Petra, Jordan

Although most of what can be seen at Petra today was built by the Nabataeans, the area is known to have been inhabited from as early as 7,000 to 6,500 BC. Evidence of an early settlement from this period can still be seen today at Little Petra, just north of the main Petra site. By the Iron Age (1,200 to 539 BC), Petra was inhabited by the Edomites. They settled mainly on the hills around Petra rather than the actual site chosen by the Nabataeans. Although the Edomites were not proficient at stone masonry, they excelled at making pottery and it seems they passed this craft on to the Nabataeans.

The Nabataeans were a nomadic Arab people from Arabia who began to arrive and slowly settle in Petra at the end of the 6th century BC. It seems their arrival at Petra was unplanned, as their original intent was to migrate to southern Palestine. No doubt they found this place attractive with its plentiful supply of water, defensive canyon walls and the friendly Edomites, with whom it seems they had a peaceful coexistence. By the 2nd century BC, Petra had become a huge city encompassing around 10km, and was the capital of the Nabataean Kingdom. The Nabataeans were a literate people who spoke a dialect of Aramaic, the language of biblical times, and samples of their beautiful calligraphy can be seen carved into the rock face at Petra.

The Treasury at Petra is a massive façade, 30m wide and 43m high, carved out of the sheer, dusky pink, rock-face and dwarfing everything around it. There are hundreds of elaborate rock-cut tombs with intricate carvings - unlike the houses, which were destroyed mostly by earthquakes, the tombs were carved to last throughout the afterlife and 500 have survived, empty but bewitching as you file past their dark openings. Here also is a massive Nabataean-built, Roman-style theatre that could seat 3,000 people. There are obelisks, temples, sacrificial altars and colonnaded streets, and high above, overlooking the valley, is the impressive Ad-Deir (A Monastery) – a flight of 800 rock-cut steps takes you there. 

Petra is one of the new 7 World Wonders.

We started our day with the views of the Treasury, we then hiked to the Royal Tombs. The Royal Tombs are not quite as well maintained due to their location. After a quick stop to the church we then hiked up to the Monestary. Christina decided to be the every ready bunny and sprint up the entire hike. As a good little travel partner, I followed reluctantly with great haste. I think the Monestary is way cooler but that is just me. After coming down, our tour had lunch down at the restaurant. Lunch was hummus and pita, the staple of the entire middle eastern trip. Half of us decided to go hike to the top to view the Treasury. This is where I released Grandpa (and Christina released her Opa). It was amazing. After this, we decided to do one more hike to the sacrifice area. All I wanted by this point was ice cream. 

I would highly recommend everyone go to Petra. Words cannot fully describe it. 

AFN

Jordan

Fun facts about Jordan: 

- Weekends are Friday and Saturday 

- 65% of the population is Palestinian 

- We had to have a police escort the entire time due to the political situation 

- It is superbly modern 

- The official name of Jordan is the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

- Jordan emerged from the post-World War I division of the Middle East made by Britain and France. Known as Transjordan from 1922, it was formally recognized by the UN as an independent sovereign kingdom in 1946

- E. Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia, closely advised leaders of the Great Arab Revolt in Jordan during World War I. The revolt culminated in the surprise attack and defeat of the Turkish forces at the Battle of Aqaba, led from nearby Wadi Rum.

- Jordan has a long history of accepting refugees. Positioned in the midst of turmoil, it has accepted vast numbers of refugees from surrounding conflicts. Most notably, the country has an estimated two million Palestinians and 1.4 million Syrian refugees residing in the country. In a nation of just 9.5 million people, this represents over a third of the population.

- Jordan is home to many biblical sites including, among others, the Jordan River where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, Mount Nebo where Moses died, as well as the sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorrah

Jerash 

The ruined city of Jerash is Jordan's largest and most interesting Roman site, and a major tourist drawcard. Its imposing ceremonial gates, colonnaded avenues, temples and theatres all speak to the time when this was an important imperial centre. Even the most casual fan of archaeology will enjoy a half-day at the site – but take a hat and sunscreen in the warmer months, as the exposed ruins can be very hot to explore. 

