Utah 2007
March 27, 2007
Utah 2007
Originally uploaded by gregory17.
This March we took a sweet trip out to Utah. We had fantastic weather and great snowboarding conditions. Check out more photos on Flickr.
Last Updated: Travel Archives
Vermont With Asia and Kava
March 02, 2005
This was actually a test of the Photon iPhoto plug-in which makes it easy to export an image from iPhoto and upload it as an entry to one of many popular blogging platforms such as Movable Type
Weekend in Vermont
February 16, 2005
Asia and I just got back from a great long weekend in Stratton, Vermont with some amazing conditions for snowboarding. It was bright and sunny and the snow was soft, perfect for riding. One the way home we drove through New Hampshire to visit Uncle Bill, Aunt Audrey and William. William is so cute that it's insane. More photos will be posted soon.
Airplanes
December 13, 2002
While I'm a huge fan of the Boeing 747-400 and normally don't like to fly too many other types of planes there is a new model from Airbus, the A380 that looks very interesting. Like the 747 it offers a two floor design yet, unique to the A380 the second floor runs the length of the plane. I have mixed feelings about Airbus as a corporation given the track record of their A300 but this new plane could help to change my mind. One problem the A380 will face is accomidation at airports. This is a large plane and will need a terminal big enough height and width wise to fit it.
As a side note, many people are not aware of the TWA terminal at JFK airport. I wasn't either until recently. This terminal, designed by Eero Saarinen was the first terminal in the world designed to accomidate the 747 aircraft. There were plans to tear the building down as part of the Airport Layout Plan for the construction currently being done at JFK. Now it looks as though the terminal will stay but it's fate is still up in the air. If you have a chance book a flight and head out to JFK to see this beautiful piece of modern architecture before it's gone forever.
Snowing In Poland
December 03, 2002
So we got to Warsaw International Airport after a 7 hour and 40 minute flight around 11 am Wednesday morning. Our flight was delayed a couple of hours at JFK due to some security issues. It seems that a family of three didn't go through security properly. First there was airport security, then Port Authority police, then the K-9 unit, undercover cops...the whole works.
Once we arrived in Warsaw we quickly met up with Asia who looked more beautiful than ever. We found our way to the 165 bus and headed towards the city center train station to catch a train to Krakow.
The train ride was great. Kelvin and Anna caught up on some sleep while Asia and I drank some beers and caught up in Wars (pr: Vars) which is essentially a bar on the train.
We spent 2 great days in Krakow showing Kelvin and Anna around the city, eating great dinners and partying until early in the morning. The second night we were even able to get Kelvin and Anna out to a club and dance all night. We didn't sleep that night and took a 6:05am train up to Gdansk. The train ride was long, almost 8 hours and we spent most of the time sleeping, or trying to sleep.
Once we got to Gdansk it was a quick bite to eat and then off to explore the city. We dropped our gear off at Asias house and took a cab to the city center. We explored the small, quaint streets going in and out of shops while Anna shopped for some amber, a popular Gdansk jewelry craft. Kelvin ended up getting a WolfGang backpack to carry all of their gifts home in. It's a great pack, grey with cool orange accents.
Friday night we had a great party at Asias with close to 30 people coming over to hang out, chat and drink vodka. We had a great fire in the fireplace and everyone had an awesome time.
Saturday Kelvin and Anna were able to get up and out a little earlier than Asia and me so they headed back to the city to do a little more shopping and explore by themselves. Asia and I finished cleaning the house and took a nap before meeting up with them. To everyones surprise it had begun snowing...and it was really coming down. We didn't hear anything about the possibility of snow unlike here in the states where we hear days in advance about the slightest chance of flurries. Around 3pm we all met up and took a cab to Sopot, another city about 20 minutes North-West of Gdansk to have supper with Asia's Aunt, Uncle, Brother, Cousin and his wife. A great time with some great food and of course, more vodka. While we sat inside chatting and laughing it continued to snow outside. After supper, around 8 or 9pm we went into the old city of Sopot with Asias brother to a couple cafes and had some beers and tea. By now there was close to 20cm of snow on the ground and it was so cozy hanging out inside watching the flakes fall. We had a great time and around 10:30 took a cab back to Asias house.
The next morning we were up early, before it was even light. Our flight to Warsaw was at 8:50am so we got a cab and headed to the airport around 7:20. It was snowing on the way to the airport but we figured everything would be ok. After entering the Gdansk airport Kelvin was quick to point out that our flight was canceled. Trying to contain the bittersweet happiness the was quickly filling my face Asia and I went to speak with the LOT ticket agents about how we were going to get to Warsaw and eventually back to New York. After some typing into her terminal we were told that the only flight available was Monday at 12:05pm. I went back to relay the news to Kelvin and Anna who were not as immediately thrilled as I was but after a little joking they realized the beauty of the situation. We were not ready to leave yet...at least I wasn't...and thanks to the snow we were able to spend another day and a half.
We hopped back in a cab and headed back to Asias house where Kelvin and Anna quickly went back to sleep. Asia and I worked on getting a fire started but soon we felt tired also and got some sleep ourselves. Later that afternoon we went back to the city and had some awesome perogies for dinner followed by some tea at a great little cafe. We got back to the house around 10 and got a fire going. Kelvin and I played some chess, each of us taking a game and soon after we all went to bed.
Monday we woke up, hung out for a bit and took a cab to the airport where our flight was ready to go. We boarded and set out on what would be close 13 hour trip home.
All in all it was another amazing time in Poland, a country rich in history with great food and great people. I made friends that I'll have for a lifetime and showed people close to me something new and special. I can't wait to go back.
So now it's a few weeks back here in the city and then off to Chamonix, France on December 20th for some snowboarding in the Alps. A small village at the base of Mont Blanc, Chamonix is said to offer the best riding in all of Europe. A couple days in Geneva will round off the trip which should be another amazing adventure.
Gdansk
August 13, 2002
Whoa. Where to begin. After a crazy drive from Berlin to Poland we arrived just past midnight in Gdansk. Peter is a "fun" driver...fast and furious! Asia's house is great! Beautiful wood floors and beams in the ceiling that make you feel as though you in a little cabin in the mountains. The backyard has a plum tree with some of the best tasting fruit I've ever had. After a good nights sleep we got up and explored Asia's home city. We saw so many things, churches, old streets, the Art Academy...it's full of history here. After a long day of walking and shopping we stopped for a beer along a river. We talked for a while and then headed back to the house to get ready for the evening. Oh! I almost forgot, the pictures! We took about 5 rolls in Berlin and they're amazing! They'll be up soon enough so sit tight.
We met up with her brother Tomek for some dinner. They had a lot of catching up to do and we had an amazing time, even with the 1 man band playing a private concert at our table. After some asparagus soup and anchovie salad we headed to Sopot to a great little bar called Klubowa. Imagine a 70's themed bar done properly. Great music, great wallpaper, authentic furniture, good friends and a beautiful 5 month old yellow labrador retreiver named Bruce. We stayed for a while, took some picture, had some beers and eventually got a ride from Natalie back to Asia's. An amazing day.
Today we hung out around Gdansk some more and are in a little bit of a rush right now to catch a 17:50 train to Warsaw (so please excuse any spelling errors). I'm sure we'll have many more amazing stories to tell so goodbye for now...
Berlin
August 10, 2002
This is an amazing place. Asia and I spent the day taking photographs and enjoying the city. More updates to come...
Languages
August 07, 2002
Asia left an Illustrator book at my apartment. I picked it up and flipped through it's pages hoping to catch a tip I didn't know. Upon closer inspection I realized that the book was in Polish. The program itself is in English so all of the tools and menus are represented in English in the book but the information and instruction copy was in Polish. It dawned on me that it would be possible to learn a language through a book written in that language on a topic you're familiar with. For example, with the help of a Spanish-English dictionary I could conceivably learn Spanish through a Photoshop book written in Spanish. And the converse of this works as well.
Thinking about this brought me to wonder about the internationalization of computer related topics as a whole. Programming languages are in English. Someone coding HTML in German must still assign a "height" and "width" to their images. A "table" is a "table" is a "table".
I don't have much of a conclusion drawn about this yet...but am thinking about it.
T -2 days and counting
I'm so ready to get out of here. Bags are packed (almost), ipod is loaded (80%), and hotels are booked (some cities). If everything were planned completely it would take some of the fun out of it, don't you think?
Welcome to Puerto Rico, Raise the Roof Folks!
July 31, 2002
After an interestering experience in the airport at 6 am which included breaking most of rules set in place to protect us, Gary and I touched down at the San Juan Marin International Airport around 11 am on Thursday morning. Even before the landing gear touched the tarmac the enthusiastic group of passengers of JetBlue flight 501 were clapping, yelling and generally "raising the roof", just as our captain told us to. This was going to be a great trip.
We grabbed a cab from the airport to our hotel in San Juan, dropped our bags off and quickly headed out to grab some lunch. About 4 pina colodas and 4 margaritas later we decided it would be a good time to hit the beach. The sun was bright and warm, the air about 90 degrees and the water cool and refreshing. I slept on the beach as thoughts of work, meetings, new york, world politics and websites were quickly replaced with sounds of crashing waves and a breeze through the palm tree that lined the beach. It was a tropical paradise.
