Day 3 - February 21 - Reaching the Sea

My Dad was safely back at home - and I congratulated him for his birthday, then started riding towards the west, towards the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

As always, I was quite excited to see the sea - it is always a majestic view. I was compensated for the all the uphill climbs the day before - now it was an enjoyable drop next to cactus plants, on this road called 8545.

It was not much later that I arrived at the historic town of Acco, also referred to as Acre. Acre was an important city during theCrusades as a maritime foothold on the Mediterranean coast and was the site of several battles in the 12th and the 13th century. It was the last stronghold of the Crusaders in theHoly Land prior to that final battle in 1291. The historic center of the town has been designated byUNESCO as aWorld Heritage Site. The ancient defense walls have weathered many attacks.

As I did not have any breakfast, safe for a quick snack, I was starving. There was a specific destination in my mind, where my parents had been the day I had visited Mount Hebron - this was the place called Hummus Said, in the middle of an otherwise bustling bazar - only now it was the morning of Tuesday in winter - not the absolute top season. So I got a nice table and for about €6, I had a wonderful meal of hot pita bread, straight from the oven and yummy home-made hummus.

After a delicious brunch, I spent an hour or so marveling at the historic center - this was my second visit, the first one having been a couple of decades ago. On the opposite side of the bay was the town of Haifa to be seen and I decided to head out for it.

The ride to Haifa was anything but too enjoyable. I expected to find a sort of a bike path leading on the sea shore, but all I could see were factories and ship yards, so I was forced to bike on a busy highway. Within the perimeters of Haifa, the right lane was closed due to road works, so there were cars whizzing past me, I prayed to all Gods, including the Bahai faith originating from this very town, not to be hit - I somehow made it an manage to turn to more quiet roads.

I took a rest (I needed it, even though the ride was not all too long) and was soon riding next to the rather deserted beach. I saw one person enjoying a swim in the sea, I was tempted, but decided against it, as it was a bit chilly. I also did not ride the cable-car - it was time to push on.

When leaving Haifa, I saw a large building with my former employer, Microsoft, on it. Till there, the road was pleasant, right next to the beach, but now I found myself riding on a major highway yet again.

Except for some castle ruins, there was nothing really memorable that day, but I did cover over 50 kilometers that afternoon on Highway 2. The good news was that there was a shoulder, like in the US, and I did not bother anyone and vice versa. I was a bit disappointed for not having found some sort of a bike route right next to the sea, guess there are some other priorities in this politically sensitive region of the world. The road offered only a few glimpes of the sea, so I used my imagination...Still, I had covered some 120 kilometers that day.I rode all the way to a town called Hadera, where I had quite some trouble finding the landlord of the tiny apartment I had prebooked that late afternoon. As small as it was, as expensive it stood, I recall it was also around €100, and by no means would a whirlpool have fit - oh well...