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A Saturday hike
Daughter Vered Ron sent us some pictures of a day hike with husband
Aviv and Mikhal and Moran Segoli in Nahal Dolev in the Bet Shemesh area.
December
2017 - A weekend in Eilat
Enjoying hamburgers in an Eilat restaurant with the Eilat Levys -
Doreen, Ilai, Amit (not seen), Limor, Itamar, Aviv, me. Even tastier
was the lunch barbecued by Aviv.
December
2017 - Some family for dinner
We had a most pleasant evening over dinner at our house this evening
with some family, especially as it's been some time since the Kansky's
and the Klotnicks met.
Nathan and Shirley Kansky (
Hershovitz
and
Matz trees), Doreen, Joel and
Beryl Klotnick (
Matz tree), Louise
Braverman (
Glezer tree), Me
This is - or was - the house where I lived during my youth
from a few years old till about aged 20 - 191 Musgrave Road, Durban,
South Africa, next door to the St. Thomas Anglican Church. Between our
house and the church there was a footpath that led to my high school, a
walk of about 5 minutes or usually a run of 2-3 minutes not to be late.
The house is now St Clement's Restaurant, with a Certificate of
Excellence and rated 4
stars on Trip Advisor.
There is another picture in the Archives of This Week's
Picture.
(Many thanks to ex-Durbanite Maureen Fain (nee Konigsfest) who recenly
visited Durban and was kind enough to visit the restaurant and send us
the photos.)
December
2017 - Belinda
Levy visits Eilat
Belinda Levy, the ex-wife of my first cousin the late David Levy
ז"ל (see Hershovitz and Matz family trees) is visiting Israel and
she
met our son Aviv at Coral World Marine Park where he is the curator.
December
2017 - Channuka 2017
(see Zoe's page for another picture)
With the Rons
with Shuly and Eitan Haberman
December 2017 - Some of the family come for lunch
Moran was feeling better, I was feeling better, so what nicer way to
celebrate than having a family lunch in Netanya.
A pre-lunch visit to the park opposite - Zoe Segoli, Lotem Segoli and
Rafael Dvir
l-r
back: Moran Segoli, Eitan, Vered Ron, Zoe Segoli, Rafael Dvir, Yahel
Braverman
l-r
front: Doreen, Louise Braverman,
Lotem Segoli, Mikhal Segoli, Maayan Segoli
December
2017: Yael Galamadi comes for
lunch.
Yael Galamadi, a friend from our first days in Israel and whom we don't
see too often, came over for lunch.
The Galamadis lived opposite us in our first home in Netanya. Yael and
Doreen were pregnant at the same time and we became good friends with
the Galamadis. Our daughters, Vered and Ariella , were born within
days of each
other and the little girls spent a lot of time together at both
apartments. We spoke English to Vered, and the Galamadis spoke Hebrew
to Ariella and because they were together so often, Avraham Galamadi
was "abba" to both girls, and
I was "dada" to both girls.
Some eyebrows were always raised in the neighbourhood whenever our
daughter Vered called Avraham "abba".
I always liked spicy food but I owe my love for very spicy food to
Avraham's Tunisian "chreime"
(fish stew) prepared by Yael.
December 2017
- Yori Leshem marries Michal Pellach
Mazaltov to Yori (Yehoram) Leshem (see Glezer/Glasser
family tree)
on his marriage to Michal Pellach. Yori and our son Moran and daughter
in law Mikhal were colleagues and friends before they knew they
were related. Read the story of our
meeting in Davis, California.
December 2017 - A
visit from Gilad Shai
Doreen and I had a highly satisfying meeting with Gilad Shai (Avraham).
Gilad, who was Moran's friend, stayed with us in Eilat for
nearly a year before they both went to school at Sde Boqer.
Unfortunately we lost contact over the years so we
were happy to renew contact with him - a charming and positive adult.
December
2017 - Vered's short trip to Germany
At a small Christmas market in Hamburg
Vered managed to squeeze in time with
long-time friend Patisa
Rasmussens and her daughter Sofia, who came to Hamburg to meet her.
November
2017 - "Be Brave, Saba"
While in hospital
the Eilat grandchildren sent me this encouraging picture, labelled by
grandson Itamar "Be brave, Saba!"
November
2017 - Skipper Vered takes
friends and Doreen on a morning sail.
November
2017 - The Segolis go birdwatching
The Segolis visited the Huleh
Nature Reserve and area and saw the migrating cranes. The Nature
Reserve has "birding hideouts" from where the birds can be viewed
without disturbing them.
