EMYR 2011 - Caesarea and the Druze Village

From Haifa, we also had a day trip to Caesarea, on the coast. This is an entire city and completely man made harbour that was built by Herod the Great. The ruins are very extensive well preserved, and include a massive stadium along the sea front which was built for chariot racing. The harbour was unique in its day because it was completely man made with no help from the natural shoreline which is pretty straight. Herod built a massive breakwater and complete port from nothing. It made Caesarea one of the most prosperous towns for hundreds of years before the breakwater finally crumbled into the sea, and the town declined.

Following Caesarea we visited a German settlement from the time of the first European Jews who settled in Israel in the late 19^th century. Apparently they had a miserable time, as they were given land in a swamp area, and many died of malaria. Baron Rothschild eventually donated millions to help them drain the land and get established. The settlement was a pedestrian street lined with arty shops and cafes now, but many of the houses had plaques telling the stories of the first families to live there, and it was very interesting. Unfortunately we were pushed for time, as we had to reach the Druze village for lunch, so no time for souvenir shopping in the nice shops.

The Druze village was interesting, and not what we expected; it wasn’t a village at all, but more of a town. We were escorted to a house, and all sat in a large room with old settees, and low tables, and waited to be served a traditional lunch. In the meantime, a chap tried to explain about the Druze religion, which is very closed. Only if you are born to 2 practising Druze parents can you become a Druze, and therefore the population remains pretty small, and it seems that the basic premise is that there is only right and wrong, no grey area, and that everyone is reincarnated, therefore the population cannot expand, only remain the same. There is much secrecy about the religion, and I think quite a lot of suspicion as a result. Lunch was lots of little spicy dishes, served with naan bread on plastic plates. Not very pretty, but very tasty none the less.

After that it was back to Yacht Club, a quick shower and the off to the home of one of the Jewish members of the club for supper. We were collected from the marina, along with another English couple off the boat Bajan Kiss, by a chap who had been a member of the yacht club for years, had recently sold his boat and remained on as a social member. He took us on a short tour of Haifa, showing us the Bahia gardens and temple (yet another obscure religion), and to the lighthouse overlooking the city and port where the view was quite spectacular. He then took us home to his apartment where he lived with his wife, and we spent a very pleasant couple of hours listening to their view of life as Israelis. They were very keen for us to realize that all religions were tolerated in Israel, and that there were equal opportunities, but I am sure they believe that the Jews are superior in every way. They were very proud of the armed forces, and of the fact that their grandson was about to go and do his 3 year national service in the air force. Supper was fish with boiled potatoes and salad, as it was Friday! We had a fascinating evening, and it was very kind of them to invite us into their home.

The following day was a late afternoon departure for another overnight sail, this time to Ashkelon, so we had a lazy morning on the boat, and caught up on some much needed sleep.