It is a long time have not had time or internet access to blog here and it seems hard to start again after such a long break.
Meanwhile i was in Eilat for 2 weeks, and : it was beautiful and energizing to spend such a long time in my tent on a quiet campsite in a more than enjoyable climate.
See my Flickr and Youtube channels for material...
Now i am back to Tel-Aviv for already 5 days and will fly back to Vienna in 3 days.
In this last phase i had planned to do all the shopping and Jewish/Israeli CDs are on the top of the list.
It happened that i had to go to Jerusalem to find what i wanted. I bought two CDs by Chilik Frank, who plays incredibly soulful Chassidic Klezmer Clarinet, that touches my Heart and feet on every track as well as an Album of Oy Division an excellent Yiddish group.
As if it was arranged by the heavens, i independently of each other met the two people i know best in Jerusalem and hopefully reestablished the contact between them: Brinda the beauty from Mauritius who used to work in the hebron Hostel, and her friend Rafael, the messianic Jew from India.
I also met a young Israeli soldier playing incredibly well on his antique Ud ...
The real show of course started when i stopped filming ...
At the same time on this anniversary of two such tragic events as the November Pogrom 70 Years ago and the murdering of Yitzhak Rabin, 13 years ago, there were some riots in the old city, this time among differing Christian sects ...
Needless to say that i also visited the Kotel and it was touching as ever.
As i just had entered the old city through the New Gate (Sha'ar Chadash) i met a Lady from UK, that asked me where the Dome of the Rock was- she got obviously lost, i said I go to the Western Wall, where also the ramp up the Temple Mount can be found, so we went there together, chatting about this and that ...
Sonntag, 9. November 2008
Dienstag, 21. Oktober 2008
The dark side of the beach
The beaches in Tel Aviv are wonderful. Showers, lavatories, no pets allowed ...
But: Some people do not understand that "No animals allowed" does mean, that they are not allowed to bring their dogs to the beach. I witnessed this already a couple of times and also tried to explain what my concerns were, but they just ignored me completely or pretended not to understand ...
I also was the witness of a theft on the beach this morning. The thief even caught my attention by his indecisive behavior, even when i SAW him walking away with two backpacks, my positive-thinking-mind still thought, well he probably spent the night on the beach and was contemplating if he should go to some other place, then made a quick decision took all of his belongings (2 backpacks) and left the scene.
Half an hour later i hear some british tourists complaining about their stolen bags ...
I somehow felt guilty for not acting at all, but hey, the guy looked like he just left the army, well trained, sunglasses and hat.
But: Some people do not understand that "No animals allowed" does mean, that they are not allowed to bring their dogs to the beach. I witnessed this already a couple of times and also tried to explain what my concerns were, but they just ignored me completely or pretended not to understand ...
I also was the witness of a theft on the beach this morning. The thief even caught my attention by his indecisive behavior, even when i SAW him walking away with two backpacks, my positive-thinking-mind still thought, well he probably spent the night on the beach and was contemplating if he should go to some other place, then made a quick decision took all of his belongings (2 backpacks) and left the scene.
Half an hour later i hear some british tourists complaining about their stolen bags ...
I somehow felt guilty for not acting at all, but hey, the guy looked like he just left the army, well trained, sunglasses and hat.
Sonntag, 19. Oktober 2008
More from Carmel Market and the Piano Situation
Today i made another clip on Carmel maket. Bedouin women baking bread the old style. They also use it for some kind of wrap, similar to the turkish goezleme.
Here is the clip:
I then went to the Dizengoff Center a huge and i mean huge shopping mall.
Sofar i only made one clip. The cheapest fresh upright piano in the country.
It sells for around 9000 NIS.
I later went to a big piano shop on Dizengoff Boulevard and the used pianos start from 4000 NIS.
Anyway here is the clip from Dizengoff Center:
Better and more explicit clips of other stores and the incredible architecture of this mall shall follow, once i found my way around ...
Here is the clip:
I then went to the Dizengoff Center a huge and i mean huge shopping mall.
Sofar i only made one clip. The cheapest fresh upright piano in the country.
It sells for around 9000 NIS.
I later went to a big piano shop on Dizengoff Boulevard and the used pianos start from 4000 NIS.
