Zoocap

Tuesday, March 9th, and it’s cold and rainy. We decided to continue our trip to Austin, Texas in spite of the weather, because we found a nice place to stayin Austin and it was less expensive. But, we were really very tired when we left Brenham though, our sleepy eyes were telling us that we should’ve paid the extra money for a hotel room . Fortunately, we made it to Austin safe and sound even though it got very windy. We checked in and immediately fell sound asleep.

The next morning, we just hung out in our hotel room, it was way too cold to go out! Believe it or not, it was 43 degrees outside, burr! We watched TV, had our hotel do laundry for us and ordered room service for breakfast and lunch. This cold and wet weather really sucks. The forecast for tomorrow is more of the same, with a chance of tornado’s! But, the next day shows the weather improving and it will be sunny and in the 70′s. Hopefully, we won’t get cabin fever and check out of our very nice hotel. We just have to wait the weather out one more day. Then it’s time to do some shopping and some sightseeing.

We’d really like to see the bats fly from the bridge located in Downtown Austin. We heard Austin has a big mosquito issue, so they took some advice from a man who convinced the city council to get bats to live under a bridge, which they did and now there’s no bug problems, plus they got an additional benefit of the bats becoming a tourist attraction.

We rode out the next days wet weather, and made it to our third and final day here in Austin. It was still pretty cold, so when we went shopping we purchased some warmer clothes, then had lunch at the mall and took the ‘hop on hop off’ bus to see some sights, like the Texas State Capitol building, the LBJ library, the Bob Bullock Museum, and the University of Texas. We were still very cold, so we didn’t bother catching the bats and instead, we went back to our hotel for the night. Tomorrow, we’ll be heading out to San Antonio!

Who knew Missouri even had a wine country? A few fun events are happening this month in celebration of libations from this part of America’s heartland.

Stone Hill Winery has three locations in Missouri but special fun is scheduled for their Hermann site on March 20. For $20, registered participants for the Grapes to Glass event will be given a tour of Stone Hill’s vineyard, cellars, tank building and press house. However, the best part will undoubtedly be the wine tasting. Hermann is located among Missouri River’s hillsides, an area compared to the Rhine Valley in Germany. Founded in 1847, the winery was at one time the second largest in the States. Stone Hill’s wines won eight gold medals throughout the rest of that century’s world’s fairs. In the 1920s prohibition came along and destroyed their business, turning Stone Hill’s cool caves (incidentally the largest series of vaulted cellars in the United States) into a haven for mushrooms rather than wine. Along came Jim and Betty Held to the rescue. They bought the winery in 1965 and went about restoring the buildings and underground cellars. At last count, in 2009, the winery produced over 260,000 gallons of wine and remains Missouri’s oldest and most awarded winery.

Should you decide to visit and need a nice place to sleep, or just sleep off the wine, there are many options available . If Stone Hill’s event isn’t quite your glass of wine, the Bias Winery/Gruhlke’s Microbrewery is hosting their annual Celebration of the Gnomes on the same day, March 20. Located in Berger on a 67-acre estate, participants will be provided with a list of items to locate in the search areas. A special Golden Gnome will be hidden somewhere, with its significance to be announced at the end of the event. Sounds like someone is going to get lucky. Gruhlke’s microbrews will be on hand for those who would rather drink beer.

For a winery with a down-home feel, visit River Ridge Winery . Located on an 80-acre farm, this winery has been in business since 1980. Varietals such as Cab Franc, Syrah and Chardonnay thrive in River Ridge’s vineyard. The Fermentation Room Caf © is open daily and offers a comprehensive menu of food comprised from fresh ingredients. Owners Jerry and Joanie Smith promise that you’ll “come as a customer and leave as a friend.”

There are many other wineries to visit in Missouri. Who knew? Cheers!

Two of the things I love to do when I visit a new city or town, is to one:  see that town from air.  And two:  if the city has a local winery, I like to take a tour and enjoy the tastings.  The “seeing the city from the air” thing, I think has to do with the fact that I love to know just where I am.  I like to see the whole of the city, so I can picture it in my head while I am on the ground. I guess it makes me feel not so lost.  And the winery fascination stems from many years of working in the restaurant industry, and learning about wines from all over the world.

So when we first pulled into Tampa, Florida I set about to find those two things.  I asked the front desk clerk at the smaller beach hotel we checked into, for his suggestion on getting into the sky.  Sometimes, that view is provided by flying into the city.  Other times it has been helicopter tours, or simply the view from the top of a very tall building or mountain…like the Empire State building in Manhattan or the view of Los Angeles from the Getty Museum.

He suggestion a company that gives hot air balloon rides, Celebration Aviation.  That was cool, as I had yet to be up in a balloon.  We booked a “flight” for the next day.  The view of the city and the coastline of Tampa was amazing.  It was a bit scary to be in the small basket, but it was worth it.  It is a great way to get some aerial photographs, and was the perfect way to get my bearings once we were back on the ground.

The next day we took a drive to the Florida Estates Winery.   The atmosphere was very casual and they had a wide selection of wines, from the less expensive to the finer wines it was all so very beautiful.  The tables were set outside in a grove of Oak trees, overlooking the large working plantation.  Both the balloon ride and the winery were extremely peaceful ways to learn just a little bit more about the city and the people of Tampa Bay, Florida.

Well now that you have check into that amazing room of one of those luxurious Malibu hotels you must be starved. You could go down to the restaurant at the hotel and I am sure it will be great but how about a local hang out. Maybe you could see some cool famous actors or musicians while your eating. How about Duke’s Malibu restaurant. They have the barefoot bar which is a little more casual right off the beach. The menu is also casual with some burgers and sandwiches along with fish tacos and beach style cocktails. The place gets its name from Duke Kahanamoku who was the father of international surfing and Olympic multi-medalist for the U.S.. Duke’s also has a more fine dining cuisine and ambiance for dinner that is topped off with Hula Pie which was created at Kimo’s and features macadamia nut ice cream, chocolate and more chocolate and more nuts with a bit of whip cream.