November 2017 - The Segolis visit the spider webs of
Nachal Soreq
The Soreq Creek near Jerusalem contains
nutrient rich water (from treated sewage) that attracts millions
of tiny non-biting midges that are an abundant food for
long-jawed spiders who spin large tapestry-like webs.
Read more
about this rare phenomenon in the Haaretz newspaper, and see more
pictures of the Segolis in the Archives
and on the pages of Lotem and Maayan.
November 2017 - The Eilat Levys visit Tiberias
After Amit Levy's 12th birthday party (See
pictures here) Dad Aviv, Mom Limor and siblings Itamar and Ilai
took her
for a
weekend to Tiberias.
November 2017 - Eilat
After an intensive week overseas in Riga and Tallinn we returned home,
but a few hours later I was again in an aeroplane, this time flying to
Eilat where I was a tournament director at the Eilat Bridge Festival.
We stayed in a hotel by the marina and loved the view from our
verandah. We felt we were back overseas.
November
2017 - Amit levy is 12!
Although granddaughter Amit Levy
did not want a batmitzvah celebration she was delighted when our family
organized an impromptu surprise 12th birthday party at a Tel Aviv
restaurant .
Afterwards Dad Aviv, Mom Limor and siblings Itamar and Ilai went for a
weekend to Tiberias where they had a great time.
A visit to Heini and Tiina Drui in Tallinn Estonia
We fulfilled our promise to our Estonian relatives Heini and Tiina Drui
and paid a short but meaningful visit to them in Tallinn. (see Archives picture)
The Old Town of Tallinn is beautiful and scattered with
innovative benches. We later enjoyed an excellent meal at the
meat restaurant behind us.
We were delighted to meet some of
their family; daughter Triin and son-in-law Jannus and granddaughter
Emma.
In the picture on the right, Heini is holding his "rabbit" a
cherished present made for him decades ago by the
late Channa Drui (Doreen's father's cousin) before she moved to Israel.
November 2017
- Another visit to Riga, Latvia
We visited Riga for the European Bridge
Champions' Cup. We made a very short
visit to Riga last July but the visit this time was painful for
Doreen,as she has now
determined that the synagogue where her grandmother was burnt to death
during the Holocaust was in Riga. Read
Doreen's Thoughts on a Visit to Riga..
Riga is very beautiful and Doreen took the opportunity to walk through
the streets of the Old Town and also to see the Art Nouveau buildings.
View of Riga from the top of the (Russian) Academy of Science building.
The interesting market is in four former zepelin hangars, bought from
Germany after WWI. The Old Town is very beautiful with many interesting
and impressive buildings.
Historic Riga is a World Heritage site with the largest collection of
Art Nouveau buildings in Europe. Up to 40% of the buildings were built
in the early 1900's and are maintained in perfect condition. Eitan and
I relaxed in the beautiful Art
Nouveau Sienna cafe after walking through the Art Nouveau area.
Click for a picture
of the beautiful Riga synagogue.
November 2017
- Judy Pirkey visits
We were delighted to meet up again with old friend Judy
Pirkey, who was on a cruise with her husband Fernando. Doreen prepared
a
delicious lunch and we were joined by friend Morris Kahn and daughter
Vered. We had not seen Judy for about 25 years and we enjoyed talking
about the "old times" and sharing memories.
Morris, Judy and Fernando, Vered,
Doreen, me
October 2017 -
Picking olives for Granny Doreen
While we were at the caravanserai for Lotem's party (see below) Doreen
used the opportunity to enlist the family in picking olives for her to
pickle.
October
2017 - Lotem's batmitzvah party
Granddaughter Lotem Segoli turned 12 and the Segoli and Levy families
celebrated with her at her
batmitzvah event. Friday evening we celebrated at the Caravanserai
(Khan
Shayarot) tent village not far from her home in Midreshet
Ben
Gurion, and on Saturday we all lunched at her home.
The family tent - sleeping was on
mattresses, perfect for the kids to jump on
A wonderful opportunity for the Levys and Segolis to get together once
again
The programme included group dancing led by Naama Yaniv, supper
(sitting on mattresses!) in a large tent,
Click on the
picture below to see us all
dancing
and of course birthday celebrations -
including delicious cakes!
Evening entertainment was sitting around a camp fire (a
"one-match-Levy" fire) talking, and singing to the accompaniment of
Nitzan on the ukelele. We were fascinated by the spontaneous dancing of
7 -year old Mili.
Breakfast was followed by a camel ride
in the desert
4
followed by Yoga exercises led
by Moshik Yaniv
Lunch at the home of Moran and Mikhal Segoli ended the most enjoyable
weekend.
October
2017: Almog Collins celebrates his
bar mitzvah.
We celebrated the bar mitzvah
of Almog, grandson of best friend
Caroline Collins, at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
Sukkot at
the home of Dina and Jonty Levy
For the last few years the Levy family tradition of celebrating the
festival sukkot together
lapsed. This was a great pity for we had many
lovely evenings at the home of Wendy Kansky, the daughter of cousin
Shirley Kansky (for example see here)
. This year Wendy, daughter Vered
and cousin "in-law" Dina Levy decided to renew the tradition and the
Levys with the addition of some of Dina's family, enjoyed good company
and delicious food at the home of Jonty and Dina.
My aunt Malia Levy with cousin Shirley
Kansky; Lotem tries her hand, er mouth, on a didgeridoo to Zoe's
dcelight
Four generations of Levys get together
for a sukkot celebration.
September 2017 - Rosh
Hashanah in Eilat
We stayed 5 days in Eilat during the Rosh
Hashanah long weekend and
apart from eating most of the time we also had time for some other
things.
Pizza on the beachfront
- a climb to see the the lights of Eilat
- A visit to Coral World Marine Park
(see also here)
a dive (Doreen, Aviv, Moran,
Maayan, Amit) -
see Amit underwater
- and a visit to the "Escape Room"
The Rons meet in
Boston
Vered from Germany - Aviv from Chicago - Danielle from California -
Lior from Israel: all met up at Boston airport. After spending a few
days together, Danielle will go back to California and the rest will
fly back to Israel.
August
2017 - Daughter Vered and Aviv sailing
Vered and Aviv sailed with 4 friends in the Greek Isles. Vered was the
sole skipper and we're very proud of our sailor daughter.
August
2017 - Lunch with Shirley Poluck
While in London we had lunch with Shirley Poluck, long-time friend from
our first days in Israel at the Hebrew Ulpan in 1965.
We see her quite often, in Israel (for
example) or in England.
August 2017 - A short visit to Oxford
On the way back to Israel from our cruise we spent a few days in
London and took the opportunity of visiting Oxford, where we had never
been.
We took a tour of the town and were delighted by the beautiful old
buildings and colleges of Oxford University. We were not surprised to
hear that the Harry Potter films had been shot on 7 locations in
Oxford. Here are 3 of them:
The highlight was a visit to the marvelous Ashmolean Museum. The museum
is definitely worth a visit. There are amazing exhibits of
archeological finds, and we spent hours in the Egyptian and Middle East
Sections, so didn't have time for the other exhibits. There was also an
exhibition of Rafael drawings which Doreen skimmed through.
A sculpture of a lion with a realistic face and stylized body. Some
small Egyptian figurines including
preparing bread and preparing beer. An 8,000 year-old plastered skull
from Jericho (note the sea
shells in place of the eyes).
August 2017
- On board the Oriana - 3
(Week 2)
Doreen is preparing an account
with pictures and more details of the cruise. << *later: Click for Doreen's account and impressions>>
but in the
meantime below are some pictures of
some of the highlights.
During the second half of the cruise we visited Klaksvik in the Faroe
Islands,
Kirkwall in the
Scottish Orkney Islands
Click on the picture above
and Dublin, Ireland, where we saw the sites and spent an delightful day
with my Dubliner bridge colleague Paul Porteus and his wife Maureen.
The day before we disembarked in Southampton Doreen went on a tour of
the Oriana's impressive ship's kitchen. Doreen will prepare an
account
with pictures and more details when the cruise has finished,
<<*later: Click for Doreen's
account and impressions>> but in the
meantime there are some pictures of
some of the highlights here.
August 2017 - On board the Oriana -
2
(Week 1)
During the first week of our cruise we sailed from Southampton, to
Belfast, the New Hebrides and Iceland. Doreen will prepare an account
with pictures and more details when the cruise has finished
<<*later: Click for Doreen's
account and impressions>>, but in the
meantime here are some pictures
of the highlights so far. (see also "This
Weeks Picture")
Iceland - Sea Voyager,
Reykjavik
Picking blueberries, Isafjordur
Godafoss Falls, near Akureyri
August 2017
- On board the Oriana - 1
We're on board the Oriana on a 14 day cruise. Our cabin was a pleasant
surprise - it's larger than we thought and there is a large window
looking out to the deck and sea.
