Here the Episode 2013 of my Time Lapse Project! The video features Sicily, Stromboli, New York City, Washington D.C., Boston and Las Vegas!
Here the Episode 2013 of my Time Lapse Project! The video features Sicily, Stromboli, New York City, Washington D.C., Boston and Las Vegas!
So we just witnessed the reelection of Obama. Funny, that I lived in the US as well when he was elected the first time. This time I actually followed the election night online. So exciting! I’m still mad at myself for paying to less attention to the campaigns four years ago. Anyway, the inauguration day was pretty cool back then…
Newburyport is a New England style, small coastal town which I think is perfectly suited for a semi-lazy Sunday afternoon. It’s located on the North Shore just about an hour out of Boston. So we picked it for a romantic half-day getaway. Once there, starving, we were lucky to find the local pub Grog Restaurant and rewarded us with a tasty late lunch. Great menu, large selection of beers on tab, delicious food and friendly service; the only downside was we were in line for a table about an hour.
All beefed up we headed out (just a few minutes drive) to the northern end of Plum Island to walk off the meal. First time walking on a beach with a hat and gloves. Still freezing! The setting sun is just not powerful enough to cope with the chilly ocean breeze.
Once back in town we enjoyed window shopping at Water Street and The Tannery Marketplace where one could buy plenty of home made souvenirs at dozens tiny local shops. It got pretty late and unfortunately the Starbucks on Market Square already closed down; would have been a perfect end to that day. Warming up with a hot beverage and hanging out there with a book for an hour or two…
Ride home was pretty easy–U.S. Route 1 runs directly through Newburyport! Tobin Bridge gave us a nice little treat shortly before we arrived home.
Enjoy the photos!
We just spent a great weekend in New York City. Well, everything was great except how it ended. We needed to rush out much earlier than planned since it was announced that all public transit will shut down late afternoon Sunday due to Hurricane Sandy.
Anyway, here’s a few exciting (and interesting) things you should put on your list when visiting NYC; well not all of this…
Just when we arrived later Friday evening, Microsoft did a big roadshow pretty much all over Time Square due to their GA of Windows 8. Tons of booths. And you were convinced why you should have a surface. Of course.
One thing I really recommend is visiting the Empire State Building at night. It’s open until 2am and there is no line and no crowd if you go up late. This was my second time up and I find it very impressive to listen to the sound of the city below even at the late hour. I could stay up there for several hours. There is not much to going all the way up to the 102nd floor other than crossing it from your bucket list. There is no difference in the view and you probably hurt your head in the tiny room.
Visiting the Wall Street Bull (which is actually located on Broadway) is touristy thing you shouldn’t miss. I couldn’t find it the first time and ran out of time so I was happy doing it this time.
Sort of around the corner is the 9/11 Memorial which I highly recommend visiting. Admission is for free but you need to make your reservation at least a day prior to your planned visit. Unfortunately, we didn’t know about that but randomly found out you could tours with the 9/11 Tribute Center which happened to have two leftover tickets for the next upcoming tour. We didn’t know how lucky we were at this point. The tours are led by people who have a personal connection to the 9/11 attacks. Firemen, people working in the towers or living across the street. You very much will be moved having that whole additional dimension added while walking that ground.
The remainder of the day we spent with walking up the rest of Broadway up to Time Square. Only do that with a really comfortable pair of shoes. But it’s rewarding. You only really embrace a city by walking it.
Always a good place for breakfast, lunch or dinner is Ellens Stardust Diner located on Broadway at 51st. Enjoy your food while listen to Broadway youngsters. Be prepared to throw some bucks in their bucket to honor their performance. Food is delicious.
Sunday was pretty lazy except a visit at the Museum of Modern Arts. Probably worth seeing but we both agreed that we’ve done more exciting things. If you want you can easily spend an entire day there.
As I said, we needed to rush out much earlier than scheduled. There was a substantial chaos at the Port Authority and the Greyhound folks were quite challenged with handling the crowd. All bus lines pretty much ran all buses available as soon as they got filled until the last seat regardless the schedule. Anyway, we got out.
Check out the updated New York photo stream.
So I’m in Boston for almost three weeks now! I started to work right away, pretty much in the first night I got here. And then, there is a lot of bureaucratic stuff to deal with. But that’s another story.
Today I finally was able to cut out some quiet hours. I grabbed my well used camera and started an easy city stroll. From my yet poorly furnished apartment I walked over to the Charles River, over the BU Bridge and through the Boston University campus. Dozens of people were heading the same direction to be a spectator of the yearly Head of the Charles Regatta. I watched a few rowboats and then continued to walk eastwards along the esplanade. The trees are featuring bright fall colors, well known across all New England as the Indian Summer.
The ultimate target was my every-Sunday-late-afternoon Starbucks at Winter Street. Yes, that’s right, there is such a thing already! After a few moments at the DCR’s Hatch Memorial Shell and the Public Garden the sun was setting and the warm fall day started to end. It became chilli almost instantly. Time to zip up your jacket. And for Starbucks. Here are the photos.
I traveled to Boston with an Airbus A330-300, departing at a quarter past six in Frankfurt, Germany. With a scheduled arrival at Logan international airport at approximately 8pm, we flew almost along the day/night border falling little behind with a ground speed of roughly 820km/h (540mph) having a sunset vibe throughout the entire flight. Heading northwest first, I could enjoy the full moon sitting on the eastern horizon; for about the first three hours. For the last hours of the flight, now in southern direction, it was exactly the same case with the red sun, that seemed to deny the ending of the very October 2, 2012.
About four years after my first entry into the US, it’s obviously time to go back! It’ll be Boston this time and working for Dynatrace! Exciting! Let’s see what another year in the US can offer me. One is for sure: there will be a presidential election again!
Here’s the first release of my Time Lapse Project! The video shows scenes from the Gastein Valley, Linz, the Bohemian Forest, Toronto and Milan. Enjoy!
We just watched Carmen at the Roman stone quarry in Sankt Margarethen, which is about an hour south of Vienna. It is one of the biggest open air Opera festivals in Europe, similar to Verona. With its unique scenery, which is fully integrated in the performance, it becomes a fascinating experience. Read more here.
Parking is available for free; however, be aware that there is another one charging €10 for the night. Inside the arena food and drinks are available at a reasonable price. Also, there are two backstage-tours available for a couple of Euros previous to the performance. Check the exact times at the link above. There are plenty of hotels around, we stayed in this one, which I can recommend. Check-in is 24/7 with a self-service machine.
Here are a few photos of our trip! We stopped in Baden for coffee on the way there and before hitting the road back, we enjoyed the scenery in Laxenburg.
I just got a nice treat when my flight took the city tour while descending. Here are some nice photos!