israel: haifa, caesarea, tel megido, acre

getting from tel aviv to haifa was easy...i walked from my hostel to the bus station, then caught the next bus to haifa...arriving in haifa i found out the bus had dropped me off nowhere near where i wanted to be...in order to catch the city bus to the other side of town, i needed to buy a ticket...unfortunately, the ticket machine in the bus station was broken, and they didn't sell tickets on the bus...someone indicated that i should get on the bus anywho, and explain the situation if a ticket checker came along...needless to say, i was thrilled when that didn't happen...no one seemed to care that the machine was broken!

i checked into the place i'd booked, which was apparently just finishing being renovated...they hadn't even taken the plastic covering off the mattress! i did that, as the wrinkly sound was one i didn't want to hear every time i moved on the bed...
after getting myself organized, (which took waaaaay too long, i should've been faster) i set out to explore...i'd read the guidebook a bit, and knew there were a few things i wanted to see before they closed and stayed closed the next day during shabat...

i started with lunch...it turned out the falafel place i was looking for was closed for Boxing Day...really? argh...it wasn't the only place closed, it took me a while to find a place where i could get food relatively quickly...
i took a local bus to the naval clandestine immigration museum...it took me a while to find the entrance, i'm pretty sure walked around the entire place before i found it...the guards at the entry checked every single page of my passport before allowing me in...i'd love to know what they were looking for...i guess i was late in the day, as they didn't charge me an entrance fee, yippee!!

the museum was a lot bigger than i thought, and the way to go through wasn't particularly clear...(it was all written in hebrew)...i'm sure i walked through some areas backward...i loved going through the submarine, and missile ship...awesome :)
stairs across the road from the museum led to elijah's cave, another sight i wanted to see...it didn't look much like a cave, though it was originally carved from rock...people still use the cave for praying, and it is split into two sides, mens' and womens'...

after the cave i climbed up stairs on the hill, and hiked up as well, all the way to a monastery...the church was small, but beautiful...i waited a little while for a particularly loud group to leave, so i could enjoy the beauty in peace...walking along the street back down the hill gave me great views over the port area of haifa...lovely...i got to see the sky change colours as the sun set :)
the falafel place i looked for first for dinner was out of falafel...in a country like israel, who runs out of falafel??? argh...the second place i found by accident, and ended up being the best falafel i had in the entire country...YUM

the next morning i was up early, so i could catch a series of buses to caesarea...it's a set of greek (or roman, i can't remember) ruins...i found my way, i think i was one of the first people to arrive...a beautiful sunny day, right after official opening hours...i loved the hippodrome, it was easy to imagine horse races being held...you can climb up the seats/stairs all around, it's fun...
i didn't like the amphitheater nearly as much, since part of it has been restored, and i didn't think it matched very well...as much as i love seeing history, i don't love restoration of ruins, as it doesn't usually look right...at least, that's my opinion, others may disagree completely...

i also enjoyed the mosaic floor decorations in some areas, and it was fun to figure out what the different rooms would've been in the bathhouse...
after seeing as much as i could, i walked to another bus stop, and caught the first of two buses i needed to get to my next destination...i wanted to see the ruins of tel megido...
the bus dropped me off one stop after where i wanted to be, even though i'd told the driver exactly where i wanted to go...argh...it was not fun walking back along a very busy road full of people driving very fast...quite a few honked at me...

i entered tel megido at 1400...the lady told me the door to one area would close at 1430, so i only had 30 minutes to see everything...what i did instead, was head to that area, and see the tunnel in the underground water system, then work my way back through the ruins...the tunnel was nifty, though a bit humid...i couldn't really see anything special, except that it was a tunnel, and i knew it had once been an important part of a water system...as i went back up the stairs to the rest of the ruins, it felt as though i had the area to myself for a good 30 minutes...awesome!!

as i found out, the exit out of the water tunnel is how most people exit the ruins...there are no other public exits! i ended up trapped in the ruins, i was very lucky the clerk was still there to let me out...eeek! since she had already closed everything, i didn't get the chance to buy postcards, boooo...she took pity on me, and drove me to a set of crossroads, where i could catch a bus...
tel megido isn't very far from haifa...unfortunately, there are direct buses only twice a day, and i had long since missed the late bus...argh...which meant it took me a lot longer to get home than i wanted, but that's part of traveling...i was glad i got home before the buses shut down for shabat...