August 2017 - Girls only - Doreen, Vered and
Lior enjoy a Paris visit
Three generations - Doreen, daughter Vered and
granddaughter Lior - are in Paris for a 5 day visit. For Lior this is
extra special, for she was born in Paris. More
pictures on Lior's page.
August
2017 - The Segolis trek the Dolomites
The Segolis - Moran, Mikhal, Maayan, Lotem and Zoe - are in
north-eastern Italy trekking in the Dolomites. They will be there for
about 2 weeks, carrying all their clothes and supplies with them, and
spending the nights in the rifugi -
the huts along the trekking paths.
More pictures on the pages of Maayan, Lotem and Zoe, and in the Week's Picture archives.
July 2017
- Hospital party
While Ilai was in hospital (see here)
the Levy family organised
a Friday night dinner for her and mom Limor's birthday at the hospital.
All 14 family members
came (except for Danielle who is in America and Amit who is in Eilat
now after helping Ilai during the hardest first days). We took over the
visitors' lounge and it was a really lovely
occasion.
July
2017 - Grandson cooks
During the hard week when granddaughter Ilai
was in hospital our grandsons Maayan and Itamar helped with the
cooking!
July 2017 -
European Youth Championships,
Samorin, Slovakia
We enjoyed our 8 day stay at the
X-Bionic Sphere Complex near Samorin, Slovakia. The bridge conditions
were excellent, the hotel suite large and comfortable and the hotel
food varied and good as well as other excellent restaurants.
The venue is both a horse training facility (complete with stables,
show areas and a hippodrome) and a training centre for olympic and
other sports, and includes an exceptional gym where Doreen spent some
time. The impressive statue of a horse, consisting of thousands
of stainless steel plates, is the largest horse statue in the world and
stands at the entrance to the horse traing centre.
Apart from the bridge contestants there were sportsmen and women from
all over
the world - for example national football teams and swimming teams, and
also many youth enjoying summer camps. Doreen even received a T-shirt
from a Qatari youth consellor in charge of a youth summer camp.
When we knew we would be in the town of Samorin for a week Doreen had
tentative plans for a day or two in nearby Bratislava or a return trip
along the Danube to Vienna, but she ended up enjoying the hotel and its
atmosphere and facilities
One of the
restaurants is
Farrier's. (A farrier is a specialist in the care
of horses' hooves).
The Tournament Directors ate there one evening. The
theme of the restaurant is horses and horse riding, and the bar stools
were moving saddles, enjoyed first by Doreen who was quickly joined by
Josef (EBL Treasurer), Peter (TD from Germany) , Yves (EBL President)
and Fearghal (TD from Ireland).
The excellent venue
at the hotel
even included a luxury cinema with screenings during the day and
evening. The awards ceremony of the Under 16 Competition was held
there, and Doreen enjoyed the extra comfortable lounging seats - once
you were in a seat it wasn't easy to
get up
- Click here or on the picture.
July 2017 - A visit to Vered in Jerusalem
Amit and Ilai Levy spent the weekend with Aunt Vered, and met the Sde
Boqer Segolis at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
July 2017 -
Vered has a relaxing week
Vered drove north to a scouts camp that Lior was
attending to help with
the cooking. Ilai was also attending a scouts camp, but the children
from Eilat were in another forest. Then for a relaxing
weekend.Vered and Aviv went camping on the beach
July 2017 - An
event of
Breaking the Silence
Breaking the Silence held a marathon reading of soldiers' testimonies
in Tel Aviv. Because the present government is trying to prevent
soldiers from recounting their experiences while serving in the army,
volunteers were reading the testimonies without recalling the
reservists' names. Here Yael Dayan (the daughter of the late Ruth and
Moshe Dayan) a staunch supporter of Palestinian rights, sits in a
wheelchair and despite needing oxygen to help with her breathing is
reading out one of the testimonies. The volunteer standing next to her
is signing for the hearing impaired.The testimonies we heard were
nothing shocking (althoough we have heard some in the past), rather
saddening because of the trauma they caused to the soldiers and also to
think to what length the present government will go to to prevent any
criticism or recounting of the army policy or lack of policy in the
West Bank, embittering the lives of the Palestinians living under the
occupation.
(see
also Doreen's Column from last year) .
