We first experienced Haifa’s “Festival of Festivals” last year at the tail end of Covid 19 opening up. The idea of the city of coexistence celebrating the coming together of the three monotheistic religions in a light extravaganza was most attractive. Actually on the municipal Facebook page it is billed as “the values of coexistence, living together in peace and harmony, and mutual respect of all six religions in the city, joining the residents’ lives and fate together.” This may actually be a bit bombastic but it’s the thought that counts. In any case, we like Haifa, mainly because it is not Jerusalem or Tel Aviv but its own unique self. Let’s see.. what do I mean by that? Well, Jerusalem is of course chock full of history and religious import, and this is what makes it rather heavy and sometimes stressful, and not always the most relaxing of places to visit. Tel Aviv has the advantage of being younger and more zany and with the added attraction of the beach. But Tel Aviv, as the “city that never sleeps” can be exhausting and a bit frenetic. I feel that Haifa has its own special vibe. Not only is it multicultural and more secular, but it also has the sea, and a very special topography which means that the three separate bits of the town stretch up the Carmel Mountain, giving you incredible views at every twist and turn. You are continually climbing up and down. And that is really unique. Haifa is comprised of the wooded Carmel mountain, topped by the Technion University area, midtown Hadar, and the downtown area where the port is located. Just above downtown is the wonderful German Colony area reminiscent of the Jerusalem German Colony, both dating from the Templar period featuring picturesque balconied historic stone houses with lovely gardens. Stretching down from the Carmel to the German Colony are the wondrous Bahai Shrine of the Bab and Gardens, the iconic view of Haifa.
We started our trip by parking just off Ben Gurion st, the main drag of the German Colony, where all the restaurants are located and the illuminations would be. We decided we would spend the day walking around town and finish up with dinner in the Colony and then have a look at the illuminations. This proved to be a very smart move as I will explain later. So having parked we set off to have a look at the immaculate Bahai Shrine gardens. You can walk around the gardens for free. There is a lower entrance from the German Colony and an upper one from the Carmel. However you cannot enter from one and exit from the other without taking a guided tour. We met a lovely young Chinese couple who asked us to take their photo- she is studying at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and he at Leeds University in England. As you can see the Shrine is stunning and the gardens are lovingly tended.
From the Shrine we began walking up in the direction of the Carmel. On the way, walking through the Wadi Nisnas area, we found the wonderful Artists’ House ( on map appears as Bet Omanim Shagall no idea what that means ) – free entry and wonder of wonders, a clean toilet. There was an exhibition of two local artists, one Jewish and one Arab.
We continued on, feeling suddenly disorientated we asked a woman how to get to the Carmel. We thought we would head to a garden called “Gan HaEm” (the Mother’s garden) . She thought we meant kindergarten, but anyway we had to continue upwards, meaning hundreds and hundreds of stairs ( I kid you not) We bravely battled on upwards, each street on the map being labelled “street” but turning out to be another stairway. One of these stairways housed a street gallery of wonderful murals.
Finally we reached Yafe Nof ( meaning “beautiful view” ) street and a little further along we reached the Centre of the Carmel and the gardens where we ate our sandwiches. From here the only way is down, so we walked back down, this time using the road and not the little stairs, as our knees were not feeling their best. The gentle downward slope of the boulevard was pleasant and afforded the occasional view of the port.
We then continued back on down to the German Colony which was beginning to get dark. We returned to the same restaurant which we had enjoyed last year, Garden, where we had a splendid spinach and ricotta tortellini. When we came back out at 6pm the street was heaving with people, some wearing Christmas flashing lights or hats, and all the illuminations had been turned out. It was quite impressive. There was a small Xmas market selling candy floss, fast food and other Xmas tat. It was all quite fun but very very crowded and hard to walk down the street. The atmosphere was great, lots of families of all denominations.
All in all, I highly recommend checking out the Festival of Festivals if you are passing through this area. I have heard that Nazareth is also good but last time we tried to get there the entrance to the town was choked with traffic and we could not even get in there, so we gave up. Of course Israel is not Northern Europe when it comes to the season’s celebrations, but in a way ,the modest show here is rather touching.
The name “Transylvania” immediately conjures up misty forests, creepy characters, the stuff of legend. I really knew nothing at all about this area , and became captivated with the idea of a visit when I read on travel groups that there are cheap flights to Cluj, the capital of the region, which turns out to be a lively university town, only a short flight for us from home. This seemed attractive, as we are not really feeling up to doing long haul flights at the moment. The more I read about it, the more it seemed like a good autumn destination. How lucky we were! We went only for a week and the weather was indeed perfect- around 23C during the day, dropping to 3C at night (when we were safely tucked in under the covers). The mornings were crisp and mysteriously misty, and we had not one drop of rain. Of course had we gone for longer (as my brother suggested) we could have seen many more destinations- we quickly discovered the vastness of Romania, the immense distances between towns, but since we did not want to spend the whole day on the road and drive hundreds of kilometres, we contented ourselves with Cluj, Bistrita, Sighisoara and the village of Tilisca. This worked out just fine, and we ended up driving almost 1,000 km in the week. I had no desire to see Bucharest which was really too far, and what we saw was just lovely. So on to the trip.
