Today is our northern adventure, first stop Cessaria. (We are impressed by the logistics - a series of minivans make pick-ups from various hotels, and converge on a meeting spot, where the actual tour begins. Very clever, especially given the narrowness of the streets.) Caesaria is considered one of the great cities of antiquity, another Herod effort. There have been major excavations over the past 60 years, One can make out a Roman aqueduct, a hippodrome where once races were held, and a reconstructed amphitheater which still hosts concerts.
Next stop is the port city (are you guys following along on the map? North of Tel Aviv, along the coast....) It really is quite picturesque, where apparently Arabs and Jews live in harmony, and is also the "mecca" (so to speak) of the Baha'i faith, and the beautiful Baha'i gardens.
Next is Acre (as we know it from tales of the Crusades - apparently they are calling it Akkoc now), yet another world Heritage Site belt-notch. The remains of the citadel make a warren of passageways, the crusader foundations are clearly visible (a number of members of the Hagana were imprisoned here during the war of independence), and one can see the knights' halls and the refectory, as well as the turkish bazaar, still in use. We stop here for lunch as well.
a metal worker plying his craft...
crusader cannon balls...
And finally, Nahariya, our northenmost stop, just feet from the Lebanonese border, and a few miles from both the Golan Heights and the infamous Sea of Galilea.
Nora at the border with Lebanon....
Its really hard for us to fathom how close we are here (and how close I was in Jordan) to all the fighting in Syria. Everything is so close here, it seems that one wrong turn.
Whatever the governments are saying, it seems that even in Israel, everyone just wants to get along.
And now, we start the long trek home, vehicles peeling off from the mothership for overnighters on a kibbutz, for example, or, like us, heading to Jerusalem.
By the time we arrive (after beating our way through rush hour traffic in Jerusalem with a bus driver on two cell phones and a walkie-talkie and a log book open on the steering wheel) at the King David Hotel (yes, THAT King David Hotel, about which more later) we are as exhausted as if we had been driving the bus ourselves. However, some of what we are treating ourselves to is pampering, and we cetainly got that - "complimentary" drinks (for which we are paying, believe me) and a fruit basket and a wonderful shower. We opted for another drink and a snack at the bar, and fell exhausted (and at least on my part, somewhat drunk) into bed.
We had a full day in Jerusalem today. Perhaps I will be revived enough after dinner to catch you up. Otherwise, tomorrow is another day. Suffice it to say that while I was disappointed in Tel Aviv (bustling and alive, all right, but very shabby, and, frankly, not very, well, biblical), Jerusalem exceeds my expectation.
Well, let's see if I can make the 15 minute walk to dinner.....
Next stop is the port city (are you guys following along on the map? North of Tel Aviv, along the coast....) It really is quite picturesque, where apparently Arabs and Jews live in harmony, and is also the "mecca" (so to speak) of the Baha'i faith, and the beautiful Baha'i gardens.
Next is Acre (as we know it from tales of the Crusades - apparently they are calling it Akkoc now), yet another world Heritage Site belt-notch. The remains of the citadel make a warren of passageways, the crusader foundations are clearly visible (a number of members of the Hagana were imprisoned here during the war of independence), and one can see the knights' halls and the refectory, as well as the turkish bazaar, still in use. We stop here for lunch as well.
a metal worker plying his craft...
crusader cannon balls...
And finally, Nahariya, our northenmost stop, just feet from the Lebanonese border, and a few miles from both the Golan Heights and the infamous Sea of Galilea.
Nora at the border with Lebanon....
...and Hank too
Its really hard for us to fathom how close we are here (and how close I was in Jordan) to all the fighting in Syria. Everything is so close here, it seems that one wrong turn.
Whatever the governments are saying, it seems that even in Israel, everyone just wants to get along.
And now, we start the long trek home, vehicles peeling off from the mothership for overnighters on a kibbutz, for example, or, like us, heading to Jerusalem.
By the time we arrive (after beating our way through rush hour traffic in Jerusalem with a bus driver on two cell phones and a walkie-talkie and a log book open on the steering wheel) at the King David Hotel (yes, THAT King David Hotel, about which more later) we are as exhausted as if we had been driving the bus ourselves. However, some of what we are treating ourselves to is pampering, and we cetainly got that - "complimentary" drinks (for which we are paying, believe me) and a fruit basket and a wonderful shower. We opted for another drink and a snack at the bar, and fell exhausted (and at least on my part, somewhat drunk) into bed.
We had a full day in Jerusalem today. Perhaps I will be revived enough after dinner to catch you up. Otherwise, tomorrow is another day. Suffice it to say that while I was disappointed in Tel Aviv (bustling and alive, all right, but very shabby, and, frankly, not very, well, biblical), Jerusalem exceeds my expectation.
Well, let's see if I can make the 15 minute walk to dinner.....
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