Number 127: In June 2006, during Maya’s matric mid-year break, Ray, Maya and l left on a grand Italian Tour. In December 2005 Yair was offered to lead a group of Habonim Chanichim on the “Shorashim” Programme trip to Israel during the June 2006 school holidays. We were not yet able to commit to travel to Italy the following June. So he agreed to lead the school group, and didn’t join us.

Italy proved an outstanding opportunity for Maya to explore the art, food, history, beauty and culture of this extraordinary country and to encapsulate it all for her Matric Art Project.  While I had been before with my friend Louise in 1978,  neither Ray nor Maya had. We chose a Trafalgar Coach Tour which meant that Ray did not need to drive around the country. Instead we could put our suitcases outside our room each morning and they would be waiting outside our room at the next hotel! Since Maya did such a wonderful job of “capturing” our trip experiences, l am mainly including her artworks and thoughts as our memories.

A mistake I made, unintentionally of course, turned out to be a tremendous bonus! I booked our return flight a couple of days after, rather than on the day that, the tour ended. In  addition our Hotel conveyed apologetically! that they were starting refurbishment work and upgraded us to an “edgy” hotel in central Rome.  We now had time to  meet our old Kibbutz Tuval friend Mark Davis (ambulance driver to the hospital the night Yair was born) now working for the United Nations based in Rome. We enjoyed a private tour of Rome’s UN facility! 

It also gave us the amazing opportunity to participate in the ticker tape parade of Italy’s Soccer Team that had just won the World Cup!  The World Cup was on during our entire Italy Trip, with excitement building at each Italy “win”. To participate in the hype and exhilaration, moving with the crowds flooding the streets at the celebratory victory parade was just amazing!!

It was truly a magical, unforgettable trip.