After a 2.5 hour flight to Cluj which went amazingly smoothly we arrived with only hand luggage (trolley) at Cluj airport at 2pm. We were met by the smiling representative of Klasswagen car hire who swiftly transported us by shuttle bus to the car rental office. In 5 minutes we were on the way to our cute air bnb in the centre of Cluj, right by the Central Park. The lovely host Corina had sent me clear instructions where to park and how to get in, and all went smoothly and we quickly went out to explore Cluj, which we found to be charming and easily walkable. We found lovely squares and parks, lively students and lots of restaurants. The centre of town is medieval and we found the tourist office which was about to close at 5pm but the lady pointed us in the direction of a free walking tour which would begin at 6pm. We joined the tour and it was really good.
We left the tour early as we were starving and headed off to find a nice restaurant, which was not hard to do. Our pick was Epoca Bella ( after the first place we entered turned out to be fully booked) and very tasty it was too. From there we tottered home to gather our strength for the next day.
Sunday morning we got up and set off across the Central park headed for the Cetățuia (Fortress) Park from the top of which we were told we would see a lovely view of the city. Walking through the autumn leaves of the park was positively uplifting, and the climb up the park steps to the top was not too challenging. When we got to the top it was very misty but the view of city spires was really lovely.
We climbed slowly down and headed across the river to the historic centre to continue exploring. We found some of the places the tour guide had mentioned the day before, including the Jewish Museum and Mattias Corvin’s house, ( the oldest building in the city) where we enjoyed the exhibition of a Jewish artist who stood in the entrance, identified us as Israelis and said shalom. His work was very interesting. Unfortunately I omitted to write down his name.
In the Jewish museumEntrance to Mattias Corvin’s house From the exhibition of the Jewish Artist
We then walked around a bit in the centre of Cluj, and continued on to see the Cluj Synagogue, unfortunately only from the outside.
We finished off our second day in Cluj with the Botanical Gardens, which were very pleasant if not overwhelming. Since it was a sunny day everything looked very cheery. The Japanese garden we found to be rather sad, but then we had visited Japan in November 2019 so it seemed like a poor shadow of the real thing. If you have not been to Japan maybe you will find it pleasant enough. Be warned that the walk up to the gardens involves a rather steep hill, but not too terrible. We had just walked rather a lot that day, as we started with the climb up to the Citadel, but it was all lovely, and we felt that we had earned our lovely dinner.
In the Botanical Gardens
After two lovely days in Cluj we headed off towards Bistrita, our next stop, by way of Colibița Lake. We had originally planned to head up north to the Ukrainian border to visit the Merry Cemetery and various painted churches. That was the reason for choosing Bistrita as a stopping point. However there are no highways in that area and the distances are huge, and we did not want to spend the whole holiday in the car. The lake proved to be an excellent place to stop and we very much enjoyed our coffee looking out over the lake at the lovely Casa Dani, which I suspect would also be a great place to stay; it is run by a lovely young couple, (the husband of course being called Dani). We then continued on through the most glorious forests all golden with autumn colours, until we reached Bistrita. The drive was just spectacular and very hard to capture, as there were very few stopping places to take photos. The roads are a bit winding, but it is just breathtaking at this time of year. On the way we passed through many villages with traditional buildings, and many farmers with workhorses and carts. It was all very charming.
We continued on towards our hotel, the Pensiunea Terra in Bistrita, a couple of kilometres from the centre of the very small town, and although the restaurant had lots of customers I think we were the only people staying there. After walking around the town a little, and finding the synagogue (closed) and the small public gardens, we returned to the hotel for a fantastic meal.
Bistrita Synagogue Autumn leaves BistritaFunghi in the park
Next day we were headed for two nights in Sighișoara, the highly instagrammable town located about 150 km away but as mentioned the roads in Transylvania are not highways and you are frequently stuck behind a truck or a horse and cart, so the journey takes longer than one would think. On the way we stopped at Castelul Lázár in Lazarea, which turned out well in the photos, due to the morning mists, but was not really that interesting inside. We stopped again for a quick rest at Hanul Borzont Hungarian restaurant where we first enjoyed the decor (lots of wood and traditional artifacts ) , and then one of the best soups I have ever had. It was just perfect. Apparently this area of the country is disputed between Romania and Hungary, so the fact that D was wearing his Budapest sweat shirt was quite amusing..
Castelul Lazar Typical view on the road Hanul Borzont restaurantThe soup
We arrived at Carolina House in Sighisoara to find it deserted. There was a phone number on the door so I called it and soon a guy who spoke not a word of English arrived and gave us our room key. The place was gorgeous and only 10 minutes walk from the historic centre of town. Again we were the only guests. We were shown the lovely old style breakfast room and stroked the resident cute cat. Then we went into town to find the centre almost deserted by 6pm. I then remembered that the English girl I had talked to in Cluj had told me that most people visit Sighisoara on a day trip and leave by dark. We were happy to walk around and take photos without the hordes. It really is pretty, as befits a UNESCO heritage site, but somehow I missed the lively atmosphere of Cluj. There are plenty of restaurants both in the upper and lower part of the town.
Carolina HouseClimbing up in SighisoaraClock tower typical street View of Sighisoara from upper town
It is important to realise that there are two parts to the town – the upper and lower, so you are going to be climbing up and down a lot. It was next day that we met the most tourists in our trip and they were all Israelis. We met three separate groups and of course exchanged information about where we had been and what we had seen. Sighisoara has nine towers, according to various professional guilds, for example the Furriers’ Tower, the Tailors’ , Bootmakers, Ropemakers and so on. Most were closed but very impressive, and the whole town feels like being inside a fairy story set in a medieval town. We then picked a nice restaurant in the lower town, on the premise that after a nice glass of wine we would not feel like staggering down the steps to walk home. The restaurant and the wine were excellent, but the food more Italian than Romanian. Next day we walked around the old town some more, this time approaching it from the top, and climbed up and down the covered steps also known as the Scholars’ steps to the School on the Hill . Of course there are lots of historic buildings to visit in the town; we passed on Dracula’s house which looked like a tourist ripoff. To round off Sighisoara we returned to the same restaurant which we had enjoyed the night before.
With only two nights left and the last one to be spent in Cluj near the airport, in preparation for the early morning flight home, our last real night was spent in a tiny village called Tilisca . It was the most unusual night of the trip, but we reached it after visiting another town, Sibiu. The town has a lovely large main square, with lots of restaurants and coffee bars, and a smaller adjoining square where you can see the Bridge of Lies ,which overlooks some of the most ancient buildings of the town. It is all picturesque and delightful. On the way to the old town we passed through the market.
we ate one of these Tower near the big square Sibiu market Sibiu Market
Of course we could have spent much longer in this lovely town exploring its rich history, and we also considered visiting the Astra History Park but with only a week there just wasn’t time.
We departed Sibiu and headed for our last proper night,in the village of Tilisca. The guest house, Pensiunea Irina appeared to be in the middle of nowhere. It had good ratings and I thought it would be fun to sleep in a quiet place. It was possibly the most interesting night of our trip. After mistakenly walking into the neighbouring house and encountering the owner ironing her laundry, we finally found the door to the guesthouse which was locked. Another neighbour telephoned the house and eventually a young boy opened the door and called his mum. We met the charming Irina, with her limited but adequate English and her partner Chris, who spoke fluent English having spent several years working in Silicon Valley. They were extremely welcoming and we were the only guests and made to feel very much at home. Chris invited us into the dining room where there was ample tea and coffee laid out and then proceeded to present us with his home made pear liquor. We sat together talking for a long time about pretty much everything, getting refills of this beverage, whereupon we realized we were somewhat drunk and were unlikely to be driving into the next village for supper. Chris produced a menu and ordered us food from the nearby restaurant which belongs to some relative of Irena. The food was not great, but the company and the ambiance at Pensiunea Irena (which by the way has a stream running right by the bedroom) made up for that. We had a great evening and exchanged phone numbers with Chris before we left.
Stream outside the guesthouse window. You can hear it at night in the room Tilisca villageTilisca
Next day, our last day in Romania, we got up and drove to Alba Iulia where we intended to visit the synagogue and the Citadel . However, when we arrived at the Citadel we saw swarms of police and lots of Orthodox Priests filing into the gate and queueuing up to go in. There was apparently some kind of conference or meeting going on there, so despite a policeman waving us into the parking lot, we continued to the centre of town where we parked in the Lidl car park to see the synagogue next door. The door was locked but there was a watchmaker’s shop next door and he beckoned to us, said in English that he would call the “head of the community” who would give him a key. As we were waiting for the key there was some commotion on the pavement outside where a young girl had suffered an epileptic fit and was surrounded by people wanting to help, call ambulances etc. By the time the key arrived, all was well and she was recuperating on a bench. The synagogue was quite nice and had been lovingly restored.
We then continued on to Cluj where we stayed at the (unmemorable) Pensiunea right by the airport for our horribly early 7am departure the next morning.
Romania was surprising in a number of ways- it was far cleaner and modern than I was expecting, but also much bigger. I had to eliminate many destinations on my Google maps due to the sheer enormity of the driving distances. We greatly enjoyed Cluj, and we saw and learned quite a lot in a short week. Highly recommended destination and appetite opened for further exploration of Eastern Europe.
This trip was something of a dream, as the places we visited had been on my mind for some time, and originally I had wanted to visit them by train from Madrid. However, with concerns of Covid 19, we opted for a road trip of 16 days, to give each place its due. We flew into Seville, with an 8 hour layover in Zurich (which became a feature not a bug, as our son would say) and spent 4 days there sans car, then picked up the car, and continued on to El Gastor, Malaga, Granada, Cordoba and finished off in Carmona. The timing worked out very well. All these destinations are well worth a few days. So onward!
Seville was charming and everything that we had hoped for, despite (or maybe because of) being invaded by hordes of Scottish and German football fans. The Scots, who at first seemed belligerent, turned out to be harmless, nay friendly! We high fived them and cheered them and it was all good fun.
Scots fan encountered on top of Las Setas
One morning we couldn’t get out of our apartment door for the never ending stream of fans passing by in the narrow street. The only way was to join and march along with them, cheering. It was a fun experience. So in Seville apart from ambling around the ancient streets we visited the impressive Alcazar with its splendid gardens, the not so impressive Triana market, the lovely promenade along the river with the Torre de Oro, Plaza de Espana and gardens, the Metropol Parasol, otherwise known as the Setas (Mushrooms), best viewed towards nightfall for a wonderful panorama over the city. We also attended the obligatory flamenco show (most enjoyable) and sampled our first amazing tapas. Our trip was off to a splendid start and the Air bnb we picked was well placed in walking distance of the Setas.
We then headed for the Santa Justa train station full of dejected Rangers fans, and picked up our car (was supposed to be a tiny Fiat 500) . The car rental people insisted we could not have that car as our luggage would not fit in the boot, and this would result in a fine from the police if stopped. Never mind, we said we will risk it. The upgrade was too expensive. When we went down to the lot to pick up the car we were presented with a massive VW. No, I said that isn’t our car. Yes it is, she said. We don’t want to pay for an upgrade, we insisted. Mismo precio (same price) she said. She phoned the office and repeated this. Okay we said. Got in said car and drove off for our next wonderful destination- El Gastor.
