When we photographed the old Or Ahayim Jewish Hospital the other day, for the sake of its history, we didn't realize we would soon be using it as a hospital...

Attentive readers of Purple Tern will have noticed a few indications that Nigel was no longer proceeding in the same sunny direction as previously. A swollen eyelid could be explained away by dust, or by the still-present headache. But one pupil bigger than the other?? Surely cause for concern... Any change in your vision is a cause for concern. This has been borne in on me by countless medical practitioners I have known, and was reiterated by all the internet advice we could summon.

So, following their advice, we headed for Or Ahayim's Emergency Room.

I won't go into the whole medical saga. Suffice it to say that a fairly exhaustive set of tests was conducted, including an MRI; there is nothing amiss that needs to be fixed immediately; but there is something that we need to keep an eye on.


The medical shemozzle took up quite a bit of yesterday and today.

Otherwise, there have been culinary expeditions.

And little walks that always reveal new perspectives:


We leave tomorrow, and I'll miss this place so much... The sound of the seagulls. The sight of a row of cats waiting patiently outside a butcher's shop. The smell of bread (so much BREAD...). The taste of the produce we buy from the little neighbourhood shops. The fact that we can walk down a street dozens of times, yet still see new things in it. The cake shop windows... The borek shop windows... The cheese shop windows... I hope we'll be back.