Photos of Darmstadt, Frankfurt, & Mainz

I am finally putting up the photo albums of my short trip to Germany in February. By short I mean I left on a Friday and returned on a Monday. I'm still surprised at how much I managed to see given those few days, but it all made an impression on me.

Darmstadt

Frankfurt

Mainz

Photos of St. Petersburg & Moscow

It probably shouldn't come as a surprise to some that Russia was my dream destination for quite awhile. The trip report was long, but barely scratched the surface of my experiences. The people, food, stores, shopping, restaurants, and the little nuances of the city that weren't necessarily reportable are locked in my head, becoming morsels of intense flavor every time something triggers my memory.

St. Petersburg - There were times when I had to put my camera away because the architecture is drop dead gorgeous to the point where you give up; the brain has too much beauty to process. I would venture to guess that many tourists walk St. Petersburg in a dream state. I certainly did.

Tsarskoe Selo - If I had posted all the photos I took of the Alexander Palace, you would've stopped associating with me. Thankfully for you, I'll leave those snaps for the Romanov forum I visit.

Moscow - Moscow was short yet enjoyable. I missed out on the Kremlin, but still saw much in my only full day here. Walking around the empty streets the next morning was a soothing way to reflect on my hectic week and provided an opportunity to have the city to myself.

Lost Splendor - This album was a both a labor of love and an experiment in memory. I've always wanted to connect the Imperial past to the post-Tsarist present, and although it didn't turn out as expected, I was surprised there was enough to get this far.

Photos of Helsinki & Tallinn

Helsinki was such a short lived experience that it would be unfair to give any major opinions about it. Still, the city was such a great starting point to kick start my Russia trip. I always say "my Russia trip" but it's an unfair tag because Helsinki was planned intentionally as a stopping point on the journey. Although it's clearly Scandinavian, the Russian influences are apparent in the colorful architecture that dots the city.

Tallinn, on the other hand, wasn't on my radar until my friend D visited. I'm grateful he did because I probably wouldn't have considered a stay if he hadn't. It's a stunning city, and I managed to enjoy what I could, despite the freezing hypothermia induced blizzard. I would definitely go back to both cities.

Helsinki & Tallinn

Photos of Hong Kong

Hong Kong was the perfect mix of east meets west and I'm grateful to have given it a go on a side trip. There was never a dull moment here. This is a place I would love to come back to visit for a longer period of time. The city is so vibrant and full of life, but manages to keep it's culture alive despite it's status as a global financial center.

Hong Kong

Photos of Taiwan

Going through these photos after the fact made me realize how much I think of this trip more than I give credit for. How much the little details of my short time there have seeped into my brain, and weren't reported in the trip report. The memories are quite colorful. It's still a bit unreal to have been to Taiwan, especially considering the reasons for going. Even others, when the country is brought up in conversation, have been quizzical about why I have visited.

Still, I tried to capture the spirit of Taipei (and the other towns), and show all sides of the city, but there was so much that was intrinsically foreign to me and I feared appearing like a tacky, insensitive American tourist who is hell bent on only capturing the perceived "weirdness" of Eastern countries. That was a trap I didn't want to fall into.

Taipei

Jiufen

Yehliu

Finally, Photos of Madrid

This is the last of my vacation photos! I didn't spend much quality time in Madrid and this album documents the few areas I was able to explore. For reasons previously explained, I waited until much later to tackle the photos from the last leg of my November 2007 trip.

Perhaps, someday, I will be able to look at them without my blood pressure skyrocketing.

Here they are. Enjoy!

Finally, Photos of Sweden

Here is my album for Helsingborg and Malmo, Sweden. I took the ferry from Helsingor, Denmark to get there. It took about 20 minutes to cross. Okay, I'm glad I crossed the Oresund into Sweden, but I found these two towns lacking compared to what I was experiencing over in Denmark. I think if I ever go back, it will be to Stockholm.

Because of the time I overspent in Helsingor, Denmark, I didn't get to my last destination, Malmo, until the evening. This cut into the amount I could see and experience as it was dark and things closed up so early. Although the two countries are very similar, there are marked differences between the two and it was nice to experience these differences.

Here they are. Enjoy!

