Thursday, November 23, 2006
Sunday, November 19, 2006
The Good News
Today I thought I'd write about some good news. As winter approaches, I think people tend to think about too many bad things. And looking back there have been tons of good things. Here's some:
See, not so bad after all. Well, for me at least.
Cheers!
Dan
- My brother Mike got engaged! Hurrah! Good luck Heather! Chris and I are co-bestmen! Look out bridesmaids!
- My most recent Against Me! show, was recorded and is now being released as a live album + video thingy. I haven't seen it yet (hint hint xmas time), but seeing as I'm about twice as tall as everyone else in Britain and that I was right near the front, it seems likely you'll at least catch a Dan-glimpse. You can even proper buy it from Amazon! How cool am I?!?!?
- My parents and brother Chris both came to visit in the past 3 months. I have to say, I was very impressed with their "tourist talents." I think it runs in the family. Chris and I went to his friend Shade's wedding at a castle in Ireland, then toured London, then partied in Prague. Went with my parents to Cornwall and toured London some more. They are definitely the only people I know who have been to both services at St. Paul's and to see Parliament in session (not George Clinton). Lot's of pictures and stories will arrive shortly.
- I'll be back in America on Dec 20 but only till Dec 26. Darn work. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up with a couple of people. If I miss you for some reason, I'm very sorry, but I think I'm going to try to take another trip in the spring so I'll do my best to see everyone then! My last trip was to Boston in April, so that'll be 8 months. Wow. Sorry I haven't written about that trip yet either!
- I've booked a ski trip to Bulgaria staying in this cool chalet and it's looking likely that Justin and I will be heading to Madrid for New Year's. Fun!
See, not so bad after all. Well, for me at least.
Cheers!
Dan
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Cambridge
Cambridge is brilliant. Full stop.
For someone who's running the risk of being called a professional tourist, I have to say that Cambridge is one of the best places I've been. Definitely the best day trip from London. So good, in fact, that I went in April for my birthday and then again in May because my great friend Alex and his great wife Lisa were visiting.
Why so good? The city is small enough to walk everywhere, but you can't possibly cover it all in a day. There are neat old timey college buildings with incredible history...
...good restaurants, impressive museums (for a small city), fun bars, cool shops...
But most of all.....punting on the river Cam.
For those who haven't heard of punting, it's just the English version of a gondola. But you get to drive! So it's all the romance of Venice, at 1/4 the price, and with a million times the fun. I struggle to think of a tourist activity where you get to take full control, see the best parts of the city (the backs of Cambridge University), get a workout, eat strawberries, drink champagne, AND run the risk of injury (or just the embarassment of falling in murky water). Fantastic.
Outside punting, we toured Queen's College (founded in 1448 and home to the famous Mathematical Bridge), visited the Fitzwilliam Museum (free!), popped into the classic Anchor pub, and stayed at the De Vere University Arms Hotel (NOT recommended). But the best is to just walk around and find cool places that the university students and staff have put together.
So just got back from a wedding in France. This weekend I'm up at the Edinburgh festival, then in Sep my bro Chris comes to visit and we go to Ireland for Shade's wedding and then to Prague (for fun!). And I think my parents are coming to visit in October. Can't wait!
Cheers!
Dan
For someone who's running the risk of being called a professional tourist, I have to say that Cambridge is one of the best places I've been. Definitely the best day trip from London. So good, in fact, that I went in April for my birthday and then again in May because my great friend Alex and his great wife Lisa were visiting.
Why so good? The city is small enough to walk everywhere, but you can't possibly cover it all in a day. There are neat old timey college buildings with incredible history...
...good restaurants, impressive museums (for a small city), fun bars, cool shops...
But most of all.....punting on the river Cam.
For those who haven't heard of punting, it's just the English version of a gondola. But you get to drive! So it's all the romance of Venice, at 1/4 the price, and with a million times the fun. I struggle to think of a tourist activity where you get to take full control, see the best parts of the city (the backs of Cambridge University), get a workout, eat strawberries, drink champagne, AND run the risk of injury (or just the embarassment of falling in murky water). Fantastic.
Outside punting, we toured Queen's College (founded in 1448 and home to the famous Mathematical Bridge), visited the Fitzwilliam Museum (free!), popped into the classic Anchor pub, and stayed at the De Vere University Arms Hotel (NOT recommended). But the best is to just walk around and find cool places that the university students and staff have put together.
So just got back from a wedding in France. This weekend I'm up at the Edinburgh festival, then in Sep my bro Chris comes to visit and we go to Ireland for Shade's wedding and then to Prague (for fun!). And I think my parents are coming to visit in October. Can't wait!
Cheers!
Dan
Sunday, July 16, 2006
March - Geneva, Les Houches, Against Me!
Hi there. My name is Dan. What's yours?
Sooooo, March:
1) Geneva Auto Show
Took one final ski trip of the season, again to Geneva to see Tristan. I'm warming to Geneva as a city. It's still a bit small for my likings, but the food is killer and it can be good fun if you know what to do.
For example, the Geneva Auto Show! Not something I'd normally be drawn to, but with a free day to kill and a lot of press pressure, we said hey, why not?
Good choice. There was just a sea of cars from every possible car maker in the world.
Amazing. Some really neat concept cars too. Here's one from Nissan (pronounced Niss-on in England, not Nee-san like in the US). The top part is a pod that rotates around the base frame. In this picture it's rotated half-way. I guess the idea is you never have to go in reverse. Neat!
2) Les Houches
The next day we hopped on the bus and went 2 hours over to a mountain called Les Houches. It's part of the same area as Chamonix. This was quite an event for me. After a winter with not much snow, the week before DUMPED snow in this area. More than I've ever seen. But it was gorgeous!
It was REALLY cold though. And I'm sure messing around and falling into the powder so much didn't help out. We did take a bit of a detour, too. Hmm. Not sure my Mom would have approved, but it was fun! Here's Tristan looking good while we went down the sort-of-trail under the gondola. Yikes!
3) Against Me!
My favorite punk rock band! Yeah! And their name really has an ! in the name! Yeah! Amy took this picture from the balcony, but my friend Bryan and I are somewhere in that mess of people right in front of the stage. They have a song where the chorus just goes, "Condoleezza!" - guess what that's about? The Brits loved it!
Here's me and Bryan looking quite worn after the show. It was crazy!
I hope everyone has been well. Work and fun have kept me very busy lately. But I have some interesting stuff to tell, so stay tuned. Please!
