Anice Stark – Toronto, Canada
Sunday, Jan. 26 we had a full travel day – a day off from our community service and an opportunity for those that are with us for 3 weeks to see JNF sites and Israel!!! Our first stop was Shuni Park (JNF tourist project), where we met Eli Shenhav – not only was he the JNF-KKL archaeologist who uncovered the site, but he was also the sheliach for both Montreal and Toronto. Of course, this is where Arnold and I met him. We also discovered another connection, our son who worked with Eli at one time – typical Jewish connection! Eli explained how they uncovered the different layers of the theater, the pools and described the special “finds” uncovered. If you don’t know – Shuni is related to Caesarea – Eli described it as the “country club” for the people living in the surrounding area – a place for fun and frolicking! The pools that they uncovered are amazing – you can still see evidence of the types of games they played in the water. Today the area is used as a sculpture garden.
The weather, while threatening, was very good, especially for sightseeing. We made a brief stop at Zichron Yaacov, a charming, restored 19th century village, and then continued on to Caesarea. This is an amazing site built by King Herod, overlooking the beautiful sea. We visited the theater, and walked around the hippodrome – trying to imagine the chariots racing around. There were lots of other ruins, some still are being excavated. We ended the evening with a fabulous meal at the ancient port of Caesarea – watching the sun set over the sea!