the next morning was shabat...in other words, a lot of places closed, little to no public transport, etc...fortunately, haifa has quite a few people who are not jewish, so they observe other days of rest during the week...
i walked to the bahai gardens, only to find out that the only part open to the public all the time is just a small section, at the bottom of the hill...the gardens are fully open to tourists only an hour a day, on a tour...i missed that tour time, argh...i should check these things out more carefully, especially when it's a UNESCO sight like these gardens...they're beautifully landscaped...
i ended up seeing some sort of bazaar at the bahai center, i never figured out what i was seeing...

i next wandered through a weekly market in the neighborhood called wadi nisnas...because it was one of the only things happening in town, it felt like EVERYONE in town was there...there were heaps of vendors on the streets, selling food, most of it yummy...i ate too much, of course :)...i had sahlab, orange/carrot juice, stuffed zucchini, bread wrapped around grape leaves, a jello-ish concoction with pomegranet, and falafel...the queues for two different falafel places were crazy long...it's too bad falafel is quite filling, otherwise i would've tried sandwiches from each place to see which was best...

it was crowded to walk around, but it was fun to watch people, both locals and tourists...
the next day i was up early again, to catch a train to acre (akko)...i used google maps on my phone to walk to the old city, which is a UNESCO sight...it must've really been off season, as it felt very very empty...
it wasn't easy to figure out where i was in the old city, as the streets were not at all in a grid system...i kept checking the book map and google maps, and i was never where i thought i was...i would've been lost foreva if i had not had google maps!

one place i did find was the museum of underground prisoners...entry required another very thorough check of my passport, and every item in my purse was examined as well...the exhibits were really well done, and the atmosphere matched...
i hurried back to the train station, and caught the next train back to haifa...i hurried to my favourite falafel stand and got a couple sandwiches to go...then i grabbed my stuff from the guesthouse, and walked to a bus stop to catch a bus to nazareth...
i would go back to haifa, with more planning in terms of time :)

israel: tel aviv and jaffo

the next morning my breakfast was leftover salad, YUM...(it's going to be really hard to go back to ukrainian food)...i took a bus to the train station, then caught the next bus to tel aviv...that bus didn't take me to the correct bus station in tel aviv, so i hopped on another bus...from the last bus station i was able to walk to the hostel i'd booked...the neighborhood wasn't exactly touristy, but it turned out to be a pretty good location...
it was warm enough that i changed into shorts, yahoo!!! it'd been a looooong time since i'd worn shorts...

after resting up a bit, i used the map given to me by the hostel to walk to old jaffa with another guest of the hostel...we bought shakshuka on the street, soooo good...it's kinda like pizza, but not really...i'm not good at describing food, you'll have to look it up...i also convinced the girl to buy sahlab...not quite milk, but so darn good...
we watched the sunset over the port, it was beautiful...this is on the 'must do' list of tel aviv...i'm glad i saw it, but i don't know i would put the experience on the must do list...we then walked through the whole old jaffa area, including ducking into a church on the top of the hill...

this was the first time i'd stayed in a dorm room of a hostel in quite a while...i feel like i'm old enough that going as cheap as possible isn't as important anymore...howeva, when i looked at prices around the entire country, i quickly realized i wasn't going to be able to afford single rooms very often...a room in a hostel dorm room was $35!!! craziness...one of the other ladies in my dorm room was a bit of a snorer, but it wasn't bad...
breakfast the next morning was included in my hostel price, yay...tomatoes, cucumbers, brown bread, hummus, and tea...heaven :)

i followed two itineraries suggested by tripadvisor for the rest of the year...i got to see the older parts of the city (art deco style!) and the spot where the city was founded...i also got to see independence hall, shopping streets, and a long beach...people who live in tel aviv go to the beach all the time...
the difference in atmosphere between tel aviv and jerusalem couldn't be bigger...jerusalem is religious, tel aviv is closer to agnostic...jerusalem is old, tel aviv is modern...jerusalem is conservative, tel aviv is more on the liberal side...