Cheerio,
Dan
Sooooo, March:
1) Geneva Auto Show
Took one final ski trip of the season, again to Geneva to see Tristan. I'm warming to Geneva as a city. It's still a bit small for my likings, but the food is killer and it can be good fun if you know what to do.
For example, the Geneva Auto Show! Not something I'd normally be drawn to, but with a free day to kill and a lot of press pressure, we said hey, why not?
Good choice. There was just a sea of cars from every possible car maker in the world.
Amazing. Some really neat concept cars too. Here's one from Nissan (pronounced Niss-on in England, not Nee-san like in the US). The top part is a pod that rotates around the base frame. In this picture it's rotated half-way. I guess the idea is you never have to go in reverse. Neat!
2) Les Houches
The next day we hopped on the bus and went 2 hours over to a mountain called Les Houches. It's part of the same area as Chamonix. This was quite an event for me. After a winter with not much snow, the week before DUMPED snow in this area. More than I've ever seen. But it was gorgeous!
It was REALLY cold though. And I'm sure messing around and falling into the powder so much didn't help out. We did take a bit of a detour, too. Hmm. Not sure my Mom would have approved, but it was fun! Here's Tristan looking good while we went down the sort-of-trail under the gondola. Yikes!
3) Against Me!
My favorite punk rock band! Yeah! And their name really has an ! in the name! Yeah! Amy took this picture from the balcony, but my friend Bryan and I are somewhere in that mess of people right in front of the stage. They have a song where the chorus just goes, "Condoleezza!" - guess what that's about? The Brits loved it!
Here's me and Bryan looking quite worn after the show. It was crazy!
I hope everyone has been well. Work and fun have kept me very busy lately. But I have some interesting stuff to tell, so stay tuned. Please!
Cheerio,
Dan
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
6 marathons in 7 days? in the sahara?
No, not me. My friend Dylan. And HE DID IT. Unbelievable. He lost a lot of weight, has some sore feet, but said he's doing ok. He's even been running since. Below is the email he sent out just before he went. You can also see a nice note on the site of the organization he sponsored:
http://www.selfhelp.ie/selfhelp/Main/Home.htm
If you'd like to donate, you still can at the link below. I won't put up every donation thing I get here, but Dylan's story seems particularly special.
Dylan v Sahara Desert
So the talking is almost over - next week I will be travelling out to the Sahara Desert to compete in the Marathon des Sables - considered to be one of the most extreme endurance events in the world, it is a 7 day, 150 mile foot race across one of the most hostile environments on earth. That's almost 6 marathons in 7 days and I suspect unhealthy quantities of blood, sweat and tears will be involved.
http://www.shdi.org/selfhelp/Main/sponsor.asp
Many Thanks
Dylan
NOTE: I also want to assure you that everything you give will go directly to Self Help. (Apparently it is common practice for competitors to use half of what they raise to offset the significant costs of entering the event....flights, kit, etc. I will not be doing this.)
http://www.selfhelp.ie/selfhelp/Main/Home.htm
If you'd like to donate, you still can at the link below. I won't put up every donation thing I get here, but Dylan's story seems particularly special.
Dylan v Sahara Desert
So the talking is almost over - next week I will be travelling out to the Sahara Desert to compete in the Marathon des Sables - considered to be one of the most extreme endurance events in the world, it is a 7 day, 150 mile foot race across one of the most hostile environments on earth. That's almost 6 marathons in 7 days and I suspect unhealthy quantities of blood, sweat and tears will be involved.
http://www.shdi.org/selfhelp
Many Thanks
Dylan
NOTE: I also want to assure you that everything you give will go directly to Self Help. (Apparently it is common practice for competitors to use half of what they raise to offset the significant costs of entering the event....flights, kit, etc. I will not be doing this.)
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
I'm Back.....or.......Dan Sees England
Hello. I'm back. I was in Boston this weekend for my friend Nadya's wedding and to see some friends and family. It was a great break in a wonderful city with excellent weather. I had a fantastic time. I realized, however, that without sharing my stories here, I had begun to slowly lose touch with some people I care about. In a lot of ways, this is my link to the States! That's something I desperately don't want to lost. So a lot has been happening here....I'm just trying to keep up.
So far in our tale, we've followed Dan to Austria, NYC, Switzerland, and France. That covered December and January.
In February, I stayed around England:
1) Hampton Court Palace
The web site says, "Hampton Court Palace promises a magical journey back through 500 years of royal history." I have to get nervous anytime someon promises me 'magical journey,' but some friends and I decided we'd never been there and it's one of the BIG ones, so what else are we going to do in February. Turns out it was really nice, even in the London cold. Lots of old time-y paintings in huge royal rooms. It was interesting to see the different architecture that Henry VIII and then William III decided to go with. Quite odd - and not always good - but isn't that's what it's all about when you are king?
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AZMnLlm1atGUN¬ag=1
Here's us at the end of the hedge maze. Fun - but COLD! We went and got tea after.
2) Justin Visits and Leeds
After that, my friend Justin from high school came to visit for a bit. How great! It was just like old times, except we were pissing off British people instead of our high school teachers.
After a weekend in London, we met up in the city of Leeds (in the north) and had a really fun time. Leeds is a very different city from London - it's much smaller, but still has interesting history and architecture, and has incredible rock music. During the day, we ended up at a beautiful market in town. I bought a really cool new wallet!
3) Leeds Castle (in Kent, not Leeds...strangely)
Leeds Castle is just a bit outside of London, but really a world away. There is so much land that they've put up a few golf courses. The castle itself is very nice to see, though not really thrilling on the inside. The did an excellent job with the area though because there are several small lakes and rivers, a very impressive aviary, and a cool little historic town. All together, it made Leeds Castle a really enjoyable day trip.
There was even a falconry exhibit! You can sort of see the falcon over the guy in white's shoulder coming in to try to catch the thing that the demo guy was swinging around. It was pretty cool. Falcons fly fast - making them hard to photograph.
So that's February! Good times, good times. More stories and pics to come soon (I hope). Another ski trip (and Geneva car show!?!), Cambridge, Brighton, Boston, and more!
Hope you are all well.
Cheers,
Dan
So far in our tale, we've followed Dan to Austria, NYC, Switzerland, and France. That covered December and January.
In February, I stayed around England:
1) Hampton Court Palace
The web site says, "Hampton Court Palace promises a magical journey back through 500 years of royal history." I have to get nervous anytime someon promises me 'magical journey,' but some friends and I decided we'd never been there and it's one of the BIG ones, so what else are we going to do in February. Turns out it was really nice, even in the London cold. Lots of old time-y paintings in huge royal rooms. It was interesting to see the different architecture that Henry VIII and then William III decided to go with. Quite odd - and not always good - but isn't that's what it's all about when you are king?
