Mon, May 19 - Tel Aviv to Akko

Today's objective is to make it to Akko, ideally in time to snap a few pics and catch a nice dinner. My first obstacle is a taxi driver who keeps asking me, "What number?" when I tell him I want to go to the train station. I'm about to pantomine a train by making a long thing shape with my hands and going "Choo-choo". Fortunately someone hears the frustration in my voice as I tell him "Train station", louder and louder and he sets the cabi on the right track (ouch).

Akko

The ticket woman at the train station is surley. It takes me two or three goes before I'm pretty sure about track one at 1:04PM. I go wait at track one. There is a video sign but the trains are listed in Hebrew. Every third or fourth train shows up in English. I wait quietly, hoping the Israeli trains run with same efficiency as those in Switzerland, so at 1:04 I can stand up, walk the few feet to the track and find an open door in front of me that admits me to the correct train.

12:50PM a cute girl sits down beside me and I ask her about trains to Akko. She tells me that the train which just left was the correct one - Dohhhhh - Is my name Homer?

"But the surley ticket woman told me...." Maya asks around and says this one is a slow train but if I take it to the terminus and change trains, I will end up in Akko. I sit with Maya for the 50 minute ride and it goes by like a flash. She is a psychotherapist by training who is currently a manager in a sushi shop. She recently learned about "channeling". I don't fully understand her explanation but it has something to do with energy flow in individuals. I don't know how she reads people but after a few minutes during which I say little, she turns to me and says, "I sense that you are very honest, you will use your writing, photography and music skills to do something new." I'm surprised and tell her that indeed, I like writing and photography and would like to leverage them more in the future. Not sure about the music part, I don't consider myself very musical, but I'm still impressed. She goes on to say that I'm too "stiff" and would do myself a favor by buying a T-shirt (I'm wearing an ex-officio long sleeve shirt). It is an interesting conversation and amazing to see how perceptive Maya is.

Akko is is dominated by a citadel that reached its zenith during crusader times when the town was known as Acre. The town has been rebuilt many times and excavations continue to uncover interesting history. Ten years ago a resident complained about a sewer problem. While fixing the problem, the plumber broke through into a hidden tunnel, "The Templars Tunnel", which connects the citadel to the harbourfront. This castle escape route was forgotten through the centuries.

Modern Akko is driven by tourists and fishing, not necessarily in that order. Lonely Planet says of Akko, "While cities like Jaffa have turned their attention primarily to tourists and historical livelihoods have taken a back seat, Akko is the opposite. There is no doubt that this is still a fishing village at heart."

The port, which has been in use since 2000 B.C., has fishing boats alongside tourist yachts. You can find the village men fishing from their boats or casting from the reef that borders the west of the village. If they are not fishing, they are likely in a cafe smoking a water pipe. Every country has their own name for water pipe but in Israel they are called narghiles. Don't knock it till you try it.

I have dinner at Uri Buri, a top notch restaurant recommended by Oren. The Coque St Jacques is to die for. The waiter brings me a second loaf of fresh (hot!) bread with which to soak up the remainder of the cream sauce. No dessert needed this evening!