Hur l�ngt kan man g�?

This is probably one of my top three favorite Swedish Hip-Hop songs from the last 10 years:

The video's not really that spectacular, except the part where he drinks an enormous glass of Alka Seltzer.

Podcasts and Posts

In case you're interested, I wrote an article outlining some of my favorite podcasts in my other blog, SitzmanABC. You can read the article here. Generally that blog is about language learning, but some of the podcast information may be interesting even if you're not trying to learn English (or another language).

Also, I just noticed that this is my 600th post on Sitzblog! My, how time flies! Thanks for reading, and here's to 600 more!

Herbal Teas in a Medieval Villa

Medieval towns in Italy try to re-new their images and to attract interest to them remembering antique traditions, costumes and times of their splendour. Salerno has an unique sign that was very significant for about a millennium, and it's the Salernitan Medical School, the first from the similar institutions in Europe. So, you can find a Virtual Museum of the Medical School and the Antique medical herbs' garden here.



You can read one of the articles I just wrote about it here Medieval Botanical Garden of Salerno /1. This garden has an interesting "attraction": you can ordine a special herbal tea in the tearoom...

 

And drink it then on the terrace of the antique villa, actually a part of the museum "I Giardini della Minerva", the Minerva Gardens, situated in the site of a real  medical herbs garden of XVI century.
The entrance in museum costs only euro 3. I had not time to ordine a tea when I visited it, so I can't tell you the prices here. But it's unpossible that it can be high.

 

Such a splendid suny winter day walk can assume an other glance with a cup of balmy tea, don't you think?
 _________________________________

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As Elwis Said: "Wiwa Las Wegas!"

Hm, I realized that I'd been meaning to put up a small pictorial of pictures from Las Vegas, since there were some ones that I liked. If you want to see larger versions of any of the pictures, just click on them. So, without further ado, here you go:

A welcome sign at Las Vegas International Airport. Complete with slot machines, of course.

I saw this couple in the mall in the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas. I asked if I could take their picture, and the girl said, "Was?" So I asked in German if I could take their picture, and they said yes. So, I took a few pictures of them. It turns out they were from K�ln. Congratulations!

Speaking of weddings... This girl looked like she got her dress from the Guns N' Roses video for "November Rain."

A little girl at the aquarium at the Mandalay Bay hotel. She's a bit out of focus, but at least the panda or whatever that thing is on her sweatshirt seems to be relatively in focus. Plus, I like the colors.

This was a window display at the Bebe store at the Venetian Hotel mall. I just thought made a cool picture.

I guess this is the type of crap that happens and stays in Vegas.

A urinal at the Main Street Station Hotel and Casino which, for some reason, had a memorial to the Berlin Wall. It reads:

"-Gentlemen- THE BERLIN WALL.
Erected August 13, 1961
Demolished August 9, 1989
12' High
18" Thick
27.5 Miles Long
Over 100 people were killed trying to escape to freedom. Flew over it, dove through it, climbed over it, & even tunneled under it."

Hey, it's a great day for freedom... and the loosest slots in town!

The Paris Hotel and Casino. We stayed right behind it, at Bally's.

Angela in front of the Luxor Hotel.

A sign at the Paris hotel.

A statue at Caesar's Palace, all gussied up for Christmas.

Inside the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace. It was the only place where I've seen a curved escalator.

Mini-Arc du Triomphe.

One of the rides (called "Insanity: The Ride") at the Stratosphere skyscraper in Las Vegas. I didn't ride on it, but Paul did (it was pretty cold that night, and I don't like heights).

The ride took a people-filled claw over the edge of the building and then started spinning them around. Then the claw opened up so the people were looking straight down.

Paul said it was freaky.

Some condominium buildings that we saw on the way out of the city. I thought they were cool.

Some friends talking at the Miracle Mile Mall, in the Planet Hollywood hotel and casino. I liked the lighting.

So, thanks to my family for going on the trip, and thanks to you for checking out the pictures!

Extremes IV

Just three months separate these photos of an unnamed millpond located on the backside of Orchard Beach in the Bronx. With a late fall foliage this year, there were many shoreline areas of  the Sound holding onto their summer green well into October. Much like the tides, change came gradually at first, but then very fast. In a matter of weeks, we went from summer-like days to the starkness of winter: barren trees, dying grass, then snow, then ice. In this same short span, I went from living aboard a boat to trudging through fields of snow. So long deck shoes; hello duck boots.

NYC Parks: Orchard Beach

10,000 Birds: Dipping On Owls At Pelham Bay Park

photos: (top to bottom)

mid October

late November

late December

early January

Weekly Picture Project: Week 2 (Backlighting)

Hot on the heels of Week 1 of my on-the-side photography project, we already have Week 2! As you can see in the title of this post, the topic was "Backlighting." The picture above is an ultra-zoomed scene very similar to my third picture. So, here are my official pictures for this week's project:

1: My sister-in-law Teresa working in her kitchen. She and her husband Ramon invited Angela and I over for lunch once we got back to Costa Rica. It was delicious!

2: The crucifix at the church in Berlin. We attended a special mass that is held nine days after a funeral. In this case, Ramon's father, Jose Maria, had died nine days previously, after having been sick for quite some time. I had only met him once, but he was a very nice man.

3: After the mass, Jose Maria's family invited people to his house to eat some food. There, I saw this amazing sunset (the same one as the first picture). It seemed to be a fitting tribute.

So, that's it for this week's picture project. Stay tuned for next week's pictures, as well as for your regularly-scheduled Pictures of the Day. Thanks for reading and looking, and have a great day!

Weekly Picture Project: Week 1 (Architecture)

In addition to my Picture of the Day project, I've also started a new project with my aunt Kris and her friend Janey. Each week, we're supposed to take 1-3 pictures related to a specific subject. Then, we send them to each other for comments and feedback. I figured I'd also post mine to the blog, too, since some of them are different from the Pictures of the Day.

In any case, since we're doing this project alphabetically, the first topic was "Architecture." I was traveling a lot last week, so I decided to take some pictures of lighting in airports. Here are my pictures:

1: The lighting at Denver International Airport, our first stop on our way back to Costa Rica. We had a flight around midnight, so the evening lighting was cool to see on the terminal's canvas roof.

2: A corridor at Miami International Airport, where we had a five-hour layover. Did we choose Miami over Dallas because we hate to wake up early for the Dallas flight, and because Miami has Cuban sandwiches, to boot? Let's just say those pieces of knowledge didn't hurt Miami's chances.

3: "Home Sweet/Mildewy Home." The lights in San Jose, Costa Rica's Juan Santamaria International Airport. They look strangely similar to DIA's lights, in fact.

So, I'll post the pictures from our second week either tonight or tomorrow. And if you're anxious to see the Pictures of the Day--haha!--then "don't worry," they're up on flickr, and you can check them out whenever. I'll also try to put them up here on the blog as soon as possible.

Thanks for reading and looking!