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AZMnLlm1atGUN¬ag=1
Here's us at the end of the hedge maze. Fun - but COLD! We went and got tea after.
2) Justin Visits and Leeds
After that, my friend Justin from high school came to visit for a bit. How great! It was just like old times, except we were pissing off British people instead of our high school teachers.
After a weekend in London, we met up in the city of Leeds (in the north) and had a really fun time. Leeds is a very different city from London - it's much smaller, but still has interesting history and architecture, and has incredible rock music. During the day, we ended up at a beautiful market in town. I bought a really cool new wallet!
3) Leeds Castle (in Kent, not Leeds...strangely)
Leeds Castle is just a bit outside of London, but really a world away. There is so much land that they've put up a few golf courses. The castle itself is very nice to see, though not really thrilling on the inside. The did an excellent job with the area though because there are several small lakes and rivers, a very impressive aviary, and a cool little historic town. All together, it made Leeds Castle a really enjoyable day trip.
There was even a falconry exhibit! You can sort of see the falcon over the guy in white's shoulder coming in to try to catch the thing that the demo guy was swinging around. It was pretty cool. Falcons fly fast - making them hard to photograph.
So that's February! Good times, good times. More stories and pics to come soon (I hope). Another ski trip (and Geneva car show!?!), Cambridge, Brighton, Boston, and more!
Hope you are all well.
Cheers,
Dan
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Where's Dan?!?
I'm here! Still alive!
Sincere apologies for disappearing for a whole month. Shocking. Clearly I've been very very busy, but of course that is no excuse. In fact, my birthday came and went. Amazing. But basically I've been sitting in that building you saw in the last post and my head has been spinning like a top.
The new job has been much more of everything than I thought it would be. More work, more pressure, more hours, but also more fun and more interesting. Though the balance part I'm still working out. I never knew how good I had it in my old job! I am sure, however, that in the long run it will be good for me, so that's kept me sort of sane. But I almost forgot how urgent everything is when you are sitting next to traders. I don't know how they live with all that pressure. I'm happy I'm not one of them. So hopefully I'll get things under control soon and can start living a normal-ish life again. No more gym in the mornings though and no more peaceful lunches. Darn.
Many people sent me very nice emails for my birthday. And I did a very bad thing - I didn't write back to anyone. Horrible. Shocking. Appalling. I'm working on this right after I post this, so everyone should be hearing back from me soon. I hope to never have to do that again. And I hope everyone forgives me!
I'll do my best this week to get a few of the things promised up here. I really like writing on this site and sharing stories and pics with everyone, so I will try very hard to keep it up. The trouble has been that since I'm working with people and software that are very fickle, I have no idea how busy I'll be day to day and week to week. So if I seem to disappear again for a bit, send happy thoughts my way! Please!
Ok, hope everyone is enjoying the start of spring. I was in Brighton on the south coast yesterday and it was very nice. A good break for me. But now it's raining again, so I'm back inside. Oh well.
Cheers!
Dan
Sincere apologies for disappearing for a whole month. Shocking. Clearly I've been very very busy, but of course that is no excuse. In fact, my birthday came and went. Amazing. But basically I've been sitting in that building you saw in the last post and my head has been spinning like a top.
The new job has been much more of everything than I thought it would be. More work, more pressure, more hours, but also more fun and more interesting. Though the balance part I'm still working out. I never knew how good I had it in my old job! I am sure, however, that in the long run it will be good for me, so that's kept me sort of sane. But I almost forgot how urgent everything is when you are sitting next to traders. I don't know how they live with all that pressure. I'm happy I'm not one of them. So hopefully I'll get things under control soon and can start living a normal-ish life again. No more gym in the mornings though and no more peaceful lunches. Darn.
Many people sent me very nice emails for my birthday. And I did a very bad thing - I didn't write back to anyone. Horrible. Shocking. Appalling. I'm working on this right after I post this, so everyone should be hearing back from me soon. I hope to never have to do that again. And I hope everyone forgives me!
I'll do my best this week to get a few of the things promised up here. I really like writing on this site and sharing stories and pics with everyone, so I will try very hard to keep it up. The trouble has been that since I'm working with people and software that are very fickle, I have no idea how busy I'll be day to day and week to week. So if I seem to disappear again for a bit, send happy thoughts my way! Please!
Ok, hope everyone is enjoying the start of spring. I was in Brighton on the south coast yesterday and it was very nice. A good break for me. But now it's raining again, so I'm back inside. Oh well.
Cheers!
Dan
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
What's Happening?
Hello there. Perhaps you've been wondering a few things. Where's Dan? Why isn't he posting anything? How can it be so warm in New York, yet still freezing in London? Ok, that last one I've been wondering and you probably haven't as much.
Anyway, great apologies for not posting anything real about my adventures since the middle of February (for a trip I took in January!). As usual, a lot has been happening lately. Many visitors (Justin from high school, Mike, Tristan and her friend, my friend Alison from work). A couple of quick trips (Leeds, Geneva with some more French skiing). A few big British tourist sights (Hampton Court Palace, Leeds Castle).
But my big excuse for a lack of communication is that I'll be starting a new job next week. Still in London and still with JPMorgan, but I'll be moving buildings and departments. The new role is on the technology support team of the Chief Investment Office business. I'm definitely looking forward to getting started.
So as many of you know, right now I'm making software for traders which helps them understand what they've bought and what they might want to do next. My new role will be back with the department I worked for in New York, but instead of writing the code, I'll be helping the traders use it and making sure it works well day to day. It can be a stressful job -- sometimes they yell!!!! -- but I think it will be interesting to see how something I spent a few years building will actually be used. Plus, I'll have someone reporting to me, so a bit of a career step forward. Let me know if you know anyone because I'm hiring!
I don't talk about my job too much here (even though it's really really really interesting), but this move is important to me and I'm happy about it, so I thought it was worth sharing. I'll be in on a street called London Wall near the Moorgate tube stop. Here's a pic I took of the building last summer:
I'll be on the top left corner! 17th floor...um, not that high actually, but very high for a London building! Since a lot of the traders and business people work there, it's a "cooler" place to work than the technology building I'm in now. Plus my commute is easier because I don't have to change trains. So it's all good!
Anyway, I'll try to get stories and pics up for all the other stuff I mentioned. I feel bad about being so behind and should be able to catch up soon. Here's a strange picture of me and my bros to keep you happy. :-)
Ok, I hope everyone out there is doing well and having fun. Off to my leaving drinks now. Unfortunately in this country the guy leaving has to buy all the drinks! Thankfully I have a small team!
