I came to praise Caesaria ...

... not to hurry it.

So today we hired a car and drove up the coast to Caesaria which is a relic of Herod’s era by the sea about 60 km North of Tel Aviv. The journey was okay although Israeli drivers can be quite intimidating so not without its traumas for TSM who was behind the wheel all day. Appropriate perhaps; they have a hippodrome at Caesaria and driving in and out of Tel Aviv can be a bit like chariot racing. The word Hippodrome derives from the word hippo which is Greek for horse (a hippopotamus being a “river horse” which I think is a bit daft personally).

Caesaria is a strange place, the archaeological remains are absolutely beautiful but it is not very well looked after in some ways and some of the restoration is dubious. But you get a massive sense of history as you walk across the site and imagine the hooves thundering and the chariot wheels clacking against the backdrop of the sea. Cruel times for humans and animals; but they did make some very nice mosaics.

The sea was dramatic in places and I allowed myself to get wet in the interests of science. TSM was cannier and stayed out of spray shot.

We had lunch on the harbour, lovely and relaxing, then walked back and drove up to Zhiron Ya’akov which is an astonishing little community high up in the hills and basically just a beautiful place to live and visit. A kind of Israeli Hampstead Village but mainly pedestrianised and full of cats on every street. We witnessed one very funny scene of a big dog running in fear from a kitten the size of a jacket potato. The people in the shops, cafes and restaurant were all amazingly friendly and the whole place had a fantastic vibe. Nothing else, just a vibe. Although TSM bought a bag full of beautiful clothes in a tiny dress shop in a back street and I have to say she looked gorgeous with practically everything she tried on.

Loved it.

Got back to Tel Aviv well after dark and concluded that maybe driving abroad isn’t such a good idea at our ages… but it really was a great day.