The road to Haifa

Today we left Tel Aviv and traveled north along the coast to Zihron Ya’akov which is a quaint little city up on a hill about three quarters of the way from Tel Aviv up to Haifa. We met Lee’s friend Margie with whom we had the good fortune to spend the day. When we met Margie, her son Yoni was with her and his girlfriend Katie. We found a little bakery and purchased some bread. I also found a little restaurant and purchased both green and regular Techina with tomatoes and cucumbers which we ate with the bread. Tehania is a sesame paste of some kind….it was way good! We shopped for a little while and then headed to Qeisarya or Caesarea. Caesarea was first settled by Phoenicians and then was taken by the Romans around 103 BCE. In around 30 BCE, the village was given to Herod and he built a large port city there and gave it its name. The ruins of the Amphitheater that he had built are still in place and sit near the coast. There are also other interesting ruins of his bathhouses and other buildings.

We left Caesarea and took a brief tour of the British detention camp at Atlit. The British controlled the Palestine area in 1939 and set strict limits on the number of immigrants into the area. Many Jews began fleeing persecution in Germany, but when they arrived in Palestine, the British locked them up in camps like the one in Atlit. This camp continued its operation from 1934 to 1948. During that time, it is estimated that tens of thousands of refugees were held in the camp. Imagine escaping the horrors of the Holocaust in Germany just to land in a camp in Palestine! What better way to follow a tour of a prison camp than to go wine tasting!? We stopped in at the Tishbi Winery and tried some of their wines and had some cheese and nice rye bread. Perhaps the high point of the trip so far was purchasing a bottle of wine at Tishbi and trying to open the screw top. I couldn’t figure out this simple technology….I wasn’t even drinking! The very pregnant waitress came over and asked in a sarcastic tone, “are you going to let a pregnant woman open the bottle when you can’t?” So much for whatever little bit of macho based ego I have left.

We ended the day by doing some shopping in a traditional Druze village. The Druze are somehow in the line of Jethro and are not Jewish, but also not Muslim. They practice a religion that is very secretive. They requested to be allowed to serve in the Israeli military and serve with honor. They are very loyal to the country in which they live. There are Druze in Syria and they are loyal to Syria and serve in their military. Some Israeli Druze women have gone over to Syria to marry Druze men there. Imagine the complicated emotions of Syrian Druze fighting with Israeli Druze! Anyway, there were many hand crafted wall tapestries and other nik naks (ok Lee, Tchotchkes) that were appealing.

Now, it is getting late. We are at Margie and Chiam’s house for the night. Margie and Chiam have been wonderful hosts to us! Margie was our tour guide today and made us a delicious dinner. They are terrific.

A note on traveling with Lee. Lee is very thoughtful about travel. She considers every option for the various activities we could do with an eye specifically toward what will be most entertaining to me. I highly recommend her as a tour guide.