Touring with Eddie
Trip Start
Aug 01, 2008
1
10
130
Trip End
Aug 01, 2009
Acre,
Israel
Saturday, August 30, 2008
We had a very scenic tour of the city where Eddie grew up. It is so neat to have his stories about life here and how it has changed. First up was the Baha'i gardens but when we got to the top, they were closed due to a high holy day. Even just looking at them from the top of the city was amazing and so peaceful looking. The gardens were terraced down the hill and it overlooked the harbor. Wow.
Next, Eddie took us on a drive down a one way street going the opposite way. That was a little scary at first but then he explained that it was allowed on the Sabbath only! This was done on the way to his childhood home to #12 and more stories of what his life was like growing up and trying to go to boarding school in the area.
We continued up the coast to Acre(Akko) to the Crusader castle that we were going to tour. The first mention of this place goes back to the 19th century BC and has had a very long and conflicting history. After wandering for a couple of hours in the heat, I saw my favorite part-the hammam. It was in use until 1940 and has a lot of the original tile work still on the walls but there was a multimedia presentation about "The Last Bath Attendant" that was worth the wait for seeing it and for the coolness inside. :-)
For lunch, we ate at Abu Christo's which was a short walk from the castle. We were seated on water side so it was fun to watch people fishing off the edge, kids in the water, and the wedding parties that came by for pictures. I had the St. Peter's fish-head, tail and all. It is reported to be one of the fishes from the loaves and fishes story. All I know is that the fish was good but lots of bones. :-)
After lunch, we headed up to Rosh HaNikra. This is an interesting area with the white cliffs due to the salt but it is also the border between Israel and Lebanon! We took a cable car down to explore the caves, see some amazing colors on the rocks and see brief video about the use of this area. The back drop for the video was a wall that is actually the border for Lebanon! It was pretty cool to see!
It was now time to head back to the condo...
Eddie took a different route home so we were able to see a different side to the area. Thank goodness for GPS!!!!
Dinner was at the condo and Dumameit had a fabulous meal for us. Chicken, veggies, salad, and bread. We all ate well! The rest of the evening was spent packing, visiting, and enjoying our time there.
Time for bed as Barb, Les and I were flying to Amman the next morning and the taxi was coming at 5:00am!