i was greedy at lunch, and ate two sandwiches...YUM, even though my stomach was ready to explode afterward...the first was sabbich, which is basically fried eggplant...then i had falafel...dessert at another time was a kids portion of ice cream...i'm glad i got the small portion, as it was still huge...a 'normal' adult portion wouldve been too much...(if such a thing is possible)
on the way home i realized i had to buy a plug adaptor, as i had no way of plugging in my camera battery charger...it was entertaining for me to figure out where to go...
i didn't have enough time to spend exploring this city, i need to come back!

israel: jerusalem

it was easy to get from ukraine to israel...i had a direct flight, only three hours of air time...passport control in the airport asks a LOT of questions, it's a bit overwhelming...they asked where i would be staying, with whom i would be staying, how long that person had lived in israel, what does that person do in the country, etc...i didn't have answers to some of the questions, i was worried...i was hoping they would stamp my passport if i asked nicely, but the lady said they don't stamp anymore...instead, they give you a little piece of paper that looks kinda like a subway ticket...(after my trip i taped it into my passport)...

i made the mistake of arriving in the country after dark on friday evening...which means i arrived on shabat...israel is a very religious country, more than half of israeli people are jewish...in most of the country, almost everything public shuts down on shabat, including transportation...the only transport available from the airport on friday evening is a taxi...(and not even that many taxis work friday evening)...side note: my host told me that at one point, the ultra orthodox people in the country even wanted the airport to close completely on shabat...thankfully, that didn't happen...can you imagine a country essentially closing itself completely for one day every week?

i took a chance, and shared a taxi with two guys, both of whom were also going to jerusalem...they were both israeli, and spoke hebrew, definitely to my advantage...they bargained with the driver to the best price possible...
i arrived in israel only a week after a big snowstorm, so i saw some snow still on the ground...they don't get much snow in the country, it was a major event...the guys in the taxi (including the driver) kept pointing it out to me, which i found amusing...i mentioned a couple times that i live in ukraine, where snow is more than normal...

i arrived at the home of my host in the middle of the night...i felt rude, but she welcomed me...she knows my family, so we chatted and caught up for a while, then we went to sleep...
the next morning she made me a traditional israeli breakfast...salad...yahoo!! it was awesome, and i knew straightaway i was going to love the cuisine of the country:)
i finally walked out the door after 3pm, a whole lot later than i'd planned...(on the other hand, it was really nice to relax and not have to move quickly in the morning)...i walked about 20 minutes down the road to the old city, entering through the jaffa gate...

i was immediately accosted by touts wanting me to sign up for tours, argh...one guy actually acted offended when i ignored him! that kind of behaviour does NOT make me more likely to sign up with you, buddy...
while walking through the market area, i felt a lot as if i was back in the grand bazaar of istanbul...there wasn't anything that jumped out at me and shouted "buy me buy me"...one guy seemed offended that i wanted to look through his stall but had no intentions of buying anything...he actually told me he was closing, so i would leave...behaving that way is just rude!

after walking through a heap of tiny alleyways, i finally found the church of the holy sepulchre...the entrance is on one side, i completely missed the alleyway entrance to the platz in front of the church a couple times...this is said to be the place where jesus was crucified...the inside of the church is big, but there is very little open space...several different denominations of the Christian church lay claim to specific areas of the church, and don't like to share...(i'd always thought the christian church is generally unified, but now i think very differently)

not long after i walked in, a procession came through, i don't know who they were, or why they were processing...there isn't much artificial light in the church, and since i arrived late in the day, it felt really dark to me...in an upstairs area i was able to observe young men (monks?) praying and singing together...
i saw more snow on the ground walking home...my host made dinner, she is an awesome cook...(so much so that since my trip she has started her own catering company)...my host is a fan of old movies, so we chose to watch gosford park...a classic movie :)

the next morning i slept later than expected, but it wasn't as bad...i walked to the entrance area of the western wall...you have to go through security to get anywhere close to the wall (or even to see it) and i didn't have time, but at least i knew how to get there...
i walked back home, then took off with my host to the main market of jerusalem, called mehane yehuda...(i think that's the name?)...we met the daughter of my host, who is a university student in the states...they chose a place serving iraqi food for lunch...YUM...i loved that the menus were in both english, and hebrew, and that my host and her daughter are both fluent in each...