Moonshadows Blue Lounge is also a sophisticated and tranquil restaurant that features some really unique seafood dishes, a few chicken, pork or short rib selections and great wine selections. This is the spot for a nice romantic dinner on the patio over looking the ocean with the sun setting in the distance. They also feature a great DJ’s on the patio to add to the glamor of the evening. Another legendary classic to the area is Geoffery’s Malibu restaurant. It has been a staple find dining the stars for decades and was designed by Richard Neutra, architect. The faces of fame that have dined here include Frank Sinatra and Shirley MacLaine. Rumor has it that this is also the place were John F. Kennedy began an affair with legendary actress Marilyn Monroe.

My cousin Ron, who grew up in Denver, Colorado, has always bragged that Colorado has the most beautiful countryside in the entire country. I thought that was a pretty big claim and thought about all of the diverse geography across the nation and started to consider possibilities to argue against him. It’s not that I didn’t think Colorado was beautiful, in fact I had never been there before. It’s just that Ron, who always thought he was right made such an extreme statement about the state that I couldn’t help but to want to immediately object. And as my luck would have it, last Fall I got my chance.

Ron invited me to come out and visit for a week in late October. He said that there was usually a lot of Halloween activities going on and maybe we could take some kind of a haunted pumpkin ride or something. Apparently he had forgotten about his earlier statement because he didn’t mention a word about how beautiful his state was. Maybe he hoped I’d forgotten he said it now that I was going to be there to see it first hand. But aside from my desire to put Ron in his place, the trip sounded like fun and despite everything we were pretty close and so I accepted.

Okay, you must know what’s coming. I had a whole slew of places to bring up in comparison to his precious Colorado countryside but even flying over the state into the Denver Airport I was beginning to suspect the truth. I had a great time with Ron and we spent some time outside of the city. We had a great stay in a cabin type hotel and watched the changing colors of the leaves and foliage. The mountains were incredible and I could imagine them in anytime of the year. There was also a lake nearby. We didn’t do anything on it but look out over it. And while I could never say one place was the most beautiful in the nation, I never brought my argument against Ron’s earlier statement.

This part of the trip is always the strangest.  Getting somewhere is always hard, because there are all the impossible things that have to happen before.  You leave a place, and it is almost like closing up the little shop that is your life.  It takes a lot of effort to keep that life going, so when you leave it, it almost seems as though it might not be open when you get back, and all the things that were there have changed, and the people you know have decided to move.  So all that you have of that life is what you’re carrying, and at a point you have to look at it and decide that this is enough, this is plenty of material with which to make a new life.

It’s sometimes easier in Manhattan and sometimes not.  There are hotels, to be sure, at this site, and you know that the stay will be wonderful as always.  And in New York, they have everything, so if you decide you don’t have what you need to create a life, you can find materials to keep building.  But that also reminds you that it might be easier than you’d suspected to create your life, and that the years you put into it might have been easier if only you’d known that you didn’t need that much.  So you decide to go to a gallery and see how the other artists are doing this, how they are constructing their lives.

This part is where is becomes somehow magical.  There is a lot to see, and a lot of ideas, and this is exciting, because there are people here who are just like you, and you know that you can do this too.  This is, after all, exactly what you’re doing in your own city.  This gallery has video, and painting, and performance, and this is what you know, too.  At the same time, it’s a small pinch of jealousy that comes in, because you might be here, but you’re not, and the people here seem to be so decided about what they’re doing.  A half of a conversation later, and you start to sense the same fears and doubts that you have, but they’ve decided to continue anyway.  Exactly like you’ve done, and like you’re doing, and in spite of yourself, this is becoming sweet.

There are many people who are taking all sorts of meats, poultry and fish out of their diets and eating only vegetables. These people are now looking for a good vegetarian style restaurants in there own neighborhoods and in the cities and countries that they visit. People come to the decision to not eat meat for many different reasons. There are many countries where meat is the main part to the meals that are eaten. There are diets like the Atkin’s Diet were meat is the main staple to meals along with vegetables. Those people do not eat breads and pastas or other carbohydrates.

Other reasons for not eating meat might be because in some parts of the world meat is not as available or are to expensive to acquire. There are some religions in the world that prohibit eating meats like pork, beef or any of the bi-products that they produce like milk or cheese. I have known some people who can’t eat meat because the just don’t digest the proteins very well. They end up getting very sick when they eat anything that has meat products in it like chicken soup or yogurt.

Many middle east countries, Asian countries and even some Mediterranean countries have created some delicious dishes with out the use of meats. It used to be hard to find food in America that didn’t include meat but now it is getting easier to find dishes not only in cook books and grocery stores but also in restaurants. In most restaurants there is some sort of meal that can accommodate a vegetarian. There are now many Asian and Indian food restaurants all over the world that have created most of their menu around vegetarian dishes. However, if you are going to try it for the first time maybe you would want to go to one of the countries that started the style of food and learn were it began.

Dennis had to tell his family and friends that he was going to move back to New York. He was born and raised in a small town in Oklahoma and grew up with the ambition of being an actor. He demonstrated an early talent for the stage and everyone in his town knew that he was destined for a career on Broadway. When he was eighteen his family contributed to small moving fund for him and this enabled him to make a major move. At the young age of eighteen he headed off for the big city all by himself with the same dream and ambition that millions of other young people pursue. Well, his parents did go with him on a pre-move trip. They stayed in nice hotel like this and helped him find a studio apartment. They also looked at the theatre information boards and tried to get him settled in. He seemed to have everything he needed when they left him there on his own.

