Return to Caesarea & our last day in Jaffa

 The Romans knew a feat of engineering when they saw one. And they would have a field day now if they came and saw what we take for granted now. They would see underground trains, skyscrapers, mobile phones, water coolers - their minds would be blown. 

So it's no surprise that things flow the other way. We went back to Caesarea to see the aquaduct, and our minds were blown bit. A large potion of it is still standing, running along the beach and heading out into the desert, and naturally, I wanted to see it.

Getting there again was a bit of a faff, going from the main bus station in Tel Aviv with it's many floors, before catching the bus to Or Akiva interchange, and then walking a fair distance to the beach to see it. Wonderfully, it's free to visit, and if you've hired a car, there's a handy car park just next to it. 

As you can see the, the sky was still rather overcast and windy from the storm the previous night. We both had our coats on and were prepared to take shelter if we needed to!

The moody looking clouds that passed over us on the beach. We had a lovely time just wandering about, walking between the aqueduct and the beach as we took our time in exploring.

Despite being two thousand years old, the aqueduct is in surprisingly good shape. Yes it's a little battered and there's a couple of wooden supports holding up weaker arches, but you can see it would only need a little bit of restoration to carry water again.

This picture I love, it's just beautiful, and if you look closely in the arches, you see this is technically two aqueducts, not one.

This is a better picture to show you. One of them was built during king Herod's time, and another by Hadrian around a hundred years later. The town of Caesarea continued to grow and develop, and it's demand for water kept increasing.

This picture makes me laugh when I see it, we hid in these arches when the hailstone shower came down. They were fast, heavy and hurt! We huddled against the wall for 15 minutes or so, then suddenly the skies were blue and all the clouds had gone! How's that for a fast weather turnaround! I also love how much the sand of the dunes contrast with the blue of the sky, with the aqueduct almost seemingly bringing the blue sky in.

The demand for water in Caesarea only continued to grow, with a third ground level aqueduct being built a couple of hundred years later. You can imagine how big the city must have gotten for it to need so much fresh water. If you want to know a little bit more about the aqueducts, I found this interesting article online which tells you more about the history and some of the artefacts found on the aqueduct itself. The Aqueducts of Caesarea

We were planning to walk more, but James was developing some pain in his foot, and we decided it might be safer to head back to civilization rather than walking further away to see more of the aqueduct, which was the sensible thing to do. The explorer in me wanted to leave him sat on the beach so I could see more, but that would have been unfair! So we headed back into Caesarea town to find the bus, which we ended up waiting for around 75 minutes for, I think we had just missed one. We ended up catching the wrong bus somehow, and ending up in Binyamina train station. The driver in very broken English tried to tell us the bus was diverted for some reason, and we figured it would be easier to get back to Tel Aviv by train rather than trying to get back to Or Akiva for the bus.

We ended up spending the afternoon back at the apartment for James to rest his feet, and to be honest I needed a bit of rest too! We'd crammed a lot in so far, and spending some time chilling out in the hot tub was a good idea! 

His foot was still a bit painful the next day, so we headed back to Jaffa for a gentle stroll around the market, which was lovely until it began to rain again! I swear, you couldn't have made it up! It was a funny day, alternating between bright spells and sudden light showers and gusty winds. I don't think the surfers were complaining though, the waves were pretty impressive!

A bright moment as we explored the old town again, with the wall planters overflowing with plants.

A view from near the top of Jaffa, you can see the rain & spray in the air! We then had a fun little wander through the flea market. It was alright, with lots of small stalls & shops selling bits and bobs. I don't think we brought anything other than some postcards and some toys for the kids as souvenirs.

But yes, then the rain started again, and we hid in a little cafe, eating delicious pastries and drinking coffee while we watched the christmas decorations dance about in the wind! It's the small pleasures in life! 

I know I always say it, but it was a shame to leave. I had loved it there, it had been a fantastic holiday. James was really impressed too. I think he had been a little nervous and undecided about going, but we both agreed we would come back and explore more of this magical place. 

All that was left to do was take the mandatory picture of the clouds as we flew home the next morning. But I can't wait to return! (Hopefully when the weather is a bit nicer!)