Dec 31, 2010 - Acco, a wonderful day!

I guess we were really tired because we slept until 9:30a.m. Since this marked the end of breakfast, we dressed quickly and dashed down to enjoy a wonderful breakfast buffet of numerous middle eastern dishes...cheeses, hummus, baba ganoosh,fresh yogurt, poached eggs in tomato sauce and lots of coffee. We started the tour of ancient Acco with the Citadel, originallly a fortress of the Knights of the Hospitalar that was taken over by a Pasha who filled in the ground floor to build his own palace. Restoration started in the 1990s and muchn of...

Dec 31, 2010 - Happy New Year

Here we are at Sweetzimmer Hotel in Moshav Livnim just outside of Tiberias and Tabhka. I could not have found a more beautiful lodging. I favor boutique hotels and this is indeed small with only three suites. Ours is a living/kitchenette area set up with a cappuccino machine, Golan wine, chocolates, fruit and a homemade, heart shaped cake. The bedroom is shared by a decadent queen bed on a platform overlooking a jacuzzi tub for two...candles are everywhere. Great for honeymooners...and an old married couple like us! We ate next door at...

Dec 30, 2010 - Acco

Arriving in Acco about 4pm, checked into the charming Akkotel. According to Frommers and many Trip Advisor participants, opened in 2007, this charming 16 room boutique hotel is set in a lovingly restored building right against the walls of the Old City. It's Arabian, middle eastern atmosphere, influenced by the architecture and furnishings. Our room has stone floors and walls which are three feet deep, overlooking the quiet (at night) town. After checking in we had a drink on the rooftop hotel deck to watch the sunset and then meandered...