The snow storm and honeymooners relaxed

An amazing sunrise we had this morning, Perhaps next time I'll use different settings but it came out well.
In the morning I went outside to get a cup of coffee and I was struck of the freezing cold I was dizzy like a drunk.Perli decided to model the junk food we ate during the night:

good morning junk food !

then we set our way to the nearest Dunkin' for our daily ritual hot chocholate and donut festival.

Then we headed out for 5'th avenue and it was all covered with snow, click this picture to get a larger view:

Snow piles on police cars

5'th avenue stores are very welcoming, they place Christmas candies in strategic places for innocent customers...  , If we were local we would probably buy stuff but because we lack time to browse or return a product if we wanted to. a lot of people buy things they don't actually need and then return them because in the states you get your money back if you regret. we kept touring 5'th avenue, the holiday shopping spree is crazy and people were running like ants right after a large nest disturbance.
also had a long snowy walk through New York's Soho, Chinatown and got to the 9/11 memorial site, there wasn't much to see there because they are still under construction, but we still wanted to visit.

We had a long day so we took the train back to 34/8'th Penn station and dropped in Macdonald's for a nice kosher meal :)

 Then we returned 'home' to New Yorker hotel and rushed to the internet to see what's going on with Nissim and Eli, their flight was delayed, then canceled and we didn't know what was going on with them. The Clerk in New Yorker hotel told me that if needed, they can join our room without extra charge but it'll be crowded...

Meanwhile Perli noticed her hair has been made all straight from the snow and dryness and there was much rejoice.

Stormy morning In New York

Perli with a pink hummer limo

We really wanted to have a snowy New York and I guess we found what we've looking for. the snow storm hit New York so hard most of the businesses were closed and we just had fun walking around in New York, viewing it in a very different way than we see in the movies...

The snow was about 20cm in the morning, we went and got our morning Dunkin Donuts ritual and got warm with 2 hot chocolate drinks and went on our Quest, we went to 5'th avenue to see what's happening there and we discovered that it's crazy, most of the stores were closed and the clerks were helping clear the snow out of the sidewalk, I've done a panoramic view and for New York this is crazy:

click to enlarge

we also had a short visit to the Trump tower, which wasn't that exciting as what went outside

:

This kid must be having even more fun than us:

one department store we went in 5'th avenue had a waiting room designed especially for exhausted individuals like us

after we relaxed a bit we kept traveling in the snow

but after that we were so exhausted and frozen we fell like rocks and woke up only the next morning :)

Snow started storming in new york

We started the morning with warm cups of Tee and Coffee, it's was good to find out that the New-Yorker diner has decent coffee (they seldom drink normal coffee around here, mostly stale percolated watered coffee)
This morning Perli told me she believed this is the busiest month she has ever had in her life. from the wedding preparations, funerals, honey moon schedule, Vida's 80'th birthday, bachelor party, Merchi's visit in Israel,  We are both a bit exhausted from all these action packed times that a relaxing honeymoon is the best reward for all our hard work :)
The 'dream' honeymoon was a snowy New York... in the morning it started snowing and we were very excited, we went outside and there were tiny flakes of snow flying all over, it was freezing cold and we weren't that dressed for the occasion. we entered Dunkin Donuts and had our ritual hot chocolate with donuts.

Then the snow started to grow stronger, right next to our hotel is a large electronics store named B&H that has a variety of cameras and computers for sale. the prices aren't that attractive but the variety is. I own a Canon SX10IS and wanted to purcahse a SX30, they both have the same lens mount so I wanted a 1.4 and a 0.75 lens magnification (extra Zoom and Wide angles for both cameras). the store clerks didn't find any Canon solution for it (there actually is but it's not Canon) and they tried to persuade me to purchase SLR camera instead of a 20$ simple upgrade. I didn't like this philosophy of selling brands instead of solutions and their prices, I'd rather see a range of products and experiment instead of admitting each time to a new row of clerks that will try to help me but with limited range (such as not giving me a Panasonic, Sony, Nikon or Leika solution that will fit perfectly and exist...)
When we exit B&H we've noticed that the snow was starting to pile

from there we took the Metro to Central park's west entrance and discovered that  it's covered with snow

so we entered Central Park

It was a bit slippery to walk

it's hard to describe how soft the snow is, perhaps this movie will help:

 It was freezing cold and there were people singing Christmas songs in the park, It was very romantic.

then we moved on to Dylan's candy shop!

I went outside for 5 minuts and Perli managed to lock herself in the toilet :) she panicked... some woman was shouting "Someone is stuck in the bathroom !" and a clerk helped Perli out of there... nostalgia...

after that we went to our room for a short siesta and went down to the hotel's diner for dinner

the service was bad... it seemed like the man there didn't like his job and it took him about 30 minutes to bring our order, also forgot to bring the soup and cola but he didn't complain that he got only 1 cent tip...