However, like many of the other people who move to New York to pursue a career in the theatre he became distracted by various other elements, like trying to make a living and pay his bills. He started working backstage at a small theatre in Greenwich Village and really only checked the audition boards a few times during his first year there. And he only actually went to an audition once. He developed some friendships at the small company and became comfortable there. His life continued in this manner for about five years when his roommate moved to Boston and he finally decided he just couldn’t afford to live in New York anymore. He packed up his bags and headed home.

His family and friends were all happy to see him and welcomed him back into the small community without judgment or criticism. He started to work at the local laundry facility and had worked there for about six months when his desire to perform started to get the best of him. Dennis considered his years in New York and the mistakes he made while there. He wondered if he should try and start a theatre company in his hometown. He thought about this night after night and it began to plague his thoughts during the day so that he couldn’t focus on anything else. He made a new plan. He was older now and would approach it with a stronger commitment and be more responsible and wise. He knew the time was right for him, but he had to face telling everyone in town that he was moving again.

Joshua Bell is one of the most famous violinists in the world and achieved this status at a relatively young age. He certainly achieved critical acclaim and fame at a young age and has played with some of the top musicians and orchestras in the world. He had an interesting introduction to the violin and was first given lessons when he was a small child and his mother caught him attaching rubber bands to the dresser drawer handles to pluck out the music he had heard her playing on the piano. This was inspiration enough to get the five-year-old Bell a fractional sized violin and begin his lessons. They did not try and force the love or passion on him and he remained interested in other childhood activities and also played sports during his youth.

However, after having experienced success with and approval of his early instructors his parents introduced him to Josef Gingold and were able to convince him to accept their son as a student. Gingold was a renown instructor and violinist and needed to be assured that the young Bell live a normal life and be forced into an obsessive life consuming study. After a reassurance of this from Bell’s parents the two began an extremely productive and affectionate teacher student relationship.

By the time Bell was fourteen he made an appearance at The Philadelphia Orchestra where he performed as a soloist, which is an impressive accomplishment on its own, however when taken into consideration with the fact he was fourteen years old, it is even more impressive. He has developed and extensive repertoire and his Bell’s fans and contemporaries look forward to his future performances and work. In addition, fans of The Philadelphia continue to enjoy its seasons and guests from out of town frequently included a performance as part of their stay. If you’re planning a trip to Philadelphia, click here for information on the best hotel rates in the city.

With its cosmopolitan outlook, and a very lively and thriving urban culture, Dallas has come into an identity for itself as a major player in contemporary global culture.  While it has always maintained a level of visibility as a capital city with a large population, changes in world arts and culture have been gradually but certainly decentering the idea of a national art center.  New York and Los Angeles still hold strong for centers where commercial art gets made and distributed, but other cities are rising up in artistic output.  This is due to the intense creativity of the citizens.  Once a vacation spot or a site for business, Dallas hotels now host guests who are looking for the next generation of artists, or artistry.

For video artists, Dallas is full of good news.  There is a very healthy climate here, with easy access to urban and natural settings, along with an openness to new work and new voices.  Thanks to the efforts of organizations like the Video Association of Dallas, young filmmakers can make work that is seen.  Even with limited access to resources, it is possible to find a community of like-minded artists looking to create something interesting for themselves and for their audiences.

The recent access to video cameras and video software that is relatively cheap and also relatively easy to learn, has made it possible for the next generation of artists to get their stories out.  The VideoFest at the Angelika Film Center has come to be something of a landmark.  It’s a place where local films shot without a budget can be seen next to larger productions.  Beginning filmmakers and established artists have the chance to see their work side by side, forging new contemporary contexts for this next wave of film art.  It’s worth looking into.

What’s the top place for families to visit in New York City?  It might not surprise you to learn it’s the American Museum of Natural History, but it may surprise you to know that by going inside this building, you’ll find out more than you ever thought possible about what’s going on outside the building…  way outside the building.  Right now, on a daily basis, the museum is showing a planetarium space show just about every half hour, titled, Journey to the Stars.

This program has been running for about six months now, so it’s fairly recent, and it’s hosted by Academy-Award winning actress and narrator, Whoopi Goldberg.  The show draws on images from ground and space telescopes, allowing us to simulate images that have never been witnessed before.  Guests will find out what it’s like for stars to be born and to die, and it includes what will one day happen to our own sun billions of years from now (long after we’ve found a way to leave this planet, I’m thinking).  The museum’s astrophysicists and NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration), as well as forty scientists across the world have helped to create this exhibit, and if you don’t know that much about the sky and what’s beyond our atmosphere, you’ll find out a great deal in a hurry.

The show was written by a winner of an Emmy, an author and composer of over a hundred and fifty scripts and books aimed at kids and adults alike.  Her name is Louise A. Gikow, and the chances are good you’ve already seen her work, because she’s written for the Jim Henson Company and Nickelodeon, and, even for the National Lampoon magazine.  She also wrote the last script for the planetarium show here called Cosmic Collisions.

Of course, once you’ve finished taking in the night sky, you’ll want a place to contemplate the universe, and that may be find in any number of places in New York in hotels that are big or small, you’ll find a comfortable place to come inside and contemplate this exhibit and what it’s really like in the Great Outdoors.

After our previous tries to visit the Brooklyn Bridge, we decided to give it one more try, because today the sun was out and the forecast was showing that the it would stay sunny for the entire day. Before we took the subway, we wanted to see if there were any interesting restaurants in New York that might be near the bridge. Then we were off, we took the subway over to Brooklyn and headed to one of the restaurants listed on-line. But, before we could make it to the restaurant, we came upon one of the ubiquitous hot dog vendors, we couldn’t help ourselves, we ate 3 hot dogs each! So, much for a nice sit down lunch in a great restaurant. 
 