after lunch there were lot of yummy things to taste...i tried tahina, and a dry cakey sort of thing i didn't like so well even though it was good looking...i ended up buying pomegranete, pastries, and more...a yummy milky-ish drink called sahlab...i knew already i was going to gain weight during the trip :)
after returning home, my host had some friends over for tea...more YUM...
my last full day in jersusalem was a full day of walking around as a tourist...i left home at 0730 and again walked to the western wall...(i was proud of myself for getting going so early:)

since i was there so early, there was no queue for security...after going through the metal detector, i got to the wall...if i didn't know what it was, i wouldn't have thought it anything worthwhile...howeva, it's a big deal...the wall is built on the remains of the 2nd temple (i think) built way back when...jews pray here, sometimes with a lot of passion...it was called the wailing wall for a while, because people praying looked more like they were wailing instead of praying...the prayer area is split between men and women, with a fence in between...it's possible for women to see the men's side, if you go to the back of the fenced area, and peer over the shorter fence...

nearly everyone praying on the men's side is wearing a prayer shawl; this is the side where most photos are taken...i took a few photos of my own, though none as impressive as others i've seen...the men's area was heaps smaller than i expected, though i don't know why i had any expectations at all...
after watching for a while, i went through a wooden walkway through the only entrance available to tourists to the temple mount...there was another security queue to get through this area...as soon as i entered, i could see several groups of muslim men and women studying...it was quiet, a very peaceful area...

tradition says jews cannot enter this area, as it would be considered to be walking on the ruins of a jewish temple...the reason to go to the temple mount is to see the mosque...it's stunning...it's said to be the place where mohammed ascended into heaven...(i think)...only muslims can go into the mosque, darnit...the outside is so awesome, you can't help but wonder what the inside looks like...
after walking through the entire temple mount area, i exited (through a different gate) and walked around the walls of the old city, down the hill...i could see a number of fancy tombs, one of which is said to be that of zacchariah...it was a cemetary, there were several nice tombs...

across the street from this area is a church that has the tomb of the virgin mary...quite dark and dusty, and there weren't nearly as many people as i expected, considered how many people visit jerusalem...
then i started walking up the mt of olives...it was steep-ish, and i was breathing heavily when i finally got to the top...a sandwich and water made me feel better :)...near the top is the russian church of the ascension, this is where orthodox christians think jesus ascended...in order to enter i had to borrow a wrap around skirt, thank goodness they had plenty available...i already had a head scarf in my purse, i never know when i might need such a thing :)...i was the only one inside, i don't think it gets many visitors...

on my way back down the mt of olives (on a different path from how i went up) i stopped at the church of the lord's prayer...i think the name is different, but that's basically that's what it is...the lord's prayer is written in a huge number of languages, it's awesome...
further down the hill is the tomb of the prophets, i don't know which ones...the entryway was dark and scary, i didnt go far!
there was an entry fee to go in the mosque of the ascension, so i didn't enter...a tiny mosque...
i walked all the way back to the old city, to the market area...more rude people selling stuff, but this time i met some nice salespeople as well...again, i felt like i was in the grand bazaar of istanbul...

the meat market area wasn't very impressive, maybe it was because i've seen plenty of meat markets over the years...
i found the entrance to st alexander's church, which is next door to the church of the holy sepulchre...it's more of a museum now, as there are some pieces of art displayed, including a beautiful iconostasis...i liked it because i was able to walk behind the iconostasis, which is not something i normally get to do in any orthodox church...
after st alexander's, i visited the ethiopian coptic monastary...very very cool...very very old...a back entrance/exit led me to the platz in front of the church of the holy sepulchre, so another visit to the church of the holy sepulchure was in order...

since i was there during more daylight, the middle of the church seemed much more inviting...a whole lot more light made everything more colourful...
a snack on the way home was falafel...YUM...it's a good thing i like it, it's all over :)
my host and i went out to dinner that night in a neighborhood restaurant...i ended up having stuffed spleen...not something i ever imagined i would eat, but it was good...with my main dish and the side dishes, i ate waaaaay too much, but it was worth it...a great way to end my first time in jerusalem!!