I’m still amazed by how well I was treated in Israel! Nowhere else would a hotel security guard offer to take me to a restaurant I was looking for and also offer me the Penthouse Suite free if I happened to be staying another night in town! People often ask me what my favorite country is and Israel is pretty much at the top; it’s certainly the favorite of the last few months :)
Immediately after my Dead Sea float, I bussed myself to Haifa in Northern Israel. I had a reservation at the Haifa Youth Hostel and had no idea how to get there. The directions said, “ask the bus driver, he’ll know where to drop you off.” He didn’t, of course, but he called the hostel and dropped me off practically at the entrance. Really nice :) I got a six-bed dorm to myself when I got there - especially nice! (I really lucked out on accommodation in Israel actually….Did I mention that the previous night in Masada, I had shown up without a reservation asking for a dorm bed? The man said they didn’t have any but would give me a private room at the dorm price. I had a Hosteling International card and got a discount on top of that! A friend who checked in at the same time paid More for his Dorm bed than I did for my private ensuite room! I think the guy at reception was definitely not supposed to be so nice since I got an e-mail saying dorm accommodation was full and I’d have to pay full price for a single...)
I honestly did not have time to see much of Haifa other than the beach and the Baha’i Gardens.
The holiest place in the world for people of the Baha’i faith, the Gardens are incredibly beautiful! I lucked out in that there was a free English tour departing 45 minutes after I arrived; you cannot enter the gardens except on a tour.
I had read about the Eshkol Tower at the Haifa University where you can go up to the 30th floor observation deck for free. I got on a very crowded bus and managed to solicit the help of a young girl who helped me get off at the right stop. Unfortunately, it was after 2pm and everything was closed! Friday afternoon in Israel – not the time to try to do much of anything! I thought I had another hour before closing time but there were maybe two people in sight. I waited at a bus stop and asked the driver if he was going my way. He started giving me directions to hop on a bus going the other way and make X and Y transfers. Then he seemed to have changed his mind and gestured me to come on board. Turns out, he was off duty and was so kind as to drive me to the bus station. I definitely couldn’t thank him enough, knowing that he’d saved me a good two hours or so of public transport.
Back at the hostel, Elinor’s friend Koby picked me up. This person who had never met me before took me all around the North of Israel, gave me a place to stay, and made me feel so lucky and just happy to be in Israel. Thank you Koby!!! We started with sunset at the “student beach” in Haifa, and then tried burekas (croissant-like pastries with different savory fillings).
We talked for hours and I feel like I learned so much from him about Israel…Judaism…the IDF…the world! I met his mother who, the next morning, made us sandwiches for our day in the Golan. :)
First stop, a look where, on a clear day, you can see Syria or Lebanon – I forget which. Next, we went on a mostly beautiful drive past vineyards and through the Golan. (“Mostly” because in some areas, there were “Danger, Mine!” signs in very close proximity to the road…Hmm.)
We arrived at the super cool Hexagon Pool in the early afternoon for a hike and a swim. I felt leader-of-the-pack in shape for the first time in forever.. maybe because you first hike down, and then up on the way out :)
At my not-so-great suggestion, we drove the full circle around the Sea of Galilee and I fell asleep. Oops! I woke up as we arrived in Tiberius – the major city along the sea. We ended up not wanting to pay the $15+ entry fee for the private beaches and accessed the Kineret (Sea of Galilee) from the side of a hotel.
*So this is where Jesus walked on water!
I got to have “Israeli” food consisting of hummus, hummus with meat, and coffee for dessert. After meeting Koby’s super adorable nephew and getting a quick tour of Akko, he helped me pick out some wine :)
On “Israeli” Food: I learned that Israel is a fairly new country and therefore doesn’t really have its own foods. Hummus, schwarma, and other typical Middle Eastern fare are very common. I did learn though that Ben Gurion (whose name I remember because they named the airport after him) wanted an Israeli staple that would be affordable enough for students. He (or someone he talks to) came up with ptitim. I think it’s basically pasta in the shape of balls the size of dippin’ dots ice cream. Elinor cooked this “student food” for me and it was great to try :)
Koby went off to work on Sunday morning (the weekend is Friday and Saturday in Israel) and I set off on the hunt for Hummus Said, supposedly one of the most famous hummus places in all of Israel. It was decent, but then again, you probably won’t ever find me raving about a strictly vegetarian meal :) I boarded a train in Akko alongside a ton of soldiers heading back to their bases.
*Akko by night
Two hours later, my friend Eyal picked me up. We had met in Antarctica :) (That has a nice ring to it lol) We didn’t talk much on the trip but Eyal was yet another Israeli who was really kind to me – letting me stay with him and showing me the sights of Tel Aviv.
One of our stops was at a local market to buy the best figs I’ve ever tasted!
(Claudia, I meant to compare to the figs you brought into the office but it got all smashed and gross in my purse so I had to throw it out!)
Eyal and I covered a lot of ground including the beach, cool buildings, random graffiti, and the main street where tents are still set up from the massive protests that had just taken place.
Randomly, we ended up having dinner at a Mexican restaurant with really good fajitas! I spent the rest of the evening with Eyal’s friends. Five of us circulating four guitars and a hookah = Amazing! I’m seriously not cool enough to have ever just hung out in such a relaxed way. I don’t spend time fiddling with a guitar and I don’t know people who can do their own hookah blends. It was definitely one of my favorite nights of my whole trip so far.
*Random graffiti in Tel Aviv. It says "No Turtles" lol
My time in Tel Aviv was much, much too short but I was in a rush to get to Jerusalem!
Up Next: The Holy Land
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