After Orli returned to the hotel, I continued all the way to the foot of Sderot Ben Gurion where it flowed into the port. Looking backwards, the landscape was still dominated by the Bahai Temple and Gardens.
In front of me was a busy port. Ships were being unloaded. Containers were being moved by rail through the shipyards. And trucks were constantly entering and leaving. After watching for a few moments, I moved on.
Heading back up the hill, I paused to snap a few more pictures of the Bahai Gardens.
As I wandered through the nearby neighborhoods, I was struck by how many different faith communities were represented. I saw a few small synagogues, an Episcopal Church, a Melkite Catholic Church, a Greek Orthodox Church, an Armenian Cburch, property owned by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, a Sacred Heart complex and there were probably more that I missed. It is an extremely diverse neighborhood.
I wandered back through the German Colony looking at the original and renovated structures that were built in the late 1800’s through the early 1900’s when the Templars had their colony in Haifa. The Templars were a German Protestant denomination that began in Germany in the 1800s. They moved to Palestine to hasten the coming of Jesus. Their buildings have become the Haifa City Museum, as well as numerous boutique hotels, restaurants, and bars.
By now, it was early afternoon and ice cream shops were open. I texted Orli and we decided to walk about 20 minutes away to Golda’s, an Israeli chain. Orli got dark chocolate and mango, while I got the flavor of the week. It tasted like a candy bar, but I still can’t figure out which one. Orli was still a little hungry so we walked across the street to Amsterdam Fries, where she got French fries with 2 dipping sauces, mayo, and cheese.
We then headed back to the hotel to cool off and rest for a while.
My Journey to Israel: Connections and Disruptions 