Tel-Aviv - Day 15

Today is the last day of our trip in Israel. Before I left, I wanted to visit my great-grandmother's grave. The last time I saw her I was 11 years old and full of confidence that I'll see her again soon. That was nearly 20 years ago. My uncle and I went this time (grandma and her sister went earlier in our trip) and we cleaned the grave a little and put fresh flowers and lit a candle. I don't know what the custom is for taking a picture of a loved one's grave, but I didn't. It seems a little tacky (though I did take pictures at the cemetery on Mt. Hertzl) to take pictures of the grave of a loved one.

After the solemn start to the day, we were on our way to Carmel market. I needed spices. We checked out local stores and the spices I need/want weren't available and I knew that I saw them at Carmel market. After walking the main line of the market one time I was afraid that I missed the vendor with the spices I wanted. So we had to go back through the throng of pushing and shoving and shouting people one more time. Oh how I love my local store. With shopping carts, and people saying "excuse me", and no strollers in the middle of the isle blocking everything, and the isle being wide, and no shoving/pushing/shouting. I think I will relish shopping in a store more than ever before. I like personal space and in America we have it. I don't think the concept of "personal space" exists in middle east. Second time through the market I found the spices I was looking. Now, with spices in hand, it was time to head home for lunch and to start packing.

For lunch, I had borsch that my great aunt made and some chicken kotleti (meat patties that are slightly fried but don't taste fried). Turns out my great aunt makes an awesome vegetable borscht. I want her recipe. I love borsch in general, but this one tasted like it was meat-based though it wasn't. I'm going to have to call her for this recipe.

After lunch it was time to start packing. I was expecting it to go a lot smoother and quicker than it did. First, it turns out that my grandma got a lot gifts of the clothing variety and dind't expect that. Then, I got a lot of spices and my suitecase is rather small (it was a carry-on on the flight to Israel). Then, while packing, I kept forgetting and remembering other stuff that needed to be packed. For example, I completely packed my suitecase only to realize that I left my new tripod under the chair. Crap. Have to re-pack. Crap. At least I remembered it while I was still there. Then I forgot grandma's suit while packing her suitecase. So I put it into mine. Then when I put the tripod in I had to put it into the carry-on bag. Oy! But everything eventually fit. Surprisingly.

After an early dinner, we were on our way to the airport. This was a great trip. It would have been better had I not lost my voice and scared my whole family that I'm really sick.

Tel-Aviv, Caesaria, Haifa, Nazareth - Day 3

Today, there were hot things for breakfast. So I decided to try the omelets (I had one with mushrooms, tomatoes, and cheese) and some of the same things as the day before. And nobody sneezed on my food, so I find that breakfast was great overall.

After breakfast we headed to Carmel Market near our hotel. It was still very early so most of the shop stalls were still closed, but there were some that were open. The spices were so fragrant, the strawberries superb, the bread amazingly fresh-baked, and the flowers glowed. I was glad that it wasn't busy so I could take pictures, though I do wish we had gotten the full sense of the market. There were also plenty of fruit, vegetable, and souvenir vendors.

As you can see, I was quite taken with this market. I just love open-air markets, and this is nothing like a farmers' market back home.

After a short time at the market (only 30 minutes!) we were on our way to Caesarea. I loved the view through the aqueduct. The weather was lovely; it was sunny and breezy but not cold. Just enough to be warm and be able to run around taking pictures and get all icky.
Not too far from this Aqueduct, there is an open air theater and a hippodrome that were build by Herod. The theater was discovered about 40 years ago, if I remember correctly, and it still holds performances. We spent probably an hour or so in total exploring these sites. There were also nuns who were having fun, enjoying themselves, and being goofy (how often do you see a giddy nun running?).
Next, our destination was the Baha'i Gardens in Haifa. Unfortunately, we didn't spend nearly as much time there as I would have liked. But the views of Haifa from the top of the hill where the gardens start is unparalleled. Simply breathtaking. You can see how manicured the gardens are, but also the sparkling dome at the bottom of the walkway. At the foot of the hill you see Haifa and then the Mediterranean Sea. Haifa is a very busy port.

Having seen this spectacular view, it was time for lunch and we stopped at a Druze village. When I heard that it was a village, I expected something rural, maybe like a farm community. This was nothing of the sort. It was very busy, lots of cars, people, souvenir shops, etc.
We had two options for lunch: a falafel or shawarma with a drink. It was decent. Definitely not worth $10 (40 shekels).
After lunch we continued with our trip and were on our way to Nazareth to see the Church of the Annunciation. The church itself is fairly new and made of concrete. It's very modern and I didn't care too much for the design. The one thing that I found interesting is that many countries had tableaus of Mary. If a tableau was from China, Mary looked Chinese, if it was from Guatemala, she looked Guatemalan, etc. It was great to see the different interpretations/depictions. This church is also built on the cite of a previous (ancient) church and you can still see some ruins.
The church was out last sight-seeing stop for the day. Now we're at hotels in Tiberias and had dinner at the hotel. It was OK.