London 2009

In October of 2009, I was able once again to visit London, England. This is the fourth year in a row that I have been able to attend the one day conference of The Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain. The conference was held again at the West London Synagogue of British Jews at Upper Berkeley Street. As usual it was an incredible conference. We enjoyed a day full of speakers discussing Jewish genealogy and history. The society is full of wonderful leaders and some of the nicest people anywhere. It is always a great experience for me when I am there. I am very proud of my membership, and of the friendships I have developed there.

The monday following I returned to a place that has been very special to me, Willesden Cemetery. As always, I jumped on the bus and travelled the 20 minutes or so from my hotel.
I love riding the double decker buses, because from the topside you can see everything. It seems as though there is history on every corner. Willesden is a very peacefull place where so many of the British Jews are buried. Everytime I go there I seem to find so much information that I have been looking for

This time was no different. I was able to tie up some loose ends on a family that are most likely my relations, the Kino family. To walk the grounds of this beautiful place is an amazing experience. I have now been here three times, and each visit has left me wanting to return. The building at right sits in the center of the cemetery. Pictures can not truly show how beautiful this place is.

Something, I enjoy doing when I travel, is going for walks around areas I have never been before. It helps me get to know the city and is a great way to work through the jetlag. On this trip as I walked around I came to a beautiful London synagogue.
The Great Prescott Street Synagogue.

Dublin 2009

A had a wonderful opportunity to have a week to do some research and become more familiar with the various archives in Dublin, Ireland. Its not often that such trips come up, so its important to get as much out of them as possible. I stayed at the Arlington Hotel, which is just off O'Connell street not far from the Post Office where the Easter Rebellion of 1916 took place. For the most part I was within walking distance of the major archives and libraries as well as Temple Bar, which is the main area of Dublin for restaurants and night life.
When I travel around the world, I like to explore areas where I have never been before. Its a way I have found helpfull in learning more about the people who lived there in the past. In Irealnd, I had a couple of wonderful experiences.
On a Sunday afternoon, after attending church, a good friend asked me if I would like to meet the real citizens of Dublin. Of course, I accepted the offer and spent a remarkable afternoon walking the grounds of Glasnevin Cemetery. Glasnevin is the final resting place of about 1.2 million people. Glasnevin is an incredible place, full of the histrical figures from Dublin's past. I was there for about 4 hours, and I know I didn't even see but a small part. I was so impressed however by the amount of renovation and beautification that is going on. One of the unique items about the cemetery is a tall wall all the way around the outside. Local story is that is was placed there to keep the grave robbers out. At each corner of the wall, are located turets where guards could have shot tresspassers.
Another evening I took the oportunity to walk through an area of Dublin that around the turn of the century was home to a large Jewish community. In the area that strecthes northwest from Portebello College, many Jews made their homes. It is in this area that The Irish Jewish Museum now stands.

This was an icredible place to walk as some of the people who lived there can be found in "The Knowles Collection" and one of those residents, a Dr. Solomon, the dentist, may even be related. His home, is the green home in the picture. The community may never have had the numbers other places did, but there was certainly an active community.It was agreat evening walking through the neighborhood.
Another evening I took the chance to walk by the Adelaide Road Synagogue. This synagogue seerved the community for many years before closing in the 1990's. The synagogue,(pictured at left)even though it is now closed holds a special place in the modern history of Dublin Jews. While I was on one of these evening walks, I found something quite by accident. The building in the upper left corner of the post shows a builing with a shield above the door. On that shield it reads "Built in the year 5618". This obvious use of the Hebrew date is a remant of use by the Jewish community.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

I had the opportunity to attend the 2009 International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies annual conference at the Sheraton Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is always a great chance to pick the brains of so many people who share the same passion. I was able to join Laurence Harris and other members of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain, on a panel to answer questions raised by those in attendance. I tried to attend as many of the classes as I could that dealt with Sephardic Jews. There seems to be more and more good information coming out each year.

Seoul, South Korea January 2009

In all fairness my visit to Seoul was really only a layover on the way to Auckland, New Zealand. I travelled to the conference in New Zealand with a coworker, Dan Poffenberger. On the way to Auckland we had about 15 hours to kill and decided to take the bus from the airport to the center of Seoul to see the city. Even though we were not there that long, I few things will always remain with me.
First, we were on our way to summer in New Zealand so I only wore a light jacket, I didn't expect the coldest day of the year in Seoul, but thats what it was. The wind that blew made me about as cold as I can ever remember being..
Secondly, as we walked through the streets of Seoul, the smells will not soon be forgotten. Everywhere we walked, the smell of cooking cabbage was strong, as if every building had some cooking. I love the taste of cabbage, but it was just more than my nose could handle. In fact, I dont think I have ever been so happy to see a good old american donut shop.
The third thing that has stuck with me about Seoul is the variety of historical areas within the city. As we walked the street there were the traditional historical sites that I expected to see, things such as monuments to past leaders, both military and religous.
They were beautiful and it was actually very calming to visit them. In addition we had the chance to see a piece of history that I didn't expect. In the center of Seoul was a section of the Berlin wall. I would never have thought that I would have to go all the way to Seoul, just to see the Berlin wall. The picture at the right shows Dan in front of the wall.