Long Weekend in Finger Lakes

What a joy! At the moment, I'm sitting on a sunny patio in the Liberty Village (Toronto), sipping cold cider and trying to recall all the details of the last weekend in Finger Lakes.

We left Mississauga around 6AM on a cloudy Saturday morning with 4 hours of driving ahead of us. Crossing the US border was much quicker this time (compare to previous time we drove to NY) and soon we were driving on American soil. We stopped at the very first petrol station because we were driving on fumes rather than petrol - the yellow warning light was blinking ferociously...

We met our friends on the outskirts of Ithaca and after hugs (man) and kisses (girls) headed for the Robert H. Truman State Park. The park was everything you could expect from a state park: immense and very green! We were quickly given a key to our cabin.

After unpacking and drove 5 minutes to the upper park to do hiking and take a glimpse at the Old Mill and the 115-foot Lucifer Falls (catchy name).

Later that evening, we made (vegetarian) BBQ and headed to Ithaca to explore the city. Ithaca is a home of Cornell University and the Ithaca College (according to Wikipedia, with almost 20,000 students) so there was abundant night life to satisfy even the most hardcore clubber.

The following day we walked the walk! After cooking and eating (our friends were well prepared) late breakfast we soldered the Rim Trail (2.25 miles), the Red Pine Trail (½ mile) and the Gorge Trail (2.25 miles), not without incidents.

On a way to Upper Park (that would be the Rim Trail), girls were obsessive about cameras and lenses.

They literally took picture of everything that moved, grew or just happened to be in the park, and that included a beautiful red gecko.

On a way back, they had a chance to take a photo of two fat snakes (I think those were Mississauga snakes) that happened to be on our path but instead they demonstrated their vocal abilities (yeah... screaming on top of their lungs). 

Later that day, we drove (again) to Ithaca to stroll on the waterfront promenade, quick visited Cornell University and finished our day with a very nice dinner at the Boat Yard Grill restaurant (http://www.boatyardgrill.com/).

On our third (and last) day, we have decided to rent kayaks. After a morning discussion of Russian foreign policy and whatever Latvians are too nationalistic (there is nothing like politics for breakfast), we headed to Puddle Dockers (http://www.puddledockers.com/rentals.htm).

Our friends took a single kayak each and we decided to share a tandem version. Of course, after the excitement died out, I was the only “engine” to put that kayak (which was big enough to be called a “barge”) across the lake. It was sunny and we have managed to sneak two bottles of apple cider and cherry beer... IT WAS FUN! Then followed locally sourced, organic, non GM lunch and we headed home. This time the border crossing was 2 and 1/2 hours long, but who cares...

Christmas and New Year in US

OMG! New York, Miami and New York again; what a vacation…!

In those 3 1/2 week, we have managed to celebrate Christmas (or, shall I write Hanukkah?), New Year and more importantly, change our perception of North Americans (Barak Obama has nothing to do with it). I won’t bore you too much since there is nothing to add to those photo albums: http://picasaweb.google.com/alla.markh/20081222Miami http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5007234194756178426&hl=en http://picasaweb.google.com/alla.markh/200800101NewYork

Enjoy, J.

P.S.: Can someone please explain why it feels colder in London (-1..+2C) than New York (-6..-2C)?

The End of "Miami" Era

All things have to end, and so is my short visit to Miami.

It was an excellent visit: boating, dining, tennis, pool, BBQ, music, etc. In those short days I managed to do so much that I can understand how I had time to sleep.

Check out the photo album: http://picasaweb.google.com/john.markh/20070609Miami

Enjoy.

Atlanta (Part 2)

OK... I'm not going to bore you to death with what I do in the office, information security. So, nothing special happened down here, in Atlanta GA. But what I do want to write about is food. Yesterday we went to Indian restaurant called Swapna, delicious! While it looks like a dive from the outside, this is actually a really nice Indian restaurant with attentive servers and delicious food. I have eaten Indian food all over the U.K. and this is truly one of the best I have ever had. The prices are very reasonable for the amount and quality of the food you get. I had a meat samosa for a starter and then Tandoori mixed grill (on the sizzling platter) which was spicy and delicious, and "Mango Kulphi" (had to look at the receipt to spell it) for the desert.

And today, I had THE MOST amazing steak ever! We went to Olde Mill Steakhouse near Cumberland mall in Atlanta. I had a 14oz rib eye (medium rare) piece with baked potato and butter and Caesar salad on the side. The steak was perfectly made with a bit charcoal taste (just amazing). All that was finished with Southern Comfort Pecan pie... A DREAM!

I think I said it before (4-5 years ago) that I will not eat meat unless it is a prime cut... I think I will actually do it...

OK... I will go and die quietly after all that food...

