September 26, 2010
An 11:00 a.m. wake up time following a 5:00 a.m. bedtime isn't too embarassing, right? Especially if it means waking up feeling remarkably refreshed, albeit slightly disturbed by the bizarre/retarded conversation going on in the dorm room between a very tanned and tattooed Dutch Jew (who actually ended up being a much more complex, and...better character than he had seemed at first) and a slightly deaf Jewish U.S. military veteran from Brooklyn about drinking beer in the morning.
We had breakfast at a place that I think was called Sheinkin 10, but I can't find the link for it. Our yoga-outfitted waitress was extremely cold, and the iced coffee was full of cream and sugar, but my grilled bagel filled with tuna and cheese was delicious and huge.
We returned to our favorite spot, the Tel-Aviv bus station for our last day trip, this time to Haifa. Because of our late start (we caught a 2:30 p.m. bus) it would be a short day trip, but we had been recommended to visit Haifa by so many people (and our tour book described it as the prettiest city in Israel) and figured our time was better spent on a short trip than sitting at the beach in Tel-Aviv. Running to catch the bus, I spilled half of the cup of espresso I was carrying all over my hand and on the ticket. The highlight of the bus journey was the Israeli soldier couple sitting in front of us who made out the entire hour and a half bus ride. Watching strangers make out is funny enough, but when both are in uniform, and in the middle of the day, it was even funnier.
Haifa itself?
1. A typically confused attempt to find the bus to the Bahai Gardens, which I had been told by many folks was very beautiful.
2. The Bahai Gardens closed 5 minutes after we arrived, but we were told that we wouldn't have been permitted to visit more than a small portion without a guided tour anyway. They consisted of a series of terraced lawns going up Mt. Carmel that I think looked pretty good. I would have liked to have had the opportunity to run to the top though. Despite my religion major in college, I did not learn then, nor since, what the Bahai religion is all about.
3. An approximately half hour walk to the top of Mt. Carmel to the Stella Maris Carmelite Monestery and the chapel built above the cave where the prophet Elijah supposedly lived and died (according to the Hebrew Bible, he never actually died, but rather ascended in a whirlwind, making him the only other person besides Jesus to never really die). The view of Haifa and its beaches from the top of the monestery was impressive.
4. At the top we met a terrific Australian from Perth in the middle of a 6 month travel holiday before returning home and taking certain certification tests for his profession, which seemed to involve medical blood tests. Had been all over the middle east, as well as Africa, and was soon to visit Europe.
5. Dinner in the German Colony. Without even placing an order, we were served with about 9 different plates of food -- hummus, tahini, taboule, pita, eggplant salad, something gross with a lot of mayo, pickles, olives -- which would cost something like 10 bucks each if we didn't order an entree. Which we did not do.
6. Bus ride back listened to music on the iPod, and chatted over it, probably annoying other busriders.
The Israelis from the night before had invited us to a party this night (Sunday) in the Yaffo neighborhood, which we intended to attend. Although when we tried to buy a bottle of wine at around 11:15 pm, we were told that it was prohibited to sell alcohol after 11:00 p.m. and were refused. However, Israel had taught two important lessons for which our friends had provided no warnings:1) if one person says something is not allowed, another person may be much more lenient and 2) it is ALWAYS better to provide no information unless asked. We tried another liquor store, maybe 15 minutes later, did not mention the 11:00 p.m. rule, and were very promptly sold a bottle of wine. Not only this, but the guy tried to sell us a whipped cream canister.
The "party" was more of a gathering, Mikey, Asaf, Noa from the night before, another Noa, two guys whose names I can't remember and Boaz. There was a wall calendar for a company I could not identify where each month featured an American Apparel model looking Israeli girl. We drank Goldstars and arak at the apartment and then the party migrated to a nearby bar where we were joined by even more of their friends, drank more Goldstars, more shots of arak and ate herring, corn chips and salsa (inappropriately called "nachos") and pickled radishes. This night was slightly less exciting than the night before, but I still enjoyed the crowd. Dogs were running around the outdoor table at which we were sitting.
Leonard Cohen -- Diamonds in the Mine
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