Touring a Bomb Shelter, Israel

When we arrived at the Tel Aviv Airport on Friday, one of the first things we noticed were signs indicating the nearest bomb shelter.  Given the current situation in Gaza right now it seems like a good precaution.  Other than the the airport shelter signs I couldn't tell that anything was going on in the city.  Things in Israel definitely looked worse on the news.

Jaffa Free Walking Tour

After lunch in the city and a stroll by the beach, it was time for our free walking tour of Jaffa.  Again, everything was fine.  No worries.


About an hour into our tour, around 6 pm, we heard the air raid sirens go off.  Our guide, Yariv, calmly said that we had about 70 seconds to seek shelter.

Our bomb shelter

He guided us to the nearest shelter where we safely waited underground.

We heard a few explosions that indicated that two rockets were taken out by the Iron Dome.  We then just had to wait for the debris to fall.  After a few minutes we resumed the tour.  Thanks Yariv!

 
Now how many people can say that their holiday included a trip to a bomb shelter?  It was amazing to me that it all happened so quickly.  And as soon as it was over, life went right back to normal.  You would never have known that something had happened.      

Around 9:30 PM we were walking back to our flat and we heard the air raid sirens go off again.  It was now dark and we took shelter in a building archway.  It was dark and I actually saw three Gaza rockets get intercepted by Israeli missiles.  It was all over after a few minutes and we made it home safely.  I ♥ the Iron Dome!!

This was our only excitement in Israel.  No further incidents in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem.