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Published: March 17th 2010
Happy St Patricks day!
Okay...here I am in Haifa a city I first heard of when I was travelling in Istanbul a few years ago...amazing how these places come to life based on chance encounters. That one was with a muslim woman and her 3 adult children on a ferry on the Bosphorus(?).
Haifa is pretty! It is built up a mountain (Mount Carmel actually home of the Carmelite order ) in three levels . I am staying in the downtown area which is not pretty but it is convenient to buses , sheruts , a subway of sorts and the town also boasts a cable car which I rode down the mountain to the sea yesterday . Good fun . It is a city that hosts religion in many forms . Mosques ,Synagogues ,Greek Catholic and Orthodox , Roman Catholic and Bahai...it is the Centre for the 6 Million Bahai of the world . Yesterday I toured their gardens which surround the tomb of the Bab . They are quite amazing running down the mountain through most of the 3 levels. A shrine in the center . Beautiful . At this time of year it is primarily grass , ivies that are ground cover , geraniums , pansies and petunias. Quite lovely. It all desends to an area called the German Colony . Templars who moved here in the mid-1800's bringing their skills with them . However they were expelled at the time of the 2nd WW as Nazi sympathizers.
It is interesting as the previous day I had gone out to Acre (Akko) a fortress that is just north of here that has existed from Roman times and occupied by every force that has conquered the area including the Knights Templar and Hospetelier of the crusader times. Needless to say the Ottomans and the Mamaluks and even Napolean made an appearance in this area. Acre is a UNESCO heritage site and it is fascinating. What is most amazing is that it is still inhabited and as near as I understand it has always been . I did the total tourist package including walking through the Templars tunnels from one end of the Citidal to the Port area. A bit scarybeing below the walkway but tolerable.
Today it was a trip to Caesarea the city that Herod built that became the capital of the area after the destruction of Jerusalem . The harbour he built was quite magnificent ... I think I heard it was the 2nd largest in the world at that time . That site too changed hands many times but the sea had done more damage than that done by mankind . I not sure how they fit into the equation , but the Bosnia Serb immegrants had something to do with the exavation /restoration of the site . Rothchild largess in this area has led to a lot of cultural development .
As I said Haifa is a pretty town . In spite of the hills I have have done a fair amount of walking here . The community seems to be more diverse than Nazareth was . I am finding Israel expensive... more so than in Canada , but that hasn't prevented me from eating some tasty food . I have made Hummus a lunch and the mezze that was served with my St Denis fish yesterday was humonggus as well as tasty . I have also been eating a lot of wonderful oranges ,cucumbers and bananas of course . They new crop is still on the trees either under beige netting or in blue plastic bags . Both are to control the ripening I think...
Anyway I am off tomorrow to Netanya and I will be meeting with Cynie !! Wow a person that has known me for more than a few weeks or days... it is a thrill!
Hope all is well and you are beginning to experience spring. I feel blest as I will have at least 2 springs this year...Keep in touch...
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Marion B
non-member comment
Haifa
Hi Pam. I'm so glad you saw the Baha'i gardens. Where are you staying? I stayed at St. Charles Hospice at the bottom of Ben Gurion Ave. -run by a wonderful group of nuns Again, I'm continuing to enjoy your travels. - Marion B.