Haifa and Akko (North of Tel Aviv, Israel)

January 15 - January 16, 2010 -- Two days in Haifa and Akko was more than enough time there.

Wilson and I had a few extra days so we decided to spend two days up north at Haifa and Akko. Both Haifa and Akko are port cities located on the Mediterrean Sea. Haifa does not have much to offer other than the Baha'i Gardens and a few beaches. Akko offers more of a tourist experience with visits to the Citadel, Knights Hall, Templars Underground Tunnel, Lighthouse, boat rides, diving, seaside restaurants and beaches. Sad to say, the highlight for this part of the trip was not adventuring in the Templars Underground tunnel or roaming around the Knights Hall, rather it was seeing a jelly fish swim near us and little girl who was brave enough to hold a snake.

At first, I thought this was a lump of ice floating in the sea or a plastic bag... but as Wilson and I looked closer, Wilson told me otherwise -- its a HUGE JELLYFISH!! so of course I was super excited... i didn't see this big of a jellyfish on my dive in DAHAB. hee hee... Wilson thought about catching it ( we saw loads of fisherman on the other side, so why not?), but thought perhaps it could be a poisonish jellyfish. haha. oh wells, no chinese jellyfish dinner tonight. :D Below are a few photos of it swimming around ... I was sitting on a restaurant terrace above it (Abo Christo).

The other highlight of the Haifa and Akko trip was seeing a fearless girl peering into this snakes eyes... EEEEEEkkkkkk...

I'm not a big fan of snakes and some guy of course was walking around the seaboard with two snakes trying to entice tourists to take photos with it. I of course went to take photos of it, but was skirmish about being too close to it. ha ha. One child though was fearless. She stood still and watched it with curious eyes. The owner was watching the girl to see how scared she would get. She didn't. The snake came extremely close to her face and she didn't flinch (see the photo) ... I on the other hand, who was standing beside her, screamed and jumped when it got so close to her face. Talk about a wuss, right? I screamed so loud, the girl behind me also screamed and jumped away too! haha. I guess it is true, as you get older you become more of a scardy-cat. I wonder if I was eight again, would I stand still and want to hold that thing? ugh, I'm afraid not.

NOTE:

If you want to know about Baha'i Gardens and The Citadel (Akko) read more on wikipedia and the quick summary here...

The Baha'i Gardens houses eighteen beautiful terraces overlooking Haifa and the landscaping done aroud the gardens is a gardener's paradise, but unforutnately, did not pique my interest (sorry not that into flowers; only the tulip garden in Amsterdam put a big smile on my face). The gardens are sometimes described as the Eighth Wonder of the World. Within the garden is the Shrine of the Bab, which adheres to the Baha'i faith. Baha'i is a monolistic religion emphasizing spirtual unity among all humankind. If you want a visit to the shrine or the inner-part of the gardens, you will need a guide -- which is free and only available at noon. If you are into flowers and gardens, this would be your ideal spot. I personally am still in love with the Tulip Gardens in Amsterdam -- but that's because I love tulips!

Akko was a great seaside town if you want to lounge and see some touristy things. There are plenty of restaurants and sites to see if you want to occupy your time; however, it was slightly boring for me. The Knights Hall was ok ... and the highlight there was seeing a few bats up on the ceiling in one of the areas. Can you tell how excited I was? Ha ha. What else? The Templar Underground Tunnel, which lead from the Templar fortress to the lighthouse, was interesting and fun, but 350 meters was not that long of an underground tunnel -- so I found it short-lived. Overall, the histroy of the town is interesting -- it has been taken over by many different groups. From what I recall, it was first inhabited by Muslims, then taken over by the Crusaders, then the Ottomans... then the British and the list goes on...

Overall, I think Haifa and Akko can be avoided without any guilt!