February 11, 2002

Caesarea and Haifa

[West Bank, Palestine] I'm glad to be invited to visit some places in the Holy Land. Yesterday I had the opportunity to visit Caesarea (and Haifa too). Four of us (the others were from Germany and Finland) left Bethlehem early in the morning and enjoyed the sites around the Mediterranean until late evening. Caesarea and Haifa are both on the northwest side of Israel. I think it was about two and half hours to get home from Haifa.

In Caesarea we visited ruins. It's a nice archeological site. King Herod (who is responsible for building a lot of the more impressive sites here) ordered the construction of Caesarea. The place was grand -- large stadium, amphitheater, and large aqueducts to supply water. We sat in the amphitheater and imagined what it would have been like to see a performance there. The waves from the Med were close, and it was really a beautiful scene.

Caesarea was important in the Bible. Peter baptized the centurion Cornelius (Acts 10:24-48), and Paul was put on trial here (Acts 24-26).

I loaned my camera to the folks at the International Center to take some photos of a new exhibit there, so I didn't have it with me. And much to the annoyance of my friends, I complained about that all day long. There was photo op after photo op that I missed. I half expected a UFO to drop Bigfoot in front of me. Things like that happen when I don't have my trusty digital camera.

After we visited Caesarea, we went up the coast to Haifa. We walked around town, stopped at some panoramic views, and had dinner. It was a city with old-town charm. I think we all liked it a lot.