Now I am sure you have never heard of this one. Neither had I till I researched the area around Ronda. I knew I wanted to visit the “pueblos blancos” , the famous white towns clustered around Ronda, of which there are many. It was hard to know which one to pick as a base. Until I came across Lesley and Terry’s “Casa de las Flores“. That had to be the one. You see why.
The lovely Lesley and Terry from the UK met us outside the local church in the tiny two street town, after having sent a map to show us where to park. The place was perfect as was El Gastor, quiet and gorgeous and with friendly people who smile and say good morning. It was the best place to tour around the white towns. I had planned to do some hiking in the gorgeous countryside around, but the temperatures of 35C and over did not really suit. We did visit aforementioned Ronda, as well as Zahara de la Sierra and the incredible Setenil de las Bodegas too. But really there are many options for interesting tours around the region.
It is hard to capture the stunning beauty of each of these places. There are so many white towns you just have to pick a few.
After the three lovely nights in El Gastor we continued on to our next stop, two nights in Malaga. Here we were lucky enough to stay with Pablo de Michael, the charming host at Patio de Arance. Fortunate in that when I was pickpocketed , losing the key to the apartment he came to our rescue in a short time and all was well. He also gave us a lovely map of the city and some recommendations of what to see and do. Despite the theft we had a great couple of days walking along the promenade and wandering in downtown which felt a bit like a Spanish version of Tel Aviv. The beach did not overly impress but we did eat a marvellous curry one night. The highlight was a visit to the Picasso museum of Malaga. Very little remains of the Jewish “Juderia” but there are a few pretty streets of boutiques and restaurants you can wander around.
I think this is the place to take a breather before we continue on our way to Granada, Cordoba and Carmona, all historical heavyweights. Stay tuned!
Last blog was in November, as we don’t seem to have done a whole lot, except short hikes in the forests, looking for flowers (found plenty, especially in Ben Shemen, Yakum and Rosh Ha’Ayin ). But yesterday, since rain is forecast from tomorrow for an indefinite period, we decided to take advantage of the wonderful winter sunshine to head off to Ashkelon National Park, which we have not visited in a very long time. Having renewed our pass when we were up in Bar’am, ( did I not blog that one? Oops!) we could just swan in for free as usual. However, on arrival at the gate, there seemed to be some kind of computer mishap, as the man in front of us sat in his car waiting for a ticket for rather a long time. Finally we got in and started to drive around the ring road that circles the park, stopping at the different sites. The day was glorious and the place nigh on deserted, except for a preponderance of workmen. They seem to be revamping the whole place. (And a quick Google reveals this to be the case
The first stop was the church of Santa Maria, or what’s left of it. Despite being pretty much in ruins, the site is very imposing, and you can climb up the steps next to it and get a view of the sea and the remains of the 12th century Crusader wall. Of course Ashkelon is an ancient city which was home to many different civilisations, the ancient Canaanites, the Philistines, Byzantines, Muslims, Ottomans and Crusaders.
We continued on to the oldest arched tunnel in the world, a Middle Bronze Age gate said to date from 1850 BC. It has of course been reconstructed, but the site is most impressive and you can see the rampart walls, the Roman basilica and lots of broken columns and other bits lying around, which I assume are in the process of being restored.
Ancient Arch
From the arch you can walk up a slope which takes you to a fantastic lookout point over the sea, giving you a really good sense of how the ancients knew where to build their cities. History buffs can of course read more about the details of all the archeological finds here . Suffice it to say that the major finds from the site now reside in the Israel Museum, but the impression we got is that a lot of work is now under way at the site, and it may well be worth a return trip in the near future, to see what else has been restored.
View from the top
After eating our sandwiches on a lovely bench in the overnight campsite part of the park we decided to head to the promenade of modern Ashkelon, where we wanted to do a bit of promenading and then catch the sunset. This proved to be an extremely good move. The weather was glorious, the views spectacular and the people of Ashkelon were out walking their dogs and running, but not in hordes. We had a quick ice cream on the prom and admired the whale statue which is in fact a kids’ slide. We also liked the bench which doubles as a lending library, and the sofas which are modern art.
Next we headed to the marina which was full of people eating and drinking in the many restaurants, and where we found a most wonderful hotdog in a place called Captain Hot Dog, manned by a charming Russian girl. We enjoyed this while sitting and admiring the view. When the sun started to go down we headed back up the hill to the promenade. As soon as the sun had set it became very cold so we headed home after a really refreshing day. Ashkelon, we shall return.
There is always a point at the beginning of the trip when you feel like it stretches endlessly ahead of you, and then you blink and it’s nearly over. This happened as we sadly left our wonderful guesthouse in Kirschberg and headed towards Graz. We would spend two nights in Graz before spending the last night near the airport, as we had an early flight. Another consideration was getting our PCR test 72 hours prior to the flight home; I figured that being in a city would make that easier to achieve.
