This article appears in Volume 26:
The Nostalgia Issue

I

I
defy even the most hardened of hearts not to burst with
wonderment as Akko spills into view from the train ferrying
arrivals along the coastline. Turquoise domes and copper minarets
rise from behind the storied walls of the Old City, while orderly
rows of palms line up against the cerulean horizon. There’s little
hint of modernity save for the cluster of yachts moored in the
marina.

An ancient city in
Israel’s far north, Akko’s history stretches back millennia.
Today it is marked as one of the most diverse places in the country
where myriad faiths and perspectives coexist.

My host is the renowned chef Uri Buri, distinguished by his
silver, navel-grazing beard and perpetual grin. He’s something of a
local fixture and as we wander the shuk stallholders embrace him
fervently, offering bountiful handfuls of spices to inhale and
syrup-soaked pastries to sample.

His boutique hotel, The Efendi, is one of the city’s greatest
gems, once an Ottoman palace and now a 12-room retreat. Here the
past greets me at every turn, and yet the jewel in its crown is
perhaps something as enduring as Akko itself – the astonishing
Mediterranean sunset viewed from its rooftop.