The Start of it All
My passion and love for guiding probably began at a young age, when we had many a visitor from abroad. My role was to take them out for the day and be their tour guide.
Places such as Stratford-Upon-Avon, The Tower of London, Woburn Abbey and Blenheim Palace became my haunts. My mother a history buff, would often take me there and recite me the guide book version, these in turn would become the start of my story telling ability.
The Right Spot
On one memorable tour, with tourists from Europe, after a particularly gruelling few days in one city (Jerusalem) and had moved on to another (Tiberias) a comment was made that took me aback. On the second day, whilst sitting beside the Sea of Galilee, a passenger sidles up to me and asks ‘when are we going to visit Jerusalem?’
I realised then, how easy it is for your guest to lose their equilibrium when they are away from home and how important is the role of the guide in making sure that everyone is on the same ‘spot’ at all times.
The Good and The Bad
While studying to be a guide at two different courses of home (Israel) and away (abroad), we always knew if our weekly jaunts to various sites was going to be interesting or not. This all depended on how the guide for that particular journey would greet us that morning.
If he/she climbed on the bus, took the microphone and said ‘good-night everyone, see you at breakfast’, we knew it was going to be a great one, but if they took the mike and began to talk … we knew that they in fact suffered from the disease known as ‘too much blah blah’ and it was going to be a disastrous one!
Each person has a different way of visiting a site, some through the lens, others with pages from the Internet and those who still carry a book. But whichever way, with guide or without, it should always be memorable.
Following the Dream
For me travel is a dream that I have been trying to fulfil for a very long time. Unable to afford myself this without working, I am now attempting to travel my way around the world, by teaching English.
First stop was China, Beijing then Italy, Rome and now Austria, Vienna. Responsibilities of work, leave me the odd hours and days to go out, see the sites, take in the atmosphere and study both the natives and their culture. Learning, appreciating and then recording into my blog and articles something new every week.
A “Catch”
For me the place I shall always love the most, is Jerusalem, Israel. Even after 24 years, as the bus makes it way up the mountain, I look out of the window and see the city standing above, majestic and gleaming under the sun or the twinkling night lights. Suddenly, every time without fail, I get a ‘catch’ in my throat, for it is forever beautiful and always home.
A Lifelong Memory
Being a guide for the Holocaust Museum (Yad Vashem) in Jerusalem, has been the most heart warming experience. My first group were Christians, who had come from all over the world to participate in the memorial at Auschwitz, Poland, known as ‘The March of the Living’. This long trek from the main camp with it’s famous sign ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ down to the death camp is an emotional and difficult experience.
These wonderful people, all ages and at various stages of their lives, shared with me, their most intimate thoughts and reasons for being there. They belonged to an organisation ‘Bridges of Peace’, They in turn left me with an everlasting imprint of respect and emotion.