Saying Goodbye to Haifa

It is Tuesday evening, and we have almost finished packing up - we leave for Jerusalem tomorrow morning. We have tried to make the most of our last few days but will truly miss this fabulous view, wonderful beach (now that the jelly fish are gone), and great home base for all of our day trips. So, let me get you caught up.

On Friday, we met up with Laurie and took the train in to Tel Aviv - she was going in to have lunch with her sons and we were off to be tourists. We actually took this train to Haifa from the airport, but we were in a jet lag fog and mostly our heads were bobbling and jerking versus paying much attention to the surroundings. It is about a one hour train ride, which in the Haifa area is all along the coast.

We enjoyed meeting her sons - Daniel (lives in Jerusalem) and Adam (lives in Tel Aviv). They helped direct us to the Friday market places - and off we went. And with very important instructions to not miss the last train out of Tel Aviv (around 2:45 p.m.). All public transportation shuts down for Shabbat.

As we started our walk we came upon the "tent city" that we had been hearing about on the news - people protesting the high cost of housing in Israel. Actually, there could be protests about the high cost of EVERYTHING here.

Then there was this guy, just strolling down the street ranting and mumbling about who knows what - seems like your basic city character.

We went through the Carmel Market - blocks of souk; clothes, food, etc. Vendors barking out their wares - and lots of people picking up their food and challah for Shabbat. It was packed with people. More sedate was Nahalit Benyamin arts and crafts street market.

We then walked down a third street, Sheinken(?) - these three streets all fan out from a circle-where we had a great lunch at a restaurant called Orna and Ella. We just happened upon it when we were hungry, turns out it is one of the hot spots to eat in Tel Aviv.

We made it back to the train station with time to spare. Packed train, particular with soldiers as they headed home for Shabbat. We had read about the huge military presence in Israel - it was still something to get used to. Sitting across from armed soldiers - not something we see in the U.S.

We headed back to Tel Aviv on Sunday - with a train full of soldiers heading back after their weekend visit home. We walked through the garment district, then a furniture district, until we arrived at Old Jaffa. Here is the view of the Tel Aviv beach from Old Jaffa.

We have seen so many archeological sites, I think that was what we were expecting here. Instead we found this charming area with a few historical buildings, lovely courtyards and gardens. And, once again, very few tourists

On my cousin's Robbie's recommendation, we went to the Ilana Goor Museum and Gallery (also in Old Jaffa). Wonderful old building that is her residence as well as museum/gallery. She is from Tiberias and her art (furniture, jewelry, paintings, sculpture, lights) is quite unique. She also displays her huge collection from other artists. And the house, and roof gardens were spectacular. Very worth going to.

While most of the residence rooms are closed, the kitchen and dining room were part of the tour. But other "rooms" are part of the gallery (the library, the guest room, living area).

This inner courtyard, part of the original structure, is part of the Arab design - it allowed women to pass through and be outside without being seen.

Here is the view from the roof garden/gallery

From there we wandered the little alleyways sprinkled with art galleries and boutiques.

In spite of the heat, and the tired feet, we walked the length of the beach - on the Promenade. Whereas in Haifa, there is not a beach resort area (the hotels are up on the hills overlooking the water), Tel Aviv is much more like Miami Beach - and flat like Miami as well. From far away it appeared to be one long stretch of beach, but it is actually broken up into individual beaches, even one that is designated for men certain days of the week, and women the other days of the week. Starving, we ended up eating at a beachside restaurant - London. We were both in the mood for pizza, and we lucked out because it was great.

Tel Aviv has its own architectural style - Bahaus - sort of art deco-ish; but as it turns out there was this Gaudi influenced apartment building. I looked it up on line once we were back - it is referred to as "the Crazy House".

We had intended to make a few more stops. But, we were hot and tired, so our final stop before heading for the train was at a Gelato shop.

The remainder of our time has been spent reading/relaxing/writing (hope you all read what Jim posted on the blog) here at the house. We did manage a few afternoons at the beach - absolutely perfect water temperature and waves.

For our final day we split our time between the Hecht Museum (at Haifa University) and the beach. The Hecht is primarily an archeological museum. It was interesting to see items that were found at the archeological sites we have visited. The museum is located in the basement of a 30 story tower. From the observation area we were able to say a 360 degree goodbye to Haifa.

At Passover we say "Next year in Jerusalem" - for us "tomorrow in Jerusalem".