We made our way across the bridge end to end, which was back to the Manhattan side. We are tremendous fans of bridges, the elegant structure of Brooklyn Bridge did not disappoint. We wandered around the rest of the day to just experience New York. We landed in Chinatown first, then onto Little Italy and we enjoyed the party atmosphere there, we think maybe it was because New Years was coming up in a few days, but who knows, maybe Little Italy just likes to party all the time. We didn’t blame them, it was a lovely area and we had tons of restaurants to choose from, but we headed back to Chinatown for Chinese food and had a feast, followed by Tsingtao, Chinese beer!
 
Afterwards, we took a walk through Tribeca and to Soho, where there was a mass of crazy street vendors trying every which way to get us to buy knock-off handbags, sunglasses, watches or perfumes! Instead of Soho, it should be called Knock-off. We found a coffee shop and ordered mass quantities of coffee in order to revive us from all the walking we’ve done today. While there, we talked to a local woman who was a delight! She’s not the only local person we’ve met, everyone we’ve struck up conversations with has been friendly and helpful — far from the stereotypical rude New Yorker!  We chatted for a long while and then headed back to our lodgings and a good night’s sleep.

Are you going to Huntsville? Need a great room at one of the elegant hotels located in Huntsville? www.hotelshuntsville.com  There are plenty of nice places to stay and there are some fun things to do while you are visiting. There are plenty of things to see when it comes to the NASA space program. There is also the interesting North Alabama Railroad Museum and then there are some different kinds of museums. One of the more charming museums is the Clay House Museum.

The Clay House Museum is an old home that was originally built around the 1850s. The museum was started by a lady named Robin Hall Brewer. She fell in love with tea sets and started a collection that lead here to 8,000 pieces over a decade and a half. It all started with the fancy tea service she took part in at a restaurant in San Fransisco. She started to collect the tea cups, saucers and there matching creamer and sugar bowls that were made by Noritake. The museum is like a shrine for Japanese made tea sets. She also wrote a book on the matter becoming quite the master of tea set knowledge.

Brewer did everything she could think of to make the museum a success. She even volunteered at the Huntsville Weeden House Museum to learn how to run a museum. She learned everything she could about the tea sets and she collected as many pieces as she could. She even flew to Japan and visited the factory were her collection was made. Sadly the 57 year old, Robin Brewer died from cancer in 2008. The old home and museum is now an art gallery for local artists as well. It is located in the Madison area of the city on Eastview Drive. It is a great thing to see what dreams can be created with passion.

On my visits to New York, I have noticed that everything tastes better.  The coffee is better.  The spaghetti and ravioli is better.  The Chinese food is better, and the pizza?  Well there is a reason that every other city in the country, has “New York Pizza” shops.  Okay, there was for a while the craze of the California Pizza Kitchen, and of course Chicago style pizza is popular as well.  But the craze of the Chicago pan pizza escapes me, as I have had Chicago style pizza, in the city of Chicago, and nothing beats the pizza of New York City.

Some people claim that the pizza in New York is so good because of three populations that have been drawn to the city throughout the years, the chefs, the food artisans, and the immigrants, all bringing their worlds together in the making of the perfect pie.  The many cultures have brought with them their customs, and their roots can be seen, or tasted rather, in their culinary artistry.  As stated before, the food of the city is just outstanding, check it out.

The first pizza shop was opened in 1905, by Gennaro Lombardi, Lombardi’s and is still on Spring Street, with the pizza cooked in the original coal oven just across the street in the original kitchen in Little Italy.  This pizzeria is still in business and is credited for the beginning of a world wide love of New York pizza.  There are many more long standing pizzerias throughout the city and each of the five boroughs.  Coney Island is home to the famous Totonno’s Pizzeria, and at DiFara, the traditional pieces covered in buffalo mozzarella are still made by Domenico Demarco, the 70 year old pizza chef extraordinaire.

My Italian friends quietly say that they now prefer the pizza of the United States, and of New York most assuredly to any of the pizza in their home towns in Italy.  My first slice was experienced in Times Square, at a popular little joint called Ray’s.  It is a taste I will never forget.  Perhaps it was the excitment of being in the city for the first time, and the vibe of the square, but as I said, it all just seemed to taste better, even down to the last bite of the crust.

In 1956, Paolo Soleri settled on the eastern side of the greater Phoenix area, in the city of Scottsdale.  Soleri was born and grew up in Turin, Italy, and upon completing his degree in Architecture at the Torino Polytechnico, he moved to the Arizona desert to study at Taliesin West with Frank Loyld Wright.  He has garnered many awards over the years, and when he returned for a visit to Italy, he founded the Ceramica Artistica Solimene. This is where he developed, among many other things, the bronze windchimes that so many people living in and traveling through the city of Phoenix so covet.

All around the city, you will find these chimes decorating the homes and balconies, the patios of the restaurants in some of the finest hotels in Phoenix, and in the carry on satchels of those traveling back home.  For the past thirty years, the sales of these chimes have contributed funds for his ongoing architectural project, Arcosanti.  Arcosanti is part of the commitment Soleri made to himself when he moved to Scottsdale, a commitment to experimentation and research in urban development and planning.

Arcosanti is a small village, which houses five thousand people, and has been undergoing construction and modifications beginning in 1970.  It is a way of combining ecology and architecture, which will leave the smallest footprint on the environment as possible.  There is minimal use of raw material, and a great reduction in the use of non-renewable energy and resources.  The site is open for touring seven days a week, the hours Monday-Saturday being 9am to 5pm, and on Sunday from 11am-5pm.

To pop in at any time during operating hours you will take a self guided tour, for group tours previous scheduling arrangements are necessary.  The gardens located throughout Arcosanti are beautiful to wander through, and many times people choose to have their celebrations here.  Most of the residents are artists, so along with the famous windchimes you will find various objects created by those living on the site.  It really is a grand place, in every way, so on your next trip through the Arizona desert, make sure to find some time for a visit to Arcosanti.

