Goa beach

I was still not feeling great at this point, but Charles and I sat at the beach and drank some 7 Up.

Kenilworth Beach resort in Goa

Here is the lobby of our hotel in Goa, a beach town on the coast of India towards the south. There are a lot of tourists from all over here. It's nice and tropical and this feels like vacation.

Fancy dinner at Amber Fort

One night in Jaipur, Charles surprised me with a fancy dinner in a restaurant within Amber Fort, a major landmark and attraction in that town.

The place was beautiful with elegant Indian decor and this was the pic of my non-veg platter!

Hyderabad

Well, we have been in Hyderabad for a few days now and tomorrow is the wedding for Christie and Mahesh. Today we saw the pre-wedding ceremonies at Mahesh's house. We got some fun henna art on our hands which is traditional for weddings here and Mahesh's mom hosted about 50 people at her house today.

We will wear the sarees we bought tomorrow at the actual wedding. After this, we will go on to Goa for some relaxing by the beach!

I think many of us are actually getting used to India at this point. We no longer notice the complete lack of order on the roads or people peeing all along the sidewalks. However, after a week of being constantly bloated, I think Charles and I will be going to the Hard Rock Cafe in Hyderabad for some American food.

Taj Mahal!

Charles and I got a "professional photographer" to take our pic in front of the Taj Mahal. It was almost worth the $2 for that photo to get put in the most ridiculous pose ever!

In India!

Made it to India safely and with our bags. It was about two days of travel to get here, but it is cool! Have not done much today yet in Delhi but we are going to dinner tonight and to the Taj Mahal tomorrow!

Wedding in Cleveland

This weekend my friends Christie and Mahesh were married in Cleveland.

Here is a pic of us outside of the church after the ceremony. They look so happy!

Kim and the Mets Apple

They still have the apple, but no more top hat... it's just not the same!

Citi field

Here is a pic from our great seats at citi field. Next time I will try
out the club lounge that we have access. I'll be going to the
rescheduled game on sept 8th.

Water damage

The storm was not so bad, but I do have leaks from my skylight. Here
is a pic of my leaking roof.

Bracing for Irene

OK, well after multiple calls and texts from all corners of the US, I decided that some kind of preparedness had to happen on my part. I took in a Mets game on Friday and afterwards stocked up on some necessities: bottled water and Chex Mix and Kettle Korn.

Yes, it is as if I am hosting a 3rd grade slumber party, but it just might be good to be disconnected and reading a good book. Will let you know how it goes!

Walk of the Stars

Poor Glenn Miller's had a crack in his. But this was pretty cool to see!

The Hollywood sign!

Gruemmans Chinese Theater

I randomly went to LA this weekend. Was very excited to see the walk of the stars and the Chinese theater in Hollywood!

Cubs!

Nosebleed seats, but it was still a fun birthday!

Birthday cubs game

Unexpectedly, our partner team have us free tickets to the cubs game tonight. Will try to blog some pics. What a birthday surprise!

There's no place like home

It feels so good to be back in nyc. I will never take us citizenship for granted ever again!

Dinner in france

I had no idea what I ordered for dinner but there is no way in hell that I am eating this. Am ready to come back stateside.

The end

Sitting in a french cafe aftering being denied entry into the UK, I am feeling very disenchanted much like Hemingway would. I return to the US via Brussels next week and will very much appreciate entering the US not feeling like a criminal. It was good while it lasted, but the party is over.

Spain- Madrid and Segovia

I spent this weekend in Spain and visited my friend Chad and his wife Cari who live there. We had a fantastic time as they showed me the sights and some hip places in Madrid. We then took a day trip to Segovia to see the ancient aquaducts.


This was the lunch we had in the Market of San Miguel. Cheese, olives, bread and wine (and diet coke).












Chad had a connection to the Westin Palace Hotel where I stayed and they hooked me up with an amazing room upgrade and a welcome platter upon my arrival!













Here is the cathedral in Segovia. Pretty impressive architecture.


















Here we are by the acquaduct.




















More aquaduct.



















This was a picture from the market in Madrid. It was super packed, but each plate full of food cost around 5-10 euros.

Segovia

My friends and I had a traditional lunch in segovia spain- roasted pig. You can see the tag still in the ear on my plate. Talk about fresh!

Astronomical clock

This is the thing to see in Prague. It will ring soon!

Spa temple at the love shack

One of the German plants we visited near Dresden put us up in a hotel and spa temple. This is the 3 floor hot tub. Unfortunately, none of us had bathing suits and we checked in around 11PM. We just checked in, went to bed and were out by 8 the next morning.

I would have liked to lounge around the wood fired sauna that had 12 lounge chairs! But I think I deserve a massage this weekend in Prague.

Cafe Cafe

So my first night in Prague, I ask my very "trendy" concierge where to go to eat. He sends me to the it place Cafe Cafe. I sit drinking a latte thinking that the Czech men are quite striking and that this country really likes Shakira and Beyonce. Then I read the back of my waiter's shirt and it reads "straight friendly." This is a gay bar!

Fish and chips!

It has been a month since arrival, but I have finally gotten fish and chips for dinner. I am also notice that 99% of my blog posts pertain to food. Oops!

Borough market

I've never been here before, but its a weekend fresh food market. Of note is the kangaroo meat burgers!

Weekend in Brussels

Here is the traditional dish moules frites. Mussels in brussels! Mmmm!

Ghent Pics

On Valentine's Day, my team and I went out for dinner and had waffles for dessert!



I brought my good camera to Ghent this week and took this shot by the water right outside of our hotel. This is the scene that made me realize all this travel was real!

Tayyabs

We went to the most acclaimed pakistani restaurant in london tonight. Yummy and cheap!

Another pic from my window!

Marriott gold status

Very rarely do I get giddy over a hotel but tonight I was SERIOUSLY upgraded with a canal side view in ghent. Here it is!

Electric cinema

Leather couches and a bar for the movie theater!

No 9 bus!

Best seat on the bus though I feel like I'm in the driver's seat.

Canals in Ghent

This is my life monday through thursday. Not too shabby,eh?

3 gbp cream tea

Waiting in kings cross station, I had a cream tea snack for around 6 dollars. Clotted cream and all!

Books about books section

Only in England....

One week down

I can't believe it has been exactly one week since I have first arrived in London. It feels like it has been a month. This week we stayed in Ghent, Belgium to meet with our client and then we came back to London for the weekend.



Here is a pic of me and some coworkers going out to explore Ghent after work. I actually found a cherry beer that I can drink!



I was too lazy to go out for breakfast this morning, so I just ordered room service for breakfast. YUM!

Made it Safely!

Flight to London on Saturday night went well! I had a whole row to myself and I was able to entirely stretch out and sleep for 5 hours straight.

Even though these past few days have been hectic in moving, now that I am here I feel so happy to be back. My classmates Chris and Nilah came to meet me at my hotel and we just walked around and shopped all day and we are about to go out for a pub dinner.

I catch the early morning Eurostar to France tomorrow morning and will meet my team for the first time. Will write more soon!

Off to Belgium!

Well, I didn't want to make a big deal of this before, but things have shaped up enough that I can now announce that I am being staffed on a new project that will have me splitting my time between Belgium and London for about 6 months starting Feb 1!

I may just gain a million pounds going to live in the land of waffles, chocolates, fries and beer! It will be hard work, but WELL worth the experience!

Radio city

Went last week. Don't think I'll eer have to go again, but glad I've
seen it once in my lifetime!