One of hobbyist wine-maker Amnon Honig’s most anticipated (and celebrated) occasions is when Hirsh comes to town! Hirsh has been informally tasting, commenting and giving helpful suggestions and direction on Amnon’s cabernet sauvignon vintages since 2003 (!). He even sends Hirsh his latest vintages by mail — with disastrous consequences). They’ve always arrived smashed to…
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Among the many things the Israelis are particularly noted for is the respect they afford, and the efforts they go to, to care for their people. Education and culture are foremost in importance, as is the nurturing and support of the sick and ageing population. In the smallest of communities, there are schools, community centres,…
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During our stay on a Moshav in the Negev Desert, we’re very fortunate to be staying in a wonderfully creative home. Plenty of artistic talent running in Hirsh’s entire family! I feel compelled to share some of it …                   Painted butterflies in the bathroom … flitting around the shower door, up the…
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I’ve always told friends that Israel is an industrious nation … forward thinking, tough and resilient, immensely hard-working. So, on our first morning here, what did we do? We went out into the fields and got working. Up early before the sun gets too fierce (and we thought Tuscany was hot!), the task of the…
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So … where, really, are we? Looking at the long, thin wedge that is Israel, we’re on a Moshav located at the start of the southernmost third of the country. We’re kind of in line with Be’er Sheva, at the topmost edge of the Negev Desert, and laterally sort of mid-point between Be’er Sheva and…
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Well … I’m now writing from Israel … The stats: close to 2,700 (driven) kilometres later (loud applause, Hershey!), the final stretch of which was a 700 km, 10-hour drive from Valensole to Orbetello, Italy, 1½ hours away from Roma airport. It was a looonng, slow, Saturday of coping with wild, uncontrolled, non-indicating drivers and…
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I just can’t leave Valensole without doing justice to the 101 lavender pictures I’ve taken … . . . and, oh, we will be so happy to say Au revoir to les mouches!
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A final wander around our “local village” delivered some wonderful trompe l’oeil wall scenes and lavender-blue shutters. I loved the wittiness of this first photo: the idea of a colourful painted alley installed in front of a real (and a slightly more drab) alley.      Finally, we chanced upon a fascinating story in the…
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Hirsh is earning his stripes as a local and has learned to drive like a Frenchman. He now takes sharp curves at speed, pulls into curbsides without any warning and a whooping “Allez-oop!”, and can execute a three-point turn on a highly trafficked road. Which served us well on the one-way, single-lane roads around Moustiers-Ste-Marie….
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