From old St Paul to the Tate Modern

Today, I took the Tube to the Barbican stop and visited Postman's Park, a little park with plaques dedicated to those who died saving another person. This has been one of my favorite places to come in London ever since I learned about it in my "London Life" class back in 1994.

(London Life was a cool class --- our professor was a historian who took us on walks through different parts of London and taught us obscure facts about seemingly ordinary things around us.)

Postman's Park is also near St. Paul's Cathedral, where Prince Charles had his first wedding to lady Diana Spencer in 1981. Part of the cathedral was destroyed in WW II during the Blitz on London (aka when London got bombed) and was therefore rebuilt in a slightly different color stone.

Another great thing about the Cathedral is that its acoustics are such that you can whisper on one side and hear someone on the other, as if they were standing righ tnext to you. Much like what JDM demonstrated to me in Grand Central Terminal when I got back to the USA (see "Can You hear Me Now?", March 2, 2005) .

Mainly, I use the crypt of the Cathdral to use the ladies' room. That part is still free.

A little ways away from St Paul's is the Millennium Bridge, built in 2000, that stretches across the Thames and ends at the doors of the tate Modern, a modern art museum which I also visited that day. And that, too, is free!!!!!

Hanging in St James Park

Back in London ---

I was in St. James Park in front of Buckingham Palace today and the most amazing wildfowl live there. And I don't mean the pigeons (although we certainly didn't lack for them either.)

There were ducks, terns and even pelicans who let people pet them right on their big heads! I got a very up-close shot of one pelican, he appears to be posing for the camera. What a ham!!

Malmo rocks

I really like Malmo. It is the 3rd largest city in Sweden. People here are nice too!!!

Can you believe it is freezing in Sweden and I left my hat and gloves in England? That WOULD happen!!!

But despite how cold it is, do you know what I see the citizens of Malmo do on this bright but cold Sunday morning? They go to outdoor ice-skating rinks! There are at least 2 of them within walking distance and they are full of very pink-faced people!

I watch from inside a cozy coffee shop where I have a white chocolate mocha. Hey -- to each their own.

On to Malmo!

I only discovered a few weeks ago that, in 2000, the Oresund bridge between Copenhagen and Malmo, Sweden (pronounced "MAHL-Mehr") was built. This bridge connects the two countries and cities, which are a mere 16 miles apart over an icy stretch of sea. In fact, you can take the train from Copenhagen airport.

So off I went, and it is a beautiful ride.

Speaking of beautiful, the Danish people all look like supermodels, even the train conductors! They are so tall, thin and blonde -- and nice!!! I have not met one mean person in Scandinavia!

I just hope our McGlobalization doesn't change how good-looking and nice they all are. In Morgan Spurlock's "Supersize Me!", he mentions that addiction to junk food changed his moods.

The Little Mermaid

I got up very early and visited Copenhagen's famed "Little Mermaid" statue. She is small (some say she should be called the "Really Little Mermaid" just so people get a sense of what they are about to see.) She kneels on a rock out on the ocean, gazing for a ship to return.

When I went to see her around sunrise, her rock was encrusted with ice.

She was put up there on Aug 23, 1913. She has unfortunately been kidnapped, beheaded and vandalized a number of times in the ensuing years. Some acts were not very violent --- in 2004, she was dressed in burqa.

McGlobalized

I had to ask for directions to my hotel a second time at a very nice coffee shop. I was instructed to walk down to City Hall and then I would see the major shopping street (This particular shopping street is one of the longest in Europe.)

I said I had never been to that shopping street, as it was my first time in Denmark.

The girl smiled and said "Turn left at the Burger King and 7-11. It runs in between them."

Oh my.

It occurs to me that I have not seen even one 7-11 in New York since I got here last May but in one day in Denmark, I counted 5. And they sold kebabs in them!!!!

Copenhagen, here I come!

Today I set off pretty early for a flight to Copenhagen, capital of Denmark.

I must say that Denmark is freezing but beautiful. And no one dressed their dog in a sweater! Amazing!

It is a big thing to bike in Copenhagen, there are bike lanes on the street (much like there are in Amsetrdam, and I wish we would incorporate that practice here in the USA. It would encourage people to use them because it is safer and would cut down on congestion and pollution.) You can rent a bike anywhere and drop it off elsewhere, kind of like ZipCar, except more environmentally friendly. I saw hundreds of bikes stacked up against each other when I exited the train station, right before I asked for directions to my hotel (Hotel City -- actually a Best Western) at the nearby Hotel Astoria!

I love art galleries

Especially when they are free!

My two favorite galleries in London are the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. They are attached to each other, and are at the very top of Trafalgar Square. The Tube station you need is Charing Cross, although I prefer to take Brit Rail in from Surrey (where my aunt and uncle live) and walk from Waterloo Station, across the bridge over the Thames and then up into the City.

