Part One of the roadtrip can be found here.
Day Two of the twin roadtrip started early (maybe too early, after having finished a bottle of wine the night before). Since we had already mastered our way out of Jerusalem the prior morning, we got onto the highway quickly and uneventfully.
We were heading in a more northward direction than our last drive, so we came to a different check point. This one looked a lot more serious. The soldier who stopped us was older and male and asked me a series of questions about where we were going, where we were staying in Jerusalem, where we were from and how we came to know each other if she was Greek and I was American. We were asked to pull the car over for a full search. Twin and I were ushered into a small building, where our passports were taken to be scanned, our purses were x-rayed, and we walked through a metal detector. Meanwhile, outside, a man with a large German Shepherd was searching our car. We stood around, mute and nervous for no good reason, until they handed us our passports and wished us a good trip north.
We drove for about two hours, past orange groves and greenhouses and small towns and a whole lot of desert.
Tiberias
Our first stop was the ancient city of Tiberias. Being the first Israeli city outside of Jerusalem that I had visited, Tiberias seemed modern (ironically) and subdued. It reminded me of a quiet, Middle-Eastern version of a beach town, the perfect place to go to escape the craziness of Jerusalem every once in a while. The Kinnaret (Sea of Galilee) looked a lot of the Dead Sea, which isn’t all that surprising considering they are both large lakes surrounded by desert and mountains. Instead of seeing Jordan at the opposite shore, we could see Syria.
Roxanne and I lunched on the boardwalk overlooking the sea. Kebabs are always a good choice.
Akko
From Tiberias, we drove west to the Mediterranean. It was during this portion of the drive that I nearly nodded off, probably from eating too many kebabs for lunch. Twin resorted to hand-feeding me chocolate chip cookies to keep me awake. Once we reached the turquoise water, I was revived. It was the first time I had seen the Mediterranean since Greece, Roxanne’s homeland.
After a long walk down the boardwalk, we reached the ancient walled city of Akko. I felt transported to another country entirely. Arabic was clearly the dominant language. Colorful mosques and minarets reached up from behind the sandy buildings. Everyone seemed to know one another, laughing and shaking hands and smiling. Because my twin is indescribably awesome and cultured, she ordered us coffees and apple shisha in Arabic. People are always thrilled to find out that little blue-eyed Roxanne can speak their language, and they respond with courtesy (and sometimes discounts). We sat in a plaza among mostly Arab men, smoking shisha and chatting. I saw the Akko equivalent of a party bus trot by about a dozen times– a horse and carriage, usually carrying families with young children, blasting upbeat Arabic music. Almost like a Colombian chiva.
Akko remains my favorite city that I visited in Israel, for its energy and kindness and apple shisha.
Haifa
A short drive down the coast took us to Haifa, a bustling port city full of young people (but sorely lacking in English road signs). The main reason for our stop in Haifa were the Baha’i Gardens. In an ironic twist, the headquarters of this relatively young religion are housed in a country whose residents are not permitted to join the faith.
After maneuvering through the city using solely Roxanne’s intuition, I was shocked to see a rolling Versailles-like hillside emerge in the middle of the urban jungle. The lawns are stunning, symmetrical, impeccably green. At the base of the hill is a fountain in the shape of a lotus flower with black pools for petals. While we were taking pictures, a car full of college boys drove by and yelled “shaloooom!” with winks and smiles galore. Definitely more modern than Jerusalem, I thought.
Caesarea
We didn’t linger long in Haifa because we wanted to save our last bits of daylight for the ruins at Caesarea (or is it Quesariyya?). There isn’t much I can write about this place that photos don’t speak more eloquently.
Homeward Bound
We considered stopping in Tel Aviv on our way back to Jerusalem that night, because what 25 year-old goes to Israel and doesn’t party in Tel Aviv? Me, apparently. We drove straight through the city (thinking we were lost the whole time) and headed back toward Jerusalem, hungry and tired. As our little car wheezed and whined up the massive hills leading to Jlem, I realized that I felt relieved to be going back “home” (or at least to Roxanne’s home). Jerusalem is magnetic.
It was only then, at the tail end of our adventure, that I had my sole freak-out-session of the entire trip. Want to know how to terrify a Jersey girl and a Greek? Tell them to pump their own gas. We practically sputtered into the gas station a few blocks from twin’s house, with the you’re-running-on-empty-you-idiot sign flashing emphatically. I pulled in with the gas tank on the wrong side, and nearly lost my kebabs having to pull out and reverse the car into another lane at the gas station. I’m pretty sure at some point I screamed, “Isn’t there a MAN around here who can just freaking do this for me?” Feminism died a little bit that day, and for that I am sorry.
After a nice gentleman on a motorcycle heard my cries and helped us fill up the rental car, we drove home to eat dinner and collapse in bed.
I wouldn’t have made it out of the parking lot that morning if it wasn’t for Roxanne’s patient and scarily accurate navigating. Somehow, despite the gaps in seeing each other, the miles between us, and the vastly different directions our lives have taken us, we always return to being “twins” within minutes of being together (meaning we creepily finish each other’s sentences and could probably achieve world domination with our incredible teamwork). I couldn’t ask for a better best friend with whom to explore the world, one little roadtrip at a time.
You can follow Roxanne’s journey at Stories of Conflict and Love.
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Do you have any idea about the name of that beautiful building and hill at Haifa? What a well-manicured garden indeed!
Yes, those are the Baha’i Gardens. Very beautiful site, but it felt a bit out of place in the middle of the city like that.
Loved everything about this, Meghan! Awesomely vivid photography once again (Especially the bewildered Roxanne vs map photos 🙂 ).
Niki mou, you haven’t even heard my Reading From The Lonely Planet voice yet… 😉
🙂
Thanks Niki! And yes, Roxanne’s ever-so-soothing reading voice might have had something to do with me nearly falling asleep at the wheel somewhere in northern Israel. 😉
Can you ask Roxanne how I can subscribe to her blog via email? I only saw Facebook and twitter as an option . I am so excited!
No problem! On the right-hand side of her home page, scroll down past the Didion quote and the archives. You’ll see a small box labeled “Follow by Email.” Enjoy!
Wow Meghan! Ye another awesome post! I did not realize that the Roxanne who you referred to my blog was your twin!!!! How did you two meet?! Can’t wait to follow her blog and read on her life and how she wound up living in Israel! Ah to be 25 again!!!!
Thank you Nicole! She and I were randomly assigned to the same dorm our freshman year at Harvard. Since living together in that teeny tiny room (which was clearly intended to be a single), we’ve become best friends. Her blog (and her writing and photography) is incredible. You’ll love it!
Fantastic! Wow, Harvard too! Impressive but even more impressed that you left your job to travel and see the world! There is much you can do with your education! Read the book on Mountains beyond Mountains about Paul Farmer, a Harvard doctor who has become an advocate of the world’s poor! Wow!
Beautiful Photos – thanks for sharing!
Thanks Renee!
I am tearing up at my desk. Thank you for such a beautiful trip, twin. I love you and I cannot wait to explore the (rest of the) world with you.
Also, I cannot believe you dared wrap up this post without a single mention of The Great Bath Salt Purchase of 2012. Or a photo of THAT breakfast. Lovingly tsk, tsking.
HAHA. The Great Bath Salt Purchase. Sounds like something akin to the Louisiana Purchase.
There is still some more to come on Israel! Although I’m not entirely sure how well cosmetics and gluttonous breakfasts will mesh with an essay on the Holocaust Museum…