Monthly Archives: March 2015

Mar 20 2015

Magnificent Morocco – 2. Spain, the bottom of Europe and the rock of Gibraltar

My flight is booked to Malaga Spain, it seemed close on a map when I started figuring this out.

Actually, its about 3 hours on a bus away, ok this was a bad idea.   Once I got to Malaga, the people in the airport didn’t know how to guide me down, it was a case of get to Marbella first, and get another bus from there.   So that’s what I did.   I was a bit bemused why the ‘L’ in Marbella is silent, it sounds more like Marbaya when pronounced by the locals.    I wasn’t offered Spanish at school!!

DSCF8018I got to this city called La Linea De la Concepcion, not actually to Gibraltar.    This is a slightly odd corner of Europe.   Apparently relations between Gibraltar in Spain haven’t always been good some how, not sure why, I thought this was the EU not the middle east!!   The bus drops me about 200 yards in front of the border crossing.

There is a large checkpoint to get through which seems a bit odd.   I guess because its a significant place for military, as its part of the entry for vessels to the Mediterranean.

gib3 1024

I’ve always liked little countries.   This was true since I’ve been to Monaco, and keen on visiting Andorra and San Marino one day.   I visited the Monte Carlo, Monaco in 2005 which managed to pack in an amazing royal palace, marina, several casinos and a tennis court, oh, and a few times a year they close the roads and use the whole tiny state it as a race track.

Gibraltar’s name is actually derived from Arabic, Jabal Tarik, Jabal being mountain in Arabic, its then been ‘Spanish-ised’ to give its well known name,

Going through the border was simple, British policeman were happy with my just waving my passport to get through.  Once through you realise there is a airport and a runway which transverses across the whole of the connecting part of the country.   This must be the only country in the world that has this.

Previous 1. Magnificent Morocco trip

Next 3. Gibraltar’s rock and residents

Mar 19 2015

Leonard Nimoy quotes the most famous Jew who ever lived

When the late Star Trek actor passed away a few weeks ago, I looked at some recent comments he made on twitter.   One that caught my eye was this:-

spock tweet

Nimoy was an Orthodox Jew and to the best of my knowledge wasn’t a believer in Jesus, but I thought it was touching he would refer to a passage Jesus used on the sermon on the mount.

Matthew 5 : 1 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.

The Beatitudes
He said:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

I remember a while back, he revealed the Vulcan hand gesture with fingers 1&2 and 3&4 together but seperated in the middle was based on a Jewish Rabbinic thing.

Mar 9 2015

Magnificent Morocco trip – part 1

u2

Do have a watch of this – its a great song and video

A few years ago I was watching a music video by U2 of the song Magnificent.

It caught my eye that this was filmed in what looked like a middle eastern city, the floors, carpets, mosaics and ancient buildings looked attractive, so when I researched where it was, it turns out it was done in Fez Morocco.

Whilst out in the ministry field, I learned that some of my Israeli friends had Moroccan background, several of them also speak Arabic in addition to Hebrew.   Some had used France as a stepping stone before coming to Israel, as they had migrated twice, deeming France not a satisfying place to settle.

Looking on the news there is horrendous antisemitism in Europe, specifically France in recent years.   I’ve read there are some countries that used to have Jews such as Iraq, Iran and Yemen, which only a tiny handful remain.   In addition to this I was curious to know about Morocco and how other religious groups could live in a community which is predominantly Islamic.

I like cooking.   I think Couscous is underated, and done right it can be more interesting than rice for a meal.   There is lots of good food out of this country, I’m used to a Mediterranean diet and middle eastern cooking too.

The buildings look absolutely phemonal.    I decided I have to visit this country.   Many of the budget airlines go there, but I wondered it would be a bit crazy to get a boat over from Spain and also see Gibraltar….

so here marks my first journey to the African continent…..

Next 2. Spain, the bottom of Europe and the rock of Gibraltar