Over the weekend I hung out in Haifa and prepared to join the tour with my Oregon congregation. I met up with a few friends, visited my Haifa congregation again, and revisited some of my old haunts. Yes, in two days I went to Leggenda two times. I know you're jealous. ;) Also found Hallumi salad at a couple places, Mmmmmmm!!!!
I did a couple loads of laundry, and cleaned my boots. It sounds like such a simple task, doesn't it. So, no, not so much. Remember all the mud stories? Remember how it's really clay that you can build houses from and that cakes onto your boots until you can hardly even recognize them anymore? Right. So I spent 45 minutes hitting the boots against each other and the rocks, and then plopping myself down on a stump to chip away at the still unmoved mud with a rock. Yes. I had to clean my boots by chipping away at them with a rock.
Then back upstairs to the bathtub to scrub off the remaining bits, and set them out to dry for a few days. They are now better than new! (Because they're broken in. ;))
Monday night I joined my roommate at her neighbors' gig - he plays piano and she sings, and ran into some friends there, then Tuesday I got up early so I could have time to drop off my luggage at my first tour hotel in time to then finish up the INT to Tel Aviv and meet the group at the airport when they arrived.
I took the bus down the mountain, two trains, and two busses, and finally made it to the hotel...to find that I had the wrong day. lol. But the very nice lady at the desk (who had the same name as me, spelled differently), still agreed to watch my bag for the day. And she was so sweet - she offered to talk to her manager and see if they could offer me a room at the group rate that night! I thanked her, but opted to return to Haifa for one more evening.
So, I left my duffle for the tour (my pack was still at the hostel in J'lem), and caught three more buses down to Herzilya Beach. Had some breakfast and onto the trail a little before noon (I left the house at 7am, haha. Public transportation is great, but not always the fastest ;)).
The hike down to Tel Aviv was all along the beach and a promenade. It was a beautiful stroll, especially carrying just a day pack with water, sunscreen, hat and sunglasses, etc..
And check out my clean boots!!!
Some of the beach was covered in shells, which is not my favorite to walk on; then there were rocks lining the waves, which was super fun (and I was catching up on podcasts, and one was about sea lions, Oooo), and then nearer Tel Aviv, the beaches turned more to sand. A fun transition. :)
Because I got to return to Haifa another night, I got to see one more friend! I was so thrilled to get to see her, aaand she took me to a deliiiicious vegetarian restaurant. I had to take pics of the menu so you could see all the cool stuff! 😎
Then *Wednesday* morning (ya know, the day my tour arrived - not Tuesday :-p) I left at the much nicer 9am rather than 7am and took just the one bus to the one train straight down to the airport to meet my tour group. A delightful morning.
The tour was with my congregation, West Salem Foursquare and a sister congregation, The Church on the Way, and we spent the next eleven days touring all over the country on a nice plush bus, staying in lovely hotel rooms, and eating to our hearts' content, and walking here and there, but with no packs whatsoever. *grin*
We visited tons of sites with biblical, historical, cultural, and political significance, seeing many of the places mentioned in the Old Testament, and almost all in the first four books of the New Testament. We developed some new friendships, and lots of inside jokes, and had an all around great tour. (For more details on the itinerary, check out their website. :) http://itcisrael.wixsite.com/israel2017/itinerary and I'll post some select pics below.)
The last Friday of the tour, I broke off from the group and joined K at a Kabbalat Shabbat (welcoming in the Sabbath) dinner with her friends who joined us at the end of our first hiking stint. Then it was the final day on the tour, goodbyes and see-you-in-Oregons all around, and then I grabbed my things and head to the Abraham Hostel to do laundry and repack and prepare to hit the trail again on the morrow!
Then back upstairs to the bathtub to scrub off the remaining bits, and set them out to dry for a few days. They are now better than new! (Because they're broken in. ;))
Monday night I joined my roommate at her neighbors' gig - he plays piano and she sings, and ran into some friends there, then Tuesday I got up early so I could have time to drop off my luggage at my first tour hotel in time to then finish up the INT to Tel Aviv and meet the group at the airport when they arrived.
I took the bus down the mountain, two trains, and two busses, and finally made it to the hotel...to find that I had the wrong day. lol. But the very nice lady at the desk (who had the same name as me, spelled differently), still agreed to watch my bag for the day. And she was so sweet - she offered to talk to her manager and see if they could offer me a room at the group rate that night! I thanked her, but opted to return to Haifa for one more evening.
So, I left my duffle for the tour (my pack was still at the hostel in J'lem), and caught three more buses down to Herzilya Beach. Had some breakfast and onto the trail a little before noon (I left the house at 7am, haha. Public transportation is great, but not always the fastest ;)).
The hike down to Tel Aviv was all along the beach and a promenade. It was a beautiful stroll, especially carrying just a day pack with water, sunscreen, hat and sunglasses, etc..
And check out my clean boots!!!
Some of the beach was covered in shells, which is not my favorite to walk on; then there were rocks lining the waves, which was super fun (and I was catching up on podcasts, and one was about sea lions, Oooo), and then nearer Tel Aviv, the beaches turned more to sand. A fun transition. :)
Because I got to return to Haifa another night, I got to see one more friend! I was so thrilled to get to see her, aaand she took me to a deliiiicious vegetarian restaurant. I had to take pics of the menu so you could see all the cool stuff! 😎
Then *Wednesday* morning (ya know, the day my tour arrived - not Tuesday :-p) I left at the much nicer 9am rather than 7am and took just the one bus to the one train straight down to the airport to meet my tour group. A delightful morning.
The tour was with my congregation, West Salem Foursquare and a sister congregation, The Church on the Way, and we spent the next eleven days touring all over the country on a nice plush bus, staying in lovely hotel rooms, and eating to our hearts' content, and walking here and there, but with no packs whatsoever. *grin*
We visited tons of sites with biblical, historical, cultural, and political significance, seeing many of the places mentioned in the Old Testament, and almost all in the first four books of the New Testament. We developed some new friendships, and lots of inside jokes, and had an all around great tour. (For more details on the itinerary, check out their website. :) http://itcisrael.wixsite.com/israel2017/itinerary and I'll post some select pics below.)
The last Friday of the tour, I broke off from the group and joined K at a Kabbalat Shabbat (welcoming in the Sabbath) dinner with her friends who joined us at the end of our first hiking stint. Then it was the final day on the tour, goodbyes and see-you-in-Oregons all around, and then I grabbed my things and head to the Abraham Hostel to do laundry and repack and prepare to hit the trail again on the morrow!
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