Weekend Trip to Haifa

This past weekend we (Katie, Kaitlin, Lauren, and Ottavia) went to visit Nick and Nate who are doing internships two hours north of Jerusalem in Haifa. There is only one word to describe this city, a word we have often used throughout our trip: EPIC! Haifa is on a hilltop called Mt. Carmel overlooking the mediterranean sea. The most famous site to visit is the Ba'hai gardens, beautiful gardens that start at the top of Mt. Carmel and descend all the way down to the Ba'hai Temple. People of the Ba'hai religion are supposed to pilgrimage to Haifa at least once to see these gardens. The temple holds the tomb of the prophet Elijah, one of the most prominent figures in the religion. After our first day at the beach, where the water was warmer than in Tel Aviv and where you could relax at beach bars with cool music, we toured the Ba'hai gardens and then headed to the beach again. We stopped for lunch in the German Colony, an area at the bottom of the hill where you can see all the levels of the Ba'hai gardens. Interestingly, there is also a Germany Colony in Jerusalem with a similar house structure and atmosphere. A waitress in Jerusalem explained to us that all the German colonies in Israel share the same characteristics and were founded by German Lutherans of the Temple Society. Once WWII began the British asked the Germans to leave, nicely i'm sure. It seems that these areas have been turned into neat restaurant/bar neighborhoods where many foreigners now live. We went to the German colony area in Jerusalem for dinner this week and had a great time. Anyway, we had a lovely weekend in Hafia and would recommend it to people coming to Israel. The only downside were the huge jellyfish eeeek! But don't worry they are seasonal, and it seemed that we were the only ones who were concerned.