Akko – getting there

Oops, this was actually meant to be part one of Akko, not to worry…

The trains here in Israel are pretty good actually.  Cheap, comfortable and on time.

Many of the carriages here are double decker, similar to the ones I saw in the Netherlands quite some years ago where I went from Amsterdam to Utrecht.  Something impossible to operate in the UK given countless bridges and tunnels not having enough height.

Two changes are required, one at Haifa and one at a small town I don’t recall the name of.

After maybe a mile and half of walking from the station, I was coming near the beach…

Akko has been through many different owners, Arabs, Crusaders, French, Turkish, Egyptians, Romans and Greeks.

The Templar tunnels, not that long but worth the small 10 Shekel fee to visit.  Headroom gets a bit narrower as you go further…

Fans of the video game “Assassin’s Creed”‘ may like to know that this city was used as the location for the game.

Here Acre has a fun collection of passageways and alleys that are fun to explore.  Check out official site at www.akkanet.net (More Muslim slanted, Arabic only)  translation here

This link from Jerusalem Post has a good run down on Akko:- www.jpost.com/Travel/TravelNews/Article.aspx?id=176791

Viva Netanya

I returned back to this city to stay in a holiday apartment I have been kindly loaned again for free for a few days.

A like the varied styles of architecture of the apartment blocks in Netanya.  The one on the left seems to be a bit Art Deco influenced with some pastel colours and geometric shapes, and others have some air of kitsch to them with these gold rims the window balconies.  There is a lot of construction work going on with blocks of flats being refurbished with the windows and balcony fronts being ripped out showing a hollow shell of the apartments inside, presumably to have a new facade put on to freshen them up to holiday makers or those seeking permenantly dwell here.  Right: I quite like this sort of foot shaped new apartment block.

The local estate agents have ads up for property listed in Russian and French for new immigrants coming in from these nations.

This city is a world apart from Jerusalem, with wide and long boulevards which are a grid fashion like an average US city, as I wrote before when I came here, the coast line with gardens and cliffs looks like UK city of Bournemouth, which funnily enough, the two cities are twinned.

This house appears to be some sort of famous historical place, but I didn’t see any signs in English of who it belonged to.

This local chap was out with his pets, there was two of these identical dogs, as well as a parrot enjoying the nice weather which is getting warmer.

Netanya’s own Shuk (outdoor market) is fairly similar to Jerusalem’s but has less English speakers, so its a little more challenging buying stuff.   I got some oats and raisins for breakfast, a kilo of bananas, some almonds.  Some huge squash fruit here.

These cliffs have some erosion, but doesn’t look like the sand thats exposed is causing any kind of threat to people’s houses.

Out on the beach, you can tell its been stormy recently.

The concrete foundations of these lifeguard’s huts have moved considerably.  There was three of these damaged, mostly the back wall sections have broken off.

Oops the Khazi would be out of action then 🙂

Jelly fish!  Maybe just half a one, after prodded the sand around it I couldn’t see any of its legs. 🙂

I really like Netanya, its only existed since 1929, so there is not a lot of historical places but it makes a good base point to stay whilst exploring the north of Israel, its much cheaper than Tel Aviv and traffic seems quite reasonable.   There is lots of shops and a good beach.

For me there was a good place to relax and read and take a break from work, and gave me time to pray and think about plans for the future for a bit.

Mount Carmel

 

Myself, my Dad and his two friends went to Mount Carmel after staying in Netanya.

Below maybe the place on Mt Carmel where there was twelve stones mentioned in the bible – although I could just see ten of them plus the statue thing in the middle.


1 Kings 18
18 “I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the LORD’s commands and have followed the Baals. 19 Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel……

30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which was in ruins. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.”