Last Day - Caesarea, Jaffa, and Tel Avi

The morning’s first activity was a reminder that we’d soon be leaving, as we gathered for self-administered COVID tests.

We then had about an hour drive along the Mediterranean coast to Caesarea (named for Augustus Caesar). Off-shore we could see a natural gas distribution platform. The town is one of the richest in all of Israel, has the largest private residence in Israel, and the country’s only golf course. Originally a small fishing village, Herod - the same Jewish king who built the fortress at Masada - built an international seaside city, home to 50,000, complete with a hippodrome, docks, and palace, the remains of which we toured.

We then headed to Tel Aviv, relatively new and the largest city in Israel with 3m people in the metro area and the hometown of our guide Moody (who - in one of his funniest lines - told us over dinner the night before that he views “Seinfeld” as a documentary). Jaffa - which we briefly explored on foot - was the old town that Tel Aviv absorbed and that was battled over during the 1947 war. With Tel Aviv’s wide and long beaches, beautiful weather, and explosion in tech companies, it is now the most expensive city in the world. Our hotel overlooked one stretch of beach and gave us a picture perfect view of sunset on our last night.

Dinner for a small group of us was again at one of our best restaurants of the trip, Mashya. We told the waiter our budget and handed the reins to him for serving whatever he felt we might enjoy. The food - spread over 3+ hours - was beautiful, inventive, and delicious, and accompanied by Israeli wine. Our night cap was at a nearby superb cocktail lounge - The Imperial - hidden in a non-descript hotel.

Early on day 14, I headed home.

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