I then arrived just before the sunset, which would enter the Shabbat. Having checked in at the hostel I then headed off to Old Jaffa - the oldest part of Tel Aviv, where the Old Port was illuminated.













Old Jaffa was a pleasant surprise, being much nicer than I had imagined - Whilst Jerusalem is the Old City with all the history, Tel Aviv for the most part is a modern secular city, so to find some historic pretty buildings that looked so pretty was rather surprising, and gave me something to enjoy on my final night. I then headed up the promenade walking towards Tel Aviv proper, before heading back towards the hostel via McDonalds and the most amazing McFlurry I've ever witnessed (tonnes of M&Ms AND Mango Sauce, scattered throughout the ice cream).


The following day was my family reunion, as I was picked up outside of my hostel and taken to my aunty's house, by her husband and spent the day with her and her family. Having only met her once since I was little, it was also time for me to have a catch up and ask lots of questions about her life since she moved to Israel. I was taken on a tour of their village, where the wall separating the Palestinians from the Israelis is visible, as well as a tour of their house. "It's very much the same as you have in England...well, except this room" I was told as I was led behind the kitchen..."oh it might be a pantry or something" I was thinking, before I saw the thick walls and solid iron door that is clearly used as a shelter in the event of rocket fire. "We only used it four times during the summer" I was told...

Enjoying a lovely barbeque and catch up I was taken back to the airport after a week's long travel. Once again I was subjected to many questions, and ranked 5/7 on the security risk scale, but after few real problems I headed through into the departure lounge, where after a proper Granny wave I met up with Tim and Wendy from my Petra tour again, telling them all about my day with my aunty, and them telling me all about the rest of Petra after we left and they stayed an extra day. They then asked me what I thought of Eilat, or "Benidorm on the Red Sea" as they called it - not that they'd been to Benidorm - I agreed with them on that, and I hadn't been there either! We then made our way to the plane for a particularly boring 5 hour flight in the dark, with no newspaper, Internet, entertainment or view to look at. But eventually we landed back at Luton, and after saying goodbye to my new 'besties' I headed home to rest!

Despite being a little nervous about going after everyone repeated the same line - "oh, is that safe?", I'm glad I went as I saw so much, and it really did feel safe. Had I not seen the news and heard there was all the trouble going on, I wouldn't have even known. And anyway, I lived to tell the tale!