I have been to.... Haifa

 More vaguely historical holiday snaps. After Jerusalem we docked at Haifa, yet another heavily guarded container port but at least there was a shuttle bus, yay.! We didn't fancy any excursions so just spent a couple days wandering around the city, which was fab.. A good way to get a feel for a place. 

Just in case we forgot where we were. 

Haifa is a large city, dominated by the Ridge of Mount Carmel. 

The bus dropped us off in the old German Colony, which was built in the the late nineteenth century and full of interesting neocolonial buildings. 

There were also numerous orange trees. 

And olive trees in the numerous small parks the German colonists had laid out. 

At the top end of the colony are the Bahai gardens. The steps go right to the top of the mountain and the temple can be seen in the distance. The steps are much steeper than they look, and were closed as overnight rain had left them lethally slippy. 

We had a good walk around the old part of town. The produce was amazing, and unlike Jerusalem, rather fewer firearms on display. 

This old German house had a dedication to the Reich on it, presumably Wilhems rather than Adolfs. 

As much of the Gardens as we could access. 

We took the funicular railway up to the top of the mountain, which is much higher than it looks from sea level. 

Looking north up the coast. The old Crusader Castle at Acre is in the middle distance, Lebanon in the far distance and the Golan Heights on the right. 

Looking more in the direction of Golan. I can see why the Israelis are so keen to hang on to it. 

This was a bit of a surprise! 

This monument commemorates the Kaisers visit to Palestine in the late nineteenth century. 

And is also the last point of Turkish resistance in the region against Allenbys advance. British troops assaulted the mountain, not a job I'd fancy. 

This was the funicular railway, similar to the one in Hong Kong, but underground.  It has quite a gradient on it. 

We fancied a small lunch and ordered a Meze, and it was huge! Very nice though. 

Two more of the old German houses. 

Along with Ben Gurian Avenue, there was an Allenby Road, but sadly I couldn't find a sign for that. 

Not very historical, but we had huge fun watching the container ships being loaded and unloaded. Fleets of lorries involved.  It was like model railway set but with trucks instead of trains. 

That was a great place to visit and a nice change of pace from the very long day trips to Cairo and Jerusalem. 

Where to next?