Day 4, Trip to Haifa, 7 December 2016

Good places give me good sleep. When I woke up after the great slumber late in the next morning, the room was sultry and I was perspiring.

The suit had its entire eastern wall (of the two levels) made up of glass to enable a superb view. In the morning,inside the room, it was all bright and merry sunshine, but hot and sultry too, making out an intense demo of the greenhouse effect. Sampoo had switched of the air-conditioner sometime in the night.

I opened the glass door and from the deck, the view of the marina was pleasing. It was a beautiful dock with rows of moorings and small boats and some yachts. A string of shops and restaurants, yet to open their doors for business, lined the promenade.

View of the dock

Promenade

There was a beautiful long strip of road along the marina alluring us for a long morning walk. Some fitness buffs were jogging on. But as we were late for our day’s planned trip to Haifa, we opted to hit the breakfast first. 

Down the hallway, all the encountered hotel staff wished us B’TEAVON, (buh-tay-ah-vohn -is the Hebrew equivalent of bon appetit!). Wishing 'Enjoy your meal'  seems to be a pleasant custom in Israeli hotels, but in this hotel, they mean it. The food was really enjoyable. The guest crowd was also a stylish and affluent one, which made me a bit shy and uncomfortable!. 

The breakfast was at the hotel's famed Herbert Samuel Restaurant. There was a big spread, as lavish one as one could expect from a top notch hotel. There was an array of salads, stacks of pickled fish, fresh fruit juices of all colors, breads and pastries with the names of almost every European country, dry fruits and nuts. We took seats in the deck facing the harbour, enjoying the mild sea breeze. I tried every food item in small aliquots. All tasted nice, except the pickled anchovy fish, which was too salty. Finally washed down the throat with a generous cup (bowl?)of strong coffee. Enough to sustain us for a whole day.

Breakfast by sea

Like all such good breakfasts topped up by a strong coffee, this one also led to a vigorous gastrocolic reflex and a hearty time in the loo. In the rest room, I noticed and felt satisfied that they have kept Duravit and Grohe pieces. (I too have them installed back at home, but with added the luxury of the bum showers. Nothing beats the convenience of the health faucets, you see. Gulf countries keep such showers in the toilettes but not in Israel.

Then we went to the basement car park, retrieved our GM3 and left for Haifa via the Coastal Highway, Kvish HaHof. The traffic was heavy till we cleared of Tel Aviv and then till Haifa it was a good freeway. 

Traffic on the freeway was no exception to the general Israeli motor traffic. People were driving like as if they had just stolen the car. Instead of driving slowly and enjoying the scenery, it seemed, they were driving fast to join it.

Traffic may not be as chaotic as, let’s say, in Coimbatore, where everyone is practicing driving simultaneous two lane driving, but the way Israelis drive is very aggressive. As a result, Israel has one of the highest road accident rates in the developed world. All were driving fast through the traffic as though they didn’t want to be late for their accidents. I saw myself driving faster, simply wanting to get off from them! In Tel Aviv, I had learnt to drive bumper to bumper, never leaving a safe distance between my car and the car in front of mine, as the space would be occupied in by somebody else, putting me in an even more dangerous situation. Caraftercarwasmovinglikethis.

Immediately after Tel Aviv, we stopped at Apollonia National Park. This is an archaeological site, just outside the city. Despite proximity to the big city and being a national park, just we two were the only people visiting at that time. The site was still being worked upon by a group of university students. The weather was wonderful with sunshine and sea breeze. We went around a marked hiking path circling the ruins. We saw some dramatic remains of a 13th -century cliff-top Crusader fortress, a dry moat, a Roman villa, and above all, stunning views out over the Mediterranean.

Apollonia National Park on the Mediterranean

Like any other place in Israel, this place had also seen many wars and changed hands many times. From the sea-faring Phoenicians of eastern Mediterranean region to Jews to Romans to Byzantines to Muslims to Crusaders to Turks to British and to Jews finally. Standing on the site that had been the theatre of many religious wars, I thought to myself, Thank God, I am an atheist.

Ruins by the seaside

Excavation going on

Actually, after visiting Jerusalem and reading about all those wars, you feel overwhelmed with history and tend to rush through the sights. From Apollonia, we drove about 90 kms straight north up to Haifa, our destination for the day.

Haifa is Israel’s third largest city, measuring roughly half the size of Erode both in area and population. But in my opinion, it is no doubt Israel’s prettiest city. It has the country’s main port, a good beach and is the home of the World Center of the Bahai Faith. It is an interesting mix of modern neighborhoods and older districts, churches and mosques, mountain and sea. 

Haifa is an odd place in Israel, with people of all three big religions and many minority faiths coexisting peacefully. (Ahmaddiya Muslim Community, the reformist Islamic sect that originated in Punjab is one of them. Israel is the only country in the Middle East, where Ahmadi Muslims can openly practice their Islamic faith, like the Baha’is, whose faith is persecuted elsewhere in the Islamic world)

The Mount Carmel towers over Haifa. In the slopes of the Carmel Mountain, ancient caves of the Neanderthal men have been discovered. Prophet Elijah, revered in all three faiths of the Holy Land is said to have lived and performed his miracles here. Carmelite Monastery along with a number of grand churches are also here.

We reached Haifa quickly. Road works were going on in the town and as it happens in such circumstances to anyone who follows the Google Maps, we lost the way in the final few hundred yards and went crisscrossing the numerous roads on the slopes of Mount Carmel before we found a parking space on a road adjacent to the Baha’is Center.  I am sure, we had seen most of the town that way. 

Then we walked for fifteen minutes, again down along a slope to the Baha’i center’s upper entrance. Running parallel to the road was the Louis Promenade. That pleasantly walkable promenade, named after the donors’ son who had died in an accident, offered a superb panoramic view of the Haifa Bay and the city.

Along our walk, we were joined by a Baha’i from San Jose, USA (he had migrated there from Iran because of persecution) who is on a pilgrimage. He and his son had lost their way to their booked accommodation and were dragging along heavy suit cases. They recognized our Indian origin-ness and the father warmly conversed about Bollywood and Amitab Bachan and Jithedra. As was everywhere in Israel, Pedestrians passing by were not very helpful in directing us to sites of other faiths, however popular the place was.

When we reached the entrance to the upper terrace of the gardens, volunteers manning the gate told that the main building is closed for that day. But we were permitted to see the beautiful gardens.

In the upper level gardens

Garden Office Pavilion

Cacti collection

The Baha’i gardens, built some 20 years ago, are really superlative. I have never seen a garden so beautifully laid out. Located on the slope of Mount Carmel, the garden complex has nineteen levels (terraces) of manicured lawns, red stone graveled paths, hedges and flower beds, all painstakingly groomed and nurtured by about 100 dedicated gardeners.  There is a cascading water stream along the central spine of the garden. At halfway, at level nine is the shiny golden domed tomb of the Bab, the spiritual predecessor of the bah’I founder, Bahaullah. From the gardens’ various levels we can frame panoramic views of the Haifa city.

Red stone gravel path

The design of the garden has roots in “The paradise garden”, an Old Persian gardening concept.  Originally it referred to "a walled-in compound or garden"; (From Persian ‘pairi’ (around) and ‘daeza’ (wall). A Greek historian, Xenophon, student of Sacrates, translated the Persian phrase pairidaeza into the Greek version Paradeisos, which later became Paradise in English via Latin and French!

The paradise garden’s basic feature is that the garden area is inside an enclosure, excluding the wildness of nature. Usually rectangular in layout, it will have tended greenery and flower beds, with water bodies like canals and fountains inside a compound.  Famed Moghul Gardens in Delhi and Kashmir belong to this concept.

Famed Jaffa Oranges

After a lazy strolling in the upper terrace gardens, we exited that level through a wrought iron gate and walked down a narrow parallel street with steep stairs to reach the Ben Gurion Boulevard, the main street of Haifa, where the entrance to the lower terraces is located. 

At the gates, an African volunteer explained the formalities (reverence, no noise, no bare shoulders etc,). Beyond the gate was a nicely laid out circular forecourt with beautiful floral geometric figure. From there, through a semicircular marble staircase, we climbed up to the viewing balcony. The balcony was flanked by a pair of majestic marble sculptures of eagles. 

As the sun had just set, light was disappointing for photographs. From there, we could see the Ben Gurion Boulevard, Haifa’s beautiful arterial road stretching all the way up to the sea into the distant horizon. 

Lower level gardens

A brief note on Baha’i faith will be interesting here. 

The Baha’i faith was found by two Persian spiritual men, Bab and Bahaullah, in the middle of the 19th century. Their followers now number about 5 million and spread over 200 countries. About half of the Baha’is are in India.

Their beliefs offer some simple straight forward but practical solutions to the troubles of the modern humankind, like spiritual unity of all religions. According the Baha’is, there is just only one God, who is the source of all creation. All religions come from the same God, Prophets come at a regular interval. (Here they include-besides the Abrahamic Prophets- Krishna, Buddha, Jesus and Mohammed also). They strongly believe that all humans are equal and there is no bias on the basis of gender, race or culture. They strongly believe that the human purpose is to know God through such methods as prayer, community service and gardening.

Their laws are simple, in addition to a daily obligatory prayer, believers are expected to do community service. They are not to indulge in gossip, gambling, alcohol, drugs, backbiting and extramarital sex. It is all just like the edicts of most other religions, but what attracted me the most is their abhorrence of fanaticism, partisan politics, and above all, rituality and monasticism (monkhood or spiritual, ascetic life). They do not have clergy or churches.

They do not stop with this to amaze me. One is not a Bahai by birth. Declaring in the Faith is a completely voluntary choice once you are of your age (15 years). In marriages, prospective Bahá'í couple are asked to thoroughly understand each other’s character before deciding to marry. The parents should not choose partners for their children, but, the bride and the groom must receive the parental consent. They highly praise inter racial marriage. Their wedding ceremony is also very simple. The only compulsory part of the wedding is the couple’s reading out of vows, ("We will all, verily, abide by the Will of God), in the presence of two witnesses. That’s it.

No wonder, such a good conceptual and practical religion is banned and persecuted in many countries, especially by those which are of Islamic faith. Perhaps the Muslims think that becoming a Bahai is an abandonment of Islam. The Baha’is founder, Bahaullah and his predecessor, Bab were persecuted in Iran, Bab was executed in Iran and Bahaullah was exiled to a prison in Akko, an Israeli city which belonged to Turkey at that time. In Akko, there is another beautiful Baha’i garden surrounding the Bahaullah’s cemetery.  

After a pleasant time in the Gardens, we strolled eastward along the Ben Gurion Boulevard. At the foot of the Bahai Gardens is the German Colony. The picturesque area had been founded  by a German Christian sect, the Templars. The Templars believed that by living in the Holy Land preponing the construction of the Holy Temple, they could see the second coming of Jesus Christ. Their efforts did not succeed and Jesus is yet to turn up. They were sent out of Palestine back to Germany by the British, who seized the properties and rented them out.

In the German Colony. Bahai garden in the backdrop

Wadi Nisnas, the arab neighbourhood

Arab Neighbourhood

There were many preserved charming stone houses in the neighborhood, some still have the names of the original residents etched onto them. We sat in a roadside a café, watching the evening traffic and ordered coffee. While Sampoo preferred her usual Caffe latte, I did the mistake of asking for an Espresso and was duly handed down a very small cup of a dark, bitter, burnt-flavored shot of coffee. No wonder Americans are scared to try this too intense coffee (and too little in quantity - Small portions are blatantly anti-American, you see).

Trying Espresso

After that we wanted to see the Arab neighbourhood of Wadi Nisnas. When we asked for directions, a lady, who appeared to be an Arab Christian, gave us a lift in her car to that area. After reaching Wadi Nisnas, she went inside a local convenience store to buy some bread.  We also followed her and bought some Jaffa Oranges to eat on our way back. 

Oval shaped, sweet and practically seedless, the oranges were fine, but a little expensive there. We paid some 10 shekels for the same quantity we bought for 2 shekels in Jerusalem. This being the season, we could see many trees with low hanging bright oranges in abundance in many gardens and street sides, everywhere. Once Israel’s top export, the Jaffa oranges have lost their market nowadays and citriculture is no more a thriving business now.  

