Morocco Part 1 - Nov 2011

Subject: Day 1 morocco

It is now 10 pm
We began today at 3 am meeting the bus in London driving to gatwick, davening in the airport, and catching our easy jet flight to Marrakesh.

We arrived here at 11am and from then till now we have been touring Jewish sites in Morocco

It is the Eid which is an Islamic festival commemorating the slaughtering of Yishmael by Avraham .... Sort of a twisting of history

So to mark this event all families have to shecht a lamb tomorrow

As a result they are all shlepping their lambs on their bikes, scooters, trucks or NY hand 

Over 6 million lambs will meet their fate tomorrow ....seriously!!!

We stopped first at the shul in Marrakesh where we davened mincha and ate Lunch

 We then toured the shuk where the remaining jews live..and then we drove two hours to Casablanca

Here we visited an amazing Jewish museum and then went to a magnificent shul called Bet El where we davened Maariv

 We then visited a wonderful glatt kosher restaurant for dinner where we feasted on fish chicken and lamb

Morocco had 500000 Jews before 1960 but most have emigrated despite very good relationships with the king

There are now about 3000 Jews left mostly in Casablanca 

There are 40 people on this tour and I actually met the daughter of my mohel Dr Chaulk from Gateshead who remembers my mother

Tuscany with Grandchildren Part 3 - July 2011

Thursday

We began Thursday with a drive thru the Tuscan hills on our way to the City of Towers...San Gimignano.

At every turn in the road in the hour long drive, there were new vistas of beautiful Tuscan views...rolling hills, lush vineyards, framed by mountains in the background and bathed in a hazy sunlight.

There were numerous stops in order to capture the many photo opportunities. The kids were in awe at the amazing views and Nava was busy capturing it all with her new Nikon camera...she is quite the photographer, as are Ezra, Ariel and Kayla who took turns using our cameras and theirs...we could see that BH they are all very good at capturing the moment on film! We should have a very good collection of pictures to show everyone.

We spent a few hours in San Gimignano and even scaled the largest tower which is about 170 feet high...no elevator or escalator. There are 14 towers in this mediaeval town which has been nicknamed the Manhattan of Tuscany. We all loved this very picturesque city.

After lunch (salami and veggies on Pita) we were off to Pisa, where we saw the famous leaning tower...obviously lots of pictures and souvenir shopping. Ezra entertained us with some amazing facts on Pisa and its tower.

Then we all did what every tourist does in Pisa...we tried to shoot the most creative picture...

The girls all compared their successes at shopping in the market outside the Leaning Tower.

From there we were off to Livorno for dinner but unfortunately the restaurant has closed since the last time we were there. But we had a good hike thru town and Kayla explained the history and significance of Livorno.

We headed back to the villa where we had a late pasta dinner that Fran whipped up in a flash. We are certainly eating very well.

All in all, a very good day.

Today we are off for the whole day to Florence. We hope to have lunch at Ruth's and then get back here in time to prepare our Shabbat meals.

We wish all of you a shabbat shalom...

All the best....

The Tuscany team