Where in the World Am I?: 2008

I have had a few people ask me lately have I traveled anywhere recently and do I have any big trips planned? I haven't been very good at updating my blog on all my travels this year, so I am going to try a little catch up here.

It has been a busy traveling year. Since February, I have traveled to some location within the 50 states each month. It has been a combo of personal and business travel with a little mixed into together.

February- I traveled to cold Minnesota. How anyone lives there during the winter months is beyond me. My father has a jacket that is supposed to protect him up to -65F weather. If I need a jacket to protect me from that kind of weather, I do not need to be there. I went to go visit the parental units, my grandmother, and our dog Slick. My dog Sebastian, who had been staying with my parents for health issues passed away at the end of January. He was 13. I was totally bummed and wanted to go back to mourn a little. Sounds a little much for a dog, but if you have ever lost a pet, you know what I am talking about. Sebastian was the best little friend a girl could have, and was mine for 10 years (I got him when he was 3 1/2). He had more frequent flier miles than most people. He even received a co-captain certificate and wings from the captain of one our flights we took. The airline stewardess's adored him and carried him everywhere. I hardly saw him during the flight.

March - Well it was time for some fun and sun. Two of my girlfriends from work and I went to Cali. We flew to SF via Virgin America. They just started service between Seattle and SF, and were offering some great promos for 1st class. So we took full advantage of that. Which was nice since we took the 7am flight. If you ever get the opportunity to fly Virgin America, I highly recommend it. We spent the day in SF. We went to Golden Gate Park, and went to the Japanese Botanical Gardens. Where we enjoyed an hour walking through the gardens and enjoying the sunshine. It had been awhile since we had seen it. We then sipped some tea in the Tea garden. Then managed just to get finished up when the big tourist bus arrived. We then made our way over to De Young museum. The museum has been in the park since the early 1900's, and has been severely damaged by a couple of earthquakes. They recently built a new one and it is built out copper. The architecture it very impressive. For those of you that have been to the Tate Modern in London, the same architects were used for the De Young. Another must see if you are in the area.

We then made our way to Monterey. My friend was participating in the Big Sur marathon. Albeit the marathon had some beautiful scenery (along HWY 101) it looked really tough and she had to get up 3am, I don't know how people do it. I guess they train alot, but still. We had a great time. Our hotel was right on the beach. So at night we would pull the chairs out on the deck, mix up some cocktails, and watch some beautiful sunset. We also enjoyed some great eating and wine tasting. There are plans to return next year.

April - I went to NYC for work, but was able to spend a beautiful weekend there before I had to go to work. This trip I actually was able to blog about while I was there (scroll down)

May - When I thought I was going to have a break from traveling for a month, another trip to our office in NY. I went Sunday of the Memorial Day weekend, and got to do some of the things I didn't get to do in April. I went to the Guggenheim. They had a special exhibition by Cai Guo-

Qiang. He also has a permanent installation at the Seattle Art Museum. The main piece is 9 cars that cascade down the center of the Guggenheim from the top floor down to the bottom It is supposed simulate a car explosion using light sticks that surround the cars. I think what the most impressive part is just thinking of how all of this was put into place. I then walked a little through Central Park, and then worked myself down to Madison Ave.

So the following weekend was the release of the Sex in the City movie. My girlfriends and I were all going to the movie when I returned the following weekend. So I decided I would walk down Madison to see if I could locate Carrie Bradshaw's apt. I knew, by watching too many episodes, that it was at 73rd and Madison. I was around 80th and Madison. I forget how long NYC blocks are. I took a pleasant stroll down a fairly quiet Madison Ave, window shopping in all the high fashion windows. Periodically weaving back and forth between the residential streets that run between Madison and Park. I love the brownstones and the tree lined streets. Since it was fairly quite, due to the fact it was a holiday weekend, you forget you are in the middle of this huge city. I finally reached 73rd, but was unable to locate the right walk-up, but snapped a few pics anyway. I found out later the actual walk-up that is in the show is in Greenwich Village. By the end of the of the day I had walked over 5 miles and my feet were not happy.

Unfortunately, I was not able to see more places while I was there. However, I did go to Les Halles. This is Anthony Bourdain's restaurant. No Reservation's is one of my favorite shows. It incorporates my 2 favorite interests, traveling and eating. I did not spot Anthony back in the kitchen cookin up my steak and frites, but I did have a sidewalk seat. Which as far as I was concerned was the best seat in the house. It allowed for some great people watching and I eased dropped on some very interesting conversations. Sometimes eating alone is far more entertaining then dining with someone.

I was planning on going to the Guggenheim, but ended up sleeping in instead. It was supposed to rain today, but it was quite sunny w/ a bit of a chill, but still nice. So I decided to go hang out in Central Park. It is only 2 blocks from where I am staying. I put on my unfashionable tennis shoes, and headed out. I went to ice rink, the carousal, and the boat house. The boat house was too crowed for lunch so I went back to the crepe stand and got a crepe and coffee and sat by the fountain and watched people row their boat in the pond. Central Park is a very interesting place to people watch. In addition, you hear so many different languages being spoken. It is very interesting.

There were these guys putting on a show not far away. I couldn't really see or hear them too well, but they were getting quite the applause from the crowd. I went up the hill to watch since I could not get close. They were very funny and talented. http://www.ticandtac.com/

After several hours in the park, my tired feet and I headed back the hotel. I went to the Burger Bar which is supposed to have some of thee best burgers in town. They were pretty good, but was even better was the chocolate shake! YUMMMMM!