Day 2: TEL AVIV - CESÁREA - HAIFA - ACRE
Saturday, December 22, 2012
3.30h in the morning and we realize that we are already landing ... finally we will tread Israel and Palestine and that causes us to tingle in the stomach that we cannot avoid.
One of the things that cause that tingling are the security controls that have been explained to us several times and that we will have to pass in a few minutes.
Whether you like it or not, no matter how calm we are, it is not something that we find very pleasant. And less with the things they have told us.
And as usually happens in these cases, there must always be "something" that breaks the rule and this time I think it will be us.
We walk the corridors of Ben Gurion airport with peace of mind, perhaps knowing what awaits us or perhaps because of the time it is, but the truth is that we are taking it with a lot of philosophy.
Once we arrive at the passport controls we see the first group of Ethiopians (they had already told us that we would cross over with more than one) that just arrive at the same time, but they are placed in another queue.
When it is our turn, we pass both at the same time and only show passports, they ask us several questions, the kind that they make you fill in the airplanes to deliver at the control and that we have not filled out.
They ask us our motive of trip to Israel and Palestine, if we know someone, where we will stay, the tour ...
Questions that we expected and that do not seem "unfortunate" at all.
And so, after several minutes, we both left with our new passport stamps.
Now yes we are already in Israel !!!!!
We are finally in Israel !!! Ben Gurion airport. Israel. Travel to Israel and Palestine
We collect our bags and in less than 15 minutes we are done with everything. First of all, we approach one of the exchange agencies that we find and where we see that the change is at 4.88 shekels per euro. It does not seem too bad, although it is not as good as it could be, so we changed only 100 euros.
And the first on the cheek ... they give us only 462 shekels for the commission they take. What even if they don't indicate it anywhere ... it exists !!!
Currently and after many trips to the back we recommend, if you do not want to pay commissions when taking money from ATMs abroad and always have the current change, use the N26 card to pay and the Bnext and Revolut cards to get money in the ATMs They are the ones we use, They are free and will save you a lot.
You can find more information in this article about the best cards to travel without commissions.
And thinking about this, we look at the clock and see that it is not yet 5 in the morning. There is little more than an hour to wake up and the idea is to pick up the rent a car in Israel about that time to get going when it is day.
So we go to the only cafe in this area and as soon as we approach the counter the face that remains is to take a picture.
12 shekels coffee and 16 shekels mini ensaimadas ... And we say that Barcelona airport is expensive? This is not far behind! 🙂
And with the first stalemate given, we sat down with our coffees, giving caffeine to the body, waiting for that hour to pick up the car and get underway to spend the first day in the Promised Land, heading to Cesárea and Haifa, which will be The first visits of this trip.
More practical information to prepare your trip to Israel
- 10 essential places to see in Tel Aviv
- 10 essential places to see in Israel
- 10 essential tips for traveling to Israel
Being having coffee suddenly notifications begin to ring on the mobile and we can not believe what we are seeing: we have free wifi! This is well worth what we have paid for breakfast.
Remember that in addition to the wifi or the card that you can buy at the airport or any mobile phone shop, you also have the option to buy a Holafly SIM card being in Spain, with which you will have internet from the moment you land, saving you all the time of the negotiations and making the whole process to have internet much more comfortable, fast and easy.
In this case, with the Holafly SIM you will have several Gb to surf the Internet (depending on the option you choose), they will send it to you for free at home, you will keep your WhatsApp number and you will have assistance service in Spanish. You can buy your Holafly prepaid SIM card here with a 5% discount for being our reader
More information on the Holafly post, the best prepaid SIM card for travel
And so, entertaining, finishing planning the route today, those minutes pass when we start to see a bit of clarity and we go to the office to rent a car in Israel, which is on the first floor, climbing some escalators.
There we signed all the papers, they explain perfectly to us where our car is and with the keys and the GPS (something essential in Israel, at least for us) we get on our way.
