Towards the end of this year’s stay in Tel Aviv, we had a number of friends who came to visit. Entertaining guests comes along with a number of fringe benefits. For example, it forces you to clean your apartment top to bottom, since heaven forbid they should think you are a slob. And of course it also inspires you to step out of your routine and actually go places, since how can a guest possibly come all the way to Israel and not see… Jerusalem…Haifa…etc. etc…you get the idea.
So this is how it was that we ended up taking our old friend Deborah up to Haifa, 95 kilometres north of Tel Aviv, for the weekend. Haifa is is the first Israeli city we visited years ago and is home to our best friend in Israel, so we unapologetically took advantage of his good nature and dragooned him into showing us around… and not just Haifa but Akko and Rosh HaNikra as well. (I should also mention up front that in addition to being a very patient friend, he is an outstanding photographer, so all the good pictures in this post are his work!)
But first we had to get to Haifa and this involved taking the train…except that on the only day we could go, which was a Friday, all the trains going north were cancelled due to track work. Hmmm. This was not just an inconvenience for us…but for many Israelis, including most young soldiers, who have to get back home for Shabbat. You might think that to compensate for this planned disruption, more buses would have been called into service…but you would be wrong. We found this out the hard way as the usual buses went by our stop, completely full. Bowing to circumstance, we took a very expensive taxi to our very expensive hotel in Haifa. It was worth it for this view alone:
Haifa is the third largest Israeli city and is one of the most beautiful places in the country. Built on the slopes of Mount Carmel, with the Bahai Gardens tumbling down from the upper town to meet the charming German Colony in the lower town, it has stunning views, glorious beaches, a lively port area and good restaurants. Many hi-tech companies are located there, along with two first class universities, and the Rambam, one of the finest hospitals in the world. Relative to Tel Aviv, the city has a serious feel to it; perhaps due to its commercial port and to its robust architecture. (Or possibly because not every second commercial establishment is a bar, cafe or restaurant full of young people who seem to have endless time to schmooze.) The saying in Israel is that: “Jerusalem prays, Tel Aviv plays, and Haifa works.” And there is some truth to that.
Of course you can’t go all the way to Haifa and stop there, so after a fantastic dinner in the German Colony, and a luxurious overnight stay in the Dan Carmel, we headed to Akko (Acre), one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the world. It is full of fascinating sights such as a restored crusader castle, underground tunnels built by the Knights Templar, a vibrant open air market and an historic walled old port. The holiest site of the Bahai faith is located there and it is also home to Jews, Muslims, Druze, and Christians.
In the courtyard of a beautifully restored Crusader castle 
And how fascinating:..the toilets of a bygone era. An elaborate drainage system lay below.
After a walk through the extensively restored castle, we headed through the market to the famous underground tunnels which we followed to the port. There we found a gorgeous restaurant perched on the rampart walls just across from this lovely sight:
Where there is a wall
From Akko we went to Rosh HaNikra on the Lebanese border, Israeli’s northernmost coastal outpost. You can still see the track and tunnel that once crossed the railway bridge built during the British Mandate to connect Haifa to Tripoli. This bridge was destroyed by the Palmach during the War of Independence to cut off at least one attack route from Lebanon. Now it is a well guarded border post (look up, and you will notice soldiers watching your every move), but the attraction of the site is below, where you can take a cable car down to see the many beautiful caves and grottos.
After our visit to Rosh HaNikra we headed back to Haifa to catch the train back home. But since we had some time to wait for the first train, scheduled well after sunset, we were obliged to pass a few festive moments at the beachside bar (The Camel) right next to the train station. Thirsty work all this sightseeing!
Next stop Jerusalem!