World Cruise Day 111/152 - Haifa Day #2 - Caesarea, Jaffe, Tel Aviv - A good day but the other days were better

Cruise day: 111/152

Ports days: 51
Sea days: 60
Countries: 19
Continents: 5
Ports: 37

It's day #2 in Haifa, Israel and we're heading out for our third ten-hour excursion in as many days - Caesarea, Jaffa, & Tel Aviv.  I have friends that like me, like taking wildlife photos.  I've heard that cranes near the water at sunrise are stunning.  I'm not sure I see it.

It was another beautiful start to what amounted to a beautiful day with light breezes, temperatures in the low 70s, and abundant sunshine.

We started in Haifa in the north and then stopped at Caesarea.  After that, we continued through Tel Aviv to Jaffa (or Yafo) on the south end of Tel Aviv.  After an amazing lunch, we took a drive through Tel Aviv and headed back north to Haifa and our ship.

From Wikipedia:

The ancient city of Caesarea Maritima was built by Herod the Great about 25–13 BCE as a major port. It served as an administrative center of the province of Judaea (later named Syria Palaestina) in the Roman Empire, and later as the capital of the Byzantine province of Palaestina Prima. During the Muslim conquest in the 7th century, it was the last city of the Holy Land to fall to the Arabs. The city degraded to a small village after the provincial capital was moved from here to Ramla and had an Arab majority until the Crusader conquest. Under the Crusaders it became once again a major port and a fortified city. It was diminished after the Mamluk conquest.

The bottom line is that this place has been around for more than 2,000 years and has been a significant place in Israel's history. It is one of Israel's 36,000 active archaeological sites.  That is a pretty impressive number for a country that is only 280 miles north to south and 18 miles east to west - smaller in area than New Jersey and less than half the size of Lake Michigan.

These lovely flowers were all over - Google Lens says that it is Sea Lavender

Upon closer inspection, snails were hanging out on the plants

The old and the new create an interesting juxtaposition

This is one entry into the theater

This is another and the one we used

The view from the top of the theater - courtesy of Arlona - the theater could seat up to 5,000 - the seating you see has been replaced and refurbished - the theater is still used today

Some of the structures still had their original inlaid floors

Lizards were running around

It took me a while to see my first lizard - then, I saw them all over

Herod was no dummy - the setting for this was stunning

As you can see from the date stamp, some of what we saw has been reconstructed

Arlona - doing her shell & rock scavenging

And she always tests the water

This was the hippodrome where the chariot races were held.  Romans loved drama and violence so chariot races on a tight course with crashes, blood, and gore were guaranteed to be a big hit.

Along the water, many jellies had been washed up.

An abstract art piece honoring the chariot races

This area held a big differentiator in modern society - the public toilet - running water made sanitation possible and this area was used by everyone so that waste was carried away

It got loud for a while when this huge Israeli C130 flew overhead.

I have no idea what this was - it looks like something from the movie Beetlejuice

A hooded crow flew by - they are huge

The exit was part of the original water flow system

We spent a couple of hours here.  Our guide pontificated at several stops.  It finally got a little overwhelming.  Let's face it - nobody here is trying to gather enough information about any place that we visit so we can write a book about it.  At the first stop, three other groups came in, got the background, viewed the theater, and moved on before he stopped talking and we went into the theater. This guide went on and on in several locations to the point that many of us just started wandering.  Oh well.  Back on the bus for Jaffa.

We cruised through Tel Aviv and headed to Jaffa, on the south side.  We saw several high-tech companies in Tel Aviv.  Actually, right after leaving Haifa, we passed a high-tech area with Microsoft, MicroFocus, Samsung, Yahoo, Google, EY, and more.  Between tech education in high school and a high-tech military, Israel is becoming the silicon valley of the middle east. Anyway, here are some sights from the bus as we cruised south through Tel Aviv.

All foreign embassies are located in Tel Aviv.  Israel wanted the embassies to relocate to Jerusalem.  Every US President since Eisenhower has promised Israel that the US embassy would move.  It hadn't.  Finally, US President, Donald Trump, fulfilled that promise to Israel and relocated the US embassy to Jerusalem.  Other embassies are starting to follow.

The Swiss embassy

The Turkish embassy

The British embassy

I don't even know how to begin describing this monstrosity

The Indian embassy

Good thing art is subjective

I thought this was odd

It appears that it is a thing with the opera

A mosque

We traveled along the coast of the Mediterranean - the surf was up and surfers were in the water, even though you can't see them here

More art

Finally, we arrived in Jaffa - one of the oldest seaports in the world, operating continuously for over 4,000 years. Jaffa is what I would call an "artsy" community where the narrow walkways are lined with artisan shops.

It was in Jaffa that Saint Peter raised Tabitha, one of Jesus' disciples, from the dead and there is a church dedicated to Saint Peter in Jaffa.

Seems legit...

This art piece has an orange tree in a ball, suspended - it rarely produces oranges and that is supposed to signify that without putting down roots, everything suffers

Several Palestine sunbirds were flitting about.

Abrasha Park is the highest point in Jaffa, providing panoramic views of Tel Aviv.

Arlona by the Sagitarius marker

Garry by the Capricorn marker

The wishing bridge

Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv

Andromeda's Rock, where according to mythology, Andromeda was tied to the rock and sacrificed to the monster to appease Posiden.

Our guide mentioned that he was wearing a chain - a gift from his wife - containing a coin from circa 100AD - it was pretty cool.

We departed Jaffa, passing the Jaffa clocktower.

Our poor bus driver was wrangling the huge bus through narrow roads, tight turns, and basically forcing the bus through roadways where it didn't belong

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant called The Old Man and the Sea

As soon as we arrived, the food started coming, and coming, and coming.  The starters were all kinds of veggie items to go with the fresh, just-made bread.  Beets, corn, guacamole, rice, onions, spinach, hummus, salsa, potatoes, garlic dip, carrots, and more.  As soon as we finished a piece of bread, a fresh, hot replacement showed up.  Everything was tasty and amazing. 

We were given a choice of chicken skewers, kabobs, schnitzel, burgers, chicken breast, tilapia, and I'm forgetting some things.  Arlona opted for the chicken skewers, I had the schnitzel.

The food was plentiful and tasty.  They kept bringing pitchers of fresh lemonade.  Lunch was amazing.  Nobody could move well after lunch.  There was a lot of groaning - good groaning.  

The waitstaff hustled and was very polite and attentive.  As they cleared the tables, they created a plate "flower" where everything was properly connected and supported so he could pick up the entire mass of plates in one shot.  It was amazing.

If you ever get to Jaffa, I can certainly recommend The Old Man and the Sea. The Mediterranean sea is right across the street and the views are terrific.

We got on the bus and headed out for what turned out to be a two-hour+ ride back to Haifa.  Traffic was horrible and we spent about as much time sitting as driving.  That is an issue in and around Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv is a big city with a definite modern look.

Our guide pointed out the spot where Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin, was assassinated in 1995 - the three Israeli flags mark the spot

Now that's a warning sign!

Stop signs were interesting

After getting back to the ship, neither one of us was particularly interested in dinner, but we knew that we would be hungry later.  We opted for a very light dinner and are planning for an early evening.  Over 30 hours of excursions in the last three days is certainly draining.  Since dinner ended early, we snuck in a load of laundry.

As we prepared to sail, we got one last look at Haifa and Israel.

We had great three days in Israel.  The history we saw and felt was incredible.  Tomorrow, thankfully, we have a day at sea.  Friday, we'll be in Rhodes, Greece.