Haifa to Akko to Jerusalem

Jim in front of Colony Hotel in Haifa

El Jazeer Mosque

We left Haifa and journeyed to Akko, the home of many crusader ruins from the 11^th and 12^th century.  It was a full day walking though ruins and going through tunnels under the city.  It is not unusual for cities to be built one upon another in this part of the world.  This means there are many tunnels to explore.  The lowest level excavated belong to the crusaders and the upper levels were from the Turks.  We visited the mosque of El Jazeer.  Not a very nice person but he was the Arab that was able to defeat Napoleon after he left Jaffa.  Napoleon was just not successful in this part of the world and his world did not get any better once he returned to France.

Crusader dining room under the city of Akko

We had lunch at Uri Buri.  It was a 3-hour lunch that left all of us refusing food at the end.  Since many of my traveling cohorts had wine at lunch, the group was very quiet on the way to Jerusalem.  We arrived in Jerusalem at sunset and then went to our hotel, The David Citadel Hotel.  Trust me, this is not a boutique hotel.  It is wonderful.  We are all thrilled with the hotel.

One of the tunnels in Akko.

Mosaic from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher

We took a walking tour and went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  We just got in and were hurried through.  We were in this cramped small area.  I have to remember we were in a crypt that was not meant to have thousands of visitors a day.  It has been a full day and Jerusalem is a city of contrasts.  On the way to the Jaffa Gate in the Old City, we walked through an open-air mall that could be located in any city in the US.  Jerusalem is not like any city I have ever seen.  Tomorrow will be another full day.

Outside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher