I confess that Haifa dreamed of visiting for a long time. Since 1992, my relatives have lived: Uncle, Aunt, two cousins. Having learned about visa-free regime between Ukraine and Israel, decided to fly to rest. In May 2013, the May holidays coincided with Easter celebrations, so I had almost two weeks of vacation. We bought 400 dollars tickets and flew to Tel Aviv. There we were waiting for Uncle.
One and a half or two hours of time - and we are in Haifa, uncle at home. The first thing that surprised, - palm trees and frying even late in the evening, and we flew after 11 pm. At least +21 degrees were accurate. Secondly, the minimum of wind and in general the absence of precipitation. Without air conditioning in any way. But people manage to somehow live without batteries. We are accustomed to hanging the washed underwear on the battery, and first there were no uncommon how to dry. After all, I had to wash a lot: every day, sometimes twice, changed clothes because of the heat. Many had to go. Therefore, take with you comfortable shoes (better - sneakers), T-shirts, shorts, sunglasses and headdress. Although Uncle advised that sometimes it was not better to walk in a T-shirt, but in a long sleeve shirt, not so the sun hits the skin. In addition, in Israel is very dry and stuffy, you need to drink a lot. Water is sold in two-liter bottles. Therefore, take a backpack and put water into it. So we did on the excursions to Tel Aviv.
Surprised the quality of the products. From the food we did not buy anything, so I will not say prices. When relatives come from Ukraine, all Israeli acquaintances want to invite at least a day. Therefore, we were nomaded every day from one house to another. Our emigrants are trying to adhere to Soviet cuisine, good, in Haifa there are enough Russian shops. But Gummus and Pete give to buckwheat, purely Jewish dishes. The bread is stored for weeks and does not deteriorate. Milk is sold in gallons, which also surprised. In general, goods are trying to sell in a large volume, portions in the cafe are also gigantic. Israelis love to eat well, so there are also a lot of fat people.
My uncle lives in the port area. Ten minutes to the sea. The sea is clean and warm, also not less than +21 degression. The Bat Galim Area is generally known for many publicly available beaches. There is also a unique religious beach Hof A-Shaket. It is forbidden to swim in men and women together, except Saturday. In Shabbat, they can use the sea at the same time. On other days - in turn: one day of a man, another - women. Nearby is a cave, in which the legend hid the prophet Ilya, and a part of the cable car. Rambama's clinic, raising patients with cancer, and many other medical centers are also located in the area. Like hotels and restaurants, where stays will cost 80-100 dollars. In Israel, it is believed that $ 3,000 per month is the minimum necessary for living per month.
Other areas of Haifa are the lower city with his mosques and Christian cemeteries, the area for rich people Carmel, Adar, Neva-Shaanan and other we did not visit.
What I liked - this is the food at every step: a variety of cafes and restaurants. Somehow went to the cafe and they ordered two portions on a person in a habit, since the portions are small in Ukraine. And they brought us giant plates with food. Everything is very satisfying. Near the uncle's house was a bazaarc. We went to buy clothes. No storage and rude chambers. We went with packages and rose to the second floor. Clothes either hung on hangers, or lay in a pile. No sellers: choose, merry behind the screen and buy. I bought 6 T-shirts on 5 dollars each (in Ukraine, the same T-shirt was worth not less than $ 8), two Bridges on $ 8, Dad bought two pairs of trousers. We gave the owner of the store as a sign of gratitude to a couple more tights. Chinese clothing. In Israel, people often buy clothes due to heat.
Also, we made purchases in Molla (shopping center) at the entrance to Haifa. In Israel, everyone has a car, since public transport is poorly developed. In Mall, we saw branded goods, but still at the price they were much cheaper than in Ukraine. I bought two bags on the stock, paying 25 dollars for them. It is noteworthy that in almost every department was a Russian-speaking seller; Almost everyone knows English. Sellers Most Friends, so that you bought more. At the checkout, you specify which seller you served to go bonus to him.
In general, there are so many products for children and entertainment for them. In addition to the beach, there are many attractions and amusement parks, zoo.
Raisins Haifa is Mount Karmel, Bahai Gardens, houses of the Templars. Unfortunately, the Bahai Gardens were on the restoration. In Haifa, there are two universities - Technion and Haifa University, there are many film festivals: Haifsky International Film Festival,
Summer of Israeli films at Adara, Kinol; There is a giant football stadium, two football teams "Maccaby" and "Hapoel" and the Basketball Club "Makcabi". By the way, Uncle showed us a stadium. It is good that at that time there were no matches.
We also made an excursion to the Rothschild Park (or Ramat Ha Nadil), located from Haifa to half an hour.
In general, the trip succeeded. I will go again to finally see Bahai's gardens.
