Haifa Beach
Although we have concentrated on Jerusalem during our stay here, we took a day trip to one of our favorite cities, Haifa. Not only is Haifa situated in a beautiful location on the blue Mediteranean seacoast, but part of the city sits on the Carmel Mountains, the place where Elijah won his dramatic contest with the prophets of Baal. And it is home to three generations of the family of our first and foremost Jewish friend, Ida Kramer, who is the current President of the Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities.
This was also our first trip on the expanded Israeli rail system, which we enjoyed greatly. Haim, Jeanette, and Leroz met us at the station, and we walked along the beach.
Then we had another special treat, a trip to Zikron Ya’acov, one of the original settlements of the first aliyah. We visited an extremely interesting museum, the Aronson home and museum. The Aronson family ran a spy ring called Nili, that helped the British defeat the Ottomans during WWI.
Art at the Aronson musem--photo of the Aronson family
I’m emphasizing “interesting” for the sake of our adult children, who still talk about the day in 1983 when their daddy took them to a record five museums in Haifa, when all they really wanted to do was go to the beach.
