Israeli Vespas

Vespa Club of Israel, via Facebook

“Snowfall looking likely” screams the headline of yesterday’s Bellingham Herald. The weather forecast for Tel Aviv, OTOH, is sunny and 84°F. That sounds nice.

I recently befriended the Vespa Club of Israel on Facebook (we have several mutual friends), and a photo album with the phrase “Sea of Galilee” caught my eye. It contains 151 pictures of a camping rally that happened in a place you’d read about in the Bible.

As you can see, old-skool and modern Vespas peacefully coexist.

You are probably aware of the posters made from movie publicity stills featuring Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn (Roman Holiday), and Angie Dickinson (Jessica). There’s also one of Paul Newman astride a vintage Vespa, which was taken when he was filming the movie Exodus, which is a story that takes place in the time leading up to the founding of the modern state of Israel. The rider above is doing his best Leonardo di Caprio impression.

There were a couple of old-skool Vespas with sidecars on the ride. The scene above just looks so Middle Eastern. I would love to have gone on this ride.

Alas, I can’t be everywhere, so I’ll have to be content looking at the photo album on Facebook (you need to be logged in to see it). Pics were taken by Oren Lahav, Roi Efrati and Eli Shahmoon. Shalom, and keep the rubber side down.