The city of Los Angeles is a sprawling metropolis.  To fly into the city at night, you will find a sea of street lights and buildings just outside your airplane window, that never seems to end.  I moved to LA in the summer of 1999, just one week before my birthday and as luck would have it, we drove through the desert of Arizona and California during the hottest part of the day, only to end up on the 101, at the beginning of rush hour traffic.  Six lanes of traffic heading West through the Valley, and six lanes heading East.  It is a different kind of city when you are moving there, as opposed to spending a few nights in a best Los Angeles hotel, being driven around by the hotel chauffeurs.

When I found myself stopped in the madness that is the 101, and the endless sea of not city lights, but the sun reflecting off of the roofs of hundreds and hundreds of cars, I questioned my decision to move to this city.  But we finally reached our new place, unloaded the U-Haul, and I feel directly to sleep.  The next morning, I knew that if I headed out from the Vally, and just drove to the coast, I would be standing on the sand of one of the most incredible stretches of coastline in the Western part of the United States.

I took off on the windy road through Topanga Canyon, and after about half an hour, I turned a curve and saw the blue of the Pacific Ocean in the distance.  My heart started to pound a bit, as I drew nearer to the fresh saltwater scented air.  During the next two years, the beaches along the coast were my home.  From the calm and elegant Malibu, to the funky and energetic boardwalk of Venice.  Any excuse I had to go from one side of town to the other by driving along the Pacific Coast Highway, I took, as even though it was out of the way, it was a great way, a breezy Southern California way, with the top down and the tunes of Moby playing loudly from the stereo.

It’s been years since I was last in San Antonio, but I remember distinctly two things about it: The Alamo and The River Walk.  Known at first as the Mision San Antonio de Valero, The Alamo has existed on its current site since 1724 or two hundred and eighty-six years.  Sixty-nine years after its inception, the mission was secularized and given over to Indian residents who farmed the fields; by the 1800s, the Spanish military a cavalry unit, who called the place the Alamo after their hometown, Alamo de Parras.  In 1835, the Alamo entered history when General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna arrived with an army outside San Antonio, taking the people inside the Alamo by surprise.  The defeat of the Alamo and the victory of Santa Anna has been recreated many times in film, giving rise to the expression “Remember the Alamo!” as a rallying cry against such a crushing blow.  Now a museum, the Alamo keeps that memory alive, open every day of the year except for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

The River Walk has an even older history than the Alamo, stretching back as far as 1536, when Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, at the time shipwrecked and a captive of Indians, saw and later described the River; much later, in 1691, a Catholic priest camped near a stream known as the Yanaguana and decided to celebrate a mass on St. Anthony’s Day and so renamed the stream San Antonio.  Several centuries later, in 1959, the river became a city park, officially starting the development of the River Walk.  In 1962, a landscaping program along two miles of the river walkway planted seventeen thousand trees and shrubs and vines.  The El Tropicano, which was the first riverfront hotel, opened.  Today, in the 21st Century, the River Walk remains a unique addition to the city, filled with shops and luxury San Antonio hotels.

As much as I extoll the virtues of the San Antonio River Walk, you should know that the River Walk is actually drained for maintenance, this year from January 3rd to the 12th; however, this means that San Antonio is holding the Michelob Ultra Mud Festival!  Each year, once the river is filled up again, the Mud Festival is the place to be as media and civic celebrities and politicians attempt to capture the title of the Michelob Ultra Mud Queen and Mud King, attempting to raise money for the River Walk Association.  Included in the festivities are Ultra Mud Pie Ball, Ultra Mud Coronation, and the Ultra Mud Parade.  If you miss it, Bud Light will be holding a Mardi Gras River Parade in February!

My last days in New York have been a busy last few days. Naturally, I went to another house party thrown by one of my dozens of cousins from Med. school. There were board games with alcohol as the gain or win, a live band and all-in-all a great night and morning. We didn’t get any sleep basically, so most of my cousins and I ended up at brunch where the mimosas flow from a fountain (kidding), but alcohol was par for the course.

I spent the rest of the day checking out Brooklyn; I really went there to eat at this very famous pizza place, but the long queue did not seem appetizing. I walked all the way across Brooklyn Bridge, which gave me a stunning view of New York City. I ended up in the artsy part of town, Soho I think, the place where they converted all the dilapidated warehouses into galleries and art studios. Then, I walked into what seemed not a so safe area, wasn’t sure, but I definitely felt like I didn’t want to stand out as a tourist. It was a great day anyway, and I had a great experience in Brooklyn.

That night I got to see Avenue Q, an off Broadway play at this really nice theater venue called New Stages. I got a great deal on my Broadway tickets on-line, click here if you’d like to get great prices too! The venue is a collection of some pretty small stages, almost black-box really, where you almost feel like you’re a part of the play going on. I liked Avenue Q, it was funny, relevant and quotable.

My last day was spent at the American Museum of Natural History. The exhibits were interesting and imaginative, but it was the planetarium that really blew me away. Finally, it was time to head home. I’ll miss my cousins, but now it’s time for them to come to California to visit me.

Austin, Texas is also the state’s capital. In addition, many people would call it the country’s musical capital. The city itself goes so far as to refer to itself as the live music capital of the world. That’s a pretty big claim and Austin has the goods to back it up. Live music is played and enjoyed throughout bars, clubs, café’s and coffee shops across the city. Many of the residents are musicians and the ones who aren’t enjoy and support the music scene. There are also festivals and ongoing events that are not only popular with the residents but attract the numerous populations of tourists that visit the city each year. The hotels Austin fill up quickly in the days before the annual Austin City Limits Music Festival, which was named after the famous PBS program.

The PBS program that the festival is named after has become one of the most popular taped concert series in the world and many musicians and bands consider a performance invitation on it one of their fundamental goals and while the Midnight Special in the 1970s indicated to many musicians that they had arrived or they had made it, a performance on Austin City Limits holds the same appeal to performers today.

The festival began in 2002 and was only two days during that inaugural year. It occurs in the early part of October or late September and since it began it has quickly elevated to the status of Lalapooza, Boonaroo and Coachella as one of the top live music festivals in the United States. It has also drawn some major names in the music industry including Tom Petty and REM. Elvis Costello, Cold Play, John Mayer, Sheryl Crow and Willie Nelson are others and are also among the list of performers that have appeared at both the festival and on the televised program. The Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam and Ben Harper were among the major names from the 2009 nine festival.

After arriving later in the afternoon in San Francisco, we wasted no time heading out to explore. Our first stop was walking down Polk Street, we heard it’s full of spas, cafes and a few neighbourhood grocery stores, but what’s even better, is that is ends at Fisherman’s Wharf. There’s enough seafood restaurants that could feed the entire state of California. The place was packed with tourist, including us, but thankfully, it was winter the the crowds were much less than what they would be in any other season. We got to sample fresh seafood everywhere we went, from clam chowder to red snapper. That pretty much filled us up to where we didn’t need to sit down and eat at a restaurant. We managed to roll back to our San Francisco cheap hotel room to recharge for tomorrow.

The next morning, we visited China Town, and well, to be honest, we were a little disappointed. I mean, it felt authentic and everything, but it just wasn’t ‘tourist’ friendly. I don’t blame them, really. I’m sure China Town get inundated with thousands of tourist every day, but we really didn’t expect to see so many souvenir shops. The best part about visiting China Town was getting to see how fortune cookies are made. It was amazing that after rounding a corner, we found ourselves in Little Italy! What a difference a street corner makes! In Little Italy, we found the bookstore that was famous for selling and promoting banned books.

From there we headed down Jack Kerouac Alley and had lunch at the famous Ferry Building. Then, with our stomachs full, we took the ferry to Alcatraz. We spent the entire day on the Island, the history is rich and the tour has lots of interesting audio-guides.

For our last day in San Francisco, we spent the time walking to the Golden Gate Bridge, but to get there we had to walk through the Marina. After about two hours of walking, we finally made it to the bridge. What a magnificent site! It was really windy, so it took us over an hour to walk across it and back again. There are phone stations along the bridge, and there are signs posted above them saying ‘Don’t do it!’  The phones are patched directly to a suicide crisis center.

We could’ve stayed in San Francisco for months, it’s such a big city and there’s literally so much to do here. We’re looking forward to our next trip back, but for now it’s time to do some wine tasting in Sonoma and Napa Valley!

There are so many fabulous things about travel in Asia today, and it’s one of the great cultural experiences of a lifetime to visit any part.  There is an immense diversity in any of the cities and countries, and probably too much to see in one lifetime.  But one place that offers a wonderful introduction to this complex world is Singapore.  It’s been described as a kind of gateway, with a blend of east and west, and there are many cultures that converge here.  It is extremely modern, and people who come with the expectation of visiting a world that has a taste of the past won’t find it here.  Instead, the future is very bright, and there are more technological and cultural advancements than most of the great cities in the world.  It’s been on the cutting edge of science and art for some time, and lately it seems to have taken even greater strides forward.

There is certainly a distinct possibility of having an archetypal exotic experience when you enter into the world of food here.  Those who are unfamiliar with Asian cuisine will find many delightful offerings, and it will very likely change the way you think about food in general, and may even change your diet altogether.  Some of the world’s best culinary traditions have a permanent home here, and restaurants in Singapore offer fantastic variations of Chinese, Malay, and Indian food.  There are many other stunning kinds of food here, too, with Italian, and Japanese, and international fusion cuisines all over the city state.  Those who are curious about the karaoke craze in the world, and wonder if it’s for real, or a thing of the past, will find a lot to experience here in Singapore.

With the success of operations like Party World, which has many different locations all over the island, there is a very lively karaoke scene here.  In fact, it’s one of the great evening entertainments, along with a good meal, of course.  Visitors here looking to do as the Romans do should visit a karaoke club at least once.  But it’s a lot like the food, because once is very rarely enough, and it can be a habit that lasts a lifetime.

Sentosa is becoming an extremely popular and attractive island as well as one of the major cultural centers of Singapore. There are many things to do and tourists are continually increasing their population there every summer. The island has two golf courses, which is a popular stress relieving activity for people who visit Singapore and are there on business trips. Golfing is also popular with many other people and golf fanatics are always looking for a great course and many times chose their vacation destination based on the golfing possibilities. There are many other exciting activities, performances and aspects of Sentosa that continually entice visitors and keep residents happy.

Universal Studios Singapore is a new theme park that is expected to open early next year. The plans to develop this new colossal activity and attraction center were announced four years ago in 2006 when the bid was won to build the theme park in Singapore. It is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia and the second Universal Studios to open in Asia.

The park will cover forty-nine acres of land and will feature twenty four different attractions. The park is divided into seven distinct zones that are independently theme oriented. The themes include Hollywood, which will be styled after the actual Hollywood Boulevard in California, USA. This will be the main zone of the park and is also the first one that guest will encounter when they arrive there. There will also be a large theater for plays and musical performances. Other zones include the Sci-Fi City, New York, The Lost World, Far Far Away, Ancient Egypt and Madagascar. This is definitely anticipated to be one of Singapore’s most popular tourist and residential attractions. Most of the guests who stay in one of the hotels Sentosa will be visiting this great attraction.

A month ago, Bill and I went to see the highly entertaining and popular ‘Pop life Exhibit’ at the Tate Modern in London. Afterwards, we thought we’d check out the Dragon Castle for dinner, which was nearby our hotel in London. We read a wonderful review about it in the London’s local ‘TimeOut’ paper.