Cheerio,
Dan
Anyway, great apologies for not posting anything real about my adventures since the middle of February (for a trip I took in January!). As usual, a lot has been happening lately. Many visitors (Justin from high school, Mike, Tristan and her friend, my friend Alison from work). A couple of quick trips (Leeds, Geneva with some more French skiing). A few big British tourist sights (Hampton Court Palace, Leeds Castle).
But my big excuse for a lack of communication is that I'll be starting a new job next week. Still in London and still with JPMorgan, but I'll be moving buildings and departments. The new role is on the technology support team of the Chief Investment Office business. I'm definitely looking forward to getting started.
So as many of you know, right now I'm making software for traders which helps them understand what they've bought and what they might want to do next. My new role will be back with the department I worked for in New York, but instead of writing the code, I'll be helping the traders use it and making sure it works well day to day. It can be a stressful job -- sometimes they yell!!!! -- but I think it will be interesting to see how something I spent a few years building will actually be used. Plus, I'll have someone reporting to me, so a bit of a career step forward. Let me know if you know anyone because I'm hiring!
I don't talk about my job too much here (even though it's really really really interesting), but this move is important to me and I'm happy about it, so I thought it was worth sharing. I'll be in on a street called London Wall near the Moorgate tube stop. Here's a pic I took of the building last summer:
I'll be on the top left corner! 17th floor...um, not that high actually, but very high for a London building! Since a lot of the traders and business people work there, it's a "cooler" place to work than the technology building I'm in now. Plus my commute is easier because I don't have to change trains. So it's all good!
Anyway, I'll try to get stories and pics up for all the other stuff I mentioned. I feel bad about being so behind and should be able to catch up soon. Here's a strange picture of me and my bros to keep you happy. :-)
Ok, I hope everyone out there is doing well and having fun. Off to my leaving drinks now. Unfortunately in this country the guy leaving has to buy all the drinks! Thankfully I have a small team!
Cheerio,
Dan
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
British Airways Deal - do it!
Hi there,
Another flight post here. Sorry if this is annoying. It shouldn't be though, because you...yes YOU...should be always on the lookout to visit sunny London.
Anyway, looks like BA has some deal going on, so check it out www.ba.com
I've said before that British Airways is my favourite airline these days and that was confirmed by my recent skiing adventures. They are the only airline I've traveled on which doesn't charge for bringing skis. So I'd usually be willing to pay a bit more for their excellent service. And I'm definitely willing to pay less!
Cheers,
Dan
Another flight post here. Sorry if this is annoying. It shouldn't be though, because you...yes YOU...should be always on the lookout to visit sunny London.
Anyway, looks like BA has some deal going on, so check it out www.ba.com
I've said before that British Airways is my favourite airline these days and that was confirmed by my recent skiing adventures. They are the only airline I've traveled on which doesn't charge for bringing skis. So I'd usually be willing to pay a bit more for their excellent service. And I'm definitely willing to pay less!
Cheers,
Dan
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Val Thorens continued...
Hi everybody,
Sorry for the delay there in this follow up post....very busy these days! Yikes!
Anyway, I wanted to tell...
Dan's Top 5 Silly Val Thorens Stories
5) Broken Binding
I'm not quite sure when it started (years ago?), but I had a tendency to have one ski pop off during small falls. I also had one ski wobble when I was going quickly down a slope. Strange. So Tom and I thought it was because my binding wasn't tight enough and decided to tighten it. Seemed a bit better, but I took my skis in to get them waxed and asked the guy about it. After thinking for a bit, he looked down and said, "your binding is missing a piece."
It seems a small piece of my binding that slides under the toe to allow for my boot to come off more cleanly had broken during one of my many falls over the years. Luckily they had a spare of the exact piece I was missing and I was back in business. I have spent way too much time putting my ski back on because of that little piece! Bugger!
4) Broken Binding Again
Later that afternoon...I was quite happy with my new piece and sharp skis and feeling pretty good about the guide Tom and I had hired for the next day. Unfortunately, as we were getting to the top of the small hill above our chalet, I took a turn, leaned back a bit, and POP!!! Off comes the binding that was just fixed that morning. Arg! So I ended up walking down the 150 yards back to our chalet with my skis strapped to my pack. Walking in powder after a day of skiing is quite tiring if you haven't tried it. Poor Dan. Here's me with my piece of binding in my hand.
3) Off-Piste Try
Luckily, the guys at the ski shop were quite surprised about my missing binding and promised to get it fixed for me by the time the shop opened the next morning. I think they just used really strong glue. Great stuff.
Anyway, Tom and I had hired this cool French guide to take us off the back of the mountain. Everyone else went left towards the ski run, we went right towards the open snow. Wicked! Before that though, we had a mini-lesson to make sure we knew how to ski in powder. I don't. And still don't. And the instructor basically said I needed to relearn how to ski. Super. But I stuck with it and Tom and I tried this new ski style. Lots more edging, no more turning of the body. Yeah, easy.
But we get up there and we are going down and all's good for a bit, until my ski hits some heavier powder and just stays. I do a Superman dive and eat about 4 feet of powder which goes right down my coat. But it didn't hurt because of the lovely powder and I got back up, put my skis back on and caught up. As they say, rinse and repeat...about 30 times. That's a lot of snow to carry around.
But when I wasn't trying to find my skis, it was quite an experience. Being off the map in a ski area which has 600 kms of pistes, 200 ski lifts, and 25 mountain peaks makes you feel like you are a skier like none other. And because of my dramatic falling technique, I think I am a skier like none other.
Here's our guide coming back up the hill to help me get my ski which is sticking out in the back. He was super nice and never lost his patience with me, even if I lost my patience with myself. Now I just need to learn how to ski.
2) Toboggan Renting
On our last day, we decided to rent toboggans. This is no ordinary toboggan run, it's "Le Toboggan" -- the longest toboggan run in France.Unfortunately, it's in France.
To get a toboggan, you have to stand in "Le Toboggan Queue of Pain." Basically everyone just crowds to this little window and there's no order at all. The guy picks people at random and works very very slowly. It took me 45 minutes to get to the window. With 10 people in front of me. In 0 degree Fahrenheit weather and strong winds. But that's fine, let him take his time.
When I finally get to the front, I say to the guy that I want 5 toboggans. He puts up his hand and tells me to hold on. Then looks down for a bit. Then randomly over to his left for a little while. Then down at the phone. Picks it up. Calls his buddy and says in French, "Hi. Yeah just screwing around with another American who wants a toboggan. Yeah it's really really cold out there. I know I might be the meanest person in the world, but I'm French so that's what people expect!" Hahahahaha. Then he decides to serve me. 15 minutes later I'm finally on the toboggan.