Another consideration for staying in Graz was a chance to meet a Facebook friend. Marjorie and I somehow became friends, through mutual acquaintances in the FB English teachers’ community and I thought that having a local show us around would be fun. So we would spend our first day exploring alone and the second day we would meet her. How exciting to meet someone you have only chatted to on the Internet, right? Anyway we arrived in Graz and headed to my first address for getting the free PCR. There was nothing at the address.. nada.. zilch. Ok we’ll head for the next one- a shopping mall called Murpark. After finding the way in to the parking lot we easily found the testing centre. Sadly, though, and contrary to my information, this test was only free for locals, not for tourists. There was a free testing centre, the nice lad said, but it was somewhere downtown, where we would need to pay for parking. Never mind, we decided to get the stupid test done, despite the cost and get it over with. I really wanted to get the result back before we left Graz. The lad very kindly escorted us to the pharmacy where we had to pay, which was in another part of the mall, and waited with us to take us back again. A half hour later it was done and dusted so we headed back to the car park and thence to the wonderful NH City Graz, recommended by Marjorie. Slap bang in the centre of old Graz, and with a half price parking arrangement.
We settled in to our room and then went out to explore the town. A few minutes’ walk from the hotel we found what D was to refer to as “hot dog square”, the main Hauptplatz, with all the wonderful historic buildings and little alleyways. We found a splendid place to eat dinner too- a little Italian place where we had excellent pizza and pasta, and a fine glass of wine. I don’t remember the name but there are lots of lovely little restaurants just off the main square. It was even warm enough to sit outside.
The next morning we were going to explore some more, before meeting Marjorie for the afternoon, to get our insiders’ view of Graz. We kicked off with a splendid breakfast in the park right behind our hotel, at a splendid place called Das Promenade
Breakfast at Das Promenade
We then decided to head towards the river, which is always a good thing to do in a city. So we walked gradually in that direction, admiring the wonderful buildings all around, till we reached the river, and crossed over a bridge, past the very strange Art museum building, to the area near the Mariahilferkirche. We enjoyed the walk, the views and the whole ambiance. There was lots to see and enjoy- the area across the bridge felt more laid-back, studenty and offbeat than the downtown area near the hotel. We also enjoyed walking across the Murinsel, a strange floating structure in the middle of the river.
We found a little market square and then as we turned back to the river direction again, we saw the incredible sight of the Uhrturm, the medieval clock tower perched up above the town, and knew we had to climb up. Well, it’s only 260 steps up after all, not much to get a splendid view of the town on such a beautiful day, right?
The climb was really not bad at all, with lots of places to pause and revel in the fantastic view.
We had just reached the top when Marjorie texted to say she was on her way over. Perfect timing. We made our way back down (it seemed a lot easier than up) and in 10 minutes we were back at the hotel- D even managed to get his sought after hotdog, in “hotdog square” of course. He pronounced it “okay, but not as good as the Viennese one”.
We met up with Marjorie in the hotel lobby and she then very kindly took us to see some interesting spots around town. First we saw an inscription in Hebrew of a 14th century tombstone ( of the the merchant Rabbi Nissim bar Aharon who died in 1387 ) on the wall of the federal government building.
Then we took a lovely walk through the park, which was really lovely, stepping in to a few lovely courtyards along the way. We really enjoyed Graz very much, and can totally see why Marjorie enjoys living there.
We had a short walk around town again the next morning before departing to our extremely odd airport hotel, the Moxy which was more like a cross between a youth hostel and a “house of ill repute” than an airport hotel. I understand it was trying to cater to the young, hispter crowd. I found it loud,both in volume and decor, and the room had some kind of weird mauve disco lights on the side tables and even under the bed, with a huge screen tv, but no telephone, complimentary soap or kettle. In the morning at 6am when we departed, one lift had a “do not use sign ” on it but refused to stop going up and down, whilst the other one refused to move at all. Despite all these faults, it was 800 m walk to the airport terminal, so that was fine.I omitted to mention a slight scare we had on returning our car to the extremely patient Gabor. First we could not find how to drive into the hotel car park where we had arranged to meet him, so I texted him that we would deliver the car in the Billa supermarket parking lot. Then after we found him, D seemed to think he had lost his mobile phone, only to discover after a frantic 30 minute search (in which we BOTH failed to see it) , it was retrieved lurking under the dashboard all along. All’s well that ends well, eh?
View of the city from upper balcony of the Bahai Shrine
I have always had a soft spot for this city, which seems to me to combine the best of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. It has plenty of history, with a downtown German colony built by the Templars to rival the Jerusalem one; it has a reputation for being a city of cultural harmony, where Jews and Arabs live peacefully side by side, and where lots of intercultural events are put on (The Haifa Film Festival, the Festival of Festivals), it’s the only Israeli city with a subway, the Carmelit, ( actually more a funicular than a proper subway) and it has wonderful views of the sea from the top of the Carmel. Haifa is a city with very distinct parts- the downtown port area, the middle level of the Carmel and the very top – Yefe Nof (literally beautiful view) , where the houses perched on the summit of the Carmel mountain look down over the bay. Bear in mind that walking around the city would involve a lot of going up and down the mountain, hence the subway, which is built on the slope. Now there are also two cable cars to make going up and down less arduous.
We had visited Haifa some years ago right after the terrible fires that raged on the Carmel, when our travel organisation Servas.org hosted a walking tour during the Christmas/Hanuka period. At this time Jews, Christians and Muslims in Haifa celebrate together and there are usually lots of activities going on all over town. It was great fun, ( especially the Santa Claus parade through Wadi Nisnas and the ensuing hummus in the local restaurants) and it left me with a feeling that we would return to the city again. As the summer heat, mostly over 35C during the day, means no hiking for the moment, a quick look at the blissfully air- conditioned Haifa Art Museum seemed in order.
We arrived before the museum opened so we went for a quick look around the Wadi Nisnas neighbourhood right behind the museum. I had remembered that it was an area where there were various art projects encouraging coexistence, and we saw something called Poetry Lane, and found various art projects on the walls.