Then we strolled around that Arab neighbourhood which was not very different from our Indian Muslim neighbourhoods. Busy and noisy with colourful shops selling a variety of goods. We couldn’t find the much hyped street artworks there. Even the locals were not aware of any such works. We were disappointed.

Bahai Garden in the twilight

Then we realized that we had strayed too far into the town and decided to return. At this time, hilly Haifa’s all streets looked alike. Our walk back to the car proved to be a veritable Roman maze for us, even Google Maps was of no use. After some wanderings, convinced that we had lost our way, we decided to retrace the whole walk to the Upper Entrance and somehow find our car. At this time, luckily, we were joined by the American Baha’I father and son duo we had met at the beginning. This time they were being accompanied by their niece, who was staying in Haifa for a long time. She took us to the main entrance, from where we could easily find our parking place. The Baha’i guy was very enthusiastic about Hindi cinema, recalling, with mono acting, many dialogues from Sholay.

So, what could have easily been a romantic stroll along the promenade, the return walk to the car turned out to be a physically demanding uphill task enriched by spousal fault-finding. When we managed to reach the car, it was all dark with nobody on the street. I could empty my almost about -to - explode bladder now by the side of the car. Nothing beats such a relief.

Besides my pissing on the kerb, there has also been another episode of Indian valour in Haifa. The Battle of Haifa, fought in the third week of September 1918, was between the British Forces and the combined German Turkish Forces. Palestine was under the Ottoman Turkey, which had aligned with Germany. India was under the British and the British army had two squadrons of Indian cavalry brigade (horsemen), the Mysore lancers and Jodhpur Lancers.

When the British army was sweeping northwards through Palestine and attacked Haifa, the Indian brigades led a successful cavalry charge resulting in the liberation of the city from German- Turkey forces. This remains the only known incident in military history when a fortified town was captured by cavalry on the gallop. 

Though I was pissed of by the fact that my countrymen had been used by the British, I was proud that the horsemen had valiantly fought and managed to do that with minimal casualties. While they captured 1,350 German and Ottoman prisoners with many artillery guns, their own casualties amounted to eight dead and 34 wounded. Superb. Every year on September 23, the Indian Army commemorates "Haifa Day". 

Haifa Bay in the night

Exiting Haifa, we joined the motor race on the Highway 2 circuit and drove back to Herzliya undamaged. We reached the hotel in time and booked a table for two at the famed Herbert Samuel Restaurant for dinner.

After a prolonged shower in the room that was terminated by an impatient spousal call, I was ready to attack the dinner. I was also a little hungry after climbing up and down the Haifa’s streets.

The kosher restaurant, serving Mediterranean Fusion cuisine is located within the Ritz Carlton hotel. Part of the popular, upscale Herbert Samuel chain, this is run under the supervision of a famous chef and TV personality, Yonatan Rushfeld. It has been reviewed well in many fora, (previous experience has taught me not to rely upon these reviews; my policy is “don’t trust a quiet restaurant, just go to a busy eatery, you can’t go wrong).

The restaurant with very beautiful views of the Marina and the sea, had an open kitchen. We ordered a creamy, foamy mushroom soup, their signature tomato salad, grilled sea bass and shrimp and some falafel. All as per the suggestions of a waitress who looked knowledgeable. Then for dessert, we preferred Gulab Jamun against her advice. She said it might not be like the ones we get in India. She was correct, it was something else, but tasted immensely nice. I told her, you cannot go wrong with a gulab jamun!.  

Sampoo tying a wine

Tonight, my wife, an avid alcohol hater, decided to try a wine and I ordered a special one from the Golan Heights. As always, it was not very tasty and sure did not have any effect on me (my personal opinion is, a choice wine is an expensive way of putting money into the commode), Sampoo felt a little tipsy. (I remembered a joke, a drunken wife is a liability, but a drunken girl friend is an asset. And while I remembered the joke in my mind, I also remembered not to crack it to Sampoo!) 

Dinner was pricey, but hey, we were paying not only for the food, but also for the brand name, the haute style, décor, ambiance and the view. (Though the views were available for free a few hundred yards outside the hotel on the marina!). 

While retiring to the bed, I remembered the ‘pricey’ Jaffa oranges we had bought in Haifa. It came with a thick skin which was very easy to peel off, tasted too good and satiated me.