Israel Day 1: THE Mount Carmel

As if it wasn’t amazing enough to have our first port visit in Italy, just the week after, we pulled into Haifa, Israel!  That’s right, Israel!  The Holy Land!  Haifa is a port city in the north of Israel, and is home to Mount Carmel…yes, THE Mount Carmel.  Originally “famous” for being the place the prophet Elijah chose to live, it is also the founding place of the Carmelite Order.  Hermits began dwelling in the cave of the prophet Elijah, and they eventually organized themselves into a religious order—the Carmelites—founded on Mount Carmel.  Their founding monastery is at the top of the mountain, at the north point, overlooking the water, and is called Stella Maris, Star of the Sea.

That being said, can you guess where I went first?  After mooring the ship and getting things squared away, we were given liberty around midday.  My same group from Rome and I headed out to see the city, stopped for some great pictures overlooking the Mediterranean from atop Mount Carmel, and headed first to Stella Maris Monastery, home of the Basilica of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel.  It’s a beautiful site, including mosaics, paintings, and marble inlays, depicting the great moments and saints of the Carmelite Order.  It was quite funny to see things written in English, Hebrew, Arabic, and Latin, all around the basilica!  The altar is built over the site of the cave of the prophet Elijah, with a big statue of Our Lady holding the scapular behind the altar.  It was perfect for them to choose Our Lady, Star of the Sea as their patroness—the view of the sea is stunning from the front of the basilica!  Prayed for all you little Carmelites out there, (especially you, Maria!) and got myself a new scapular—from the source!  J

Next, we took a cable car down the mountain, for more great views of Haifa and the Mediterranean.  We headed to the next site, thought to be another one of Elijah’s caves, which seemed to be the Jewish center of devotion for this city.  It was a busy place with many Jewish pilgrims!  Feeling a little out of place, we came and went a bit quickly.  Hot and hungry, we headed to an area known as the German Colony, which was settled by German immigrants in the 19^th/20^th centuries.  Found a great place to eat and had as much Middle Eastern food and WiFi as we could want!  It was a great day…with the best yet to come!