Israel in a Day, part 1

June 29, 2013  Saturday

Today we joined the student group on their final field trip to Caesarea on the Mediterranean and to the Galilee region.  It was a fast-paced trip, and we took a gazillion photos.

We started by heading west towards Tel Aviv.  All over Israel (except in Palestinian territories), we saw variations of these posters stuck on the backs of road signs.  Since they're on the backs of the signs, we had a hard time getting a good photo.

Here's one of the versions, courtesy of google.  This is Rabbi Menachem Schneerson (1902-1994), whose followers believe he is the messiah.  

Terraced hillsides are typical in Israel.  Some of the terracing goes back to ancient times.

Israel has vast agricultural operations -- at least in the areas that can get water.

This is some kind of refinery.

This building project is impressive!

Here's our first glimpse of the Mediterranean, barely visible on the horizon.

Now we see a little more, plus what looks like a power plant.

Our destination was Caesarea Maritima, built by Herod the Great.  

First we went to the colosseum, or theater.  Concerts are staged here all the time, and it looks like they are preparing for another one.  Some of our group members are standing at the top, and we could converse with them easily.  The place has fabulous accoustics.

The apostle Paul was held at Caesarea under house arrest for two years after he appealed for his rights as a Roman citizen.  Some of his epistles may have been written here.

The remains of the palace are interesting, especially since we had just seen the Herod exhibit at the Israel Museum.  The exhibit included an animated reconstruction of Herod's palace at Caesarea.  The palace was superimposed, piece by piece, over photographs of the site as it is today. 

The place is huge.  That's a former lighthouse out on the promontory in the background.  Herod built a huge artificial bay, using cement that hardened under water.  That technology was lost for centuries afterwards.

The beach wasn't really sand at all!  It was made of millions and millions of sea shells -- not very friendly to bare feet!

Swimming is prohibited, but nobody said anything about wading!

In addition to the theater, Herod built a huge hippodrome for horse and chariot races.  The seats for spectators remain, and hints of structures out on the vast field.

Genuine Roman charioteer:

Here are more of the ruins of Herod's palace and garden...

.... and a drawing of what they may have looked like:

During the Byzantine period (400 - 700 AD), a bath house was built over part of the hippodrome.

Although Caesarea is famous for its aqueducts, Pete and I didn't go there.  We spent a lot of time in 2003 looking at them.

Cat storage racks at Caesarea:

There's lots more that I could write about Caesarea, but maybe I'll just end with one more photo.

(Pete's gelato, in my right hand, was something like butter brickle.  Mine was mango & grapefruit.)