Finally, Photos of Ballerup & Helsingor

Ballerup, Denmark was really an everyday town. I visited for the museum that displayed items owned by Grand Duchess Olga of Russia, who was exiled there after the Russian Revolution. Yeah, I'm a geek!!

My photos of Ballerup are here.

Helsingor, Denmark was a really cool town. I spent more time here than I thought I would, creating a domino effect, and screwing up the amount of time I was to spend in Sweden. Looking back, I don't regret it one bit!

My photos of Helsingor are here.

Enjoy!

Finally, Photos of Copenhagen

I have finally sifted through almost all of my vacation photos. Warning, there are over 200 alone in the Copenhagen album. Yes, I'm that dork who takes pictures of food and gives commentary in her snapshots.

Denmark was fantastic. I LOVED the time I spent there and would definitely go back again. I would recommend visiting in the summer months though. During the winter, things shut down much earlier than, say, a city like London would. Christiania was a trip! You aren't allowed to take photos inside the community, so that's why there aren't many in my album.

Here they are. Enjoy!

Back From Boston

A splendid time was had by all, and the weather was way agreeable. Not too hot, not too cold. Just right. Baby bear conditions. Stops were made via automobile in Hingham, Revere, and Roxbury for family genealogy enquiries, and all of Boston proper was spent on foot. Exhausting.

In Hingham, I all about climbed the walls due to impatience through an obligatory 1 1/2 hour tour of the town's historical society. Things turned immediately to joy upon being shown several samplers made by our direct ancestors when they were young girls. These samplers were close to two hundred years old. Seriously, I simply cannot believe my greats left behind such an enduring legacy!

Our side trip to Revere was spent looking for a street sign of our family name. Since our ancestors founded the town of Charlestown, and settled all throughout the area; the name, the graves, and the remaining houses can be found all over Boston. Our maddening excursion, courtesy of the rotaries, was topped off by a visit to Kelly's for a delicious meal, which we ate on the beach.

The trip to Roxbury was less than forgettable. Driving around looking for the Eustis Street Burying Ground proved to be a huge pain in the ass. Unfortunately, we arrived several minutes after the 3 o'clock closing time. Still, it was one of those beautiful Gothic looking graveyards that is situated on a busy cross street, making it stand out all the more beautiful.

As I mentioned above, our day in Boston was lovely. Since Bunker Hill wasn't open during our visit last year, we decided to stop off for a tour. I climbed all 294 steps to the top only to be met by smelly, sweaty others who probably weren't used to so many stairs. Although my calves were killing me the next day. I discovered later that most of the photos I took up there were marred by all the scratches and smudge marks embedded on the plexi-glass windows. One of the highlights was a militia man dressed in period clothing giving a shooting demonstration on the grounds.

We settled on the Union Oyster House near Faneuil Hall for our last night's dinner. Both of us chose the stuffed fillet of sole. It was delicious, but the seafood stuffing was something less than desired. Nothing bad, it was the kind of stuffing that is all seafood with scant amounts of cracker. I prefer it to be the other way, more crumbly cracker, less seafood. But that's just me. Prior to our meal, we watched a cool street performance by two drummers.

Now for the NPS Passport book. I mentioned in another post how I introduced this program to my mother when we were at the Grand Canyon last month, and that she was now an stamp addict. Boston is loaded with stamping stations and I think we got most of them. This included bagging some bonus stamps which weren't part of the NPS program, but from a now defunct citywide Freedom Trail scavenger hunt. Score!

Photos can be found here. Drummers here --

It Sure is Grand

So. After trawling through all my photos, and trust me there were tons of them, loads of nice ones at that; I have finally committed the ones I deemed worthy enough to web posterity.

I've said this already to a few people, but the Grand Canyon doesn't take a bad photo. In fact, walking up to it, you actually squint your eyes in disbelief thinking that you are looking at a portrait. It's like one huge gorgeous photo backdrop. In the same vain as those 1970's nature backgrounds families would pose in front of at Sears and Olan Mills photo studios. Only better. Trust me when I say this because I didn't show up with any of the photographic accouterments one might when they visit such a hallowed spot of fantastical nature. Even a disposable camera would have reaped the same visual rewards. I arrived with an outdated Kodak Easy Share 3.1 mega pixels digital camera. Probably a step or two above a rinky-dink camera phone, if you ask me. Hardly something you would see a professional toting around. My problem is that I buy for size, preferably as tiny as possible, as anything clunky could possibly give me away as an ignorant tourist. Imagine that. A tourist at the Grand Canyon! What an anomaly!