July
2017 - Touring
with some bridge friends
Between our trips to Monmtecatini and Samorin there was the Tel
Aviv Bridge Festival. Doreen took some
of our guests from overseas for tours - the President of the World
Bridge Federation Gianarrigo Rona (with Cippi his wife and Carlotta
their daughter), Ton Kooijman, Chairman of the World Bridge Laws
Committee and Irving and Jackie Gordon from Scotland.
Tom and Eitan with some unknown hangers-on sit on the ancient stone
toilets at the entrance to the hippodrome in Caesarea.
Sandy Duncan from Scotland stands with his bridge partner Irving Gordon
and his wife Jackie on the Temple Mount. Dress regulations on entering
the Temple Mount have been drastically changed at the exhorbitant price
of NS25 per item of clothing!
June 2017 -
Celebrating Vered's birthday
June 2017 -
short visits to Cinque Terre and
Florence
The coastline of Cinque Terre, five villages nestled against the
backdrop of steep terraces and green hills on the Ligurian coastline is
dramatic, I boarded a ferry at coloful Riomaggiore, passing
Manarola
to arrive at Monterosso al Mare, the only village that has a beach.
Anchovies have a protected designation of origin and are a local
speciality as is their pesto. I enjoyed delicious anchovies pickled,
preserved in oil, and stuffed with pesto for which they are justly
famous.
Exploring the steep narrow alleys of all the villages is rewarding and
full of surprises. In Monterosso tens of people were preparing
intricate pictures in the alleys from flowers, leaves, colored sea
salt, polenta and coffe in preparation for the Feast of Corpus Domini
an important Catholic holiday After mass in the church a procession
with giant crosses passes through the streets with everyone walking
over the intricate designs.
Montecatini is favorably situated to visit numerous places in Tuscany,
among them Florence. This picture of the famous Ponte Vecchio Bridge
brought back happy memories of a previous visit to Florence with a few
friends.
Despite aching feet I spent 5 hours in the famous Uffizi
museum unable to pass up even one famous painting. The angel is part of
a panel by Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi. The angel Gabriel has just
landed in a flurry and if you look carefully you can see the words he
speaks in the embossed gold almost like a modern cartoon.
Bottecelli's
The Birth of Venus is perhaps the most famous painting in the Uffizi
but I liked the Madonna of the Pomegranate reminding me of our tree
back home.
In the Piazza della Signora an elaborate parade passed with elaborate
costumes, bands and flags in preparation for a feast day parade
honoring St John a few days later. In the piazza is a copy of the
famous David statue by Michaelangelo but nothing can prepare you for
the dramatic encounter with the statue in the Galleria dell' Accademia.
June 2017 -
Montecatini Terme, Italy
During our visit to Montecatini for the European Bridge Championships
Doreen has been her usual active self while I have been attending
meetings. We meet in the
evenings for dinner and so far have only found very good and excellent
restaurants.
Doreen climbed the mountain to Montecatini Alto, twice, instead of
taking the funicular. Here she is with Marianna Pencharz .
The last time we visited Pisa the tower
was closed with scaffolding
marring its beauty. The incline has since been corrected by 5
degrees
by excavating underground. To enter the tower one has to walk down
steps because it has not only inclined but sunk.This time Doreen
climbed the
tower and circling the top gallery one certainlly felt the slope of the
tower.
As usual Doreen takes along wives of
other Executive members. In Luca she was with Claude Aubry and Nansy
Laurant, and they visited the .house and museum in Lucca where Puccini
was born.
The bridge meetings are also an occasion for meeting old
friends, some of whom we also visit outside of the bridge events. We
were happy to meet up again with Bill and Marianna Pencharz. Bill was
President of the EBL when I attended my first major international
bridge championships 20 years ago as a Tournament Director - also
in Montecatini. About 5 years ago Doreen and
Marianna visited Timbuktu together.
June 11 2017 -Doreen's birthday
We are in Montecatini for a bridge competition and will celebrate
Doreen's birthday in a suitable restaurant. In the meantime we are
enjoying an outdoor breakfast at our hotel.
Doreen received birthday greetings from daughter Vered and Aviv in
Cyprus, from son Moran in Rhodes , from son Aviv in Eilat, from
granddaughter Danielle in USA, and from our grandchildren in Raanana,
Sde Boqer and Eilat. So, from Montecatini in Italy, Doreen says "Thank
you all!"
May 2017 -
A couple of days in Rome
No visit to Rome is complete without time spent sitting on the Spanish
steps; we passed it three times as our favorite restaurants are nearby.
As is our custom we visited the synagogue and enjoyed an excellent
temporary exhibition La Menorah,
which we had seen advertised by a banner in Saint Peter's Square.
