After yesterday’s epic ride we took it very easy today. After sleeping for 13 hours we settled up with the hostel and set out in search of breakfast. We had a easy, short ride down to the coast, then turned north for the short ride up to Rosh HaNikra, on the border with Lebanon. We were here to visit the grottoes, but first we had to eat. The restaurant kitchen wasn’t open yet, so we sat for about an hour sipping coffee and tea, and when the kitchen finally opened we had our first meal in 24 hours. We enjoyed our visit, then heading down a side road along the water front until we got to Akhziv National Park, where we stopped to have a swim in the warm, blue waters of the Mediterranean, and to sit around in the shade for a while enjoying the view and the breeze off the water.

Finally we left there and continued easily along the coast until we reached Nahariya. It took a bit of circling around but eventually we found the Carlton Hotel on Ga’aton Street where we got a very nice room at a very reasonable price. Nahariya is a beach town and Ga’aton is the main strip of restaurants and shops. We ate sitting outside watching the world go by on the sidewalk, then took an after dinner stroll down along the waterfront promenade. It gets dark early, around 5:30, and with the dusk comes relief from the heat. Everybody is outside, and the parks and playgrounds along the promenade are full of kids playing. The parks are also full of feral cats, which I understand are endemic in Israel. I find it kind of creepy to see people feeding herds of wild cats liker you sometimes see people feeding pigeons back home.

We are going to have another easy day tomorrow. We’ll head down to Akko which is only about 10km from here. Depending on how much time we spend exploring there, we will either stay there or continue south to Haifa.

I have also added more photos to https://picasaweb.google.com/117957848509101633801/Israel2011

Allen & Jodi

20111009.gpx