Day 108 – Monday 28th
April 2014 – Haifa, Israel
We arrived
at 07.00 in Haifa, and many passengers were on tours to Bethlehem and
Jerusalem. I had been there many years
before, and planned for an easy day ashore.
First of all, as this port of call was hastily put together, because of
the troubles in Egypt. We had to file
through the cruise terminal building to be processed by Immigration and
everybody was cleared by 09.30.
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| Queen Elizabeth |
Haifa has
changed hands many times in its troubled history. The creation of the State of Israel in 1948,
once again gave a new impetus to the growth of Haifa. It is now the premier port of Israel and a
major industrial area, with their only oil refinery.
Haifa is Israel’s third largest city, behind
Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv. Immigrants from
the former Soviet Union constitute 25% of Haifa’s population and 10% are Arab
citizens. Haifa is commonly portrayed as
a model of co-existence between Arabs and Jews, although tensions do still
exist.
The ship was
berthed in the centre of town, so no need for the shuttle bus. I headed off for the botanical gardens.
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| Entrance |
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| Botanical Gardens |
The gardens
located in the heart of Haifa, comprise a staircase of nineteen terraces
extending all the way up the northern slope of Mount Carmel, 550 metres
high.
The golden-domed Shrine of the
Bab, the resting place of the Prophet-Herald of the Baha’I Faith, stands on the
central terrace looking across the bay.
Unfortunately,
a lot of the gardens and terracing were out of bounds, as it was Holocaust
Day. Therefore, I was not able to climb
up the terracing direct to the top of Mount Carmel but by a devious route of
very steep steps, and winding paths I eventually made it to the top.
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| Haifa North |
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| Haifa South |
The trek in
the heat of the day was well worth it, as you look over the city and the bay, seeing
Galilee, to the north are the hills of Lebanon, and to the north east, the
Golan Heights of Syria.
I stayed at
the top for some time, as this is where the main tourist area is with its many
shops, bars and cafes.
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| Funicular train at top Station |
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| Bottom Station |
I was not
prepared to walk back down the moun, but took advantage of the ‘Carmelit’,
which is the only funicular (underground metro) in Israel. The Carmelit runs
between the Carmel Centre at the top, to Down Town (Paris Square) at the
bottom, a journey of six minutes.
It is
unusual and most enjoyable. Wandering
back from here, I arrived back on the ship at 17.00.
After a wash
and brush up, I was back up the town for 20.00, and headed back to the top of
Mount Carmel on the Carmelit.
Eventually, I found a pub to my liking, called the ‘Bear Inn’ and had an
excellent meal, the Chef’s special, while watching an Israeli football match on
the television.
On the way
back to the ship near the port entrance, I found another place for a night cap,
which was full of American male students on vacation, a strange lot, and I could
not figure out, why they all wear rucksacks on their backs, on a night out.
Back on
board, I went up on deck for a night time view over the harbour. During the day, there were half a dozen large
Israeli warships alongside their berths but there was only one there now. The others, I presume out patrolling their
coastline. A submarine came to its berth
at 01.00 after finishing its patrol. The
Israelis are forever watchful.
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