Best of 2012

Best of 2012 List:

Sharon's Novels

(1) War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
(2) Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler
(3) Native Son by Richard Wright
(4) Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
(5) Sophie's Choice by William Styron

David's Novels (all by Chuck Palahniuk)

(1) Fight Club
(2) Invisible Monsters
(3) Haunted
(4) Choke

Best Public Reading: Dante's Inferno at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine

Our Favorite Movie Rentals

(1) 2 Days in New York
(2) Vertigo
(3) The Way (El Camino)
(4) Farinelli
(5) Midnight in Paris
(6) The Wave
(7) The Skin I Live In
(8) We Bought a Zoo
(9) Carnage
(10) The Breakfast Club


Best Opera of the Year

The Ring Cycle by the Metropolitan Opera Company:

Das Rheingold
Die Walküre
Siegfried
Götterdämmerung

Four operas, some lasting seven hours plus, with the incredible music by Wagner.  The fantastic technological set design did not at all distract from the music and storytelling (as some reviewers claimed); this is definitely an opera everyone must see once in a lifetime.

Best Art Exhibits/Gallery Shows/Public Art

(1) The Value of Water @ Cathedral of St. John the Divine
(2) New Photographers - Yuji Obata's time capture photographs of snowflakes in Japan @ Danziger
(3)The Game of Kings: Medieval Ivory Chessmen from the Isle of Lewis @ The Cloisters
(4) Cloud City by Tomas Saraceno on the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
(5) Discovering Columbus by Tatzu Nishi @ Columbus Circle
(6) Passing Glances by Peter Bulow @ Fort Tryon Park
(7) Jacco Olivier @ Madison Square Park
(8) Pet Sounds @ Madison Square Park
(9) Helio Oiticica "Penetrables" @ Galerie LeLong
(10) Buckyball by Leo Villareal @ Madison Square Park 

Best Broadway: The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Best Off Broadway Shows: Gatz (6 hour marathon play that included the entire reading of The Great Gatsby) and Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812 (an electro-pop musical based on the novel War and Peace set in a Russian nightclub - absolutely stunning and phenomenal)

Best Family Show: The Christmas Spectacular at Rockefeller Center

Best Parade - Sharon marching with Manhattan College in the St. Patrick's Day Parade

Best TV Series: Breaking Bad (currently watching on DVD)

Best Sporting Events: Yankee Game (Cap Night in June) and Brooklyn Nets vs. New York Knicks (Knicks win with 3 pointer by J. Kidd with seconds left)! at new Barclays Center (David went with his brother Daniel in December)

Sporting Milestone: David runs his first NYC Half Marathon!

Best Science Experience - Inwood Stargazing (saw conjunction of Venus and Jupiter, Mars and Saturn rising!)

Best Travel Destinations

(1) San Feliu
(2) London
(3) Catskills
(4) Woodstock


Best Vegan Experience: Four Course Vegan

Best Ice Cream: L'Arte del Gelato 

Best Vegan Ice Cream: Lula's Sweet Apothecary

Best Shakespeare: Richard III at the Globe Theatre in London

Best View of NYC: Tree Lighting @ Rockefeller Center


Top 5 Reasons to Love New York City:

(1)VEGAN Capital - 4 Course Vegan (before they moved to Cali), Fabulous Vegan Restaurants (Peacefood Cafe, Quintessence and Caravan of Dreams) and even a Valentine's Vegan Pop-Up in Williamsburg {made it easy for David to be a 6 day a week and Sharon a 3 day a week vegan}
(2) Washington Heights and Inwood Community: Little Seed CSA, Harvest Festival, Easter Egg Scramble, PSK Soccer, NatureMania and Fort Tryon Bulb Planting
(3) Zoos and Wildlife Conservation Centers (Alexi and Sharon visited all 5 this year: Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, Queen's Zoo and Staten Island Zoo)
(4) Cycling - biking Alexi to school in the Weehoo, bike commuting to work, Blessing of the Bicycles, family rides along the Palisades, the Hudson River Greenway, and around Central Park, NYC Century and Alexi learning to ride his own bike with pedals (no training wheels!)
(5) Subway Musicians

Catskills and Woodstock

This year our annual fall foliage trip took us to the Catskills.  We were excited to visit a place not far outside NYC where David's father had worked during the summers many years ago.  We camped in the Catskills, and braved lots of rain as well as the temperatures dropping to 35 degrees each night!

