Udi & Ayelet sailing on Ester: Meeting after 31 years in Dania south of Valencia

Excited meeting

We arrived in Denia in the afternoon and decided to anchor outside the marina which did not look particularly tempting.
The sea is relatively calm, one sailboat is moored outside the marina, and we settle not far from it. The darkness descended, and it was not long before we realized that a great mistake had fallen on our part. The calm sea became more and more wavy. Not really waves, more so-called "swell", soft waves that drain into a bay, which is not protected at all from the direction of the waves. Admittedly small but venomous… keep shaking us all night and we feel inside a washing machine, rattling to the sound of the ropes whipping in the mast that goes straight down to our bedroom. This mistake at this point is no longer worth trying to correct. Entrance to a marina crowded with boats and unfamiliar on a dark night, a recipe for trouble. So we chatted, not really sleeping, and at the first opportunity the next morning, tired and frayed, we made our way to the mooring in the marina…
Tie ropes, pay and relax…

Arrive at Dania

Ruth, a friend of my youth, will come to pick us up at noon. In the meantime we grab a nap, arrange the boat, make a shopping list, and pack a small bag. If all goes well, we will stay at Ruths' one night.

A few words of my relationship history with Ruth:

We met when we were 16 or 17 years old in the glorious youth movement "Dror the Immigrant Camps" (still patriotic, blue shirt with buttons). I do not know how many of you know it and if it still exists. It was a relatively small youth movement, where I spent many years of my childhood and adolescence with great joy. I'm in Be'er Sheva, she's in Jerusalem. We met on one of the common trips, which were not with many participants. Regardless, at the same time, our fathers, Amiram and Yehuda, met on matters of the Be'er Sheva Theater, and a quick and close connection was established between them. Later, the relationship developed into acquaintances with the spouses, Margalit and Yehudit, and then it turned out that my father, Amiram, studied with Yehudit at a high school in Tel Aviv. I went into detail, as it seems to me that such a coincidence is worth a few words. The family bond grew stronger, in our visits to the great hut they had in the German colony in Jerusalem and joint trips, and at the same time my bond with Ruth, who has a life of its' own. During the army, I'm at Achziv field school, and Ruth at Kibbutz Shamir in the Hula Valley, we kept in touch and visited each other.

Over the years the bond loosened until it was completely gone from our lives. Each turned to a different path, a different way of life, different continents. Ruth and her partner Avi, with Lilo (their partner) developed the "Avi Greenberg" method, which combines physical and mental therapy to cure various problems. The understanding that body and mind are related was less self-evident 35 years ago. They have established a network of schools and students across the globe, mainly in Israel and Europe. Their seat was not fixed, and at some point, as they wandered in Europe, they looked for a place to settle. The last time we met was 31 years ago in Jerusalem, I after a doctorate in biology, four years in Edinburgh and my first child, Shye, one year old. Ruth, a free-living bird living a life that seemed very far from me at the time. Few connection points.

The corona year reconnected us, when Ruth's mother, Judith, moved into Nofim sheltered housing with Ana (Udi's mother). Thanks to their early acquaintance, when Jerusalem was small enough, my phone goes to Ruth. She makes contact, and since then, for the past year and a half, we have been bridging gaps in long and close video calls, dreaming of meeting when we embark on the great journey.

So dreams sometimes come true :-)

A first touch on the Spanish coast at Denia also makes sense for our route, a half hour drive from Oliva, Ruth's house on the beach.

Ruth in the kitchen at Oliva

One of the four cats on the king's throne

Aside from the house on the beach, 18 years ago, when the trio (Ruth, Avi and Lilo) decided to settle in Spain, they bought an area of 70 acres in a mountainous area half an hour drive west of Oliva, at the ridiculous price of one Euro per square meter, the funny prices we all heard about. So it's real!

Wonderful area, spectacular mountain views, old farmhouse, olive grove, ancient cisterns. Since then they have been cultivating and planting, ornamental and fruit trees, and in recent years also an abundance of vegetables, using advanced green farming methods. No more neat rows of uniform vegetables separated from each other, but a mixture of a variety of seeds before they are sown. Needless to say, everything is organic and plentiful. Apart from these, also some chickens (free of course) that lay about seven eggs every day, enough to support them and the volunteers who live on the farm and help develop it. In recent years they have built themselves a crazy house, waiting for an internet connection, which for work you can not do without. Not a simple matter there in the mountains, a few farmhouses are miles apart, there is no cellular communication, and as at sea requires a creative / satellite solution.

At the entrance to the new house

Admire a sophisticated wood heating system

With Avi in the kitchen - a dream of every cooking enthusiast

And some more pictures from the farm:

There is also a music room with charming percussion A type of xylophone

The old farmhouse has become a magnificent workshop

At the entrance to the vegetable plot

Soaps: another use of olives

We were all invited to lunch supervised by two chefs who studied and worked in Michelin restaurants before coming to the farm to understand "how vegetables are born"… and so, in the heart of the mountains, a remote and spectacular hole sits nine, five young and charming volunteers from around the world, and four , And enjoy a gourmet meal of fine risotto and wonderful fish!

A look from the volunteer kitchen, this is the inspiration

Chefs in action in the volunteer kitchen

Young and old around the table

Excellent fish risotto

The way back is accompanied by torrential rain, which fell on the window in huge drops, the like of which I have not seen. Something was answered to Avi's prayers, to rain on the plot, which was sown in abundance of wild flowers from the Holy Land yesterday…

Back in Oliva, and without much difficulty, they manage to convince us to stay for another night. Pleasant and homely to us. The three occupants of the house are generous, warm and interesting interlocutors. We girls (Lilo Ruth and I) sink into a conversation until the wee hours, and fall into bed. Morning, and despite the short night, Udi puts us all up for a farewell ceremony, not before we are equipped with all the good produce of the farm. Ruth accompanies us to shopping, the most worthwhile organic supermarket around, a marine equipment store, and anything else we need. We say goodbye on the pier, and promise that we will not wait 30 years until the next meeting…

Organising the refrigerator in all the good we have brought with us takes time and is not simple at all, but worth every moment, when the rest of the journey is accompanied by fine and healthy food!