However, I will confess that I have been keeping an eye my cousin H's blog to gain a bit more knowledge and perspective about the nuances of composition. Her photography has helped me tremendously and I am always grateful to learn from her. Otherwise, if left up to my own devices, you would see some very uninspired, off center, and out of focus experiments in pseudo-artsy snapshots which wouldn't quite make the mark; nor earn a place in a photo album for that matter.

What bothered me greatly is that I had to put a flame under my ass in order to commit my snapshots to a cyber-album. What's really been going on is that for the last week I have been feeling quite uninspired. Possibly lazy. Jet lagged is more like it. They say that it takes a day for each day you were away for your body to recover. Since my spirits have picked up exactly a week from the day I got back, and that I spent the next two days after my arrival in a constant state of slumber, that estimation sounds about right. Now out of my Rip Van Winkle rut and with my circadian rhythms in check, I have made a possible full recovery and now must tend to the deeper things in life. Like catching up on the latest episodes of Big Love and a whole week of the Howard Stern Show. I have priorities, you know!

Like I stated previously, the trip was a major success. Despite all of our head numbing problems with US Airways, our trip exceeded any expectations we may have had going in. After hearing many poor reviews from the other tourists, a last minute decision was made to cancel our plans to visit the Skywalk. As for the hotels we stayed at, they couldn't have been any better. I was a bit suspect of the Grand Canyon Inn which is located in Valle, AZ. I couldn't help but think, an "inn/motel" in the middle of nowhere, and a bit further from the town of Tusayan and the Grand Canyon. However, it turned out to be more than satisfactory. I would definitely recommend he place tto others.

I bought a beautiful Zuni Bear pendant from one of the Indian Trading Posts situated on the premises of the hotel. All of the jewelry I purchased was Native American made. There were Trading Posts just about everywhere you looked.
I also discovered a delicious regional candy bar, Christopher's Big Cherry. Anything with a maraschino cherry in the center is an immediate favorite of mine!

There was an odd sight across the street from the hotel. The Flintstone's Bed Rock City Camp Ground. Truly a stone age experience. It reminded me of the opening scenes of a 70's horror flick. A somewhat faded, abandoned relic trying to operate as if it were still basking in an infinite heyday. Come to find out, it was actually hopping busy on the inside, behind the stone wall. The store on the premises looked as if it had been frozen in time. We stopped to eat at Fred's Diner, where the menu gave each dish a stone age appellation. Turns out cactus juice is fruit punch and lemonade mixed together. No wonder Fred Flintstone is overweight.

Our time at the Grand Canyon will go down in history as one of the most successful family vacations, ever. Arriving very early, we lucked out with a most excellent parking space. Right there at Mather Point. From then on, good use was made of the shuttle buses provided to visitors free of charge. Making sure to stop at as many points as possible, I will confess that I made sure to stop at all the points where I could get my NPS Passport stamped. Apparently, there are seven stamps in total around the park. I think we got about six of them, missing the North Rim where we didn't visit anyway. Mom was curious about the program, bought the NPS Passport book, and is now a cancellation stamp addict!

I can't even begin to explain the sheer beauty that is the Grand Canyon. In a continuation of our new found lucky streak, we saw probably everything Mother Nature wanted to present that day. Committed to photograph are puffy heavy rain clouds, distant storms, lightening, and rainbows. All without a sprinkle in our direction. The last hours of the day were spent at Yaki Point to watch the sunset. The sheer beauty on view as the sun is coming down is absolutely stunning. This is where I feel that pictures can't fully capture the colors of the canyon. Shades of purple, pink, and other pastels settle all over the landscape and you find yourself seriously grasping for words to describe what's in front of you.

