Haifa

This weekend was very stormy and it rained quite heavily especially in the north. In between rains we were able to do few things. I used to know Haifa pretty well since, as a teenager, I attended the Air Force School,"The Techny", near the port but can hardly recognize the city now. We drove up the Carmel mountain and viewed the Bahai Temple and its magnificant gardens. This is the world center for the Bahai faith and there is another location a bit north of here, in Akko, where the founder of the faith is burried. We were allowed to the top part of the gardens but did not go down the stairs (there are about 500 stairs to the Dome and about the same number of stairs to the very bottom) because of the weather. Terrific view of the port and the lower part of the city.

From there we continued up to Stella Maris Monestary which used to serve as a hospital for Napoleon soldiers during his unsuccessful attempt to take over Akko.It was built by the Carmelites in 1836. Under the alter there is a cave where it is believed that the prophit Elijah stayed. Again, a terrific view from the top of the entire area, many fancy resturants and sort of a hip place along the small promenade.

From there we headed further up and checked into "Siam's Villa" at the Druze village of Dalyat El Carmel. I'll write a separate post about this terrific Bed and Breakfast and the wonderful people, Siam and Hani, that run it.

At night we went to dinner at Duzan, a great Arab resturant not too far from the bottom of the Bahai Gardens (35 Ben Gurion Blvd.), from there you can see the Bahai Temple lights illuminating the gardens and the dome all the way to the top.

I'm attaching the following pictures:

1 - 3. the Bahai Temple - view from the top
4. Haifa Port
5. Stella Maris Monestary
6. Rainbow over Haifa
7. The Bahai Temple at night - a view from the bottom
8. Haifa Port in winter - a view from the Carmel Mountain

Kibbutz Ma'agan Michael

Yesterday, on the way north to Haifa, we stopped briefly at Kibbutz Ma'agan Michael, which is located along the Mediterranean Sea just north of Hadera, and watched the birds pulling fish from the Kibbutz's fish ponds. This is a nice rest stop for them on their migration route from Europe to Africa. There were storks, Herins,and many other types of fowl. It is indeed an amazing sight to see (and hear) hundreds of birds swarming over the ponds. Unforgettable!

The hills south of Nes Ziona

After the rains we had here recently the flowers are blooming everywhere. The hills off Hashiryon Street in Nes Ziona are just an hour's walk (55 minutes to be exact) from my sister's house and it was well worth the walk.

I'm attaching several pictures - note the "guardian of the hills" statue and the wide range of flowers and vegetation. The "greens" are trying to influence the local authorities to leave these hills undeveloped but, apparently, it is a loosing battle.From top of the hills you can clearly see all the surrounding cities - Rishon and Rehovot, orange groves, and palm trees.

Jerusalem

Jerusalem is Israel's capital and it is, in my opinion, one of the most unique and beautiful cities in the world. Even 100 blogs won't be sufficient to describe this town, with its complex mix of people, government, religious and political issues.

Yesterday was a busy day for me. I took a tour in the tunnels leading from the Western wall, under the Muslim Quarter, visiting the latest archeological sites that were uncovered. A much larger part of th Western wall has been discovered as well as an original Jewish street, water holes for the priests and many visitors, well worth the visit.

Later I walked all over the old city market, did some shopping (and bargaining, of course). I took a bus later to the YMCA building for a tour with an Israeli architect describing the in and outs of this unique building that was built by the same architect who designed the Empire State Building. It served as a club for the British officers during the British mandate. It is right across from the very impressive King David Hotel, where kings and heads of State normally prefer to stay in Jerusalem.

I'm attaching several pictures in the following order:

-1. At the "Mahne Yehuda" Market
0. At the "Mahne Yehuda" Market
1. Jaffa Gate
2. A sign outside the King David Hotel
3. At the old city market in the Muslim Quarter
4. Praying at the Western Wall
5. On the way up to Jerusalem
6. A sign outside the YMCA
7. The wall surrounding the old city, near Jaffa Gate
8. Time to play
9. In the tunnels near the Western wall
10. At the Western wall
11. Dome of the rock - view from far
12. Bible study on the bus

Israel National election

I landed in Israel on Feb. 11th, a day after the national election. Still many signs and bulletin boards about the elections. None of the three major parties emerged as a clear winner to achieve a majority (61 mandates) in this election. Kadima, Likud, and the Labor parties received 27, 26, and 10 mandates respectively, and it looks like Israel, again, will be forming a coalition government with the smaller, probably right-wing, parties. It is very likely that next Prime minister will be Bibi Netanyahu but it is hard to tell at this point. The parties are busy negotiating with prospective partners in order to form a government. Based on history, such coalition governments tend to be quite indecisive and do not last vary long. Bring back memories from our own elections in the year 2000. I'm attaching several pictures of election signs.

