Day 3
Today we started off with an amazing breakfast buffet of so many good things it's had to remember !  Eggs, yogurt, cottage cheese, breads, fruits  and  vegetables  galore .  And yay!  Espresso!!
We then loaded up and onto the bus and out to Caesarea   Maritima, the capital for Herod the Great.  We saw Herod's palace, the theater, the hippodrome, the aqueduct, the port and a temple - all built by Herod in a 12 year period!  The guess is that this city had about  40,000 residents.
The theater is still  being  used  for  concerts in the warm months!
As with so many of these sites, there are layers of history  piled on top of layer. Byzantine and Crusaders all left their marks on this city  too!
Back on the bus for a trip to  Megiddo.  20 (at least) separate cities have come and gone on this site  since  the  4thmillennium BCE.  It all makes sense when you get  to  the  top and see the  vast expanse of the Jezreel Valley stretching  out below.  If you control this  high  point you control traffic from Egypt to Asia!  We saw a silo, a round altar, the city gate, and we walked through  the  spring shafts all 186 steps up and down!  I can also understand  why there is such a reference  in Revelation to Har-Megeddon   (Armegeddon) that last battle for salvation and destruction.  I took several different photos of Stella  Maris (Star of the Sea) Church and the traditional  site of Elijah's  encounter  with  the  prophets  of Baal.

Acrossthe  street  is the  view of the  city  of  Haifa.  Wow it was windy and cold and rainy!  Up the hill to have lunch on Mt. Carmel.  We didn't venture  to the top due to the strong winds.  While we  were  eating  there were  some  snow flurries  and sun spots!  Back  to  Haifa to see the Bahaii  Gardens,  which were closed and then in the  bus to the Non Gino's are Kibbutz which will be home for  the  next  4 nights.

Rating here will be an experience that I will enjoy.  Amazing variety  of  foods and delicious  options!