As our trip comes close to the end, we realized that we had one large chunk of Israel missing from our tour—the North coast. Therefore, on Thursday afternoon we mustered our last bit of energy and hopped on the bus to Haifa. Francis and Katherine did not get back from MDA until about 6pm, so we just made the 8pm bus. Haifa, the third largest city in Israel, is about 2½ hours from Jerusalem and contains one of the largest ports in the country. Although there are not many tourist sites, the city served as an excellent base for exploring the small towns along the north coast.

We rented a car and left early on Friday morning to drive north to Rosh Ha-Nikra, a rock formation at the very northern tip of Israel, on the border of Lebanon. Rosh Ha-Nikra was created when the strong Mediterranean waters carved subterranean tunnels out of the soft limestone rock, creating beautiful caves and formations. It was probably the most beautiful natural site that we had seen in Israel, and we enjoyed exploring. Afterward, we walked about 10 feet north to the heavily guarded border with Lebanon. The border has been closed for years, but the soldiers were kind enough to let us take a few pictures.

We had a lot to see, so we shortly moved south. Indulging our mutual interest in the quirky, we made a quick stop at Akhzibland, a museum/hotel created by an Israeli man who preserved a beautiful piece of beachside land from government destruction in 1952 and stayed. The guidebook touted the site as a sort of self-designed country where the man was creating his own autonomous state within the Israeli state. The house boasted an odd collection of antiques, a gorgeous view of the ocean, and an ample does of eccentricity.

Our final stop of the day was Akko (Acre), a predominately Arab town that has a beautiful old city, which is actually older than the famed Old City in Jerusalem. The narrow winding streets led us to city walls where we watched local fisherman against the background of the sunset. Again, the ocean provided a beautiful background for the unique culture of Israel.

The next day was filled with ruins. We started with the underground Crusader City of Akko, which was created by the Crusaders in the twelve century. It was fun exploring the caverns that had existed for hundreds of years, although I personally did not enjoy the dark room filled with hundreds of bats. Even more interesting was exploring the distinctly Arab city of Akko, where we made significant progress in our quest to find the best falafel in Israel.

Next we headed south of Haifa to see the Roman ruins of Caesarea. The ruins were much more impressive than those in Akko, and also much more crowded. We climbed to the top of the old Roman Theater and aqueduct, but were soon overwhelmed by the crowds of tour groups. By about 4pm we were suffering from ruin fatigue, so we headed to a beach just to the north where we could watch the sunset over the water without the company of thousands of other tourists.

After a quick trip to Ein Hod, a small artist community in the hills just north of Haifa, we returned to our original destination, Haifa, to explore the country's Baha"i Shrine. In a country filled with important religion landmarks, Haifa’s Baha’i temple sometimes get overlooked. However, it is arguably the most ascetically pleasing religious monument in the country. Baha’ism is a relatively new religion with about 7 million adherents worldwide. The religion’s world headquarters was built on the hills overlooking Haifa in the late nineteenth century, despite the fact that Israel lacks a significant permanent population of Baha’is.

We were intrigued by the religion and awed by the temple. The religion incorporates aspects of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and promotes harmony between religions, making it (in my opinion) a welcome presence in the turbulent Middle East. The temple itself is amazing. We did not have the opportunity to enter the actual building, but we did take a guided tour of the immense gardens, which overlook over Haifa. Haifa sits on a steep hill that descends to the Mediterranean, so by walking down the gardens we also had the opportunity to see the entire city and the ocean beyond. Once again, this trip demonstrated the immense beauty, and diversity, contained within Israel’s small area.

Next Story: