Fa la la la la - la la la la!

Holiday Season Recap, Episode IV

The third December weekend, we stayed in good old New York City. A visit to the American Museum of Natural History was long overdue: a new space show narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, a temporary exhibition on (living!) frogs and the butterfly conservatory easily filled our entire afternoon. In the meantime, it started snowing outside – by the time, we got back in our apartment the light snow turned into a real snow storm.

The result in the morning was a nice white carpet of about 25 centimeters high. We celebrated the first (real) snow of the Holiday season with a stroll through Central Park. I love the park the entire year through but on a snowy winter day, it is especially beautiful and… very crowded. Snowball fights, snowmen building, langlaufing, sleighing, hiking, ... As beautiful as the snow can be during the weekend, every New Yorker wishes that it would magically disappear during weekdays – when you actually need to go out and be somewhere. The roads and pavements turn into a large black slippery puddle of mud (even with the efforts of city services to spread salt on the roads about twice a day). Note to self: don't wear heels the week after a snow storm.





PS: if you think I went overboard on the Christmas blog titles, you should try shopping in the US during the holiday season: Christmas songs will haunt you everywhere you go!

T'is The Season...

Holiday Season Recap Episode III

We spent the second December weekend in Philadelphia. Thanks to a Philadelphian friend who took us on the grand tour (in minus 3 degrees Celsius… brrr!), we were able to see entire Philadelphia in one day. Independence Hall (where the Declaration of Independence was drafted), the Liberty Bell (which was ringing out from the tower of Independence Hall summoning the citizens of Philadelphia to hear the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence), Betsy Ross House (the little house belonging to the seamstress who made the US first stars and stripes flag), Elfreth’s Alley (the oldest continuously inhabited street in the US), Christ Church (the 1727 church where George and Martha Washington and Ben Franklin worshiped), Carpenter’s Hall (the 18th century guildhall), City Hall and the surrounding Christmas market, the Italian market and of course a real Philly cheesesteak at Pat’s (according to our insider, much better than the competition across the road).



The next day, we went to see another (freezing) football game: Army – Navy. As real diehards, we started the day early (all bundled up in 10 layers as experience thaught us) with tailgating, or translated BBQ and beer on the stadium’s parking lot. I didn’t know a hotdog at 11 am could taste this good (or maybe the cold froze my taste buds?). The Army – Navy game is legendary in the US: a college football game between the teams of the US military academy at West Point, NY (or Army) and the US naval academy at Annapolis, MD (Navy). As soon as we got out of our car, we already noticed the big rivalry between Army and Navy with the slogans “Army! Beat Navy!”, “Hasta La Vista, Navy!”, … (or the other way around of course). The game started with parachutes dropping of the football in the stadium followed by four planes flying over (sorry, I don’t remember model or type – when it comes to planes and cars, I’m a real girly girl, all I remember is that they were big and grey).The football game itself wasn’t very impressive (even the connaisseurs thought so) and Army lost (which apparently wasn’t a big surprise). Though I have to confess that by the end of the game, I was so cold that I don’t remember much of the game strategy. Nevertheless, the experience was worth my popsicle toes!

Merry Christmas!

Ho Ho Ho!

Holiday Season Recap, Episode II

The first weekend of December, we rented a car with some other European friends and drove to New Jersey. Back in summer (when temperatures rose through the roof), we decided that it would be an excellent idea to witness a real American college football game in New Jersey... in December. Unfortunately, we didn’t put much thought into the fact that football games take place in open air (no roof!) and that December in NJ tends to be rather cold… We drove down to the Rutgers football stadium and I started to worry when I saw everyone dressed in about 10 layers of sweaters, coats and rainproof plastic. The game started out great – until it started raining and then even snowing very badly. The Americans kept cheering but for me and my Euro friends, wet and cold, one quarter was more than enough. After hiding in the warm restrooms, we decided to abandon the game early.

Plan B: drive to Atlantic City. Atlantic City is the Las Vegas of the East Coast – not as spectacular – but still a gambling paradise. We arrived around 6 pm at the Borgata Casino and split up – some of us trying their luck at Blackjack or Roulette, others at Poker and me… at the casino stores. I’m not the gambling type and never will be, it just doesn’t make sense to throw away your money on luck games while instead you can throw it away on shoes and clothes. After gambling, we met up to have a cocktail before dinner. Unfortunately, one of us didn’t bring his passport and was denied service. You probably know that in the US you need to be 21 to be able to drink in public. Normally, a regular ID will do the trick but casinos tend to be a bit stricter, I guess their policy is to only rip off adults. Fake ID’s are very common in the US; I’ve only been here a year and I already saw a lot of American kids trying to get into a club with a fake ID - and in about 80% of the cases they get away with it. Since Americans are not familiar with our Euro IDs, it is harder to check for fake ones. So, no passport means no gambling and no booze for foreigners… unless you pass the casino’s local security test: they will compare your national ID to examples in their database (well, just a book with pictures) – if it matches, you get a stamp on your hand reading “21 – legal”. You got to love American practicality (although, I’m not sure what is easier to fake, an ID or a stamp). With a “21” stamp, they allow you to keep gambling and drinking and throwing away your money – wouldn't it be easier to put the stamps directly on our dollar bills?

Next Holiday Episode: Philly! (I told you we've been busy!)

Happy Holidays!

Holiday Season Recap, Episode I

December has been a very busy month for us (or how to open with an excuse for not posting more often). We broadened our horizons – geographically, culturally, historically and gastronomically – and what better way to end this blog year with a recap of our Holiday season? Today, Part I...

End of November, we started the Holiday season with Macy’s Thanksgiving parade in New York City (see my previous post). We got up very early and by 7 am, we were already fighting for a spot close to the parade route at Central Park West. People warned us that it might get crowded but we didn’t think that at 7 am (2 hours before the parade), we would only be able to secure a spot on the 10th row. But we did get a decent view of the parade – the wagons, the balloons, hundreds of dancers, big bands, acrobats, clowns – quite amazing, makes you want to shop at Macy’s!



We continued our Thanksgiving day with dinner in Washington D.C. Our American friends prepared a huge turkey dinner with very American-exotic side dishes (such as yams and a marshmellow Waldorf salad) and delicious deserts (pumpkin pie and pecan pie). No wonder that the biggest discounts are on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving (see also my previous post): you eat so much food that you need a new set of clothes! When the clock stroke midnight, we decided to take advantage of the infamous Black Friday discounts at the outlet mall in Virginia. There were indeed some really good deals out there but you had to be prepared to be patient: waiting in line to park, waiting in line to get into a store (sometimes up to 1 hour for the popular brands), waiting in line at the changing rooms and of course, waiting in line to pay. We made it back home around 5.30 am – exhausted, broke but happy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Enjoy the Turkey!

Today, we're celebrating for the very first time Thanksgiving, the American holiday that is even bigger than Christmas.

To many Americans, Thanksgiving means going home for a traditional turkey dinner - traditional meaning lots and lots of food. Of course this is paired with watching TV: starting with Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and afterwards a football game. We started the day very early since we wanted to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade from the front row. Unfortunately, it turned out that waking up at 6.30 am (the show started at 9 am) doesn't secure you front row seats but we did get a good view of the parade (and consequently a lot of photos - to be posted soon). If you've never heard of Macy's Thanksgiving Parade before, think huge floating balloons between Manhattan skyscrapers - who wouldn't want to get up at 6.30 am to see that?

Right now, we're on our way to Washington D.C. with the Bolt Bus (wifi of course). Our American friends invited us for a real traditional Thanksgiving turkey dinner.

And after Thanksgiving comes "Black Friday" - it sounds terrible (and for some, it actually ìs terrible) but it just means a day of big discounts. Most stores open very early in the morning (4 or 5 am) and some even open the doors just after midnight. Shoppers go crazy on Black Friday since apparently you can get some really good deals. And when I say crazy, you can take that quite litteraly: see for example this youtube movie. Last year, a Wal-Mart employee even died after the poor guy opened the door and was trampled by the very eager shoppers! Now that I think of it, I pity the fool who stands between me and my 50% discount Prada handbag!

Halloween

Scary Costumes?

