Before I complete my review of my Anglo-Franco vacation, I do want to mention a few highlights that made the trip what it was.
First, there was our unexpected rendezvous with our Israeli neighbours in the Scottish border town of Gretna Green. We really just stopped there to go to the washroom and have a quick peak at the town that Brits used to run away to if they wanted to get married at 16 rather than waiting to the English-approved age limit of 18. Frankly I can't imagine why anyone would want to do that, but that might be my narrow-mindedness rearing its head once again.
As we pulled up into the parking lot of the beautiful little village commercial center, Yael and I were just focused on finding the nearest toilet. The others lagged behind, which was fine because we were in a bladder-induced hurry. A few minutes later, after my boys had caught up with us, we were headed back to the car to continue on our way, when I heard someone with a very familiar voice calling out my name.
It didn't register at first because she was out of place in Gretna Green, but when I looked around, there was my friend and neighbour Caroline and her traveling crew. Now I like Caroline a lot at the most-normal of times, but I have to say that stumbling across her and her family on the border of Scotland and England was really exciting (and free fun at that!). It was difficult to leave them after our tea together.
The next thing that made the trip special for me was the unexpected raw beauty of the Scottish highlands and the English Lake District. I could have driven those crazy narrow, harrowing roads for days and just looked out the window.
The third event that sticks in my mind as most memorable was our evening at the theatre in London. Going to the theatre was a late decision recommended by other British friends living in Israel and I can't even imagine what a shame it would have been not to attend a show. We saw "Oliver" which is one of my favorite childhood movies, and it was better than I could have ever hoped for. We all left the theatre on a real high.
And the final -- and unexpected -- event that really left its mark on the trip was our last minute visit to Speakers Corner in Hyde Park. We went there as a lark a few hours before we had to leave for the airport. I thought the kids might enjoy it -- for about five minutes. However, I am happy to report that the ad-hoc speakers did not disappoint.
There are a lot of nuts out there who just want to share their views with the world. They don't care if they insult their audiences. And they surely don't care if they don't have any facts to back up their arguments. They just want to let it all out and as long as you don't take them too seriously, they are highly entertaining. Perhaps because it was Sunday all the speakers that we stopped to listen to were talking about God. Poor God. He gets a lot of undesirable and probably unwanted attention.
Heaven knows I am no authority on the word of God, but after spending 25 minutes listening to two yahoos from Texas interpret the importance of Israel as the home of Jesus Christ, you are left wondering where these people get their information. And best of all, they believe it with such furor that you have to think twice before taking them on. And if they don't have a reasonable answer to an audience question, they surely don't let that get in the way. They just insult you until you forget what you were asking in the first place.
And then there was the Reasonable Iman. He spoke calmly and had such a palatable view of the potential for peaceful co-existence of Islam, Christianity and Judaism, that I thought of abducting him and bringing him to Israel and then trying to have him overturn the "government" of Gaza. The problem of course, is that he had no idea what he was talking about in a real-politik sense. His ideas were lovely in theory -- it's just the nagging practice in reality that would have screwed him up.
So there you have it. Three weeks away. And at the end of the day, weather excluded, there is no place I would rather be than at home in Israel.
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