At the extreme south of the site is the striking Hadrian’s Arch, also known as the Triumphal Arch, which was built in AD 129 in honour of the visit of Emperor Hadrian. Behind the arch is the hippodrome, which hosted chariot races in front of up to 15,000 spectators. The South Gate, originally one of four along the city wall and built in 130, leads into the city proper. One of the most distinctive sites of Jerash, the forum is unusual because of its shape and huge size (90m long and 80m at its widest point). Fifty-six Ionic columns surround the paved limestone plaza, linking the cardo maximus with the Temple of Zeus.The elegant remains of the Temple of Zeus, built around 162, can be reached from the forum – a worthwhile climb, even if only for the view. Next door, the South Theatre was built in the 1st century with a capacity of 5000 spectators. From the upper stalls the acoustics are still wonderful, as demonstrated by the occasional roving minstrel or drummer. Northeast of the forum lies the cardo maximus, the city’s main thoroughfare, also known as the colonnaded street. Stretching 800m to the North Gate, the street is still paved with its original stones, rutted by the wheels of chariots that once jostled along its length. The Temple of Artemis, towering over Jerash at the top of the stairs, was dedicated to the patron goddess of the city, but alas it was dismantled to provide masonry for new churches under Theodorius in 386.

Mount Nebo 

This is apparently the last place of resident of Moses. After 40 years leading the headstrong Israelites in the desert, Moses stood on the windswept summit of Mount Nebo and viewed the Promised Land of Canaan — after having been told by God “you shall not cross over there”. The monks’ church was expanded in the 5th and 6th centuries into a large basilica with a stunning collection of Byzantine mosaics and an elaborate baptistry. Though little remains of the early buildings, the mosaics can be seen inside the present-day shrine. The main mosaic, about 9 metres by 3 metres, depicts monastic wine-making, hunters and various animals.

I finally had a good coffee here.

Madaba 

Just 30km from Amman, along the 5,000-year-old Kings´ Highway, is one of the most memorable places in the Holy Land. After passing through a string of ancient sites, the first city you reach is Madaba, known as the “City of Mosaics." Best known for its spectacular Byzantine and Umayyad mosaics, Madaba is home to the famous 6th century Mosaic Map of Jerusalem and the Holy Land. With two million pieces of vividly coloured local stone, it depicts hills and valleys, villages and towns as far as the Nile Delta.The Madaba Mosaic Map covers the floor of the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George, which is located northwest of the city centre. The church was built in 1896 AD, over the remains of a much earlier 6th century Byzantine church. The mosaic panel enclosing the Map was originally around 15.6 X 6m, 94 sq.m., only about a quarter of which is preserved. 

We had freshly squeezed pom juice which was amazing! 

Karak 

An ancient Crusader stronghold, Karak sits 900m above sea level and lies inside the walls of the old city. The city today is home to around 170,000 people and continues to boast a number of restored 19th century Ottoman buildings, restaurants, places to stay, and the like. But it is undoubtedly Karak Castle that dominates. The town is built on a triangular plateau, with the castle at its narrow southern tip. The castle is some 220m long, 125m wide at the north end, and 40m wide at the southern end where a narrow valley deepened by a ditch separates it from the adjoining and much higher hill – once Saladin's favourite artillery position. Throughout the castle, dark and roughly-shaped Crusader masonry is easy to discern from the finely-crafted blocks of lighter and softer limestone used in later Arab work. The Bible relates how the King of Israel and his allies from Judah and Edom ravaged Moab and besieged its king Mesha in the fortress of Kir Heres, as Karak was then known. Centuries later, it took the Crusaders some twenty years to erect their vast castle. Once finished in 1161, it became the residence of the lord of Transjordan, by then the most important fief of the Crusader kingdom, rich in produce and tax revenues. After withstanding several sieges in the early 1170s, Karak came under the rule of Reynald of Chatillon, a lord who became known for his recklessness and barbarism. Breaking all treaties, he began looting merchant caravans and Mecca-bound pilgrims, attacked the very homeland of Islam – the Hijaz – and raided Arabian ports on the Red Sea, even threatening Mecca itself. Saladin, the ruler of Syria and Egypt, reacted swiftly. He took the town of Karak by force, burned it down and almost managed to storm the castle as well. 

