By the fifth day in Israel, the 28th day since we left Dallas, you might think we would be running out of steam, but somehow, we still had plenty of energy. I thought several times that I could hardly believe we were actually pulling it off. Honestly, before we did this, I really wondered sometimes if the wheels would come off the whole thing by the end of the first week and we would end up stranded halfway around the world trying to find somebody to help us in some dusty police station where nobody spoke a word of English! But, here we were, pulling up fast on the conclusion of the whole thing, and so far, surviving without one missed flight, one botched hotel reservation, or any other significant glitch that I could think of! I think the worst thing that happened in the whole time was arriving in Singapore to discover the last subway train already left already and having to take a cab, which ended up costing about $10 more in the end than the train would have cost!
So... we rose early at 7am or so for our last day in Israel. Breakfast at the YMCA in Tiberius was good, fresh eggs cooked to order served on an open air patio overlooking the Sea of Galilee. Then we were off to our last site there before heading up to Acre. The Mount of Beatitudes is where Jesus gave his most famous Sermon on the Mount. There is a chapel there of course, and it is a beautiful site overlooking the sea from a high hillside, and stones commemorating the Beatitudes.
In case you don't remember from Sunday School, or never went, they are, "Blessed are..."
- the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
- they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
- the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
- they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
- the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
- the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
- the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
- they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
After this, we hit the road, heading for Acre. This is just north of Haifa, almost on the northernmost border of Israel, by Lebanon. Acre is an ancient city, the oldest continuously inhabited site in Israel, according to Wikipedia, in fact. It was also known as Akko. There is an ancient fortress there, and it is referenced even by the ancient historian Josephus during Solomon's reign. Napolean attempted to lay siege to it, and it was a key site during the Crusdades as well.
My favorite thing about it was the cool Templar Tunnel which connected the fortress to the Mediterranean Sea, and another escape tunnel which connected to a building in the marketplace! Spy stuff from old times... Honestly, my head was already overflowing with historical sites, so as I look back, the facts all started to blur together by this point. But the one thing that did stand out was the cool tunnels! hahaha
When we got through the Templar Tunnel, we came onto a really beautiful site though. The ancient wall of the city was right up against the sea, but it was broken down, I think during the British Mandate period. So at the edge of where the wall once was, there is now a protected area of shallows, where people swim sometimes, and also collect clams I think. The wall reaches up to both sides of this protected spot, and it is a pretty site. We enjoyed that for a minute, and I almost thought of going in the water, but didn't have any change of clothes except back at the car, so opted against it.
After this, we walked along the city wall against the shore, and in one spot, the local kids jump off the wall, into the water. It was so tempting to jump myself! The heat of the day was already picking up by then, and the water looked so beautiful and clear! But it is really quite dangerous. The rocks at the base stick out so you have to really get a good start, to clear maybe 8 feet horizontally before it is deep enough to be safe. I was very sure I could make it. And I very nearly almost did it! But in the end, I opted out of this one. If I had one regret, that would be the only one, from the whole trip! But I do not have one regret. Finally, after debating it in my mind and with David and Sam, I concluded it was silly, and even if I did not die a horribly painful death of broken bones and body on the rocks below the wall, I would still have to endure an afternoon of salty hair and skin and sweat after I got out of the water, not having a proper place to shower up or change, and it would be an all around mess. So, this was one adventure I did skip. Next time... yes, next time, I will do it! But, as I told myself... it is always good to leave at least a few things undone, so you have something to do the next time around. At least that made me not feel bad about it. hahaha But honestly, I know it would have been awesome.
So, after Acre, I thought we had pretty much seen it all. We drove down to the modern city of Haifa, and had lunch in a wonderful spot overlooking the bay, with Acre visible at the far north end of the curve, and just about as far as visibility would allow, some tiny white cliffs, which are over in Lebanon, visible too. The restaurant is in a building cut into the side of a high mountain, Mt. Carmel, in fact, where Elijah lived and taught. There is another chapel of course, built around a cave there, where from which he often spoke. The cave which was his home is down below that just a ways. The restaurant had the same Arabic Tapas (I should learn the actual word for that by now, but I didn't) that we came to enjoy so much while we were in Israel, and I had lamb again.
