I have been on the official 2016 crusade and returned unscathed, but what were the highlights ?
1. The ground was in a desert, the sight of 5 Saints coaches being lead down a camel track from the motorway to the stadium was sublime
2. The happy hour at Bar Ilka in Tel Aviv, two pints for the price of one and a free chaser, having spent three happy hours, then spending another five at £6 a pint, sadly I will not be welcome back.
3. Jerusalem, getting kicked off the Temple Mount ! apparently the last person to be kicked off was Jesus, non muslims are allowed on the Temple Mount for an hour a day, I was let through by the Israeli security but the Muslims were less glad to see me as I was wearing shorts, I was offered a skirt to borrow at 25 shekkels, but chose to becoem the 2nd person in 2,000 years to be escorted off the premises
4. Be'er Sheva police treating the fixture in a similar manner as the Met Would treat West Ham V Millwall,
5. The fact they put young kids on national service and then allow them to walk around with guns even when they are at service stations.
6. Jaffa, The past was orange
7. Happy hour, anything at under £6 a pint was welcome
8 Public transport, very cheap, I feel that the three wise men would never have got to Bethlehem if South West Trains had had the franchise for public transport in the Holy Land 2016 years ago, a return bus ticket to Jerusalem was around the price of a non happy hour pint.
9. Haggling down a t shirt shop owner in the old city souk in Jerusalem to a very low price on a Happoel t shirt only to be reminded we were playing Happoel Beer sheva and not Happoel Tel Aviv, he was not best pleased
10 Tel Aviv immigration giving me a visa in 30 seconds when I told him i was here for the football, a big smile broke out and I was in in half a minute some 2 hrs 59 minutes and 30 seconds less than the club were telling us