It's Good to Live it Again

Not much needs to be said here, the landscape speaks for itself.  It's that wonderful time of year, where the colors start to peek through, the air cools down, and the moon at night seems to shine brighter.  We've arrived, to autumn in New York...

Aaron Curry Sculptures - Melt to Earth

A kind of "self-portrait" silhouette in one of the sculptures.

Last weekend I noticed some sculptures had been placed in the Lincoln Center plaza, around the fountain and I snapped a few photos.  I happened to be walking by again this evening and took a closer look.  The sculptures are by a Californian artist by the name of Aaron Curry.  The New York Times wrote an interesting article about the exhibition (here).







I took a few photos last saturday as well, although they are a bit busier, as I didn't have my 50mm lens with me that day.  I like how colorful they are and how they really stand out against the lines of the architecture for the Lincoln Center buildings.

Autumn in New York

Autumn is just starting and we are being graced by some exceptionally nice weather.  It was a beautiful walk through Central Park this afternoon.  Can't wait to see the rest of this fall, and hope you are enjoying it as much as I am!

Also - this is my 400th post!  Crazy time!

Escriba - An amazing chocolate shop in Barcelona

While walking down La Rambla (yes, I kind of convinced my poor family in Barcelona to brave the touristy areas just so I could go back), we found this terrific, historied chocalatier - Escriba.  This shop has been in operation since 1906, and you could tell by the beautiful details of the shop itself.






I had a really delicious hot chocolate with violet.  Anyone who knows me, knows my affinity for violet flavored confections, and this did not disappoint!


King cakes for the upcoming Three Kinds Day.


A confectionary window display.

Escriba
Carrer de Rambla de las Flors 83
08001 Barelona
Tel: 93.301.60.27

Familia de Barcelona

While Bruno is much bigger now at 9 months old, he was a tiny tiny one at one month!  Bruno was just out of the hospital a few days before we left to come back, and so I had some photographing to catch up on (since we had much more time with his brother Eric).







Can't wait to see Bruno and Eric again in a few weeks...they are just the cutest nephews one could ask for!  Here are a couple of more recent photos of the two of them (courtesy of my mother-in-law):




Just look at those smiles!

Barcelona - Gothic Details

So many great details.  How many faces are looking over you when you walk through the streets of the Gothic part of town?


Long shadows at the end of our long walk.  I love this city!

How do you know when you are behind in blogging?

You know you are behind when you haven't posted photos from a trip to Barcelona that you took 8 months ago, three weeks before your next visit there!  What happened to the time?!  Well, here are a few shots from around Barcelona - the Boqueria (this post), some gothic details of the city (posts to come) and family (posts to come).  Whoa boy do I have some catching up to do!

-Silva








We wish we could find these in NYC...








Say hello to the juiceman!

Summer Night at the UW Memorial Union

Mmm....that's some good beer - Felipe says.

We had a really enjoyable evening last night at the Memorial Union.  Probably my favorite place to sit and hang out on a nice summer evening.  My friends Jen and Laura came as well and we had a terrific fun time catching up and talking about old times.


Mom was with us too, enjoying a brat, a beer and some nice breeze off the lake.    Can't wait for the next time we can go back...

Enjoying Time with Friends

We're lucky to be having another visit with our good friend Laurence while she is in town for business. We had dinner at Ardesia on Sunday night, surprisingly the first time we have been there with her.  We're very fortunate that despite her and Sylvain moving back to Paris from NYC (we miss them tons!) that we get to still see her as often as we do, thanks to her business trips.

Her and I decided to be adventurous and try a special wine cocktail they had on the menu - a Prosecco, Creme de Violette, Yuzu and Lemon drink.  Very nice!  And isn't it just a good looking cocktail?  I'll definitely try to replicate at home...although with a little less ice maybe.

A Moment of Remembrance in Honor of my Ancestors

The Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan - photo by Rita Willaert

A little more of a political post today, but something dear to my family.  Today is the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, recognized by Armenians everywhere on April 24th of each year.  This year marks the 98th anniversary of what is widely recognized as the first day of the genocide in 1915.  My great grandparents fled their home in Sivas Turkey in 1897 (just around the time of the Hamidian Massacres that killed up to 300,000 ethnic Armenians living in Turkey) and 1906.  Not all of the family made it out - although there is very little information about those that got left behind - beyond the story that they left and never heard from their family back home again.


The Kaprelians around the time they left Turkey to escape the violence there.




They travelled on the La Gascogne (pictured above) in August 1906 and you can see here the ship manifest from their processing at Ellis Island.


The SS Obdam.


The ship manifest from the SS Obdam that the Dildarians travelled on in 1897.

There are still people today who deny the fact that a genocide took place.  Who protest the "labeling" of it as genocide.  But the fact is that it happened, and that there are so many families world-wide whose ancestors experienced it.   They estimate that close to seven million people make up the Armenian Disapora world-wide (the United States has the third highest ethnic Armenian population in the world - following only Armenia and Russia).

Take a moment today to remember the suffering that the Armenians experienced at the hands of the Turkish at the time, and also to remember the Armenians in your lives today - those that bring joy and happiness...as well as good food ;)  Armenian culture should be known and celebrated!