Haifa, Acre, Nazaret

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We met a French/American couple, which lives in Israel while hiking in Simian Mountain in Ethiopia. Sounds like the beginning of a joke but isn't. Before we separated we exchanged email addresses and we promised to pop by when we are in Israel and so we did. It’s not only that we liked them and that Haifa sounded like a great place but also the promise of staying in a proper flat and not a hotel, which added to our excitement.

Haifa itself is the North Ryde (Silicon Valley for everyone not living in Sydney) of Israel and is a nice city but without too many attractions. Next to it is however Acre which has a 3500 year tradition and a virtually intact old town within some great city walls. As usual in Israel everyone owned everything at one stage. The Egyptian Pharaohs made the beginning but then it went forward and backward between whomever was currently conquering the country. The only one unlucky was Napoleon, which couldn't take the city of the Turks. Today Acre is a mainly Arab town with a large fortress which was nicely restored with lots of concrete and is famous for being the prison in which the British kept Jewish terrorists/freedom fighters (depends on which side you are on) before they left in 1948.
Regardless a nice place to spend a lazy afternoon…

We also visited Nazareth which you might know from you intensive bible studies as the place were Jesus was raised and lived for some time. Today there isn't much left of biblical Nazareth but there are churches amass all dedicated to specific purposes. There is even one for the well at which Angels told Maria that she was pregnant with Jesus (I wonder what Joseph said when she told him). Nazareth is now also famous for being the largest Arab Christian town in all of Israel.

Apart from all this we had a great time in Haifa with lots of home cooked food (a novelty for us) and nice, comfortable and warm beds.

Thanks again for having us.

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Photos

Bahai temple and garden
One of the newest Religions has for some strange reasons a massive temple and beautiful gardens in Haifa

Sweets
with lots and lots and lots of sugar

Hubbly bubbly
Water pipes are the rage all over the middle east and everyone smokes them

Mezze
Entrees but also a good replacement for mains

Thai Mary and baby Jesus
Outside a church was a display of many Mary/Jesus pictures donated by counties around the world. Each picture had some country specific modifications

Graffiti
Now why cant they have this in Sydney???

Backgammon
The favourite pastime of old and young men

Comments

[Michelle]

We're famous!
Thanks once again for coming -- we really enjoyed your visit. And someone next to me here wants me to say that he's not fat, just pleasantly round. And of course, orange.