THE BIG APPLE

NEW YORK - MAY 2007

On our way back from Ann Arbor we made a 36-hour stopover in New York. Not much time, but always a memorable experience!


"INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL - This time we stayed again at The Barclay on 48th Street; a nice room, as always!"


"W - LEXINGTON"


"PARADE - National Day of Turkey, I believe"


"TWO RECTOR STREET - According to the real estate publicity, this 26-story building «is a 410,000 square-foot Class A office building occupying the full blockfront on Rector Street between Greenwich Street and Trinity Place, above the land marked Trinity Church and offering tenants tremendous views, light and air. The Two Rector Street building in 2007 was home to Studio Daniel Libeskind, LLC; Barry McTiernan & Moore; Morris, Duffy, Alonso & Faley LLP; Popkin Software; and Faust, Goetz, Schenker & Blee»"


"TRINITY CHURCH - There have been three Trinity Church buildings at its present location. The current church was consecrated on Ascension Day in 1846, and at that time its Neo-Gothic spire dominated the skyline of lower Manhattan..."


"GROUND ZERO"


"WEST STREET"


"WORLD FINANCIAL CENTER"


"NEW JERSEY"


"BATTERY PARK CITY"


"MUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGE"



"STROLLING - The Promenade at Battery Park City"


"THE SPHERE"


"FRAMED"

FRANKFURT AM MAIN

ON THE WAY TO KOBLENZ - DECEMBER 2005

I was in Frankfurt many times, mostly to attend meetings at the European Monetary Institute or at its successor, the European Central Bank (to see how unsure was the building of such a body, at least from an American perspective, just read Allan Greenspan's preface to his book «The Age of Turbulence»).

This time, the reason to go was much more sympathetic: Our daughter, while we were in Bali, moved to Germany to spend one semester at the WHU (Wissenschaftliche Hochschule für Unternehmensführung ) - Otto-Beisheim School of Management. The move, by the end of August 2005, was due to the Erasmus Programme, a programme to encourage and support academic mobility of higher education students within the European Union. The WHU has its basis in Vallendar, a small village by the Rhine, quite near to Koblenz, and Di’s stay gave rise to her blog – Bloguendar! (Amazingly enough, the WHU has an Executive MBA Programme together with the Kellogg School of Management (established in 1908 at Evanston, Illinois, USA, and affiliated with the Northwestern University. This MBA programme celebrates its 10th Anniversary in Frankfurt, this weekend – 28/29 September 2007.

So, on our way to Koblenz, we spent one night in Frankfurt!



"MANHATTAN IN FRANKFURT - The European Central Bank building is the last tower towards the right-hand side at the first picture"



"INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL FRANKFURT - Most of the times, I stayed at the Steigenberger Frankfurter Hof Hotel, just around the corner to the EMI (today, to the ECB). But I also like the Intercontinental, not so close to the ECB, but with a great view towards either the city or the Rhine, and much more convenient to walk to the Main Railway Station"



"THE RHINE with a view of the Holbeinsteg, a pedestrian bridge - opened in 1990 - that allows you to reach the southern museum embankment. The golden spots on the pictures are a reflection of a lamp at the Intercontinental top floor business lounge"


"HAUPTBAHNHOF - As seen from the First Class Lounge! The train was late, so we had to spend our time somewhere..."

GOODBYE BALI

NUSA DUA, SOUTHERN BALI - SEPTEMBER 2005

After some days touring Bali, we settled down in Southern Bali and spent more than a week in Nusa Dua, home to some of the most luxurious hotels in the world. Clear water and stretches of white sandy beach (anyhow not comparable to Algarve; actually the beach deals very badly with the low tide...) makes Nusa Dua a fantastic place for a pleasant holiday!


"ROOM 4035 at the Club Med was our basis. Just behind the Samuh Temple, quite close to the beach, was quite comfortable. The yellow Moleskine from the Van Gogh Museum looks great on this picture..."


