Tel Aviv - Mediterranean Sea - trip to Caesarea, Haifa Acre and Rosh Hanikra

Well, now we have our luggage which includes the cable to Bruce's camera - we took lots of pictures today on our voyage but we wanted to share the absolutely beautiful view we have of the Sea from the balcony of our room -

We also traveled most of the day today and went north along the Sea from Tel Aviv to the Lebanon border - the views we saw were incredible - the history of the crusaders, Romans, Byzantine's, and British was spread before us in a beautiful story with sights that brought it to life.

Our first stop was Caesarea Caesarea (also known as Caesarea Palaestina and Caesarea Maritima) is an ancient city, now archaeological park, located on the Mediterranean Sea 33 miles north of Joppa and 60 miles northwest of Jerusalem. Constructed by Herod the Great between 22 and 10 BC and named for Caesar Augustus, Caesarea was one of the most splendid cities in Palestine and was the capital of the province for almost 600 years.

Caesarea also figures prominently in the religious history of the area. Herod built a great Roman temple here dedicated to the Divine Augustus. Half a century later, Peter and Paul visited the city (as recorded in the New Testament book of Acts). And towards the end of the 1st century, mistreatment of Jews in Caesarea led to the First Jewish Revolt (66-70 AD). In the 3rd and 4th centuries, Caesarea became a major center of both Jewish and Christian scholarship, with severalrabbinical schools and a great library founded by Origen of Alexandria.Eusebius, the first church historian, was bishop of Caesarea (315-30). In the early Middle Ages, the city traded hands between Muslims and Crusadersseveral times; much of what remains dates from the Crusader era.

There have been extensive excavations of Caesarea in recent decades, and the archaeological park — with beautiful sea views and informative signs in English and Hebrew — is open to visitors. There are hotels here, but most visitors spend the night in Haifa or Netanya.

Our next stop today was Haifa and we toured the Bai Hai Temple Gardens The Bahá’í World Centre, the spiritual and administrative heart of the Bahá’í community, is located in the twin cities of ‘Akká and Haifa in northern Israel. It comprises the Shrines of Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, other holy sites of the Bahá'í Faith in the area, and the buildings on the slope of Mt. Carmel. These structures include the Seat of the Universal House of Justice, the International Teaching Centre’s building, the Centre for the Study of the Texts, and the International Bahá’í Archives, all of which are set in extensive gardens.

Our last stop today was Rosh Hanikra where we vistied the limestone grottos and the Lebanon border and we also went to Arco to visit the Crusader underground city.

Tonight we had dinner at the Old Sea Port of Tel Aviv - the boardwalk was busy with families celebrating Shabbat the Jewish Sabbath which starts on Friday at sundown  - tomorrow is another busy day so we are signing off -

Marilyn and Bruce