Here we can already say that we began to notice the difference with other countries and other experiences in the search of the rental car, see for example our odyssey in the collection of the car on the trip to the West Coast of the USA, where we took more turns than a hula-hop ...
Everything here is very well signposted and it is quite difficult to get lost or mislead.
As soon as we find our car, we have rented a tiny car, where after doing several maneuvers we get the two suitcases, take out the GPS and put what will be our first stop of the trip to Israel and Palestine: Caesarean section. And here begins the first debate ... we can't find any city that is called that! Ayyyy miaaaa mother ... what does this get ugly !!! 🙂
In the end we chose to mark the point on the map, where we more or less intuit that the ruins are and we have the same in these cases: start the car.
Well no ... now the car does not start !!! Why does this happen to us? Since we have passed passport control so fast, this could not be the same?
We got out of the car, and returned again to the car rental office.
At the moment we want to enter the airport again, security makes us a little questioning of why we want to enter again. We show you passports and not willingly let us re-enter the premises of the rental offices.
The girl who has attended us, when she sees us arrive, looks at us with a smile and when we tell her that the car does not start, that it is broken, it reminds us that before she explained to us that we have to enter a code before inserting the key and We have it written on the car's papers.
This process must be done every time we want to start the car.
With the nerves of the trip, we had heard about the code, but directly we had “disconnected” and we assumed that the code was to leave the parking lot, not to start the car !!
And so, with this explanation, we return so happy again to the parking lot.
At this moment it starts to rain and it has almost dawned. We see that heaven does not promise much improvement and that lowers our morals a bit.
Or maybe we have been sleeping without more than 24 hours? 🙂
Book Tel Aviv's best rated tours and excursions in Spanish by travelers:
- Day trip to Masada and the Dead Sea from Tel Aviv
- Excursion to Jerusalem
- Excursion to Bethlehem and Jericho
- Excursion to Caesarea, Haifa, Acre and Rosh Hanikra- Many more excursions and tours here
And so we are on our way to our first destination in Israel. We are going to Cesarean.
We have been driving for less than 15 minutes, but we already realize that the roads are very good and the drivers are not at all aggressive as they had told us and we had read in some travel guides.
Yes, today is Saturday, sabbath and the country is paralyzed, but we notice that driving is not dangerous at all.
The journey to Caesarean section It is about an hour or so, all by highway, without any payment installment.
It does not stop sparkling all the way and we are quite attentive to the road and especially at the speeds that the GPS is chivating us.
As we get closer to the area of the ruins we feel much more tired than when we picked up the car and did a little balance of the situation.
It is best to enter the ruins, visit them and have breakfast inside one of the bars-restaurants that we know they have.
It has stopped raining, so we parked right in front of the entrance and after paying the 38 shekels for the two tickets, we set off to make our first visit.
The first thing we see at the entrance to Cesárea. Today we will visit Cesárea and Haifa
We do not take many more steps, when we see just in front of a restaurant, the Port Café that is opening and we can not stop our legs that go directly there ...
We sit at a table with fabulous views of the sea, which is quite scrambled by the weather.
We ordered a couple of typical breakfasts and a couple of well-loaded coffees for 54 shekels.
It is clear and it is already quite evident that Israel is not a precisely cheap country.
It is true that we are in a tourist site, but anyway the prices are higher than we expected.
Part of our breakfast on the day we will meetCesarean and Haifa
Here we are almost an hour, trying to recover from the trip and while we chat with one of the waiters who gives us some advice about the country, while we explain some things about Barcelona.
When we see a little more spare parts, we leave with the idea of touring the National Park that preserves Roman ruins, Byzantine ruins and the crusades.
Cesárea National Park
As we go through the ruins we notice another downturn and decide that the best thing, when we finish the visit, will lie in the car for a while to rest and thus continue the day finding ourselves a little more fit.