Anyway here is the clip from Dizengoff Center:
Better and more explicit clips of other stores and the incredible architecture of this mall shall follow, once i found my way around ...
Mittwoch, 15. Oktober 2008
Russian Camels from Carmel Market
Today i again visited the Carmel Market in Tel Aviv. I recorded parts of my walk, here is the video:
I happened to purchase a pack of Camel Filter Cigarettes obviously produced for the rusian market, made in Switzerland. The price was 13 NIS, while you usually have to pay 16 NIS for a Soft Pack of Israeli Camels ...
I happened to purchase a pack of Camel Filter Cigarettes obviously produced for the rusian market, made in Switzerland. The price was 13 NIS, while you usually have to pay 16 NIS for a Soft Pack of Israeli Camels ...
The Bad Boy and the Magic Mezuzah
I finally made some time to write about the happenings of last night.
The story from my point of view starts in the afternoon. I entered the room and found a new guy sleeping on one of the top bunk beds.
No luggage visible, dirty feet, red face.
I let him sleep and also took a nap. The temperature was around 29 centigrade with very high humidity the weather report spoke of "felt 31 centigrades" ...
After getting up and enjoying a cup of coffee on our balcony, i realized as i walked back into the room, that the stranger also woke up and greeted him with a calm "Hi" and a smile. oh, no reaction. He just stared at me. I went to the lavatory and as i was just out of the door, i hear him jumping out of his bed and making some expression, that i could not understand but sounded like swearing or cursing. "At me ??" I thought, but did not pay any further attention, as in a hostel there are permanently people moving in or out, some very tired because of traveling or other reasons, my policy is to just let them be until a moment arrives to maybe have some conversation.
A while later i met James, the friendly guy from Australia in the lobby that also stays in our room and asked him if he already met our new roommate, which he denied. He wanted to get up early to reach the Jordanian border before noon.
I went to bed after a nice walk at around 23:00, James already was asleep.
I woke up at 2:50 by this new guy standing in the room talkig rubbish, obviously to himself. As i set myself up and looked at him silently, somehow expecting him to say an apology or at least a "hello" of some sort, he just made a confused to aggressive impression. I felt a strong wave of negative energy, which i partly blamed on the full moon and my high protein intake the day before.
Wordless i got up and went down to the reception to make sure, this guy is not some kind of stranger that smuggled himself into the hostel and they are in posession of his identity details - for all cases.
Avi, the receptionist of duty was very undestanding and went upstairs to tell him to be quiet.
I waited some minutes, in the lobby where only one Japanese guy was sitting with his laptop unable to light the cigarette i had brought with me.
As i returned to the room, Avi was on his way downstairs saying all is cool, the stranger whose name was Simon will be quiet now.
Good. But i was on max alert as being disturbed in my sleep is something that really pisses me off, as some of you may know.
So i went to the balcony to finally smoke a Camel in order to relax and sleep afterwards.
Simon came out as well asking for a lite. I asked where he came from, He said "Belgium" so i said, "Dont you greet people in Belgium", "Sure we do" he replied.
While we had a small conversation, him apologizing me explaining, that all is cool as long as there is some kind of communication and respect, he extinguished his one third smoked cigarette just to ask for it to be lit again.
Patiently i lit it, but already got a little tense and made sure he understands, that there is no messing around with me, although i tried to be friendly.
We decided to go to sleep, and as i was lying down, trying to relax, he jumped up again, cursing and starting to "look for something" with his hands among my stuff.
I jumped out of bed again. By that time James also was up and Simon left the room, saying "Ok, i leave ...".
On the balcony, smoking, James said he had locked the door the only possible way : from inside .
Not being sure if this would solve our problem for the rest of the night, we decided to go downstairs and consult Avi about this misbehaviour.
Avi said that Simon apparently left and he will not let him in again.
At this moment, something dropped just in front of the hostels main entrance.
We thought, now Simon is pissed and throws things against the glass door.
As i looked closer i saw that nobody threw anything.
It was the MEZUZAH, that had jumped off the door post.
Avi went out and fixed it again, murmuring "I will not let him in again." .
James and I went upstairs and after some time fell a sleep knowing that Avi would by no means let the guy in again, specially not after the mezuzah "speaking".
I woke up by hearing James saying "That guy, he took my camera ..." !
