Today I stopped for lunch at a small place in West Ealing near Chapel. Road. A friendly owner emerged from the kitchen and, as requested, prepared me a falafel wrap, served with some olives and some other shredded pickled veggie. All tasted delicious, including my favourite black tea with fresh mint leaves served in a glass, which I do enjoy! Moreover, the meal turned out to be most affordable and I paid before I asked him if I could mention his place in my blog.:-) Pity I didn't take some good pictures, just the one above.You know, it was one of these unassuming places that can be either very good or very bad. I was lucky! :-) I found out from the owner that he came to London at sixteen, in 1968, from the troubled land of Palestine and had a shop in Elephant in Castle, then for some twenty years in King's Cross, until the railway development swallowed the grounds there, next somewhere else I didn't catch and then he settled here in Uxbridge Road, West Ealing, but he does miss his homeland...
That reminded me of another encounter with a Palestinian refugee. It was during our mountain hike in Syria, when it was still a safe place, only a few years back.We met this young couple hanging around there, looking at the distant hills and thinking about their futures. She was from Lebanon, I think. Obviously, we couldn't communicate easily as the shared language - English - posed difficulty for them and we had no command of their tongue. I can't recall much more about them, but I do remember how much I felt for these two who were born in troubled places and times, and how grateful I was for not having to experience such hardship.
No comments:
Post a Comment