Merav
Merav Bat-Gil Joined: September 12th 2007
Logged in: February 13th 2012
Logged in: February 13th 2012
Hope you enjoy my stories at least as much as I enjoy living them
Travel Blog Posts
sunsets from my window
SO - - - whats going on with you? Why don't you write? Where are you? We miss your updates We have no idea whats going on with you We miss you I know. you are right (those who care enough to write or call or ask) well.. I no longer write as I no linger travel. I have set roots in Tel Aviv (again) I have adopted 2 kitties and fostering a blind-people guide dog puppy. so basically I am a mother of three hyper active puppies... yup, a challenge for my misanthrope personality.... more photos you can see here and they also have a youtube channel.... I have a job - its a part time in an NGO protecting African refugees and asylum seekers residing in Israel (part time, my version = 12 hours ... read more
:-)
Too long. Too long. Again. I've heard some complaints about neglecting my Travel Blog, people who don't have FaceBook accounts (you know who you are, all three people out there) not knowing what's going on with me or if I'm alive… So – before the Jordan II blog entry, let me give you a short update. I'm in Israel. I have a job. I am all back into the "I work 24/7" thing. As if I didn't know better… at the moment I live at the Carmel Market (a Hugh food and everything fake you can think of in central Tel Aviv). It deservers its own blog and I assure you - - - - it'll get one) I went to Jordan. It's my second trip to Jordan in 4 years. The last one was a ... read more
liquid diet
8 months. 8 long months since I've last presented my passport to an immigration officer. 8 long months since I've inhaled the great artificial airport air. 8 months since I had this hhhhmmmm feeling of a flight. And there it is. I'm heading to Turkey, for few days. Half of it is gonna be probably deleted from my memory due to severe alcohol consumption, and some of it are gonna be in Istanbul. For those of you how don't know yet, I'm a member of the hash house harriers group. It's a drinking group with a running problem: we run, we crawl, we walk for the beer. For an outsider it seems like a crazy idea, in Hebrew we say: "a foreigner won't get it" to us hashers it looks like the most normal thing: it's ... read more
Abby (doggi sitting)
Once again I've decided to try and live in Israel. Last year, when I've decided to stay in Israel I did all the "right" things: a friend had helped me find a job that seemed like the perfect place for me to be in: a new, young company, in the area of solar energy. Only 4 people: myself and three guys. In the first week, when I was the one that complained about the heat in the office (the AC is on 25c, I'm wearing short sleeves, 3 guys in winter clothing) I've started getting the idea that there's something wrong here. In 2 month I've understood we don't speak the same language. The first thing I did was to get depressed, the second thing I did was to try and drown myself in work, thinking ... read more
a typical Israeli
HP (hiking partner): "it's great, sweating like this so early in the day" ME (glaring, angry) : "NO!! It’s not GREAT. I have a different definition to what GREAT is." This dialogue took place at 6.30 AM. We were already about one hour into that day’s hike, climbing Mount Carmel (once again the Israeli mountains are hills) not that far from Haifa. From this point and on it became worst: I just couldn’t stand this day. The heat and humidity got to me. The only thing on my mind was: “if it was 6 weeks ago, it would have been great. If it was 6 days ago, it would have been better, if I wasn’t carrying 6 kg of luggage on my back it would have been better, if I was 6 years younger….” I don’t ... read more
one sunny day
Is it possible to hike in my own language? The Israel National Trail (H: Shvil Israel) is a hiking path that crosses the entire country of Israel. Its northern end is at Dan, near the Lebanese border in the far north of the country, and it extends to Eilat at the southernmost tip of Israel on the Red Sea, a length of approximately 940 km (580 mi) that's what the gods of WIKI tells us. And I've decided to go check it out: go hiking in Israel, mainly because I don't know the country or the people, as most of us, I don't know my own country. I know Tel Aviv, and I know that Tel Aviv is not Israel. I've decided to be a tourist in my own country and explore. And what's a better ... read more
Frankfurt's skyline
Frankfurt is exactly what I like in my travels: a cool places with great people. After Berlin, Frankfurt and it's (-2) to 2 was nice, warm and welcoming. I could wander around the streets!! and I did, enjoying the churches and renovated buildings without the need to worry where is the next warm place I could protect myself... I even went to the Museum to watch Botticelli's art exhibition and could line up (with dozens of others) for 30 minutes in the open air and enjoy it!! oh, BTW, in Berlin I've visited “the Picasso story” (can't get the website working, google it..) and it was great, most recommended and it's great for kids too... enough with the culture thing, people might get the wrong impression of me! I met some great people in Frankfurt. Alexander, ... read more
THE WALL
Sachsenhausen is Berlin's concentration camp that was the model camp that set the standard for those to follow (The famous sign over Auschwitz read "Arbeit macht frei" which means "Work liberates", is a copy of the one in Sachenhausen). The camp was used primarily for political prisoners of the Nazi Regime and, after the the end of the Second world war as a soviet secret service (not only the service was secret but also the camp). I have decided to go there on a group tour. Don't know why. Maybe I was too lazy to plan, maybe I was too scared (it was my first time), Maybe I just didn't want to be alone. Visiting the camp, in this freezing weather, taking the walk from the train station through the village to the camp, looking at ... read more
Brandenburg Gate
everyone can tell you how amazing Berlin is. Everyone can talk about the amazing architecture, the parks, the courtyards, the streets, the history, the nightlife. I'm not everyone very loyal to my decision to travel in difficult (challenging?) conditions I have decided to head to Berlin, again, in the coldest winter in 20 years. I remember having a previous and a wiser decision: never again to spend summer in Israel, never again winter in Europe. I don't know what happened to this decision and how I found myself in Europe in winter time. Short memory is one answer. Simply arrogance (“there is nothing I can't do. But mountains.”) would be the other. I have to admit it: -10 Celsius are below my comfort zone. My comfort zone is somewhere 25 degrees above.. the first thing I ... read more
thats how Xmas streets should look like
The best thing about Italy There are few things I like about Italy. My friends, the language, the food, the cheese, the landscape, the trips, the towns, the churches, the history, the feeling I live in a movie. But the best thing ever is the fact that it's the only country, but Israel, I can present myself and saying my name to whoever I meet and people would remember it. Merav is a short for Meraviglia, marvelous in Italian. Everywhere I go I have to find ways to make people remember my name: in East Africa I was called Mzuri, the best translation I could find. In Ethiopia I was Meraf, chapter. A very important word and a man's name (took me 7 weeks to find out that Merav exists in Amharic, meaning west...) The Americans ... read more
