"Behind every successful woman is herself" gilabrand's Profile

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OFF TO TORONTO - GOING, GOING, GONE
May 2011: My bags are packed and ready to go. This time the route is Toronto-New York! Duration: 10 days, to see my mom and attend a family party.
June update: Home again, just in time to see my apricot tree bear its first two fruits and get a heap of birthday wishes from all my VT friends. A collective THANKS to you all.

A ROOTS TRIP TO POLAND
September 2010 update: Back from a 6-day trip to Poland to retrace the route of my in-laws, who boarded the last train out on September 1, 1939.
Thank you, VTer Evanna, for opening our eyes to the wonders of Warsaw.

NEW YORK, HERE I COME
End of January update: I'm home again, after making the rounds of family homes (and 4 different beds): from Larchmont to Long Island to Greenwich Village and back.

January 2010: From tonight, I'm on the road again. I'm heading for New York, for a happy family event this time! Judging by all the news reports, I'd better wear nice underwear (for the body scanners)..LOL

TORONTO TIME

November 2009 update: It was indeed a sad trip that ended in loss. I was glad I could be there for my mother. But she is one tough cookie and slowly getting back on her feet.

June 2009: I loved reading all the birthday messages. If I had time, I would answer you all individually, but my flight to Toronto is close at hand. Unfortunately, this 2-week trip is not for fun, but to help my mother through a difficult time.

ROAMING!
Amazingly, I am off again, this time for a 4-day whiz around ROME! See you all next week!
December 19, 2008: Back to the grind after a fabulous (albeit rainy) visit to the over-the-top city of piazzas, palazzos and pizzas.

THE GILA SHUTTLE

Leaving tonight, October 23, 2008, for an 11-day mad dash from Tel Aviv to New York to Rhode Island to Boston to Athens and back again. For the moment, toodle-oo!
Nov. 4: Home again. Wow, what a trip, and thank you, thank you, thank you VTers: Lionreb for helping us discover Rhode Island and Janetanne for that splendid introduction to Athens!

ISRAEL WORLDMEET , SEPTEMBER 2008

JULY2 (Louise) , EKATERINBURG (Katherine), ANGIEBABE (Angela), A2LOPES (Antonio), MACADONIANUK (Valentina) & husband + adorable daughter, FRUITLOVER (Avi) - I LOVED HOSTING YOU ALL.

Now I know for a fact that VTers are not just cyberpeople. THEY ARE FOR REAL.

Thank you all for broadening my world - without even leaving my house!
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MY BACKYARD - JERUSALEM BOTANICAL GARDENS

I never thought of myself as a traveler until someone on this site looked at my travel map and said so. Well, how do you like that? Now that I think about it, maybe I am.

I started out in Gloversville, New York - yes, the place where they make gloves - where I was born. From there, I spent a short time in Rego Park, Queens before moving to Brooklyn, New York and then Flushing, Queens. In high school, I spent a year in Israel and decided that was the place for me. At the age of 18, I headed for Jerusalem and that's where I've been ever since - with forays into the big, wide world every so often.

In the course of visiting my family, which is rather large and spread out, I have been to Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Toronto. And then, of course, there have been some fun trips to places like Orlando, Shenandoah Valley, Washington DC, Sinai, Paris, Venice, Rome, Florence, London, Prague, Barcelona and Istanbul.

Oh my gosh, look at the list. I am a traveler. And now that my four children are seriously on the way to growing up, I'm getting the itch for more.

Birth of a Traveler

FEET FIRST

"Those feet were made for walkin,'
And that's just what they'll do..."

See those little footprints? They're mine. Bet you never saw a birth certificate like that! I think they only issued them at the Gloversville hospital where I was born. So putting together all the pieces of the jigsaw, I guess I was just cut out to be a traveler...

Not only herself

MY PRIVATE NOOK

Now, I'm sure you noticed my motto up there with the emphasis on "herself." The following pages are not, by any stretch of the imagination, a complete travel guide to this or that location. What I am doing is writing about things that touched ME in some way. So, these are my thoughts and my take on the places I have passed through in my life.

Helping me illustrate my thoughts are photographs. Some are my own work, but some of the best ones are taken by my brother Eliel, who is great at character portraits, and two of my boys, Aron and Hanan, who are talented at capturing landscapes and fleeting moments in time.

I paint, therefore I am...

LET THERE BE LIGHT

Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the shadow.

Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the shadow.

(from T.S. Eliot, "The Hollow Men")

STILL, BUT LIFE

"REMEMBER TO BUILD YOUR LIFE
AS IF IT WERE A PIECE OF
ART"

( A. J. Heschel)

To read one of my short stories, have a look at my Great Barrington page.

(See more paintings on my Zichron Yaakov and Beersheva pages)

Idan poses for the camera

A New Career: Mother-in-Law

On November 10, 2005, we welcomed Marcel into our family. Marcel and my oldest son, Aron, were married on a terrace overlooking the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem.

Another New Career: Grandma
As of today, August 8, 2010, I am a GRANDMA!
My grandson, Idan, is now ONE YEAR OLD. A doll, of course...

A ROAD ON RHODES

MAY 2007 - My Latest Venture into the Wild Blue Yonder:

A 4-day whirl around Rhodes has left my head whirling. I have lots to say about this little island. For starters, masses of people go to Rhodes to lie on a beach chair or drink mind-boggling quantities of beer served in a huge glass boot. I am not one of them.

Intro Updated Dec 24, 2011
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Personal Pages (3)

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Comments (894)

jekins May 15, 2012 at 1:29 PM Report Abuse

Hi Gila,long time i hope you rae ok and there family,greeting from cameroon.
csordila Apr 8, 2012 at 1:40 PM Report Abuse

Happy Easter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Beat L.
iblatt Apr 5, 2012 at 9:51 PM Report Abuse

Hi Gila, Happy Passover to you and your family,
Ilan
Jenniflower Mar 19, 2012 at 3:31 AM Report Abuse

Dear Gila! Hi lovely lady! I am so seldom here, and when I am, I am not writing pages anymore. How are you and your lovely Heime? Mum and I were only chatting about you both on Sunday :) BIG HUG x
janetanne Feb 27, 2012 at 6:34 AM Report Abuse

Hi Gila! If I read and rate your tips, will you love me? Hahahahaha
TooTallFinn24 Feb 6, 2012 at 10:02 AM Report Abuse

Gila- Thanks for the visit. As for PEI it was after the tourist seen and it's a bit nippy in fall.
pieter_jan_v Feb 6, 2012 at 9:28 AM Report Abuse

Gila, Is there anything I can cheer you up with? There must be parts of VT you still like, I hope. PJ
KShezz Feb 6, 2012 at 6:35 AM Report Abuse

I dont know for sure when they decided to open the upper gallery to the public but the tickets are expensive and they are limited per day..so we were very lucky..
Aitana Jan 30, 2012 at 3:48 AM Report Abuse

Hi Gila, thanks for stopping by my Teruel page.
sdq Jan 19, 2012 at 7:02 AM Report Abuse

Didn't gone in detail but your introdution line is great !