Room with a view

My sumptuously parqueted office has a much better view than the ol' corridor. Get loads of planes coming in to land nearby, I think O is getting worried that I'm turning into one of those anoraked plane-spotters...

Here she comes, another beauty, heading for our building...

And there she goes (OK, not the same plane as in the first pic, but you get the idea)...

If you look carefully you can see the fear etched on the faces of the passengers at the windows! Some of them probably have a clue what Israel is all about, but for those first-timers, dear oh dear...

Marak Regel

Bejesus, that's disgusting!

I've just discovered that Marak Regel (Leg (or foot?) Soup), is really made of legs (calves legs). I'd always presumed it was just a soup nickname, you know, a name that kids give it when growing up...

You don't want to hear the description that mrs. anglosaxy's momma just gave me about how she orders her portion of leg...and you don't want to know about the electric saw used to slice the leg into manageable pieces (coz, well, you wouldn't want a metre of leg sticking out of your soup bowl...).

I never did like the taste of it, but fuck that, now I'm steering well clear.

Soothing

When the bombs are going off around you, when you've had a shitty day, when you've thought about getting that sledgehammer out and taking care of the neighbour's kids...

This little fella puts it all into perspective...

Bright and furry in Tel Aviv

October, 2005

Leftover scraps

Some leftovers from the ancestral pilgrimage to the Holy Land:

"Ooooh, these Israelis aren't half rude. They keep pushing past me without so much as a 'Sorry' or 'Excuse me'..."

"'Ere son, what are these little brown things the waitress keeps serving alongside the beers?"

"How do they still have something to talk about...?" (after the 6th hour at an in-law visit)

The normal reactions from any sane Brit when visiting Israel. I've been there too...

Oh yeh. One last thing - Miri Aloni. Get over yourself love. My parents weren't taking pictures of you, so chill out and rein in those illusions of grandeur. No need to make a scene, I think, you old has-been. What was that from the back, nice voice shame about the face? Oooh...

Hostee with the mostee

I love having people over for a bit of a barbie and some beers. The generous side of me comes steaming through, ready to ply anyone and everyone with booze and burnt kebabs. I'm guessing the missus isn't of the same generous persuasion (she always enjoys herself once she has a glass of something nice and sparkly...), though my washing up persona probably eases some of the trauma.

This weekend ended up as a marathon stay-at-home session (except for the anglosaxy Friday morning beach tour, which ended up in Netanya this time...), what with the constant flow of visitors that dropped by. Starting Friday night, continuing on Saturday morning at 10 and going right through until 8pm, I can safely inform you that beers were downed, babies cooed and aahed at, kebabs were burntcooked on the barbie, and copious amounts of Israeli jokes completely vooooooomed over my head...

Me thinks I'd like to do this for a living one day (minus the Israeli jokes), though my head tells me that doing it for pleasure and doing it for a salary are two different things entirely...

Been there, seen that

In response to the good load of tips some of you gave me, here are the places and activities we managed to cross off the list while my parents were here, though I'm guessing some of the pics over the last few days might have given a hint or 2...

• Jewish New Year family gathering (with 60 plus tribal members...)
• Post Yom Kippur synagogue tour (with 5000+ hungry Jewish worshippers...)
• Dip in the Dead Sea
• Dip in the Red Sea (we won't mention the cold water, right...?)
• Dip in the Med Sea
• En Gedi
• Neot HaKikar
• Yotvata
• Eilat
• Mitzpeh Ramon
• Herzliya Marina
• Banana beach (Tel Aviv)
• Carmel Market (Tel Aviv)
• Nahalat Binyamin (Tel Aviv)
• Old Yemenite Quarter (Tel Aviv)
• Dizengoff (Street and Center) (Tel Aviv)
• Oriental singer festival, Friday afternoon, South Tel Aviv (yep, minus myself and mrs. anglosaxy...)
• Zichron Yaacov

This is what it's all about...

Herzliya Marina, October 2005

Nasty

Nasty shit. I'm particularly impressed with his giving her 15 shekels (less than 2 quid) to keep shtum.

Weathering it

Well, yes, it's been raining the last couple of days, but since I haven't actually seen or felt any rain beating down on me I refuse to give up the t-shirts and flip-flops. The roads are all shiny and wet, puddles are rampant, the sandy car park is now a quagmire, and Israelis all around me are wearing jumpers and hoodies...but I still haven't seen any brass monkeys, so, for now, the jury is out (waiting for the next heatwave).

Sing-along-an-anglosaxy

My car (with its CD player) is now my only place of refuge...

To counter mrs. anglosaxy's constant barrage of Hebrew nursery rhymes, I have started listening to the tape of English nursery rhymes brought over by my parents. I'm now fully literate in Humpty Dumpty and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and I'm quite chuffed to report that anglosaxy junior is getting a laugh out of Humpty Dumpty, while the Hebrew efforts are, very sadly, still being unappreciated. Real shame that. It must be the way you tell them darlin'...

Christ. I'm turning into Mr Suburbia.

Hooray Henry

Records are there to be broken and last night this guy broke the all-time Arsenal goal scoring record, held by Wrighty. Big respect, and welcome back TH14, we missed you badly.

Rollercoaster

Yesterday saw my parents return home to Blighty.
A couple of tears from mrs. anglosaxy.
Then straight from the airport to a funeral.
Paying respects to a young mum tragically struck down by the big C.
At 7, off to a big, fancy wedding.
Cheers and beers, and even Eyal Golan (he really is an ugly buggar).
Weird day.

As close as we got

Masada desert fortress, October 2005

What do you mean I can't get a drink?

Nahalat Binyamin, Tel Aviv, October 2005

Anglosaxy gets taken from behind

Cheeky ancestral shot, Mitzpeh Ramon, October 2005

Don't have too many beers in the clifftop bar...

And when you put all of the above together, what do you get? Click the pic below for a panoramic view (who needs a panoramic option on their camera? not me guv)...

Mitzpeh Ramon, October 2005

Bit sandy round these parts, innit...

Negev Desert, October 2005

How low can YOU go?

The Lowest Place On Earth, October 2005

Spot the English bloke II

En Gedi, October 2005

Spot the English bloke

The Dead Sea, October 2005

Conkers!

Get your conkers out!

A word sadly underused in Israel...conkers.

Are kids still playing with 'em in Blighty?

Homo Sapiette - October '05

Mmm, time for a classic Israeli beauty, at least in my opinion.

I first saw Natali Atia in an ad for Natuzzi furniture (I think) some time in the early 90's, draped starkers over an armchair. From what I remember, the pic caused quite a stir and surely did her career no harm at all. It took me forever to find the pic online but here it is...

To me, she is the classic Mediterranean beauty, a taste of the exotic that us Europeans fall head over heels for...

As her moments of modelling glory came probably just before the Internet really made it big, there aren't too many pictures of her out there. She's since turned her hand to TV presenting and becoming a mum and is one of those 'celebs' that seems to pop up now and again but not really do anything...

If I was her agent, I'd strongly recommend a suggestive pose with two other models...ah, yes, just like that...