I have officially dubbed myself a Museum Queen. As I've grown older, I have come to appreciate museums more and more. In Haifa, I was in Museum-utopia! There is a consortium of six museums in the city proper and other museums are scattered throughout the greater Haifa area. I was able to visit four of the six museums in the consortium and the museum at the University of Haifa. Each museum had its own focus. One of my favorites was the Haifa Museum of Art. It had a blend of modern and performance installations and was curated well. The Tikotin (Japanese Art), Mane-Katz and Hermann Struck Museums were intimate -- with the latter two included in my favorites, and the Hecht Museum (at the University of Haifa) had fascinating information and displays on archaeological finds from both land and water. The Hecht, while located some 20 minutes outside of Haifa proper, is well worth the travel.
As noted in the food post, both the Mane-Katz and Haifa Museum of Art cafes are worth checking out!
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Massada. Where do I begin? Massada, by far, was my favorite spot in Haifa, let alone Israel. I understand it is where all the hipsters go. It is an artsy street. I guess some folks looked the part. But I felt that the street spoke to me. It told me it was a street full of life, intrigue, imperfections and beauty. It was all there.
Massada Street is just plain cool. There is street art -- murals, small pieces of work, messages; there are cafes and restaurants; there are shops; there are people bustling around; there is life. Yes, there is life on Massada. Humans old and young, dogs, cats, etc. They are all there, hanging out on Massada Street. Massada is where I went to enjoy solitude, light meals, tea breaks, people watching, shisha and music. Maybe, just maybe, when I am old and am looking for a place to settle down, I will go to Massada Street. To check out Massada Street's cool street art, along with some street art from Tel Aviv that I also found quite neat, click here! Haifa is all hills. If a friend lives two streets away, it is not a fun jaunt or stroll to their house. It may be a mountain climbing adventure! I promise you, if you live in Haifa and walk around, there is no need for Kanye's workout plan. Jogging? More like a feigned attempted motion forward. Oh...and throw some stair workouts in there. Okay, maybe I had fun with the stairs, but...when I decided to walk from Ben Gurion up the mountain, it was no joke, especially with the heat. I have never perspired so much in my life. [Partial evidence to the left.] Here is a link to a collection of photos I took of the stairs and hills in Haifa. I frequented the stairs regularly despite having a car. Sometimes, it is just better to experience the world on foot...or in a really cool stepped metro! [Interesting fact, Haifa has one of the shortest metros, called the Carmelit, and it climbs and descends Mount Carmel. Photos of the Carmelit are included in the link as it includes, yes, stairs!]
Back in March, I took a trip down to Texas to visit a dear framily member. While I have never been to Montana, I couldn't help but wonder if the 'big sky country' nickname applies to other places, like Texas. My hunch is that it totally does. As much as the cities are being built up in Texas, if you look up, the sky just seems to keep going.
My feeble attempts to capture the sky in image are below. Because we all should have moments of alone time...In my many travels, I have had the opportunity to meet wonderful aunties and uncles around the world. Some are blood relations, others are not. I recently came to the realization that, as I have aged, aunties and uncles have become more like friends (but still remain greatly revered and respected). To that end, borrowing from the Sprint 'framily' plan concept, I came up with the terms frauntie and fruncle. That is, aunties and uncles who are like dear friends but should still be referred to as auntie and uncle. I think it's pretty neat. So far, there have not been any protests ;-).
The other day, I was invited to join my students on an excursion to Kakamega Forest. The highlights of the trip for me were (1) getting to sit in the front of one of the safari vans (2) dozing off as we drove and (3) crossing the equator. [I had been to Kakamega a couple of years ago...I was pretty sure that the trees had not changed too much since my last time there, but felt it would be a nice bonding experience with the students.] After sorting out the tour guide, we congregated around some trees. I was the first to observe Colobus monkeys. [Full disclaimer: Colobus monkeys look like skunks.] To which my reaction was "Ugghh...", along with a stink face. Apparently, my reaction was well loved by two of the course assistants...in between hearty laughter, one was like, "This is gonna be the best! This is sooo not your element." I agreed but also pointed out that some monkeys can be aggressive and unpleasant. The tour guide was in full agreement with me, and proceeded to tell the group how aggressive the Colobus can be, especially those deeper in the forest. [Point 1: Nadi.] We proceeded on the hike. And we just keep going...and going...and going. It felt like hours. Fortunately, I was not the only one feeling this way. One of the course assistants confided in me and shared that this was "not [her] thing, either"...and she was "tired of jumping over fallen trees". In return, I wondered if we had turned around enough/walked at enough of an angle to start to head towards our original starting point. And we kept going in a silent solidarity. We eventually made it back to the starting point to the Colobus clan. I had survived. [Point 2: Nadi.] Sadly, we were not able to venture up to the best point of Kakamega due to rains washing away the roads. [Point 1: Nature.] This story was my long-winded way of sharing pictures of Kakamega. Knowing the above, I hope you have a little chuckle whenever you look at these and think of Nadi by Nature. I will save the hippos for another day... Originally written 10 June 2014. Hippos are one of the world's deadliest animals. It never ceases to amaze and petrify me when the hippo boat tour guides here in Kisumu purposefully navigate their relatively small wooden boats TOWARDS the hippos. The last time I went for the boat ride, the guides had us maneuvering around and through a herd(?) of hippos in the water, including a protective mama hippo! I was petrified, but I got some awesome photos. Long story short, I survived. In case you were wondering, I totally have several exit/escape strategies for hippo attacks in and out of the water. Yes, they are that versatile that they wreak havoc in the water and on land! Lastly, as many of you know, I really appreciate, dare I say -- love -- tea. The highlight of my life/this trip was a visit to a tea estate in Kericho. Per usual, I dozed off in the front seat of the safari van but was wide awake and in great form for the entire visit to the tea estate. Kericho is always lush and the estate we visited was massive (one super massive estate with nine massive sub-estates) and absolutely gorgeous. One of my students loves tea as much as I do. He and I were among the first taste testers and constantly asked our guide about job opportunities at the estate. My student was offered a taste testing position...I just got a chuckle :-/. After seeing the entire process of making tea as we know it -- from the field to the factory to the store -- my appreciation has shifted to include admiration for the thought and efforts that go towards the process. It is a tedious and labor intensive process at all levels. I would be happy to provide details/talk about it (over a cup of tea), if any of you are interested. For now, I hope you enjoy the pictures. You know what I love more than tea, though? McVittie's biscuits AND tea! I need to get a tour at McVittie's at some point down the road...I would love for you to join me! Originally written 22 June 2014. |
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