Then just to add insult to injury, Amtrak was late, but to make up for it we had a time change and managed to catch our Metra train, but then it had a totally unexpected slow-down because another train on the track had engine trouble. Off load and reload to a different train and we missed being able to pick up our rental car. But whatever, 1st world problem, as son Chris would say!

The Westin North Shore is lovely, we picked up the car the next morning and all is well in our world again. Now we are able to drive to the Baha’i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois.

This hearty main is one of the most requested recipes from Whitewater Cooks (Whitecap, 2008) by B.C. chef Shelley Adams. Named after a favourite ski bowl at Whitewater Ski Resort in Nelson, B.C., it embodies healthy, fun West Kootenay living. This recipe makes more dressing than you need, but leftovers are excellent on chicken, rice, noodles or salad.

Ingredients
2 tbsp (30 mL) vegetable oil
2 cups (500 mL) cubed extra-firm tofu
8 cups (2 L) hot cooked brown rice
2 cups (500 mL) grated carrots
2 cups (500 mL) grated beets
2 cups (500 mL) packed baby spinach leaves
2 cups (500 mL) slivered almonds, toasted

Glory Bowl Dressing:
1/2 cup (125 mL) nutritional yeast flakes
1/3 cup (75 mL) Tamari or soy sauce
1/3 cup (75 mL) apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup (75 mL) water
2 tbsp (30 mL) tahini
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup (250 mL) olive oil

Preparation
In large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat; fry tofu, stirring often, until brown and crispy, 10 minutes. Drain on paper towel–lined plate. [I like to marinate my tofu and then don’t worry about the ‘brown and crispy’ so much]

Glory Bowl Dressing: In blender, purée together nutritional yeast flakes, tamari, vinegar, water, tahini and garlic. With motor running, add oil in slow, steady stream. Blend until smooth. (Make-ahead: Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 week [good on many different salad ingredients too])

To serve, divide rice among 8 bowls; drizzle each with 1 tbsp of the dressing. Top each with tofu, carrots, beets, spinach and almonds. Drizzle each with 3 tbsp of the dressing. [I prefer to chop up the spinach and put a good handful in the bottom of the bowl, then top with hot rice, grated veggies next (side by side, not on top of each other), then tofu and nuts and go easy on the dressing as you want to taste the ingredients too].

When we arrived in Edirne, we attempted to follow the directions we had, but came up feeling quite lost. So back to the bus company’s office to see if we could find some help. We first bought our ticket back to Istanbul and then asked for some help with directions. The fellow looked at our slip of paper with the address and the title “House of Bahá’u’lláh” and recognized the street name first, then noticed Bahá’u’lláh’s name and immediately asks if we were Baha’is! He has a quick conversation with another person in the office and then gets out of his seat and starts to the door all the while making a telephone call. A quick conversation ensues and we find ourselves following our new friend down the street next to the office. Within two minutes he is knocking at the door of the caretaker’s house! We guess the telephone call was to the caretaker as they are obviously well acquainted with each other. Sometimes it really is a good thing to ask for help!

Our visit to the House of Bahá’u’lláh in Edirne is really the last part of our pilgrimage. This is the last place he lived before being exiled to Akka in Israel. Visiting these places in reverse order may seem a little backwards, but it really isn’t an issue.

After we are finished our visit here, we trundle down the street to the Selimiye Mosque. There we take a very many photographs, find lunch, attempt to get warm, visit a grocery store and then return to the bus station for the return to Istanbul. It has been a lovely day except for the very cold temperatures. You may notice a bit of white stuff … that is snow!

For us, this find was far more important and spiritual than visiting all the grand mosques in Istanbul. We spent the best part of an hour in meditation and prayer, thanked the caretaker and quietly resumed our day. Lawrie found us many deserted streets to walk. I found us a great hole-in-the wall place to eat.

Along the way home we manage to find the famous aqueduct. Wikipedia says “The Valens Aqueduct is a Roman aqueduct which was the major water-providing system of the Eastern Roman capital of Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey). Completed by Roman Emperor Valens in the late 4th century AD, it was restored by several Ottoman Sultans, and is one of the most important landmarks of the city. The aqueduct stands in Istanbul, in the quarter of Fatih, and spans the valley between the hills occupied today by the Istanbul University and the Fatih Mosque. The surviving section is 921 meters long, about 50 meters less than the original length. The Atatürk Bulvari passes under its arches.” The terminus is the Basilica Cistern and that means water for Topkapi Palace.

