Haifa: Tourists want to see katyushas
Large crowds come to look at gaping pit on Stella Maris, Haifa
“We are not afraid,” said a tourist from India who arrived to the site where the rocket fell in a tour bus. “We wanted to see the place where the hit was. Every place in the world can be dangerous. Haifa is an important and very beautiful city. We feel very safe here.”
Also Haifa residents, armed with cameras and cell phones with cameras, arrived at the site where the Katyusha hit in order to immortalize the cavernous hole in the ground.
“It fell right next to my house. My toddler yelled ‘boom-boom’ and then I brought her hear today to see what happened. My older daughter was afraid and did not want to join,” told Shlomit Atias, a resident of Kiryat Eliezer.
Also Yaakov Mizrahi (42), survivor of the Tyre disaster in Lebanon, brought his children. “I just had to come here today. I survived in Tyre and now I am not about to stay at home. I wanted to show my little daughters this site. We made a family trip here, and it’s actually quite nice.”
Despite the lively traffic on Stella Maris, during Friday night the roads in the city were empty. Many of the partygoers who usually fill the pubs and clubs did not show up, causing the owners to close earlier than expected.
Yet, throughout Saturday it seemed as if routine again set in. Coffee shops and restaurants along the Carmel were full, as were the beaches. Some 5,500 visitors came to the Sand Sculpture Festival, appearing in its second year on the city's Meridien Beach.