These galleries are two of the best museums I have ever visited, although I will say that I like the National Portrait Gallery best. This has portraits of famous British people through the centuries, including an entire exhibit devoted to the Royal Family. Others include John Lennon, Kate Winslet, Margaret Thatcher, Dame Wendy Hiller, and Dame Elizabeth Taylor. There is also a very vivid oil painting of the Royal Family post-Diana (it was painted in 2000), capturing Harry and William as teenagers, with their father, grandmother and several corgi dogs.

This time around I visited the "Goddesses" exhibit (several photographs of famous women from the 1930s dressed up to emulate Greek godesses, usually in stunning shades of green) as well as "Portraits of Frida", photographs of artist Frida Kahlo from childhood on.

At the very top of the National Gallery is their cafe, which offers a stunning view of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.

The National Gallery has some favorite modern art -- including their new acquisitin, Van Gogh's "Two Crabs", which I currently have as my PC's backdrop. I also love his "Wheatfields", Seurat's "The Bathers" and Akseli Gallen-Kallela's "Lake Keitele".

Olympics, here we come!

I was enjoying the London 2012 display in the middle of London's Trafalgar Square. Both London and New York have a bid to host the 2012 Olympics and I have been very interested in seeing how the two different cities market their campaigns (especially in the subway.)

www.london2012.com

www.nyc2012.com

Other cities in the running are Paris, Madrid, and Moscow.

Safety first!

On my flight from New York to London, there was a cautionary sign in the airplane bathroom "Tossing any item besides tissue paper into the toilet can cause an external leakage and a safety hazard."

So ladies, discard those tampons properly.

An absolutely fabulous way to travel

I love the British sitcom "Absolutely Fabulous", featuring Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley as the aging frivolous fashionistas Edina and Patsy.

There is a great episode when Edina aka Eddie is leaving England to go to France. She snaps at her sensibel adult daughter Saffie that she has everything she needs to go to another country, thank you very much. Then she leaves the house, shutting the door.

She comes running in one second later, screaming "Tickets, money, passport!"

I do the same thing whenever I am getting set to travel internationally. I find it helpful to do the ridiculous little run (Eddie always DID wear impractical high-heeled shoes).

Leo's Place

I started my vacation with an exotic bus ride to faraway Boston. There, JAO and I ate at Leo's Place, at 35 JFK Street in Harvard Square (Cambridge, MA).

I first ate at Leo's Place in 1999 when I was in Boston on a business trip from Washington, DC. Since then, I have brought many people to this excellent restaurant. Leo apparently died many years ago, according to Ritchie (who worked with him and still works there). Ritchie went on to tell me that, over the years, Leo's Place is one of the few mom-and-pop enterprises in Harvard Square that has not been bought out by chain stores etc in response to the rising rents.

Leo's Place specializes in diner fare with a Greek twist. I especially like their chicken and/or lamb kebabs (but of course) which are served over rice with Greek salad and pita bread. Opa!

NYC to have a new slogan (from Yahoo.com)

NEW YORK - Forget "The Big Apple." New York now wants to be known as "The World's Second Home."

The city has filed an application to trademark the slogan, "The World's Second Home," giving the city exclusive rights to use it to promote business and tourism.

The phrase is likely to come up often as New York makes its push to host the 2012 Olympics.
If application No. 78484751 is accepted, the city would have exclusive rights to attach the phrase to a list of more than 200 products and services, according to Thursday's editions of the New York Times.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a self-made billionaire, has been much more aggressive about filing for city trademarks and patents than his predecessors. One such application includes licensing the phrase "Made in NY."

In the 1970s, the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau officially gave New York City the moniker "The Big Apple." Around the same time, the state took on the "I (Heart) NY" slogan.

I blogged too soon

In the space of 20 minutes, on the street in front of my place in Queens, I saw two little dogs dressed in sweaters. What's more, they were wearing hoodies.

He got his congas

On the E train to 42nd Street around 5pm, a man boarded the train and started playing the congas. Perhaps he went to Rincon Musical on Steinway Street? (See "Get Your Congas!" Feb 10, 2005.)

Love it!!!

Today at 7:15 am, I was at Queensboro Plaza waiting for the 7 train, when I saw something that defines what makes New York so great.

Two men in orange vests with the word "Contractor" on walked by. They were coworkers on their way to the job, talking companiably to each other.

One was a blue-eyed guy in a hard hat. The other was a Sikh man in a close-fitting turban (a hard hat can fit on top of it at the job.)

Viva Nueva York!! You rock!

92nd Street vs 92nd Street

The Queens Center Mall in Flushing, Queens is by 92nd Street in, well, Queens. The 92nd Street Y is by (of course) 92nd Street in Manhattan.

I have decided I like the Queens one a bit more than the Manhattan one. That may because I am originally from New Jersey and have a predisposition to malls. But more that I have an averson to sweatered dogs.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

I am wearing red in honor of this gray day of love (well, it's gray here in Queens.)

And I just received a beautiful red, pink and purple bouquet of lilies, roses and carnations! Yay!!!

The Gates

It was a gorgeous sunny day and thus the perfect time to stroll through Central Park checking out the Gates, an "intervention", as stated by its creators, the husband-and-wife team of Christ and Jean-Cluade (no last names, natch.)