We, hopped on the Northern Line at London Bridge and emerged only two stops later at the Elephant and Castle station, which on the map seemed wondrous, but the name of a stop does not mean a thing, the place was kind of gritty. Navigating the roundabout just outside the station made the Old Street roundabout look like a picturesque jaunt through the countryside. Any how, stepping inside the Dragon Castle restaurant, we were immediately transformed by the interior decorations, old-school Chinese banquet hall. There even was a large double happiness symbol in the back. We found out that is where they hold wedding banquets. The restaurant was all a buzz with customers, birthday parties and a wedding reception party.

As we looked over the menu, we were astounded by how inexpensive it is here. Bill can not resist a roast duck and I had the clay pot dish of Japanese tofu, which was luscious and silky, it was more like a custard than any tofu I’ve ever had before. The salted chicken and fish were tender and enhanced with a wonderful fish sauce. I know I’ll be craving this dish in the future. We both loved the vegetable choices, we got to pick how we wanted them prepared. Our servers were all super nice and attentive. Our water glasses were always kept filled, which really is a feat in London. So, when you come to London, we highly recommend coming to the Dragon Castle, and if you do, please order a clay pot dish to go for me and bring it back to the States!

There are a few Bremerhaven hotels to choose from if you find yourself pulling into this port city. You would definitely want to splurge on a room in this town. The youth hostels are not the set up to give the best experience. They close early and so you would miss the night out on pub row. They call it the Alte Buerger. It used to cater to the many sea men that came in on the cargo ships but today they don’t stay long and are not allowed to get off the ships because of time restraints. It is a smaller city and not one that is first on the list to visit when in Germany but perhaps you had to travel through to get to somewhere else or maybe you are interested in the emigration center that resides there. This is the main attraction that would bring visitors in by choice.

The Bremerhaven German Emigration Center is actually an amazing exhibit. They but some real thought, time and money into creating this port legacy. It goes to show you that Bremerhaven Germany was a real hub to not only trade and cargo ships but to emigrants leaving Germany. This was once a place that gave sail to the hopes and dreams of many people and families searching for a better life. The museum opened in 2005 to tell the story of some 7.2 million people from all over Europe who decided they were going to try to build their dreams in another land. The building itself has a nice modern resemblance a wooden ship with white sails. It is filled with life size mannequins dressed in nineteenth century styles of many cultures. They have the sound of the people talking in many languages for you to hear through the bustling of hall sounds while you look at artifacts people may have been carrying. Then they have a life size model of the areas of the ships they may have been traveling on so you can see what they may have been experiencing along their voyage.

All the plans you’ve made for your Singapore wedding day could fall apart if your wedding transportation breaks down or doesn’t show up. To avoid such issues, consider hiring a stretch limousine; a chauffeured limousine hire will allow the wedding party to make a grand entrance on your wedding day, and a grand exit from your wedding venue to your wedding reception. When having a Singapore wedding, you are limited to the choices of wedding cars you’d like to hire, but wedding cars Singapore can offer and will compliment any wedding motif is the stretch limousine.

There is so much more to a wedding car service than just a quick drive to the ceremony, so here are a few questions to ask when choosing a Singapore wedding car hire. Ask if you can see the actual limousine that will be booked for your wedding day, ask if there’s a minimum booking time; how many passengers will the limousine hold; will the limo you booked be the limo that will show up on your wedding day; does the limo company have a contingency plan in case of mechanical failure; how much deposit is required to secure the limo of your choice; what happens if you cancel; what happens if you go over time; is there any other charges; and most important: what services do they offer?

You can minimise the risk by asking a few more basic questions before you make any decision, like do you feel comfortable with the chauffeur? Are the limousines clean and well maintained and is the business reputable and do they have ready references for you to call? If your answers are yes to these questions, then you will be very happy on your wedding day. One more thing, remember to book early to ensure you get the limousine of your choice.

The state of Washington has many interesting geographic elements and also has a diverse ecological makeup. It is divided by the Cascade Mountains and the climate on each side of these is completely different from the other. Most people associate the city of Seattle and its weather patterns and annual rainfall rates with the rest of the state. However, on the other side of the Cascades, it is much dryer and also warmer and many people would be surprised to find some of these regions are also representative of Washington’s geography and climate.

Two major geographic elements of the state that few tourists who are staying in a luxury hotel Washington will be surprised to discover are Mt. Rainier and Mount St Helens. These two colossal volcanic mountains are definitely associated with the state itself and are also one of the primary reasons many tourists visit it. There are numerous picnic areas and great outdoor recreational opportunities near the mountains and they are both popular weekend destinations for Washington residents.

Mt Rainier is part of the Cascade Range and towers above most of the peaks. It is an active composite volcano and is the most dominate feature along the southeastern horizon of the Seattle-Tacoma Metropolitan Area. Most of the local residents refer to it simply as the Mountain. Mount St Helens is also an active composite volcano and it is further south than Mt. Rainier. It is approximately 96 miles south of Seattle and is 50 miles northeast of Portland, Oregon. It is more infamous than its larger neighbor due to its catastrophic eruption, which occurred in May of 1980. This was the most fatal volcanic eruption in US history and also the most economically destructive. Two years after the eruption a steam plume could still be observed above the volcano top. Both of these mountains are major points of interest in the state.

Terry was incredibly excited to arrive at Kennedy airport on that Tuesday. For the first time and instead of visiting the city as a tourist, he was in New York for a major job interview. He had worked in the advertisement business almost since he had graduated from college. He was in at the top of his class and was expected to be successful, though even Terry agreed things were happening very quickly for him. Meanwhile, he maintained a since of humility and gratitude because he knew that even though he worked hard for what he achieved he was also fortunate to live the life he did and receive the opportunities he had.