After about 4 hours on the beach we headed back to the hotel for a couple showers. On the cab ride into San Juan the driver filled us in that we arived on the 50th Anniversary of the Independence of Puerto Rico so there was a big party in Old San Juan. We decided to check it out. Old San Juan, we were told was a short bus or cab ride from our hotel. We decided to walk because the weather was amazing and we were feeling adventurous. After walking for about an hour and not having a clue as to where we were we hopped in a cab and in about 6 minutes we were dropped off in the heart of Old San Juan. A small city with a very aparent Spanish foundation Old San Juan was made up of beautiful flat front buildings, wooden doors and iron gates, balconys looking down on blue cobblestone streets. The colors were spectacular...even in the moonlight. Each building painted a different color, blue, orange, green, purple...as though Roy G. Biv had visited this place himself.
To our surprise there was not a lot going on. Gary flexed his Spanish muscle asking a cop, "Where are the young people?", which led us to a strip of bars, even those were quiet. We talked with a few bartenders who filled us in that the day had been eventful and the evening would be low key, but Friday would be exciting. We had some food, finished our beers and headed back to our hotel.
On the way back we decided that we would at least check out a couple of the hotel bars. The first place we went was the Cornado Hotel and Casino. We had a drink, surveyed the situation and decided to continue on.
After a quick stop at our hotel for a long sleeve shirt and some sneakers we hit up the San Juan Marriott for a few more beers. After toying with slot machines and watching some high rollers we settled into an intense game of Carribean Stud. I had never gambled before so I started by watching Gary. He sure knew the moves, maybe because of his Vegas experience but more likely because of his super pimp attitude. After losing about $80 each we decided that we were done with the Marriott for tonight, but we would surely be back.
Walking out of the casino my lack of sleep from the previous night began to kick in. I felt tired and was ready to get some sleep. It was about 1 am at this point and we headed back to the hotel. I went to the bathroom and when I came out I expected to see Gary passed out but instead I saw him adjusting the collar of his shirt with a big grin on his face.
"I'm going to go out for a bit", he said. My initial reaction was to go with him but then reality took over and I realized I could barely keep my eyes open. I passed. He left and I went to sleep.
The next morning I woke up and felt great! Gary woke at the same time and told me from his bed while facing against the wall to go over and look at the table. I got up, walked over and there on the desk, under the lamp lay 2 crisp $100 bills.
We went to breakfast, Gary's treat...as any good winner would do.
Would you care for a beverage?
July 23, 2002
So I'm a huge fan of airplanes. How can you not be? They're so huge and at the same time so gentle. They always appear to be smiling. Things inside the plane are great also, such as the phones or the LCD flight tracking screens. I'm even a fan of the meals, sometimes.
We're flying JetBlue to Puerto Rico. Aparently they don't serve food but you can bring your own. Hopefully no one brings McDonalds fries because that smell can cause a panic mid-flight. Well, maybe not at 7 AM but still.
To Europe we're flying British Airways from New York to London and then from London to Berlin. I like layovers because you get an extra take off and landing. Call me crazy but that's my favorite part of the flight. I think there's a meal on the New York to London flight which should be interesting because the flight is pretty much overnight. What do they feed you at 2 AM?
Shining Star of the Caribbean
July 22, 2002
Whoa. I need things to slow down some. This has been an incredibly busy weekend with an even busier week to go. I have to fit an entire weeks worth of work into three days. Thursday morning at 7:00AM Gary and I are boarding JetBlue flight number 501 non-stop from New York to San Juan, Puerto Rico. That's right folks, a few days of sun and relaxation. A long needed vacation, a break from the city and an excuse to sip drinks out of coconuts. This is actually a pretty crazy time. I'll be back from Puerto Rico on Tuesday the 29th and in the city for about two weeks. Then, on Friday August 9th off to Eastern Europe with Asia for two weeks. Details to be posted soon.
Whistler
March 28, 2002
Flying into Vancouver Airport you could tell that this place was going to be amazing. Out the window one side of the plane you could there was water but on the other side there were snow covered mountains as far as the eye could see.
Our first day out riding on Sunday was amazing. The snow was perfect. Nice soft powder on top of a groomed snow base. For those of us from the east coast, it's always interesting snowboarding on a non-ice surface. You just seem to float over the snow. Aparently it's harder to ski in powder than it is to snowboard as Frankie and Christel quickly found out.
It was an amazing week. We took one day off from riding to go snowmobiling. What a great sport. Cruising at about 30-40 kph through mountain trails and between 80 and 90 kph on a frozen lake is a great way to explore the beautiful backcountry of BC. We also hiked through almost hip-deep snow to visit Alexandria Falls, a beautiful frozen waterfall.
The flight home was a little tiresome with a 4 hour layover in San Fran. We ended up getting into Newark (EWR) at about 6:30 AM. It was actually a pretty cool thing to see the New York Area waking up on a Sunday morning. The sunrise over the loading docks was surreal.
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