We enjoyed driving around and checking out the local sites.  We saw several covered bridges - the one pictured we were able to drive through, though another one appeared functional according to Google directions though was actually a dead end.  Alexi is very interested in firetrucks and firefighters this year (he dressed up as a fireman for Halloween), so he loved seeing this old school fire engine.











After taking the scenic route recommended by Google, we arrived in Woodstock.  We were thrilled to visit this legendary town, where the 1960's are still very much alive and David spent some weekends as a child visiting his cousin Dorinda at their Woodstock home.










The public art in Woodstock is AWESOME!  Check out Sharon and Alexi (or is it batman?!) framed and Alexi riding a bike.

Rock and roll music is still synonymous with Woodstock.  Alexi found many guitars in which to rock out (his second favorite instrument, after the piano).  We made the most of our time in Woodstock and the Catskills, and look forward to wherever our fall foliage trip takes us next year.

London 2012

This year we traveled to London from Spain for a long weekend to see the 2012 Olympics.















We went to the British Museum on Friday, the night of the Opening Ceremony for the Olympics, and we had the place to ourselves.

Highlights included seeing the Rosetta Stone and the Egyptian mummies.

On our first full day in London we got to see the Men's Cycling Road Race.














The next day we went to the Women's Cycling Road Race.

Alexi really enjoyed the afternoon he spent at the V & A Children's Museum.

One of our favorite destinations, recommended by our friend Gloria from Spain, was Kew Gardens.

The Italian food in London was delicious - pasta makes everyone happy!  The Maitre d' of il Castelletto was a Spaniard who enjoyed conversing with David and Alexi.  And Alexi patronized a local lemonade stand at the Olympics.

Sharon and David were last in London in February 2005, so it was fun to share the sites with Alexi.  Pictured, Trafalgar Square and Big Ben.

Sharon spent one night at the open air Globe Theatre to see Richard III.  One word: phenomenal!

Besides the Olympics, we visited a bunch of museums and historic sights in London.  Here we are at the Tower of London (check out Alexi's great T-shirt from Auntie Jen!).

On our last day we toured Tower of London and got to see Tower Bridge in its Olympic glory.

We had a great time in London together.  Looking forward to a future visit with the newest addition to our family!

Spain 2012

We vacationed once again this summer on the beautiful Costa Brava in Spain.

This year marked Alexi's 4th time, Sharon's 10th time & David's 32nd(!) time in San Feliu de Guixols, Spain.

Alexi went in the pool every single day.  He loves jumping in the water, putting his face underwater, swimming tummy and backstroke and playing with his German, French and Spanish friends in the pool.  We also had a great time going to the beach - David and Alexi loved building moats together.

We very much enjoyed daily the Spanish tradition of la siesta: la comida (shared family meal in the middle of the day) and naps (for all of us!) afterwards.

Sharon and David took a day trip to Barcelona to celebrate (a little bit early!) our 10 year Wedding Anniversary.  We enjoyed a delicious lunch at a vegetarian restaurant called Teresa i Carles and walking along the incomparable Rambla.

Next we toured the Palau Guell by Gaudi.  Absolutely amazing architecture and interior design, and signature mosaic roof design.

 







We ended our day in Barcelona on bikes.  We rented bikes and rode around the city, hailing back to the first time we rode bikes together in Berlin through the Brandenburg Gate on our European backpacking trip.

Alexi still loves driving the cars and trucks at the Festa Mayor in San Pol. And this year he had a blast riding bumper cars with David (this would NOT be allowed at theme parks in the USA!).

We enjoyed our annual walk around the beautiful Ronda, with gorgeous views of the Mediterranean.

Alexi had fun climbing the steps and attempting to open the door to nowhere (he kept trying with papi's key!), and reading on the Ronda.

Alexi enjoyed spending time with our very good German friends Nina and Sven and their daughter Ana.

For the first time this year, we took Alexi out on a paddle boat (barco de patines).  While mami and papi paddled with our feet, Alexi steered the boat.  He loved going down the slide in the boat into the Mediterranean!

David and Alexi went into town often, and Sharon joined them on trips to El Mercado and for our annual pizza dinner at Pizzeria Cibu.  This year El Mercado had one organic produce stand, which we shopped at frequently.










We had a wonderful vacation in San Feliu de Guixols.  Alexi says his favorite parts of summer are Spain, the beach, the pool and pastries!  We are truly blessed that Alexi gets to spend time in the place where David spent every summer of his childhood, creating his own special memories.