Fun fact at some point last year ISIS captured a toursit group last year in the castle and killed a Canadian here. 

Wadi Rum 

Also known as ‘The Valley of the Moon’, this is the place where Prince Faisal Bin Hussein and T.E. Lawrence based their headquarters during the Arab Revolt against the Ottomans in World War I, their exploits intrinsically woven into the history of this amazing area. We went camping here after a couple hours of a jeep tour. We got caught in an absolute downpour of rain. It was insane. Camping was fun - Christina and I's door kept opening all night long, which was creepy and kind cold. 

Aqaba 

Aqaba's long history dates back to pre-biblical times, when it was known as Ayla. According to the Bible's Old Testament, King Solomon built a naval base at Ezion Geber, just 3km from where the modern town of Aqaba stands today. From 106 AD, the Romans, who ruled the region from their base in Syria, also used Ayla as their trading sea port, until it came under the control of the Byzantine Empire in the early 4^th century. The Byzantines appointed Christian Arabs from south Arabia to rule the port city on their behalf. The Middle Ages were turbulent years for Ayla. In the 12^th century, the crusaders captured the city. They built a fort on Far'un Island, known then as Ile de Graye, 7km offshore. Ayla was then retaken by Saladin and the fort became known as Saladin's Castle. In a counter-attack, the notorious crusader, Reynald de Chatillon, took the island, but lost it again to Muslim forces the following year. When the Mameluk Sultans of Egypt took control of the region, they renamed the city Aqaba and, in the 14^th century, built the town's famous Mameluk fort. The Mameluks were followed by the Ottomans, who ruled Aqaba for 4 centuries. Aqaba was taken from the Ottomans in 1917 by Arab forces together with T. E. Lawrence. At the end of World War I, the British secured Aqaba for Jordan.

Aqaba was not the safest city - it is located near Saudia Arabia, Egypt, and Israel. Our tour group spent the day on a boat diving and snorkeling. 

AFN

Egypt

So while I know that I normally do a post a city, I kind of dropped the ball on Egypt due to the lack of internet. 

Cairo 

We started the day by going to the pyramids for a second time. They are truly spectacular. The one thing that shocks me is that they are superbly close to the city itself. 

We spent most of the afternoon at the Egyptian museum. It is superbly run down but contains a significant amount of tombs, mummies, and other random historical items. I've seen more, and better preserved, antiquities in other museums around the world. They are in the process of building a new museum apparently. The coolest thing in the entire museum is a mummified monkey. 

Aswan 

We took a boat out to the Philae temple. It is location on an island in the reservoir of the Aswan Low Dam, downstream of the Aswan Dam and Lake Nasser, Egypt. Philae was originally located near the expansive First Cataract of the Nile in Upper Egypt and was the site of an Egyptian temple complex. These rapids and the surrounding area have been variously flooded since the initial construction of the Aswan Low Dam in 1902. The temple complex was dismantled and moved to nearby Agilkia Island as part of the UNESCO Nubia Campaign project, protecting this and other complexes before the 1970 completion of the Aswan High Dam. 

The high cliffs opposite Aswan, just north of Kitchener’s Island, are honeycombed with the tombs of the governors, the Keepers of the Gate of the South, and other dignitaries of ancient Elephantine Island. The tombs, known as the Tombs of the Nobles, are still being excavated: significant finds were made in 2014 and 2017. Six decorated tombs are currently open to the public. We did visit these but honestly they are nothing special. 

Aswan has more of an Africa feel than all of the other cities to date. 

