During our Israel tour, we spent time at Caesarea Maritima, the nearby aqueduct, and Haifa. All are on the beautiful Mediterranean Coast of Israel.

Caesarea Maritima, aka Caesarea by the Sea, was a bustling village in the first century, and home to one of Herod’s most opulent palaces. Complete with a swimming pool that reached into the sea, the palace was grand in every way imaginable. Take a look:

Herod not only built himself a palace, but also developed a Roman-type city, complete with amphitheater, hippodrome and an aqueduct to bring water down from the Carmel range.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was the impromptu frivolity of our group as we played in the Mediterranean surf near the aqueduct. In fact, one of the funnier moments occurred as many of us waited for strangers to get out of view so we could take sunset shots. They finally moved…only to have one of the guys on our trip walk right into the frame, inadvertently “photo bombing” all our pictures!

Further up the Mediterranean Coast, we visited Haifa. Below are photos from there.

That’s it for today, but stay tuned as we rewind more of our tour over the next few days!

Shalom!