After lunch in Haifa, we drove down, and I thought we were heading to Tel Aviv to wrap up our visit. We passed Microsoft's offices in Haifa, right on the coast, and that was fun to note. We also passed many beaches, where it seems like kite surfing is the big thing now. There were hundreds of these kite sails which go down to surfboards below, and people sail around on them. I wondered how often they must get tangled up, there were so many!
But on the way back to Tel Aviv, we had one more spot to hit. When Sam described Cesearea, I honestly thought, why would I want to see some ancient Roman seat of government, after all these other sites we have seen! But I am so glad he took time to stop off there and show it to us. It is really well preserved, and shows some of the magnificence of the time. Of course there are the standard mosaics and frescoes that we saw, although these were in better shape than many others. But the two things that stood out the most were the chariot stadium, which is very well intact, and the ocean pool of Herod, which was built right out of the stone on the sea floor, and remains extremely well preserved today. I can't describe it very well with words. It must have been amazing when it was just built! Even today, two thousand years later, it seems one of the most amazing pools I have ever seen. I don't think it is officially allowed, but one family was taking an afternoon swim there even! I thought, next time, I will bring my swimming trunks, not just to jump off the wall at Acre, but also to sneak a swim in Herod's own pool!
After Cesearea, we made our way back down the highway, and before we knew it, we were in Tel Aviv, approaching the hotel. We passed another Microsoft office there, in a tech park with lots of other computer companies. I thought, I like it so much here, it would be cool to get a transfer someday... We drove up the strip then, and said our goodbye to Sam, who showed us a first class experience in Israel, and proved to be one of the best decisions of this trip. After we got checked in, I knew we had to get to bed pretty early because we had to get up at 4:30am to make our flight across the Atlantic. But we still had one more item on the agenda for Tel Aviv! The beach!! Seeing it from the hotel window, it was too beautiful to resist. And although we had touched the water at Herod's pool at Cesearea, that was not the same as taking a real swim in the Mediterranean Sea. So although the sun was already setting, and we were by now dog tired, I convinced David, we have to go down and at least jump in one time. And, we did, and it was great! We ended up swimming for the better part of an hour, and by the time we got out, the sun was no longer visible at all. The beach was still very busy though, and crowds of people walking up and down the waterfront, enjoying a beautiful evening. We rinsed off and made our way back to the hotel.
I took a moment to pray for Israel one more time though, when we passed yet another memorial, to the victims of another bombing, again targeting innocent civilians just enjoying a day at the beach like we were, at the very spot where we swam, and not too long ago in fact.
Although it is way expensive to eat at the hotel, we were just too tired to head out for dinner as late as it was by the time we got back - and we took no money to the beach with us to eat down there! So, we decided just to eat in. But, after 5:30pm on Friday, we learned, Shabbat (Sabbath, as we know it), is in full effect! Even the nicest hotels in Israel strictly follow the Jewish tradition for the most part. There is even one elevator, deemed "Shabbat approved", which stops at every floor along the way, apparently on the "approved" list because it does not send an electrical impulse to the computer?! I'm sure MUCH more energy is expended by stopping at every floor, opening the elevator door and closing it again, losing all the momentum from the previous move, and then starting all over again, just to deliver one pious guest to their particular floor! But for some reason, apparently it is a gross violation of the commandment to honor the Sabbath if you send an electrical impulse to a computer. Never mind that you can still use the internet (for an extremely high fee of course - this is the
Intercontinental!), and the unfortunately ubiquitous hotel pay-per-view,
entertainment, is still available on TV. Yes, I did just have to look to see, after I learned about the elevator! I guess those details are part of a long established tradition, but I found that a little bit over the top, and obviously outside the spirit of the law, almost to the point of mocking the letter... But on the other hand, I give it to the Jews that at least they try to maintain this nod to the law, in an age where most cities never even slow down to nod to anything sacred, let alone stop, for even 2 minutes. I guess it is better to acknowledge the law through ritual and tradition than not to acknowledge it at all, maybe... Maybe it depends on the intent. I am no rabbi, so I should leave that debate to the better informed probably. But I am not knocking it, anyway. I found the Shabbat regulations really sweet and endearing in the end, and it just made me like Israel even more, even though it was a minor inconvenience. But honestly, I think they should at least cut off the pay-per-view trash on Shabbat, if they are serious enough to program an elevator to stop at every floor...
