Caesarea + Druze Village

After we left Tel Aviv, we went headed to Haifa. First, however, we traveled a bit and made some really interesting and thought-provoking stops. First was King Herod's ancient stronghold at Caesarea - the seat of Roman power in ancient Israel. It was so clear that this was Roman. The amphitheater alone screamed it:

It was a sobering place, even though it was so beautiful. Pontius Pilate was situated here. King Herod "the Great" worked to make this his ideal harbor and he did a truly amazing job of making it happen - but he was still a narcissistic, paranoid baby-killer. They held gladiator games here. All in all, it was awe-inspiring and beautiful, but...

Anyway, the day turned out to be a truly amazing day weather-wise, although we'd expected rain. See pics from the site below!

Pic of an alcove carved into the marble stage - once, a statue would have stood here.

Today, the amphitheater is used for modern concerts & plays - our guide, Gabi, mentioned that Deep Purple has played here. Not sure how "modern" that is...

Ok not relevant to Caesarea, but I love this adorable couple.

This and the following few are relics found while excavating the site.

This particular column capital shows early Byzantine (think Alexander the Great) influence in the cross carved into it.

This is actually a sarcophagus. Can anyone read the inscription?

The Mediterranean is beautiful.

I know her!

So after Caesarea, we were treated to something truly unique - we drove up into the hills near Haifa to a Druze village. Druze is a separate religion that is somewhat related to Judaeism, but not really - it's a very esoteric, mystical faith that believes in reincarnation and quite a few other things. See a link to some explanation here: - it's really interesting. In addition to being invited to meet and learn from some of the people of the village, we were treated to lunch cooked and served in someone's home. It was delicious and was really the first bonding experience of the tour group. Norma and I were brave and sat in different groups. Pretty fun!

Driving through the Druze village

Begonias at our hostess' home. The flora in Isreal is BEAUTIFUL!