Hi - it has taken a little while to get to the keyboard and jot down a few things the hamster has been up to.
December was a busy one. A trip to Germany, bring Lisa back to the US and settling into winter time.
Frankfurt - Business meetings all day and a little relaxation in the Frankfurt downtown area where the Christmas festival was on. People everywhere, it was like a outdoor nightclub and only 0 C - quite cold
Drinking the local Gluhwein - can't say I like it, but I have tried it, maybe it just wasn't the good stuff.
Christmas - Lisa and I spent a nice quite day at home and cooked a special seafood pie which is a tradition in the MacKenzie household.
On Boxing Day we took a drive around the local area and dropped into the closest Ski slope - its not Whistler but it is only about 35mins from home.. We'll try this out in the new year.
The next few days we relaxed around home. We have found a place called Pancera, they do nice sandwiches, soups and sell freshly baked breads and they do coffee. We reckon the coffee is a step up from Starbucks but still has plenty of room to improve. I would say that it's on par with Bobo's. As you can see the cups are large enough not to need a second one.
Lisa and her Mega Mugachino - Don't fall in Lis.......
December 30th we drove 5hrs to upstate New York into the Catskill State park where Julia and Nic have a house on about 3 acres. It was great catching up with Julia, Nic and their twin boys. They're 2 years old and quite a handful. We woke up on new years eve to a winter wonderland - everything outside was covered in a blanket of about 5 inches of show (12.7cm).
Upstate New York - Julia's Place
The day of arrival and the sun was out.
The next day and here's Lis and the new car in the snow....
From upstate New York we drove south into NYC on New Years Day. It was an easy 3hr drive on the I-78 South. A few tolls on the way down (a whole $2.65) and then crossing the George Washington Bridge over the Hudson was $8 - welcome to New York :-)
While in NYC we stayed in Julia's apartment as they were still upstate and kindly offered for us to stay there. The building's on 42nd St and so it's only a short stroll to Time Square.
Hamster in Times Square......
Hamster at a typical hot dog stand (this one was just outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Walking south along 5th Ave after having a quick peek inside the Guggenheim Museum we crossed E 66th St - Dave, remember this corner??
It was a relatively easy drive home from NYC on Saturday afternoon - about 3hrs on the I-78W. The drive was after sundown so there wasn't too much to see along the way. We got home about 10pm.
Then it was back to work. Let the year begin !!
Cheers.
2 comments:
Ham,
Loved the post - especially the NYC bits. Ahh yes, 66th street - my old place of abode, although I was between 1st and 2nd, a few blocks east of the park. Looks like you've got the whole rugged-up thing sorted. Good to see you both looking happy and well.
Dave
Hello Hamster,
It's great to see you have updated the post with lots of interesting happenings. Agree with Dave, the NYC stuff brings back fond memories even though I've only visited.
You are very lucky to have found a Bobo's level coffee, I hope all that caffine didn't keep Lisa up all week.
All is good here in Sydney, I spent Saturday at a picnic at Balmoral Temp was 42C, just to give you the contrast.
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