Day 12

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

In the morning of March 21, it was time to say goodbye to the remaining Israelis with fully packed suitcases. The leftovers of Hamutal's cake helped to ease the pain of farewell.

Now that we were among Germans again, we were given a tour of the Oranim College. The Waldorf school, located on the same campus, was particularly interesting. There were colorful mosaic pieces and other homemade things to admire. The library was also a highlight with its facilities and view.

A surprise was the botanical garden of the Oranim College. It is the largest botanical garden in northern Israel and it is the only botanical garden used extensively for educational purposes. The director of the botanical garden guided us through the grounds and infected us with his enthusiasm for plants. He showed us several plants that are on the verge of extinction and are hardly found in the wild anymore.

At just before 12 o'clock, it was time to say a final goodbye to Tivon and continue our journey to a German kibbutz. There, we were greeted by a very friendly Swabian who gave us an interesting lecture on the establishment of this German kibbutz and its current products. We bought some things in the shop afterwards, such as pomegranate jam and good German bread.

A bit tired, we got back on the bus to go to Tel Aviv. We drove along the coast until we saw the huge skyscrapers of Tel Aviv. Once there, we could decide how to spend the rest of the day. Some of us headed straight to the beach and for souvenir shopping. Others had to quench their thirst with some margaritas first. In the evening, we exchanged our impressions of Tel Aviv over beer or wine. Two of us even had the energy to check out the Tel Aviv nightlife. The rest of us looked forward to another hopefully restful night in the hostel.