1) Toboggan Chasing
But what the French toboggan salesman didn't tell me, was that the ragged piece of rope on the front was a leash. Particularly useful for when you fall off your toboggan and it tries to slide down the side of the mountain. Not that anything like that ever happens to me. And before I finish this story, please note that none of the other 4 people put on their leashes either. I think our brains were frozen.
So right near the top, my steering falters (a plastic stick on ice, very scientific) and I decide to roll off to make sure I don't go flying off the mountain. Unable to grab my toboggan in time, it slides about 200 yards down a lovely little slope. The trouble was that it was waist deep snow, so getting back up the slope took a long time. My very nice companions waited patiently for me and Tristan even came along for part of it to help. And laugh a bit too.
And here's a link to a few other pics I thought you'd enjoy. All the pics above were taken by Tom. Thanks Tom!
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AZMnLlm1atGTz¬ag=1
Don't worry though, I came out uninjured and still smiling...probably just from the beer though!
Cheers!
Dan
Sorry for the delay there in this follow up post....very busy these days! Yikes!
Anyway, I wanted to tell...
Dan's Top 5 Silly Val Thorens Stories
5) Broken Binding
I'm not quite sure when it started (years ago?), but I had a tendency to have one ski pop off during small falls. I also had one ski wobble when I was going quickly down a slope. Strange. So Tom and I thought it was because my binding wasn't tight enough and decided to tighten it. Seemed a bit better, but I took my skis in to get them waxed and asked the guy about it. After thinking for a bit, he looked down and said, "your binding is missing a piece."
It seems a small piece of my binding that slides under the toe to allow for my boot to come off more cleanly had broken during one of my many falls over the years. Luckily they had a spare of the exact piece I was missing and I was back in business. I have spent way too much time putting my ski back on because of that little piece! Bugger!
4) Broken Binding Again
Later that afternoon...I was quite happy with my new piece and sharp skis and feeling pretty good about the guide Tom and I had hired for the next day. Unfortunately, as we were getting to the top of the small hill above our chalet, I took a turn, leaned back a bit, and POP!!! Off comes the binding that was just fixed that morning. Arg! So I ended up walking down the 150 yards back to our chalet with my skis strapped to my pack. Walking in powder after a day of skiing is quite tiring if you haven't tried it. Poor Dan. Here's me with my piece of binding in my hand.
3) Off-Piste Try
Luckily, the guys at the ski shop were quite surprised about my missing binding and promised to get it fixed for me by the time the shop opened the next morning. I think they just used really strong glue. Great stuff.
Anyway, Tom and I had hired this cool French guide to take us off the back of the mountain. Everyone else went left towards the ski run, we went right towards the open snow. Wicked! Before that though, we had a mini-lesson to make sure we knew how to ski in powder. I don't. And still don't. And the instructor basically said I needed to relearn how to ski. Super. But I stuck with it and Tom and I tried this new ski style. Lots more edging, no more turning of the body. Yeah, easy.
But we get up there and we are going down and all's good for a bit, until my ski hits some heavier powder and just stays. I do a Superman dive and eat about 4 feet of powder which goes right down my coat. But it didn't hurt because of the lovely powder and I got back up, put my skis back on and caught up. As they say, rinse and repeat...about 30 times. That's a lot of snow to carry around.
But when I wasn't trying to find my skis, it was quite an experience. Being off the map in a ski area which has 600 kms of pistes, 200 ski lifts, and 25 mountain peaks makes you feel like you are a skier like none other. And because of my dramatic falling technique, I think I am a skier like none other.
Here's our guide coming back up the hill to help me get my ski which is sticking out in the back. He was super nice and never lost his patience with me, even if I lost my patience with myself. Now I just need to learn how to ski.
2) Toboggan Renting
On our last day, we decided to rent toboggans. This is no ordinary toboggan run, it's "Le Toboggan" -- the longest toboggan run in France.
To get a toboggan, you have to stand in "Le Toboggan Queue of Pain." Basically everyone just crowds to this little window and there's no order at all. The guy picks people at random and works very very slowly. It took me 45 minutes to get to the window. With 10 people in front of me. In 0 degree Fahrenheit weather and strong winds. But that's fine, let him take his time.
When I finally get to the front, I say to the guy that I want 5 toboggans. He puts up his hand and tells me to hold on. Then looks down for a bit. Then randomly over to his left for a little while. Then down at the phone. Picks it up. Calls his buddy and says in French, "Hi. Yeah just screwing around with another American who wants a toboggan. Yeah it's really really cold out there. I know I might be the meanest person in the world, but I'm French so that's what people expect!" Hahahahaha. Then he decides to serve me. 15 minutes later I'm finally on the toboggan.
1) Toboggan Chasing
But what the French toboggan salesman didn't tell me, was that the ragged piece of rope on the front was a leash. Particularly useful for when you fall off your toboggan and it tries to slide down the side of the mountain. Not that anything like that ever happens to me. And before I finish this story, please note that none of the other 4 people put on their leashes either. I think our brains were frozen.
So right near the top, my steering falters (a plastic stick on ice, very scientific) and I decide to roll off to make sure I don't go flying off the mountain. Unable to grab my toboggan in time, it slides about 200 yards down a lovely little slope. The trouble was that it was waist deep snow, so getting back up the slope took a long time. My very nice companions waited patiently for me and Tristan even came along for part of it to help. And laugh a bit too.
And here's a link to a few other pics I thought you'd enjoy. All the pics above were taken by Tom. Thanks Tom!
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AZMnLlm1atGTz¬ag=1
Don't worry though, I came out uninjured and still smiling...probably just from the beer though!
Cheers!
Dan
Monday, February 06, 2006
Val Thorens, France
A few months ago Jo, my flatmate Natalie's sister, sent out an email floating the idea of a week skiing in the alps. I, of course, jumped on board immediately. But what's a bit less common was being able to convince two close friends to make the trek with me. Tristan, my alpine amiga, and Tom, my old buddy from NY, both bought into this crazy idea. Tom even traveling all the way from New York!
In the end, there was no question for any of us that it was an unbelievable trip and worth any effort to get there.
