From Ruins to Strength

I

We started traveling through the north of Israel checking out the usual spots.  We saw ruins from the biblical period and before.  We saw spots like the Bahia Temple in Haifa and even went to the city of Acco which was one of the first places named in the Torah.   Some of the places we went I had been before while others I had not.  Yet, this time around we had a guide with us that knew all the answers.

When I last traveled through these lands I was a young lady sewing my oats and learning about who I was.  I was between 23 and 25 years old and was traveling on very little money.  Most attractions that had a entrance fee were beyond my reach. Don't worry, I had the best time and don't regret seeing the underbelly of society instead of the tourist attractions.

This time I was with family and most importantly kids.  This changed everything.  I not only was trying to experience this myself I was also making sure my kids were OK, experienced all they could. and were safe.  While I may have been willing to sacrifice my comforts I needed them to have their needs covered, especially WiFi in the hotels. Without that we would all have lost our sanity.

Before the trip started I was able to convince my father that he should rent a scooter for the tour portion of our trip.  This would give him increased mobility and most importantly make it so he could do more and see more.   I would have hated for him to have had to skip off days and locations due to the physical challenge or pain that would result.   He used this scooter for 4 out of 6 days.  This was fantastic.  Lets face it, in some places, like Jerusalem and Acco he had no choice but to walk.

Anyway, I digressed.   Back to the Trip.

So we started with Caesarea which was a great introduction to ancient times, It was really hot and we were all feeling it and yet we were so excited to get to our first real stop. This ancient city, like much of this regions, was occupied over the years by many different cultures and they had all left their marks. This could be seen from the different mosaics to the bath houses to the different pillars used by different groups.  I watched as the kids, especially the older boys, sort of did the math as they started to see how old these ruins really were.

They lived in a world where each McDonalds was knocked own every so many years to put up another instant building. They had no frame of reference for this kind of age.  We are talking about 4 to 5 thousand years of civilization. One got dizzy just thinking about the A.D vs B.C dates.

At one point we were walking along the sea wall and Joel and Jonny decided to let the waves that were crashing against the sea wall soak them.  They had such a good time. With each wave of water their little boy hearts raised up to the heavens. Jordan and Eli decided to race along the ancient path of the chariot feeling their youth and ancestral power pumping in their veins.   Jordan sang a Beatles song in the Colosseum to test out the accosting and got a nice round of applause from other tourists.

Next we moved on to the Bahia Temple in Haifa and had a lovely light lunch.  The city of Haifa is built into the hills surrounding the deep water harbor.  We learned one prominent leader of the Bahai faith did time in the Acco jail and could only see the sides of the hills in Haifa from his window.  This spot is where the Bahia temple and gardens stands today.  After his release he was able to secure this location and the funds to build their temple.

It was interesting too to see the city that is known for it's Technion, which is one of the best universities in the world for technology.  The city was also know for it's unfortunate pre-state role in housing the Jews who escaped Europe only to be picked up by the British and incarcerated until they could be shipped back to certain death.  Now it was a city of three cultures; Jews, Arabs and Bahai all lived together in relative peace.

Next we went to Acco or Acre as it is called in English.  Acco is an ancient Arab town on the Mediterranean.  I had stayed there years before in a hostel inside the old city.  Lets just say it had cleaned up a lot.  It was Ramadan so it was a little more subdued then usual because of that, I am sure.  We did a tour of the city that was found under current day Acco.   This took us through the Roman period.

The guide told us how this all was found.  Quite a cool story.  Part of the city was a Jail in recent times.  The resistance prisoners were kept there during the pre Israeli State days.  In attempts to escape they dug into the limestone floors and found chambers below.  The chambers were full with rubble and did not aid their escape. However the rumors of what might be under there brought on an archaeology dig that found an incredible city below grounds,  Last time I was there that entire excavation had not been done.

We ended this first day by driving through the north of Israel to our hotel which was a kibbutz Nof Ginosar Guest House.  It was great to stay on a kibbutz with its big pool, lots of kids programs and laid back attitude.  We had a bonding sessions where we all sat around and told rude stories about bodily functions till early in the morning.  Yes this session did include some alcoholic drinks for the adults.  Lets face it, fart stories are always funny.

The next day we took off early for Sfat which is an amazing ancient town in the North of Israel.  We only had a short while to be there and spent the entire time going from artist shop to artist shop.  When I was there years ago I spent days hiking the hills and learning at the Ascent, This was a very quick stop where most of us did end up buying some art.

We then went much farther north into the Golan Heights.  I had never been up to the Golan heights before.  This was a great thing to see.  Here we saw an area that while disputed over the years is a very strategic location. When I was here years ago there was a big campaign going to support the Golan.  There were bumper stickers and all sorts of signs that said "We are with the Golan".  We sent up Mt Hermon and to the Syrian boarder.  The reason this area is so important is that it is the highest place in the country.  From there Syria had in the past and would again be able to bomb down on the entire north of Israel.

The kids loved going in an old defunct Israel army bunker.  It was pitch dark inside and they ran in and out and around like monkeys.   The spot was no longer a working base.  The UN observers had a base there were they could see into Syria.  One of the cool things that you can see in this place is that on the Israel side there are towns and green agriculture as far a the eye can see.  On the Syrian side there is nothing green at all. Israel has carved life out of this place and continues to do so using the land and technology to it's full potential,

A really creepy thing happened when we were up there.  The tour guide pointed out a plume of smoke on the horizon.  As the smoke grew he explained that it was a bomb that had been dropped by a plane in the fighting going on in Syria.  This really brought home the reality of the situation going on and how important the Golan to keep that fighting out of Israel.

The trip to the North was our first section of the trip.  The next day we were on to Jerusalem.  See you in the next post.