Back in Jerusalem

It's beautiful to me.

We're a bit out of time sequence with this posting as it's almost a month since I last visited the blog. Put the blame on a) lasting-and-serial cold miseries for both of us, and b) a subsequent lack of inertia. We are back in Jerusalem after almost two months in Europe with visits here and there, and the sun and warmth of Palestine is welcome. Other than a couple of initial weeks in July of pleasant temperatures, even Italy became a bit nippy; northern Europe was down-right cold. We should have known and prepared better. I intend to write more about our Brussels, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and German adventures.

On our return to Jerusalem we stopped in Bergamo again for a three-day auto tour of the lakes district around Lecco, Como and Bellagio, and to thaw, of which I will also write more later.

Struggling with luggage in the dark has never been my favorite past-time, and Bergamo airport was FULL of people at 0600 hrs. Laden with Belgian chocolate for us, friends and family, we were bounced for having too much luggage, and, because of extra-bag and overweight charges, we ended up with some of the most expensive chocolate Belgium ever produced. The intention was to bring enough to Florida for friends, but if you think you might qualify, I would suggest restraining any anticipation; we still have a month to go and I dearly love chocolate.

We were again surprised at the opulence and efficiency of the Tel Aviv airport. The airport twenty years ago was pretty dismal, but it can now be considered one of the best terminals in our rather extensive experience. Of course, coming into the country is one thing, going out, with the attendant security, is quite another. The best part is that the next time we visit the Tel Aviv airport it will be to fly home.

R. and I drove to Bethlehem yesterday (Friday) on the first days of Eid ul-Fitr (the Moslem holiday at the end of Ramadan) and the Jewish New Year. It was the perfect storm of holidays. Both Jerusalem and Bethlehem was very quiet, as you would expect. This trip involves two crossings between the PA and Israel, but even the border point was empty and a formality. We did see at least one check post established on the Jerusalem side with traffic lined up, so there was the usual close watch by the authorities during Fridays and religious holidays.

We heard much more in Europe of the planned desecration of the Moslem Koran by the little sect in Florida, mostly from U.S. news shows. Here, it hasn't even come up in conversation, and television seems preoccupied with other topics. If there ever was a manufactured crisis of mouse-sized proportions, this is it. People we know seem to be slightly bemused at the tizzy the plan to burn the Koran has caused in the U.S.; they seem to understand that doing stupid things and living a life of naïve ignorance is protected as an American birthright, and that Fox News and CNN make money blowing things out of size. Pakistan may be an exception, as there is a history of finding excuses to burn down the American Embassy.

There is far more interest in the now and future peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, as well as an equal amount of skepticism about any success. We'll keep an eye on this over the coming days.

Such monumental considerations are over the horizon for us today. The sun is shining, it's about 27 C. on the shaded porch, a big lunch is in preparation, and we're back with family. And somehow, somewhere, I've picked up about five kilos around the middle.