Pervert.
"Little bird, are you admiring my tan?"
"Put on this glove, my little American, and trust me."
They say that falcons smell fear.
Finally, I have my moment.Sunday, November 19, 2006
Falcon Crest
I just got a few more pictures from Budapest. While I was out sightseeing with Tina and Matt, we met this creepy guy and his falcon. He said that for 2 euros, I could hold his bird.
Pervert.
"Little bird, are you admiring my tan?"
"Put on this glove, my little American, and trust me."
They say that falcons smell fear.
Finally, I have my moment.
Pervert.
"Little bird, are you admiring my tan?""Put on this glove, my little American, and trust me."They say that falcons smell fear.Finally, I have my moment.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
I Met an Astronaut!
In Budapest, we had a big dinner for all of the meeting attendees. The keynote speaker was a real-live NASA astronaut! Shannon Lucid is a fascinating character. She's logged more hours in space than any non-Russian and the most of any woman. She spent 6 months aboard the space station MIR with two Russians named Yuri.
She was full of fun stories about her time in the space program. Like the time that one of the Yuris told her to go stick her face against the window to get some sunshine (she was vitamin D deficient). After 30 seconds she had sunburn as if she'd been out for hours. Fun!
Shannon exercising in space. Astronauts are required to work out 2 hours a day!
The Museum of Applied Sciences.
The attendees
Me with Shannon and Shannon's snazzy jacket.
The place looked really beautiful before we went in and messed it up.
The quintet was really good. The old guy in the front kept winking at me.
She was full of fun stories about her time in the space program. Like the time that one of the Yuris told her to go stick her face against the window to get some sunshine (she was vitamin D deficient). After 30 seconds she had sunburn as if she'd been out for hours. Fun!
Shannon exercising in space. Astronauts are required to work out 2 hours a day!
The Museum of Applied Sciences.
The attendees
Me with Shannon and Shannon's snazzy jacket.
The place looked really beautiful before we went in and messed it up.
The quintet was really good. The old guy in the front kept winking at me.Budapest Day 3
Our meetings adjourned at noon and we had the rest of the day to ourselves. I spent the day sightseeing with my client, Tina, and her boyfriend, Matt. It was such a gorgeous day (this global warming thing may not be so bad after all!) that we decided to go up to the castle district to look around. We took public transport across to the “Buda” section of town. We paid about 1200 Flargons for a day pass that would get us on all the trams, buses, and undergrounds for the full day. We only ended up using it for one trip, but it was still fairly inexpensive compared to a cab.
The Buda side of town looked much better this time around; mainly because we bypassed a lot of the area I had covered on Thursday, and went straight up the mountain (hill?) to the nice section. It was all very quaint – cobblestone streets, the remains of the castle, churches, and other historical buildings. There is so much construction going on that it’s nearly impossible to walk even one block without encountering a major tear down project. It’s easy to believe that this was very recently a war-torn nation
There are lots of cute cafes along the river.
View from the castle district.
We made him do this. It was actually a little dangerous. Tee hee.
Matt and Tina
The view at dusk.
I just liked this building.
The best part is... the owner put a Club on the steering wheel.
Some cathedral.
These are the ruins of a church.
The Hungarians love their dogs.
The Four Seasons. We didn't stay there.
No need to bring your own blanket to these cafes!
The Castle
The Buda side of town looked much better this time around; mainly because we bypassed a lot of the area I had covered on Thursday, and went straight up the mountain (hill?) to the nice section. It was all very quaint – cobblestone streets, the remains of the castle, churches, and other historical buildings. There is so much construction going on that it’s nearly impossible to walk even one block without encountering a major tear down project. It’s easy to believe that this was very recently a war-torn nation
There are lots of cute cafes along the river.
View from the castle district.
We made him do this. It was actually a little dangerous. Tee hee.
Matt and Tina
The view at dusk.
I just liked this building.
The best part is... the owner put a Club on the steering wheel.
Some cathedral.
These are the ruins of a church.
The Hungarians love their dogs.
The Four Seasons. We didn't stay there.
No need to bring your own blanket to these cafes!
The CastleBudapest Day 1
I was in Budapest a couple of weeks ago for a series of client meetings. It was busy, busy, busy but I did have a couple of opportunities to walk around town and see some of the sights.
The Opera House
The National Gallery
They have whole shops devoted to chandeliers. I never knew where to buy a chandelier. Now I do.
How do you get to Carne Di Hall?
Practice, practice, practice.
Shopping with the locals.
The Chain Bridge
View of Buda and the Chain Bridge.
View of "Pest." That's Parliement behind me.
Parliament on the Blue Danube.
The Opera House
The National Gallery
They have whole shops devoted to chandeliers. I never knew where to buy a chandelier. Now I do.
How do you get to Carne Di Hall?Practice, practice, practice.
Shopping with the locals.
The Chain Bridge
View of Buda and the Chain Bridge.
View of "Pest." That's Parliement behind me.
Parliament on the Blue Danube.Monday, October 23, 2006
Photo Update
Hi Y'all.
I'm slowly but surely catching up on the blog. I've gone back through the last few entries and added some photos. I spent the weekend in Budapest and have tons of pics from there that I'll post this week.
I'm slowly but surely catching up on the blog. I've gone back through the last few entries and added some photos. I spent the weekend in Budapest and have tons of pics from there that I'll post this week.
Spin Cycles, Birthday Parties and Floatariums
Finally, a weekend in London! I hate to say it, but I spent a fair amount of it in bed, or on the couch, with a load of laundry in. I say "a load" because that's all I could accomplish. A single load, I kid you not, took 6 HOURS.
I have this nifty combo washer/dryer unit. It has a very small drum so it only fits 3 towels and a couple of pairs of drawers. The upside is, you don't have to take the stuff out after the wash, you just flip a switch to start the dryer. The downside? 6 HOURS.
I know what you're all thinking, all three of you. You're saying to yourself, now this is the same girl who tried to cook pasta and frozen veggies at in the same pot at the same time. And the girl who let Airborne fizz all over the Corinthian leather seats of the Columbian executive's American car. You're thinking I screwed something up. Well, HA! I didn't. It's meant to take that long. I found the instruction manual and right there in black and white were the wash/dry times.
So that was fun.
Seriously, I was OVER the laundry by about noon on Saturday, so I left that thing spinning and went out for a stroll. It was a fabulous day and there was a kid's birthday party in the garden. I would have crashed but I still have no key. They did the cutest thing- on the sidewalks leading up to their house, the parents had drawn arrows with the little girl's name in chalk so the guests could find the place. It must have taken somebody an hour to run around the neighborhood.
While I was out, I came across a place called HydroHealing. As many of my girls will tell you, I am the quintessential New York Spa Whore (TM). If I have a spare $20 in my pocket, I'll give it to somebody to buff, scrub, massage, whack with branches, whatever. I've been intrigued with the idea of the sensory deprivation float , but I tend to get a little clausterphobic so I never looked into it. Recently I read a book in which one of the characters (a real kook, if you know what I mean) was forever nipping out to have a soak in the "Floatarium." This seemed like fate, so I went in and made an appointment for the next day.
Here's how it works: this place doesn't use the conventional tank that makes you feel like you're in a coffin. They have more of a good-sized bathroom set up with a big old tub filled with water that has been treated with minerals and dead-sea salts. Once you're ready -- post-shower, covering any scratches or cuts with vaseline (it is salt water after all!), and putting in ear plugs -- you get into the tub and turn out the lights. I opted for some dim lighting. They told me that a 1 hour float is equivalent to 4 hours of sleep. I believe it. I felt pretty great afterward. I think I was relieved to be able to turn my phones off for an hour.
I have this nifty combo washer/dryer unit. It has a very small drum so it only fits 3 towels and a couple of pairs of drawers. The upside is, you don't have to take the stuff out after the wash, you just flip a switch to start the dryer. The downside? 6 HOURS.
I know what you're all thinking, all three of you. You're saying to yourself, now this is the same girl who tried to cook pasta and frozen veggies at in the same pot at the same time. And the girl who let Airborne fizz all over the Corinthian leather seats of the Columbian executive's American car. You're thinking I screwed something up. Well, HA! I didn't. It's meant to take that long. I found the instruction manual and right there in black and white were the wash/dry times.
So that was fun.
Seriously, I was OVER the laundry by about noon on Saturday, so I left that thing spinning and went out for a stroll. It was a fabulous day and there was a kid's birthday party in the garden. I would have crashed but I still have no key. They did the cutest thing- on the sidewalks leading up to their house, the parents had drawn arrows with the little girl's name in chalk so the guests could find the place. It must have taken somebody an hour to run around the neighborhood.
While I was out, I came across a place called HydroHealing. As many of my girls will tell you, I am the quintessential New York Spa Whore (TM). If I have a spare $20 in my pocket, I'll give it to somebody to buff, scrub, massage, whack with branches, whatever. I've been intrigued with the idea of the sensory deprivation float , but I tend to get a little clausterphobic so I never looked into it. Recently I read a book in which one of the characters (a real kook, if you know what I mean) was forever nipping out to have a soak in the "Floatarium." This seemed like fate, so I went in and made an appointment for the next day.
Here's how it works: this place doesn't use the conventional tank that makes you feel like you're in a coffin. They have more of a good-sized bathroom set up with a big old tub filled with water that has been treated with minerals and dead-sea salts. Once you're ready -- post-shower, covering any scratches or cuts with vaseline (it is salt water after all!), and putting in ear plugs -- you get into the tub and turn out the lights. I opted for some dim lighting. They told me that a 1 hour float is equivalent to 4 hours of sleep. I believe it. I felt pretty great afterward. I think I was relieved to be able to turn my phones off for an hour.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
I Am So Over Terrorism
It was on the way to Basel from Zurich that I heard the news about the plane that crashed into the high-rise building on the Upper West Side. By that time it had been pretty well established that is was an accident, not OBL making a comeback. But there's no describing the way that I felt when I heard the words, "a plane just crashed into a building in Manhattan."
As I've been globe-trotting these past few months, I've realized that you can never, ever really know what the rules are for what you can and can't bring on board. So, I've just started packing under the strictest guidelines (UK, of course). No liquids of any kind (not even lip balm!), one carry-on back (smaller than the usual standard size), and I am always ready for security (shoes and jacket off, laptop out, pockets empty, adn other bits and pieces securely tucked into my carry on.) Of course, I always get stuck behind the 300 year old woman who hasn't seen a news cast in 20 years.
"But WHY do I have to take my SHOES off???"
Terrorism has some people so freaked out that they carry little emergency terror kits with them. Case in point:
(My friend, Kurt)
I'm still not sure what the goggles are for.
As I've been globe-trotting these past few months, I've realized that you can never, ever really know what the rules are for what you can and can't bring on board. So, I've just started packing under the strictest guidelines (UK, of course). No liquids of any kind (not even lip balm!), one carry-on back (smaller than the usual standard size), and I am always ready for security (shoes and jacket off, laptop out, pockets empty, adn other bits and pieces securely tucked into my carry on.) Of course, I always get stuck behind the 300 year old woman who hasn't seen a news cast in 20 years.
"But WHY do I have to take my SHOES off???"
Terrorism has some people so freaked out that they carry little emergency terror kits with them. Case in point:
(My friend, Kurt)
I'm still not sure what the goggles are for.
Don't Mind If I Fondue
Wednesday, October 11
By the time our meetings ended on Wednesday afternoon, I was ready to collapse. I still had a trek ahead of me as I was going on to Basel after Zurich, but there was plenty of time for a good fondue.
A bunch of us took the train from the Uetliberg to Zurich main station (where Brendan and I stashed our bags) and ventured out into the heart of the city. Where we became almost immediately lost.
Luckily for all, I was not navigating this time and we eventually found the restaurant. Le Dezaley (no idea why it's called that) is in the shadows of a huge church. The staff were friendly, but a bit wary of the ragged bunch of Americans (plus one Columbian) who took over the back of the dining room and ordered 8 orders of cheese and beef fondue.
I guess we were making gluttons of ourselves: when one of my colleagues tried to order and extra appetizer, the young waitress sternly said, "No. You have enough." 'Nuff said.
When the fondue came, we realized she had a point. The vats of bubbling cheese and cooking oils were intimidating at first, but we held our own. By the end of the meal, we were all feeling a bit bloated, so we walked the long way back to the train station and saw a few of the sites by moonlight.
By the time our meetings ended on Wednesday afternoon, I was ready to collapse. I still had a trek ahead of me as I was going on to Basel after Zurich, but there was plenty of time for a good fondue.
A bunch of us took the train from the Uetliberg to Zurich main station (where Brendan and I stashed our bags) and ventured out into the heart of the city. Where we became almost immediately lost.