Petra, Jordan

Going to Petra was very easy. I was picked up at my hotel in Eilat along with a small group of mostly Russian tourists and we were driven to the Yitchak Rabin border crossing, about 10 minutes ride. After we crossed the border to Jordan we were met on the other side by Osama, the Jordanian partner of our travel agency. He took care of all the paperwork and got our passports stamped. Later he introduced us to Rada, our guide, who spoke both Russian and English. It took us about 2 hours to get to Petra, driving through Wadi Rum and mostly desert terrain with the rugged mountains and the Hijaz Highway (the ancient route by camels to Mecca and Medina) to our right. Rada was very knowledgeable, easy-going guy.He told us many interesting facts about the Jordanian culture and economy, pointed out interesting sites along the way (such as King 'Abdalla's summer palace)and got us to Petra. Here we had a change in guides and all the English speakers were assigned to Ali, a heavy-set guide, with a strong accent. He introduced himself and we started going down the narrow path between the rocks to Petra, approximately 4 km. walk, stopping frequently and pointing out interesting carving on the rocks in different languages, remains of statues of gods, etc. The Nabatean people were pagens but were influenced by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and other nations and this is evident everywhere here. After the long walk down some people prefer taking a camel or a carriage back up, as it is a long steep climb. The Jordanians were very hospitable, many kids running around trying to sell various souvenirs, Bedouins offering rides on horses, camels, donkeys, you have to use your bargaining skills here. I got a nice book about Petra and several other souvenirs.


It is believed that the Nabateian people arrived to the region to escape persecution in Yemen and Saudi-Arabia, and settled in this desolate place within the rocks that was easy to defend. At its pick, Petra had approx. 27,000 residents and occupied an area of 45 square km., a huge city, which in our tour we were able to cover only a tiny piece of. Petra was located on the main trading route to the East and the Nabataian, highly enterprising and talented people, survived by assessing dues on the caravans that passed nearby.They invented sophisticated methods for collecting water and . The Romans captured the city around 106 AD after a long, three-year seize.

Quick trivia:
Do you remember the movie 'Indiana Jones and the last crusade'? - it was filmed in Petra.

I'm attaching several more pictures - note the narrow path, the elephant-shape rock made by nature, the colors of the rocks, simply beautiful!.

Eilat

Eilat is Israel's southern-most city. It is a resort town situated at the northern tip of the Red Sea with many nice hotels and is known for its beautiful coral reefs (one of the best in the world), scuba diving, undersea observatory with many tropical fish, as well as its fun and 'free spirit' atmosphere. The temperature there was 85 degrees when we visited and the water temperature a bit colder but I thought it was just perfect. My sister Rely and her daughter Rotem joined me on the trip to Eilat. We took a bus from Rishon - it is a 4.5 hours ride, mostly through the Negev desert, with two stops along the way. The bus was totally full and we even picked some soldiers in Beer Sheva who stood all the way to Eilat. The seats were small and not too comfortable, not the best way to travel (was hard to take a nap!). The driver told me that Egged, Israel's national bus company, is in the process now of changing the buses to Eilat. I really hope so - because you need to be about 4 feet tall to fit in these chairs.

The most unexpected surprise was the hotel where we stayed, the Hilton Queen of Sheba in Eilat. The reviews for the hotel were mixed online so I didn't expect too much but we were pleasantly surprised. They treated us like royalty - great service, huge breakfasts, free terrific dinners at the "business lounge" (I'm Hilton Honors Gold member), free soft (and not so soft) drinks - you need to drink a lot in this weather. I also booked a trip to Petra, Jordan though a travel agent in the hotel (an unforgettable experience that I'll try to write a separate post on but will include some pictures here for now). For one thing I also attribute this top-notch service to the intense competition for customers among the hotels in Eilat who are also competing with hotels in the neighboring Aqaba, Jordan, just few miles away, which also have many fancy hotels (and has a gigantic project underway to build a separate lagoon with 5 five-star hoels financed by the Hariri family of Lebanon). In the pictures you will notice the rugged, purplish color mountains in the background, these are the Moab mountains on the Jordanian side. Amazing - especially at sun-set. All in all - we had a very relaxing weekend here and returned by plane from Eilat to Sde Dov, a tiny airport along the beach in Tel Aviv.


Description of the pictures - from top to bottom:

1. Nabateian dwelling caves in Petra, Jordan (day trip from Eilat)
2. At the 'Treasury' in Petra, Jordan - amazing and truly breathtaking building carved into the red rocks
3. The Hilton Queen of Sheba Hotel in Eilat at night
4. Swimming at "Rimonim" beach in Eilat
5. Morning walk on the beach in Eilat
6. Eilat at night (from the hotel's roof)