NYDiscovery

Good-bye 2008, you were a good one!

With less than 8 hours to go, 2008 is clearly winding down, making room for 2009. Looking back, I'd say I particularly liked that one despite my  accident.

We were off to a rough start, 2008 and I, as it is usually the case, because I dislike January and February that much. For 2009, January is filled with already 5 concerts to hopefully ease the pain a bit, but January 2008 was the usual crappy, cold winter month with the exception that I could finally hire Ninash which still makes me happy.

In February, Oliver and I took on a gigantic project: remodeling our master bedroom! We got rid of our old sleeping sofa, painted the room ourselves - bright yellow! Bought a very nice new bed, a mattress, a new desk, chair, etc. and completely remodeled the room. It was so worth it and still is! So, February with all the yellow was already brighter than usual.

However, I didn't like my job situation too much. Jobwise okay but not the office politics and the general outlook. So I was pursuing a couple of opportunities...

In April, you can tell that Spring is in the air and by then, my mood changes and everything's getting better again.

May comes and we're going to a lot of concerts, traveling to Germany and preparing for Oliver's birthday. We had a big party on June 1st and all friends - with the exception of a few - were in New York, including his Dad, to celebrate with him.

We're digging summer. June, July, August - lots of concerts, open air dinners, some brief vacation at the beach in Montauk. Oh, not to forget our old friend Volkmar's visit who was on a business trip in New Jersey for 3 weeks, which gave us plenty of opportunities to hang out together. It felt so good to do things with an old friend!

September comes and with that not only the US Open (I've seen a Roger Federer game!!!) but some guests from Germany: Chrissi und Janina from Hamburg and Mandy and Jacko from Berlin. What fun it is to show friends our city! It's also fun to hang out with friends in Montauk, even though it's rainy. We've had a great time with Sue & Pete and Bill & Mike.

While it usually is my favorite month of the year, October turned out to be a bit too adventurous! The days up to my birthday were fantastic, then some big news, then my birthday and the day after my accident! While my head - thank the Lord! - is healed again, my right shoulder isn't yet. The comforting news however is that it's getting better. Slowly. But steadily. Yes, a lot of things happened in October and most of the events were positive like a having been promoted to Head of Community for fotolog.com, the company I am with and the community I am caring for more than 4.5 years.

November held probably the biggest highlight of 2008: our wedding anniversary cruise! 8 days on board the QM2, starting from New York City, cruising the Caribbean with final destination Fort Lauderdale. We loved it so much that we're determined to not only do this cruise every milestone anniversary but in 2009 - if in any way possible! There was another highlight of course: the election of Barrack Obama as the next US president. Let's get back the good things that America and its people stood and hopefully soon again stand for!!!

Always a fantastic month is December and this time especially with my Dad's 70th birthday surprise party! Not only did we have a great time with my family in the South of Germany but with our friends in Munich too. It felt so good to see everybody again: my sister Biggi, her boyfriend, Andrea, Elena, Fiona, Martina, Liza, Nicole, Volker, Oliver's Mom and as said my Mom and Dad.

The last couple of days in New York City could not have been any better. Oliver and I enjoyed a quiet Christmas Eve where we dressed up nicely and had a fun picture session. The next day, we were partying at Yvette's place with Melissa, Itzik and other friends. The day after that, Lani and Richard had dinner with us. Yesterday, we might with Jennifer and Bryan from Hong Kong who were on a short visit in New York and tonight we'll celebrate with Bill and Mike at Rosa Mexicano.

So, when I say that 2008 was particularly nice, then because of all of the above and so much more that I currently cannot think of.

Thanks and good-bye 2008. Welcome 2009!

Happy New Year everybody!

Queen Mary 2: Is it worth it?

 The WiFi Internet at sea is not yet reliable on the QM2: after working for a day, it shut down completely last Friday, so I could post no further stories or pictures right from the ocean. I'm sure this will have improved when we board the next time.
Yes, we're pretty sure that we're doing the QM2 again as soon as we could: may be a transatlantic crossing or another Caribbean voyage. Or the world cruise, if we manage to get our hands on 100 grand and three month off from work. So what's so great on a cruise on the QM2 (no idea how much this applies to other than Cunard ships):

• I love the sea and there's no way to be closer to the sea than in a big ship. You can't jump in, but you can fill your view with nothing than waves and sky.
• I love eating and there's hardly a place where you get constantly as much excellent food as you want. Of course, this is also a very good exercise in self-restriction.
• There's no place where guests are continuously treated so well. Hotels with that kind of standard are much more expensive and to be treated better than cattle on an airplane you have to fly business (where a single ticket for one flight costs easily more than a one week cruise for two)
• QM2 is for adults what Disneyworld is for kids. You enter a world where things are as you wish they were in reality and it gives you a fictional social status that is very difficult or even impossible to reach in real life these days.
• People are interesting on a ship. We've met a lot of people we had a great time with and none of them we would have met in New York, simply because our paths wouldn't have crossed in NYC
• I cannot remember the last time I was bored, because just hanging on to my thoughts entertains me quite well (especially when looking at the open sea), but if you need more stimulation, then QM2 may not be for you as entertainment is a little quaint (which can be exciting by itself). But there's a huge casino on board and for many people this is the pinnacle of having a good time. Of course that you can get cheaper in Vegas or AC.

