Portugal 2013

Our summer vacation this year first took us to Portugal, to the cities of Lisbon and Sintra.  It was Mateo's first time on an airplane and traveling internationally.  Alexi is a seasoned traveler and picked up many Portugese words on our travels.

After nearly missing our connection from London to Lisbon, and almost having to wait on line 2 hours to pick up our rental car, we made it to Portugal.  Our first stop was a place called Kidzania, a fictitious town run by children.  Alexi had a really great time there and especially enjoyed getting to do his dream job of being a firefighter and working in a grocery store as a checkout clerk.

We spent an entire day in Sintra and had a fabulous day there.  In the morning we visited Cabo da Roca, which is the westernmost point in Europe with a great view of the cliffs and Atlantic Ocean.

We toured the Moorish ruins and visited the Pena Palace in Sintra.  Alexi and Mami walked all along the walls of the Moorish ruins and climbed to the top of lookout towers for beautiful views while Mateo and Papi took things in at ground level.

We discovered a stellar vegetarian restaurant called Soul Food.  It is run by an ex-pat in the backyard of her home in Sintra.  We sat on cushions on the lawn and had an absolutely scrumptuous vegan meal.

In Lisbon we visited Calouste Gulbenkian Art Museum.  Highlights included illuminated manuscripts of the Koran and Impressionist paintings.  The concierge from our hotel joked with David that it is better to have a wife who loves to go museum hopping than who loves to go shopping!

Both children had a fabulous time in Portugal.  Mateo stayed in his very first hotel in Lisbon and Alexi got to photograph all the cool places we visited.

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!