently won a gold medal in its division in ice hockey at the international ice hockey Federation's U20 World Championship - division III group A.  Israel will now move up to Division II, Group B for next year's tournament.

Israel's Eden Golan finished in 5th place in the Eurovision signing competition.  She was able to do so by winning a massive share of the audience vote - even while the anti-Israel judging panel gave Golan miserably low scores.  This all came after the judging panel insisted that Israel change the lyrics and title of its song from "October Rain" to "Hurricane" to make the song "less political."  And of course, the Eurovision committee held its ground and refused to give in to public pressure from Ireland and other anti-Israel countries to oust Israel from the competition because of the war in Gaza. The Irish performer at the actual competition performed some kind of dark simulated satanic ritual on stage marked with violence, nastiness and, in my view, horrible "music."  It was comforting to see that the worldwide audiences weren't buying it and heavily supported Israel over Ireland.

My last sports note is that the Israeli men's soccer team is scheduled to participate in this year's Paris Olympics.   Israel last participated in this tournament in 1976.  Israel will be in Group D with games against Japan, Paraguay and Mali with the first matches schedule for July 25, 2024.  I have to say that I am quite looking forward to watching these games.  Of course some countries are lobbying FIFA to kick Israel out of the tournament.  Hopefully, they will not succeed.  Although one of my close family members routinely complains that watching soccer is about as exciting as "watching paint dry" - I actually quite enjoy international football (soccer) tournaments.  Granted these games are not as exciting as the Stanley Cup playoffs (which the Toronto Maple Leaf exited so unceremoniously) but seeing Israel compete in the Olympic soccer tournament on the world stage will be fun.  Hopefully the French security will be up to the challenge to provide proper protection for the athletes.

Until that starts, I'll be cheering for the Edmonton Oilers, the last standing Canadian hockey team in the final four - hoping that a Canadian team can finally win the Cup and bring it back to Canada. In Israel those games start at about 4 a.m. and run until around 7 a.m. (without overtime).  But here in Canada for a bit, I will get to watch some games at reasonable times.

Tel-Aviv to Toronto via Amsterdam on KLM - Part 2 With Whisky Tasting Notes

For the sake of completeness, I thought I'd add a note about my flight on KLM from Tel-Aviv to Toronto via Amsterdam.  The blog for the route the other way is here.

Like most other European flights, KLM leaves Tel-Aviv for Amsterdam at about 5:20 a.m.  This means getting to the airport at about 2:30 a.m.  It's a nasty start to any trip.  I suppose it works well for Israelis with short term business in Europe who would like to arrive in the morning.  But for travellers back to North America, it is quite painful and tiring.

The lines can be long at Ben Gurion Airport (particularly for these early morning flights to Europe) but they move along reasonably quickly.  Although the line-up looked quite daunting when I arrived at the airport at about 2:45 a.m., I moved through it in less than 15 minutes. 

  

The flight from Tel-Aviv to Amsterdam is between 4 1/2 and 5 hours, depending on tail winds.  The KLM planes are quite cramped with no video or other entertainment.  A breakfast of sorts was served.  I opted for the vegetarian meal and received something that vaguely resembled an omelet.  The seats were very tight.  However, I was extremely lucky and wound up with a vacant seat beside me.  This was pretty incredible given that the flight was otherwise completely packed.  Even with the extra room, the seat was still cramped but it was much more endurable.  The flight attendants were quite friendly, helpful and accommodating.  They came around often offering drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic.  They were cheerful and polite.  They spoke English well though I don't think I heard any of them speaking Hebrew (even Air Canada has some Hebrew speaking flight attendants for flights to Israel).  I wound up assisting with some translation services for some Haredim whose language skills were limited to Hebrew, Yiddish and perhaps Aramaic.

