Road Trip with Sam & the Girls

The bus was late.  Even though I don't believe in "signs", I was worried that this didnt portend a great day ahead.

I was up early, skipped breakfast and was waiting in the lobby for the mini-van driver/guide to arrive.  I had made a reservation to take a trip to Israel's Northwestern territory, which would include Caesarea, Haifa, Acco (aka Acre), Nahariya & Rosh Ha'Nikra.  The price was reasonable and I liked the idea that today everything was pre-arranged and all I had to do was enjoy the scenery.

Getting worried that I might have been forgotten, I requested help from the front desk clerk.  He in turn made a call or two and found out that the driver was stuck in traffic coming from Jerusalem.  I was relieved when 45 minutes later Sam the guide and driver came through the lobby and escorted me to his mini-van.

I was the last pick-up of the day.  In the van waiting for me were 3 American women, who were attending a security conference at the David Inter-Continental (Tel Aviv) and Marilyn & Nancy, who I went to Masada & the Dead Sea with the day before.  Happy to see each other again, we quickly caught up on what we'd all been doing.  Marilyn told me that she spoke to her son, who had booked her trip to Masada and told him that he had paid at least 25 dollars more than I'd paid through my travel agent back home.  He planned to speak with the tour company to see why there was such a big price discrepancy.

Once again I was riding shotgun in the front seat.

True to form before Sam had reached the outskirts of Tel Aviv I was fast asleep.  I didn't wake until we were about 10 miles from Caesarea.  It was a gorgeous day, sunshine and somewhere about 73 degrees.  The ocean was on our left and there were fields of banana trees with their giant leaves blowing in the wind.

Chatting a bit, we found that Sam came from Romania originally and after WW II he emigrated to Israel.  He had been giving these tours for 40 years.  He spoke many languages (quite well), and had a special fondness for Italian (This was something my Libyan taxi driver mentioned the day before.  Before becoming an independent nation Libya had been an Italian colony).  Later in the day we would learn that Sam also had a very fine singing voice.

First Stop:  Caesarea.  Seeing the ancient Roman fortress was my primary reason for booking this day trip and I wasn't disappointed.  The Romans controlled ancient Israel during the 2nd Temple period from this Harbor on the Meditteranean north of present-day Tel Aviv and South of Haifa, where they constructed not just a fortress, but an amphitheatre (which is used today to stage theatrical productions) and other buildings.  After the Roman period the port of Caesarea was settled by both the Crusaders & Muslims.  A Mosque still exist on the site.  Recent excavations have uncovered the name Pontius Pilate, etched in stone.  Pilate was infamous as the Roman Governor at the time of Jesus' Cruxifixion.

Columns from the Roman & Byzantine periods still stand along the sea wall.  A almost completely intact stone sarcaphogus has been uncovered and stand at the approach to the sea..

We walked from the amphitheatre along the beach in which stone ruins poked up through the sand, to the other side of the harbor on which a reconstructed building stood.  We had a magnificent view of the sea from where we stood for  picture, with the mosque and a street of shops behind us.  As we stood taking in the ruin, a man dressed in a Roman Tunic (think Tony Curtis in Spartacus) walked by carring a very large rod with a Roman-like decoration on the top.  The man was leading a group of little children on a tour.  With the winds gusting up from the Med I felt a bit sorry for the guy, as that little tunic certainly couldn't be keeping him warm.

Many stray cats roamed along the ruins or bathed in the sunshine.

With the shops closed, and having made use of the restrooms we were ready to move on to our next location.

Sam drove along the ocean road to show us the Roman Aquaducts that had been recently excavated by the Israelis.  For a structure 2000+ years old it was quite solid.  We would later see many such aquaducts on our way up the coast.  Water distribution and conservation are nothing knew in Israel, as we were learning from the ruins of Masada to the harbor at Caesarea.  Water conservation remains a top priority and there are projects around Israel dedicated to this effort.

Maybe it was the cool winds or mabye we were just a lazy today, but when Sam suggested we get out to take a picture next to the aquaduct, we demured.  We were happy to take our snaps from the comfort of the of the mini-van.

