Beach Hike & More

This is way overdue. Our cohort took another trip on Wednesday, the10th. It was a beach hike from Habonim to Hof Dor in the north, near Haifa. It took about an hour and a half, with some stops for history lessons along the way. It’s not a completely sandy beach, mostly rocky because of the way the water currents flow. Tom, our tour guide, explained it better and I would probably would have been able to remember it better last week. Anyway, it was GORGEOUS!!! Afterwards, we went to Tishbi winery. I think it was better than Tzora. They gave us bread and huge platters of veggies and cheese. They also kept refilling them. At that point in the day, I was paying much more attention to the food than the wine! Their riesling was really good. Here are just a few pictures from the trip:



That Friday, Ali and Geneve (her cousin that is starting an internship here and also living with us now until she finds her own place) were up north with Geneve’s family for the weekend, and Mike went to a family friend’s daughter’s wedding in Herzliya, 20 minutes outside of TA. So, Allie and I checked out some new restaurants online and went on a date. We found a fish restaurant near our apartment that I can’t pronounce. It’s Shtsupak. You try! There are no menus and when you sit they bring you bread and a bunch of different salads. They give you time to munch and then come to ask if you want fish or seafood. Both of us got fish, so they told us our choices and asked if we wanted it opened and grilled or fried. We got one of each. They literally bring you a whole fish...head and tail and everything. I ate it all: On our way home, we got ice cream. It’s all more gelato style here and it has all been pretty awesome. Later in the night, we met up with Mike and his friend Jay (formally Josh T, but he’s working on changing his name) at Raquefette’s and then went with them to a new bar to meet up with Mark and Nili. We didn’t really get the fully bar experience because we sat outside, but I’ve heard it is a great place. I’m sure I’ll go back at some point.
Saturday evening, Meir called and said he was staying at his brother’s place in TA while he was out of town. He invited me and whoever was at the apartment with me over for dinner. So, Allie and I went and joined him and his friend Dafna. He made pasta, burekas and salad. Afterward, we were going to go to meet some of their friends at Max Brenner, but apparently the kitchen was backed up and so we could sit but not order anything. We went to a little cafe behind it. I was so full from dinner, but the conversation was good. Also, while we were standing outside Max Brenner and Meir saw Rinat, one of Dafna’s best friends, who happened to work at camp with in ’06. I love these crazy coincidences that keep happening here!