We arrived in Amsterdam ahead of schedule, just before 9:30 a.m.  I then had a four hour wait until the flight to Toronto.  That scheduling is not nearly as convenient for flying to Toronto as some other European cities, but, then again, Schipol airport is huge and has lots to do.  There are some great places to eat, many different shops and lots of places to relax.  

I wandered around for a while in the different duty free shops including a chocolate shop, a cheese shop and a book store.  Then I found the perfect place - "The Exquisite Whisky Shop" located near lounge 2.   It features a huge tasting menu and many whiskies for sale.  I had a few hours, so I figured I might as well do some sampling.  

I sat down and thumbed through the menu booklet which included various whisky "flights" - groups of three that had been put together as suggested combinations - as well as single options.  The prices ranged wildly.  You could sample something fairly common for as little as 5 Euros.  Or you could try the Louis XIII Cognac for 100 Euros a shot. 

I settled on a "flight tasting" of three peated whiskies that looked interesting.  The cost was 15 Euros (about $21 Cdn). These are the single malts that I sampled:

1.  Bruichladdich Port Charlotte 11 - I was told that it was not widely available but that it was very popular and sells out quickly.  Only 12000 bottles were released.  It was about 120 Euros a bottle.  It was smoky - yet it had a very interesting range of tastes to it.  Overall, I quite liked it even though I generally tend to prefer smoother whiskies.  It was a cask strength Scotch - 59.5% alcohol.  I enjoyed it straight up as well as with a bit of water. 

2.  Talisker "Dark Storm" - This was somewhat more smoky - supposedly aged in "charred barrels" - yet still with a fairly interesting taste to it.  It is apparently the smokiest whisky that Talisker has every sold. I enjoyed it but not as much as the first glass that I had tasted.

3.  Bruichladdich Octomore - This was super smoky, described as "super heavily peated."  It was too much smoke for me - a peat rating of 167, which is apparently off the charts....

All of that was 15 Euros - (for a "flight) but my server was generous with the servings. I guess she liked me (or hoped I would spend a lot of money) so she offered me some Cragganmore 19 (on the house) - a special edition carried exclusively by duty free shops.  It was okay but nothing too exciting.  It was not very smoky but had some interesting fruity tastes.

The generous attendant suggested that I try the Old Pulteney 21 for another 7 Euros.  Apparently this one was rated as the best whisky in Jim Murray's 2012 Whisky Bible.  I had a look at my watch.  Lots of time until the next flight.  I looked around a bit at the other offerings.  Ultimately, I said "what the heck" and plunked down another 7.5 Euros.  Since I was wavering, she provided me with a very generous serving.  This offering was fruity and interesting - not smoky at all.  It was apparently aged in both a bourbon cask and an oloroso cask.  So it had a very sweet finish.

At this point, I thought I was pretty much done (in more ways than one).  But the very helpful Scotch pro decided to really spoil me.  She brought out a glass of Laphroaig 25 year - that she explained costs 400 Euros a bottle.  She quietly told me "not to tell the manager" - and hid the bottle quickly....(though I am quite sure this is all part of the promotion and sales in the place). I have to say that this one was quite nice, even sublime.  It was not nearly as smoky as some of the less expensive Laphroaigs that I have had.  It had a range of interesting tastes and only a relatively mild peaty taste.  It is a cask strength whisky with an alcohol content of 59.5%. 

So I guess that adds up to about 6 healthy shots...Finishing the tasting with that last dram was somewhat like the encore at a good concert.  It brought everything to a nice conclusion and left me with lots of time to make my way over to the gate for the next flight.  Overall, I can't say that the prices at this shop were amazing - but the selection was nice - and the people at the tasting shop were quite friendly, helpful and generous....For whisky lovers, it is a great way to spend some time at the Amsterdam airport without necessarily spending a huge amount of money.

I made my way over to the gate and I still had about two hours to go.  So I found a comfortable chair and rested for a while.  There is free internet at the airport with a sign-in, for 1/2 an hour.  

