April 22, Caesarea, Haifa, Akko, and to Tiberias

What a day. Left Tel Aviv with our 14 member tour group, Adrian the guide and Nazid the driver. Visited Caesarea, the amplitheatre built by Herod to appease those Judeans. And the more modern town built in the 1950's by the Rothschilds (plus Israel's only 18 hole golf course). Then to Haifa, huge and industrial. Ba'hai temple. Then to Acre or Akko. Crusader town, walled town, walked through to lunch on the sea. Then to here, Tiberias. On the Sea of Galilee. Or Sea of Kinneret. Places have several names, depending which language or heritage you are filtering through. Scots Hotel, this place is a delight.  Breath of fresh air here 750 feet below sea level. Trees, lovely lake, mountains opposite. Jesus spent years here. Smart. 

So many faiths, so many languages. How do they keep it all in harmony? Living so close together. Israeli flags eveywhere. I don't see this many flags flying in the US. On maybe 1/3 the houses and

Makes sense why Jesus would be here, in the center of all this trade, in the center of three continents meeting. People constantly in and out and around. Rome reaching out to here. Faith being the topic of all conversations, but not always spoken. 

Just walking through your day seeing two languages, or three, on every sign. That seeps into you that this is one country, but divided. 

Tel Aviv. Many photos from the bus, for a flavor.  The Tech-Center. Built to attract high tech companies. It did. 









And the new football stadium. 

 The American Embassy. Not showy. Mike says, it's bomb-proof. 

Caesarea Amplitheatre, right on the Mediterranean, still in use. Built by Herod the Great, who built the Second Temple, to help his public image. 

Caesarea. Roman city. Rebuilt by the Rothschilds. 






















































The Greek mosaic is from Deuteronomy:

 6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.












 Had some fun moments with several Arab girls, about 12 years old, who wanted to ask our names, speak to us. They giggled. And giggled. 

Then a few houses, just houses, on the way up to the top of Haifa.

 Ba'hai temple. Here is where Bab is buried, who founded Bah'ai. 

German town in Haifa.

Street signs don't have English sometimes, just Hebrew and Arabic. 

Now to Acre. Or Akko. Walled city from Crusade times, 1200's. Still in use. Still being lived in. Not cleaned up tourist site. 

Note Mike as Jonah in the whale, with Namaste Yoga hand pose.

Not used to soldiers carrying machine guns yet.

XL energy drink. It's everywhere in Israel.

Nuts, nougat, candy.

In Knight's Templar area of Akko. HUGE difference walking into tree shaded courtyard from congested, hot streets of Akko. 

Driving one hour, west, across Lower Galilee, towards Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee. It gets greener, houses get larger. Olive trees. Agriculture. 

Glimpses of Sea of Galilee. 

The mountains on the opposite side of the Sea of Galilee are majestically yellow in the setting sun. 












The town of Tiberias. Settled in 18 AD as a Roman city. 

The Scots Hotel. What a cool place. Basalt rock (local) not the limestone or coral stone of Akko. Owned and operated by the Church of Scotland. Was a hospital, now a hotel. Love it. 

 Festive dinner in the hotel's wine cellar with our group.