The Art museum now open, we returned to take a look. Although rather unimpressive from the outside, the three storey building originally the site of an Anglican Girls’ school, was packed with interesting stuff, and you could use an audio guide (in several languages) from your phone by scanning a QR code. In any case the exhibits were very clearly labelled in Hebrew and English. Some rooms had works by famous artists, such as Yehiel Shemi and Yair Garbuz, and there was even one by Diego Rivera. The current exhibition commemorates 70 years of the museum’s existence, and all artists are in some way connected to Haifa and the North.
Work by Yair Garbuz
Another work I liked, although I forgot the artist’s name
After we had finished at the museum we went up to the top of the Carmel to look at the famous Bahai Shrine and its gardens. Unfortunately the gardens were closed, as it appears it is necessary to register for an organized tour, but the view from the top was as always, spectacular and there was a lovely breeze.
Interesting gate on the way to the Shrine
View of the gardens and the bay
So from the Shrine we zipped up to the top of Stella Maris, another place we love in Haifa. Stella Maris has a 19th century church and Carmelite monastery. The church can be visited ( and even boasts a cave said to be that of Elijah underneath its altar) but we skipped it this time and just strolled around outside looking at the view of the bay and Haifa port. The Madonna statue outside the monastery ,erected by the people of Chile, is rather fine. From here there is a cable car going down the mountainside to Bat Galim seaside promenade.
Madonna statue
The wild boar wandering around are no joke
We finished our fun day by driving to Hof Dor Habonim beach, which is the most amazing beach inside a Nature Reserve, which we had visited before. We were not looking for a walk this time, due to the heat, but just wanted to chill out and have a quick dip in the sea, which was extremely rough. The beach is extremely beautiful and highly recommended. In the winter we will return to walk along the shore and revisit the beauty of the coastline here.
After a couple of months of not going anywhere or doing any hiking, due to the extreme heat (over 30C most days) and it being school holidays in July and August, and overcrowded everywhere, I finally decided it would be a good idea to check out a nice air conditioned museum. Many museums are popular with families making them not ideal when trying to avoid people,( found this out while visiting the new Steinhardt Natural History museum in Tel Aviv a couple of years ago), but I eventually hit on the perfect solution.
We went off to Jaffa, parking in our favourite place right opposite the Etzel Museum and Neve Zedek. From there it’s only a 15 minute walk down to Old Jaffa. Walking along the Charles Clore Promenade there is a wonderful breeze from the sea, and I was only sorry I had not thought of doing this weeks ago. Anyway Jaffa turned out to be just as charming as I remembered, surely a place one can visit again and again.
After walking around a bit in the beautiful winding alleys of Old Jaffa we arrived at the Ilana Goor Museum, right next to the Uri Geller Museum (which I had never heard of before). The main entrance appeared to be closed, but a nice man let us in through the back door, which led us through the almost overwhelmingly packed gift shop. For the princely sum of 25 shekel each we were then treated to a leisurely wander through a magnificent collection of sculptures and paintings, some by Ilana Goor herself and some from her very eclectic collection of artworks, including portraits of her by other artists, and even one Henry Moore.
Suddenly the lady herself appeared from behind a private door, and we had a short chat with her. She was an elegant 85 year old, very gracious and interesting.
Young Ilana Goor Portrait
Many of the exhibits were examples of the way the artist incorporates unusual elements such as animal hides and skulls into her work. The furniture was particularly unusual. I am not sure it was all to my taste but it was certainly interesting. There are several floors and the open balconies and the roof sculpture garden with the view to the sea were especially lovely. You can sit in the roof garden and eat your sandwiches to admire the view. The artist has lovingly restored the old house (one of the oldest houses in Jaffa, which originally served as a hostel to Jewish pilgrims ) and now lives there herself. The kitchen is particularly striking, with its blend of old samovars and modern fridge and sink. I must admit to having taken far too many pictures, which makes it hard to select the ones I will post here.
The views from the window and the roof garden
After enjoying the gallery we went for a little mosey around Jaffa and rounded off the morning with a quick delicious hummus and falafel at Yfrach restaurant.
Highly recommend this area, and I am sure we will be coming back again soon.
This week’s walk was very different from our previous hikes in nature. We finally made it into the city- Tel Aviv, which we have not frequented for over a year. It is now opening up and as we are double vaxxed we decided to head off to do a self-guided graffiti tour of the Florentin neighbourhood, squeezed between hip, gentrified Neve Zedek and multicultural picturesque Yaffo. Florentin is famous for grunge, garages and carpentry. It is inhabited by many young people, and is well known as the graffiti hub of Tel Aviv. So we signed up for a tour which one can follow on a mobile phone, and comes with maps, audio and video explanations, and walking directions. You can do it at your own pace and you only need one for your group. It was great, as it took us to places that we had never heard of, and would have had difficulty finding alone.
We started off at a park called the Tractor Park,which I had never heard of before. Here we sat on a bench and heard an introductory video about what graffiti is, and what is the difference between graffiti and street art. We were also reminded that as graffiti is dynamic and changing, it was possible that we would find different paintings in some locations. I was amazed not just by the sheer quantity of the paintings, but also the quality and variety of them. As a friend remarked, it’s like being in a free outdoor gallery. It is hard to choose which paintings to show with you ,as there were so many wonderful ones.