Onward to Haifa and the spectacular Bahai Gardens.  When we passed through Haifa the week before, it was overcast and I only got to the see the Gardens from a distance.  I was very happy that I'd have another opportunity to see the the world famous Gardens and the center of the Bahai faith.

We drove the winding road from Haifa harbor through residential neighborhoods until we reached the entrance to the Bahai Gardens.  The Bahai are a sect of Islam founded in 19th Century Persia.  They profess that all persons can have a personal relationship with G-d and that messengers have been sent throughout the ages to lead people to G-d.  They believe that each human being can speak directly to G-d without the assistance of clergy.  The Bab was the founder of the Bahai faith.  He was imprisoned for his teachings and later expelled from Persia.  He lived in many parts of the Moslem world but was strictly repressed by the Moslem hierarchy.  Eventually his followers built a home for him in Acco near Haifa.  He is entombed at the Bahai Gardens in an area not open to tourists.

Looking down from the stone staircase and archways that surround the various levels of the garden we saw lush green lawn and beds of the most brightly colored flowers (reds especially stand out),  Gardeners were working below, as this site must be constantly tended to maintain its world renowned grandeur.

A camera crew was filming while we visited.  When asked, I was told that they were filming for Polish Television.

After the requisite pictures were taken and the ooohhs and aaahhhs were sounded we got back in the mini-van.  Sam drove to an overlook just a short distance from the gardens.  To the right of the overlook stands the Stella Maris (Star of the Sea) 19th Century Monestary.  Below we could sea ships placed on blocks in a park.  These ships were used to bring in the "illegal immigrants" during the British Mandate Period.  The merchant ships in the harbor and the highrise buildings added to the scenery.  It was without a doubt a world-class view.

It was hard to leave, but our bellies were grumbling and we had to keep to schedule.  We were taken to lunch just on the coast just north of Haifa, at an empty cafeteria where Sam was obviously a regular visitor.  The hotel directly behind the cafeteria was called the "Palm Beach".  The food was limited - not even a decent dessert to be had - but it was much better than the meal we had at Qumran during the day-trip to Masada.

With lunch concluded with made the short drive to Acco which was a fortress/town originally built by the Romans and used in turn by Byzantines, Crusaders, Moslems, British and the State of Israel.  It has been a fortress , prison, hotel/Inn, mental hospital and in its present incarnation, an historic site.

During the mandate period (1918-1948) the Brits imprisoned (and hanged) Jews & Moslems who they considered terrorists.  Among these prisoners were members of the Irgun (led by Menachem Begin) whose tactics to drive the British from Palestine were often violent (ex.  blowing up the British HQ at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem).  The film "Exodus" (starring Paul Newman and directed by Otto Preminger) depicted a break-out of Jewish prisoners from Acco Prison.

Standing in a large square that had been the courtyard of an Inn during the time of the Crusaders, with a fountain at its center, I was reminded of 15th century Spain or Portugal.

Sam had parked the mini-van outside the Arab quarter of Acco next to the local police precinct and jewelry/gift shop.  He then led us through the Arab Souk, past fish mongers, vegetable & fruit sellers, and into a spice shop decorated in a equestrian motif.  A beautiful antique saddle and photos of polo players astride their ponies were on display.

With the owners permission I clicked off a number of shots.  The gentleman then asked me if I liked horses, I nodded yes, but thought it not best to expand on it, as my riding was limited to a few childhood pony rides and one jaunt around playa blanca on a very old stallion.

A great surprise was had when seemingly out of the blue, a young boy riding a mule, galloped past us and into the narrow passageway of the souk.

We passed through the Arab neighborhood and saw a group of women with their traditional head coverings gathered around a stone fountain.

We came out of the market into the harbor.  Fisherman were drawing their nets in.  I was reminded the St. Peter, who was said to have been a Fisherman in the Galilee, not far from here.

There was a mosque next to the harbor, with loudspeakers attached to the miniret to call the faithful to prayer.

