Akko, Stronghold of the Crusades

So this morning we got up and drove north past Haifa to Affo, a small mostly Arab town south of the Lebanese border that is home to an ancient stronghold that was originally built by the Crusaders during the first Crusade.  The port town actually dates to the Phoenicians, but the Crusaders were the first to really build it into a regional center.

We ate lunch at the spot in the background.

 

No, I did not actually eat the fish eyeballs, but instead shared them with my best friend for lunch time, the restaurant cat which scratched my leg after finishing each fish head I threw on the floor for it:

After lunch we went inside the castle and explored it using a tape-recorded tour.  It wasn't terribly interesting, but it was a bit of a change of pace from the day before.  We decided in the morning to come here instead of the Sea of Galilee because we were pretty much Jesus-ed out from the day before.

On the left is one of the old walls of the fortified city, with the city on the right.

 

This is the citadel from ground after you enter the castle area. And yet, the coolest part of the citadel was the secret passage that had been excavated.  The Crusaders built an escape route from the main rooms of the citadel to the port, which they used when Saladin overran the city at the end of the first Crusade.  Jeana offered some perspective:

And Peyton and Zach, just for you, I made a movie of me traversing the secret passage...

Oh, and the last thing from Affo today... another subtle reminder that smoking isn't healthy (look in the mouth).  This one from the large market in the city, which, by the way, once you've seen two fresh fish markets, the smell no longer makes them that interesting...