Each gate has its own security machines, including full body X-ray machines.  I didn't pay too much attention to the gate lineup until about an hour and twenty minutes before the flight.  At that point, I went to wait in line - and it was painful.  It was an incredibly long and slow moving line-up.  They were processing one or two people at a time.  With a line-up of more than 200 people, all winding around through the gate, this meant standing in line for close to an hour and moving along at a creeping speed.  Ouch.  It was probably about the worst security line up I have been in, other than the line-up at JFK (or maybe the Boston airport).  

Nothing new to report on the seating once I was in the plane.  It was still extremely cramped and the video system was still ancient, low resolution and poor sound.  That being said, I managed to watch a few enjoyable movies.  I didn't sleep much between Amsterdam and Toronto since it was a daytime flight.  Miracle of miracles, I wound up with an empty seat next to me for the second straight flight.  That was very fortunate given the width of the seats. 

But once again, the flight attendants were cheerful, helpful and constantly available.  The Asian vegetarian meal that I had ordered was fine (some curried chic peas and tofu).  The house wine was decent.  It was a South African Cabernet-Shiraz.  The cabin crew were also offering VSOP Cognac.  I grudgingly accepted, several times.   

Overall, it is a brutally uncomfortable way to fly but the flight attendants do their best to take your mind off the physical discomfort. The flight itself was uneventful and we arrived about 15 minutes early, despite a 1/2 hour delay in leaving.

When I arrived in Toronto I couldn't resist taking this picture of two planes, side by side...

One of the airlines is El Al.  And right next to it....I believe that is Pakistan Airlines.  I wonder if the respective crews had the chance to mingle and get to know each other a bit.  Since Israel and Pakistan do not have diplomatic relations, there are probably few opportunities for this type of exchange.

In any event, that side bit has nothing to do with flying KLM between Toronto and Tel-Aviv.  Once again, as I have said before, it is worth considering if the price is right.  You can spend a day in Amsterdam from Toronto to Tel-Aviv and spend a few hours in the whisky shop from Tel-Aviv to Toronto.  If you have no interest in whisky or Amsterdam, well, you might need to consider another airline or bring along several books.

KLM: Toronto to Tel-Aviv. Stopover in Amsterdam

KLM wing view

With all of the changes to Air Canada's Aeroplan program (the "altitude program" for frequent flyers), it has become much less attractive for many people to fly Air Canada regularly.  For starters, Air Canada now awards Aeroplan points at a greatly reduced rate for most flights.  With some partners, no Aeroplan miles are earned at all.  And the price for an Air Canada flight is often several hundred dollars more than a flight on one of the other airlines.

So I decided to take a cheaper flight on a different system.  I flew KLM this time from Toronto to Tel-Aviv with a lengthy stopover in Amsterdam.  The price was significantly lower than any available Star Alliance flight.  Only flights with Turkish Air or Alitalia were close in price.  Since I was traveling with someone this time - and he was changing through Amsterdam, I decided to join him.  I should note that he purchased a KLM flight, round trip, Toronto to Tel-Aviv, for just over $700 Cdn including all taxes.  That was at least $500 less than the lowest priced Air Canada or El Al flight.  These are my notes about the flight and about the stopover in Amsterdam.

Overall, I would say that it was quite fun to stop and spend the day in Amsterdam.  But to do so, you have to get through the KLM flight, which was brutal, compared to just about any other airline that I have used in the past 5 years (and reviewed on this site).

The main advantage of KLM was the price.  It was quite a bit cheaper than just about any other carriers - other than Turkish or Alitalia.  I was considering trying one of those but opted for a day in Amsterdam.

KLM leaves Toronto from Pearson International's Terminal 3, which is the older terminal.  There was little difficulty in the boarding process.  We were offered lounge access for about $30 Cdn (I had no special status on KLM so I would not have been able to get into the lounge otherwise).  My flying companion decided that this was a good idea so we spent a couple of hours in the lounge.  It was not nearly as nice as the Air Canada lounge in Terminal 1.  The food and drink selections were more limited.  Even the seats were less comfortable.  But even with the additional cost of paying for the lounge, flying KLM was still far less expensive than Air Canada.