Some places had recurring names of artists, which we started to identify. One artist incorporates braille in her paintings, stating that the blind cannot see the paintings, and the seeing cannot mostly read the braille…
Braille above the graffiti
Some areas had more poems and words incorporated into the painting, and some were more visual . At one square, we came to a huge wall painting reminiscent of San Francisco in the 1960s, complete with flower painted cars, and people lounging around listening to music next to a fountain. There were other places where the synagogue had wall paintings with stars of David blended into the works.
We finished off our tour with a meal in a Vietnamese restaurant called Kanu, right next to the wall of the largest wall painting by an artist called Dede and his partner. This work is made of recycled bits of lumber from furniture and is dedicated to women murdered during 2020. From there it was a short walk back our beloved beach promenade, for a quick look at the sea before we headed home. I would happily do another of these self guided tours. WE saw people in groups doing a regular guided tour, and of course the advantage of our tour was that we could stop wherever we wanted and take our time to look at the paintings. You can also do the tour several times during the 14 days it is available, if you like. The company has similar tours in other locations, which I would like to check out. So stay tuned for more walking adventures…
Huge wall art by Dede and Nitzan Mintz, in memory of women murdered during 2020
Of course Hiroshima was high on my list of places when I planned a trip to Japan. The sombre heavy thought of what happened on that terrible day , August 6, 1945, is etched in the memory of anyone born in my generation.But what was it really like to have been there? What did the eyewitnesses feel and see? And how did the city rebuild itself? I had only ever seen pictures of the famous dome, and never seen anything else about the city. So armed with this lack of knowledge, and many questions we boarded our train from Kyoto to Hiroshima, changing at Shin-Osaka. As we arrived in Hiroshima it began to rain. I had found that our hotel, The Park Side Peace Park, was, logically enough a short walk from the Museum and Peace Park, which is served by a loop bus which circles all the main tourist sites, beginning and ending at the Shinkansen Train station, and is free with the JR pass. Perfect! After asking at tourist information we easily found the bus and scrambled on board. It did indeed stop at the Art Museum, the Castle, the Atomic Dome and somewhere else I forget before stopping at the Peace Park. The hotel was one block away from the river which runs right by the Peace Park. We checked in and walked around a bit (in the rain) to get a feel for the place. My first impression was of a wide boulevard (called the Peace Boulevard) tons of tourists swarming around the museum and park, and lots of groups of uniformed schoolkids (like at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem) but also of a city with a positively calm vibe to it. There was bustle but not like Tokyo. There were crowds, but not like in Kyoto. WE immediately loved the place, but it was hard to define exactly why. There were trams clanging around, pedestrian streets with a food festival being set up right at the back of the hotel, and all in all a feeling of a city just getting on with the business of living.
Next day of course we started off by visiting the Peace Park and Memorial Museum. These were as sombre as one would expect but we felt that the emphasis was less on “oh how poor we are and how terrible it all was” but more on “Let’s achieve world peace by making sure nobody has nuclear weapons”. In other words it was less about the Japanese and more about humanity. Outside the museum we were interviewed by some kids for their school work and we also saw the folded paper cranes that are sent to Hiroshima from all over the world as a committment to world peace. Everywhere in Hiroshima people give you folded paper cranes. From the museum we went walking right along the Peace boulevard up to Fujimidai Observation point, which I had noticed on the map and thought would be fun. The layout of the city is such that you are always walking along near the river, as the island on which the Museum is built is between the Kyobashi River and the Motoyasu River, so you continually see bridges, something which I had not known. The walk was most enjoyable and the views at the top of the hill very nice, also enhanced by a can of hot coffee from a vending machine. This is something great about Japan, that wherever you are you can get a hot can of coffee from a machine for 130 yen. Heaven!
From there we walked on to the Shukkien Gardens which were simply superb. I will probably put in too many pictures because the fall leaves there were just so spectacular, as was the walk along the river bank to get there.
Shukkien Gardens
Bamboo grove in the gardens
Some nice ladies who took our photo
Walk up to observation point
Next day we took a day trip out of Hiroshima to visit Miyajima Island which had been recommended to us by pretty much everyone who had visited Japan. Even though the famous “floating torii” gate was being repaired and under scaffolding we were assured that the island was still worth the trip . And anyway it was a short train and ferry ride from town, all included in our JR Pass. We got on the train and about 30 minutes later reached the port. It was easy to see where to go, just follow the crowds. The 10 minute ferry ride was pleasant and the sun was shining. After we disembarked, most of the tourists ran off to climb the peak and take the cable car. So we ambled slowly through the small port town, enjoying the sunshine, the beach and the many deer that wandered around hoping to snitch an ice cream cone or some chips off the tourists, and occasionally succeeding. It was all very pleasant. Climbing up the peak to the ropeway was also pleasant as the foliage was really at its best. WE opted not to do the ropeway as it was expensive, crowded and we felt the view was fine just as it was. (but who knows,maybe it would have been amazing). After eating something in a tortilla (egg?) we wandered around some more, talked to some Japanese girls on a day trip just like us, and returned to the city, to wander around some more.
At night we walked once again along the Peace Boulevard, where a long row of illuminations had been placed, mostly fairytale characters, witches, pirate ships and castles, but so many we could not photograph all of them. We departed the next day, feeling that Hiroshima, like the Phoenix, has risen beautifully from its ashes and is doing a good job of showing the world how to live peacefully.
