Letters from Lightstone: Sites and Sounds of Israel, Part 2

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Follow ZoomerMedia’s Marilyn Lightstone as she travels to Israel this summer to bring you first-hand coverage of this culturally rich country. In this dispatch, she sends a letter to her friend Evelyn Hannon (whom many of you know as Journey Woman, a regular contributor to Zoomer magazine and EverythingZoomer.com and an acclaimed travel journalist), as the packing begins for this remarkable adventure.

Dear Evelyn,

All of your subscribers will remember the saga of your bag that went missing for six months, which determined me to fly to Israel this Sunday with only one piece of carry-on luggage (and an ENORMOUS purse!).

Of course, it’s summer, which did make the task somewhat easier. Still, until I actually packed, I wasn’t 100% sure I could do it, but I did (pardon me while I take a moment to pat myself on the back…). I even managed to find enough room to include one of those terrific Fold-Up bags (which you can now find everywhere) to bring home the things I’m hoping to purchase in Israel. Yes, I know that I’ve primarily been asked to visit in order to cover the operas (La Traviata at Masada and Don Giovanni at Acre) being mounted there next week, but anyone who knows me can tell you that I’m a shopper. So, watch out, Israel, here I come!

For those of you who might not be aware, the Jews who formerly lived in other countries in the Middle East were highly accomplished in the art of making jewelry and they brought that tradition with them when they emigrated to Israel.

And clothes! My friend, Malka Maron, goes to Israel every year to visit her family and always comes back with the most terrific outfits! She’s given me the name of her favourite designers, which she says are all located close to one another in downtown Tel Aviv, and I’m so looking forward to checking them out.

Am I sounding utterly shallow and materialistic given the many cultural and historical things there are to see and do in Israel? Well, I’ll get to those, too (I promise) but I know how much pleasure I derive from wearing the things I’ve brought back home to Canada after I return from a trip overseas. It brings back all the good memories…

Speaking of Malka, her book of interviews with her very dear, old friend Joni Mitchell, will be coming out early this September. I managed to score an early press copy, and it’s terrific!

This may be my last post before my arrival in Tel Aviv.

More to come…

Marilyn

Marilyn Lightstone is the host of the nightly radio series Nocturne on the New Classical 96.3 (a ZoomerMedia property).