Boarding was quite a jungle.  It was fairly disorganized, although the ground staff did their best to board passengers by row number.  They tried to stick to that but it was all taking place in such a crowded space that it seemed like a far lengthier and more disorganized process than many other airlines.

The biggest problem with KLM was the seats.  While I may have gained a couple of pounds since my last flight, this clearly felt like the narrowest seat I have sat in over the course of my five years traveling back and forth between Toronto and Israel.  I could barely get into the seat, let alone move in any direction once I was in it.  I was sitting at window seat and there were two people in the other seats next to me (the plane configuration was 3-4-3).  I was so uncomfortable, I just didn't know what to do.  I couldn't concentrate on the book I had, so I wound up watching a really dumb movie.

The plane did have personal entertainment systems, though they were the old-style systems, like those used on many Austrian Air planes.  The screen was low resolution and was not a touch-screen.  The selection was quite limited.  The sound was terrible.  While this was still a step up over El-Al (the planes between Toronto and Israel have no personal screens), it was nowhere close to the systems used by other airlines like Air Canada, United, US Air, Lufthansa, etc.,.

I had ordered an Asian vegetarian meal.  It was one of the smallest meals I have seen on a transatlantic flight.  It was served more than 2 hours into the flight (which was only 6 1/2 hours in total to begin with).  The meal included lentils, white rice, tofu and salad but I was still quite hungry.  The "house" wine was a South African Cabernet-Shiraz.  It was tasty.  The flight attendants also offered a variety of after dinner drinks including cognac.  So the drink service was comparable to most of the other European airlines or Air Canada.  (The American airlines all charge $7 for a bottle of lousy wine).  The flight attendants were cheerful and friendly and came around often.  I have no complaints about the beverage service or the flight attendants themselves.  But it is difficult to get past the tremendous discomfort of sitting in such a tiny, cramped seat on an overnight flight.

For all of my complaints about flying on KLM from Toronto to Amsterdam, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed being in Amsterdam.  It was my first time.  We had approximately 13 hours from the time our flight arrived in Amsterdam until the next flight to Tel-Aviv.  We decided to try and make the most of it.

Getting to the centre of Amsterdam is quite easy and convenient.  I should note that we first found a locker in the Amsterdam airport to store our carry on bags.  This was a great idea and made our trip that much easier.  Locker locations are clearly marked, easy to find and reasonably priced.  We then took the "inter-city" train from Schipol Airport to Amsterdam Centraal Station.  The cost was about 18 Euros for two of us, round-trip.  The train ride itself was about 15 minutes.  It was smooth and comfortable.

Anne Frank House Line-Up

Our first stop was the Anne Frank House.  I had read that it would have been better to buy tickets in advance to avoid the long line-ups.  But when I had visited the on-line site, about a week before the trip, the advance tickets were already sold out.  Since the attraction is so highly rated, we decided to wait to see it despite the line up.  But I have to say, it was a 2 1/2 hour wait to get into the museum.  It was cold and windy outside, perhaps 10 or 12C.  Not pleasant at all. 

The Museum itself was definitely worth visiting, though ideally without the lengthy wait.  Centred around the life story of Anne Frank and her famous diary, the museum is, essentially, a Holocaust museum, using the story of Anne Frank as the vehicle.  The museum is housed in a reconstructed version of the Frank house and involves climbing up some very steep and narrow staircases and traveling from room to room in the house in which Anne Frank hid from the Nazis for more than two years.  There were some very moving exhibits including the actual Anne Frank diary, the exhibit with information about Auschwitz-Birkenau and a video montage at the end with comments from a range of personalities about the story of Anne Frank.  The museum is apparently one of Amsterdam's most visited tourist sites.  It is a fascinating place and it is heartening to see so many people, from so many different countries, visiting the site.