We arrived in Trapani to our best stay of the whole trip. As we drove up to the Air bnb I was a bit nervous. The area of the city looked a little run down and slummy. It was about 15 minutes drive from the historic centre and did not look promising. The actual street was narrow, but I had already checked with our hostess that free street parking was available (always a big issue in Sicily). I had Whatsapped the hostess 30 minutes before arrival and she was outside waving at us and showing us where to park. What was hidden behind the modest exterior was astounding. The spacious apartment with fully equipped kitchen was quite lovely. But the glorious garden with fruit trees and tortoises roaming around was just delightful.
Teresa showed us how to use the a/c , the hot water boiler, the mosquito zapper,and directed us to the nearest minimarket, 5 minutes walk away. Everything was perfect. And all this was achieved through Google translate, she didn’t know a word of English.
After settling in and walking round to the store to get stuff for supper and breakfast we went into Trapani centre to have a mosey around. The centre was about 15 minutes from the air bnb, and there was paid parking on the main square. We found a lovely little , mostly pedestrianized old city full of lovely churches and surrounded by sea views. It was very quiet but there was a long main street with restaurants and coffee bars, and it was all much less touristy than the other cities we had visited. We enjoyed it very much.
The following day we drove to the interesting Salt Museum about 20 minutes drive south along the coast from Trapani. It was quite interesting, with a good English guide who described the process of anicent salt harvesting and transportation to the mill. It was staggering to think that workers had to transport the salt in baskets on their heads in sweltering heat. We could hardly stand up it was so hot!
Salt fields
Salt Museum
The next day we walked to the Funivia station (about 20 minutes away ) to take the Cable car up to visit Erice, a medieval town which is on the hill overlooking Trapani.
The views were wonderful, and despite the heat , a short walk around Erice and the gardens was quite lovely.Not surprisingly, considering the heat, the place was almost deserted. The most impressive part was the view of Trapani from the Gardens and the view of the castle, which didn’t look worth visiting inside, but the outside was great.
Erice Castle
View of Trapani from Erice
Garden of Balio, Erice
View of Trapani
In the evening we went back to walk around Trapani again and said it farewell, as the next day we were continuing ( a little regretfully) on to Palermo.
To say that I was disappointed in Palermo would be an understatement. The capital of the island, a city full of history, and beautiful buildings, I found it to be dirty beyond belief. We had seen mounds of plastic bags full of garbage strewn all along the highways, especially in the rest areas, all around Sicily. But driving in to Palermo we felt the pollution reached a new high. After walking around the streets for one day, my sandals were covered in mud, and I really don’t know where it came from. The buildings down town were indeed beautiful, but the overall feel of the city was not overly welcoming. I don’t know why this was exactly, but it felt as we had felt in Catania but there we had not spent a lot of time. I did enjoy the area around the Cathedral, but otherwise I don’t feel that my photos really convey how I felt about the city. We took a one hour tourist train around and saw little of interest. The main pedestrian drag also was not overly fascinating, despite being packed with great architecture and tons of churches. Maybe in the winter time it has more to offer. The Norman Palace (we did not venture inside) is of course a wonderful building. The Catacombs were gruesomely fascinating. These are my main impressions of Palermo, where we spent only two nights.
Old Jewish Quarter
Cathedral
Garlic seler
Catacombs
Politeama Garibaldi Theatre
Our parking lot inside an antiques sotre!antiqu
Market
After two nights in Palermo we continued on to another faboulous stay at Villa Rosa b and b in the village of Castelbuono. This place was maybe even more wonderful than Trapani. The view reminded us a lot of the Galilee or the Jerusalem hills. Lots of olive trees and vines dotted the hillsides. The house itself was divine, with a hill view and a beautiful garden where we had the most amazing breakfast of our 18 day stay. Rosanna ( who spoke French) made us home made croissants, with home made lemon and pumpkin jam, omelettes with home grown herbs and everything was just perfectly serene.
In the evening we drove into the village of Castelbuono to have a pizza. Big mistake. The thing that had worried me was finding the turning back into Villa Rosa at night. I took a screenshot, I noted it on the map etc. The thing I had not foreseen was that driving out of Castelbuono was impossible! The Google Map navigation took us around and around the village and twice took us into a no entry street. The second time a woman who was trying to drive out of the street, stopped and, despite having no English attempted to help us find the way home. She called someone on the phone who spoke English. He directed me to the highway by way of the cemetery. Apparently because of the one way system and the narrow alleyways you have to drive below the village to then drive above the village, if you see what I mean. Anyway we eventually made it back.
Castelbuono at night
Castel of Castelbuono
After only one night at this wonderful place we continued on to the last leg of our trip, Milazzo.
I had booked 3 nights at Milazzo because one full day was intended to be a trip to the active volcano of Stromboli, on the island nearby, which is reached by taking a full day boat trip (until at least 11pm) . I booked a place with a pool so we could also relax after the walking we had done in the heat. On the way to Milazzo we passed stunning coastal scenery, including the town of Cefalu and the amazing vistas at Castellamare Del Golfo.
Castellamare del Golfo
In the event, we decided that 70 Euro a head for the day trip to schlepp around some other islands in 35 C to wait for Stromboli to erupt was not really what we felt like doing. Imagine my amazement when after returning home, my friend informed me that the exact day we had intended to go (there was only one possible day available) was the day of a huge eruption which killed one climber, and caused vacationers to jump into the sea to escape the steaming lava! I am so happy that we decided to spend that day lounging by a pool (with no other guests) eating and reading. So we concluded our Sicily tour without seeing either Etna or Stromboli in all their glory, but with many fine experiences and memories. Hope you enjoyed this. Stay tuned for Japan in November!
Piglet's House 