The next day was spent finishing up the rest of the canyon. We saved the parts where a car is a necessity for last. The weather was agreeable up until we finished and then it rained for a bit. No problem. It all worked out for the best and we were able to take it easy the rest of the day. Plus, we would have to rest up for our next adventure.

Our day trip to Nevada started out a little wonky. We took a wrong turn at Kingman, AZ and continued on to our destination via California. Not too much of a problem as it was just slightly out of our way. Things got a little worrying while driving U.S. Route 95 north through San Bernardino County. The gas tank was low and we were on a very long stretch through the outskirts of the Mohave Desert. With no gas station for miles, nor towns for that matter, I did a silent count of all blue colored help boxes placed on the side of the road should the need to utilize one arise. Heading into Nevada we reached a gas station and some semblance of human civilization. A short time later we were at the Hoover Dam.

I have to admit I was pretty impressed with the Hoover Dam. I didn't think I would be and was secretive about my opinions until we arrived and were proved wrong. Man is Nevada HOT! H-E-double hockey sticks hot. Nothing made us happier than to get back to the comfort of vehicular air-conditioning. Another NPS stamping station was located down the road closer to the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. When we called the information center to confirm the location, we were told they had just closed up but would stamp some pieces of paper and leave it out for us to take. We were eternally grateful for them going above and beyond the call of duty. Thirty minutes later had us in Las Vegas driving on the strip.

We're not really a gambling family, although I did want to try out the slot machines. Just for the heck of it. On the first try, I managed to win a whopping $12.40 playing penny slots at the Hard Rock Cafe & Casino. I chose that specific casino because mom likes to buy a t-shirt from each Hard Rock she visits. I was happy to have insisted that we make a pilgrimage to Vegas. Mom admitted later that she was glad to have gone as well.

The rest of our time was spent exploring Flagstaff and Sedona. Not to mention, all that driving we did. Being from the Northeast, it's unusual to drive such lengths without seeing towns or human beings. Coconino County, where we spent most of our time is roughly three times the size of my home state of Connecticut and only consists of about twenty-five towns. Arizona vegetation is not verdant, but it is interesting to those who aren't used to desert conditions. Facing another prospect of delays on our flight home, the Flagstaff airport was kind enough to contact us and arrange a taxi cab to Phoenix in order to catch our flight home. I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason, because on the drive down, we were finally able to see actual stereotypical cactus. The ones with the arms, like they show on television.

I can't repeat this enough. It was an incredibly successful family vacation. We were able to see so much considering an entire day was lost. The best part of it all was seeing how happy my mother was and the excitement of being there with her while having her dream vacation come true.

My shopping tally for this trip?

*Various postcards (as I collect them)
*Magnet with Grand Canyon scenery
*Fred Harvey Desert Tea (delicious!)
*4 Christopher's Big Cherry candy bars (which I promptly ate within a few days of returning)
*Kokopelli Sweet Lucy Arizona red table wine
*Twig deer pendant/necklace
*Zuni Bear pendant/necklace
*Malachite pendant and matching earrings

There are four photo albums, separated into easy to grasp categories.

Our 1 1/2 days at the Grand Canyon.

Our day trip to the Hoover Dam and Las Vegas.

Our visits to Sedona and Flagstaff.

Plus, a miscellaneous album for those holiday snaps that just didn't seem to fit anywhere.

My Moment of Zen

A few weeks ago, I bid for and won a 30GB Creative Zen Vision: M. I am so doing a happy dance over my win considering it was snagged at $100 less than it currently retails for. For the past two years, I've owned a Zen Micro, which I love, love, love - but it only played music. However, I could never hide my disappointment that had I waited to purchase my Zen Micro just a few months later, a Creative product with superior video capabilities would be made available instead. But let's not dwell, okay?

After several trips to visit family and friends, I grew tired of those lulls one faces while waiting on the bus in I-95 traffic, or being held up for whatever reasons never given by Amtrak and Metro North. After the novelty of reading wears off, you really crave something more interesting than staring at your fellow passengers. Last year's return home from Europe also produced much internal frustration due to the lack of in-flight entertainment available to us schlubs in cattle class. Really now, there are only so many times a human being can endure You, Me & Dupree over and over again. Hopefully now, no more!

