Summer of Fun?

Malcolm and I have an ongoing debate as to whether it is better (cheaper!) to book airline tickets well in advance, and then change them if necessary, or to wait until nearer the time. You will not be surprised to know that Malcolm is in favour of booking at least a year ahead but we seem to change so many flights that I’m not convinced that we save money by doing this. So when we received the invitation to Sammy and Zoe‘s wedding, Sammy being the son of our friends Lisette and Mark Kingston, to take place three days before we were due to fly to England we immediately looked into changing our tickets to fly back for the wedding. When Malcolm sent me a message saying 'could I come down to his study please?' a very large red flag waved itself in front of my eyes. How did I feel about going to London via Maastricht to see an Andre Rieu concert? Mum was supposed to be in Israel with us on those dates and would have been flying back to England with us so I tentatively asked her how she felt about this plan. She immediately said yes and that she’d love to come; so our summer of fun was set in motion.

Getting insurance for Mum turned out to be a struggle because of the war. We did eventually get insurance through our Israeli healthcare provider, Maccabi, but not in time for this trip. So on the Wednesday Mum took the train from Borehamwood to Kings Cross with the help of her general factotem, Debbie, who handed her over to the excellent assistance at Eurostar. The pleasure of an easy journey was enhanced by the presence of members of the British Olympic Team who were cheered onto the train by their fellow passengers. At Gare du Nord Mum was met by her cousin, who she hadn't seen since before Covid and they spent the rest of the day together meeting up with us later in the evening. The next morning we took the train to Maastricht, changing in Liege, and after a relaxing afternoon headed for the open air concert in Maastricht town square. We were very lucky with the weather, it was a lovely dry, warm evening, and we enjoyed soaking up the atmosphere. Andre Rieu is not for the purists, his orchestra playing popular classical music as well as modern songs but oh, it is joyous. We saw them perform in Tel Aviv and then, as in Maastricht, there is an atmosphere of pure happiness. For a few hours everyone can put aside the problems of the world and just bask in the shared pleasure of lovely music and both the orchestra and the audience just enjoying themselves. As you can tell the evening did not disappoint. It didn't start till 9pm so the atmosphere is enhanced by the setting sun and the church bells ringing. After fireworks at 11 we decided to set off on the half hour walk back to our hotel, to avoid the crowds, and we were accompanied all the way by the multiple encores. By the next evening we were all back in Borehamwood. 7 trains and three countries in three days. Not bad for an 86 year old!

After 10 days in England we flew to Inverness International Airport where we hired a car. We then drove the North Coast 500, a relatively newly created tourist concept, around the Highlands of Scotland. We were again incredibly lucky with the weather, it only rained once and was even sunny on several occasions. It was so beautiful, so remote. We stayed in a different quirky country house hotel each night. The scenery was breath taking and we stopped where we fancied, at recognised beauty spots or just random sites. One of the unexpected highlights was stumbling across The Arctic Convoy Museum, after stopping at a viewpoint and discovering that the Loch we were looking at was a base for the convoy.

It is very hard to choose a highlight but very high on the list would be the Highland Gathering. Such wonderful local fun from the egg and spoon races, through the bagpipe contest, highland dancing competition, and of course, tossing the caber. The best laugh of the holiday was watching a man trying to throw a metal ball backward over a high jump type of pole. I've never seen anything so stupid and so dangerous.

We ended our itinerary at the Falkirk Wheel, a rotating boat lift, a must see for us, which did not disappoint, and then stopped at the Kelpies before heading for our final destination - Edinburgh - for our first visit to the Edinburgh Festival.

In Edinburgh we met up with David and Jenny (my older brother and his wife), and Clive, Kay and Mariella (Malcolm's younger brother, his wife and daughter). We had a great few days seeing a variety of shows (only one was awful) including a play from Guildford High school, in which Clive and Kay's youngest daughter, Jojo, was performing (excellent), and a visit to Malcolm and Clive's 95 year old Aunt. Highlight - no question, The Royal Edinburgh Tattoo.

The final hoorah of the holiday was taking the sleeper train back to London. Bijoux, cosy, compact or tiny and cramped, it depends how you look at it! Definitely worth doing, especially as it suited our travel plans, but I wouldn't rush to repeat it. Arriving in Euston in the morning we trained back to Borehamwood to collect Mum and then to Heathrow for our flight home.

Our trip to Scotland was overshadowed by Tzvi being called up again. He has been based in the West Bank near Jenin. Gila and Eliya stayed with Tzvi’s parents until we got back and then moved in with us. She has her final nursing exam In September. She had passed her degree with flying colours, but needs to pass the State licensing exam, so needed to revise all of her four year course. It’s our pleasure to spend the summer holidays looking after Eliya so that she can study, and having Mum with us for two and a half weeks was magic - or to use an expression Mum hates ( I don't know why) - very special. Not only did the timing of her visit mean that she had lots of time with Eliya, but, she and Gila are extremely close, and it has been a huge support for Gila having her around. WhatsApp is great but it’s not the same as talking in person and useless for hugs!

Eliya is coping better this time with Tzvi being away. Gila was advised to explain that Tzvi is a soldier protecting the people of Israel. His shifts are roughly ten days on and two days off. So Eliya knows he has to go back to work. He tells everybody that "Abba sheli chayil gibur" - "My father is a heroic soldier". At three, Eliya's understanding of time is not developed enough to give him advanced notice of when Tzvi is coming home, and it can be changed at the last minute, so his joy when he appears is total and unrestrained.

It has been scorchingly hot and whilst we are lucky to be able to swim everyday with Eliya it was too hot to go to a playground. So, as he is obsessed with all vehicles, we have taken him on a bus and train a few times, which he has loved. Because of National Service it has always been common placed to see soldiers on public transport heading to and from their bases and soldiers are always required to carry their guns with them, even when off duty, so on our travels, with Eliya constantly seeing soldiers, it prompts him to tell everyone that his father is a soldier. At Tel Aviv train station there was a sober reminder of the number of soldiers who have died, with the stickers that have been plastered over bridges etc with the names of fallen soldiers and those who died on 7th October.

Meanwhile our happiness is tempered by the continuing horrors of the war. After yesterdays terrible news (the murder of six hostages by Hamas) it seems indecent to post about all these nice things. We cannot put ourselves in the minds of the hostage families but it is even more unimaginable to think of the suffering of those six families. I am haunted by the thought of Hersh Goldberg -Polin's parents, as they have been higher profile than some hostage families, and I can picture them and him. When I first heard about Hersh's arm being blown off I thought there was no chance he could survive as a hostage. So when Hamas posted a video of him, alive and with his stump healing, in April, it gave me hope for him and all the hostages. To hear yesterday that he and five other hostages had been shot as the IDF got close to rescuing them was devastating. Tzvi knew one of the six. The whole country is still reeling from the news. We are all numb with grief.

Yesterday was the start of the school year in Israel. Nationally there was an awareness that this year, more than others, there were children starting school who are still evacuated from their homes in the North and South of the country, or with a parent in the army or, worst of all, having lost a parent in the war. Below is Tzvi wishing Eliya good luck on his first day at a new nursery and two videos of children whose fathers have died. A little boy accompanied by his mother and the Mayor of Jerusalem (it is common for both parents to take a child starting a new school) and an entire platoon taking little twin girls to their first day. The girls father was the platoon commander and he was killed four days ago.

We have to make the most of our good fortune and appreciate the precious time we get to spend together. So trying to end on a positive note we had a wonderful week all together in June when Ben, Tali, Noah, Samuel and Sophie flew over for a week.

Please G-d they are all coming out for a week after Gila's exams - if it’s safe enough.