Haifa Haifa Haifa

We explored the city on foot today. BAD IDEA. It was so hot and humid we were literally drenched in sweat the minute we headed down the street. Interesting though, none of the locals seem to be sweating as much as we are. We headed west on Abas street, and then continued west on the Stella Maris, going up, up and up to the top of Mt. Carmel. Near the top, we were eyeballing one of the beaches down the hill and followed a nature trail to the main highway that ran along the coast. The only problem is we were on the wrong side of the highway :( We had to walk a bit to find a pedestrian bridge, which we used to cross over toward the beach. We finally made it and were a bit surprised by how many older folks were crowding the beach haha. Also, Israelis don't have a problem with struttin' their junk in tight speedos, no matter how old. Weirdness aside, we took a dip in the Mediterranean, and the topic of conversation came to sharks haha. We concluded that Great Whites would probably not hang out here because there are no cold currents, but that the likelihood of losing an arm or leg to a nurse shark or tiger shark was much higher.

After a quick swim, we headed toward downtown and ended up in the German Colony, a ritzy street with nice buildings, shops and restaurants leading up to the Baha'i Gardens, so we knew we were close to the apartment. We ate a massive meal at Fattoush, all for about $35.

Jordan got some sort of sandwhich and I got a giant flatbread with tons of chicken and onion on it. After that we got ice cream across the street and headed up the street toward the Baha'i Gardens. We saw some people going inside, so we asked and they let us in hehe. They had to check our backpacks first though in case we wanted to blow the place up. The hedges are speckless. I would really hate being the guy who has to trip and mow the garden. yikes! So much work.

Baha'i Gardens

After returning back to the apartment, literally drenched in sweat, we cooled off on the balcony, which is shaded in the afternoon. Man, this place knows no cool weather! I actually fell asleep on the balcony and then came in and napped again on the floor. Jordan wanted to head out for the afternoon, so we showered and headed down to the German colony again. There weren't really any people there, so we headed toward downtown and then up the hill, following the signs toward Carmel Center. After endless walking and endless stairs, we were drenched AGAIN! But we made it!
We grabbed a few refreshments and cooled down at Zesty's, which serves these massive, mouth watering burgers (if there's anything you need to know about Israel, it's that they don't believe in small portions.) Soon after we heard chanting, and Jordan being the thrill seeker that he is, sprung up and we headed toward it. We came right up to the mob, all waiving flags and signs, chanting and clapping all along. A lady came right up to us and pulled us in haha. She tried handing Jordan and I a sign to hold but we were cautious enough to not take it! It turned out this was an "occupy" march. It was definitely a very fun turn of events!