The statue of Moses was equally arresting as the previous
time I viewed it (see Jerusalem in Rome)
Eitan stands in Navona square. The buildings are built around an
enormous hippodrome built by Domitian, the brother of Titus and known
for his persecution of Chrisians.
Castel Sant' Angelo by the Tiber River has had many
transformations.
Built originally as a mausoleum for Hadrian, it later served as a
place of refuge for popes in uncertain times, as a citadel and as a
prison.
It
is interesting that while Hadriain is well thought of as an enlightened
emperor, in Jewish sources he is reviled as the emperor who not only
put down the Bar Kochva rebellion but plowed Jerusalem under and built
a new pagan city Aelia Capitolina in its place.
May 2017
- At Villa Fabbriche in Tuscany
In Lucignano in Tuscany, Italy I attended a meeting
of the European Bridge League Council which is held at the beautiful
villa of Fillipo Palma, a fellow committee
member. We were here last year as well - click here for a picture of the view from
Fillipo's villa. We did a little touring
on the way here and will do more on the way back to Rome where we
will spend a few days.
We again visited Ostia Antica, the ancient seaport of Imperial Rome.
The site has
been extensively excavated since our last visit there years ago and we
enjoyed our too short
visit this time.
The size of the site is quite amazing - 50,000 people
lived there! And it takes 8 hours to see the whole site, including an
ancient synagogue, which we did not visit this time as it involved
walking kilometers to the site. More than any other archaeological site
you get to feel of the compactness and planning of an ancient city .
(Google Ostia Antica virtual tour)
In the theatre that held 4,000 people, I am listening to the
audioguide. In the rooms surrounding the green lawn were guild houses
with mosaics referring to their trade, like a huge ceramic jar for the
transport of oil, or a mosaic of an elephant, deer and a wild
boar imported for contests between gladiators and animals.
While the men were having their meeetings Claude Aubry and Maureen
Porteous
joined me on a day trip to Arezzo. The Piazza Grande is the main square
where we stopped for a coffee. When Eitan and I visited Arezzo a number
of years ago we watched takes of a movie being filmed. Imagine our
surprise when seeing the movie Life is Beautiful we suddenly recognized
what we had seen being photographed again and again.
The Cathedral at Orvieto is quite magnificent both inside and out; the
golden mosaics glittering in the afternoon sun were stunning while the
fabulous frescoes inside are worth visiting again and again.
We also visited Montepulciano,
and enjoyed lunch at the Il Buco restaurant in nearby Chianciano
Terme
May 2017 - A
bike ride in Prague
We spent a few days in Prague, where I organised a
successful seminar to introduce the new laws of bridge to
international bridge TDs (judges). I didn't see much of Prague but
Doreen did some sightseeing, including a bicycle tour.
May
4, 2017 - A warm welcome to Tallulah May Wood
Daughter of Tanya and Stephen Wood, granddaughter of Susan Nathan (see Levy/Hershovitz family tree.)
Tallulah May, a beautiful one-day old baby!
April
2017 - After enjoying the grand birthday party and Maayan's
cooking (see below), the granchildren stayed
with us and on their last day "up north", During their final day
with us at the end of last week,
---- went horse riding,
(See more pictures on the pages of
Ilai, Itamar, Zoe, Lotem
and Maayan)
.---- visited a turtle rescue programme,
(see another picture on Amit's
page)
.... and
played Frisbe with Doreen in the adjacent park.
Maayan
prepares a meal for April birthdays
Grandson Maayan, aged 13, cooked the delicious meal. The theme was
Indian cuisine and he prepared samosas, butter chicken curry and naan
bread.
Decorating one of the cakes, Friday
night kiddush, 4 granddaughters
waiting to taste Maayan's cooking.
More pictures on the pages of Itamar,
Maayan and Zoe
April 2017 -
A quick visit to
Amsterdam.
We spent 4 days in Amsterdam, visiting long-time friends Hans
and Lottie Reijzer. Lottie is not well and we hope our visit
cheered
them up a little.
We have been close friends with the Reijzers since
learning Hebrew with them on an ulpan in 1965.
We see each other often,
in Israel or Holland, and have a couple of times been together with
them on a holiday, for example in Aups about
7 years ago.
Of course a visit to Amsterdam for me without "haring" is not a proper
visit, and for Doreen it's the beautiful tulips
We also managed a short visit to the wonderful Rijks Museum, where we
enjoyed the special exhibit on the relationship between South Africa
and the Netherlands.
