NOT Gonna Call This "Goodbye, Haifa."

Today is my last day in Haifa.  Is it possible to viscerally miss a city?  I haven't even left yet, but I'm already feeling nostalgic over the imminent loss of the ethereal view from the mountaintop, the perfect pairing of greenery and white stone (some flowers, too) that characterizes this place, the way the sky-blue Mediterranean seems eternally caught in your peripheral vision.  Don't get too sad, Ariel - you'll be back.
Yesterday, I had two very special guests to show around my city for a final hoorah.  We started the day at the beach (three days in a row at the beach = my ring tan is forming perfectly.  I know you were dying to know), walked through Merkaz HaCarmel, and then sat down by the Louis Promenade to take in - what you may have guessed by now is my favorite part of Haifa - the view.  We met a few Christian missionaries, were sort-of-not-so-subtly told that Jesus saves, and went on our way.  Rose and Hillel left, I went home to pack, said a few tearful goodbyes, went to sleep, and now here I sit: bags downstairs, room empty but for the few things I'll still be needing until 2:15.  Awaiting my next adventure: Tel (okay, Ramat) Aviv.