So we had a great time and if you agree with all or most of the points above, you will have one, too.

Caribbean Cruise Day 5: Bonaire

Finally the Internet service worked everywhere in the ship. This is actually pretty awesome: no matter where the QM2 is, you have full connection to the web from your cabin via WiFi. It is also expensive: the 2 hour package goes for around $50, but I'm too much a geek to let this go. And next time (starting with the 3rd Cunard voyage, two hours are free). This is a brand new service and unfortunately they had to iron out the kinks, so my plan to give live coverage from the ocean was foiled. Anyway, this day QM2 docked in Bonaire, an island, I have to admit, I didn't know before we booked this vacation. The main attraction of Bonnaire is first scuba diving, second scuba diving and maybe also a little scuba diving. So expectations were low, but we actually loved the island. First, people there run shops or booths on a little market and sell nice things, rather then running after you and pushing for a sell. Second, we booked a very nice sailing tour on the Bowalie, a small yacht run by a Dutch couple. They arrived on the island two years ago, after they bought the boat on the Dutch version of eBay and started a sailing charter business without having the slightest idea about sailing. Well, that got us thinking... Also we met a German man, who traveled in the Queen's Grill accommodations (the first class in the QM2 hierarchy). He got us thinking, too: maybe we need to invest some more into our next cruise. Before we sailed off, we had some beers at a local beach bar and had a rare moment of utter relaxation: looking at the sea, sipping a bottle of beer (Polar, the Venezuelan brand that is very popular on Bonaire) and know that we have to do only a few steps back into the comfort and privacy of our stateroom. And that is addictive.

Caribbean Cruise Day 4: Grenada

Grenada is a beautiful island with a very pretty main city St. Georges. The QM2 cannot dock directly, so they establish a tender service that seem to run more frequently than the New York subway. The tender brought us right to the center of the town instead to the cruise harbor, which may have saved us from a St. Kitts like experience. Unfortunately, as in most Caribbean islands, it's almost impossible to walk around town without constantly being asked to buy something. People are friendly there, but I can't shake of the feeling that every friendly word has a price, so we ended up hasting along the waterfront before we settled in a bar for a beer.
Now this was a nice place: an airy room, cooled by fans and a view on the harbor. We ordered Carib beer and just wanted to sit there and enjoy the atmosphere. Unfortunately a guy with a guitar thought that us and the other guests need some entertainment (for money, I suppose). Anyway, we did a tour across the island, which looks very neat and was buzzing with kids in school uniforms. It ended on a pond in the rainforest, whose water has healing powers (and, disturbingly, millipedes swimming in there).
Back on board we faced a dilemma, typical for a cruise: we didn't want to miss the dinner at the Britannia Club, but also join the Caribbean deck party with buffet. Means eating twice. Whatever, we're not doing this every day.

Caribbean Cruise Day 3: St. Kitts

St. Kitts has 40,000 inhabitants and when Queen Mary 2 and the Emerald Princess dock in its harbor they are probably raising the population by 20%. Seeing those two mega cruise ships next to each other docked on a narrow pier. So it's not surprising that St. Kitts built an entire village just for cruise passengers, which is about as authentic as the area around Pirates of the Caribbean in Disneyworld. Somehow, shopping diamonds is big in St. Kitts, so most of the shops are jewelers accompanied by the usual souvenir shops.
We booked a tour that combined snorkeling and kayaking with a nice drive over the island. We had a look at the new Marriot resort, which looks as oversized on the island as the QM2. Other than that St. Kitts is one of the unfortunate Caribbean island, where nature was mostly destroyed to make room for sugar plantations that don't exist anymore.
In the end there was not real snorkeling, because of low visibility under water and the kayaking ended on a rough stretch of pebble beach, far from the Caribbean dream beach we hoped to see.
Anyway, back on board we discovered yet another place to eat and drink on deck 13 and the beauty of the sail-away parties: live music while the island fades away under a beautiful sunset. A great photo opportunity.