Our former home town Durban also
got a mention, though not a very honourable one.
April 2017:
Maayan and Lotem visit Paris with Saba
Avraham and Savta Yael as a barmitzvah present for Maayan.
Go to Lotem's page and Maayan's
page for more pictures.
April 2017:
Moran and Mikhal go on a hike
M&M went on a hike in the north during the weekend of the Passover
holidays
April 2017::
The Rons visit California
Vered, Aviv and Lior spent the Passover vacation with
daughter/sister Danielle, first in Sacramento, and then in the
mountains enjoying skiing (and a nice warm fire!)
April
2017: Pesach seder
Reading the haggadah and enjoying traditional sinus-clearing ashkenazi chrain and gefilte fish.
the Segoli
seder table
April
2017 - The grandchildren visit Netanya
It's pre-Passover school holidays and five of our grandchildren
are staying with us. Son Moran is also here for a few days to help.
Doreen and Moran took them to the Holon Museum where the
older children experienced the Dialogue in the Dark and Zoe the
Enchanted Forest.
We experienced total darkness with our excellent guide Feisal, who
himself has very limited vision. Helping us overcome some of our fears
of the blanketing darkness and being overwhelmed by being so sound
orientated, Feisal walked us through an imaginary park listening to
birds, crossed a road, took a boat ride, felt clothes in a cupboard,
listened to music while lying on the floor and then dancing to the
music and ended by buying things from a kiosk and eating them, and
finally having a discussion in the dark about the experience and what
it is like to be blind. Perhaps the most surprising thing that
Feisal told us is that blind people don't experience total
darkness (which is the opposite of light) but nothing. It is a
difficult concept to grasp.
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They
played football in the local park, visited Caesarea,
baked challah and will go
to a
movie.
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March 2017 - Ros and Claude in Cape Town
Ros (see Nochimovicz/Nickel family
tree) and Claude Haskim of Sydney,
Australia are enjoying a visit to South Africa.
March 2017 -
Spring is good for our garden!
March 2017
- A visit to Lausanne
With Pierre and Francoise, enjoying 4 bottles of Swiss white wine from
the area and a delicious cheese fondue prepared by Francoise.
We visted the impressive vineyards of the Vevey area and enjoyed the
beautiful views of the lake.
We took a trip to the beautiful city
of Bern and on the way visited Gruyere (and of course bought the local
cheese)
Chaplin's World
was a fascinating insight into the genius of Charlie Chaplin. The
recreations of some of his movie scenes were impressive, including the
tottering shack seen in Gold Rush. See another picture in the Archives
of This Week's Picture. We learnt some interesting facts,
including the shoe that he ate in one of his movies was made from
licorice and caused extreme diarrhea afterwards!
With Pierre and Francoise on a vist to
Nyon and the medieval village of Yvoire in France.
We were most impressed with the Rolex Learning Centre, both from an
architectural point of view and from the large number of students
taking advantage of the facilities in such conducive and relaxing
conditions.
Doreen visited the Museum de l'Arte
Brut and particularly enjoyed the shell assemblages.
March 2017 -
Vered's Challah
Following in her mother Doreen's footsteps Vered prepared a vegan
challah for shabbat.
March 2017 - Purim
The Eilat Levys take purim
seriously -
Limor (on the right in the first
picture);
Aviv (in the middle) with
friends;
Ilai (as Lady Vampire, Dracula's wife and Amit as a pirate.
The Sde Boqer Segolis also take Purim seriously:
Lotem's Kermit (
click
here or on the picture);
Maayan's "wound" (see
Lotem's page for
explanation); Lotem
as part of a camel (yes, she's in there
somewhere!)
Lior, of the Raanana Rons, getting
ready for a Purim dance show at school
March 2017 -
A walk along
the Walls of Jerusalem
Doreen had a free day on her tour and the Rons Vered, Aviv and Lior,
and I joined her for lunch and a walk along the ramparts of
Jerusalem.
March 2017 - Growing strawberries
Our vegetable patch at the Municpal
allotment is showing improvement - broccoli, lettuces, cauliflower.
Our strawberry yeald has doubled: one (delicious) strawberry
a month ago, now two!
Son Moran is jealous of our achievement. As he wrote: "We did a two year study and only improved
the yield by 10%"
February
2017 - Lunch with Susan Nathan
We renewed acquaintance with relative Susan Nathan a few months ago (see picture) and today we drove to the
town of Tamra to visit her. She lives in a very nice apartment there
and we enjoyed the visit and also the excellent, and
very reasonably priced, lunch at the Alotmanee Restaurant.