The Abu Simbel temples are two massive rock temples at Abu Simbel, a village in Nubia, southern Egypt, near the border with Sudan. The complex was relocated in its entirety in 1968 under the supervision of a Polish archaeologist, Kazimierz Michałowski, on an artificial hill made from a domed structure, high above the Aswan High Dam reservoir. The relocation of the temples was necessary or they would have been submerged during the creation of Lake Nasser, the massive artificial water reservoir formed after the building of the Aswan High Dam on the Nile River. The complex consists of two temples. The larger one is dedicated to Ra-Harakhty, Ptah and Amun, Egypt's three state deities of the time, and features four large statues of Ramesses II in the facade. The smaller temple is dedicated to the goddess Hathor, personified by Nefertari, Ramesses's most beloved of his many wives. It is believed that the axis of the temple was positioned by the ancient Egyptian architects in such a way that on October 22 and February 22, the rays of the sun would penetrate the sanctuary and illuminate the sculptures on the back wall, except for the statue of Ptah, a god connected with the Underworld, who always remained in the dark. People gather at Abu Simbel to witness this remarkable sight, on October 21 and February 21 where the temples are fully lit up. 

Flulucka

We took a day to travel down the Nile by boat. It was glorious to sit and suntan for a full day but slightly awkward to sleep in an open air boat with a bunch of strangers. 

Luxor 

We went to the Luxor Temple and Karnak Temple - really it is just another Egyptian temple with more of the same hieroglyphics and rocks. 

The modern town of Luxor is the site of the famous city of Thebes (Waset, in ancient Egyptian), the City of a Hundred Gates. It was the capital of Egypt from the twelfth dynasty on (1991 BC) and reached its zenith during the New Kingdom.

It was from here that Thutmose III planned his campaigns, Akhenaten first contemplated the nature of god, and Rameses II set out his ambitious building program. Only Memphis could compare in size and splendor but today there is nothing left of Memphis: It was pillaged for its masonry to build new cities and little remains. Although the mud-brick houses and palaces of Thebes have disappeared, its stone temples have survived. The most beautiful of these is the temple of Luxor. It is close to the Nile and laid out parallel to the riverbank. The temple was built by Amenhotep III (1390-52 BC) but completed by Tutankhamun (1336-27 BC) and Horemheb (1323-1295 BC) and then added to by Rameses II (1279-13 BC). Toward the rear is a granite shrine dedicated to Alexander the Great (332-305 BC).  The temple has been in almost continuous use as a place of worship right up to the present day. During the Christian era, the temple’s hypostyle hall was converted into a Christian church, and the remains of another Coptic church can be seen to the west. Then for thousands of years, the temple was buried beneath the streets and houses of Luxor. Eventually the mosque of Sufi Shaykh Yusuf Abu al-Hajjaj was built over it. This mosque was carefully preserved when the temple was uncovered and forms an integral part of the site today. Before the building works by Rameses II the northern end of the court was originally the entrance to the temple. It was an enclosed colonnade of seven pairs of 52-foot (16m) high open-flower papyrus columns. It was begun by Amenhotep III and completed by Tutankhamun and still support its huge architrave blocks. The Court leads into a Hypostyle Hall, which has thirty-two columns. At the rear of the hall are four small rooms and an antechamber leading to the birth room, the chapel of Alexander the Great, and the sanctuary.

We then went to the Temple d'Ombos, which the only note I have is that it is the site of the original dick picture and a crocodile mummy museum. 

AFN

Alexandria, Egypt

We took a day tour to the coastal city of Alexandria by private car. 

Founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC, Alexandria became the capital of Greco-Roman Egypt; its status as a beacon of culture is symbolized by Pharos, the legendry lighthouse that was one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

The Lighthouse of Alexandria (Pharos) was built in the third century BC by Ptolemy I on the island of Pharos. The height of the lighthouse was between 115 and 150 meters, so it was among the highest structures in the world, second only to the Great Pyramids. The lighthouse was built on 3 floors: a square bottom with a central heart, a section octagonal average and above an upper section. And on the top there was a mirror that reflected sunlight during the day and used fire for the night. But it was damaged by 2 earthquakes in 1303 and 1323.

The Library of Alexandria was the largest library of the ancient world and the place where great philosophers and scientists of that age came to seek knowledge. Alexandria also hosted, at the time, the largest Jewish community in the world, and the Septuagint, the first Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, was written in the city.

