Netanya

June 16

We arrived at the Park Hotel in Netanya, a Russian-Jewish city home to the only Israeli Bible College and a beautiful beach community located on the Mediterranean. This is the incredible view from our room. Across the street from the hotel, there was a park full of restaurants and shops, including a play area for kids with crafts and a bounce house. Haley was in heaven. We ate some shwarma (meat on a spicket) and some salads for lunch and Haley did some sandart. Later that night, we returned to the Square to get some snacks. An hour after we returned to the hotel, we heard a loud explosion followed by a lot of sirens. Hunter went out to explore what had happened, knowing it could have potentially been a terrorist act. Netanya had experienced several bombings in the past (one we found out later had occurred in the very hotel where we were staying). He retuned to tell us that it had been a gas explosion and the chairs we had been sitting in an hour earlier were completely blown to pieces and under debris from the building. The explosion had occurred in the alley beside the shwarma kiosk.

Even though it was after midnight, we went out to watch the paramedics rescue folks from the apartments above the restaurants with a crane. The 4-story building was in shambles. Windows of shops were shattered in 100 meter radius around the square. They spent 5 hours rescuing people who were trapped on the top floor of the building. It was amazing how quickly and effectively the police and paramedics mobilized rescue efforts. Sadly, I’m sure they are used to these type of things happening here. We learned later that 4 people were killed in the explosion (3 teenage girls and a 28-year old man who very much resembled the guy who has sold us the schwarma). It was very scary and surreal, especially considering we had been sitting in that exact spot just an hour earlier. We didn't get to sleep until after 4 am. Quite an exciting start to our adventure here.

On a lighter note, we enjoyed the beach the next day and Haley had a blast in the waves. It was very expensive to stay there (we paid 14 shekels for a popsicle...that's over $4!), so we were more than ready to leave the next day and get to Nazareth.