Mother Nature forced a change in the itinerary with snow on our route to Galilee. Instead, we drove north up the coast and then turned inland to Galilee. Our first stop was at Caesarea, which is the ruin of a city built by Herod the Great, during the 22 to 9 BCE period. The ruins include a well-preserved amphitheater, race track (chariot racing), baths, market, and administrative buildings surrounded by a wall and moat. Herod built a palace for Ceasar and himself and included a harbor. A significant aqueduct brought water to the community. Inscriptions on a tablet in the ruin confirm the existence of Pontius Pilate Roman Governor of Biblical fame.

Our next stop on our journey north was the city of Haifa, which is Israel’s third-largest city and a major port. One of the major tourist sites is the Baha’i World Centre. The immaculately maintained grounds include terraced gardens on the slopes of Mount Carmel, the burial place of the founder of the religion as well as administration buildings. Also in Haifa is the ancient walled city of Acre, also known as Akka and Akko, which was built as the headquarters of the Knights Templer. This group of crusaders was monastic soldiers whose mission was to protect the Holy Land and the visiting Christian pilgrims. The city had underground passageways that permitted the inhabitants to safely transfer and hide their treasure.

We then drove to the northern tip of Isreal at the Lebanese border. The current border was established by the UN following Israel’s incursion to eliminate PLO bases being used to attack their country. The line is marked by fences and outposts. We visited the place where an Israeli unit was attacked by a suicide bomber resulting in a major loss of life. There were a series of Hezbollah attacks and counter-attacks in this area but there have been no recent incidents. We observed Lebanese soldiers and an Israeli patrol boat.  The border point is accessible by cable car.

The next stop was the Sea of Galilee and the Golan Heights.