Israel, Day 9, 30 December

After an even better swim and more creamy kasza manna (a quick aside - I forget to mention that all the breakfast buffets had several fish options, too), we said good-bye to the hotel and northern Israel and headed for the Mediterranean coast by riding on the eucalyptus-lined road by the Lebanese border.


Our first stop was Rosh Hanikra, where the salt water has worn caves into the limestone hills.  It was great to be outside and see the sea's stunning shade of blue and to go into the caves.  There was even a sign confirming what I had been told all my life.  Birds living in some of the small caves may drop a little something on you, which is good luck!

From a movie (unusual fact - on the other side of the movie screen was Lebanon) we learned that people used to go over the hills, but during WWII a railway was blasted into them.  The tracks were used until a bridge was blown up to stop the railway from being used to move troops and weapons into Israel from Lebanon in 1948.  Right by the entrance to the park is a border crossing and cease-fire area.

distance in kilometers

We headed south along the coast to Akko (Acre), which is said to be one of the oldest continuously habited towns, dating back about 3500 years.  It has been home to a variety of cultures, including the Crusaders, Ottoman, and the British and is one of the most important places for the Bha'i Faith.  We visited a British prison built above the remains of the old city, toured an enormous, well-preserved dining hall, and followed the escape tunnels, which were made for much smaller people than modern Americans.

random sewer cover I liked

 We had lunch in town (falafel made while we waited) and R. had her first haggling experience, although unintentionally.  She checked out the dessert cart displaying a variety of halva and honey-nut bars and asked the price, but when she walked away (to check with me) the guy called after her with a lower price!

Not much farther down the coast was our stop in Haifa, which felt crowded after the open areas of the previous days.  This used to be the largest port town in Israel, but has been overshadowed by Ashdod, which is closer to Tel Aviv.  We saw the Baha'i Temple and Gardens, but it is being renovated and is covered with scaffolding.

click on photo to enlarge

Another aside - Israel is a sunny place and does not want to depend on neighboring countries for oil.  All homes are required to use solar hot water systems.  Because older homes were not built with these originally you can see them on rooftops all over the place.  The temple is on a hill, as are the houses in the neighborhood, so we had a good view of one set-up.

Even though it was dark we made a quick stop at Caesarea, an old port town named after Caesar Augustus.  It has a reconstructed Roman city and many art shops.  We had fun visiting a store that exclusively sold dreidels made on the premises.

Off to Tel Aviv!  The city proper isn't so big, but including the suburbs it has 3.5 million people, which is only one of the ways it reminded me of San Francisco.  Our friends, who had recently moved from London, waited patiently while we checked in and then took us to a little cafe we would have never found on our own.  It was wonderful to see friendly, familiar faces to hear about life in a new country.