So far, I have been transferring my music over to this player with excellent results. Plus video and photos, which are the real reasons for purchasing this little guy. As for the videos, I've been downloading them like a banshee and pretty much taxing out my poor laptop in the process. I think it's going to need a spa break in Baden-Baden really soon. I'm also beginning to fear that an intervention is in store should my family and friends see the amount of British television, documentaries, travel and cooking shows I watch.

Remembering The Disappeared

Taking a mini-break from the hectic environment that is completing my research paper, for the first time in many years, I finally got to semi-participate in the annual Museum Mile Festival. Yeah! Although it rained and I quickly realized that my transportation opportunities were limited by being up in the early 100's mark of the city's street numbers, I didn't realize upon getting there that all of 5th Avenue was closed down for the event. So, walking in the pouring rain in unfamiliar territory was a bit of a let down to the festivities.

What I really wanted to see was an exhibition at El Museo del Barrio on The Disappeared (Los Desaparecidos), which was nearing the end of its run.

An explanation of the term:

"To disappear was newly defined during the twentieth century military dictatorships in Latin America. 'Disappear' evolved into a transitive verb describing those considered threats to the State who were kidnapped, tortured, and killed by their own military, especially in the 1970s in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay."

My interest in this subject came about accidentally, several years ago, after coming across the book I Remember Julia at the library.

Even if you are not well versed in the stories of The Disappeared, this exhibit pretty much spelled things out. That such a horrifying period of history could produce such impacting art, is in a word - amazing. To read the stories about The Disappeared is one thing, to see artist interpretations is another matter all together. Many of the artists involved were either members of the resistance, survivors themselves, or had known those who had been abducted. Their art depicts the absolute fear, violence, personal loss, mental confusion and torture of this hellish period of time. Although the entire exhibit moved me beyond all imaginable means possible, some of the following really struck a resounding chord inside of me.

*Arturo Duclos' untitled piece of the flag of Chile made up of 75 human femurs screwed together.

*Marcelo Brodsky's Buena Memoria (Good Memory), showing his class photo and the reunion of any survivors afterwards. Some of the students in the portrait were victims of these regimes and vanished only a few years after graduating. An online website devoted to his work and this exhibit can be found here. Even more moving was in 1996, when the school held a ceremony to read off the names of all 98 disappeared students who had attended.

*In a work called "Urban Intervention in the City of Rosario", artist and former resistance fighter, Fernando Traverso, spray painted 350 live-sized images of bicycles throughout his hometown of Rosario, Argentina. The 350 represents the total number of citizens who vanished from the city. Traverso acted after midnight, or at noon when most residents were in their homes for the noon meal and subsequent siesta. The first evidence that someone had disappeared was their abandoned bicycle, a preferred method of transport for resistance workers. Traverso then "intervened" by painting the bicycles either at or near the spot of the abduction.

*Identidad, was a collaborative effort by many Argentinian artists to show one of the more serious aftermaths of this period, the missing children of the disappeared. They had been taken at birth and adopted into military families from those who opposed the government. Some abducted women were kept until their pregnancies came to term and murdered shortly after giving birth. By working with the Association of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, the collective gathered photos of these women (and where possible, their partners), hung mirrors next to their portraits, and provided the possible birth month and year of the disappeared's children. The mirrors were for anyone who, having dubious feelings about their birth, might be able to see any resemblance to any of the women in the photos and be reunited with their birth mother's family. When Identidad opened in Buenos Aires, three people discovered their long-hidden identities.

I don't know if this exhibit will travel anywhere else in the future. Prior to its showing at El Museo del Barrio, it debuted at the North Dakota Museum of Art. But, if this ever arrives in an area near you, I suggest you not miss out.

I don't like linking things from the NY Times. Only because their links expire quickly and one is then forced to pay for the article. But, they had a really good feature on this exhibit.

Wildenstein Gallery - Monet Exhibit

Yesterday was the first of the "summer Friday's" that I get to enjoy this year. My workplace allows each employee seven Friday half-days (paid) from Memorial Day to Labor Day in which to choose from. I got to leave at 1 o'clock, and headed uptown to the Wildenstein Gallery for the Claude Monet exhibit. I found out about this exhibit from a travel forum, and thankfully, got there a week before it was to end.