Atlanta (Part 1)

It is been a full week now since NWA airline took me to Atlanta GA (it is in USA). After 9 days of constant rain in London, the 32C was a bit too hot for me, but I took it like a man and hide behind double class windows with air conditioner. For anyone who doesn't know, I'm here on information security project for a international corporation (sorry, can't tell) with two of my colleagues from Israel.

There is not much to tell about our work in here. It is more or less as any other project for a big, international company. We have an office on 15Th floor with amazing view over Atlanta. Surprisingly, it is SO green! Our office is in the middle of forest with river flowing beneath the building...

What amazes me every time again, is the size of everything in US; the toilets, cars, hotel rooms... everything is SO big!

On the weekend, we went to Olympic park and then to Atlanta's aquarium, which suppose to be the biggest aquarium in world (is it a surprise?) where they keep couple of whales. The variety of different species that live in the ocean is unimaginable. There is always something crawling, swimming, gliding or just laying out there in the water. Of course, the biggest attraction is two new whales from Taiwan, but it was also fun to touch snake fish and crabs (I'm not really sure about the "scientific" names).

After the aquarium, we took a stroll through Atlanta downtown which is like any other downtown (let's say Manhattan) but with less people outside.

Check out the photo album at http://picasaweb.google.com/john.markh/20070529Atlanta/photo#s5071609989105637874 and stay tuned for the next week update.

P.S.: The last couple of pictures are actually from Sunday. We went to a shopping mall outside Atlanta and then to relax on the Lanier lake.

Long Way Home...

What a long way home,
OK, so after we returned from Bahamas we spend another 3-4 days in Miami. Over there, we have celebrated Thanksgiving at Hilel's (http://picasaweb.google.com/bronsteinfla/Thanksgiving) and then headed to NY. In NY we met again with Xusha and Daniel (http://picasaweb.google.com/john.markh/23112006NewYork), made some shopping (ohhh, I hate it so much) and finally took a taxi to JFK.
And now, to the interesting part of the story.
When we finished boarding and the airplane was on a runway to take off, one of the his engines went MIA (Missed In Action). On a runway, just a seconds before airplane was in the air! I think I have to say thanks to the pilot for breaking before end of the runway. So, we spend additional 'extra' day hours in New York, met with Daniel and Xusha again and finally, after 18 hours delay, we flew to London. Needless to say, that when alarm (smoke detector) sounded during the flight, it was pretty scary...
But, after all 'bad' things I wrote, I have to say that Virgin Atlantic were more that OK. They have placed everyone (who wanted) in nearby hotel, paid for meal and provided transportation. We didn't had to 'fight' for it. They have also compensated us with 50% discount for all future flights with them for the next 18 months.

South of USA

Are we in Miami yet?
Yes we are! We spend first day in Florida in Aventura at my mom's place and the day after we drove to Orlando. In there, we visited 2 parks: Universal Studios and The Island of Adventure (http://picasaweb.google.com/john.markh/15112006UniversalParks)
So, here we are. A week after we have landed in US we went on a cruise to Bahamas (http://picasaweb.google.com/john.markh/17112006BahamasAndNassauIsland). We were suppose to have 2 stops: Coca Island and Nassau, but because of bad weather conditions we didn't stop on Coca Island. On Nassau we spend a day on a beach and hired jet ski. The guy who rented the jet ski called my mom "Boss Lady"! After a day on a beach, my skin hurts sooo much! I'm as red as lobster in beer...

Now, my planes are to relax and just to lay down by the pool and read some book.

No more activities!

Pink Floyd Still Rocks!

Hola my dear readers!

So much time passed since last time I wrote here and now I feel obligated to write a short update.

The project I've been involved in UK is (finally) over, so I have spend 2 weeks in Israel working on another projects.

But the real news are that I'm on vacation in US. A week ago, We landed in New York to celebrate my uncle's 50Th birthday. All family from all over the world was there (http://picasaweb.google.com/john.markh/11112006BorisBirthdayParty). Also, we have meet some friends there and had a really nice time in New York's sights (http://picasaweb.google.com/john.markh/11112006NewYork).

After 3 days in NY, we flew to Miami. Here we went to Australian Pink Floyd show. It was AWESOME! This music is still rock! These guys made an exact replica of "Eclipse" (I think) show and I couldn't tell the difference. There was so much energy in the music that the crowd went crazy (me too)! This was definitely worth 3 hours of time and 40 dollars!

Today, we are leaving on a cruise to Bahamas for 3 days, so I will keep you updated later on.

The Good Life

Life is good in Miami!
Sun, Pool, Gym, Restaurants!

Miami

WOW, Miami is soo cool!

I've been on my mom's friend's yacht (with my mom and sister). It was sooooo fun!

We sailed in to the ocean and anchored there. There is a place (5 miles in to the ocean), where you can stand in the water!I was hopping to see a sharks, but all we got was a dolphin (that was fun too).