Naturally, we were led to the gift shop.  But this time, I was pleasantly surprised that it contained some interesting jewelry among the standard tourist bric-a-brac.  I spotted a large silver ring with amber stones and decided almost immediately that it should be mine.  I also bought a very inexpensive hamsa (a charm in the shape of an open hand that is commonplace among Moslems & Jews) because it was beautifully painted in blue and red.  I bought a thin rubber necklace to hang it from.

The other ladies were taken with the copper souvenirs that are sold in this part of Israel.  There was an artisan working in copper at this shop.

With our souvenirs purchased, we were back in the mini-van and heading for Rosh Ha-Nikra the northwest border of Israel & Lebanon.

We drove to up to the white cliffs that lie just below the fence with Lebanon.  We walked up the pathway to the entrance of the cliff.  There we bought tickets and entered a mechanical gondola that lifted us up the mountainside.  We disembarked and followed Sam around the white cliffs - a little bit treacherous - and into the grotto where the pounding surf had formed tunnels where the ocean flowed in and out.

There were some children visiting at the same time and their shouts and laughter could be heard echoing through the grotto.

While demonstrating the fantastic acoustics of the cavernous grotto, Sam showed off his his vocal ability by singing an Italian aria

The rocks were slippery so I walked cautiously along and held onto a railing wherever possible.

It struck me that this could be an incredible romantic setting for two lovers.  I can't confirm, as that was not my experience.

Unfortunately my camera batteries gave out at this point.  Stupidly I had left the extra batteries in the mini-van negating taking pictures at the border crossing.

Back before the two wars in Lebanon, friends of mine had visited Israel and told me that this was the "friendly border" where you would waive at the Lebanese soldiers and they'd waive back.  Sadly, that is no longer the case.  The border is securely guarded by Israeli soldiers.  After leaving the grotto, we walked up to the guardhouse where Sam exchanged greetings in Hebrew with the soldier guarding the gate.

At this point my sweet tooth was calling out to me.  Fortunately, next to us in the parking lot was a snack bar with a fridge full of good humor pops.  Like a 5 year old I happily melted into my seat and finished off my treat before we left the parking lot.

Once again, I slept almost the entire way back to Tel Aviv.  The women from the security conference at the David Inter-Continental had a do to go to and they were running late.  Sam asked if I minded being dropped off after them,  As I had no particular evening plans I indicated that would be fine.

We drove along Hayarkon and then turned down the beach road until we came to the David Inter-Continental.  After exchanging addresses & emails, Marilyn & Nancy also got here to wait for their ride to Jerusalem.  Sam then made a turnaround and drove me back down Hayarkon to the Melody Hotel.

I had no trouble tipping Sam.  He was knowledgable, charming and a knew his way around the highways and byways.  Not to mention his he had a great set of pipes.

Since I'd been lucky with dinner the night before, I decided to once again head back to Dizengoff Street, but first I needed some shekels.  I walked around the corner from the Melody down Jabotinsky to Ben Yehuda looking for an ATM.  After about 15 min. I came an upon one, but it did not accept my bank card.  I then walked one street over to Dizengoff and found an ATM at Bank Leumi at the intersection of Dizengoff & Arolozoff.  I had a trouble with the ATM because it was in Hebrew, but a nice young woman helped me through it.  At last I had my shekels.  Dinner was practically in sight.

Like the night before, I found a terrific cafe on Dizengoff where I had salad, schnitzel, and mashed potatos.  I was beginning to get a cold, so I ordered a hot cider that came with an orange slice, a cinnamon stick and tiny bits of chopped apple floating on top.  It was soothing to my scratchy throat.

After dinner I had some trouble getting the attention of the waitress.  A woman sitting next me caught on to my problem and motioned the waitress for me.  After I got my check, the woman next to me said that I needed to remember that in Israel one had to be more forceful if you wanted attention.  I agreed.  She then went on to tell me that she had lived in Belgium for 5 years, following her marriage.  She said she incessantly nagged her Belgian husband about returning to Israel.  5 years later, she got her wish and they returned to Israel.  Yet another unsolicited life story courtesy of a stranger.

Back at the Melody I climbed into bed and actually watched television for the first time in almost 2 weeks.

Tomorrow would be my last full day in Israel.