Val Thorens is one of the major resorts in an area of the French Alps known as the Three Valleys. It's the highest resort town in Europe at 7545 feet. The highest mountain in Europe (Mt. Blanc - 15446 feet) isn't too far away, but it's not part of the Three Valleys. You can see a nice pic of the village of Val Thorens nestled between the mountains of the Three Valleys:
Anyway, the high altitude tends to mean that the snow will be more plentiful. Though apparently the snow in Europe has been gradually deteriorating over the past 30 years and people are starting to really worry about it. Is it global warming? Or just normal changing weather patterns? Who knows?!? This is making places like Utah and Colorado much more appealing - even to Europeans! Anyway, let's not get into an indepth analysis of the historical snow quality. You'll probably hear about enough of this during the Torino Olympics.
The trip was a package holiday where 12 of us arranged with Ski World to get a VERY early Saturday morning flight to Leon and a bus to the resort. We rented out a chalet in a building that had about 30 of these 12 person mini-houses. It was a very cool complex with a pool and sauna. Here's the view from out back porch. You can see our tracks on the left where we could ski down to the chalet!
Possibly the best part, though, was the cook, Jason. Jason the cook. He was great. He cooked for us! When I woke up in the morning, Jason was there scrambling eggs for me and handing me a cup of coffee to help with the hangover. When we got back after a hard day of skiing, Jason had set out fresh baked cookies and tea. Posh! And then at night, he'd come back (after winning some snowboarding competition, dude!), and cook us up a lovely dinner. It made the trip so much better not having to negotiate dinner plans with 11 other people. Funny how I fly all the way to the French Alps and end up talking about our Tazmanian cook most of the time. But it was definitely a huge bonus.
Oh, and we did ski a bit too. Actually, 6 days of skiing in a row. Clearly this was the most ambitious skiing attempt I'd been on, and I loved it. Being up there looking out in the alps about to fly down a wide open slope is a life changing feeling. And then being able to do it every day for 6 days...well...just makes you spoiled. I never wanted to leave.
I've got a bunch of crazy stories that I'll go through in the next post. But I'll leave here with pictures I took of how Tristan and Tom spent most of their time this trip.
Tristan on the ground...
...and Tom getting 5 feet of wicked air!!!
Good luck with the snow out there in the northeast! We could have used some of that in France!
Cheers!
Dan
In the end, there was no question for any of us that it was an unbelievable trip and worth any effort to get there.
Val Thorens is one of the major resorts in an area of the French Alps known as the Three Valleys. It's the highest resort town in Europe at 7545 feet. The highest mountain in Europe (Mt. Blanc - 15446 feet) isn't too far away, but it's not part of the Three Valleys. You can see a nice pic of the village of Val Thorens nestled between the mountains of the Three Valleys:
Anyway, the high altitude tends to mean that the snow will be more plentiful. Though apparently the snow in Europe has been gradually deteriorating over the past 30 years and people are starting to really worry about it. Is it global warming? Or just normal changing weather patterns? Who knows?!? This is making places like Utah and Colorado much more appealing - even to Europeans! Anyway, let's not get into an indepth analysis of the historical snow quality. You'll probably hear about enough of this during the Torino Olympics.
The trip was a package holiday where 12 of us arranged with Ski World to get a VERY early Saturday morning flight to Leon and a bus to the resort. We rented out a chalet in a building that had about 30 of these 12 person mini-houses. It was a very cool complex with a pool and sauna. Here's the view from out back porch. You can see our tracks on the left where we could ski down to the chalet!
Possibly the best part, though, was the cook, Jason. Jason the cook. He was great. He cooked for us! When I woke up in the morning, Jason was there scrambling eggs for me and handing me a cup of coffee to help with the hangover. When we got back after a hard day of skiing, Jason had set out fresh baked cookies and tea. Posh! And then at night, he'd come back (after winning some snowboarding competition, dude!), and cook us up a lovely dinner. It made the trip so much better not having to negotiate dinner plans with 11 other people. Funny how I fly all the way to the French Alps and end up talking about our Tazmanian cook most of the time. But it was definitely a huge bonus.
Oh, and we did ski a bit too. Actually, 6 days of skiing in a row. Clearly this was the most ambitious skiing attempt I'd been on, and I loved it. Being up there looking out in the alps about to fly down a wide open slope is a life changing feeling. And then being able to do it every day for 6 days...well...just makes you spoiled. I never wanted to leave.
I've got a bunch of crazy stories that I'll go through in the next post. But I'll leave here with pictures I took of how Tristan and Tom spent most of their time this trip.
Tristan on the ground...
...and Tom getting 5 feet of wicked air!!!
Good luck with the snow out there in the northeast! We could have used some of that in France!
Cheers!
Dan
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Judgments?
Note: I wrote this a few weeks ago...so imagine me just having returned from NY...
I'm sitting in the barber chair looking at the aging Eastern European woman (Bulgarian?) wondering why she seems so interested in me. Her blond hair is not very well dyed for a hairdresser and the makeup is barely making her look young enough to flirt with me. Then it comes out, "So if I marry you, I get green card, yes?" Yes.
Seems she's got the States on her mind. She has family in Washington, Virginia, and New Hampshire, and she's the only one still stuck in Europe. In London for 25 years. When she asks why I'm tan, I look at myself in the mirror and realize that perhaps I am tan compared to the Brits. I tell her I went skiing a few times. Excitedly she wonders where and I spill that I spent a long weekend in Austria. It used to be my great story to make the American's jealous. But the Europeans know better. She says, "That's good, it's cheaper there than Switzerland." And then asks how much I paid.
Anyway, she continues to ask probing questions. Where do I live? Oh, Balham is expensive. So what do I do? IT people in NY get paid very well, why would I come here? How much do I make?
That's (obviously) where I stopped the inquiry. Pretended to be shy. But she still wants to know. My father must have been very rich for me to grow up near New York. Do I have a big family? Am I here alone? Bring someone here with me? What's my name? I tell her "Dan." She giggles at my pronunciation (my name is quickly becoming Daniel because of the way I pronounce the letter "a" -- all wrong somehow).
Finally she finishes and I get up with a lot of hair still sticking to my forehead and right cheek. But to avoid any more questions I begin to shuffle off. "You are VERY tall? How tall are you?" She then points to the receptionist and yells to her, "This boy from NEW YORK. He is single. You can get greeeeeeen card. He is 6 foot 6 inch. His name is Daaaaaaaan. Hehehe." The receptionist shakes her head. She is British and doesn't care about my green card.
I'm sitting in the barber chair looking at the aging Eastern European woman (Bulgarian?) wondering why she seems so interested in me. Her blond hair is not very well dyed for a hairdresser and the makeup is barely making her look young enough to flirt with me. Then it comes out, "So if I marry you, I get green card, yes?" Yes.
