Akko & Haifa

Yesterday 4 of us jumped in a car and headed to Jerusalem. We drove through the West Bank on some back road, which was really exciting. When we arrived to Jerusalem there was a lot of traffic and no parking because of Ramadan, so we just stopped in some Arab restaurant and ate (because it was Shabat). We also drove through the Old City, and then decided to leave and head up north to Akko and Haifa.

We spent the night in Akko, which is a wonderful old city on the Mediterranean Sea. In the morning we checked out the Muslim mosque, walked around the Shuk (local market) and along the waterfront. There were also guys selling fresh squeezed pomegranate juice, which was so good! After we left Akko, we stopped in Haifa, cruised around, and went to the Bah'ai temple. It was such a beautiful day on the Mediterranean. We drove back down along the coast and stopped in Tel Aviv at the beach for dinner and sunset.

This new group of friends I have made is so great. We have concluded that we are living Real World Israel, or Survivor Israel - Grad School. We've actually voted someone off already. Anyway we all needed this mini tour of Israel (Jerusalem > Akko > Haifa > Tel Aviv), get it out of our system before classes start on Monday. I think I might actually get my suitcase back tomorrow too, as the airline found it in Milan a few days ago!