An early departure from Tel Aviv, we had a sightseeing day on our way to the Sea of Galilee.
Our first stop was Caesaria.
Caesarea is a magnificent site, a national park where amazing ancient harbor ruins, beautiful beaches, and impressive modern residences sit side by side. Named by Travel & Leisure as the best tourist spot in the Middle East in 2020, Caesarea is originally an ancient Herodian port city located on Israel’s Mediterranean Coast about halfway between Tel Aviv and Haifa.
The site has recently been restored to create one of Israel’s most attractive and fascinating archaeological sites. The restored amphitheater hosts modern-day concerts during the summer months, whilst the Old City has a range of boutiques and restaurants. The new town of Caesarea is a luxurious neighborhood of villas, whose beach, the Caesarea Aqueduct Beach is one of the best beaches in Israel.
This ancient site is one of, if not Israel’s, most impressive archaeological site. The beautifully restored harbor here was built by King Herod and is a work of engineering marvel.
The Judaean port of Caesarea had no reliable source of fresh water when construction on the city began around 22 BC. King Herod commissioned a raised aqueduct to deliver water from the springs near Shuni, 16 kilometres northeast of Caesarea Maritima. Today, the most impressive part of the Herodian aqueduct (known as the high-level aqueduct I) can be seen on the beach of Caesarea, north of the ancient city.
We got to see this - it is incredible and goes for 28km (the aqueduct at Segovia which is also very impressive is 16km long).
We then drove to Haifa (now we are an hour and 15 minutes drive from Tel Aviv). Haifa has a population of approximately 300,000 people and now has the principal port of the country - cruise ships dock here. Haifa is on the foot of Mount Carmel. A Catholic religious order was founded on Mount Carmel in 1209, named the Carmelites, in reference to this mountain range. The Carmelite Order grew to be one of the major Catholic religious orders worldwide, although the monastery at Carmel has had a less successful history.
We drove up Mount Carmel to the Baha’i Gardens (Hanging Gardens of Haifa) a UNESCO world heritage site. Extending from the summit of Mount Carmel, this magnificent garden features 19 terraces and its centerpiece, the gold-domed Shrine of the Bab, which contains the tomb of Siyyad Ali Muhammed. Certainly a beautiful viewpoint. The border with Lebanon was visible from this vantage point.
The first MRI was developed here.
Our next stop was lunch in Acre (or Akko). We went to the market for lunch and all had a falafel sandwich - it was yummy! Because it was Friday (prayers were on, given the relatively high proportion of Muslims here) they delivered our beers to us in paper bags.
Acre is a port city in northwest Israel, on the Mediterranean coast. It’s known for its well-preserved old city walls. Acre was a hugely important city during the Crusades as a maritime foothold on the Mediterranean coast of the southern Levant, and was the site of several battles, including the 1189–1191 Siege of Acre and 1291 Siege of Acre.
It was the last stronghold of the Crusaders in the Holy Landprior to that final battle in 1291.
It was Richard the Lionheart (King of England) who was successful in the Siege of Acre during the Crusades but later failed in his attempt to capture Jerusalem (twice).
We then went to Nazareth. The city commands immense religious significance, deriving from its status as the hometown of Jesus, the central figure of Christianity. We visited the Basilica of the Annunciation. The claim to fame of this Basilica is the site of the Annunciation – in which angel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary and announced that she would give birth to Jesus. It was established over what Catholic tradition holds to be the site of the house of the Virgin Mary. The cave like structure is contained on the bottom floor of the church and the top floor is devoted to Mary - with a lily in the dome to signify purity.
We then visited St Joseph’s church next door which is believed to have been built over the site of Joseph’s workshop. You can see through mesh grates on the floor where the workshop was thought to be.
This church is nowhere near as grand as the Basilica but symbolically Joseph was always in the background compared to Mary and Jesus.
We drove through Cana which is where the famed wedding of Cana is claimed to take place and saw a glimpse of the church. This is where Jesus is claimed to have turned water into wine at a wedding at the request of his Mother Mary.
We then had our first glimpse of the Sea of Galilee - which is really a freshwater lake. We arrived at our hotel in Tiberius at 5.30 after a very busy and very hot day! Sunset (Friday evening) represents the beginning of Shabbat - a day of rest for Jews. Shabbat has many rules to follow and it is very interesting but I will not do that justice here. Importantly though, is that is really is a day of rest (as opposed to our weekend where we still work - housework, gardening etc). What it means for tourists though is that many things are closed, which makes sense because it is a time of rest. But it also means that there is no traffic on the road (because driving is not allowed), public transportation hence ceases, the lifts are programmed to stop at each floor (because buttons can’t be pushed) etc. Shabbat lasts each week from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday.
We arrived at our hotel quite hot and exhausted at about 5.30pm. We had a corner room with views over the lake and pool, but we had a Shabbat dinner at 6.30. This was interesting in that we had a little Shabbat prayer and blessing with red wine and bread.
And there was a buffet kosher dinner. There was soooo many options to eat (including meat, chicken and fish) and it was all so delicious. There was no butter because there is no dairy in a kosher meal but that was ok - otherwise we were all happy with our dinner, which we enjoyed with a few drinks.
2025-02-10