Seems she's got the States on her mind. She has family in Washington, Virginia, and New Hampshire, and she's the only one still stuck in Europe. In London for 25 years. When she asks why I'm tan, I look at myself in the mirror and realize that perhaps I am tan compared to the Brits. I tell her I went skiing a few times. Excitedly she wonders where and I spill that I spent a long weekend in Austria. It used to be my great story to make the American's jealous. But the Europeans know better. She says, "That's good, it's cheaper there than Switzerland." And then asks how much I paid.
Anyway, she continues to ask probing questions. Where do I live? Oh, Balham is expensive. So what do I do? IT people in NY get paid very well, why would I come here? How much do I make?
That's (obviously) where I stopped the inquiry. Pretended to be shy. But she still wants to know. My father must have been very rich for me to grow up near New York. Do I have a big family? Am I here alone? Bring someone here with me? What's my name? I tell her "Dan." She giggles at my pronunciation (my name is quickly becoming Daniel because of the way I pronounce the letter "a" -- all wrong somehow).
Finally she finishes and I get up with a lot of hair still sticking to my forehead and right cheek. But to avoid any more questions I begin to shuffle off. "You are VERY tall? How tall are you?" She then points to the receptionist and yells to her, "This boy from NEW YORK. He is single. You can get greeeeeeen card. He is 6 foot 6 inch. His name is Daaaaaaaan. Hehehe." The receptionist shakes her head. She is British and doesn't care about my green card.
Monday, January 30, 2006
Geneva
Hi there everybody. Yep, still alive. As you may have guessed, things have been quite busy for me lately. But I've got a serious backlog of stories and pictures and fun to catch up on, so you can expect a few posts this week. Plus, I'm in London (or at least the UK) definitely for the next month, so maybe I'll be sending more your way than you'd like. Enjoy!
So back on Friday, Jan 13, (did you realize that!?!) I rushed out of work and tried to get to the airport to fly to Geneva. I was busy and got out late and ended up missing my train. Arg! Another one came about 30 min later and I anxiously hoped onto that one. Got off at Luton and looked around for the signs for the airport. No signs. Asked a guy, Luton Airport is one more stop! Oh no! I've probably flown on 30 flights in the past year (I should add that up sometime), but never missed a flight like this. So I run to the platform and prepare myself to seriously hustle to the airport. I catch the next train (10 min) and then have to get on a bus to the airport (another 15 min). Arg! Seriously cutting it close now! I run into the airport (been there 5 times probably), but can't find the checkin counter. So here's me with my backpack and sagging jeans sprinting all over this airport getting funny looks from the Brits. Eventually I get to the checkin counter and she says I just make it. Phew! But she looks at my pack which I usually don't have to check (I pack specially for that) and tells me I have to check it. I tell her usually I don't have to and she sends me to the "Is your bag too big" metal thingy. I've never seen anyone use one of these. So I put my bag in and with a big push it fits. Look back with a please please please look on my face and she gives me a no no no look. Arg. Checked it. Got on the plane. Went to Geneva to see Tristan.
Anyway, that was a VERY long way of telling you that though I seem to travel a lot, I still don't have it down. Someday.
Geneva is a pretty cool city. It's very small (178,400 people) and very French, but still distinctly Swiss. By that I mean, the food is French, the language is French, the people act very French (rude), but there is still the Swiss efficiency. I definitely LOVED the restaurants - tried my first proper cheese fondue in a cozy little place that Tristan and her friend frequent. We had to wait for our table so they gave us a free glass of wine. How great is that? Plus they are trying to do things to make the city more than just a place with a bunch of banks. Like light up this tree on the river Rhone:
We also had a late lunch in this cool sorta touristy restaurant near St. Peter's Cathedral (the main tourist spot). While warming up with a bowl of onion soup, I look up and see a familiar face. It's Ralph! A trader I used to work with! Ralph! He's visiting his friend too and we just happened to stop into the same restaurant for a 3pm lunch. Crazy. So we moved tables around and joined Ralph for lunch. How nice. We took some pics with him, but ended up losing his email address AND phone number (ug), so I'm still trying to track those down. But it was fun to see Ralph here:
On Sunday, we hoped onto the bus for the 1 1/2 hr trip out to Flaine. Feeling pretty tired when we got there, we sat down and had a nice cup of coffee. And then headed up the mountain. The snow was very nice and it was a cool sorta intermediate mountain. Here's Tristan (at the bottom in black and gray) going down like a pro:
The views were quite nice. We were close enough to see Geneva. Except that since it's in a valley between some HUGE mountains, it's almost always covered in fog. It's somewhere down in that haze:
And there were sorta scary signs like this:
But we made it out safely and it was a really great trip. An excellent warm-up for the next week, when Tristan and I met again in France for a week of skiing. But that's where I stop again. Too much to tell! Here's the whole set of pics:
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AZMnLlm1atGTi¬ag=1
Hope January treated you well. Looking like lots of visitors in Feb (my bro Mike!), so I'm really looking forward to that. Soon I'll convince all my friends to visit and share some crazy times.
Cheerios,
Dan
So back on Friday, Jan 13, (did you realize that!?!) I rushed out of work and tried to get to the airport to fly to Geneva. I was busy and got out late and ended up missing my train. Arg! Another one came about 30 min later and I anxiously hoped onto that one. Got off at Luton and looked around for the signs for the airport. No signs. Asked a guy, Luton Airport is one more stop! Oh no! I've probably flown on 30 flights in the past year (I should add that up sometime), but never missed a flight like this. So I run to the platform and prepare myself to seriously hustle to the airport. I catch the next train (10 min) and then have to get on a bus to the airport (another 15 min). Arg! Seriously cutting it close now! I run into the airport (been there 5 times probably), but can't find the checkin counter. So here's me with my backpack and sagging jeans sprinting all over this airport getting funny looks from the Brits. Eventually I get to the checkin counter and she says I just make it. Phew! But she looks at my pack which I usually don't have to check (I pack specially for that) and tells me I have to check it. I tell her usually I don't have to and she sends me to the "Is your bag too big" metal thingy. I've never seen anyone use one of these. So I put my bag in and with a big push it fits. Look back with a please please please look on my face and she gives me a no no no look. Arg. Checked it. Got on the plane. Went to Geneva to see Tristan.
Anyway, that was a VERY long way of telling you that though I seem to travel a lot, I still don't have it down. Someday.
