Mediterranean Coastline ~

Today wraps up yet another fantastic Artzeinu Tour. Let me preface this with a disclaimer ... I don't work for them, and I get nothing for this endorsement. <LOL>
My mom, step-dad, and I went to meet our tour at the Prima Kings around the corner from Shauly. I was so happy when I saw our tour guide was none other than Moshe from our Ein Gedi / Masada / Dead Sea tour last week. I probably said this last week, but Moshe is an awesome tour guide.  He is witty, fun, and possesses a wealth of knowledge.  (So far I have been blessed with incredible tour guides who have each been fantastic!) Our group was a nice mix of people.  We had a guy from Brooklyn, and a father & son from Silver Springs, and of course, us.
So off we go  ... We left Jerusalem from a different route than all my other trips.  This time we were basically going to hug the coastline.  It took a little while to get over to that area of the country.  There is really something special about this country.  It is not something that can easily be put into words.  The Land of Israel is just compelling.  No, it's more than that.  I can't take my eyes off of it for a second.  I want to drink it all in.  I totally get now why Moshe Rabbainu so desperately wanted to come into the land.  How hard it must have been for him to only gaze at it from afar! Every drop of sand, every bush, every tree, every rock, it is so holy.  The land drips with history.  I feel like I am repeating myself, but it just takes my breath away to walk where our avos have been.
Our first stop of the day was Caesaria.  I walked off the bus, and immediately went back to toss my coat back on.  The weather was perfect!  The temperature was in the mid sixties with crystal clear skies and little puffs of cotton candy type clouds.  The water of the Mediterranean was colors I have never seen in person.  The view was phenomenal.  We could see for so far.  We walked past the aqueduct to first see the ocean.

King Herod lived 2000 years ago, and he only lived here for 40 years.  Yet the amount of construction he did is amazing.  They built a port with the entrance to the North.  They did this with some of the guys working under water.  They figured out a way to make a primitive breathing tank! TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO!  They built an aqueduct to pipe in water from miles away.  Truly amazing!

We traveled North passing through Haifa.  What an interesting city!  The city started as a port city, and as it grew over the years, it has spread up towards Mount Carmel.  We drove down a narrow highway through the middle of "down town".  We passed the "Silicon Valley of Israel".  Intel, Microsoft, HP, Google; they were all there.   We passed this unique building that is shaped like a hull of a boat for Zim shipping company. (I just Google the company, and it turns out that their American Headquarters are in Norfolk, VA.) As we drove by, we got a view of the side of Mount Carmel.  There is a super cool view of the Bahei Gardens up the side of the mountain.  We also passed a coal power plant with a mile long conveyor belt to bring the coal to the plant from the dock.  We passed some industrial parts as well.  I feel like I really got to see all sides of Israel today, the gorgeous and the not so great to see parts. We got to the Cave where Eliyahu Hanavi lived and studied.

Brilliant me who paid attention soooooo well calls my friend and says, "Guess where I am?  I am at the kever (grave) of Eliyahu!"  She's like, HUH? So I said it again, and then she says, Eliyahu Hanavi has no grave.  DUH!  He never died!  Ooops, uh, kever / cave, what's the difference.  LOL.  I have to pay better attention to the little details!

Next we head up to Rosh Hanikra.  Now I have to confess.  I  never heard of this before I read about it on the Artzeinu Tour page.  But it sounded so cool, and I couldn't wait to get there.  Once we arrived, it did not disappoint.  We get into this little narrow cable car, and then literally go right off the cliff in a steep descent.  I think that Moshe said this is one of the steepest cable cars.  I do admit that I was a tiny bit scared.  However, the view made it all worthwhile. 

After lunch we went into the grottos.  These are little tunnels that go into the rock and the water has areas that it goes into it.  Now you have to understand ... These pictures are NOT photoshopped. These are the colors.  (Yeah, I had a hard time getting the settings right on my camera, but I do feel that they are true colors.)

Here is one with no flash -- 

Now, here is a very neat thing ... Rosh Hanikra is on the Lebanese border.  I stood right at the border...

Our trip back to Yerushalayim included a stop in Akko to visit the Tunisian Synagogue.  Now I had thought that the Sephardim knew how to decorate a shul.  Really, I hadn't seen ANYTHING until I saw this shul.  The entire shul is covered in mosaics.  The walls, the floors, the ceilings, the stairs, every single space is covered.  It is breathtaking.

There were some stained glass windows as well.

The saying, these pictures do not do it credit, totally applies here.  If you come to Eretz Yisroel, and appreciate art work, this is a place you want to visit.

Oh, we passed this cute thing in the middle of the road while we were driving.  Too cute not to take a picture of it.

Dinner was a fiasco, but it was fun to be with family.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading and see you tomorrow night.  I'm getting very sad that my trip is starting to wind down.  I really do not want to go.  I want to stay here forever.