The Wi-Fi was not working well at the end of the day at the hotel in Tiberius so this day's entry was originally written in a notebook (pens and paper don't require Wi-Fi).
Well, it's taken until November 23rd to have the time - in the lull before it's time to get on the bus - to start entering the notes written on November 16th in my notebook. The advantages to pencil and paper are significant - instant on, and no internet or cell connection requirements. The personal internet - the trillions of interconnected neurons - is still required.
The day began early as we needed to be packed and on the bus by 7:30 am. The breakfast meal, like supper the night before, was full of multiple selections of meats, fish, salads, cheeses and a whole lot of other things that I didn't know what they were.
The view of Haifa, the port of Haifa, and the Mediterranean Sea from our hotel, high on the hill overlooking the Mediterranean was something else. The view, visible at breakfast, was very nice and provided the opportunity to see two white cruise ships - a very large one and a noticeably smaller one - slip into the harbour below us.
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| View of Haifa, the harbour, and the Mediterranean Sea. If you look closely, you'll see the first cruise ship docked near the centre of the picture, and the other cruise ship off to the right. |
On the way out of the city, only a short distance from the hotel, was a lookout where we could also see the Bahai Gardens laid out in stepped terraces down the hill below us. They were lush with a lot of green grass, shrubs, and flowers of all kinds. The gardens weren't open, and we needed to press on to the ancient port city of Akko (also called Acre) a short drive north up the coast.
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| A view down the slope at the Bahai Gardens with the Shrine of Báb seen further down the slope. The Port of Haifa is in the background. |
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| A closeup (courtesy of the camera's telephoto lens) of the large cruise ship at the dock. |
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| Closeup of the Bahai Shrine. |
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| View of the Bahai Gardens and Shrine from the base of the hill. |
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| A view of Haifa from the tour bus as we head to Akko. |
Like most, or perhaps all, of Israel, Akko (also called Acre) has a long history extending back millennia. The Crusaders conquered (took over management for a period of time) the city in 1104. After the Crusaders lost Jerusalem, the city served as their capital until they also lost Akko to the Muslims in 1291. Napoleon Bonaparte, in 1799 also tried his hand at conquering the city after conquering Jaffa (now part of Tel Aviv) but was stopped by the Ottomans. We toured the Citadel of Acre.
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| View of the Crusader Citadel |
In the last few decades there have been extensive archeological digs that uncovered the Crusaders' castle ruins uncovering a network of chambers and passageways. After an hour or so of digging around (metaphorically speaking of course and no pun intended) we got back on the bus for our trip to Cana in Galilee.
The city is built on a hill and the bus was required to navigate up a a series of winding roads. Once we were near the site of the wedding feast of Cana we had to do a little hike up stairs and cobble stoned alleyways to the Wedding Church at Cana. The church itself was small but was decorated with four icons on the ceiling overlooking the altar. Fr. John celebrated Mass here for our group and all the married couples there received a blessing standing together in front of the altar. Following this we had a short tour of the excavated ruins beneath the church.
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| Picture of Fr. John with couples from our group who renewed their marriage vows. |
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| The front of the Wedding Church at Cana |
After this we walked to a falafel/shawarma restaurant - the Arab/Israeli version of a fast food restaurant. Falafel is a deep fried ball of ground chickpeas. Here they put a few falafel balls along with lettuce and other vegetables in half a pita filling. Shawrma is similar except using chicken pieces sliced off the big rotating chicken rotisserie.
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| Looking at the shawarma restaurant (with a tour bus in front) |
After lunch we headed for the Golan Heights, a region bitterly fought over during the 1967 Six Day War and again in 1973 during the Yom Kippur War between the Israelis and Syrians. Along the way Etty, our tour guide, pointed out the little yellow signs on the fence bordering the road we were travelling on. Our destination was the
Hermon Stream (Banias) Nature Reserve. It lies in the northern part of Israel about 5 km south of the Lebanese border and about 8 km west of the the demilitarized zone between Syria and Israel patrolled by UN peacekeepers. It consists of the Banias/Caesarea Philippi archaeological site and Hermon Stream nature reserve. We first saw the Banyas spring that flows from the base of Mount Hermon - one of two streams that form the headwaters of the Jordan River. Also located here was a large cave that was associated with the ruins of the Temple of Pan adjacent to it. Also at the site were the ruins of a Temple of Zeus, the temple/tomb of the sacred goats, and a couple of courtyards thrown in for good measure. There were also the ruins of a Byzantine church nearby. The site is the area where Peter made the declaration that Jesus was the Christ, the son of God. Traditional also holds that this was the area that the Samaritan woman touched the hem of Jesus' garment and was instantly healed of her illness.
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| View of the cave of Pan, along with the other temples/sites adjacent to it. |
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| Closer view of the wall showing the niches carved out of the rock. |
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| Explanation of the cave and temples. |
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| Explanation of the ruins of the Byzantine church. |
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| The ruins of the Byzantine church. |
As the sun began to get low on the horizon we pulled into our hotel on the Sea of Galilee, and checked into our hotel. Supper was a buffet that was a little simpler than the hotel in Haifa but still very good.
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| Locations visited on Day 03, Nov. 16. |
| Marker |
Place Name |
| A |
Crowne Royal Hotel - Haifa |
| B |
Lookout over the
Bahai Gardens, Haifa |
| C |
Heading out of Haifa |
| D |
Knights' Halls &
Hospitaller Fortress, Akko (Acre) |
| E |
Wedding Church At
Cana, and Cana of Galile Restaurant, Amara Brothers - Shawarma & Flafel
Fast Food |
| F |
Hermon Stream Nature
Reserve |
| G |
Restal Hotel,
Tiberias |
