March 8 - Haifa

Did you notice I didn't send a blog yesterday? Steve was not feeling well so we stayed back at the hotel in Tel Aviv and later in the day took a 1 ½ hour taxi ride to our hotel in Haifa. Our hotel sits high on Mount Carmel overlooking the Mediterranean.  Unfortunately, for the past two days it has been hazy out and the views have not been great.

While Steve was resting I had some time to walk along the Promenade and walk through the top part of the Bahai Gardens.  The picture below shows the gardens with the golden domed Shrine of the Bob, the resting place of the Prophet-Herald of the Bahai Faith, and further down you can see the port of Haifa. Unfortunately, the gates were closed and I couldn’t walk all the way down the gardens. 

If I had to miss a day of touring yesterday would be the day.  Not that these things weren’t worth seeing but they are places we went two years ago - Cesarrea, Megiddo, and Nazareth - they are worth knowing about so I will do another post later this evening which will include what the group did yesterday and what we will do today.

Friday evening begins Shabbat and most stores close at 3pm so that people can get home and prepare Shabbat dinner before sunset.  Most stores in Israel are closed on Saturdays in observance of Shabbat.  Obi (our driver), Ari (our guide) and his wife, Judith, joined us for dinner last evening.  Ari has been guiding tours for John and Arlene for many years and they have become good friends with Ari and Judith.  As a thank you to them, John made a beautiful bowl out of beetlekill wood.

Shabbat Shalom!