Tromso, Norway
The friendliness of the people of Norway was apparent from the moment we landed. Our bus driver who drove us from the airport to our hotel, didn’t even check tickets Continue Reading →
Author Archives: bontaks
Reykjavik, Iceland
Arriving in Iceland Leaving the heat of a sweltering Sydney summer, it was bliss to arrive in our first Nordic country of Iceland at a cool and wet 5°C with Continue Reading →
Rarotonga, Cook Islands
Lost Luggage Not a good start to the holiday when you arrive in a country at 10:20pm and your luggage is not on the carousel. So much for the ‘priority’ Continue Reading →
Madaba, Jordan
Leaving the cosmopolitan Israel, we headed back to Jordan via the King Hussein (or Allenby Bridge) border crossing. It’s a curvy road from the shores of the Dead Sea to Continue Reading →
Hotel Bay Club, Haifa
Hotel Bay Club is a much older hotel than the other Atlas Hotels we have experienced on this trip: a restored landmark dating back to 1912. It’s an impressive building Continue Reading →
Haifa & Caesarea, Israel
It wasn’t long in our drive through the rain from Tel Aviv to Haifa that I began to wish that we had stayed in Tel Aviv for another night. The Continue Reading →
65 Hotel Rothschild, Tel Aviv
An easy to navigate, cheap, morning bus trip got us from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv well before check in time. Shenav was the smiling, helpful woman at reception of 65 Continue Reading →
Tel Aviv – Messa, Neve Tzedek, Jaffa
We had a leisurely morning before leaving Jerusalem, as there was no rush, no commitment of transport to meet. Ended up leaving the hotel a little after 10am, taking a Continue Reading →
Bezalel Hotel, Jerusalem
Everything about Bezalel Hotel is funky and modern. It is named after the Bezalel School of Art, and is appropriately filled with contemporary art in the public spaces and the Continue Reading →
Jerusalem (Part 3) – Yad Vashem, Machane Yehuda Markets & Machneyuda
To make for an easier border crossing back into Jordan, we investigated the early payment of our departure tax this morning. This was recommended online as a streamlining process for Continue Reading →