March 6, 2019
If you visit Israel this resort town is a great place to be. Especially if your are making a long journey here, it will provide some alone time and down time before starting an aggressive tour plan of the religious sites. I added an extra day to the tour package so that I would have a day to just chill.
I arrived at the Tel Aviv airport at rush hour. Pilgrim Tours had my transportation waiting for me which was a relief, no hassles, once I got through customs I was in the car and on my way to Netayna and my hotel. However, it was a dark, rainy night and the traffic was extremely heavy and stop and go. By the time I reached the beachfront hotel and after a shower it was late evening, but in the bar lounge I was still able to enjoy a great meal of wine and cheese.
The next morning after a good night's sleep I walked the beach at Tamnun Beach. The town is perched atop a high cliff and you have to climb up an down huge steps to go to the beach. Good exercise, especially if you are a slacker like me and for one reason or another didn’t get to jog or workout this winter. It hasn’t been a good winter for outdoor activities (except skiing) in the U.S. northeast.
An Israeli Breakfast beachside was perfect to begin my first day in Israel
I had the Shakshuka breakfast...eggs baked in a spicy tomato and veggie sauce (similar to salsa) over humus with a vegetable salad. It came with Israeli coffee (similar to Turkish with grounds at the bottom) and Israeli bread. It’s so relaxing sitting here, I really needed a decompress day before starting tours.
After roaming the beach and downtown early afternoon, I had time to catch the sunset on a cloud free evening. Seeing a sunset on the Mediterranean Sea was amazing. I’ve seen many sunsets but somehow this one seemed better
My last night of freedom! Tomorrow the rigorous sightseeing begins, and being herded around here there and everywhere! Just kidding, just kidding, that’s what I’m here for. If I wanted to go to a beach resort, I would have gone to one of the many closer to home. This little bistro in Natanya Town Center is great, you get more than the usual bar peanuts with a glass of wine, a “bottle” of olives and a veggie salad comes automatically. Now I got to hustle to get to the 7 PM meeting at the hotel. !
The following journal articles are of my research for various design and painting projects planned. The intial posts are of Israel and Eygpt.