(see Levy/Hershovitz family tree)
February
2017 - Shai Rishoni does the Tel Aviv
Marathon.
This week we pay tribute to Shai
Rishonim who has inspired us with his incredible bravery and
determination. Shai was a commercial pilot who had trekked the
Himaslayas, been an Ironman Triathlete who had competed in marathons
and other endurance and strength events.
Five years ago he was
diagnosed with ALS ("Lou Gehrig disease) and his degeneration of muscle
use was rapid. Today he is almost totally paralysed (except for eye
movement) and ventilated, yet he is the driving force behind, and
functions as the CEO, of Prize4Life, a
not-for-profit organization aimed at accelerating the discovery of
treatment and cure for ALS. Every year he organizes a fund-raising
event for the organization. This year it was a concert featuring a
popular Israel band, and there we bought a book written by his
son who
gives a moving account of adapting to an ALS impeded father. We are
proud that our daughter, Vered, is on the board of this organization.
On Friday the annual Samsung Tel Aviv Marathon took place. Among the
40,000
participants was Shai who decided that he would "run" the marathon with
the help of volunteers who would take turns pushing him. It couldn't
have been easy for him being pushed and jolted for something like 5
hours without a break, but his determination and courage ensured that
he was successful.
February
2017 - Vered with Doreen on tour
Doreen enjoyed taking a small group of business people on a tour
to Jerusalem, the Old City and Machaneh Yehuda market. She was
accompanied by daughter Vered.
February 2017
- Moran and Mikhal hike the Hatzatz
Droch route
Moran and Mikhal went on the 18 Km
"Hatzav Droch" desert hike
starting early morning from the gravel in Wadi Droch and ending in
late afternoon at Wadi
Zinn near Midreshet Ben Gurion where they live.
On the way they saw the impressive desert views.
February
2017 - Athens, Greece
I organised a workshop for bridge directors (judges) in Athens and
Doreen took the opportunity of seeing some of Athens she had
missed on her previous trip.
Doreen
writes:
Highlight of my 4-hour bike ride
around Athens was riding up Lycabettus Hill – even
with an
electric bike much pedaling and hard breathing was required. The last 10
excrutiating minutes were climbed by foot
for a magnificent view over Athens and Pireaus.
www.e-ride.gr Well recommended
for a
street level view of Athens.
Yola Latala and Doreen walking
around the Acropolis.
With only 1 day to
spare I took a 5-hour train ride to Kalabaka in order to visit Meteora.
The
huge hills rise straight up from the ground towering over the small
village.
The stunning scenery
is made even more spectacular by the (6) monasteries perched
precariously upon
huge conglomerate stone columns rising about 200 meters from the
ground. We
visited a women’s monastery, St Stephens and were enchanted by the
pictures of
various saints and holy people beautifully drawn on the walls and
ceilings of
the church. It is a work in progress. One
day is not enough to visit Meteora. The views need at least another day
to
encompass their beauty and absorb it all. But if that is all you have,
go! www.meteoratour.com
After 5 days of
hard work, Eitan emerged from the hotel to enjoy an official luncheon
and a
stroll around the busy Plaka area with old friends Slavek and
Yola Latala of Poland
and
Dimitris Balas of Greece. The
area is full of restaurants and from each one Greek music
was emerging.
We even
saw spontaneous Greek dancing in a tavern.
I was delighted to buy a face serum made from donkey’s milk!
See another picture in
the Archives.
January
2017 - Moran's ski holiday
Son Moran Segoli went with log-time friend Ran Kagan on a short
ski vacation to USA. There was plenty of snow and they had a great time.
As this video shows Moran is very good at ski jumps but not so good at
landings.
January 2017:
Lunch with Laura and Louise
We had a pleasant lunch with Doreen's aunt Laura Nickel and sister
Louise. The food was good and we caught up on family matters
January
2017 - Maayan Segoli's barmitzvah
Maayan's barmitzvah was
celebrated the traditional way by his reading
of his part of the weekly torah portion
- which he performed
impeccably. He also read his part on the Thursday before his barmitzvah (pictures below)
The Segolis and Levys at the Sand dune
site
INDEX
OF
SPECIAL EVENTS 2017
August
2017 - A cruise to
Iceland
July
2017 - A visit to Vienna
March
2017 - Our Dogs
INDEX
OF EVENTS in DOREEN'S COLUMN 2017
Column
43: Thoughts on
a visit to Riga
