Day 8: Catching Our Breath

As you've seen from the past few entries, Day 7 of our pilgrimage included enough activity for about three days! After being deposited at our hotel just as dawn was breaking, the first thing we did was fall into bed for a few hours sleep. We woke up at 9:45, just in time to throw our clothes on and run downstairs before they stopped serving breakfast at 10:00, then back to the room for more napping and some blogging.

In the late afternoon, we decided to cab down to the German Colony and check out the shops and cafes there. This area was originally settled by a group known as the Templar Society (not to be confused with the Knights Templar, who figure in the book and movie The Da Vinci Code) who believed the return of Christ was imminent and settled in Haifa to wait for Him. Many of the buildings along the main street, Ben Gurion Blvd., have inscriptions above the door alluding to the arrival of the Messiah. This one says something like "The Spirit and the Bride say Come, Herr Jesus."



Our taxi let us out at the top of Ben Gurion Blvd., at the foot of the terraces. In fact, we stopped right outside a very nice shop featuring Baha'i-themed art and jewelry. Of course we ("we" meaning Mary Lou) couldn't resist buying up a bunch of stuff including gifts for the folks back home, and two very nice prints that Mary Lou plans to hang in her chambers. They're reproductions of original works handpainted on silk by an Israeli artist. Just gorgeous.

Next, we walked down towards the water. We took a right turn at the bottom and were very impressed with Haifa's working port:



Walking on a little further, we ended up in what seemed to be the low-rent retail district. We could still get a glimpse of the seat of the Universal House of Justice through the buildings, though. (That's our hotel on the top of the mountain, slightly to the right of center.)



After our walk on the seedier side of the street, we took a cab back to the German colony and had a fantastic dinner in a beautiful European/Arabic restaurant called Douzan. We had a fantastic shrimp curry and a huge and delicious salad. After our meal we ordered a beautiful three-flavored chocolate cake, that was just out of this world. Then our lovely and charming waitress treated us to the house special dessert, an out-of-this-world concoction called mhalalbiyi. It's like a light flan topped with a honey sauce and dried fruits and a few chopped nuts. Out. Of. This. World.



And that's the end of what we're willing to talk about for the day.