Geneva is a pretty cool city. It's very small (178,400 people) and very French, but still distinctly Swiss. By that I mean, the food is French, the language is French, the people act very French (rude), but there is still the Swiss efficiency. I definitely LOVED the restaurants - tried my first proper cheese fondue in a cozy little place that Tristan and her friend frequent. We had to wait for our table so they gave us a free glass of wine. How great is that? Plus they are trying to do things to make the city more than just a place with a bunch of banks. Like light up this tree on the river Rhone:
We also had a late lunch in this cool sorta touristy restaurant near St. Peter's Cathedral (the main tourist spot). While warming up with a bowl of onion soup, I look up and see a familiar face. It's Ralph! A trader I used to work with! Ralph! He's visiting his friend too and we just happened to stop into the same restaurant for a 3pm lunch. Crazy. So we moved tables around and joined Ralph for lunch. How nice. We took some pics with him, but ended up losing his email address AND phone number (ug), so I'm still trying to track those down. But it was fun to see Ralph here:
On Sunday, we hoped onto the bus for the 1 1/2 hr trip out to Flaine. Feeling pretty tired when we got there, we sat down and had a nice cup of coffee. And then headed up the mountain. The snow was very nice and it was a cool sorta intermediate mountain. Here's Tristan (at the bottom in black and gray) going down like a pro:
The views were quite nice. We were close enough to see Geneva. Except that since it's in a valley between some HUGE mountains, it's almost always covered in fog. It's somewhere down in that haze:
And there were sorta scary signs like this:
But we made it out safely and it was a really great trip. An excellent warm-up for the next week, when Tristan and I met again in France for a week of skiing. But that's where I stop again. Too much to tell! Here's the whole set of pics:
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AZMnLlm1atGTi¬ag=1
Hope January treated you well. Looking like lots of visitors in Feb (my bro Mike!), so I'm really looking forward to that. Soon I'll convince all my friends to visit and share some crazy times.
Cheerios,
Dan
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Home
Back in Britain now after a long 3 week holiday. This trip back to the States was simply amazing for me. I was much more relaxed about coming back since it was my second trip back and I didn't worry about all the silly little things as much as I did the first time. I still continued to notice them (the escalator directions are different), but was able to mentally note it and move on.
Someone asked me what I missed most about the US. I think he was expecting things like baseball, a multitude of choices in the supermarket, or cheesy sitcoms. But I instead provided the fantastically disappointing answer that I missed my friends. How typical. But also so incredibly true. Nearly everyone I saw when I was home these three weeks gave me a big smile and we were able to slip right back to the friendship as if no time had passed at all. That trait is one thing that Americans beat the rest of the world at hands down. I have the greatest friends.
So the whole trip started with a fun weekend in NY and then a train ride back to my parents house. It's always fun heading back home in the winter because as you move north the snow gradually covers more and more of the ground until all you see is a winter wonderland. It makes all the houses look old and welcoming.
That's a pic of my house (for those who haven't had the pleasure of visiting).
After getting home, I went to the local bar to meet up with high school friends of mine in a mini-reunion that Rob (class president and joker in the pic above) put together. It worked out great except having to move bars a few times (electrical problems?). I even had a guy I was friends with in 3rd grade come up to me as I was leaving and yell in my face, "You dunked in high school!" Yikes.
The family Christmas was also fantastic and I got to spend quality time with my Dad, who I hadn't seen in 8 months -- he was away when I was home last, and my Grandmother, who is still really cool and a lot of fun to just sit and chat with. After that and a bit of skiing at Windham, we headed back to New York for New Year's.
This turned out to be quite an event because I somehow got invited to a party at a penthouse apartment on 44th between Broadway and 6th Ave. We were very worried about getting to Times Square, but the NYPD opened the barricaded street for us and since all the Times Square people were funneled through other streets, we were able to approach on a street nearly all by ourselves. It was pretty amazing to be standing there on one side of the barricade with just my friends and on the other side were almost a million people. The party turned out to be lots of fun and we could go onto the roof and watch the ball drop.
Incredible! Plus the firemen came up to make sure we were ok and ended up just hanging around while the ball dropped. Nice guys.
So I'm actually finishing this post now from Tristan's apartment in Geneva. I flew down for the weekend and we got to do some more skiing. Geneva is great, but I'll save that for next post!
Thanks again to everyone for making my trip home such a joy. I feel very lucky to be in Europe, but even more lucky to be able to return and spend time with the people who I love.
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AZMnLlm1atGTR¬ag=1
Cheers,
Dan
Someone asked me what I missed most about the US. I think he was expecting things like baseball, a multitude of choices in the supermarket, or cheesy sitcoms. But I instead provided the fantastically disappointing answer that I missed my friends. How typical. But also so incredibly true. Nearly everyone I saw when I was home these three weeks gave me a big smile and we were able to slip right back to the friendship as if no time had passed at all. That trait is one thing that Americans beat the rest of the world at hands down. I have the greatest friends.
So the whole trip started with a fun weekend in NY and then a train ride back to my parents house. It's always fun heading back home in the winter because as you move north the snow gradually covers more and more of the ground until all you see is a winter wonderland. It makes all the houses look old and welcoming.
That's a pic of my house (for those who haven't had the pleasure of visiting).
After getting home, I went to the local bar to meet up with high school friends of mine in a mini-reunion that Rob (class president and joker in the pic above) put together. It worked out great except having to move bars a few times (electrical problems?). I even had a guy I was friends with in 3rd grade come up to me as I was leaving and yell in my face, "You dunked in high school!" Yikes.
The family Christmas was also fantastic and I got to spend quality time with my Dad, who I hadn't seen in 8 months -- he was away when I was home last, and my Grandmother, who is still really cool and a lot of fun to just sit and chat with. After that and a bit of skiing at Windham, we headed back to New York for New Year's.
This turned out to be quite an event because I somehow got invited to a party at a penthouse apartment on 44th between Broadway and 6th Ave. We were very worried about getting to Times Square, but the NYPD opened the barricaded street for us and since all the Times Square people were funneled through other streets, we were able to approach on a street nearly all by ourselves. It was pretty amazing to be standing there on one side of the barricade with just my friends and on the other side were almost a million people. The party turned out to be lots of fun and we could go onto the roof and watch the ball drop.
Incredible! Plus the firemen came up to make sure we were ok and ended up just hanging around while the ball dropped. Nice guys.
So I'm actually finishing this post now from Tristan's apartment in Geneva. I flew down for the weekend and we got to do some more skiing. Geneva is great, but I'll save that for next post!
Thanks again to everyone for making my trip home such a joy. I feel very lucky to be in Europe, but even more lucky to be able to return and spend time with the people who I love.
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AZMnLlm1atGTR¬ag=1
Cheers,
Dan
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