My personal guide for the next several days, Birte, met me at the hotel and we drove off in the comfort of a Hyundai mini-van. Today we were off to Caesarea and Acre then she was to leave me off at my hotel in Tiberius on the Sea of Galilee. She had a case of bottled water for me and the travel would be tailored to what I wanted to spend more or less time with. I feel like we hit it off well from the very start. I tried to share as much as possible about where I was coming from and we were able to quickly break the ice. Her most important question was about my religious interests since most of the clients focus on either the Christian or the Jewish sites. I explained my mixed Christian and Jewish background with equal disbelief in both, along with strong interest in history and in current cultural trends. I agreed with her that history in Israel in particular is extremely closely linked with religion. I do want to see the religious sites.

Our first stop was at Caesarea that was built by Harrod the Great, who died in 4 BCE. I like how they use “Before the Common Era” (BCE) instead of “Before Christ”, along with “Common Era” (CE) instead of AD. She spoke of what a genius Harrod was and how much he contributed to the architecture of the region and much more. His three sons divided up his area after his death, including the Herrod Antipas involved in the crucifixion of Jesus. Caesarea was a very impressive archaeological site and was the capital of the Roman province. The theater was spectacular. I had never understood the difference between a theater and an amphitheater. Apparently, an amphitheater was designed for battles with animals and had a sunken stage so that the animals couldn’t attack the spectators. The area in the front of a Greek theater was designed for the singers who told the story that was being acted out. These singers were called (what else) the chorus. In the Roman theater that area is called the orchestra for the musicians.

So, if I’m a size 13, this foot is a size???

 

Finally, someone with less hair (and less brains), than me

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The theater at Caesarea

Harrod built a harbor that withstood everything except earthquakes and of course, had a massive palace built for his family. The ruins are impressive. In what she warned me will be crucial dates for much of the sites in Israel, Caesarea was impacted by the Muslim invasions of 636 and the Crusades from 1099 to 1280.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then were off to Acre or Acco with a stop to overlook Haifa, the third largest city after Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and the Bahai Gardens. The Bahai have a fascinating concept that all the major religions just added new prophets to the same god. So Moses, Jesus, Mohamed, and Buddha are basically working for the same guy. Of course they add their own prophet to the mix. Seems like not such a bad idea that all the religions are talking about the same thing, each with their own twist. Of course, I have issues with some of their beliefs too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Bahai Gardens in Haifa

One of my favorite places in Acre was the prison that Paul Newman escaped from in the movie Exodus. One of the many great true stories Birta told me was of when the British decided to hang a Jewish freedom fighter and the resistance captured two British officers in retaliation. They told the British to spare the lives of their people and just give them life imprisonment. When the British hanged the Jewish fighters, they did indeed retaliate by hanging the British officers. That ended the death penalty for Jewish freedom fighters.

Paul Newman’s prison from Exodus

Acre is dominated by the 12th century Crusader castle. The architecture is a mix of Gothic and Arab styles with their own twist added on. Twenty-first century people sometimes believe that our technology and ability to create is superior to all that came before. So much of what I saw in Acre and in Caesarea and I’m sure in what is to come in the next few days puts me in awe of the ancients. The fact that we could not create today what they created many centuries ago and that they did not have electricity or motorized vehicles should destroy the myth of our superiority over the ancients. I especially enjoyed the Templar’s Tunnel, even though it got a little claustrophobic when I had to bend way over at times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Templar’s Tunnel at Acre Castle

I’m going to try every day to have a freshly squeezed pomegranate juice, maybe mixed with orange juice. Massive Pomegranates.

I wish I remember which comedian did the Marriage Makes You Stupid routine. Things that you used to be able to do before you were married become lost arts, since you rely on your spouse to do it. I used to be able to wash my clothes and pack myself. While travelling, I can’t imagine now trying to go to a coin laundry. I’m relying on the expensive hotel cleaning service or as it turned out my guide has a service I can go to in Jerusalem that will be much cheaper. (Margaret – please don’t read the next part, of course, I know you will) My bag was well packed before leaving under close supervision by Margaret. Now that I’ve been gone a week and a half, it’s in shambles. I haven’t even really looked at what’s in there. I just grab stuff and throw things back in when it’s time to pack up. Unfortunately, I now need to actually figure out what’s left to wear and what needs to be put in for cleaning. The one day I did send items for cleaning in Cyprus, after I had everything ready I realized I hadn’t left me any pants. Fortunately for the hotel staff I pulled some pants out of the dirty clothes before going down to the lobby.

Now that I think about it, this is how I dealt with packing and cleaning in the past. Maybe it’s not marriage that made me stupid, I did that on my own.