We leave Haifa and arrive in Paris - via London.

Although we had ordered a taxi to pick us up with our cases and bags from our partment at 3 am, there was no sign of a taxi anywhere. The streets were quiet and deserted at that hour. Then we heard our phone ringing which was very annoying as we had explicitly informed the taxi copmany that we would be waiting outside. Besides, we had been very efficient and already dropped our apartment keys through the keydrop at the Accommodations Office. I decided to quickly walk up to the end of the street in the hope of locating a taxi of any description so that we would not miss the train. A taxi came by almost immediately and soon we were squished in along with our cases and bags and on our way to the station.

The train took the usual time from Haifa to Ben Gurion at that time of night - about 1 hour exactly. we soon breezed through the security department and in no time we had passed through the hand luggage security check as well as passport control and we had time to relax with a nice Aroma coffee and a snack in the airy and spacious airport.

The flight to London with BA was on time. I was quite 'zonked' having had little sleep over the previous 3 days. We had experienced quite a stressful week having our apartment packed up for shipping followed by lots of cleaning and sorting other items -not to forget having to say farewell to so many wonderful friends in Haifa.

After we landed at Heathrow and collected our baggage, we organised ticktes on the Express train to Paddington. From there we took a London cab to Waterloo Station so that we could make our connection with Eurostar to Paris.

As we needed some food, we had some delicious cornish pasties and coffee at Paddington before heading off to Waterloo. The London taxi was so comfortable and spacious after the Haifa cabs - they are so well designed to accommodate luggage and people that need to be moved from one spot to another. Then there was the view from the taxi window. Oh! to be in London again! What an incredible city! The beautiful leafy, green parklands, elegant old buildings, Buckingham Palace, Queen Victoria's Monument, the Royal Guards, beautiful horses, Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, Cleopatra's Needle, the Thames ... all in a taxi ride to catch a train!!

We arrived at Waterloo station with plenty of time to spare, so it was nice to just sit and have a drink, eat a snack and catch up with a newspaper. Then there was an announcement that the Eurostar service to Paris would be delayed around 2 hours as there were service problems - turned out to be a problem with the electricity supply. Although we were called to board the train at the normal time, the journey was very slow at first and took much longer than usual. Eventually we arrived in Paris . I slept for at least an hour of the journey as I was so exhausted. At Paris Nord station we had to queue with many others to wait for a taxi. Eventually our turn came, but we were rejected by the driver as our cases were too large for his vehicle. Luckily,we fitted comfortably into the next taxi and in no time we were delivered to our hotel that I had organised on the Intermet. 'Hotel Jardin de Villiers'- which is situated at 18 Rue Claude Pouillet -75017 Paris. It was wonderful to collapse into a very comfortable bed for the remainder of the evening.

Last evening, Noel and I were given a wonderful farewell party on the roof garden of the apartment of Peter and Pat McCann Smith. It was a beautiful evening and we had a chance to share our plans for the coming year with our many dear friends. I will include just a few photos of some of the people who attended.

Here is the happy group of potters at the end of a very busy and exciting evening.

The pots are removed from the reduction containers and placed in water to cool them down. As they are covered in soot and bits of sawdust they have to be cleaned to reveal the special colours and textures that can be obtained using the raku process.

During the past 18 months a group of us have been attending weekly classes in ceramics with Rachel Tzamir and Mihal Yaor . The classes have been held at Rachel's gallery 'Raku' that is located in the Castra Mall. Last night we had a special Raku glaze firing. It is very much a 'hands-on' process and the results are very exciting and slightly unpredictable. It was a wonderful way for Noel and I to finish our classes with these two gifted and generous women.

A Raku firing with Rachel and Mihal

Farewell to some of our good friends in Allenby Road

Over the 7 years we have spent in Haifa, we have regularly shopped in downtown Allenby Road.
We will miss our Friday shopping trips to Allenby.

Conservation Office Staff at Bahji

I went to the Shrine of Baha'u'llah with the other staff members who serve in the Conservation Office - Shingo, Bob, and Lucas . This was a very special visit for me as we have worked very closely over the time I have been in Haifa.

Phillip and Ann Hinton pay us a visit

We were delighted to have a visit from our friends from Sydney, Phillip and Ann Hinton who were in Israel for a brief time over the weekend. Muna and Allan Waters, who have recently moved to Haifa from Perth, Western Australia were also able to join us - so there was a great deal of intense talk with six Aussies doing some catch -up.

