Israel Discovery
Day Three – 28 Nov2009
Weather: Sunny, 22 (jeans and t-shirt)
I was up at 7 and luggage was out by 7:30. Shabbat breakfast was interesting. Nothing was cooked, but there were boiled eggs. I opened one up and the colour and smell were not appealing in the least. I didn’t touch it and settled for croissants. There was tea, as well.
We piled into the van at 8:30. Zvika rotated us one seat each so that I was in the middle of the back seat. The luggage and extra bags were put into the back. There is no room at our feet for a knapsack or bag but we were quite comfortable.
We drove through Tel Aviv while it still slept. There were only a handful of cars on the road. Zvika slowed down to give us a view of the site where Rabin was assassinated.
He continued his commentary all the way to Caesarea which took less than an hour.
Caesarea is a port that was built by Herod and designed to resist invaders and promote trade as the area which was the crossroads between the Egyptian, European and Babylonian traders. It fell into disrepair after Herod died but remained a port until the Crusades. Much of the site still remains under the Earth or under water. A Roman theatre is still in use.
The hippodrome was located close to the water, despite digging for it at another location and aqueducts were located some distance away. A stone with Pilate’s name was discovered as well.
After watching a short film on the port, Zvika gave us 5 minutes to shop. I picked up a fridge magnet and we piled back into the van. The drive to Haifa took less than an hour. Zvika drove us above the city where we could get some great pics of the city then pointed out Akko in the distance – our next destination.
With Shabbat coinciding with a Muslim holiday, the traffic going into Akko was very heavy. After a long wait in traffic, Zvika sweet-talked a policeman into letting us beyond the barrier where we were able to park.
We followed him into the Crusader castle. The building has been used since the crusades as everything from a headquarters to a prison to a mental institution.
Only recently, a subterranean area was un-earthed with massive columns and a claustrophobic escape tunnel created by the French 900 years ago.
It was 2:30 by the time we finished with the castle and Zvika managed to get us a table at one of the restaurants outside. The eight of us squeezed into a table meant for four and Zvika went in to get our lunch – falafel in a pita – whether we wanted it or not. (And we were going to like it – whether we wanted to or not…LOL).
It was delicious.
We finished up by three and waded through the crowd back to the van. The crowd was a mix of Muslim, Jews and Christians celebrating the holiday and shopping together. As Zvika noted, you won’t find CNN there to broadcast that kind of co-existence.
Thinking the day was almost over, we piled back into the van when Zvika said that Nazareth was the next stop. I thought we were all going to drop. The drive to Nazareth was in heavier traffic and we didn’t arrive until after 4 pm. We visited the Church of the Annunciation – which is fairly modern and not like the churches you see all the time in Europe.
The church is filled with mosaics submitted by dozens of countries showing what their idea of Mary was from their perspective.
It was dark by the time we found the van again. On the way, Zvika showed us a billboard with a quote from the Quran about how they want everyone to be Islamic. He takes it to mean that they are threatened by Islam. I took it as being a quote taken out of context and much ado about nothing.
It took us almost an hour to get to the hotel in Tiberius.
We all thought we were going to a Kibbutz but Zvika said that was no longer the case. (I’d heard the quality of the rooms at the Kibbutz had gone downhill). We got our rooms and had an hour to get ready for dinner. Others tours are in the hotel and the restaurant was full. The buffet was adequate and the desserts delicious. After supper, four of us went for a walk near the Sea of Galilee. I got some money from an ATM and we shopped at some of the street stalls. I got a couple of t-shirts and a shawl for my sister for about $13. Quite reasonable.
We returned to our rooms at 9.
I caught up on my email with internet having several options including by the minute, hour or day. The room is much like the other Sheraton with kettle, bar fridge, safe, flat screen TV with a decent selection of channels, shampoo and condiments and clothesline. No iron.
Tomorrow, we have to meet up at 7:45 for the boat ride on the sea. Zvika hopes to get us to the Dead Sea by 4 pm which should give us time to take a dip while the sun is still up. Which reminds me…gotta dig out my bathing suit.
Go to Day Four
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