Anyone who was around yesterday knows that it was hot, hot, hot. In the city, it's even more of a killer, and being uptown near all the traffic and all those emissions, made it absolutely unbearable. I didn't realize there would be a long line to get in. And standing there waiting with the sun beaming down on you, makes one even more irritable. Especially once they get inside and are herded like cattle throughout the whole entire exhibit. Regardless, it was exquisite and I'm glad to have gone.

So, there were sixty, count 'em sixty, Monet's on display! These spanned from his early works right on down to the later ones. A few of the later works somewhat resembled Jackson Pollack's (to me anyway) and were far removed from the Monet's that many (including myself) are accustomed to seeing. The later works were not really to my taste, but still, there were some classics and some drop dead gorgeous paintings.

Back to the forum. I had to laugh when one poster accused some of the pieces in this exhibit of being "not of museum quality". What!? Since when is a Monet not museum quality? Okay, there are bound to be some that aren't to one's taste, but, come on!

I had to laugh when a forum member posted this in response to that silliness: "Suddenly it's all very clear . . . Maybe next time you're in town they can trot out a nice Thomas Kinkade for you."

Another highlight of the day, was that I discovered I was near Le Pain Quotidien, a Belgian bakery/coffeehouse. Since I love all things Belgium, and I wanted to try this place out, I figured I'd stop in and grab a sweet. By this point, I was too tired to eat in, but I took note of the atmosphere (they utilize a communal table for dining) and made a mental note that I would definitely stop in again sometime soon. I ended up ordering an Pain au Chocolat with a Brussels tea. Both were lovely, and I need to practice my future orders in French. There were some French speaking staff behind the counter, and frankly, I felt a little self conscious that I don't speak any language other than English. And I hardly manage that with considerable ease!

Tarrytown

Today, I met up with my mom and cousins in Tarrytown, NY. Mom had wanted to go for awhile and was waiting for good weather and another body in the car for the trip. Her favorite show back in the day was "Dark Shadows", and the feature length films had scenes filmed on location at the Lyndhurst estate, and the Sleepy Hollow cemetery. I was interested too. I figured I'd pay homage to Washington Irving, whose name graces a street and the school that are in close proximity to me.

Turns out, the cemetery was a blast. An old and absolutely huge Victorian set up, complete with mausoleums and beautiful landscaping. The weather was totally agreeable and perfect for exploring. You could get lost here, and at times, we did! We found Washington Irving's grave (who wrote The Legend of Sleepy Hollow) and several cool mausoleums. Oddly enough, they are not really built for the living to enjoy. We found this out from all the effort it took to peer inside where we saw busts and statues, stained glass windows and mosaic tiles. Beautiful. The Rockefeller's mausoleum looks like one should be taking an oath in front of it. What we didn't anticipate were deer - lots of them. With the cemetery situated near woods, and the isolation and greenery of the cemetery, it makes it ideal for their lifestyle.

Naturally, any outing with family results in dirty jokes and much laughter. Some of the surnames on these graves left us in complete stitches with our jokes expanding into "what ifs" and "imagine ifs".

I think we all underestimated how much there was to do there, because we focused on the cemetery for the better part of the day. The center of town was like any other in Westchester County, complete with antique shops and such sprinkled all over. On a recommendation from my co-worker, we ate at Bella's for some good diner food, and had homemade ice cream at Main Street Sweets. Afterwards, we strolled up and down Main Street stopping into the quaint shops.

In the end, we had no time for Lyndhurst, the Rockefeller estate, or Irving's Sunnyside home.

I'm still waiting for photos back from my cousin's camera. She managed to get perfect pictures with a cheapo camera, close up, of the deer. Isn't that always the case? I'll add them when she gets around to sending them to me.

You can see my pictures here.

High Chai - Russian Tea

In addition to the most beautiful weather we had today, I met up with my tea group at the High Chai tea room for a Russian tea brunch.

Pictures here.