Caribbean Cruise Day 1 & 2: At Sea

We're here for the sea days. The Islands are certainly nice to visit, but we've been to the Caribbean before and there's not so much difference between them. At least not if you're only stay for a day.
Our voyage includes four sea days, two in the beginning and two in the end. Coming from New York, the weather on the first two days was rather wintery, although it improved quickly, so we could outside without freezing. At the sea was rough, gale force 9 at some times, which makes even a huge ship like the QM2 swaying. But in general nothing to worry about.
I heard people saying that cruises and especially days on sea are boring, but frankly I can't remember when I was bored the last time. Even if there was absolutely nothing to do I would pretty much enjoy, well, doing nothing. But of course the ship is full of activities:

• A gym, which is, as far as I can tell, pretty good. I've never been in a gym before, so it was pretty much fund to try one of the machines and realize how much easier it is to consume calories than to burn them
• Consuming calories is the center piece of the cruise. On deck 7 there's the Kings Court, some kind of mega-cafeteria where there's always served something.
• There's a lot of pools, but pools are for kids. There are very few children on board, but they evenly distribute on all four pools and make them their own.
• At the jacuzzi we met a children clothes designer from New York who agreed with us that we're living in the greatest city on earth. The other people were quiet an annoyed.
• There are many ways to have dinner, but going to the grand dining rooms is the real thing. We had a great time with two serial-cruising couples and don't say we just small-talked: one of our topics were near death experiences.
• There are many bars on board, most of them with live entertainment. We love the Commodore Club on deck 9, which has a special martini menu and a piano player.
• We also saw a show Rock @ the Opera, which was surprisingly good. The theatre on board is very sophisticated and they have pretty good dancers and singers.

I have no idea how one can get bored here.

Caribbean Cruis Day 0: Embarkation

Very well, we made it on the Queen Mary 2. Our first impressions:
Check-in to a ship is more pleasant that to an airplane, but there's still waiting. But we were almost the last ones in the line, so coming after 3 pm should be best.
In the first minutes on board we had a woman complaining about manners on an international ship as opposed to an all-American cruise. I'm still happy about our new president...
The ship is huge and there's so much going on. In the evenings there are places where you can hear multiple live bands playing at the same time.
Having a balcony is great. So far it's been too cold to really enjoy it, but I could just sit there all time and watch the ocean.
Britannia Club, the single-seating corner of the main dining room is pretty cool. We can eat when we want to and it gives us the feeling not being at the bottom of the QM2 class hierarchy.
At dinner and show time the ship is almost deserted - good opportunity for great pictures.
In short and not surprisingly, we're loving it. More stories tomorrow.

And off we go...

New York is currently not really a fun place, with everybody talking about recession, lay-offs and the stock market. I think this is a good time to leave town for a while and hope that thing are looking better when we come back.
Of course, we will take a lot of pictures on our trip and I'll try to post some of them via satellite from the ship (if the costs are not outrageous). Elke would prefer to forget about the net for a while as well, but I'm far too geeky and too fascinated by the possibilities of the Internet that I could let go if I don't have to.
When we'll be back in a week, New York will be in full holiday mode, something to look forward as well. Starting December, we're planning a big photo project - more about that later.

The Countdown Begins...

One more week and we finally go off to a vacation for 10 days - something we haven't done in years. Yes, it feels a little decadent to go off to a luxury cruise, when everybody talks about recession, but it's our tenth anniversary. Also, since we experienced the last recession pretty much in full force, it would be nice if this one is a little easier on us.

Anyway, we're traveling to three Caribbean islands (not Barbados, pictured on the left), but I like cruises mostly, because I like ships and not because they are a convenient to see a bunch of places in a single vacation. That's why I'm looking forward the most to the sea days, which are really fantastic to just hang out.

And it's so cool to just ride a cab to the Brooklyn terminal. We leave our home and maybe an hour later we'll be in full vacation mode, probably sipping champaign and watching the New York Skyline.

At least that's how it's supposed to work out. We'll let you know.

Weekend Getaway in Montauk

A really cool thing with living in New York City is the proximity to some of the most beautiful places in the world. For example, it takes just around $30 for a train to Montauk and back. There you find a small fishing village, beautiful beaches and excellent restaurants. For sure, hotels know this and claim much of the money you saved with the cheap train ride, but all in all it's worth it.

Here are our favorite places:

The Ocean Beach Resort is located directly at the beach. Most of the rooms have ocean view and this means that you see nothing but the ocean and a little bit of beach. For all it's beauty the place doesn't cultivate much hospitality, but after our seventh stay there (and bringing in an increasing number of friends) we got finally a smile from the manager. Maybe five, ten times more and we're greeted with our names.

Shagwong Tavern, a simple fishermen's pub as pricey as a Manhattan destination restaurant. But the food is good, really good: we love the fresh fish and the excellent pasta.

No visit to Montauk without dinner at East by Northeast, which offers excellent Pan-Asian cuisine and great steaks. At the right time, one can enjoy the sunset over the lake. Don't miss the Peking Duck Tacos.

Nick's is the closest to a beach bar you can get in Montauk (and in a way in the entire US, at least the part we know). The bar itself faces  the street, but there's a deck with ocean view. Decent food makes it our favorite place for lunch.

There's more on the harbor side, which is difficult to reach without a car. I'll cover this the next time.