My mum and dad are already back home in Austria but I haven’t put all the pictures online yet. Here are a couple of more from the trip we did to Washington, DC. We took a rental car for 2 days and did a quick stop on the way in Philadelphia to have a look at the Independence Hall an the Liberty Bell. We were really lucky with the weather and my parents liked DC a lot – especially the clean and very reliable metro there.
Archive for April, 2009
Mum and Dad in Washington, DC
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009
Happy anniversary
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009Today it’s been 2 years already since I moved over to the States and it seems like yesterday. Time is really flying…
It’s about time to say thanks to all my friends and supporters out there. This entry is dedicated to you guys!
Mum and Dad in downtown
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009Yesterday we’ve spent one day visiting my office and taking a glance on Ground Zero. We also went to the WTC visitor center where we really got sad getting remembered what happened that day. After lunch we saw Trinity Church and Wall Street and then Mum got already too tired and we had to head back.
Mum and Dad on Broadway
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009Since it was raining yesterday morning we decided to go to the Metropolitan Museum and spent the whole morning and early afternoon there. In the late afternoon we got lucky and the sun came out so we decided to take a nice walk on Broadway and get some more Vitamin D. But yesterday’s highlight was definitely ”The little Mermaid” on Broadway and I felt like a little kid again watching it with my parents 
Mum and dad enjoying Manhattan
Monday, April 20th, 2009Yesterday we did the regular tourist tour. A walk through Battery Park and a ride on the free Staten Island Ferry to get a glimpse on the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Then we went up to Time Square and walked through Toys”R”Us and then walked up to Central Park were we got some Vitamin D for the whole afternoon. For dinner I spoiled them with one of my favorite recipes….
pumsti’s parents are in town
Saturday, April 18th, 2009Unbelievable but true my parents finally made it over the pond today. For their first time in their life they are outside of Europe. Surprisingly they didn’t bother too much about the long flight and they seem to like NY so far. They find the subway system really old, disgusting and dirty but I can’t blame them for that
Since they were tired from the flight we only went downtown for a quick walk and some drinks before they went to bed early.
Easter in Washington DC, day 2
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009It was raining on our second day in DC so we used the time to visit a couple of museums. Yea free entry . We stood in line first in front of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. It was really interesting to see the history of aviation and the space program. We also went to the IMAX there and saw a cool documentary about a fighter pilot. Afterwards we went to the National Museum of the American Indian. I really liked the architecture of the building but the exhibition was a little disappointing to me. They had some historical artifacts but the major focus was on how American Indians are living and what they are doing. I was hoping for a little bit more history and information about the values they had and still have. Since the weather got nicer in the afternoon we went for a nice outdoor walk in the Arlington National Cemetery where John F. Kennedy is buried. You can also get a nice view on the Pentagon from there .
For dinner we went to one of the Wolfgang Puck restaurants called “The Source“. It’s a fancy place with Asian-American food and I had some awesome short ribs there. The highlight of the whole dinner was definitely the warm chocolate soufflé. It was so rich and huge that I can easily say that it must have 2000 calories at least. My friend and me are both good eaters I would say but we weren’t able to finish it.
As promised a couple of more pictures:
Easter in Washington DC, day 1
Tuesday, April 14th, 2009As many of you know I used the time over Easter to do some sight seeing in DC. Instead of flying we did a more comfortable 2 and a half hour train ride using amtrak. Once arrived there the first surprise to me was that DC has a very reliable and clean metro system. Coming from NYC it seems like a different world. The first day we used to see everything around “The Mall“. For everyone here that hasn’t been to DC so far, The National Mall is the park in the center of Washington DC between the capitol and the Lincoln memorial. Everything is in walking distance and we had a close look on the Washington memorial, the Lincoln memorial, the Korean War Veterans memorial, the Vietnam War Veterans memorial and of course the White House. For lunch we have been to the award winning cafe of Michel Richard called “Central“. I had an excellent onion soup and from my perspective a little bit overpriced lobster burger. If you like burgers and you don’t care about the price I would definitely go there. After lunch we stood in line in front of the National Archives to get a view on the declaration of independence, the constitution and the bill of rights. One good thing about Washington DC is that all the museums are free but the downside is that you have to stand in line on a Easter weekend. But then again you can enjoy the Cherry blossom only this time of the year
These are the pictures of our first day in DC. More to come…
it’s April in NYC
Wednesday, April 8th, 2009We got crazy weather right now in NYC. I was just out for lunch and first it was just snowing, then sunny and then snowing again. And it’s way too cold for this time of the year 
I hope I don’t have to tell my parents to bring winter clothes for their visit in 2 weeks…
Artisanal
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009I have been at a nice casual French restaurant in midtown tonight called “Artisanal” which is a place you want to go if you are into Cheese. They got a own menu for their over 250 handcrafted Cheeses from all over Europe and the US. We tried a couple and I have to say although I’m not really big into – what I used to call bad milk when I was little – those were really the best Cheeses I had so far. I also had onion soup and an excellent Filet Mignon. The meal was completed by a decent Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley and the best part of the whole night was that it was not on my expenses 