We found the empty bread box used to stash James' 2000 USD Camera later in an empty neigbouring room.
Simon who had left his sandals behind returned in the early afternoon with a bandaged arm, that was supposedly broken in a fight near Mugraby Hostel on Allenby as James found out while searching for traces of Simon and/or the Camera.
He claimed his passport was stolen, picked up his sandals and was made to leave immediately by the managment.
We tried to follow him, but being both unexperienced with close observation lost him quite fast.
I am pretty sure that he has something like a base in the close neighbourhood, maybe an abandoned building.
After having lost his track, we decided to examine one of the possible houses, that looked like they were easy to enter, although most doors and windows had been closed with bricks.
We went up an outdoor stairway, found a hallway cluttered with empty water bottles. I decided to go up front to take a glance at the room that appeared to be at the end.
As i made it to there, not without making some noises, i saw a scared lady sitting in a somewhat furnished room, aged maybe 45-50.
I quickly apologized and we left the ground as quick as possible.
Now James is a real cool, friendly and positive guy and decided not to be worried about the Camera and the lost Data, but to be happy nobody was injured except this weirdo himself and he already thinks of buying a better camera once back to Australia ...
Despite the negative energy i immediately felt emerging from Simon, we cannot be sure that he HAS taken the camera as there are other people around and James did NOT lock it up as suggested, which sureley WAS a mistake.
So remember when traveling and when residing in a fixed place, that it is YOUR responsibility to protect your belongings and your friends and family, as there are negative energies around all over and Murphy's Law is valid even in this beautiful country of Israel...
The story from my point of view starts in the afternoon. I entered the room and found a new guy sleeping on one of the top bunk beds.
No luggage visible, dirty feet, red face.
I let him sleep and also took a nap. The temperature was around 29 centigrade with very high humidity the weather report spoke of "felt 31 centigrades" ...
After getting up and enjoying a cup of coffee on our balcony, i realized as i walked back into the room, that the stranger also woke up and greeted him with a calm "Hi" and a smile. oh, no reaction. He just stared at me. I went to the lavatory and as i was just out of the door, i hear him jumping out of his bed and making some expression, that i could not understand but sounded like swearing or cursing. "At me ??" I thought, but did not pay any further attention, as in a hostel there are permanently people moving in or out, some very tired because of traveling or other reasons, my policy is to just let them be until a moment arrives to maybe have some conversation.
A while later i met James, the friendly guy from Australia in the lobby that also stays in our room and asked him if he already met our new roommate, which he denied. He wanted to get up early to reach the Jordanian border before noon.
I went to bed after a nice walk at around 23:00, James already was asleep.
I woke up at 2:50 by this new guy standing in the room talkig rubbish, obviously to himself. As i set myself up and looked at him silently, somehow expecting him to say an apology or at least a "hello" of some sort, he just made a confused to aggressive impression. I felt a strong wave of negative energy, which i partly blamed on the full moon and my high protein intake the day before.
Wordless i got up and went down to the reception to make sure, this guy is not some kind of stranger that smuggled himself into the hostel and they are in posession of his identity details - for all cases.
Avi, the receptionist of duty was very undestanding and went upstairs to tell him to be quiet.
I waited some minutes, in the lobby where only one Japanese guy was sitting with his laptop unable to light the cigarette i had brought with me.
As i returned to the room, Avi was on his way downstairs saying all is cool, the stranger whose name was Simon will be quiet now.
Good. But i was on max alert as being disturbed in my sleep is something that really pisses me off, as some of you may know.
So i went to the balcony to finally smoke a Camel in order to relax and sleep afterwards.
Simon came out as well asking for a lite. I asked where he came from, He said "Belgium" so i said, "Dont you greet people in Belgium", "Sure we do" he replied.
While we had a small conversation, him apologizing me explaining, that all is cool as long as there is some kind of communication and respect, he extinguished his one third smoked cigarette just to ask for it to be lit again.
Patiently i lit it, but already got a little tense and made sure he understands, that there is no messing around with me, although i tried to be friendly.
We decided to go to sleep, and as i was lying down, trying to relax, he jumped up again, cursing and starting to "look for something" with his hands among my stuff.
I jumped out of bed again. By that time James also was up and Simon left the room, saying "Ok, i leave ...".
On the balcony, smoking, James said he had locked the door the only possible way : from inside .