We returned to the Grand Bazaar to do some serious shopping and then came back to our hotel to tea and cookies and the Saskatchewan/Canada curling game replayed on the laptop a day late. Yeah Saskatchewan!!! I think we will plan to visit Edirne and complete our pilgrimage for 2011 on Wednesday.

Maybe tomorrow we will visit some of those grand mosques, Bahá’u’lláh did after all go to pray in them!

First off working on about four hours of sleep is not smart! But wake up in good time we did. By 5:05 we were out the door of the Molada Guesthouse (our home while in Haifa) and up to where we asked Abboud to have a taxi for us at 5:15. But of course we had to call again and finally by about 5:25 we were on our way. Not to the train station in town though, rather one that was further south. The taxi fare that was supposed to be 30 NIS turned into 49 NIS and we were too late to catch the train that was sitting there. Oh well, next train will have to do. But the next one we were told by a conductor who noticed our suitcases, was not the one to Ben Gurion Airport so we ignored it and got on the next train to come in. However, this time there wasn’t a friendly conductor, just one who came to tell us we couldn’t sit in the reserved seating cars unless we paid an extra 5 shekels each. Not happy, why was there nothing anywhere to say this? Another oh well, what can you do? We watch the scenery and the stations go by and don’t see a Ben Gurion Airport sign anywhere. So as we are sitting in the station called LOD (don’t ask, I don’t know) I asked Lawrie if he would ask if this was the right train for the airport. The fellow he asked said no, we needed to get off, return to a different station and then transfer!!! Off we get, dashing for a gate and someone to confirm this information. We produce our tickets and they are waved back into our pockets and the station manager then takes us to the train sitting on the other side of the platform and repeats where we need to get off. I repeat the name back to him and then ask for directions for the Ben Gurion train. At this point a bystander says a sentence or two to the manager and then gathers us up to get on the train. This woman is sent by God I’m sure. She very carefully stays with us on the train and then at the right station gets off with us and shows us the direction the train is going to come from and which way it will leave for the airport, she then dashes back to the train we came on and re-boards with a wave to us. I finally smile and wave back. We are soon back on track (pun intended) and find the final hurdles are not too onerous to overcome. After clearing a preliminary security with our suitcases and then getting our boarding cards, we in fact have time to sit with the best coffee I’ve had in a while and some lovely pastries! There are very good reasons to add at least an hour or two to travel plans. It was a very good thing we had the extra two today!

We met a Baha’i family that were on pilgrimage with us, as we were going through the boarding process. They also have some days here in Istanbul and have plans for a trip to Baha’u’llah’s house in Edirne too. We received some better instructions for our visit there as well. We hope to meet up and spend some more time in their company. Lovely to encounter friends when travelling.

Our hotel, the Aruna Hotel in fact, were good with their promise to have us picked up at the airport. The drive to the hotel was uneventful and we could feel a decompression happening. There was a very long stretch of ruined wall along the way. I’m sure we’ll know what that is about before many days go by. The manager is very friendly and casual. He fed us Turkish delight and we helped him with his English. Our room is as delightful as the sweet was, and I’m sure we will manage a good rest. The call to prayer at 3 (I think) in the afternoon was interesting as I think we are in range of at least two mosques. This could be a very instructional time! Lawrie is currently napping so I think I will just plunge into fixing the last weeks postings. I’m also thinking we will be out for a walk in a while as it seems to have quit raining. Good time to get lost in the dark perhaps? We are so close to the Mediterranean that I expect we can manage not getting lost. Dinner might be a challenge though as the manager’s choice for us looks like a bank account busting sort of place!

Today, our final full day in Haifa will be spent doing some errands (lunch contribution, picking up laundry, shopping for some items only found here and then packing up to leave early tomorrow morning) and then we are off to Bahji for the afternoon with a sherut full of new friends. We will have a potluck lunch and then spend time in the gardens and the shrine of Bahá’u’lláh. After returning to Haifa we will see about supper and then attend the Pilgrims Farewell. I’m sure I will be able to add photos from today and also catch up on the last several days once we are ‘on holiday’ in Istanbul. We hope everyone at home is doing well?

