Today began with an eager, optimistic start. After breakfast in Tel-Aviv, we went to the bus loading area to identify our bags (for security purposes, each person identifies to the bell captain what belongs to us so that no unknown packages get on the bus) and prepare for departure.
Rabbi Biatch offered a Psalm (each day there is special inspirational message; today we spoke about encircling the land – Israel), and our guide Miri began our tour by escorting us up the main coastal road right through the heart of Tel-Aviv – along “embassy row” – to the outskirts of the city and onto the main highway connecting Tel-Aviv to the North.
We passed through Herzliya, the town established to honor Theodor Herzl and founded by Baron Edmund Rothschild. In fact Baron Rothschild wanted to build a golf course there, one which would have been the first of eventually two in Israel. He was successful, but only when he volunteered to eliminate caddies from the club, as they were not seen by the provisional government of (Jewish) Palestine as socialist enough.
We were lucky that we were traveling against incoming commuting traffic; Tel-Aviv is just like any US city at rush hour, with gridlock, pollution (especially in our 70 degree weather today; there probably was an inversion layer), and honking. Still, we made it to Caesaria on time, and we toured the ancient city built by the Greeks and then improved by Rome.
First we entered the amphitheatre, which used to house shows for royalty, which now is the home of most seasons’ classical and rock concerts. The bowl of the amphitheatre faces the ocean, and even when nothing else is happening, it is a beautiful place.
Then we walked to the ruins of Herod’s palace and circus (the Roman version of the horse races), which have been uncovered in the last few years. The settlement along the Mediterranean is gigantic, and it was amazing to understand how, through Greek, Roman, Crusader, and British rule these places still had their purpose and function.
In the second picture just above, you can see the newly exposed mosaic floor at the palace of Herod. Some of the area is covered by sand bags so as not to disturb or destroy further the delicate floor. The third picture above shows the circus arena.
We drove a bit to the remains of the aqueduct that, in Roman times, brought water down to Caesaria. There also were ruins of the Greek-era aqueduct, made of different design. But the Roman one seems to have lasted a longer time; it’s made of tougher stuff.
We then boarded the bus for a driving tour of the city of Haifa. We stopped at an overlook on the Carmel Mountains, a vantage point that provided a view of the whole of the port, city, and gardens of the Bahai Shrine that is located in Haifa. The view of the town is magnificent, and you see that the weather remained fairly clear all the way up to the north.
We then drove to Us’fiyah, a Druze village that is in the Carmel, somewhat southwest from the outskirts of Haifa. Along the way, we passed through the burnt remnant of the forests that suffered grave damage from the recent fires. Miri said that one of the main causes of the great destruction came from the fact that the sap from the eucalyptus trees, which had accumulated over the years since they were planted by the early Zionist pioneers, had accelerated the fires, causing more damage than otherwise might have been experienced. It is a grave reminder of the damage that fires can do.
In Us’fiyah we had “home hospitality” for lunch, meeting in the home of Irena and being served a wonderful Druze lunch of hummus, cold kibbeh (meat balls), warm kibbeh, stuffed grape leaves and zucchini, some kind of date punch drink, cabbage and tomato salad, and a few other things that we can’t remember at this moment. Before lunch, Irena gave background on the Druze religion and culture, a fairly secretive religion that is pretty much closed to outsiders and has tried to actively prohibit intermarriage. Hosptiality is very important to the Druze, and they took great pleasure in welcoming 28 strangers (the 26 of us, plus our guide and our driver) into their home.
By the way, below in the photo you will notice the Israeli flag on the wall of their home. The Druze are Arabs who are loyal to the Israeli government, as is this family, and they have no compunction about displaying their loyalty in this very clear manner.
By the way, Dudu is a great driver, and we’ll tell you more about him in the blogs to come.
After lunch we visited the Tulip Winery located in K’far Tikvah. This winery is unique in that their primary employees are developmentally disabled adults, some who live in the village, and others who commute from near-by Haifa or environs. Most of us tasted some of the wines they make, and many made purchases in their gift area. Their special reserve wine, Black Tulip, had a bottle label that was designed by one of the residents, and our sommelier told us the story about the way in which the wine’s bottle was designed: There was a contest among the residents for the best design, and the winner was a very emotional man who cried and cried when he learned that he had won.)
After the winery, we traveled to Tiberias for supper. Before eating, we stopped in for some souvenir buying at a store that seemed to cater to Christian pilgrims to Israel even more than to the Jews. It was somewhat disconcerting to see merchandise that was also “Hebrew Christian” in nature; the “messianic” overtones were odd to see in a town of Tiberias that has such historic ties to the founding of the Talmud, and the vowel vocalization system of today’s modern language of Hebrew.
Then after dinner, we proceeded to our next hotel, Kibbutz Lavi guest house, where we are about to spend the night.
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