I didn’t get to fly El-​Al this time, which wasn’t the most auspicious start to the trip since it meant that I got jammed in BA cattle-​class rather than El-Al’s business-​class, which made the last trip entirely worthwhile on it’s own. Luckily, I slept the entire flight, except for a brief period of wakefulness, to eat the Chicken Curry they gave me for breakfast, so the lack of comfort wasn’t really a major factor in my day.

Once I arrived in Israel, getting through passport control was a doddle just like last time — a few cursory questions, but I very much got the impression they were more to fill the silence while the machine read my passport than an actual attempt to discern anything about me (but then, maybe that’s the skill of the questioner.)

When I got out into the airport proper, I couldn’t see a driver with my name on a sign, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to go and buy some toiletries to replace the ones they kindly threw away for me at Heathrow (which is a different story entirely,) and while I was at the ATM getting some money to cover the cost the taxi driver came and found me — it was the same one who’d driven me a year ago and he recognised me.

There was another guy from NDS, who I didn’t know, sharing the taxi back to the hotel and, unlike me, apparently he had checked in baggage, so I had a while to wait and, with some helpful directions from my friendly driver, rushed off to get some toiletries while we waited. I got to the shopping area upstairs found a pharmacy and got what I needed. On my way back to where I’d left the driver, I walked passed a music store and could hear the music they had playing in there; Thunderchild from Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds.

I smiled to myself and figured that this business trip might yet turn out OK.