Tomorrow is Halloween! In the US, this tradition is honored by young and old: children dress up for trick and treat and grown-ups dress up for a different kind of candy...

One month before Halloween, certain stores in New York start to transform in specialty costume stores. You can find funny costumes (clowns, hilbillies, different food types and animals, cartoon characters), scary costumes (witches, skeletons, vampires, devils, ...), the "what's happening now" costumes (Obama, Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson, the Gosselins, etc) and then for some reasons, there is a big range of slutty costumes for the ladies (Playboy bunnies, French maids, Princess Leia's slave costume, etc). Apparently, certain American women use Halloween as an excuse to dress in very revealing, so-called "sexy" costumes. A strange phenomenon... I thought Halloween was all about dressing up in scary silly costumes... but on the other hand, I guess these "sexy" costumes can be really scary and silly on certain women. Makes you wonder what these women are trick and treating for?

We are dressing up for Halloween too (hey, when in Rome...) but I'm passing on the slutty costume trend. We are going for the funny silly costumes: rich plastic surgeons and their loyal upper class 5th Avenue clientele. We will be showing off our costumes in New York's Village Halloween Parade.

Happy Halloween!

Leaf Peeping

Fall Upstate New York

Every once in a while, we feel the need to escape the city in order to remind us that there is indeed a world outside Manhattan. So, we spent last weekend in upstate New York. The fall colors are legendary, green, yellow, orange, red, even purple and rose: the perfect spot for some "leaf peeping". Of course, also an excellent opportunity to practice my new knowledge on photography.

Our first stop: Sleepy Hollow... If you have heard about the legend of Sleepy Hollow or maybe even seen the movie, you'll know that it's the perfect place to spend the weekend before Halloween. We visited the Rockefeller Estate in Sleepy Hollow: Kykuit - the Dutch word for overlook. The estate is an amazing palace surrounded by even more amazing gardens - unfortunately, we saw the place during a rainy morning. Afterwards, we admired the Rockefellers' contribution to Union Church in Pocantico Hills: glass windows by Mattisse and Chagall ... not bad for a little church.



The next day, we woke up to a beautiful sunny day and drove to Bear Mountain State Park, on the West bank of the Hudson river. The park was crowded with people like us enjoying the fall foliage. It's hard to subscribe how beautiful fall can be in New York state. Lucky for you, the photographer in me - blessed with a wonderful crisp blue sky - couldn't stop taking photos. Our final stop, atop Bear Mountain, gave us a wonderful view of the park, the Hudson highlands, the river, with New York city lurking on the horizon.

Photography 101

No more point and shoot!

This month, I finally managed to cross at least one thing off my "Hobby's I Need To Pursue" list (some of the other ones on there are: making a new CD, writing a science-fiction, updating this blog at least once a week, ...).

I followed a digital photography course at the International Center of Photography: two full time weekends, not cheap but hey, "because I'm worth it!" The course was really interesting and after only two weekends, I'm able to juggle as a pro with fancy photography slang such as aperture, shutter speed, f-stop, ISO, white balance, ... The buttons on my DSLR camera no longer hold any secrets for me!

As part of the photography course, we had to ... can you guess... take photos! Below a few examples of my homework assignment, can you see the difference with my pre-photography course photos?

Need I say more?

Escape to Paradise

Mahalo... and come again!

One of the many perks of living in the US, is that you live nearer to the exotic dream holiday destinations which, as Europeans, you're normally only thinking about when planning your honeymoon. I'm talking about the Bahamas, Bermuda, Virgin Islands, Aruba, ... and of course Hawaii!

In August we spent an almost free holiday in Hawaii, the US Aloha State. Some leftover airmiles thanks to Ward's many business trips paying for the airtickets, renting out our NYC apartment paying for the hotels... et voilà, we're in Hawaii, and it's not even our honeymoon! *insert big smile here*

How to describe Hawaii? Well, picture paradise with coconut trees, beautiful sunsets, big sandy uncrowded beaches, mountains, lava, a turquoise sea, lush green, exotic flowers, waterfalls, turtles, monk seals, rainbow colored fish, rainbows, surf waves, hidden caves, secret pools, green valleys, old volcanos, add some sun and incredible lighting, and multiply everything by two.