He settled into his room in one of the NY hotels and considered his interview and reviewed his portfolio, as well as his questions and responses. Terry loved advertisement and always seemed to have a knack for knowing what would appeal to people and draw their interest. Ultimately, he would like to get into advertising for major Broadway productions and would consider how certain elements can sometimes be incorporated into the productions themselves when he attended a performance of Avenue Q later in the week.

The night of the performance Terry had already been to his interview and would be returning home the next day. He sat in the audience and was incredibly impressed with the skill involved in putting together the production. He admired and respected the performers who were in one of the most competitive and unstable fields. He felt that the show did an excellent job of presenting actual real life circumstances in a tremendously entertaining vehicle. He had ultimate respect for the creators of such shows how seemed to possess a complete mastery of presentation.

Jaipur offers some fantastic magic for visitors from any part of the world.  It’s a thriving and bustling metropolis, and serves as a major financial and creative center for the area.  It’s also one of the loveliest places in India, offering a splendid mix of the past and present.  Its architecture reflects many different eras, and the color pink came from a visit by the Prince of Wales in the 19th century.  There are also many amazing old temples and forts that are worth visiting to get a glimpse at the living traditions here, as well as the time long ago.

The whole area is designed after a mandala, reflecting the movements of the spheres, and the intention was so that all the citizens would be aligned with the cosmos, and able to fulfill their destinies on the earth.  It offers a splendid sense of well being in Jaipur.  Luxury hotels, then, are a wonderful way to get in tune with the energy of the place.  The splendid accommodations can afford you the possibility for seeing it with a spectacular sense of refreshment, and can show you what the good life really is.  There are many different definitions of luxury, and Jaipur offers a unique blend that should be sampled at least once in a life.

Aside from the architecture, and accommodation, the art scene here is also very advanced.  Last year at Banasthali Vidyapith University, they had the digital artist John Antoine Labadie teaching as the visiting artist in residence.  There are many people here who are working in the digital realm, and many artists as well, but few who can cross both disciplines, although it is a current of the future that is starting to show itself in traces.  Labadie‘s residency was further proof that art is moving ever into the future in modern Jaipur.

My first impression of Hong Kong is of skyscrapers shooting into the hazy sky. Then, when I was taken to the other side of the island, I was amazed that there can exist such exotic beach alcoves in proximity to the vastness of the neon sign topped scrappers. Plus, to add another dimension, someone told me that on a hilltop sits the biggest bronze Buddha’s on the planet. It’s the third largest Buddha known to be in existence. My mind boggles.

I had to confirm this with my own eyes, so yesterday, is when I began my spiritual journey to the Tian Tan Buddha. The Buddha is located on Lantau Island, west of Hong Kong Island, which can only be reached by ferry. I wish I could have reached it by the Mass Transit Rail, it’s one of the cleanest and most efficient public transport rail systems I’ve ever be on. But, not to change the subject, but the MTR is really worth mentioning.

I arrived safely via the ferry in Tung Chung on the island of Lantau. The second part of my journey was to take the cable-car up to see the giant Buddha. I calmly surveyed the jungle covered foothills below. I was expecting to see something like Table Mountain style capacity in the cable-car, fifteen to twenty people, standing room only and a box attached to hundreds of meters of cable, but what I found was an Austrian ski slope gondola system that stretched from the heart of a 30-story residential district, almost 6 kilometers over an opaque turquoise lake and heading into the jungle clan hills.

It was during the decent that I saw the big bronze Buddha for the first time. It’s on a hilltop, outlined by a grey sky. A sitting Buddha overlooking the valley before him.  As I climbed up the 250 steps to get to the base of the statue, I wondered how on Earth did this get here. As I walked about a bit, I was overcome by a sense of contentment. I was also wishing that there was one of those Hong Kong luxury hotels near by, like the one I’m booked at, well not so near, so I can visit here instead of the concrete jungle of Hong Kong Island.

I arrived in Amsterdam yesterday and I need to make this short, because this place is so unforgettably crazy. I rocked up at the station with no place to go, so I headed straight to the tourist office and told them what I was looking for. The guy behind the counter, just laughed and said ‘it’s Saturday night, there’s nothing available. I thought that was pretty unhelpful, so I struck out on my own. I walked for about an hour and came across one of the five star Amsterdam hotels, walked up to the registers desk, and they had a room available, not only did they have a room, but I got a discount. There was some kind of promotion going on, and I just happened to catch the tail-end of it.

After that, I caught the train ‘Amsterdam Centraal‘ and as soon as I stepped off, it was just crazy. So many people everywhere. I’ve always heard that Amsterdam is crazy, but to experience just how crazy, first hand, made me truly understand what people were talking about. I was 30 minutes into walking about and I was offered so many things, (I’m glad I didn’t bring my Mom, she’d be freaking out right about now). I just politely refused all of it. I found that Amsterdam has a plethora of T-shirt shops. I bought one, a bit expensive, but it will be my reminder every time I where it, just how crazy this place is.

After walking around for about an hour and seeing so many weird and unusual shops, I stopped in at a Coffee Shop. Every block had one and I ordered some fries. I hung our there for about 2 hours. People watching and having people watch me people watch. I then found an Internet cafe and found I had to order a beer and drink it while I used the Internet. It was compulsory. I found out, after being in Amsterdam for a few days, that request like the one at the Internet cafe are common.

After some more walking about, I bought a bottle of wine and a 6-pack of beer to drink during the rest of the evening. I ended up very drunk and all I remember was laughing on the train heading back to my hotel. The reason for the laughing was, that most trains will ‘beep’ just before a stop, but the Centraal Station cranks out techno music 10 seconds before a stop and then an overhead voice says ‘Ha Ha!’  I found that so very funny and it fit in perfect with he city.