Philly rolls out the red carpet

New and old

Cheese, wine and beach in the Hamptons

First trip to the Hamptons (posh part of Long Island), in a tour organized by a cheesemonger in the Essex Street Market (and spotted by Danielle and Matt). Two hour bus trip out to a vineyard, quick tour then down to the serious business of drinking wine and eating cheese. Then a swing by a dairy farm where they make cheese (as well as pigs and turkeys) and then on to the beach at Southampton. What a day!

Two oceans in two weeks

Two oceans in two weeks; sunset over the Pacific and sunrise (well, ok, slightly after sunrise) on the Caribbean.

Two sides of tourism

Two sides of tourism in Costa Rica - one week in a top notch resort, and one week in a little cheapo posada in a tiny little village. Is staying at one being a better tourist than at the other? I went with the impression that there was a difference; I come away wondering whether there's that much difference after all.

Up front again

On holiday in Costa Rica- and jumping on an air taxi to cut across some corners. It's been years since I was in the cockpit!!

Blue

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em

Opa opa!

Copa America is upon us and Uruguay are having a fairly slow start, as usual, losing badly (0-3) to Peru and barely beating Bolivia 1-0. Chile got off to a great start beating Ecuador 3-2 from behind but then went down 0-3 to Brazil, which was itself recovering from a 0-2 whipping by Mexico. All up in the air at the moment!!! Fortunately all the matches are on the Spanish television channels here in the U.S., but I'm also following it (and contributing a bit) here.

Holiday

Holiday in three weeks!!!! I can't wait!!!!

Joisey City

We've just spent the weekend in Jersey City, a flat swap with a friend who was keen to come and live in the city. For us, it was great to be able to live somewhere big enough to swing a cat in, and be able to slam a few doors. I could wander round in the morning without having to disturb Macarena! Very civilized... There's a great curry alley just around the corner from where we were staying, which did us a roghan josh that lasted most of the weekend. We walked to Lincoln Park (past the cemetery, which was entirely made up of Irish and Italians) on Saturday, which was a great little place and absolutely empty! Most New York parks are jam packed and you need to perch somewhere in the masses. This was was wide open! We stretched out and watched some cricket, which was being played on one of the baseball diamonds. For the bounce, you know. On Sunday, we have a bbq in the back yard, which was the most civilized thing we've done in ages. And then the path back into town, and back to 5th Ave. That's not bad, really.

Rabbit

Thursday night means theatre night, at least it did tonight. We went to see Rabbit, by Nina Raine, at Anthony's instigation, as a mate of his, Alan, is one of the actors. Thoroughly enjoyed it, was quite nostalgic for a British pub, especially the swearing. Apparently they've had to tone down the swearing 'cause the U.S. audience isn't entirely used to it! It was a good small theater, seemed like a good crowd and the play and acting was great. Alan took us along to a party for another play that opened that night, Alan Ayckbourn's Intimate Exchanges. We drank wine, and I talked rubbish. Perfect night out.

Band night

Had to summon up plenty of willpower Wednesday but I went along to see Doubletruck, starring a friend, at Lit Lounge. They kicked off the show, did a 30 minute gig, and then there were a couple of other great bands after them that were great. Can't remember the name of the first one, but the second one was The Press. Well worth a listen! I enjoy going along to these little bars and listening to these mad people willing to put it all out there.....

more Vermont

Vermont

Spent the long weekend (Memorial Day, which is like Rememberance Day) up at a ski lodge in Vermont. Of course, it was out of season, but it was great to get out of New York and into the countryside. Mack - a former colleague - and his wife Julie are members of the ski club, which owns this fantastic house in Pittsford, a small town in eastern Vermont. We drove up Friday - quite a hike, about five hours - and then Saturday went for a walk up Pico, a mountain that is usually a ski slope - and therefore quite steep!! Barbecues in the evening with a few friends of Mack and Julie's, some volleyball, and then a picnic on Monday before heading back into the big manzana. Who knows, maybe this is the year to learn how to ski??!

Margarita and Barbi visiting

Margarita and Barbi were in town for a month, staying with Lucas. We had a few good nights out, including my birthday, and even managed dinner at home with Juan (John) Jones.

A classic birthday present - 1 year on

The Dirty Digger

Rupert Murdoch has made a bid for Dow Jones! He's been after the Wall Street Journal for years, and has finally made his move. Now we have to wait and see whether the Bancroft family want to sell. Could be good for me, could be bad. Received wisdom has it that the Newswires could be an important part of feeding Murdoch's news empire, in which case we could see some investment and expansion. Or else he may come in hacking, which wouldn't be as pleasant. Let the uncertainty begin!

Ruskins View

Me and Mum, with the view sort of behind us....

Eating's our specialty