We walked Haifa!

Oh yes we did!!! Walked and walked and walked, and somewhere along the way hubby realised that all this time, he’d been thinking that when I said “I’ve planned a cruisy day” I meant we will sleep in, relax on the balcony, read a book, drink cups of tea and enjoy the view, when what I ACTUALLY meant is that we will walk. And walk. And walk some more. Glad we cleared that up!

Walking Haifa is no mean feat. Haifa is built on the northern slope of Mount Carmel, so there is up and there is down, but there is very little “on the flat”. It reminded me a bit of walking in West Hobart, on the slopes of Mount Wellington, with the harbour below.

Our day started with a short hike up the Gedera Stairs near our apartment - the first set of steps for the day - which took us to Yefe Nof Street, and just a little way along was the top entrance to the world-renowned Baha’i Gardens. While we’d initially intended just to wander through (down, down, down the steep hill on which they’re built) we discovered that in fact you can’t just wander through. You can go down two short levels on your own, but otherwise you need to join one of their free English-speaking tours. And so we did.

The gardens are all neatly manicured and beautiful, and so they should be for the cool $250,000,000 they cost. The symmetry is impressive, the plants are lovely, and the views are breathtaking. The history of the Baha’i faith was interesting from many perspectives, but mainly we were there for the gardens. Our guide was not Baha’i, but Jewish, which was somewhat strange and took me by surprise, as I was sure his extensive knowledge meant he was one of the faithful! He cautioned us all at the start that trying to take photos while descending any of the 700 steps to the shrine would likely end in a serious tumble, so we wisely followed his advice and waited for the various landing points to capture the view.

After the tour we continued downhill, through the Wadi Nisnas area of Haifa, which is a mixed Lower City area founded in the 19th century as a worker’s neighbourhood. Along the way we encountered several people trekking up the steps that we were heading down. A couple stopped us to ask if they were close to the gardens yet. Oh my, they had NO idea that yes, they were close to the BOTTOM of the gardens, and they would need to trek a lot further to join a tour from the top!!! We were very thankful we’d started our walking day in Haifa UP the mountain!!

Then it was on towards the German Colony, founded by the Templars, a Protestant movement from southern Germany in the second half of the 19th century. They believed that rural settlement in the Holy Land would bring the Redemption closer. The colony in Haifa dates back to 1868, and is a well-preserved part of the city’s history. From Ben Gurion Boulevard you get a view of the Baha’i gardens from below, which is equally stunning as the view from above.

We continued on through the Lower City, past the port area, and found ourselves in an industrial/business area around lunchtime. So we watched where the locals ate and joined them. Aahhh, no English!! The menu was totally in Hebrew, and the staff spoke very little English. But we pointed and nodded and smiled and paid for what we got, and the food was delicious and there was plenty of it. More shawarma, but this time wrapped in lovely soft pita. Hubby watched how the locals did it and followed suit - open the top, drizzle over an assortment of sauces, and devour!

Lunch over, we walked on towards Bat Galim beachfront promenade to hop on the Rakevel cable car that goes up to the Stella Maris monastery at the top of this section of Mt Carmel. These little glass bowls travel 3-at-a-time up the steep side of the Carmel slopes. The view is panoramic from within, and the short, steep ride is fun, if you don’t think about the fact that you’re hanging precariously from the side of a mountain.

At the foot of the Stella Maris monastery is, supposedly, the site of the Cave of Elijah the Prophet. There is definitely a cave in there, at the back of the sanctuary, but whether this is the ACTUAL cave where Elijah lived? Who knows. There were certainly plenty of pilgrims convinced of the fact when we got there - kneeling and praying and touching the shrine. Apparently the cave has sacred and medicinal qualities, which explains those touching the shrine, then touching their face or neck or knees.

Finally we started for “home”, the afternoon was sunny and mild, and we figured it couldn’t be too far, right? And we were already at the top of the hill, surely? Well, we were almost half right. It wasn’t all that far - another 3.8km, and a good part of it sloped gently up, up, up. Partway along I asked hubby if he wanted to hop on a bus, but he was happy to keep walking. A few buses passed us by, and a little later he asked me the same question. I said I enjoyed a challenge, and it would feel like failing if we bailed now. What could he say to that?? So on we walked.

All in all, I think we trekked close to 10km, thankfully a lot of it downhill, or along the flat of the port area. The cable car saved us the worst of the climb back up, so we pretty much nailed the whole walking Haifa thing!