Shabbat with the Israeli Family!

I waited forever and ever for the Israelis to make it to Haifa! I thought they'd come either Thursday or Friday. Then Aunt Nancy said Friday afternoon and I hoped sometimes after lunch... but not until 4ish! I spent pretty much almost the whole day just getting my Hebrew homework out of the way. That was important as my teacher decided to give everybody a monster assignment of using evey single verb and put them in a sentence, both past and present. So it ended up being 49 verbs, or 98 sentences. Ew.


I finally met the Israelis at their hotel (after a brief mix up of the two Dans- Dan Carmel and Dan Panorama). It seemed a little surreal to see them actually in Israel. Maybe it's just that the kids just got to Israel and I had such strong roots here that I didn't think much of them being so connected with the surroundings yet. I mean, Ella said that she's just enjoying Israel. Anyway, we rested for a bit before going out for Shabbat dinner.


For Shabbat dinner, we went to Ron's mother's best friend's house. The woman, Ri'ah, was very hospitable and welcoming. She was a lovely woman. Her husband cooked grilled meat. Essentially, the dinner was a reflection of Sami's in Jerusalem (without the Jerusalem mixed grill!). We had lamb, hot dogs, chicken, all the Israeli salads, and pita/hummus. Ri'ah's family was also there- her three (out of four) children and their children. So my cousins played with those kids while I listened to Aunt Nancy converse with others. I also spoke with one of the children a bit. It was all very good and I enjoyed the meal very much. Her place was a bit close to the university and faced the hills rather than the water. Ri'ah had a very old photograph of Uncle Ron as a baby and he was very cute.

On Shabbat, we had a whole day of tripping. First, we went up to Rosh Hanikra, about 45-60 minutes north of Haifa. When I heard that we were going there, I felt a little sad and almost wanted not really get out of the car. But for the Israeli family, I'll join along. We end up visiting the Grottos, water caverns. The view from the hill to the shores was just beautiful.




Rosh Hanikra has incredible interesting history. It was one of the major passage points for trade and caravans. In the early 1940s, under the British Mandate, it was proposed that a railroad would be built that would link Europe to Egypt. The railroad would run through Turkey, Lebanon (Beruit), Rosh Hanikra, Akko, Haifa, and all the way down to Egypt. The railroad would provide military supplies to the troops in North Africa. The railway was destroyed just prior to the War of Independence in 1948 to stop the infilteration of Lebanese troops into Palestine. We saw the tunnels and the tracks that the railroad once ran on.





It used to be that only very experience divers could explore the grottos. Now there is a cable car that takes visitors down. So we took it. We walked about 25 minutes through the tunnels to see the water crashing and mulling about the rocks. The sight was quite spectacular! I couldn't believe that I had this privilege of being able to take some beautiful pictures like these.

This one is my favorite- looking down through a crack

We also watched a short movie that told the tale of the love story between the sea and the rocks and a short history of the area.

Ben looked so ridiculous with his sunglasses!

After Rosh Hanikra, we drove down to Akko. I had been to Akko but it was more of a "Take a quick pic and let's go" trip. First, we walked through the Turkish bazaar, which was definitely busier than last April (2007). The stuff was actually quite good and not too junky as in the Old City of Jerusalem! We had falafels and schwarma for lunch. Now I'm really going to try not having falafels again for the rest of the time in Israel although those falafels were very good. So was the hummus- I wish I wasn't running out of any! I probably could've bought some for Meredith when I visit her in Jerusalem this coming weekend. Uncle Ron looked like he was in heaven.

When we finished lunch, we began walking towards the Turkish bathhouse. It was very hard to hear the audio phone but the site (most likely renovated) was very beautiful. I loved the 18th century Oriential architecture. I felt like a royalty! The place was actually multi-media- you listened to the audio phone while watching a screen in each room. The movie was a drama through the eyes of a servant. You saw how the people used the baths as a means of socialization of all kinds. Just like the Roman baths. But the experience, for me, was just marveling at the architecture.

Courtyard in the Citadel
The Great Hall

Then we began walking to the Citadel. We saw the Great Hall, the prison, and courtyards. We (almost crawled) went through tunnels again- they were quite narrow! The site was still under renovations so there weren't a lot to take good pictures of. We end up at a shop where we saw the owner etching metal. The metalwork was gorgeous.

Then it was time to leave Akko. As we headed out, I took another look at the walls, from the Crusades era. It's pretty unbelievable how the Crusaders really came over to spread influence in Israel, not just to conquer Jerusalem.

We returned to the hotel and I was so exhausted! I wasn't used to being on the go- the last time I was on the go was... basically when I had classes almost three months ago. So I napped a little while the kids went into the pool. Then before dinner, we walked around the center a bit and through the park. Uncle Ron used to play in there and he said that the park used to be bigger- but didn't know if it was because he grew UP or it actually shrunk in size. We ran into Or on her stroll so that was fun introducing everyone.

We tried to find a real restaurant although I was just fine going to a cafe. We didn't succeed so we just went to a cafe across the street from the hotel. All of us kids got quiches and yummy frozen drinks. Alec got milk with honey. Ben got butterscotch milkshake. Ella got the chocolate milkshake with chocolate chips in it. I just got ice coffee- I wished I had ordered a sweet drink too!

We made plans to meet up again tomorrow for the beach.