Last Friday afternoon the girls and I went down to Carmel Beach. We had only been there maybe twice before because it is close to the beach hotels and has a protected (jetty) swimming area. These considerations mean that it is crowded and the shady spots go quickly. We decided to go there because Zamir, Dado, and Students beaches don’t have lifeguards once Sukkot is over (acharei ha-chagim), but Carmel Beach does (moneyed tourists).
There were fewer people, but it was far from deserted. The first row of sun shelters had been disassembled, but the girls had fun playing in the sand.
The water was not cold (looking at you Pacific Ocean), but also noticeably cooler than it was earlier in the summer. Looking up at Mount Carmel from the water was really nice and I made a point of savoring the moment because we may not go swimming here again. If summer is really over, I may also have to stop wearing cargo shorts. Blerg.
On the way home traffic was backed up because the van shown below got stuck in the underpass.
Some of the passengers got out and stood on the back bumper to try and make the van short enough to go through. As you can see, they almost made it. After about ten minutes, everyone backed up so the van could turn around.
Saturday was Adena’s actual birthday. We tried taking a family hike down Wadi Lotem, but didn’t get far because the swarms of mosquitoes were so thick. We had not put on nor brought bug spray so we decided to turn back. Miraculously, nobody seemed to have any bites when we got back to the apartment. The rest of the day was very lazy, topped off with a Milka chocolate cake from the SuperSol.
Sunday we worked a half day, then went to the Mane Katz museum, which is really close to Aviva’s preschool. It is a small museum in what used to be the artist’s home overlooking Haifa Bay. There are four rooms with brightly colored walls and paintings of different sizes on the walls. Adena and I both liked his work and realized that small museums can be really fun and are totally worth seeing. We both liked this painting called “Red Cows” but the museum didn’t have a postcard or print of it. Afterwards, we sat at the coffeeshop next to the museum and took in the view.
That evening we had dinner at Cafe Louise, which is maybe a twelve minute walk from the apartment. It was a nice experience and the space is good for kids. Here are the girls climbing outside as the sun went down.
Today (Wednesday) was rough because the internet connection went down around eight in the morning and has been down for 14 hours (and counting). Not having access to WiFi is surprisingly debilitating. Adena had to take a vacation day and we took the Carmelit downtown. This part of the city is fascinating and I hope we will have some time to explore it before we leave. We walked over to the Haifa City Museum (another small one) and learned a lot about Haifa’s past. I thought it was interesting that there was nothing about the area’s history before the 1700s, but maybe that veers too much into politics and the narrative of who lived here first. Tomorrow Adena and I will take the bus into the Technion together so we can have internet access. Maybe we will get lunch at the Indian restaurant in the basement of the Physics building.
Keeping It Israel 