Blogs from Haifa District, Israel, Middle East

Heräsin jo klo 5.30. Join aamukahvin eri paikassa kuin aiemmin, siellä sai suhteellisen edullisesti täytetyn sämpylän. Vaki-kosher-leipomosta ostin pullan kämpille. Löysin Israelin rautateiden sivuilta 40 shekelin päivälipun, johon sisältyi menopaluu junamatka Haifaan ja paikallisliikenne siellä ja Tel Avivissa. Sain ladattua sen lipun Rav-kav-kortilleni lähikioskissa. Kerkesin juuri klo 9.47 lähtevään junaan, ja aika pian pääsin vaihtamaan ikkunapaikalle. Tel Avivin pohjoisosassa satoi vettä, mutta loppupäivä menikin sitten poutaisissa merkeissä. Asemalta matkustin yhden pysäkinvälin pikabussilla. Hetken kesti löytää 'metron' pääteasema. Täkäläinen metro on oikeastaan rinteen sisään rakennettu köysirata: 12 minuutissa se ajoi kuuden pysäkin matkan ylös. Kävin päätepysäkin lähellä kahvilla. Tarjoilijapoika osasi suomea: 'Kuollutmeri', 'kuiva iho', 'mitä kuuluu?' - oli ollut töissä Ku... read more

we left haifa, israel yesterday evening and today we are cruising the mediterranean sea on our way to cadiz, spain. i am writing this blog from my cabin and the sea is quite choppy so hopefully i will get through it before feeling the effects of the white caps. we will be 4 days at sea now arriving in cadiz on the 13th. thank you to my arcadia friend vera from vancouver! i knew i could rely on her expertise to know what type of birds they were in my last blog. they are called northern gannets. a very stream lined bird that use their power to plunge dive for fish. i did see a few diving into the sea. after leaving muscat, oman we were 5 days at sea before reaching port suez, the start ... read more

Last day of the tour and we start off at 8am for the short walk to the Church of Annunciation which has mosaics contributed by many countries around the world including Australia which has it’s contribution inside the church. The church is built over a Byzantine era then crusader era church which in turn houses the remains of what is believed to be the house of the Virgin Mary and the location of the Annunciation by angel Gabriel that she would give birth to the son of God. Then walked down to our waiting bus (another van had taken our luggage down) and we headed off to Haifa on the Mediterranean coast to look at the Bahai Gardens that go up Mount Carmel and then a drive to the top where we had a great view ... read more

On this morning’s itinerary is Caesarea, Herod’s port. The whole ancient town is now a National Park. In some places, such as the amphitheatre, the arichitecture is incredibly well preserved. In others, bits of statue and remnants of marble columns are sprawled around like a huge Roman jigsaw puzzle. Today’s ultimate desination is Haifa, a port city at the foot of Mount Carmel. Our hotel has overbooked and passed our reservation to the Templers Boutique Hotel. Their error is our gain as the hotel is immaculate, beautifully renovated and includes some very quirky toilets. The main attraction in Haifa is The Baha’i Gardens; 19 immaculate terraced gardens cascading down the mountain side. Our hotel is just metres from the bottom of the gardens. We try to enter, but are told the entrance is one level further ... read more

after breakfast this morning we went out to the gardens of yad hashmona and sat in the open synagogue while pete explained to us the significance of kirjath jeerum mainly that the ark came here after beth-shemesh the people of beth-shemesh had recieved the ark with joy and gladness when the philistines sent it there on a cart but they looked inside the ark and thousands died so they sent to the men of kirjath-jerum to come and get it where it stayed for about 20 years until David took it to jerusalem. we left this area and headed out to our next destination Tiberius on Gallilee and on the way we stopped at beth shemesh and saw the valley where the ark was sent from the philistines in gath then heading towards Gath we passed ... read more