View from the top of the Bahá'i Gardens
Sunday we decided to get out of Tel Aviv and see another city in Israel. I had heard on a podcast that Haifa was a great place to take a day trip to and that there was one main thing all visitors must see there: the Bahá'i Gardens. We got on a train from Herzliyya and arrived in Haifa just in time to make it to the gardens for the last English tour of the day. The gardens are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and are a symbol of the Bahá'i faith. Set on the side of Mount Carmel, the gardens ascend with the mountain (or descend depending on where you start) so that from any point you have an amazing view up, down, and out to the Mediterranean Sea. Our tour started from the top, so got to walk down through the gardens (which actually seems to have more stairs than green areas sometimes!) It was a really unique experience to visit another holy site in Israel, yet of a different and lesser known religion that what is commonly thought to be found in this country.
After the gardens we toured the city and found ourselves at the beach in the afternoon. It's always a great way to sleep away the hottest part of the day!
The next day we sadly left Ruty and Ehud and ventured east to Jerusalem. I have been looking forward to this top on our trip very much, (I think it was the top thing I wanted to visit!) From Tel Aviv it is a very easy trip, taking only about one hour, and we were able to get on another bus to the old city and find our hostel without any major problems- except for me having to drag my suitcase through the market! Note: travelers should always think about their hotel location and what luggage they have, as I have had to drag my huge red suitcase down the stairs and through markets in Marrakech, Istanbul, now Jerusalem...
The old city is a maze of small streets with sellers trying to offer you every souvenir from Jerusalem you can imagine, yet mixed with all of the holy sites from Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, and more. Even the Via Dolorosa, where Jesus walked with the cross on his way to his crucifixion, boasts some of the funniest souvenir shops we saw in Jerusalem. It is broken down into different neighborhoods by religion, as there is a Christian Area, Jewish Area, etc. Being much smaller than I imagined, we were able to see multiple things in just our first day. For example, The Western Wall (or Wailing Wall) was not so far from the Church of Holy Sepulcher, and we got to see both and walk the ramparts in only one afternoon. The sites were impressive, but different than I imagined. Maybe because there is so much hype about these holy places that when you see them for what they actually are, they can be somewhat unimpressive. The Western Wall was not very crowded when we were there, but I can imagine that during holy days or Shabbat, it is a very moving site to see.
The Western Wall
Unfortunately, that night I accidently scratched my eye by taking out my contact, (though I did not know it at the time), and the next day I had to take a very painful trip to the hospital where they told me I would just have to wait for it to heal on its own. Consequently, I am still recovering but have not been able to see much out of my right eye for the last four days. That has made it very hard to travel and visit places in Jerusalem, and now Cairo. The following two days in Jerusalem were very difficult, and even though we still visited places I feel like I did not get to fully appreciate them or see them completely. Only another reason to come back again!
More updates on Jerusalem to come with pictures, as well as our trip to the West Bank!!
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