Traveling is coffee for the soul.
There are many astonishing and wonderful things in the world, and I like to travel and see them. I am a middle-ageish man and I live in Northeastern Europe. My wife often travels with me, voluntarily. All pictures are taken by me, unless otherwise indicated.
I like to take pictures. I also like people-watching. However, I generally do not enjoy people photography, and I seldom get very good results. Surprisingly, in Israel I did get a few pictures that I consider pretty decent. Maybe it was because everywhere, especially Jerusalem, was so crowded.
A woman looking out of her window in the "White City", Tel Aviv.
Hard-working cooks in a popular Tel Aviv lunch joint. The food they made was tasty.
Birdman, Dizengoff square, Tel Aviv.
Garbage haulers, Jerusalem.
Holy selfie, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem.
A Sniper, Damascus Gate, Jerusalem.
A Camel and a Tourist, Mount of Olives, Jerusalem.
A tourist on Masada (click on the picture for a bigger panorama).
The walls of Acre provide great views over the Mediterranean Sea.
Acre is a relatively small city on the Galilean coast, in northern Israel. As far as we know, people have lived in the area since approximately 3000 BC. The city and its inhabitants have been cursed with a strategical location. Acre has been conquered, besieged and bombed:
by Alexander the Great, about 332 BC
by Caliph Umar's army in 636
by the Crusaders in 1104
by Sultan Saladin in 1187
by the Crusaders again in 1191
by the Mamluk sultan's troops in 1291
by Napoleon in 1799
by English, French and Austrian navies in 1840
and by many others
Acre is probably most famous for Crusaders, at least in the so-called Western World. The biggest attraction in the town is the Crusader Castle, known as the Citadel. To be precise, only the underground parts date from the Crusaders' time. The Ottoman Empire, who ruled Acre from the 16th Century until the First World War, had a more modern fortress constructed on the foundations of the crusader-built Citadel. The bloody, noisy and gunpowder-smelling history of the city is presented to the visitor by means of modern technology: a device and earphones are given to every visitor, and it automatically explains the history of the site on a chosen language. Films explaining life (and death) in Acre are projected to old walls, and sometimes floors.
The system works, but in my opinion it controlled the visitor's experience maybe too much, limiting curiosity and spontaneous interest. My device worked well, but it seemed that some others experienced malfunctions, which causes annoyance and frustration. That said, I'm sure the museum staff is happy to help and, if needed, exchange a non-functioning device to a working one. The audio clips themselves are well executed. A highlight for me was the story of Napoleon's siege of Acre, presented as a dialogue between a French and an Ottoman soldier.
The king of Jerusalem with his entourage.
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The Crusaders' bathroom was known as the latrine.
There are many other historical sights in Acre, in addition to the Citadel. A Crusader-built tunnel runs under the city center, a small but charming local history museum is situated in the wall fortifications, and there's a restored hamam spa from Ottoman times. The visitors to the hamam are provided with similar guide devices as in the Citadel. In my opinion, here the application is not as good as in the castle: the deluge of stories and information may feel overwhelming, and the video screens divert attention from the beautiful building and interesting objects.
Bathers in the hamam.
The masseur at work.
Acre is not only about museums. It is fun to get lost on the bazaar alleys, and walk on the city walls, taking in the views of the Mediterranean and the city of Haifa over the bay. The historic center of Acre is surrounded by the sea from three sides, and the breeze often keeps it nicely cool - the Israeli climate is a bit too hot for our northern tastes.
The Blue Mediterranean.
Napoleon's army (if I remember correctly) left this cannon on the Acre walls.
In Israel, nothing is ever far away. It's easy to take a day trip to Acre from Tel Aviv or Haifa by local train. The city is completely different from modern Tel Aviv or sacred and chaotic Jerusalem. One of the fascinating things about Israel is that a different reality is always just around the corner, or not more than a 30-minute train ride away.
The Acre Railway Station is a short walk away from the Old Town. On the way there are, among other things, some eccentric artwork, like these disco deer and storks.
The warlike past of Acre is very visible in the town, as are the tensions of today - there's no escaping them in Israel. But, when sitting in a waterfront restaurant, looking at the turquoise water and an old man teach fishing to his grandchildren, it is easy to forget unpleasant things and, for a moment, to concentrate on the beautiful.
I have visited quite a few castles, and even worked in one. It would be fair to say that I like castles a lot. In Sintra, just outside Lisbon, there are no less than three castles, so I obviously had to go there. In the end I only had time to visit two of them, as their opening hours are limited, less than 12 hours a day.
The Castle of the Moors, Castelo dos Mouros, is the oldest and, to me, most wonderful of Sintra's castles. In fact it's one of the most interesting castles I've ever visited, and it says a lot. It was, as the name implies, built by Arabs, known as moors at the time, who ruled medieval Portugal and Spain, They build their stronghold on top of a steep mountain, to a position easy to defend. The oldest walls are some 1200 or 1300 years old.
The walls of the Castle of the Moors.
In 1147 AD the Moors surrendered to troops commanded by Afonso Henriques, whom the Portuguese consider a national hero. The Portuguese flag has flown over the castle ever since - however, the design has changed several times. Now, many different historical flags fly in the flagpoles. The castle lost its military significance already on the 15th century, and an earthquake damage it on the 18th century. The restauration work started on the 19th century, first paid personally by the king of Portugal. The remaining structures of the castle are very interesting, but best is the dramatically beautiful setting on top of a mountain, above Sintra town. Pictures do no justice to the views.
It's not easy to dig a well in a castle on a mountain top. The crafty Moors solved the problem by building an underground cistern to collect rain water, so that the defenders of the castle would have something to drink even when under siege.
Near the Castle of the Moors, on a slightly higher mountain top, stands the Pena Palace. It is not nearly as old, the palace was built in mid-19th Century, but it incorporated some structures from an earlier convent building. It was originally the king's summer residence. It is quite a patchwork of architectural styles, and the richly decorated rooms create an impression of a castle in the clouds - and the palace is indeed frequently covered by clouds. When the 1910 revolution deposed the last king of Portugal, the palace was converted to a museum.
There is one more castle in Sintra, known as the National Palace, Palácio Nacional de Sintra. It, too, is originally built by the Moors, but the present appearance date from 14th and 15th centuries when the Portuguese kings resided there. Unlike the Castle of the Moors and Pena Palace, the National Palace is situated in the center of Sintra town. One day would probably be enough time for most visitors to visit all three castles, but I spent so much time in the two mountain castles that the National Palace closed before I got there. I admired it from the walls of the Castle of the Moors.
Kansallinen palatsi.
There's more to Sintra than the castles. It may not be a bad idea to spend two days there. Travel time from Lisbon is about an hour by suburban train, and tickets are very affordable. The mountain castles can be reached from Sintra station by bus or taxi. It is possible to walk, too, but it cannot be recommended to day-trippers whose time is limited. A budget traveler who stays in Lisbon should either eat in Lisbon or come equipped with a picnic lunch: Sintra is very popular among both Portuguese and foreign visitors, and that shows in cafe and restaurant prices.
