Last weekend, a few us up took a trip up to Haifa to get away and explore.

 

 

My friend Shani’s parents live in Haifa, and they were kind enough to let us stay while they were gone for the weekend.

Haifa is situated along the coast, but rises up a significant hill as well. Their apartment is a significant distance up the significant hill on the third floor, and as such had some great views.

 

They also had some great art that reminded me of something I might see grandparents’ home.

 

AND RUMMIKUB! I had completely forgotten the game existed until we were digging around looking for cards and came across the box. 3/5 of us had played it with our grandparents growing up, and I’ve since met even more folks on the program who did the same. Must be a Jewish grandparent thing.

 

We arrived early Friday afternoon, and immediately left to prepare for Shabbat.

Not that we were observing it, but without being familiar with the city and what would be open on Shabbat, we didn’t want to risk it. First stop was falafel and shwarma for everyone else since they were hungry.

 

Next stop was the grocery store for stuff for dinner. Also for a sexy hat for Rafi.

 

I snapped this photo on our walk back right before it started pouring rain. One of the really cool things about Haifa is that the hill is covered in unique and hidden staircases that allow you to avoid the snaking, indirect paths of the roads.

 

I cooked stir fry for everyone. Anyone who knows me should not be surprised that it was stir fry.

 

 

The next day was overcast again, but I managed to snap a pretty great photo of the view from their living room.

 

We woke up kind of late (okay, I woke up kind of late), but decided to try to visit the Baha’i gardens since most of us hadn’t been before. Unfortunately, we messed up getting to the top of the gardens so we decided to walk to the bottom instead.

 

 

 

It was much more crowded than the last time I went, but it was cool to see the lower garden again.

 

 

 

 

Then we had lunch at Abu Shaker, an amazing hummus restaurant. We did not finish our plates.

 

To walk off lunch, we made our way to Kartel the collectively run music and art venue I saw a punk show at last time. They had added an incredible amount of graffiti to the side of the building, and everyone was really excited about the idea of coming back for a show some week.

 

From Kartel, it was a 35 minute hike back up to the house where we hung out, I made some pasta and steamed veggies, and we packed up to head home.

 

On the way back I sat near a teenager holding a grenade launcher-equipped assault rifle.

And two fluffy white dogs.