Netanya - the tour begins

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Final moments enjoying the view from our balcony overlooking Haifa.

Today has been a changeover day as we transitioned from Haifa to Netanya. But first we wanted to make the most of our last couple of hours in Haifa, so we headed up to stroll along the Louis Promenade, situated at the top of the Carmel Ridge, with yet more lovely views over Haifa and the north.



Then we found a little cafe tucked away behind the main shopping strip, and enjoyed a relaxing coffee and a “read” of the newspaper in their little courtyard. Thank goodness for pictures!!

Looking like he knows what he’s reading...........

Our home away from home was the right half of the top floor.

After that it was time to farewell our home for the past 4 nights and head off to Netanya, a pretty city on the Mediterranean coast about halfway between Tel Aviv and Haifa, and the starting point for our tour. It took us a little more than an hour to drive there, with Waze for the win again. We dropped our luggage at the hotel, then drove on to the rental car depot to deliver the car. Farewell to our zippy little champion, which has been an awesome car and fitted our two suitcases and two day packs in the back (with the back seat pushed just a little bit forward). Parking in Haifa is at a premium and residents squeeze their cars into the smallest spaces, so this little guy fit just about anywhere!!

Legendary little Hyundai i10.


Originally we were going to grab a taxi back to the hotel after dropping off the car, but after our epic walking day on Sunday we knew we’d smash the 6km or so that was mostly on the flat, with Google maps fighting with hubby’s desire to be spontaneous in navigating us back. It took us about an hour and a half, and we were starving by the time we arrived at the hotel, but another challenge completed!!

We’ve been contending with these kinds of signs all week!!

Our hotel is clean and comfortable and the room is light and bright. Tonight we meet up with the tour group for a welcome dinner, followed by a meeting where we will hear how the next 13 days will roll. We’re looking forward to seeing what mix of people we’ll be travelling with!!

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