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