All of that to point out, the dinner available is extremely limited. Nothing may be heated on Shabbat! So all that is available from the world-class Intercontinental Hotel Tel Aviv from Friday at 5:30pm to Saturday at the same time, is cold wraps. Even the apple strudel could not be warmed! And I learned, this is not just the case at this particular hotel, but virtually everywhere in Israel. So... we had a nice fruit and cheese plate and salad, and tried to get to sleep early! When in Israel... we did as the Israelis do.
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| David got a morning swim in. I slept later though, just made it down in time to tell him to get up the hill for breakfast! |
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| Sea of Galilee from Mount of Beatitudes - I can imagine the big crowds gathered around while Jesus taught. |
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| Beautiful gardens at Mount of Beatitudes, and the lovely chapel in the distance |
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| The reddest rose - this one I took for Aunt Lucille. |
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| Stones with some of the Beatitudes - not all were listed though! I guess it is a work in progress. |
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| Sam and David in front of the Chapel of the Beatitudes |
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| Looking down from the chapel |
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| Garden fountain at the Fortress of Acre |
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| Cool vertical panorama above fountain at Acre |
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| Fortress of Acre |
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| Very well restored interior of the Fortress, this a prison room, would not have been so lovely back in the day I'm sure! |
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| Courtyard in the Fortress, where sword fights occurred for entertainment |
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| David standing under cool series of arches in the Fortress |
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| Ultra realistic re-enactment of a daring sword duel in the courtyard - can't you tell?! |
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| Now reinforced arches in the main dining hall, where Templar knights could be severely chastised for leaving the table early, even with harsh physical punishments. Geez, and I thought Mom was harsh! hahaha |
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| In the escape tunnel from under the dining hall, leading to a market stall! Sweet! It was fairly long and a tight squeeze. Sam got us at the end though, where a sharp turn occurs, he said, "Oh no, they have it locked!", and for just a second, I had a very brief moment of mild panic, before I realized he was joking! Doh! |
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| Market stalls, after exiting the main Fortress, very cool |
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| And the best part, the ancient Templar Tunnel, which carried supplies and people between the Fortress and the Subterranean Sea |
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| Me and David in the Templar Tunnel |
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| By the exit to the Templar Tunnel, at the waterfront, a cool stairway through ancient roads. You can still buy one of the apartments in the old city walls, for around $100k equivalent. They are pretty meager quarters though, but cool you can actually live in the ancient buildings 1000 years old or more if you want. |
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| Where the Templar Tunnel meets the sea, the wall was knocked down in recent centuries, and a shallow protected area of water is there, very pretty. |
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| David searching the video camera for something I think... you can see some people in the water in the background, I believe they are digging for clams. |
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| Where the original wall was broken down by the sea |
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| Sailboats on the Mediterranean |
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| Where the local kids jump off the city wall of Acre into the sea. I almost did it... Next time! |
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| Walking back through the city to the car |
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| Cool modern building in Haifa |
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| Bahai Temple in Haifa - a very modern religion, attempting to incorporate the tenets of all three of the religions descended from Abraham into a single faith - a difficult feat. |
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| Pretty fountain at the Bahai Temple, wedding in progress on the landing above |
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| Looking over the sea from Mt. Carmel, the small chapel at bottom right is over the cave that was Elijah's home in the hillside |
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| See where the land meets the sea? Yes? Now, see that tiny strip of white at the very border? Yes? That is Lebanon. Also, cool freight ship if you look closely. Eating dinner was cool, you could not see them moving, but if you look away for a few minutes and look back, you will see they are all in different positions. |