Not being sure if this would solve our problem for the rest of the night, we decided to go downstairs and consult Avi about this misbehaviour.
Avi said that Simon apparently left and he will not let him in again.
At this moment, something dropped just in front of the hostels main entrance.
We thought, now Simon is pissed and throws things against the glass door.
As i looked closer i saw that nobody threw anything.
It was the MEZUZAH, that had jumped off the door post.
Avi went out and fixed it again, murmuring "I will not let him in again." .
James and I went upstairs and after some time fell a sleep knowing that Avi would by no means let the guy in again, specially not after the mezuzah "speaking".
I woke up by hearing James saying "That guy, he took my camera ..." !
We found the empty bread box used to stash James' 2000 USD Camera later in an empty neigbouring room.
Simon who had left his sandals behind returned in the early afternoon with a bandaged arm, that was supposedly broken in a fight near Mugraby Hostel on Allenby as James found out while searching for traces of Simon and/or the Camera.
He claimed his passport was stolen, picked up his sandals and was made to leave immediately by the managment.
We tried to follow him, but being both unexperienced with close observation lost him quite fast.
I am pretty sure that he has something like a base in the close neighbourhood, maybe an abandoned building.
After having lost his track, we decided to examine one of the possible houses, that looked like they were easy to enter, although most doors and windows had been closed with bricks.
We went up an outdoor stairway, found a hallway cluttered with empty water bottles. I decided to go up front to take a glance at the room that appeared to be at the end.
As i made it to there, not without making some noises, i saw a scared lady sitting in a somewhat furnished room, aged maybe 45-50.
I quickly apologized and we left the ground as quick as possible.
Now James is a real cool, friendly and positive guy and decided not to be worried about the Camera and the lost Data, but to be happy nobody was injured except this weirdo himself and he already thinks of buying a better camera once back to Australia ...
Despite the negative energy i immediately felt emerging from Simon, we cannot be sure that he HAS taken the camera as there are other people around and James did NOT lock it up as suggested, which sureley WAS a mistake.
So remember when traveling and when residing in a fixed place, that it is YOUR responsibility to protect your belongings and your friends and family, as there are negative energies around all over and Murphy's Law is valid even in this beautiful country of Israel...
Dienstag, 14. Oktober 2008
Holidays and travelers stories ...
Today was the first day of Sukkoth, the annual celebration of the 40 years the children of Israel spent in the desert in temporary huts after escaping slavery in egypt.
Many people spend their time outdoors or in nicely decorated ritual huts with a loose roof, built specially for this purpose. Most restaurants and supermarkets are open though.
I myself plan to go to the Negev at least for a night while this week long celebration. Let us see if i can make up my mind, life in Tel Aviv is so relaxed and cool ...
Today i had a longer chat with James, a guy from Australia. We met three weeks ago here at momoshostel.com in Tel Aviv and he actually told me about the Hebron Hostel in Jerusalem, that i spent a week in.
He has been traveling for almost a year now with a special Around the World Ticket, that would cost him 1800 USD per continent, providing 5 Flights in each continent - any distance.
He spent most of his time in South America though and i had to ask why, what was so fascinating about that part of the world, to spend 8 months out of 12 there ...
He showed me a couple of breathtaking Panorama Pictures he took while hiking in the nature there and i was quite impressed by the sheer beauty i saw. Beyond description, i immediately understood why this part of the world can take some time if you enjoy nature !
Ok, he is 23, so walking with donkeys for a couple of days, to finally climb 10 hours up a mountain, take a picture and climb down 6 more hours and all that several thousand meters above sea level is still more easily manageable ...
He also told me stories about the Carneval in Rio, and Macchu Picchu and that he would not have had time for the Amazonas or its delta ...
But, the maybe most exotic part of our conversation may still be the story of the San Pedro Prison in La Paz.
I will not go into details here, a book has been written about this institution and i heard a first hand report from someone who was there a few months ago and said it is common use even for tourists to bribe the guards and sort of visit the prison and its inmates ...
Here is the link to the site of the book : http://www.marchingpowder.com/
Get an impression yourself ...
Apart from that, i enjoy the kosher food here and the gym equipment and the beauties and the beach ....
