Today the main goal was to get to Tel Aviv by 6 pm to catch our flight to Eilat. Our first stop was Nazareth and the Basilica of the Annunciation. This is where, according to Christian beliefs, the angel, Gabriel, told Mary she was going to have a child. The basilica was completed in 1966, but was built over earlier structures some from the Crusades. In the grotto level when you enter, are remains of a very old church and it was here that many claim was where Mary sat when Gabriel spoke to her. For some of us, it was not easy gaining admission to the basilica. A guard at the door refused me entrance because I was in shorts, and my “cameras were intimidating” (that was in Hebrew, but I thought you might not understand it). I think he was really jealous of my legs, so I went back to the car and zipped my pant legs on. He was much relieved when I returned with hairy legs under cover.
We continued west to Ein Hod, a small artist colony in the hills near Haifa. It was built over an abandoned Arab village in 1953 under the guidance of the Dada influenced artist, Marcel Janco. There were many sculptures scattered about the colony and the site was very picturesque with the Mediterranean in the background and slopes of olive groves extending down the hillside. We had lunch here in an Argentinean restaurant on an outdoor porch with gorgeous views.
We then drove through Mt. Carmel National Park with beautiful views of Haifa and the Mediterranean from the top of Mt. Carmel. Descending down to sea level, we entered the ancient Roman city of Caesarea. The first settlement here was Phoenicians in around
586 B.C.E., conquered by the Israeli Hasmoneans in 103 B.C.E., and then by the Romans in around 30 B.C.E. Herod built a large port here in honor of his patron Octavian Augustus Caesar, thus the name. There are many well preserved Roman ruins including a theater, an amphitheater (which we learned was two theaters-semicircles- put together, like the Coliseum in Rome) used as a hippodrome and later for gladiator fights, a fairly well preserved palatial home, parts of the port, and an aqueduct that supplied the water to the city from Mt Carmel. The religious leader of the Bar Kochva rebellion, Rabbi Akiva, was tortured and killed here in the amphitheater. After the Romans, there was a very prosperous Byzantium period and this was followed by Moslem conquest in 640. After this it became relatively unimportant until it was captured by crusaders in 1101, and further fortified in 1251 during the crusade of the French king, Louis IX. In 1265, it was captured by the Mamelukes and destroyed. We were able to get some great sunset photos of the port and the aqueduct, but we were under the gun to get to the airport for our flight.
The local airport, Dov, was a little like Lebanon Airport, but with the security of Ft. Knox. All bags and passengers are screened as you enter the airport (after driving through Checkpoint Charlie), and then all passengers are given the third degree (sans water boarding). Apparently, they try to trip you up by asking the same question multiple ways. Dealing with the vagaries of English as a second language almost got us into an Israeli prison. Not really, but Dave and Molly were quizzed for quite a while. After check in, we said farewell to our guide (and mother hen) for the past 10 days, Yonathan.
The knowledge that we were now on our own was a bit unsettling.
Our flight to Eilat was brief, only about 45 min. Landing here was like landing in Vegas with the runway right in the middle of town and huge hotels everywhere. No casinos, though. You have to cross into Egypt (10 minutes away) to gamble. I wonder which tribe has the rights to the casino, possibly one of the lost 10 tribes of Israel?
Dave was dying for a falafel (again) so we trekked to a spot where the locals eat adjacent to the airport runway. Though they didn’t have falafels, we were quite content with their salads, pita, and shishlik (chicken skewered and grilled).
Tomorrow we get to dive in the Red Sea!
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