Dinner Amid the Ruins (Akko, Israel 05/26/2019)

An Open-Air Concert (Akko, Israel 05/26/2019)

Every so often Oceania treats all the Around the World guests to a special dinner event.  Such an event was held on May 26^th while we were in Haifa, Israel.

We were taken by bus to Old Acre (pronounced Akko), about 45 miles from the port.  Akko is one of the world’s oldest known inhabited sites.  Our event took place in the Hospitaller Compound, the ruins of a huge 12^th century Roman fort.  The entry way is lined with enormous fig trees estimated to be more than 500 years old.  The path led us to a large grass-covered courtyard where two knights were waiting on their trust steeds to joust for possession of the town of Akko.  A court jester set the stage:  one knight represented England; the other France.  The reenactment was of a battle that actually occurred.  The crowd was divided in half:  half the crown rooted for England, the other half for France.  The two knights pranced around the courtyard.  As Queen’s “We Will Rock You” began playing in the background, they dismounted and began swinging their mallets (the big round balls with spikes sticking out of them).  It wasn’t long before one of the knights had been disarmed.  Now it was time to unsheathe the swords!  France’s knight pulled out two.  Our guy (England) had just one.  Not much of a fair fight, but our Knight was the more skilled of the two and easily beat the Frenchman.  England was awarded Akko and we walked away to the strains of Queen’s “We Are the Champions.”

We entered the Fortress and were instantly wowed by the size of the rooms we were passing through.  Holographs depicting fortress life as it would have been in the 12^th Century were being displayed on the walls of the different rooms.  We walked through one room after another, hearing the story of how the fortress was initially discovered.  We were told that there used to be a prison over the area of the fortress we were walking through.  A couple of prisoners were planning a break and were using spoons to dig a tunnel from their cell.  Things were going along just find until they hit what turned out to be the roof of the fortress, and all progress came to a halt.  They were found out and when prison officials investigated the tunnel, they realized there was something more here.  The rest is history.

We enjoyed a fabulous dinner under a beautiful sky with terrific entertainment.  A musical group recounted the history of Israel through song, narration and dance.  They began with clips of Tivia from “Fidler on the Roof” singing “Tradition!,” showed a newsreel of Israel receiving its independence, included songs like “Yesterday” (“…all my troubles seemed so far away…”) and traditional Israeli songs that went from haunting to invigorating.  We even had a sing-along.  It was a memorable night in a memorable location, and we loved every minute of it!

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