My bestie and I basically went to Lebanon when we visited the beach town of Naharriya. It was in Naharriya that I came to appreciate Israeli ingenuity -- plastic chairs are perfect for sitting in shallow water and appreciating the waves and lounging! Who would have thought? Now, I will practice what I have learnt more regularly.
The photo credits are not all mine, they include M.N. and a random waitress.
No Jerusalem for you this time, thus saith the Lord.
Jerusalem was a bust...so I went to Tel Aviv instead.
I was all set to go to Jerusalem. I had my phone, some snacks and water, a general itinerary (conducive to Nadi-ness) and a scarf to cover up at religious sites. I boarded the train with minutes to spare and was on my way. I transferred to a Jerusalem-bound train in Tel Aviv and was feeling good.
As we neared Jerusalem, an old man joined me in my little four-person 'booth'. With me not speaking Hebrew and him not speaking English but wanting to talk, it made for a comical exchange for on-lookers. I made out that he wanted me to take photos of him...so I did that for a bit.
Shortly after departing Bet Shemet, the train came to a stop. I was not sure what exactly happened but made out from the Hebrew-only announcement that the train would have to return to Bet Shemet. In broken English, the old man told me we would wait for another train. That was fine by me, although the temperatures were starting to climb. While I tried to avoid the old man who had resorted to petting me as we waited, I observed my fellow passengers more closely. There were tourists, like me, young Israelis in the service and large families or multiple families traveling together.
I was relieved when the second train arrived. While I could not shed the old man, I pretended to fall asleep and that seemed to have him stop asking me to be his personal photographer or pet. We sat across from two young girls who were headed to the mall. Just as we were about to reach the outskirts of Jerusalem, the train, again, stopped! I conjectured that the train was experiencing the same problems as the first train. We waited and after a while, the train slowly made its way back to Bet Shemet.
At that point, I learned that no more trains would be headed to Jerusalem, but that the transportation service was providing buses instead. It was now the afternoon, I had left Haifa early in the morning. Even if the bus made it through the Jerusalem traffic in good time, I would maybe only see one site. Fortunately, my friend (with whom I was staying) recommended I go to Tel Aviv instead. And that I did, and it was splendid (<--photos). I guess Jerusalem will be waiting for me next time.
I have officially dubbed myself a Museum Queen. As I've grown older, I have come to appreciate museums more and more. In Haifa, I was in Museum-utopia! There is a consortium of six museums in the city proper and other museums are scattered throughout the greater Haifa area. I was able to visit four of the six museums in the consortium and the museum at the University of Haifa. Each museum had its own focus. One of my favorites was the Haifa Museum of Art. It had a blend of modern and performance installations and was curated well. The Tikotin (Japanese Art), Mane-Katz and Hermann Struck Museums were intimate -- with the latter two included in my favorites, and the Hecht Museum (at the University of Haifa) had fascinating information and displays on archaeological finds from both land and water. The Hecht, while located some 20 minutes outside of Haifa proper, is well worth the travel.
As noted in the food post, both the Mane-Katz and Haifa Museum of Art cafes are worth checking out!