ISRAEL - DAY 7

Sept. 24 was our last day of touring Israel and it began with a visit to old Akko (or Acre as it is also known).  Akko was in the hands of the Muslims and Turks before being conquered by the Crusaders.  We visited a prison that was built by the Turks and used by the Crusaders to imprison Jews.  It is now called the Museum of Heroism dedicated to the underground Jews who were killed.  The courtyard of the prison is now used for festivals.

Picture of one side of the prison.

Another angle of the prison.

 Ceiling structure inside the building.

Clock tower in old Akko.

‘Goods’ of an enterprising vendor.

Caravans arrived in this square.  Animals stayed in the bottom and people at the top.

Looking down the ‘corridor’ of the square.

Looking across the Mediterranean from Akko to Haifa.

Young men jump (for fun) from this rock formation into the sea.

And here's one of those jumpers!

View of old Akko from atop a restaurant.

Our next stop was at Haifa.  On the way to the top of Mount Carmel, we passed the Baha’I World Centre which has spectacular gardens meticulously groomed.  You can only get into the gardens by appointment and we didn't have one.

View of the Baha’I World Centre from the street.  The golden dome represents the founder of the Baha’I sect.

Haifa is a bustling city on the coast of the Mediterranean with a large port.  Arabs and Jews coexist in Haifa.  Most of the Arab population are Christians and there are many churches and also some mosques.

The two pictures above are views of Haifa Bay from Mount Carmel.

An office building in Haifa reminiscent of those in Dubai.

View of the Baha’I gardens from Mount Carmel.

The extended family with Haifa Bay in the background.

Panorama of the Baha’I World Centre, Haifa and Haifa Bay.

Our next stop was to see the Roman ruins at Caesarea.  Caesarea was built by King Herod and had the largest and most modern port of that time.  The port no longer exists.

Panorama of the ruins at Caesarea.

 The remains of Herod’s swimming pool which actually extended out another 100 meters into the sea.  The original mosaic still remains.

 These were public toilets and people used feathers to ‘dry/clean’ themselves.  There was no inhibition among the citizens.

 The Hippodrome where chariot racing took place.

 Hall of Hearing where Paul would have been brought for charges against him to be heard.  (The hall ends where the stones curve).

Our final stop was at Jaffa in Tel Aviv.  Our tour guide’s boss met us with a ‘touch’ of red wine and a couple of different kinds of breads to have a celebratory toast to the Jewish new year.  Our guide was able to get us to the top of the hill and give an explanation of the gate in the picture below and since we were all very tired by that time, a sip of wine and the gorgeous view of Tel Aviv from he hill was all it took for us to decide the tour was ended.

A picture of the gate with biblical representations on the hill at Jaffa.

View of Tel Aviv.

Our extended family with our tour guide (in the white pants).  She is likely THE best tour guide I have ever had.  She separated fact from fiction and had a very dry sense of humour which we all enjoyed.  I would highly recommend her for anyone contemplating doing a similar tour.

Last but not least, the extended family with our bus driver.  I think he has to be one of the best bus drivers I’ve ever had.  He navigated streets so narrow that at times, he barely had an inch left on either side……and he was probably THE calmest driver I have ever had.

And so ends an amazing, eye-opening experience.  Israel is truly a very complex and complicated country where Arabs and Jews reside in harmony, sometimes beside each other, and at other times in a bit of an uneasy peace.  It’s hard to believe that it can be so peaceful on one side of the wall and on the other side, there is so much unrest.  The topography of Israel was also surprising to me.  I thought it was very flat and it’s quite the opposite – very mountainous - dry in the south and very fertile in the north.  It was wonderful to visit some of the actual places in the bible, especially with my extended family.  These are memories I will cherish for the rest of my life.

ISRAEL - DAY 6

On Sept. 23, we set out for the Golan Heights en route to the Sea of Galilee and Mount of the Beatitudes.  We passed by a Druze village and managed to see a Druze man walking on the street.  The Druze are a closed sect who live in the Golan Heights.  One can only be a Druze if the parents are Druze.  There are no career ambitions but they are loyal to the country so the Druze boys serve in the Israeli army.  The Druze are citizens of Israel.  In 1967 when Israel won the Golan Heights, Druze were given the opportunity to become Israeli citizens.

For about the last fifty years, it has been quiet on the Golan Heights.  There are UN personnel on the border of Syria and Israel but they serve merely as ‘watchers’ and ‘incident reporters’.  Israel cannot count on the UN personnel to guard the border as Syrians already tried to get into Israel but were stopped by Israeli soldiers.  As a result, Israel is building a border patrol system high on the mountain but we were asked not to take pictures.  There are several memorials along the Golan Heights dedicated to soldiers who lost their lives in the 1967 war.  We did, however, encounter a few soldiers who had stopped in the same place we did and they obliged us with pictures.

From where we stopped, we were looking at Syria.

A Druze village in the Golan Heights.

This is the UN compound at the border between Syria and Israel.

Looking over into Syria.  (The buildings in the distance are in Syria).

My brother with one of the soldiers. 

My friend (at the end) and I with the soldiers.  We were photo-bombed at the last minute by the woman in front of me.

My niece with the soldiers.

The Sea of Galilee (taken from the bus) 

The New Church of St. Peter (Church of the Beatitudes) built over previous churches.  The rocks are the remains of the house of Peter’s mother-in-law where Jesus stayed.

A view of inside the church.

Some of the remains of a synagogue.

At the Mount of the Beatitudes with the Sea of Galilee in the background.

Date palms laden with dates on the grounds of the New Church of St. Peter.

Rock formation of fishes also on the grounds.

We took a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee.  The boat we were in was similar to this one.

Picture of the extended family (plus one) on the boat ride. 

Family picture on the boat ride.

Looking at the Mount of the Beatitudes from the Sea of Galilee.

The altar of the Church of the Loaves & Fishes was built over a rock which represents the place where Jesus was when his disciples came to tell him there was no food for the multitudes.

The mosaic floor in the church is the original floor from about 1600 years ago.  The church was lost in a fire and was rebuilt about 43 years ago.

An so ends another great day in this fantastic week of learning!