Luckily for all, I was not navigating this time and we eventually found the restaurant. Le Dezaley (no idea why it's called that) is in the shadows of a huge church. The staff were friendly, but a bit wary of the ragged bunch of Americans (plus one Columbian) who took over the back of the dining room and ordered 8 orders of cheese and beef fondue.
I guess we were making gluttons of ourselves: when one of my colleagues tried to order and extra appetizer, the young waitress sternly said, "No. You have enough." 'Nuff said.
When the fondue came, we realized she had a point. The vats of bubbling cheese and cooking oils were intimidating at first, but we held our own. By the end of the meal, we were all feeling a bit bloated, so we walked the long way back to the train station and saw a few of the sites by moonlight.
The Hills Have Hills
Sunday, October 8
I flew into London from NY on Saturday, just in time to unpack and repack my bags before heading off to Switzerland for a three day strategy meeting.
The meeting is one of those once-a-year, bring everyone together and make them wear funny t-shirts extravaganzas. It was held at a hotel/conference center in Zurich called Uto Kulm. Uto Kulm is in a car-free zone called the Uetliberg and bills itself as the "Top of Zurich." And how.
It was easy enough to get to the Uetliberg. I had (sort of) packed lightly, just one rolling back and my briefcase, so it wasn't hard to get around.
However, I hadn't anticipated that i would have to literally hike up a mountain, bag and baggage, to get to the hotel.
When I got off the train, I looked around for a porter but didn't see anyone. I only saw a sign: "UTO KULM" with an arrow pointing directly up.
So, up I went. At this point, I should note that I was wearing a fabulous shoe (two, actually) that despite the animal print, were entirely useless on this adventure. The hike wouldn't have been so bad if I was wearing appropriate footwear and wasn't lugging 40 pounds of luggage.
At one point, I pulled over to the side of the mountain and emailed a co-worker of mine who was coming the following day. "Pack light," I warned. " I stopped a few more times, pretending to take pictures or read signs that were all in Swiss German, but mostly I was wondering when I had officially lost all semblance of dignity.
Later, some people claimed that we were warned about the mountainous hike, but I maintain that a "5-8 minute walk" bears little resemblance to the alpine endurance test that was the Uetliberg.
Once I made it the top and checked in, I went outside to explore the Top of Zurich. I ran into a colleague and we decided to go up the tower that gets you up to the highest point. (Yes, I willingly climbed 170 additional steps). The view was spectacular.
Afterward, we went to dinner in the hotel. The Swiss love to eat game, so when in Switzerland... I had the deer carpaccio and venison scallopini. I don't know the difference between deer and venison. Maybe one is an elk?
I flew into London from NY on Saturday, just in time to unpack and repack my bags before heading off to Switzerland for a three day strategy meeting.
The meeting is one of those once-a-year, bring everyone together and make them wear funny t-shirts extravaganzas. It was held at a hotel/conference center in Zurich called Uto Kulm. Uto Kulm is in a car-free zone called the Uetliberg and bills itself as the "Top of Zurich." And how.
It was easy enough to get to the Uetliberg. I had (sort of) packed lightly, just one rolling back and my briefcase, so it wasn't hard to get around.
However, I hadn't anticipated that i would have to literally hike up a mountain, bag and baggage, to get to the hotel.
When I got off the train, I looked around for a porter but didn't see anyone. I only saw a sign: "UTO KULM" with an arrow pointing directly up.
So, up I went. At this point, I should note that I was wearing a fabulous shoe (two, actually) that despite the animal print, were entirely useless on this adventure. The hike wouldn't have been so bad if I was wearing appropriate footwear and wasn't lugging 40 pounds of luggage.
At one point, I pulled over to the side of the mountain and emailed a co-worker of mine who was coming the following day. "Pack light," I warned. " I stopped a few more times, pretending to take pictures or read signs that were all in Swiss German, but mostly I was wondering when I had officially lost all semblance of dignity.
Later, some people claimed that we were warned about the mountainous hike, but I maintain that a "5-8 minute walk" bears little resemblance to the alpine endurance test that was the Uetliberg.
Once I made it the top and checked in, I went outside to explore the Top of Zurich. I ran into a colleague and we decided to go up the tower that gets you up to the highest point. (Yes, I willingly climbed 170 additional steps). The view was spectacular.
Afterward, we went to dinner in the hotel. The Swiss love to eat game, so when in Switzerland... I had the deer carpaccio and venison scallopini. I don't know the difference between deer and venison. Maybe one is an elk?
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