Some pictures from a recent Manhattan-Brooklyn Stroll

Greetings from an alien planet. There are hieroglyphics and fences, but one can't tell whether they are meant to keep the inside safe from the outside or the reverse...

BB

Where have the last two weeks gone?

It's been one of those fortnights. You look down, and by the time you look up two weeks have passed! Well, I promise to get back to it soon, with some new posts and updates on my new adventures. Right now it has been more about planning a trip that looks something like this: NY-London-Bombay, Bombay-London-Paris-Benelux-German-Switzerland-London-New York. All simple enough, no?

But the complications... Where to stay in Paris? In Paris I've been pretty lucky with cheap, well-located hotels, but do I want to try my luck with something that is approaching 100 Euros a night? Or should I splash out on something nicer? But why? There are so many better ways to spend that kind of money in Paris. Deep questions with no clear answers.

I've been enjoying a few weekends out in the country (which in my lexicon means anywhere outside New York, so for example it includes other metro areas like DC, Philadelphia, and Boston). One could get used to small town living, especially knowing that one will be back in NYC in a few hours...

Hope all your weekends are going well.

xo

BB

Some musical gems

Some musical gems. The first with thanks to Her Serene Highness Princess Stéphanie Marie Elisabeth Grimaldi of Monaco and Armand Limnander on the NYT.



And the second with thanks to a friend who wrote the words to this song...

Le Tone - Lake Of Udaipur
Uploaded by Le-TONE - Explore other music videos.

xoxo

BB

P.S. Here's a riddle for you (or perhaps not). Last night I saw Siegfried & Roy. Without Roy. And without the lions. Post answers (even though there's no question) in the comments section...

Some pictures from Stockholm

Stockholm is an interesting place. As I mentioned last time, they like precise signage in Stockholm, some examples of which you'll below along with a few random snaps...



(The Swedes are strong, silent types. Who needs postcards anyway?)

(This looks like fun!)
(Really out of focus, but the first two look to me like instructions on the latest dance steps.)

I've decided to head home (rather than wander the north)

I'm on my way home from Stockholm. After 5 days of hard work, one very long night of partying...

(Although I'm not a really convincing partyer. I can: stay up late; drink an amount that surprises people given my size and height; make it home safe given the previous; dance really badly ... so badly that people around me take pity on me and try to give me an emergency lesson or two; become mildly silly...)

The one plus of the aforementioned attempt at hard partying was the chance to see the sunrise. Typically I'm more likely to see the sunrise from the other direction (i.e., early rising) but in Stockholm with a 5 am sunrise it gets pretty bright by 4 am or so. And I couldn't find my way back to my apartment for quite a while because the taxi driver dropped me in the wrong spot. So I saw the whole quite lovely progression from twilight to daylight while trying to read the map. But as I said, finding my way home is one of my rock-solid skills. So I made it in time for a few hours of sleep before heading off for a day on the archipelago. The sun was hot (at least from 10 to 2, after that it really cooled off), the water sparkly, and the breeze bracing...

I didn't take too many pics, but I'll try to get some off my cell phone when I'm home.

A few oddities of Stockholm... They are obsesses with Elvis and Marilyn, and on Friday night people drive around in vintage cars and slicked back hair... They like to warn you against doing the obvious through colorful signage (as in don't electrocute yourself... but the person depicted being electrocuted looks like he is having a really good time...) The bars stay open till 5 am but the 7-eleven closes at, well, 11 pm.

I am looking forward to home...

BB

Publish Post

Voices of spring

BB

P.S. I'm now in Stockholm, where spring means sunshine from 5 am to 8 pm and light from about 4 am to 9 pm...

BB

(Sigh....) or Magical Mystery Tour or New York, Why Do I Love Thee...

There is one flight route into Laguardia airport that takes you right over Manhattan. They don't used it often, but if they do, and you happen to be in a window seat on the left side of the aircraft, you're in for a treat. These pictures from back in August were stuck on my phone. Since I'm not in NY this weekend, I'm feeling a touch of NY nostalgia already, and I knew these pictures would warm my heart. Yours too I hope. xoxo BB

You usually cut across midtown... Seen here the UN and the Chrysler Building...


Now we are over Madison Square. You can see the New York Life Insurance Company building (the first gold dome in the center-bottom of the picture), the next golden cupola is the Met Life Tower, and then a little further the Flatiron Building:


Then you're over the Hudson River heading all the way down... You can see César Pelli's World Financial Center buildings, next to which were the World Trade Center buildings:


And by now you're getting a great view of the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges:


Ahhh... What a view!


And then you swing out a bit getting an expansive view of the island...


... and here Governor's Island:


By now you are over Brooklyn and almost ready to land...