The Gates is 23 miles of pedestrian walkway with a saffron fabric overhang (actually, I think "orange" is more accurate but the artists insist in "saffron".) It is especially cool when you stand up on a hill and look downwards, especially when the wind is blowing, because then you can see all the fabric just blowing in the breeze and winding all through the park.

The artists unveiled it Saturday Feb 12 and it is only up for 2 weeks.They said they did that to make February cheerier. It worked, as far as I am concerned!!!

A room with a view (or A View from the Bridge)

My neighborhood in Queens borders the East River. Directly across the river I can see the Upper East Side (aka location of snotty Y.) Meaning -- that fabulous view they pay so much money for is me and my Queens compatriots. And our sweaterless dogs.

Viva las Queens!!

A hypoallergenic daughter

Yesterday I went to a new doctor's office -- I didn't have one yet in New York and it was about time for a check-up. I chose one who took my insurance a few blocks from my place in Astoria.

The doctor had a little Yorkshire terrier whom he referred to as "his daughter." Ha. He also told me that Yorkshire terriers are hypoallergenic because they don't shed.

You learn something new every day!!!

Get your congas!!!

Rincon Musical on Steinway Street is having a Conga Clearance Sale.

So now you know.

It is February 9th ....

... and the Christmas wreath decorating the iron gate on the 3800 block of Steinway Street is still there (see "It's October 1st ...." Oct 1, 2004).

Methinks that it is ALWAYS there!!!

Check back here in March.

A tree grows on the subway

Like a soldier in MacBeth, some guy on the subway was carrying a tree so big it looked like the tree was riding the subway alone.

Ah, rush hour!

A very well-traveled book

In April 2004, I bought the book "The Bookseller of Kabul" from the Harvard Coop in Cambridge, MA.

In May, I moved to Edison, NJ and read it on the train while I commuted to my job in Queens, NY.

When I finished, I gave it to my parents in Trenton, NJ.

Who took it with them to Karachi, Pakistan in December 2004 -- where they left it.

A real clown on the subway

And I mean that literally. at 4:50 pm on the N train into Manhattan, a clown was on the train. He had the full clown-makeup with a red rubber nose, a white and red outfit complete with a red bowler hat with a white daisy springing out of it.

My favorite places outside of NYC

I've been to a lot of places, but these are my favorites:

1. New Haven, CT - gorgeous city, Yale University, full of energy -- and home to my fabulous pal, HB!

2. Charleston, SC -- beautiful architecture, delicious food, palm trees, friendly people

3. Washington, DC - Capitol of the free world, free admission to many museums and monuments, Georgetown, Dupont Circle, Admas-Morgan and my home for 10 years!

4. London - a bit "Starbucks-ized" since I lived there in 1994, but still a top destination because I absolutely love their outlook on life, and home to my fabulous cousin SQ!

5. Rome - excellent food, the Vatican, gelato and espresso, and everything you see is so beautiful, it almost hurts your eyes.

6. Madrid - so warm and beautiful, with some damn great nightlife, I would live there!

7. New Orleans, LA - 24 Hour beignets and chicory coffee at the famed Cafe Du Monde, lush tropical vibe, jazz, hot Cajun food and all the debauchery of Bourbon Street!

8. Rio de Janeiro - the famed Copacobana Beach alone is worth the visit! It is the hottest spot south of Havana! (because it is not the one of which Barry Manilow sings.)

9. Puerto Rico - It's in the Carribbean, colorful, beautiful and yet you can still make domestic calls from your cell phone and there is no need to change your money into another currency. Viva Puerto Rico!!!

Let's see if Copenhagen will make the list when I visit it in a few weeks!

A new circle of hell

Let's just call it, oh, the 4 train during rush hour.

Last week, I was waiting for the 4 train so I could go to the Y. It is extremely packed during rush hour and today was no exception. I let two such trains pass me so the platform could empty out a bit before I tried to board.

When the third train entered the station, I noticed it was so packed inside that one girl was holding herself steady by placing her palm with her paperback still in it against the train door. She did this in such a way that I could clearly see what she was reading.

Quite fittingly, it was Dante's "Inferno".

Please don't cry!

I had post-nasal drip (how attractive) as I was walking down 19th Street last night around 8:30 pm. At the corner of 19th Street and 6th Avenue, I noticed a homeless man sleeping. I wiped my nose and felt relieved for him that it was such a mild night.

Another homeless man next to him smiled at me and said "Please don't cry! He is still alive."

Happy Groundhog's Day

Looks like the rodent says 6 more weeks of winter.

I wonder if CSF would count a groundhog as a murderer or doctor in the rodent world. Hmmmmm ......

A postcard view in Long Island City

Today I had to go to a mandatory training from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The training center is the ConEdison Center (ConED is the gas and electric company.)

They have a beautiful facility in the Long Island City section of Queens (next to Astoria). The center is almost under the Queensborough Bridge, and borders the East River so you can see all of the skyline up close, including the famed Empire State and Chrysler buildings. I got to see these at sunrise as I had to be there BY 7 am!!!