After our museum visit, we took a short walk over to the Pancake Bakery, a well known and highly recommended pancake house.  Since we had planned this in advance, we had a Google map route.  It was a short walk and very convenient.  I had a veggie pancake - a giant pancake with a melange of stir fried veggies including broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, onions and some feta cheese.  It was quite

Cinnamon Ice Cream Dessert - Pancake Bakery

good.  My dining companion had a salmon cream cheese pancake which was somewhat less tasty.  We both had coffee which was okay but nothing more.  Overall, it was a neat place, moderately priced and reasonably filling.  We shared a dessert - cinnamon flavoured ice cream with fruit compote, Belgian chocolate shavings and whipped cream.  Neither of us ate the whipped cream and we couldn't finish the whole dessert.  But it was quite tasty.

From there, we headed off the old Jewish Quarter.  We had a Google map for this route as well.  We took a short walk, got on a tram car and we were dropped off right next to our destination in less than 10 minutes.  We had purchased an all day pass for the Amsterdam transportation system so, again, this was quite easy and convenient.  Once you buy these passes, you simply swipe the pass as you get on the tram car and then again once you get off.  No cash is used anywhere on this system.

Portuguese Synagogue Amsterdam - Entrance

Our main destination was the Portuguese Synagogue.  This is a wonderful place, originally completed in 1675.  It is a beautiful synagogue with ornate detailing.  When used, it is lit up entirely by candle light with no electricity or heating.  It is currently used on Yom Kippur and on selected special Shabbat services during the year.  It is also used for concerts and some holidays.  Visitors can pay an admission fee and take a tour of the entire synagogue complex with an audio device that provides pre-recorded information about various spots in the complex.  The cavernous synagogue includes rows of original wooden benches, and huge candelabras.

Portuguese Synagogue - "Esnoga" - Amsterdam

Esnoga Respository - Judaica

Esnoga Library

The synagogue complex also includes a basement repository of religious articles - Torah breastplates, crowns, pointers, Etrog boxes and many other items, hand crafted in silver and gold and often studded with ornamental precious or semi-precious stones.  The repository also includes a massive library, that is still in use.

We spent more time than we had planned in this complex and wound up skipping the nearby Amsterdam Jewish museum and the old Ashkenazi synagogue.  But this synagogue (known as the "Esnoga") alone easily justified the lengthy stopover in Amsterdam.

Traveling through Amsterdam, I couldn't help but feel that I was in a special place.  The architectural style of the buildings is attractive, the canals running through the city are enticing and there are so many cafes, museums, interesting stores and other places that I felt that I would need at least another week in Amsterdam - or perhaps several more lengthy stopovers.  We wound up missing the Van Gogh museum, the Rembrandt museum and the other great museums that Amsterdam is known for housing.  We didn't even make it to Amsterdam's unique Sex Museum, though we passed by the entrance.  We also ran out of time to hit the red light district, the famous coffee houses (and hash bars) and the Heineken beer factory.  From what I could see, I think it would be quite a bit of fun to just wander around or bike through the city without any set list of places to visit.

Overall, even though the KLM flight from Toronto to Amsterdam was cramped and uncomfortable, the stopover made it all worthwhile.

We took a train back from Amsterdam to the airport and even had time to wander around the duty free shops for a bit.  Our flight was uneventful.  The plane was very modest with no entertainment screens or other amenities.  Fortunately, it is only a 4 1/2 hour flight to Tel-Aviv, though it arrives at 2:20 a.m., which is also brutal.

Would I do it again?  Well, despite the discomfort of KLM, the price was right and Amsterdam was great.  There is lots more to see there.  So if I have another opportunity to save lots of money on an airline ticket and spend the day in Amsterdam, I will probably do it again, despite the various drawbacks, which, in particular, include the awful flight times and the super-cramped seating. But as you probably know from reading previous blogs, I tend to choose experience over luxury...