Ripley's believe it or not, I'm standing in the middle of the 8'th avenue and it's frozen solid, all the cars are waiting for a paving truck to clear the snow out of the way, it's more than 20cm here and some places its more :)

It's a bit crazy, hard to describe

perhaps we should have brought some ski equipment, maybe next time... meanwhile we went ninja in our room

and went to sleep dramatically

good night

Christmas day In New York

We started our first day in New York in Dunkin Donuts, They have muffins a size of a small child's head which only large Americans can consume. we're not used to these sizes :) also, these are the smallest cups they have of hot chocolate (which are very much like the largest in Israel coffee shops). after this quick 'warm up' we decided to rush to the street... 

it's freezing outside and the wind peels the skin off the face, when possible we use moisturizing cream. without early warning the camera has decided enough is enough and we were left without batteries for the remainder of most of the day, all the shops were closed today and we didn't find anywhere to but decent batteries but a drugstore with an annoying clerk, the 'soup nazi' symptom repeats and perpetuates here in many situations, service here is very cold and the prices are usually rip-offs...

still, we're very happy to travel here, yeah it's freezing and most of the stores, museum and theaters are closed for today, we still find it nice to take some long walks in the city of lights and kiss as much as humanly possible.

Perli and I got thermal clothes so the cold doesn't become too painful, but it does produce a lot of electric shock when moving so every time we kiss we get electric shock :) no kidding, sometimes painful :) perli kisses me less and less each day and I'm beginning to wonder if that's what's marriage all about :)

What Americans lack in taste they compensate in size... the RedBull cans on the right side of this picture are about as large as my head. I've bought one and drank it and had to take a leak that went on and on (must say, ran like a crazy person for 10 minutes from caffeine rush). the coffee here is watered to make it bigger but it tastes bad, hard to find strong good coffee around here.

First time we took the Subway in New York, the automated machines lack change and we had to run around breaking a 20 dollar bill in the freezing cold to get a card, now we've got a 7 day card for all New York so we can travel easier. we've found this poor fella crossing the street:

street crossing man

 Must have been under a lot of cars...
also we had a nice visit to the Ripley's "believe it or not" museum, it was a bit childish but nice

after we've walked about 20Km today seeing the tip of Central Park and a lot of traditional tourist attractions we agreed that we'll tell our children to spend at least one Christmas in New York.

 it's about midnight and we've got a lot ahead of us for tomorrow, Perli fell asleep in less than a minute, I guess she's a bit tired from all the walks today... perhaps I should join. good night

HoneyMooners Arriving to New York

We had a very short while to prepare from the wedding to the honey moon, we packed as light as we could (we had about one hour to think of what we pack, While we were packing, friends and loved ones joined us, this has made the packing a bit tricky :)

Orchid hotel room Tel Aviv, after the wedding

Packing is exciting and meeting our family and friends right after the wedding is very exciting but time was running out and we became impatient to board our flight.

We finally arrived to Ben Gurion Airport, and then we were informed we had to get 3 floors below to section G to receive our United Airlines tickets (they check-in separately). The lines were so long I realized how ignorant is the transport system if it makes us stand and wait while it could do 99% of all the work automatically and let us spend our time in the Airport mall instead of waiting in line. We were so excited we told the clerk we are on our honeymoon, after a couple of minutes she told us there's something wrong with our connection flight From Philadelphia to New-York. That something must have been the DC-7 airplane that looked like a school bus with wings that Perli didn't want to board. in the attached presentation you can see it's a school bus with wings...

In the flight, Perli held my hand real tight, she panicked when the plane turned but when we were in the air we kissed and she even smiled :) we agreed that if these kind of airplanes crash, they are so small and insignificant that it wouldn't even be in the news... It's hard to describe the view, we've tried to take some videos of New-York from the airplane but it was so shaken up from the turbulence, Perli said the city looks from a far like a giant cemetery, with lots of colors and everything made out of bricks and glass.  

Philadelphia was cold but we were amazed how cold it was in New York, as we took our luggage we leaned that a freezing teardrop can quickly turn to a bruise (carry a lot of moisture cream to avoid this effect...) A bus took us to the New Yorker Hotel and we had a very nice welcome and got our first room keys.

At first we were given a wrong room, it had a view to the river instead of a view to the city, we told the clerk and she tried to convince me I had it wrong, luckily I kept all the e-mails from them and it specifically said I can see the empire state building from my window :) after that we were finally moved to a better room with a view to the city. Didn't quite see the Empire state building but we believe it still stands there...
As every hotel room in america has a Holy Bible near the bed, Perli agreed to take a dark picture of her in the panorama of the city While I was dancing my Russian dance in the room, making a lot of mess wherever I go...

I'm a Russian dancer in New York

stay tuned...

Yad Lebanim modeling

Just updated the version of Yad Lebanim in Ahuza 147 Raanana to be tested for Google earth,
3D view (Plugin required):

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The "Yad Lebanim" ( translated "Son's Monument) is a Multi-disiplinary cultural center. Within its walls it maintains an extensive and varied cultural activities: adult theater, kids theater, communal singing, dance performances, music, current events session, courses, workshops, seminars, training, exhibition, public library and seminar room. בית "יד-לבנים" משמש מרכז תרבותי רב תחומי המקיים בין כתליו פעילות תרבותית עניפה ומגוונת: תיאטרון מבוגרים, תיאטרון ילדים, שירה בציבור, מופעי מחול, מוסיקה, מפגשי אקטואליה, קורסים, סדנאות, ימי עיון, השתלמויות, תערוכה, ספריה וחדר עיון.
Modeled from 1965 drawings,found in raanana municipality's library by Zohar Karabelnik with help of raanana municipality. using freeware Google SketchUp 8.

To view in Google earth:

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