Friday, March 25, 2011

Akko

Today is Friday so while we wanted to go out we couldnt go too far because just about the whole country closes at 4pm and doesnt open again till Sunday.

We went to the cemetery to visit Maors grandmas and one of his friends. Every grave has a place in the back of the stone where you put a memorial candle when you visit so we lit a candle at each one, said a few words, and each of us left a rock on the grave (so the person knows we were there). When we left Maor pointed out a funeral. There were about 7 men who were with the funeral group but didnt come into the cemetery. Maor explained that they are Kohen decedents so they cant go into a cemetery because its considered unholy. I cant remember the full story but basically if a Kohen decedent does anything unholy God wont ask them to do important stuff.
When you leave the cemetery there are large fountains right outside the gate that you need to wash your hands out to get the unholiness off. Actually you just put the water in a cup and then splash a little on each hand.

After we went to Akko and spent more time trying to find parking than actually driving there. Akko is well known for people concurring it. I think the only one that DIDNT take it over at one point was Napoleon. We hung out for a while in the area by the Pisen Harbor, took a lot of pictures, and went on a little boat ride that gives you a great view of area.
While we were walking around and Maor was reminiscing about how many times hes been to Akko and how he knows everything there is to see I noticed an open door and a sign that said "Templar Tunnel".  I said, "Hey, whats this?"
He and his mom both looked in and said, "I have no idea. Never seen it before."
Its a tunnel built by the Templars in the second half of the 12th century to sneak from one end of the harbor to the other. I looked to see if their was more information on it besides what I read on the entrance walls and apparently the place doesnt get much traffic because its so easy to miss and it isnt even mentioned in my tourist book.
We also went to the Bazaar so we could pick up Hummus from Hummus Said. That one little hole in the wall was filled and had a cluster of people waiting to get in that blocked the whole street. They have the best hummas in all of Israel and the line is always there. We didnt have to wait long because Maors mom knew about seperate take-out window in the back.


I want to go back again because there are two other places I want to visit that we didnt get a chance to, the Museum of Underground Prisoners and the Turkish Bath.

1 comment:

  1. Did you go into the tunnel? And I think the word in "conquered" not "concurred" which means you agreed with something.

    Do you get to take a bath at the Turkish Bath?

    ghmily

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