Many people spend their time outdoors or in nicely decorated ritual huts with a loose roof, built specially for this purpose. Most restaurants and supermarkets are open though.
I myself plan to go to the Negev at least for a night while this week long celebration. Let us see if i can make up my mind, life in Tel Aviv is so relaxed and cool ...
Today i had a longer chat with James, a guy from Australia. We met three weeks ago here at momoshostel.com in Tel Aviv and he actually told me about the Hebron Hostel in Jerusalem, that i spent a week in.
He has been traveling for almost a year now with a special Around the World Ticket, that would cost him 1800 USD per continent, providing 5 Flights in each continent - any distance.
He spent most of his time in South America though and i had to ask why, what was so fascinating about that part of the world, to spend 8 months out of 12 there ...
He showed me a couple of breathtaking Panorama Pictures he took while hiking in the nature there and i was quite impressed by the sheer beauty i saw. Beyond description, i immediately understood why this part of the world can take some time if you enjoy nature !
Ok, he is 23, so walking with donkeys for a couple of days, to finally climb 10 hours up a mountain, take a picture and climb down 6 more hours and all that several thousand meters above sea level is still more easily manageable ...
He also told me stories about the Carneval in Rio, and Macchu Picchu and that he would not have had time for the Amazonas or its delta ...
But, the maybe most exotic part of our conversation may still be the story of the San Pedro Prison in La Paz.
I will not go into details here, a book has been written about this institution and i heard a first hand report from someone who was there a few months ago and said it is common use even for tourists to bribe the guards and sort of visit the prison and its inmates ...
Here is the link to the site of the book : http://www.marchingpowder.com/
Get an impression yourself ...
Apart from that, i enjoy the kosher food here and the gym equipment and the beauties and the beach ....
Samstag, 11. Oktober 2008
News from Home ...
Although this blog was not meant to comment on media news, i cannot but write a few sentences on the major subject of the headlines i get from my country of origin: Austria.
The life journey of the worst inciter, the father of the austrian extreme-right abruptly ended last night in a car crash.
I think that any jubilation at the death of a human being is inappropriate, but apart from feeling sorry for his family, i do not exactly feel sad either. everything has its purpose, has its reason ...
There will be no more praising of the Third Reichs methods, no hidden antisemitic clues that excite the old and young Nazis coming from this mouth anymore. Not that i felt like celebrating, it just came to my mind tonight, that i did not bring any of the Cuban Cigars (Cohiba Siglo VI) i saved for special occasions and also did not buy one although i passed by an open Cigar Shop on Ben Yehuda Street.
But, i really had to laugh at peoples reactions. His followers speaking of "Weltuntergang" (the end of the world) and Assassination and Conspiracies ...
Oh my, they lost their "Fuehrer" and it seems he simply lost control of his car on a pretty straight road while driving more than twice as fast as allowed ...
In fact one has to worry that the extreme right which was split into two parties and together earned 28% of all votes in the last elections a few weaks ago, now will reunite ...
So i made an extra round of exercises on the great free Gym equipment on Gordon Beach and took this image of a grafitti which reads "Am Israel hai"="The people of Israel LIVE":
The life journey of the worst inciter, the father of the austrian extreme-right abruptly ended last night in a car crash.
I think that any jubilation at the death of a human being is inappropriate, but apart from feeling sorry for his family, i do not exactly feel sad either. everything has its purpose, has its reason ...
There will be no more praising of the Third Reichs methods, no hidden antisemitic clues that excite the old and young Nazis coming from this mouth anymore. Not that i felt like celebrating, it just came to my mind tonight, that i did not bring any of the Cuban Cigars (Cohiba Siglo VI) i saved for special occasions and also did not buy one although i passed by an open Cigar Shop on Ben Yehuda Street.
But, i really had to laugh at peoples reactions. His followers speaking of "Weltuntergang" (the end of the world) and Assassination and Conspiracies ...
Oh my, they lost their "Fuehrer" and it seems he simply lost control of his car on a pretty straight road while driving more than twice as fast as allowed ...
In fact one has to worry that the extreme right which was split into two parties and together earned 28% of all votes in the last elections a few weaks ago, now will reunite ...
So i made an extra round of exercises on the great free Gym equipment on Gordon Beach and took this image of a grafitti which reads "Am Israel hai"="The people of Israel LIVE":
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