Days 1 and 2

First glimpse of the Mediterranean Sea

Breakfast!!!

More Mediterranean

The Baha’i Gardens

Sail boats leaving a regatta

Our Lady of Mount Carmel (I don’t know why Medium squished the picture).

Theatrical Carmelites ;D

My old friend, Teresa of Avila

We ordered a “Salad Sampler.” The waiter just kept bringing out plates and plates and more plates!

Dear friends,

I have safely arrived here in Israel. It is hot and humid, but bearable because it’s breezy. The roads are smooth and nice. The cars on the roads are shiny and the cars in people’s yards are rusty.

Apparently, today and tomorrow are the holiday Simchat Torah. According to my taxi driver, it is the holiday where Jews celebrate that they finished reading the Bible and then start reading it again. He also said it is the last big holiday of the year. Here and there in the town, we have seen cars and apartments with decorations of white tulle (like for a wedding, but not nearly as much); I think those are for the holiday.

The Baha’i Gardens are beautiful, but they don’t let you freely wander through them. So you only get to peek at the beauty. I haven’t figured out exactly what the Baha’i faith believes. A plaque said that they seek the unity of all humankind (a worthy goal) and that their founder-prophet Bab was martyred in the 1800s. It seems like there should be more to a religion…

IKEA here in Israel is exactly like every other IKEA except some of their welcome mats are in Hebrew or Arabic. I did not get any meatballs this time.

Pax!

DS