Day 9 - Losing My Religion
The first half of the trip was almost exclusively built around religion, both our Catholicism, and their Judiasm, Islam and all other sects of Christianity. There were numerous sites that memorialized specific events, uncovered great mysteries and all the like. That part of the trip, for better or worse is over now.
The trip now shifts course slightly, towards a mix of natural beauty and urban metropolita. The first day of the new half combined both parts of this nicely. We did have a couple last sites to see in Galilee, in the land of Jesus, before transporting to the other side of Israel (being Israel, just an hour away), and the urban sprawl that can compare to most cities.
The first stop was a few miles outside Tiberias to the little recently uncovered archaeological gem that is Magdala (or Migdal). It is situated nicely right on the coast of the Sea of Galilee. The drive to Magdala hugged the coast, and while the picture perfect beauty was spoiled by the threatening clouds overhead, it really does show the Sea of Galilee to be a really beautiful spot.
Magdala is an intersting site. It is still very much in progress, both with ongoing construction to build a 21st Century guesthouse and visitor's center, and ongoing excavation to uncover more secrets of the early days. This is the town where Mary Magdelene was born, and a oplace where Jesus is thought to have lectured and preached (like basically any place around the rim of hte Sea of Galilee).
Because of this biblical connection, the Christians started building a church, when during the excavation process they uncovered relics and pieces of the ancient city. Quickly, instead of just building a church, it became that plus uncovering a nearly in-tact ancient city, including an ancient synagogue - another place where Jesus more than likely preached at.
The church itself was beautiful, with multiple side chapels and a giant glass facade at the back of the main nave, with a view of the Sea of Galilee and an altar built like a ship in front of it. The nautical theme would have seemed a bit on the nose if not for how well made it all was.
The next site, the final one in Galilee, was a relative disappointment, but still interesting. Located within one of the many Kibbutzes (small communes) around the Sea was an Ancient Galileean Boat - literally, what it was. They uncovered it in the Sea of Galilee, which means that it could have potentially been used by Jesus, or at least by some people during that time. Anyway, it was really well in tact, and they went through a long painful process to get it restored and ready. It was well presented, but at the end of the day, it was a lot of fanfare and structure (a large museum like structure - clearly the Kibbutz is not wanting for money) for what ended up being a boat.
With that, we sailed off in our rented Toyota Corolla away from the Sea of Galilee, to Haifa, and the real 'sea' that borders Israel. The drive to Haifa was easy, giving us another view at the lush farmland and sweeping hills of Israel. Given its proximity to serious desert, I have been continually pleasantly surprised by how green the country has been.
Our return to urbania was in Haifa, Israel's third largest city, but one that has at least visual similarities to its largest. Haifa was fairly dead when we arrived, not at all surprising given it was still during the sabbath. We went to the Haifa cable car that would take us from sea level up the overlooking hill, where we could visit the first Carmelite Order monestary (just because we left the Jesus Trail doesn't mean we are done with religion, for better or worse), which we got to just in time. Afterwards, we found that right under the cable car station at the top, are three restaurants, all basically built into the cliff face with incredible views of Haifa below.
The food at the restaurant actually turned out to be excellent, despite our initial skepticism given that genearlly these restaurants with gimmickly good views often have overpriced and underwhelming food. The restaurant (Kalamaris) was not cheap, but far away from underwhelming. We ordered a hummus with minced lamb, lamb chops, and a grilled squid & shrimp dish. Each was good. Ea h was a comically large portion, and together they came with comical quantities of extras on the house (breads, salad, side veggies, ice cream, coffee & tea). When you factor in the lack of tax, and the free food included, it actualyl is probably cheap in terms of price per quantity.
After the unexpectedly large lunch, we went back down the cable cars only tto drive back up the cliff, to get to where we had a great view of the Ba'hai gardens and Ba'hai temple. Sadly, the gardens themselves were closed due to the preceding (and soon to be recurring) rain in the area, but the view we got from the top was stunning. It would have been a long walk down to the temple (which as it was, non-Ba'hai people (as we are) cannot enter, and a longer walk back up, but in absence of the trek weas the photo opportunities, and the pleasant feeling knowing we got back into our car and headed down the coast right before rain started drenching the area.
Our next site was Caesera, named quite obviously after Caeser, by old Judean King Herod, in honor of the Roman emperor. It is also a fairly complete Roman city, with some exposed excavation, such as an amphiteater, and many a roman column, all laid out quite nicely. That part was already closed for new visitors, so we were left to mainly just taking photos, but it was well worth the walk, especially since the skies nicely quieted down again.
The place also had a nice section that was probably built more recently than Herod's time, a series of odl style looking restaurants and cafes all bordering the Medditerannean Port. We stopped in one for a coffee - felt a bit bad since we were given a prime seat and most were having a meal, but he coffee was good, the view was better, and avoiding the increasingly heavy rain was best.