Many more photos, professionally taken, and beautiful are found here.

The House of `Abdu’lláh Páshá was the residence of `Abdu’l-Bahá for some 13 years, until he moved to Haifa. It was here that he received the first pilgrims from the West on December 10, 1898.

Monday, Day 8 is started with a visit to the buildings on the Arc which is within the Baha’i Gardens area. Later in the day we collect at the House of the Master built by `Abdu’l-Bahá so he could oversee the building of the Shrine of the Bab. We finish at #4 Haparsim Street which served as a Pilgrim House for the Western believers in the years immediately following `Abdu’l-Bahá’s return from travels in Europe and America.

More information about the Baha’i Faith is to be found here.

Saturday was a free day, or should we say it is was unscheduled. We went to Dawn Prayers at the Shrine of the Bab at 6:30.

Then by 10 we were at the Beth Shalom in the hopes of hiring a sherut to take 10 of us to Akka and then Bahji. However, children were still ill, and the other family were not feeling ready to go. In fact Renee said it was like trying to herd cats!

In the end there were just Lawrie & I and Angela walking back to our place for some extra lunch ingredients and then down to the Hadar area to pick up a sherut to take us to Akka. A very pleasant time was enjoyed by the three of us. An attempt to stay on the suggested route still took us through the bazaar and past ever so many interesting areas as you may see through the photos I took.

The former Ottoman prison city of Akka is significant to Bahá’ís for many reasons. Akka (or Acre, or Akko) is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country and historically, was regarded as a strategic coastal link to the Levant. First and foremost, it was here that Bahá’u’lláh was exiled. It was here that Mirza Mihidi, called the Purest Branch, the second son of Bahá’u’lláh, died. And, though not right in Akka, but in the general vicinity, is the final resting spot of Bahá’u’lláh. At that time Akka was considered one of the most pestilent cities in the world. It was said that should a bird fly over Akka, it would die due to the odor. One cannot begin to imagine the suffering and anguish this small group of Bahá’ís must have endured then.

But today we are just tourists…

It was “interesting” finding a sherut (multi passenger taxi) to return to Hafai. Especially when you are not 100% sure where you are going. And we had been advised to not be in Akka after dark as there aren’t many ways to get back home! But find a sherut we did! We finished off the day with a visit to the Shrine of the Bab and `Abdu’l-Bahá and then a nice supper.

I said to Lawrie on our walk home this evening that I keep forgetting we are half way around the world in Haifa, Israel. That means I’m feeling very comfortable here and nothing is terribly strange. Maybe we will look at applying for service here again? Or maybe a pioneer post? Or maybe we will just stay home and finish the Ruhi books for now?

Haifa and Akka aren’t particularly clean, in fact if I was being as honest as I should, I would say there is a very lot of garbage everywhere except on Baha’i property. I think it might be a case of many people caring very much that we attempt to be the best stewards we can be of everything we have a hand in. This is what it seems to me at this point. Whereas the population that isn’t firmly gathered around a cause is also not taking responsibility for anything that isn’t his, maybe not even his own property. Of course this is a huge generalization and I should know better!

We’ve met 8 of 9 International House of Justice members, spent hours in Bahá’u’lláh’s shrine, listened to our guide Marsha (who has the most charming methods of directing the Pilgrims in what to do and not do) tell us fascinating historical things to do with the three central figures of the faith, attended several evening talks, walked many miles and made so many friends. All this in four days. God is good … all the time. Tomorrow we are off to visit the Archives. Then the rest of the day is ours to organize, as is Saturday. I know we won’t have trouble filling the time, but I expect there will be some push and pull as to which of the many places we want to go to spend time at. The memorial garden, the temple lands and another visit to the Shrine of the Bab will probably win out for tomorrow. Then likely we are back to Akka on Saturday with a sherut full of friends. I’ll report back in a day or two. As well, I’ll add some photos … too late tonight I’m sorry to say. And if you have questions about any of this … well there are many answers here.