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| View from the restaurant where we had lunch in Haifa, built right on the side of the cliff on Mt. Carmel |
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| Chapel over the cave from which Elijah taught, just up the hill from his home |
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| Google in Haifa. Nice building! |
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| Microsoft has a nice building too. Don't worry Microsoft, I would never leave you! hahaha |
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| Kite sails. We must have seen 500 on the drive from Haifa back to Tel Aviv. I want to try it! |
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| Between Haifa and Tel Aviv, Cesearea, the ancient seat of Roman government in Israel - then known as Judea, but renamed Syria Palaestina by the brutal Roman emperor Hadrian, after the Philistines, Israel's ancient rival, as a deliberate insult to the Jews in retaliation for their rebellion - the same for which he ordered Jerusalem destroyed in 70AD. Interestingly, the modern Palestinians are not descended in any way from those original Philistines, but are rather Arab in descent. The name Palestine was given in modern times by the British under their mandate, and the Arabs picked it up as their nation's supposed ancient name. |
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| A mosaic urging citizens to pay their taxes, on the floor of the door of the head tax collector's home. I guess he had a vested interest, literally! Some things never change... hahaha |
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| A recently excavated tavern, complete with tunnel (unfortunately, tunnel not pictured though for some reason we forgot to snap that one!) |
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| Modern sculpture of chariot and horses at the entrance to the chariot arena, David faithfully recreating an authentic charioteer in action so we can clearly picture exactly what it must have been like! |
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| Drainage system was very complex, and these holes in the pavement lead to drain systems. The fresh water for the site came from aqueducts in the Mt. Carmel hills though, so no shortage of fresh water. |
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| Very well preserved mosaics in Herod's baths and gymnasium |
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| The ancient chariot stadium with massive rows that could seat thousands - trash can from modern era |
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| Close up of the seating area - note the cool holes, which led to elaborate tunnels in the rock behind the seating |
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| The crown jewel of the site in my opinion - Herod's pool, built into the sea. The picture does not remotely do it justice. When on site, you can see the walls and structures clearly visible, but here, it was hard to capture. One cool thing it did capture though was the blanket of the family who were enjoying a dip in the pool of the ancient ruler. Nice to see that life's luxuries have come to the masses in the 21st century! :) |
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| My first touch of the Mediterranean Sea - ok, I actually touched it about 15 minutes earlier over by the stadium, but had no picture of that... This was cooler though, in Herod's pool |
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| Good shot showing the walls of the original pool, so you can tell that in fact, the structure is very clear, even though centuries have eroded it a lot. It will not last too much longer, they say within a few decades, it may be finally washed away by the waves. I'm not so sure... maybe that is just more global warming sea levels rising hype though. 2000 years is a long time for a swimming pool built into the ocean to remain intact, through multiple wars, plunderers, pollution, earthquakes, storms, etc. I do hope it is not lost, but I am operationally fairly optimistic it will stand for centuries to come, despite predictions. Maybe I'm just a dolt though? You can be the judge! hahaha But in the end, time will tell. |
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| David peers into a cistern above Herod's swimming pool |
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| Panorama of Herod's Pool, doing it better justice than previous pictures at least |
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| Panorama by Herod's Palace at Cesearea with me, unfortunately, the camera's logic opted to slice about an inch out of my skull, but you can still get the idea... |
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| Ancient amphitheater, restored and used for modern performances. Some famous Israeli singer was warming up for a concert the following day - not sure who it was, but Sam knew him anyway, so we took his word that he is famous. |
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| Microsoft also has a building we saw coming into Tel Aviv at the end of the day. I like this one better, more modern. |
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| View from our room in Tel Aviv, beautiful beach! |
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