Andrei

Sailing on San Francisco Bay

Monterey

Red and other colors of Yosemite

"We don't remember days, we remember moments"

... said someone famous, I don't remember who it was. And when after 3 days being here in San Francisco and posting my first post on the trip I can really aggree with him. So much things jsut happen and we don't remember after minutes, and others we remember also after years.
I'll probably never forget how a BA flight attendence made a hole in the paper box of an orange juice with her pen, yeah, her *pen*. She was looking around carefully making sure that no one is watching her. She was wrong...:)
The guy who got on to my door-to-door shuttle at Terminal 1 showed us a short clip about the fire and the smoke they had on the AA flight from Florida
I'll also never forget how I came down on one of the steepest streets of the city... Very careful small steps, when my thumb rumpled in my shoes.
The crowd the mission in a rap-style on Union Square alongside with a anti-I-don't-know-what demonstration of two dozens of people.
Also Andrej (my step-relative) with his convertable Honda is a perfect part of the city. He's very kind and a really good guy. He took me today to Pacifica, where he saw a so called "well-maintaned" car which he almost bought (but finally not, because the car was not *that* well-maintained, not even in a fair condition). Then he showed me the seashore, and his good friend Liza, who lives there. The ocean is very different than the Mediterranian. Much more powerful, and noisy. Much more unpredictable also.
I don't take shots, I'm sure that all shots the reader can find on the Internet are way better than what I potentially could take.
When I try to compare SF with NY, what I can see is that here people are much more open minded. In the restaurants they talk to each other, even if they didn't know previously. But maybe there is no need to compare between them.
Fun, great fun here, I'm exploring the entire city.
I'm reachable at +1-415-2836017, please consider the timezone!

Lindengracht market

Every Saturday there is a big market on Lindengracht:

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They sell excellent fruits, hand-made stroopwafles, antiques, etc... we ate stroopwafles - the best ever. Cannot describe.

We ate the traditional Dutch hering with onions, drunk some wine and coffee, were hanging out all day.
I bought some cheese in Kaasenland, bought an old Standard telephone from the 50's for 10 euros. In the evening we went to the Centraal, and said good-bye. I took the train to Schipol, and the plane back home...

IBC2010

Today we have visited together with Yuval the IBC expo. At RAI of Amsterdam on a huge area thousands of exhibitors demonstrated pre-production technologies of video, audio, broadcasting and editing technologies. I'm not any kind of expert of these things, however I enjoyed it very much. 3D was the main issue, everywhere 3D televisions, some of them are nice, but all of them really require the use of special glasses (which really sucks). Cameras recording in 3D, helicopter-style flying cameras, targeted microphones on special trolleys, and many other stuff. All the top end of the industry.
Today I successfully bought a pair of shoes, cool ones, really, thanks to my brother who found it. And I didn't buy the steering wheel...and probably I won't, but no problem with that.
After the IBC we have visited the Van Gogh Museum, which was very nice, and later on we ate in one of the city's best restaurants: Envy. That was super. We are having a great time together. Good night for now....

Amsterdam

My bro has arrived in the evening and we met at Centraal station in Amsterdam. Huge hugs, happiness. We walked in the pouring rain the flat. Some words about the flat. It is located in a building dated back to the 18th century. When entering the lobby from the street we can find some old-style statues and arm-chairs. Then need to cross the back-side garden, which is common to 4-5 houses. Green and quiet. The flat is slightly under the ground floor has some windows on the ground level. One big space is divided into 2 parts with a cupboard and an artificial wall. Kitchen, 2 beds, sofa, etc... a good one.
In the evening we walked all over the city, we were in the red-light infamous district, and we ate in the "La Paella" excellent spanish restaurant. Yuval, thanks for the tip, really I can't understand what a such glorious restaurant does in such a dubious neighborhood.
Today we walked all over Vondel Park and the Museum district. Then we went over a street in which all shops where or antiques. We saw a cool model of the Earth, the Moon, the Sun (replaced by a candle. Then the user should turn around a wheel and entire model starts moving. Only 550 Euro, only today.
Then I almost bought an old steering wheel of a boat. Well, tomorrow I might go back to buy it, not sure yet.
In the afternoon we met Szilvi and Gazsi, friends, who live here in Amsterdam. We ate excellent goat-cheese-honey sandwich in the University's cafe, and then went together to the Library, a 7-store most modern building with a very special interior design. Wonderful weather we had today, all-day sunshine. In the balcony on the 7th floor we drunk some wine and beer, ate some wok-stuff with chicken, until we ended up in a pub quite near to where we stay.
Another beautiful day in Amsterdam.
Hmm.... that steering wheel....

Arrived to Amsterdam!

I made it! Wow, what a surprise eh? KLM took me from TLV to AMS this morning. Terrible flight, very few room for each passenger.
Really. For that price they could do better. I realized the following: when someone speaks dutch to me, I'm not sure if it's English, and I just happen not to understand that, or it's Dutch, which I supposed not to understand.
At Schipol I took the train to Amsterdam Centraal, and then the tram for another 3 stops. There I met Coby and Marina, who took me to the apartment at Prinsengracht which we rented.
The flat is in a ~200 year old building in a very central location. Statues in the lobby, and a famous garden inside.

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Then I went out to meet Yuval, a friend of mine who lives here. We met in a cafe, had some talks, ate something. Then I headed to a store called Kaseland, and bought some Dutch cheese. On my way back home bought other stuff in the supermarket. At 6 will be waiting for my brother at the Centraal

Amsterdam!

tomorrow morning Amsterdam!!!!
almost 4 days with my brother :)
I'll be available on +44-78-221-38522

stay tuned!