Let There Be Light

The hubby and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary last week. Obviously I have made, well, 14 anniversary cards for him by now and frankly they get a little sillier each year! This year's card was no exception. The hubby loves fruitshakes you see, so his anniversary present was a gift card for the fruitshake stand in our local shopping centre, and of course the card from me had to match. I have shown him with a banana and date fruitshake in hand - his favourite combination. There is an electric blender in the background, and a few dates and a banana scattered around too. He liked the card.

There was an anniversary outing too. As is quite common these days, the pre-teen son had a party to go to, so we arranged for the youngest to go to a friend for the evening and took the opportunity to go out and celebrate. The Jerusalem Festival of Light was on, with the extra treat of an outdoor performance by Mayumana, the creative theatre and dance company developed in Tel Aviv. What more could a girl ask for? Well, fish and chips, dipped in batter and deep fried the authentic English way actually!

The fourth annual Festival of Light is organised along three main trails that run through the Old City of Jerusalem. The Orange Trail -  by far the best one in my opinion - starts at the Old City's Jaffa Gate, where a 25 metre high dome entitled Cupola by Luminarie De Cagna, an Italian family lighting company, stands in all it's glory (above). The dome of the Cupola resembles a building from the Italian Renaissance, and is made from LED lights, chained into curtains of light that are mounted onto a wooden structure.

Entering the gate, we quickly saw the orange rope of lights which lit up the route we were to follow. The spider-like Poleen and Faces of Jerusalem in the Armenian Quarter were particular favourites spotted along the way, together with the Meetings composition in The Hurvah Square.

The Damascus Gate Pinball turned a serious landmark into a pinball machine, whilst the Light Benches on Hatzanchanim Street allowed us a few moments rest, albeit right on top of a bright fluorescent light!

The festival manages to combine the magical atmosphere of the Old City with some innovative art. Wandering along the usually darkened cobblestoned streets and alleyways we enjoyed some spectacular light shows, installations, performances and artworks from both Israel and abroad.
"Light has its own presence. Beyond its practical functions, such as creating security, illuminating obstacles and marking passageways, light also enables the observer to perceive the city in a different manner" the festival's website says. Well, we certainly enjoyed the Old City in a very different way that night.
My only real criticism of the event? Special attention has to be paid to the Old City as a holy place for Judaism, Christianity and Islam. There seem to be huge gaps along the green and blue routes in the Muslim and Christian Quarters, possibly due to this, but the gaps left us wondering what we were actually there for! The Orange Trail through the Jewish Quarter was spectacular though. It was, without doubt, a great way to spend the evening of our anniversary. Additionally all the walking meant that the fish and chips were walked off a little too. Definitely a good thing after the rather large portions we had polished off earlier that evening!

The Jerusalem Festival of Light runs until June 14th, 2012, from 8 pm to 12 am.
The Mayumana performance times are June 11-12: 8 pm and 10 pm; June 13-14: 8 pm, 9 pm and 10 pm.