Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and the Dead Sea (and swans) in All Good Things

I had the most amazing time in Israel. I still feel mindblown from it all. I never could have imagined all the things that happened while we were there, or how much I would love it. The Judean Desert.....wow. Wow, wow, wow. And floating in the Dead Sea was SO much more wonderful than I'd ever dreamed it would be. Who knew?

Jerusalem was astounding, very different to what I expected, but I really liked it and can't wait for another chance to explore it properly instead of just dashing from major site to site. But we only had a single day for sightseeing, since the others were all taken up at the theatre in Tel Aviv - with all the time in between shows spent sunning ourselves beside and swimming in the Mediterranean (my first time!), which was absolute bliss.

It's hard to believe that Annette and I only met Eva six weeks ago, because we've become such close friends we can't imagine her not in our lives. The three of us got on fantastically on the trip, and there was never any tension or falling out or anything. Normally Annette and I are very wary about letting anyone else in our 'bubble', we're extremely fussy about who we're friends with, but with Eva it's like she's always been a part of our bubble anyway and we were just waiting for her to return.

I can't even begin to describe all the wonderful things that happened while we were there. Every time I thought things couldn't get better, they did, and the last day was the best day of all in so many unexpected ways I could never have even asked for it to happen that way. I was dreading it, because it's the end of this marvellous adventure that's consumed the past six months of my life, but it turned out to be so utterly PERFECT that I feel like I'm in heaven.

Today I tried to return to court, not in my old job but doing a different job (to pay for all the travel) - but, no. I no longer fit in that world. I can't be that person any longer. Every cell in my body rebelled, screaming and howling, until I couldn't even read the words on the page in front of me, and I had to leave at lunchtime and come home. It's over forever.

Who knows what the next few months hold before I meet up with the swans again in Singapore in October.... I can no longer even speculate.

This is so exciting.

OMG, wow. Something fantastic is going to happen later this week. I can't believe this. The me of June 2004 would absolutely die if she caught a glimpse of June 2014. If only I could go back and tell her...

Amazing how life happens in circles.