High Chai is a combination tea room/bar/restaurant which is located on 18 Avenue B at 2nd Street. They specialize in exotic flavors, and are heavy on infusing unique flavors and flowers in their beverages. I arrived for the 12 noon gathering. Inside, the decor was a mix of quirky and beautiful. Mosaic tiled floors, bright wall colors, and a decorative tin ceiling. Basically, the kind of decor you would want for your own little abode.

Svetlana, the owner, gave us a quick talk about the Russian tea ceremony. When tea arrived in Russia it was expensive. To conserve the precious leaves, the samovar came into use. Invented in the city of Tula, this apparatus houses a pot on top, which holds a small concentrated form of the tea. The bottom of the samovar holds the water. You pour the concentrated brew from the top into your cup, and then dilute it with as much water as you prefer. This way, you make don't end up wasting your leaves.

It's probably not a surprise that I now want to own a samovar!

On offer for the brunch were sandwiches, Russian cheese pate with croutes, and a nice salad. For dessert were Russian cookies, and a chocolate fountain with fresh fruit for dipping. As a surprise, the owner gave us each a shot glass full of the rose petal infused vodka mixed with cold tea. Floating in the glass were actual rose petals. It tasted interesting - and flowery! I don't see myself ordering this in the future, but it was nice to try it out.

I got to talk with Svetlana, whom I found so lovely and accommodating. I am really, really positive about this place. I can't stress the pluses enough. Everything was wonderful. The food, the drink and the ambiance were absolutely perfect.

The group I was with was part of my meet up. The conversation flowed and I got to know many people, including the organizer of the group - Mei. I had heard from the others that they too were having a wonderful time. I also heard that the previous tea meet ups were a blast.

Since this was my first meet up with the tea group, I am really looking forward to future events.

Walking Art

Yesterday, while going about my day, I stopped off at a street art vendor in Union Square Park whose work I greatly admire. I had been to this guy's table before and got to talking with him. Come to find out, he also has a website called, Walking Art (make sure to allow pop-ups). Looking at the site, you can get an idea of his technique.

Flipping through his work, I became so taken with a print, I couldn't stop thinking about it. You see, I lived in this city all through 9/11. I heard the first plane, I saw the buildings come down with my own eyes. I remember the absolute sheer horror of that day, and the depressing aftermath that followed. Some time afterwards, I began to look for art which would represent the Twin Towers, but I never found what I wanted. Also, it didn't matter how long it took in order to locate exactly I wanted. I kept a strict list of criteria:

* It could only be one defining piece of art. No shrines.
* Nothing large or that dominates its surroundings.
* No typical shots.
* Something personal, which spoke directly to me. Something I could look at and remember not only the towers, but what the city was like prior to the attacks.

Several years later, in this artist, I finally found what I was looking for.

The print is somewhat similar to this one. Not only does it show a view of the whole church, but it's been manipulated and the negative purposely damaged to create a certain effect.


This was St. Nicholas Church. A Greek Orthodox church, it used to stand right there in the shadow of the Twin Towers. You see, prior to these buildings, stood a once thriving neighborhood. It's pretty hard for a lot of people to imagine that a neighborhood was torn down in the 1970's in order to create the World Financial Center. St. Nicholas was one of the last survivors of that era. Look at the photo to the right. The church has a parking lot around it. That's how much it had survived. It just stood there while others built around it. On that horrible day, Tower Two collapsed right on top of it. The church now ceases to exist.

I thought the juxtaposition of religion and commerce, combined with a mixed of old and new was stunning. Not to mention the power of resurrection in the face of both the church and the towers (both are going to rebuild). Remembering this church is like recalling an old friend. I always thought the World Financial Center was a bit dull. The church however in its beauty and simplicity, always made me chuckle a bit, knowing it was sticking out like a sore thumb in order to prove a point...That it survived.

365 Holly

Take a gander folks - my cousin has a photo blog.

http://hollys365project.blogspot.com/

I think it's a totally fantabulous idea. She's going to post a photo to her blog each day for 365 days. I swear, H is going to be the next Ansel Adams. You should see what she does with her photos. This site is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to her talent.

Another plus is that she has a gorgeous son who I would run to the ends of the earth for.

I'm so not a good photographer. I did have a fab point and shoot camera ages ago that seemed to take wonderful pictures. But, I'm convinced it was just taking pity on me, or something like that.