On Friday, March 12 I took the train up to Haifa with some friends. I hadn't been to the north yet so we took advantage of a free weekend. We made a reservation at a hostel, walked to the train station on campus with a change of clothes in a backpack, and in an hour we were in Haifa. We went first to the Port Inn (really a youth hostel) and were lead to our dorm room by the hostel man. I opened the door expecting a small plain room with bunk beds, either empty or with one or two young travelers like ourselves. Instead, we encountered Lois, a 60 year old overweight bag lady from Brooklyn on the bottom bunk of one of the beds. Lois was happy to see other Americans, and would not stop talking to us in her thick Brooklyn accent. She especially loved Evan, a fellow New Yorker. When we finally were able to detach ourselves from Lois, we walked up and up and up towards the Baha'i Gardens. I was very comfortable in flat Tel Aviv, and hilly Haifa was a surprise to all of us. I had forgotten that Haifa is a city on a hill, and if you wish to go anywhere you must walk straight uphill or downhill, sometimes using stairs and sometimes not. Anywho, the Baha'i Gardens were as beautiful as I remembered. Very well groomed with beautiful views from the top middle and bottom. Our tour guide only spoke in Hebrew which was a challenge, but I understood a good amount of what she was saying.
After exploring the gardens, we walked around to the German colony and had lunch at an outdoor Arab restaurant. The couch-like seats added with the hummus and hookah we digested were a recipe for a long extended sit. After the sit and a long walk around town, it became dark and we wanted to celebrate Shabbat. Although Haifa is a city on the sea, we found it extremely difficult to find a spot to sit on the beach. As we were about to give up and head to a restaurant for dinner, we found a parking lot next to the sea whose surrounding large rocks were a perfect spot to sit and feel the saltwater around us (trying to forget that we were on the edge of a parking lot). We lit candles, opened a bottle of wine, and said the brachot for Shabbat. The six of us had a relaxing sit on the sea, and after finishing the wine Sara wanted to write a note into the bottle and send it off to sea. I cannot disclose here what was written. :) After our lovely ceremony, we went back to the German colony for dinner. We sat down at a crowded restaurant and had a nice dinner with drinks and a stolen pomegranate. (Huge plate of delicious-looking pomegranates was sitting next to Sara throughout the whole meal...she couldn't resist taking just one!)
Lois woke up everyone in the dorm room at 6am rustling through all her plastic bags. She continued doing this for hours. There was also an older couple (well, the man was older) sleeping on a bunk bed in our room. Bizarre. When we couldn't force ourselves to sleep any longer, we gathered our things and took a sheirut to Akko. We found it to be a beautiful old town, and enjoyed walking through their shuk, down through tunnels and an old cistern, and up to the citadel, a lovely lookout spot next to the lighthouse. We had lunch at an outdoor Arab restaurant where the only served hummus. We ordered three kinds, and it was the best I've ever had! So fresh, it tasted like pure chickpeas. Soon after we finished the three bowls of hummus and unlimited pita we each took a turn in a surprisingly nice bathroom in the alleyway next to the restaurant. This was a bonding experience.
After exploring the gardens, we walked around to the German colony and had lunch at an outdoor Arab restaurant. The couch-like seats added with the hummus and hookah we digested were a recipe for a long extended sit. After the sit and a long walk around town, it became dark and we wanted to celebrate Shabbat. Although Haifa is a city on the sea, we found it extremely difficult to find a spot to sit on the beach. As we were about to give up and head to a restaurant for dinner, we found a parking lot next to the sea whose surrounding large rocks were a perfect spot to sit and feel the saltwater around us (trying to forget that we were on the edge of a parking lot). We lit candles, opened a bottle of wine, and said the brachot for Shabbat. The six of us had a relaxing sit on the sea, and after finishing the wine Sara wanted to write a note into the bottle and send it off to sea. I cannot disclose here what was written. :) After our lovely ceremony, we went back to the German colony for dinner. We sat down at a crowded restaurant and had a nice dinner with drinks and a stolen pomegranate. (Huge plate of delicious-looking pomegranates was sitting next to Sara throughout the whole meal...she couldn't resist taking just one!)
Lois woke up everyone in the dorm room at 6am rustling through all her plastic bags. She continued doing this for hours. There was also an older couple (well, the man was older) sleeping on a bunk bed in our room. Bizarre. When we couldn't force ourselves to sleep any longer, we gathered our things and took a sheirut to Akko. We found it to be a beautiful old town, and enjoyed walking through their shuk, down through tunnels and an old cistern, and up to the citadel, a lovely lookout spot next to the lighthouse. We had lunch at an outdoor Arab restaurant where the only served hummus. We ordered three kinds, and it was the best I've ever had! So fresh, it tasted like pure chickpeas. Soon after we finished the three bowls of hummus and unlimited pita we each took a turn in a surprisingly nice bathroom in the alleyway next to the restaurant. This was a bonding experience.
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