Akko

On Sunday, Daniel and I took the train north to Haifa, where we met our friend Alan. Alan was another of the participants of Sound and Sand, and last year when I was here Alan, Daniel, our friend Dustin, and I spent a couple of days hiking and camping near the Sea of Galilee. It's always good times with those guys. So, yesterday the three of us headed up to Akko (also spelled Acco, sometimes called Acre...not confusing at all...) to spend the day.

We opted for the "audio tour" option, which meant we had
to carry around and listen to these goofy things.

Akko is a super old city, and is filled with interesting history. The Old City we explored is a Crusader city, dating back to the 12th century, and we spent hours touring through the old fortress, sewage system, huge halls, streets and courtyards, and a 350-meter underground tunnel that provided a passage from the fortress to the port. The port was built by Ptolemais II (285-246 BC) and is now primarily a harbor for fishermen and a great place for local guys to swim and go cliff-jumping off the walls. 

Alan and Daniel in the tunnel.

We took a tour of the Turkish Bathhouse, which was built toward the end of the 1700's by Ahmed Al-Jazzar during the time the Ottomans had control of Akko. The video was a bit corny, but it ended up being a pretty interesting representation of life during that period and the "bathhouse culture." 

One of my favorite parts of the day was walking through the market. It's hard to explain using words, because so much of the experience has to do with the smells and sounds that you are pummeled with as you wander, trying not to miss anything. One minute you're enjoying the sweet and tangy incense a vendor is burning in the middle of his table of bracelets and other jewelry, and the next minute you're hit full in the face with the smell of fish, probably brought straight in from the harbor. You breathe as little as possible, until you come to the bags and bags of dried fruits, roasted nuts, and ground spices, which are pungent and mysterious and beautiful. All the while, you're dodging the little kids running up and down, the guys charging through on their bicycles, the women shopping for fresh vegetables, and the various dresses and scarves hanging all around and above you. I could have spent hours just taking it all in!

The harbor, which is now used for fishing and for boat tours.

We capped off the day by getting coffee back in Haifa and drinking it from the top of the Baha'i Gardens, looking out over the city and the port. The weather was perfect, we had great conversations and laughed a lot, and all in all the day couldn't have been better!