Alas, the city's reign came to an end when the Arabs conquered Egypt in 641 and decided to found a new capital to the south in Cairo. However, its strategic location meant that every army on its way to Egypt passed through: Napoleon's troops stormed the city in 1798, but the British conquered it in the Siege of Alexandria in 1801. The Egyptians under Mohammed Ali took control of the city and rebuilt it, but the Orabi Rebellion in 1881 and massacres of Europeans in the city led the British to strike back and hammer the rebels with the three-day Bombardment of Alexandria, reducing much of the city center to rubble.

Citadel of Qaitbay -  One of the icons of the city at a beautiful location, the fortress overlooks the Mediterranean Sea and the city itself. Built by Mameluke Sultan Abdul-Nasser Qa'it Bay in 1477 AD but razed and reconstructed twice since.This citadel was built in 1480 by Sultan Qaitbay on the site of the Pharos Lighthouse, to protect the city from the crusaders who used to attack the city by sea. The Citadel is situated at the entrance of the eastern harbor on the eastern point of the Pharos Island. It was erected on the exact site of the famous Lighthouse of Alexandria. The lighthouse continued to function until the time of the Arab conquest, then several disasters occurred and the shape of lighthouse was changed to some extent, but it still continued to function. During the 11thcentury an earthquake destroyed the top of the lighthouse and the bottom was used as a watchtower. A small Mosque was built on the top. About 1480 A.D the place was fortified as part of the coastal defensive edifices. Later castle looking citadel was built as a prison for princes and state-man. 

Pompey's Pillar, Karmouz. An ancient monument, this 25-meter-high granite column was constructed in honor of the Emperor Diocletian in AD 297. The confined area where the column stands also has other ruins and sculptures such as the Serapium oracle. Also beside this area is a very big shopping center for cloth and furniture called "El-Saa3a," where you can find many types of cloth or clothes.

AFN

Cairo, Egypt

Hotel: Santana Hotel 

While the hotel is nothing special to write home about, it is in a concave isn’t and safe location. Cairo doesn’t have that same nasty Muslim bite as Delhi did. It is extremely Muslim but doesn’t make me feel like my skin is crawling... yet. 

So far we have seen the light show on the pyramids and visited them in the daylight. They are truly magnificent. We got to climb into one of the pyramids and check out one of the rooms. 

We also went to Islamic Cairo. It’s an area with a ton of churches and mosques. We visited the St. Barbara church, Ben Ezra synagogue, and the Hanging Church. I’m so churched out by now. They all just seem to blur. 

We stopped for lunch at McDonalds because everything was super overwhelming this morning. Traffic is loud. People are always harassing you at tourist sites. The heat is incredible. I’m hungry. Given the location of our lunch, we stumbled upon the Nilometer, which used to measure the Nile in times of flood. It is on this gorgeous site where you’ve got great views of the Manastary Palace and the Nile. 

Our afternoon was spent walking around the Saladin Citadel. It contains a few mosques and museums. We went to go see the mosque of Muhammad Ali. It apparently is comparable to the Haifa Sophia in Istanbul. I disagree. The one in Istanbul was magnificent. This one is kinda meh. 

Coffee is not a thing here so I have a wicked caffeine headache. 

We start our tour tomorrow.

AFN

Jersualem

Hotel: St. George’s cathedral pilgrimage 

Christina and I hit the city hard. We did everything on this list in a day:

- Old City 

- Western Wall and tunnels 

- Tower of David 

- Church of the Holy Sepulchre 

- Temple Mount

- Mount of Olives 

- Garden of Gethsemane 

- Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Armenian Quarters 

- Mahane Yehuda Market 

- King David’s tomb

- Dolorosa Market

- Cardo

We started our first day with the Holocaust Memorial and the Israel Museum. The Israel Museum has some great history on the formation of Israel. The Holocaust Memorial, while well done, was not quite as powerful as visiting the concentration camps in Germany. 

Our second day involved about 40 kilometres of walking. We did everything, got lost in the old city all day long, and stopped for many Fanta breaks. 

I’ll update this post with history later. 

AFN

Masada

Hotel: David's Dea Sea Resort

Food: Taj Mahal

We got to Masada slightly too late to hike - it had hit 35C by 11 am - so we took the tram up. It was this gorgeous site with many hills, palaces, and rocks. 

The fortress of Masada was built in the year 30 BCE by King Herod, whose architectural feats have left their mark throughout the country. At the beginning of the great revolt against Rome in the year 68 CE, the site was conquered by a group of Jewish zealots, and Masada became their last stronghold. In the year 72, the Romans besieged Masada and succeeded in reaching the steep fortress after constructing a huge earthen ramp on its western side. In the year 73, the 960 Jewish zealots living at the top of Masada chose to commit suicide rather than to fall into the hands of the Romans alive. Their deeds left behind a saga of courage, heroism, and martyrdom.

The remains of the fortress of Masada are well-preserved and have been reconstructed in an effort to pay homage to the site and its heroic inhabitants. The most impressive structure on Masada is King Herod’s northern palace, built on three rock terraces overlooking the gorge below. Near the palace is a large Roman style bath house with a colorful mosaic floor and walls decorated with murals. Many other buildings at the site – such as the luxurious western palace, the mikveh (Jewish ritual bath), storerooms, watchtowers, and synagogue relate the history of Masada, especially when viewed with artifacts such as storage containers, decorated pottery, scrolls, and coins. The beautiful embossments and murals that were discovered on the walls of buildings on Masada were restored by Italian experts to preserve them for years to come. This is the largest and most complete Roman siege camp that remains today.

The Dead Sea is exactly how you picture it. It is crystal clear blue and you really do float. It's tough to actually put your feet down. We ended up spending most of our time here on the beach reading books. 

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Tiberias (or as I like to call it highway driving)

Hotel: Sweet Dreams Apartment
Dinner: Avi's 

We packed up fairly early and didn't end up staying here too long and left fairly early. It seems like a place with a significant amount of history. I did dip my toes into the Sea of Galilee. 

Tiberias plays an important role in Jewish history. It was part of the land bequeathed to Naphtali (Joshua 19:35). The Sanhedrin (the High Court of Israel during the period of the Second Temple) relocated to Tiberias from Sepphoris. In the Mishnaic and Talmudic period, Tiberias was an important spiritual center. The Mishna was completed in Tiberias in 200 C.E. under the supervision of Rabbi Yehuda Ha-Nasi ("Judah the Prince"). The Jerusalem Talmud was compiled in 400 C.E.

After his death in 1204, the great Jewish sage Maimonides was buried in Tiberias. His tomb is on Ben Zakkai Street, a short distance from the town center. The street's namesake, Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, is also believed to be buried nearby. Yet another shrine is the Tomb of Rabbi Akiva. A Samaritan center existed in Tiberias in the middle of the 4th century. The Crusaders later captured the city and made it the capital of the Galilee, but Saladin retook the city for the Muslim Empire in 1187. The city suffered a decline until it was revived by the Ottoman Turks. After the city was built up over a period of about a century, it was devastated by an earthquake in 1837.The early Zionist pioneers established some of Israel's first kibbutzim at the turn of the century in this area. After the establishment of the state, newcomers flocked to the city and the population quadrupled. Today, it is home to about 30,000 people.

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Nazereth

Dinner: McDonalds 

We had to drive back from Akko to Tel Aviv to pick up Christina's bag. We eventually made it to Nazareth. 

Nazareth has the Basillica of Annunciations which some believe to be where the angel Gabriel told Mary that she would bear a child. St. Joseph's Church is said to be the site of Joseph's carpentry workshop. The underground sunagogue church is reputably where Jesus studied and prayed. We also visited Mary's Well, which likely has some religious undertone to it as well. 

Nazareth is described by some as ‘the Forgotten Son’ of Israeli tourism. Nazareth, located in Israel’s Galilee region not only has over a dozen important Christian sites, but as Israel’s largest Arab city, has some fascinating cultural sites and experiences to savor. The Pope came to Israel in early 2009, and Nazareth was one of the areas given big government grants to improve its tourism infrastructure for this. As a result, Nazareth has been given a push back onto Israel’s tourism map – and with its importance as the childhood home of Jesus, as the largest Arab city in Israel, and its stunning location right in the middle of the Lower Galilee (about 15 miles west of the Sea of Galilee), it’s a fascinating place. Nazareth’s Old City is most famous for its traditional shuk (Arabic for market) which attracts Israelis from across the country looking for traditional Arabic produce. This in itself is an experience, and a great contrast to the air-conditioned malls dotted around the country. For those interested in Christianity, the Old City and surrounds are filled with important Christian sites, including the Church of the Annunciation.

The Synagogue Church, is according to Christian tradition, where Jesus studied and prayed. In addition, this is where he gave his famous sermon on Shabbat (Matthew 13, Mark 6, Luke 4) when he declared himself as the Messiah to his Jewish village members. This sermon infuriated the congregants and they allegedly dragged him to Mount Precipice planning to push him downhill, but he jumped and disappeared. Today, the Synagogue Church belongs to the Greek-Catholic community. According to historians, attributing this synagogue to the one where Jesus was praying is a late tradition that started after the Byzantine period: All early Jewish holy sites were destroyed by the Romans at the end of the Second Temple period, and most ancient Galilee synagogues are from the third to sixth century.

We ended up finally getting a hold and a confirmed location for Christina's baggage so we drove from Nazereth to Tel Aviv then to Tiberias. It was a loooooooooong day. 

AFN 

Caesarea - Haifa - Akko

Hotel: Zidan Sarai 

Dinner and Breakfast: Cafe Neto 

We drive from Tel Aviv to Ceasarea along the coast. Ceasarea is this huge city with gorgeous Roman ruins along the Mediterranean Sea. We crawled, pursued, and explored all along the sites. All of this was done in 32 degree heat. By now, the shirts tan is becoming imminent. The city and harbour were built under Herod the Great during c. 22–10 BC near the site of a former Phoenician naval station known as Stratonos pyrgos. t later became the provincial capital of Roman Judea, Roman Syria Palaestina and Byzantine Palaestina Prima provinces. The city was populated throughout the 1st to 6th centuries AD and became an important early center of Christianity during the Byzantine period, but was mostly abandoned following the Muslim conquest of 640. It was re-fortified by the Crusaders, and finally slighted by the Mamluks in 1265.

We then drove to Haifa, which is this hugely developed major city with a UNESCO world heritage site if the Baha’i Gardens. It is this stunning several mile long vertical garden. You sadly cannot go down the entire set of stairs but we sure tried. Built on the slopes of Mount Carmel, the settlement has a history spanning more than 3,000 years. In the 3rd century CE, Haifa was known as a dye-making center. Over the millennia, the city has changed hands: being conquered and ruled by the Canaanites, Israelites, Phoenicians, Persians, Hasmoneans, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders, Ottomans, and the British. Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the Haifa Municipality has governed the city.

We then drove to Akko. Akko is the first place I have felt unsafe in any manner. If it makes a difference to my readers, it is also the first predominantly Muslim area we have been too. Akko has a ton of Crusaders and Knights of the Tempolar history. We did go explore the Templar Tunnels and the Old City. One neat thing was the Crusader Citadel audio tour. We also explored the Prisoners Museum. The Old City is a giant concourse of mazes and streets with no rhyme or reason. 

The remains of the oldest settlement at the site of modern Acre were found at a tell (archaeological mound) located 1.5 km (0.93 mi) east of the modern city of Acre. Known as Tel Akko in Hebrew and Tell el-Fukhar in Arabic, its remains date to about 3000 bc

Food was iffy at best but our hotel was absolutely stunning. We had our own personal Turkish bath, which we made a priority for the evening. There is not much to do at night in these places. It appears that dinner is super early and nothing happens after 7.  This just means we go to bed by 830 or 9 at the latest. We at the same place for dinner and breakfast - Cafe Neto - a place just outside of Old Town. If you’re getting the se se that we’re walking a ton without a ton of food, you’d be right. 

AFN