Travels > Israel
Before I was allowed to embark on a journey to Israeal having spent a day running around Athens trying to sort out a passport, I cant recall now whether i had lost my passport or if I had just been travelling on the old sort of paper, european passport previously available from post offices. Suffice it to say that I had run from hotel to travel agent to embassy to phone calls in a 45 degree heat until, finally the embassy had given me a document stating that I was indeed English. So I finally, late and tired made my way around the sweeping curve of pireaus harbour to find the Golden Vergina, the boat that was to carry me away ffrom the European mainland and off into uncharted waters. At the check in I was reminded that it was not a normal state I was visiting, the security checks were apparently stringent, thoiugh on retrospect they were facile to say the least. I was not searched, but asked many questions about my reason for visiting the country. I knew where I was going "Talmei Yosef" but I did not know where it was. I lied a bit about how much money I had with me, and finally was on the boat. It was to be a 3 day journey meandering through the south east Mediterranean to the port of Haifa via Rhodes and Cyprus.
The journey was what I had always dreamt of, big blue skies and similarly azure seas accompanied us as we slid through the waters. Islands passed by us slowly and we watched the huddled whitewashed houses around their ports appraoch and recede with complete apathy. Well it was a kind of apathy which can not easily be described , That apathy was part of a reverent bliss, almost a complete ( fuck what is it called when holy people go mad ) religious trance which was overcoming me as I slowly sped southeastwards. My heart was singing, i was on the path which I had always known that I would take one day, surrounded my sea and sky, no direction, no money to speak of, just a burning joy in the world and its machinations.
So, I spent those 3 days on deck, sleeping and eating there. When we had a few hours on either Rhodes or Cyprus I wandered around the ports for a while, but really only wanted to be on my deck, on my boat, on my flying princess, the Golden vergina who was taking me away from all that I knew and delivering me to new tastes and sounds.