"NUSA DUA BEACH HOTEL - The palace, which has welcomed Kings and Queens, Presidents and Prime Ministers, and other tourists on package holidays, has more than 93 thousand square metres of gardens providing guests and visitors with an oasis of space and tranquillity"


"MELIA BALI is nestled amidst a luxurious garden with a large lagoon style swimming pool. But the top at the resort are the Garden Villas, just behind the wall seen on this picture"


"SHERATON - The Laguna Resort is another of the outstanding hotels in Nusa Dua"



"SUNSET SWIM"



"KUTA BEACH, with its spectacular sunsets, is also the centre of night life in Southern Bali and a huge open air shopping mall, with shops, boutiques, and galleries. The beach of Kuta was one of the first beaches to be discovered by tourists. It's said at Sally's Place that «only a few years ago this was a dismal area of dilapidated stalls selling cheap tourist junk. The smell was then awful, a combination of open sewers and rotting refuse. Today the stalls are still there. But the open drains have become proper underground sewerage lines». At least, I didn't notice it there (don’t mention other sites in Bali). The beach is fenced, on the south side, by the airport’s runway, and stretches as far north as you can see"



"INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL - Not in Nusa Dua, but still a wonderful Hotel with 500 metres of a secluded white-sand beach"



"BIRTHDAY PARTY, with G.O.(s) and G.M.(s): Cake and Speech!"



"ARCHERY - Gold Medal Team!"


"AQUAGYM – Last day, whole group picture"



"FAREWELL PARTY - Blur pictures, as photographers had had too much wine..."




"FAREWELL DANCES - It seems there are over 1000 troupes dancing in Bali, mostly in the villages. It is said that dancers on Bali perform for the pleasure of the gods, prestige, and the entertainment of friends and family. That's what these dancers did on our farewell night!"

BACK TO SANTIAGO, CHILE!

RETURNING HOME - SEPTEMBER 2004

Santiago, Chile is a very nice town, as I've already mentioned on the first post of the 2004 holidays. However, when coming back home, my mood is always somewhat more depressing than while going out...


"EARLY MORNING CHECK-IN - The Intercontinental Hotel is a quite nice hotel (no publicity needed) at Las Condes"


"LA MONEDA, a neo-classical building from Joaquin Toesca and Agustin Cavallero, which is the Seat of Chilean Government since 1922, and the Presidential Palace. Here we have a view from Constitution Square"


"SALVADOR ALLENDE GOSSENS (1908-1973) was the first socialist president of Chile. Born in an upper middle class family, he became involved in politics at the University. After completing his medical studies, he was elected to the Congress, served as minister of health, and became leader of the Socialist Party in 1942. In 1970, Allende won the presidency, and started what he named the «Chilean Road» to socialism. However, Allende had many internal and foreign opponents, and on September 11, 1973, he was overthrown in a violent military coup led by Pinochet. At the end of the day, Allende was found dead, and many assert that he was assassinated by the invading soldiers of the La Moneda Palace. Once democracy was re-established, he got his statue in front of La Moneda"





"ART EXHIBITION at La Moneda. Today, one can access the Palace from the Constitution Square, and see its interior gardens, as well as some permanent or temporary exhibitions of contemporary sculpture"


"AHUMADA STREET is an attractive pedestrian walkway in the heart of downtown Santiago that leads into the Plaza de Armas. Some nice buildings, shopping passages, and coffee shops help to create an interesting environment"


"MUSICIANS - The atmosphere of Ahumada Street changes radically on weekends, when office workers give way to street performers"


"PUENTE STREET - Another quite interesting pedestrian street, on the other side of Plaza the Armas"


"THE (FORMER) NATIONAL CONGRESS HOUSE was completed in 1876. Congress met in this building until Allende was overthrown by the September 11, 2003, military coup, when it was moved to Valparaíso. The building was declared a national monument in 1976 and housed the ministry of foreign affairs between 1990 and 2006. On January 26, 2006 the Chamber of Deputies recovered its old offices"


"PLAZA D'ARMAS WEEK-END MARKET - Anything to sell or buy"



"CATHEDRAL - The building - the fifth on the site, since the previous four were destroyed either by the Mapuche (the first) or by earthquakes and fires - was built between 1748 and 1775. Joaquin Toesca intervened in its restoration giving architectural unity to the Cathedral, blending both classical and baroque characteristics"


"MONUMENT TO THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE - The Plaza de Armas was designed by Pedro de Valdivia, and it is considered the heart of the city with the Cathedral, the Royal Court, the Central Post Office and this unique sculpture celebrating Chile's Indian cultures and peoples"




"YOUNG ARTISTS - Starting the festivities of the National Day. Actually, Chile got its Independence on September 18, 1810, and every year Chileans celebrate their national day from September 17 until September 19"


"CHILEAN PRIDE - On September 17th, 2004, the National Day was approaching"