Friday in Haifa

1/23/15
      I think I am finally on the right time zone and sleep cycle. Today was a high energy day .  We had a free day till the evening, so 2 travel companions and I headed  to the top of Mt Carmel, overlooking the glorious grounds of the Baihai temple terraced gardens, shrines and related buildings.  We joined a guided tour which involved climbing down 700 steps to make our way down to the bottom of the mountain with endless views of the landscape and sea. The weather was clear, mild and sunny which added to the beauty of the experience. i probably took a hundred photos of all the flowers, which I promise to edit before sharing with family and friends!
     Tired and hungry we stopped at a cafe on Ben Guerion Street in the Gernan section of the city.  Portions were so large, 3 of us shared one sandwich.  A helpful waiter helped us to find a taxi back up the mount to our hotel.
    Later we went with the whole group to a Friday eve shabbat service at a reform temple.  The membershp seems to nostly be young  families. Visitors were from Boston, London and N,Y.
After we went back to hotel to meet our host families and go to their homes for dinner.  The final wonan traveler arrived about an hour before the dinner, and she is the other traveler assigned to this host fanily.  Our hosts Moshe and Etti invited their children and grandchildren from Tel Aviv to join us, so it was a very lively evening,  Etti is a good cook and made a marvelous chicken cauliflower dish. Am hoping to get the recipe to recreate it at home...
       The days seem very full, I have  2 unread Jerusalem post newspapaers which I must read, as there is much to learn and several in the group appear to be very well informed...
        good nite now.