Freeways, Fireworks and Fearless Sisters

My sister just sent me pics from a recent adventure that began on a disappointing note but ended on an exciting, if somewhat dangerous high note...

To kick off the recent French Festival in Tel Aviv, a big-name French fireworks company decided to launch the largest fireworks show in Israel to date. My sister and I, never ones to miss out on something fun, decided to travel to Tel Aviv after a short stop in Modi'in. The only problem was that half the country had the same plan. We left Modi'in only thirty minutes before the extravaganza was to begin. (Modi'in is about 40 minutes from Tel Aviv when there's zero traffic). It quickly became clear to us that we would not make it to Tel Aviv in time. As we sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic, we turned to each other and decided to give up. We got off at the next exit and headed back to Jerusalem.

As we alighted a hill on the freeway heading home, we noticed several cars pulled over on the shoulder. It occurred to us that these cars had pulled over to view the fireworks from the road. Because we were on the top of the incline, we would have a perfect view. We immediately decided to pull over. Shortly thereafter, the fireworks began. An Israeli who had parked his car not far from ours ran across the freeway to the middle of the freeway and called us to join him for a better view. We foolishly agreed and ran to the island in the middle of the highway! Needless to say, the fireworks were spectacular, and that much more exciting from our vantage point!!!