Haifa Israel.. stepping back in time…

Sunrise in the Mediterranean while docking at our port in Haifa. This Northern port is the third largest city in Israel and its busiest port. As with most of Israel, Haifa is full of history and Historic events. Everywhere you look there is a ruin, some stone walls and marble columns.

Our tour today is a look at the Baha`’i gardens, Haifa and Acre ( Acco). 

The above photos are of the skyline of Haifa.  The buildings go right up the hills to Mt. Carmel. 

The tall skyscraper is names “the Sail” and is filled with Israeli government offices. 

As we headed out on our tour, the guide pointed out this sign.. beware wild boar…seems that the population of wild boars has skyrocketed and because no policy can be made because of dissenting opinions, this was the best solution for now.

View of the harbor from the top of the Gardens views of the gardens 

The building at the bottom is not a temple but a mausoleum. There are no Baha’i temples in Israel this is a place of pilgrimage.

The gardens were absolutely gorgeous.  There are pilgrims who come and volunteer to do the upkeep on the gardens. There was no admission today into the garden, nom believers can only enter from the top and go only 9 levels down,while members can start at the bottom and go entirely to the top. 

Looking from the bottom up.

A cannon left by Napoleon graces a round about on our way to Acre and the Crusaders castle.

The entrance patio to the castle 

The Hospitaller Fortress ( Crusaders) was built to house pilgrims heading to the holy land in the 12th century. The Knights of the Hospitallers were a  military monastic order managing hospitals and housing pilgrims surfing their journeys.  The fortress eventually fell into the hands of the Muslims until they were again defeated and the fortress returned to the knight’s hands.  Akko (Acre) became a very active port. At some time, as with most antiquities, everything changed hands again and with conquering Muslims again the entire building was filled with dirt and debri and became lost. Another Castle with a prison was built on the land( not knowing there was anything underneath) . When a group of prisoners in the castle tried to escape, the dug into the ground and found a space…the rest is history..

The dark square in the ceiling is where the prisoners broke through.    

Imagine these rooms filled with dirt!

Old city walls

Walking around the old city

Excavation

Roads are bumpy and uneven, but really quite nice!

After the crusader’s castle we walked by the area mosque ..the green gazebo thing outside is to provide water for all who need it (although not working any longer)

All the mosques have green tops on them..green is the color of life. Around the corner was the market. A walk though gave us a nice view of what’s offered!

Looks yummy!

The Acre port

One of 6 clock towers built in Israel by Ottoman Sultan 

Abdul Hamid II to celebrate his 25 years of rule. 

The port is mostly used for recreation now as Haifa Port is more active now.

Overlooking the port

Walking through the city.  In the past, when there were secret ways to get through the city to prevent violence by one group or another.. The tunnels ran under the market and our next adventure was to walk through them. By now, I was too far along to back out..I miscalculated the “tunnel” thinking we’d already been through underground levels….so…down I went and panic attack came with me!

At this point I was fully panicked and almost pushed everyone ahead of me out of the way to get to the light!  In the end, after much panic, I made it out and had tears from adrenaline overload… But I MADE IT!

After our tour, we headed back ago our ship. Al and Steve headed back out to find a place to play pool ( they try to find somewhere in every port city) Tonight we relax and tomorrow we have a 10 hour tour.