I had a lovely Shabbat experience with my partner. It was a couples retreat workshop in a hotel, with meals included, activities, opportunities to think about what is important to us as a couple. We met some lovely people there, and had a very good time. The meals were excellent, plus we pigged out on kosher Oreos (yum!) and we had a red wine that i actually like!! It is from Israel, really sweet! We were fortunate to be able to bring some home with us! :)

The whole thing was very spiritual, and symbolic. I enjoyed participating in the traditions, and i especially liked singing in Hebrew. There was a guitar player among us who made the songs very lively and everyone enjoyed singing. It's great to sing psalms in Hebrew because you find out they actually rhyme!

I can say one thing really well now - almost every prayer begins with it!

Baruch Atah Adonai, Elohaynu Melech Ha'olam
Praised are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the Universe

I think we have made at least one new friend that we will keep in touch with … probably more via Facebook. We are also intending to observe Shabbat as a weekly ritual at home together. This means no Internet from Friday evening to Saturday evening - and on the plus side - no chores either!! I think it will be really good for us both, to take a break and spend some special time together once a week.

Yesterday, as we still had the car, we went for a nice drive out into Wiltshire, doing some family history research. In a church cemetery we met a friendly couple doing the exact same thing, and they invited us into their holiday motor home for a cup of coffee and cake! :D On the way back we passed Stonehenge, and went through Wherwell, which is a beautiful village that i have loved since childhood.

We had an exciting journey back because we actually ran out of fuel! It's amazing how far you can drive in Hampshire and not find a filling station!! By some miracle we managed to get home although the gauge was reading zero for at least 10 miles!

1. Lola Says:
   March 10th, 2008 at 12:53

   Annnnd Aimee has her first taste of Manischewitz…

2. Anonymous Says:
   March 12th, 2008 at 15:18

   ah, stonehenge … i was able to visit before they put the fences up. what a magical place. or maybe i was just still reeling from glastonbury festival! i would love to visit that part of england again.

   glad to hear that you had a fun time, and made it home safely! where to next?

3. Aimee Says:
   March 12th, 2008 at 18:48

   Oh yes, i really like Stonehenge. It gives me such a shiver of excitement to feel the whole area steeped in history. It's so grand, and mysterious too.

   Unfortunately the OpenID plugin is failing again and i don't know who made this comment!