Off course, we could only avoid for so long, finally needing to brave the conditions on foot and in car on thw ay to Tel Aviv, finally. We reached the golden city (no idea why I'm calling it this) around 5:30pm, going straight to the Sarona market, a literal upmarket scene with so man ylittle shops selling every type of food, for local treats, to local ingredients, to french, asian and indian food. It wa a better version of a Chelsea market, in the same exposed warehouse like structure. It was a great place to get lost, and it well highlighted modern Tel Aviv.
Aftewards, we got to AirBNB, a truly modern building that also highlighted how deep into the first world this palce is. Soon we left for dinner, a quick 15-min walk down Rotschild Avenue to Milgo Milbar. There are tons of incredible restaurants in Tel Aviv. Milgo is one of them. Not the best, for certain, but a top place well worth the prices.
Milgo had a nice indoor/outdoor set-up, with the outdoor being covered with added heat lamps to make it a nice scene. The menu is varied, a nice mix after a couple days of some variation of grilled fish (St. Peter's Fish, mostly) and lamb kebabs. A lot of it was not true Israeli food, but its strong preparation, great taste, and use of local ingredients (Jerusalem Artichoke!) were all truly representative of Tel Aviv's strong and growing stronger culinary scene.
We ordered a mix of 'Medium; plates (i.e. bigger than an appetizer, smaller than an entree) and one entree. The entree was ;butcher's cut' beef with Jerusalem Artichoke and a pumpkin sauce. All parts of it were great. The three 'mediums' were a scallop & mushroom dish with an asian sauce, a pork belly dish that surprised us by being also a lettuce wrap, and then a bowl of mussels with absolutely great broth.
Again, none of these dishes are uniquely Israeli, at least when compared to what we've eaten the last few days and now considered being 'Israeli' cuisine. This is not a bad thing. The food was excellent. I have high hopes for tomorrow's dinner as well. This is what modern cuisine should be. A city like Tel Aviv should have a place like Milgo with moderately expensive pricing and fantastic food.
After dinner, I ventured out to the area near our AirBNB (at this point, sadly don't really know what neighborhood this is). There were a few clubs that were not even yet getting started that I walked past to go to October, a laid back bar, with a good DJ playing basic house in the background. It was a good scene, but also felt a bit familiar, having been to countless similar places in teh US.
One of my potential issues with Tel Aviv is how familiar it feels to home. This was a problem more distinctly in Sydney (that said, I do have Sydney like #6 on my cities ranking), where I had a nagging feeling of "I cam 10,000 miles to basically go to Chicago?". Of course, Tel Aviv has a few aspects that help its cause compared to Syndey - namely language, but there is still a feeling of I could be in America. In this case, though, that is a great thing.
The first half of the trip was almost exclusively built around religion, both our Catholicism, and their Judiasm, Islam and all other sects of Christianity. There were numerous sites that memorialized specific events, uncovered great mysteries and all the like. That part of the trip, for better or worse is over now.
The trip now shifts course slightly, towards a mix of natural beauty and urban metropolita. The first day of the new half combined both parts of this nicely. We did have a couple last sites to see in Galilee, in the land of Jesus, before transporting to the other side of Israel (being Israel, just an hour away), and the urban sprawl that can compare to most cities.
The first stop was a few miles outside Tiberias to the little recently uncovered archaeological gem that is Magdala (or Migdal). It is situated nicely right on the coast of the Sea of Galilee. The drive to Magdala hugged the coast, and while the picture perfect beauty was spoiled by the threatening clouds overhead, it really does show the Sea of Galilee to be a really beautiful spot.
Magdala is an intersting site. It is still very much in progress, both with ongoing construction to build a 21st Century guesthouse and visitor's center, and ongoing excavation to uncover more secrets of the early days. This is the town where Mary Magdelene was born, and a oplace where Jesus is thought to have lectured and preached (like basically any place around the rim of hte Sea of Galilee).
Because of this biblical connection, the Christians started building a church, when during the excavation process they uncovered relics and pieces of the ancient city. Quickly, instead of just building a church, it became that plus uncovering a nearly in-tact ancient city, including an ancient synagogue - another place where Jesus more than likely preached at.
The church itself was beautiful, with multiple side chapels and a giant glass facade at the back of the main nave, with a view of the Sea of Galilee and an altar built like a ship in front of it. The nautical theme would have seemed a bit on the nose if not for how well made it all was.
The next site, the final one in Galilee, was a relative disappointment, but still interesting. Located within one of the many Kibbutzes (small communes) around the Sea was an Ancient Galileean Boat - literally, what it was. They uncovered it in the Sea of Galilee, which means that it could have potentially been used by Jesus, or at least by some people during that time. Anyway, it was really well in tact, and they went through a long painful process to get it restored and ready. It was well presented, but at the end of the day, it was a lot of fanfare and structure (a large museum like structure - clearly the Kibbutz is not wanting for money) for what ended up being a boat.
With that, we sailed off in our rented Toyota Corolla away from the Sea of Galilee, to Haifa, and the real 'sea' that borders Israel. The drive to Haifa was easy, giving us another view at the lush farmland and sweeping hills of Israel. Given its proximity to serious desert, I have been continually pleasantly surprised by how green the country has been.
