We began the morning with a walking tour of the Kibbutz Lavi with our guide Esther.
Esther and a few of our group. She married into the Kibbutz, but to join you have to be 35 or under. Seniors need not apply.
Directional signs at the hotel. Coffee, Ice Cream, and Eggs.
Small apartments on the Kibbutz.
Tom on tour.
Newly planted garden.
Playground at the Junkyard Day Care Center. I’m sure the kids fight over who gets to drive the van.
More playground “equipment.”
Dinner?
Bomb shelter. All communities, schools, etc. are required to have shelters to protect from air raids.
Mosaic outside the Kibbutz synagogue depicting the twelve tribes of Israel.
Sewing room.
Hillside Jewish village across from the Kibbutz. Quite a difference in housing quality.
After our tour we headed back west toward the port city of Haifa. On the way we took a little detour and passed through the city of Nazareth.
Modern day Nazareth, the town where Jesus grew up.
This is a Greek Orthodox Church located on the supposed site of Joseph’s carpenter shop. “If it’s not here, it’s near.”
In the distance is Mount Tabor, the Mount of Transfiguration.
A first century tomb uncovered in the building of the highway.
Haifa is a city of 300,000 people, the third largest city in Israel behind Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. It’s located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean and just north of Mount Carmel. Haifa is a major port and across the harbor is the town of Akko that we visited earlier.
Government building in Haifa modeled after the “sailboat” building in Dubai.
Haifa is the center of the Baha’i faith and this is the Baha’i Gardens surrounding the Shrine of the Bab. The Shrine, located at the end of the garden area, was wrapped in construction material during renovation.
Eagle carving in gardens.
Geraniums in garden with Haifa and Mediterranean Sea in background.
Garden lamp. Grounds were meticulously maintained.
For lunch we went to the home of a member of the Druze religion. Druzes believe in reincarnation and when each member of the Druze faith reaches his or her 73rd life (which is supposed to happen at the same time), the revered five prophets of the faith will return. Don’t ask how everyone reaches the 73rd life at once.
Home where we had lunch.
Baking bread in an outdoor kitchen.
Chicken and rice, lamb meatballs, lamb sausage, grape leaves, hummus, cabbage, several sauces, salad, and pita bread. This represented food for five people and our table ate it all.
All houses and apartments in Haifa, and throughout Israel, are required to have solar heated hot water tanks on the roof.
After lunch at the Druze house we boarded the bus for the trip to Jerusalem, scheduled to arrive late afternoon.
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