Fuad usually likes to impress his customers by demonstrating the strength of the glass used in his products.
Here he has just been doing the demonstration for Muna and Noel by hitting a glass firmly on the edge of a display table.

One of the shops we usually visit is owned by Fuad Halabi.

The Druze village of Daliyat el-Karmel

After our visit to Zichron Ya'akov we travelled back towards Haifa to visit one of the two main Druze villages on Mt Carmel.
Daliyat el-Karmel is the most popular village for shopping. We enjoyed a very nice lunch and then we did some shopping.

Jo-anne and Allan enjoying coffee and croissants during our visit to Zichron Ya'akov.

An interesting figure cast in metal, decorating the main pedestrian street in Zichron Ya'akov

Some of the houses in Zichron Ya'akov have exterior walls decorated with farming tools and all kinds of interesting paraphenalia.

Izhar creating a decorative wall hanging

Zichron Ya'akov

We visited Zichron Ya'akov, a beautiful town located on another part of Mt Carmel further south towards Caesarea. We travelled with some friends Allan, Muna and Jo-anne. We enjoyed a visit to 'Tut Neyar' which is a paper mill owned by Izhar and Timnar Neumann. They create beautiful paper products including lamp shades and wall hangings. They grow their own kozo plants which provide very strong fibres for thier paper products They were outside in their beautiful yard busy creating a paper wall hanging. Tut neyar is the Hebrew name for the paper mulberry plant.

Shingo enjoying his Johnny Macaroni.

Johnny Macaroni

Just down the street from 'Giraffe' is a great ice cream shop where the staff also create excellent pizzas. As we walked past we noticed a poster promoting 'Johnny Macaroni' as a creative way to eat ice cream. Shingo was very excited about the prospect of having an icecream served in a Johnny Macaroni - so we all went in to observe.

As we walked down the street, I noticed this poster for an upcoming show at the Haifa Auditorium.

Here I am ready to consume what will probably be my last 'Afghan' at 'Giraffe' restaurant!

Bob's daughter Anna,who is on vacation from her studies in Australia, decided to join us for lunch

Lucas is overcome with emotion that his 'Afghan' has arrived at the table

Shingo can hardly wait to begin ...

This was a special lunch as it was the last time we would all be together since Bob is going to the USA for a short holiday and I will be leaving Israel before he returns to the office. Bob is obviously very pleased with the dish he has selected.

Office lunch at 'Giraffe'

Every two weeks the staff who serve in our Conservation Office at the Baha'i world Centre go out for lunch. It is very good for the bonding process as well as having time to socialize and enjoy some nice food. The restaurant and cafe culture is a very important part of life in Haifa .

One of our favourite lunch time venues is 'Giraffe' which can be found at the top of Mt Carmel in the Merkaz HaCarmel shopping precinct. The main focus of the food at 'Giraffe' is Asian style. My favourite dish is called 'The Afghan' which has chicken and bacon and comes with rice - it has a delicious smoked flovour. Lucas and I always have 'The Afghan' dish when we go there for lunch.

Working on my last piece of pottery at Raku gallery, seated at my favourite wheel in the studio.

Houman turning the base of one of his pots

Sabha and Noel having fun glazing their wares.

Our inspirational teacher, Mihal Yaor demonstrating for Natasha.

Leili creating a wheel thrown piece.

Ceramics at Raku gallery

For almost 2 years now, a group of friends has been going to a ceramics class every Wednesday evening for 3 hours of fun and creativity with clay and glazes. The class is held at the Raku gallery which is located in the Castra Mall at the southern entrance to the city of Haifa. The gallery is owned by Rachel Tzamir who is a well known Israeli ceramic artist.

May 7th 1966

An historic wedding photograph. You should be able to date it as I am sporting a mop top courtesy of the influence of the Fab Four and Noel is wearing her version of the Jackie Kennedy pill-box hat.

Wedding anniversary

Last week - May 7th - Noel and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary. As May 7th was a Sunday and our first day of the week for work, we decided to have an 'open house' celebration on the afternoon of Saturday 6th at our apartment. From 3PM until 6 PM we enjoyed the company of a continuous stream of friends who dropped in to share some cake and other goodies with us. It was a fun and very memorable afternoon. Many photos were taken during the afternoon.

If you look carefully at this photograph, it is possible to see Mt Tabor in the distance. This is another view from Susita overlooking Kinneret.

A group of dear friends who accompanied Noel and I on our visit to Susita and Mt Tabor