I need a break!!!! Cesárea National Park
The truth is that this visit is more an ordeal than a fun and when it starts to rain, we decide that the visit is better to end it.
At any other time we would have enjoyed it as dwarves, but at this time, the body can do more than us and we need to rest for a while, after almost 30 hours without sleep.
With this image we say goodbye to the Cesárea National Park
As soon as we left, we got into the car with a much more intense rain, so we could not have continued the visit, we put down the seats, set the alarm clock and directly fell asleep ...
It's 9.15 in the morning when we lie down ... and 10.30 when the alarm rings and we look at each other with a surprised face.
We are in a car, sleeping ... in the parking lot of the National Park of Caesarean sectionbut what happened? Today was not the day we had to visit Cesárea and Haifa?
It tells us a bit to update our mind, but the first thing we notice is that this hour and little sleep has made us feel great and we find ourselves perfectly to continue the day and continue with the visit to Cesárea and Haifa.
And with this feeling we left the car for a few minutes to stretch our legs and put a new destination on the GPS.
This time it was Haifa's turn !!!
Haifa It is the third largest city in Israel and is located on the slopes of Mount Carmel.
The city has been ruled by Persians, Hebrews, Romans, Arabs, Ottomans ... and finally by Israelis.
One of the most touristic things in the city are the famous Bahaí Gardens, a World Heritage Site.
It takes us half an hour to reach the upper part of the city, where the entrance to the Bahaí Gardens is located, from where guided tours are made.
We have the idea of making the 11.45 visit, which is in English. As soon as we reach the upper part of the city we go in search of parking and we find it right on the same street as the entrance.
We see many tourists around, so we already assume that we are in the right place and we finish checking it when we look out and see them ...
View of the Bahaí Gardens from the upper part of Haifa. Visit Cesarean and Haifa
We remain with our mouths open. Look we had seen photos and read about the gardens, but until you see it you can't get an idea of what it is.
At this time we remember the Lotus Temple in Delhi and we can do nothing but see the differences between one and the other, even if they are of the same religion.
It takes just under 15 minutes for the visit to begin and we go to the entrance, when we see that it is closed and there is a cartel at the same door.
We can not believe it ourselves. It says that for security, the gardens are closed. It has rained and it is dangerous.
We had read it in the guide, but it hadn't even occurred to us that it could happen to us !!
We asked a couple of times and seeing that the person who is responsible for watching the door does not yield, we decide that it is best to go to the Wadi Nisnas neighborhood, where the Arab market is and we have pointed a couple of places where they recommend eating falafel.
We think it is the best we can do, take a walk around the market, eat and climb back to the entrance of the Bahaí Gardens, to see if we have more luck in a few hours and have opened them.
Driving through the city is quite easy, until we reach Wadi Nisnas and driving becomes a kind of law of the strongest. Or maybe there is no law?
In the end we managed to park in a small garden right next to the Arab market.
We have found parking right next to the Arab Market !!! Wadi Nisnas. Haifa
At the beginning it is difficult for us to locate ourselves with the map that we carry, so we take the GPS in case we need to use it in “walking” mode…
As soon as we enter the area of the Arab market, the colors, the smells, the atmosphere… everything makes us change the chip and move to another “dimension”.
Colors in the Arab Market in Wadi Nisnas. Haifa
Since we arrived in the city it hasn't rained, but the streets are still wet and the sky is still quite gray. Although that does not make people stay at home, on the contrary, the streets are full of people, which we intuit are not tourists.
Where we are? Arab market in Wadi Nisnas. Haifa
Leaving the Arab Market area in Wadi Nisnas. Haifa
Once we walk the streets of the market several times, we go in search of a beach bar that we have noted in the guide and have recommended us, the Azkenin where we intend to try one of the best falafel as it is said on social networks ...