Our return to urbania was in Haifa, Israel's third largest city, but one that has at least visual similarities to its largest. Haifa was fairly dead when we arrived, not at all surprising given it was still during the sabbath. We went to the Haifa cable car that would take us from sea level up the overlooking hill, where we could visit the first Carmelite Order monestary (just because we left the Jesus Trail doesn't mean we are done with religion, for better or worse), which we got to just in time. Afterwards, we found that right under the cable car station at the top, are three restaurants, all basically built into the cliff face with incredible views of Haifa below.
The food at the restaurant actually turned out to be excellent, despite our initial skepticism given that genearlly these restaurants with gimmickly good views often have overpriced and underwhelming food. The restaurant (Kalamaris) was not cheap, but far away from underwhelming. We ordered a hummus with minced lamb, lamb chops, and a grilled squid & shrimp dish. Each was good. Ea h was a comically large portion, and together they came with comical quantities of extras on the house (breads, salad, side veggies, ice cream, coffee & tea). When you factor in the lack of tax, and the free food included, it actualyl is probably cheap in terms of price per quantity.
After the unexpectedly large lunch, we went back down the cable cars only tto drive back up the cliff, to get to where we had a great view of the Ba'hai gardens and Ba'hai temple. Sadly, the gardens themselves were closed due to the preceding (and soon to be recurring) rain in the area, but the view we got from the top was stunning. It would have been a long walk down to the temple (which as it was, non-Ba'hai people (as we are) cannot enter, and a longer walk back up, but in absence of the trek weas the photo opportunities, and the pleasant feeling knowing we got back into our car and headed down the coast right before rain started drenching the area.
Our next site was Caesera, named quite obviously after Caeser, by old Judean King Herod, in honor of the Roman emperor. It is also a fairly complete Roman city, with some exposed excavation, such as an amphiteater, and many a roman column, all laid out quite nicely. That part was already closed for new visitors, so we were left to mainly just taking photos, but it was well worth the walk, especially since the skies nicely quieted down again.
The place also had a nice section that was probably built more recently than Herod's time, a series of odl style looking restaurants and cafes all bordering the Medditerannean Port. We stopped in one for a coffee - felt a bit bad since we were given a prime seat and most were having a meal, but he coffee was good, the view was better, and avoiding the increasingly heavy rain was best.
Off course, we could only avoid for so long, finally needing to brave the conditions on foot and in car on thw ay to Tel Aviv, finally. We reached the golden city (no idea why I'm calling it this) around 5:30pm, going straight to the Sarona market, a literal upmarket scene with so man ylittle shops selling every type of food, for local treats, to local ingredients, to french, asian and indian food. It wa a better version of a Chelsea market, in the same exposed warehouse like structure. It was a great place to get lost, and it well highlighted modern Tel Aviv.
Aftewards, we got to AirBNB, a truly modern building that also highlighted how deep into the first world this palce is. Soon we left for dinner, a quick 15-min walk down Rotschild Avenue to Milgo Milbar. There are tons of incredible restaurants in Tel Aviv. Milgo is one of them. Not the best, for certain, but a top place well worth the prices.
Milgo had a nice indoor/outdoor set-up, with the outdoor being covered with added heat lamps to make it a nice scene. The menu is varied, a nice mix after a couple days of some variation of grilled fish (St. Peter's Fish, mostly) and lamb kebabs. A lot of it was not true Israeli food, but its strong preparation, great taste, and use of local ingredients (Jerusalem Artichoke!) were all truly representative of Tel Aviv's strong and growing stronger culinary scene.
We ordered a mix of 'Medium; plates (i.e. bigger than an appetizer, smaller than an entree) and one entree. The entree was ;butcher's cut' beef with Jerusalem Artichoke and a pumpkin sauce. All parts of it were great. The three 'mediums' were a scallop & mushroom dish with an asian sauce, a pork belly dish that surprised us by being also a lettuce wrap, and then a bowl of mussels with absolutely great broth.
Again, none of these dishes are uniquely Israeli, at least when compared to what we've eaten the last few days and now considered being 'Israeli' cuisine. This is not a bad thing. The food was excellent. I have high hopes for tomorrow's dinner as well. This is what modern cuisine should be. A city like Tel Aviv should have a place like Milgo with moderately expensive pricing and fantastic food.
After dinner, I ventured out to the area near our AirBNB (at this point, sadly don't really know what neighborhood this is). There were a few clubs that were not even yet getting started that I walked past to go to October, a laid back bar, with a good DJ playing basic house in the background. It was a good scene, but also felt a bit familiar, having been to countless similar places in teh US.
One of my potential issues with Tel Aviv is how familiar it feels to home. This was a problem more distinctly in Sydney (that said, I do have Sydney like #6 on my cities ranking), where I had a nagging feeling of "I cam 10,000 miles to basically go to Chicago?". Of course, Tel Aviv has a few aspects that help its cause compared to Syndey - namely language, but there is still a feeling of I could be in America. In this case, though, that is a great thing.