Wadi Nisnas. Haifa
Walking through Wadi Nisnas. Haifa
Almost without realizing it, we find a kind of beach bar, where we see a lot of queue and before we know it we see that Michelle is just, also recommended in the guide and that it is right in front of the Azkenin de Haifa.
We get in the queue of the first and after 5 minutes we have been strained as 10 people and we, who continue to look like fools, before mounting any show, we prefer to go to what was our first choice and cross the street to return to stand in line, this time without anyone sneaking in, until our turn comes and we get 2 falafel, a coke and a water for 45 shekels.
The best falafel in the world !!! Azkenin Haifa
Seeing that they only have one small table and it is busy, we tell the boy to prepare everything for us to take and we will see where we eat it ...
Preparation of the best falafel in the world !!! Azkenin
And with our prepared food and seeing that the time comes for the next guided tour of the gardens, we decided to go find the car and go back to the Bahaí Gardens, to see if we are lucky this time.
Departure by car from the Wadi Nisnas neighborhood in Haifa It's a bit of a movie and it's our turn to take it easy if we don't want to die trying.
We arrived at the upper part of the city without any incident and returned to park more or less in the same place as before.
As we passed the door we thought we saw that the cartel was gone, so we put a big smile on our mouths, imagining already visiting the gardens.
But when we get to the door, we see the cartel, but this time it is already so well placed, that it makes it very clear that the visits are over for today.
So we have no choice but to return to the car and enjoy the best falafel in the world!
The best falafel in the world !!! Azkenin Haifa
Mmm ... Great! Azkenin Haifa
Today we can say that we have already made our car a home. This morning we have slept, now we have eaten ... we just need dinner !!!
And after eating, with these views we say goodbye to the city:
We will return Haifa ...
The next entry in the GPS, after meeting Cesárea and Haifa, is Acre, one of the oldest cities in the world, located on the Israeli coast.
At first we do not get GPS to detect the name we are putting, until we realize that we have to put Akko to detect it.
And so we set off again, although this will be the last of today ...
It takes us a little more than 45 minutes and the GPS leaves us directly in the parking lot at the entrance of the old city.
Looking at the map of the hotel we know that we are a few meters away, so we do not complicate trying to find the entrance to the walls for the car and we lower our bags wanting to rest for a while and go out to see the city.
But it starts to spark as soon as we get out of the car and in the end we almost have to hit a race to get to the hotel.
Today we will stay at the Akkotel-Boutique hotel, one of the most normal accommodations, in a matter of price, that we have found.
We check in and give us a choice between two rooms. They are very similar, but the first one we see has some more light and that has just decided us.
The facilities are quite old, but the truth is that it has a special charm. From one of the windows we see the Jezzar Pasha Mosque and we hope to hear that call to prayer that we have lived so many times and we like so much.
The room is quite clean and we are in the center of the city. What else can we ask for?
Right now nothing more ... Just stop raining!
But it seems that time has been part of our body, to give us a truce and allow us to lie in bed for a while, where we fell dead at the moment.
We only wake up when we stop listening to the rain in the windows and when we look at the clock it is almost 7 in the afternoon.
So it's time to go down and look for somewhere to fill our stomach.
Before leaving we are with the hotel owner for a while, who recommends some places to dine.
Now that it does not rain we take advantage of the moment to go around the city, which is totally deserted at this time.
After seeing several places where we could have dinner, in the end we decided on one that is very close to the Akkotel-Boutique hotel and we ordered kebab, chips, a coke and a water for 73 shekels.
Our first dinner in Israel: falafel, kebab ... Acre
With a full stomach and already wanting to rest all night, after the full day we have had knowing Cesárea and Haifa, we return to the hotel, where we return to be a good time with the owner, who teaches us the rest of the facilities and It gives us a few nuts, which we eat while we connect to the internet for a while at the reception.
Our first day in Israel is about to end and we can already say that we are loving this country !!!!
Day 3ACRE - SAFED - TIBERIADES - NAZARETH
