Favourite 2011 travel photos: Puerto Aventuras, Mexico
Author: Greg
Favourite 2011 travel photos: Tulum, Mexico
A year of travel
On a rainy Wednesday morning of my holiday vacation, I’m cleaning up photo libraries from trips in 2011 to Mexico, New York, Toronto, Philadelphia, Seattle, Switzerland, Milan and Frankfurt. Over the next couple of days, I’ll post some of my favourite photos from 2011 – these will be the ones that I’ll be more likely to frame and put up in the condo.
Week 16 observations
Week 16 put football and Christmas Eve together – a perfect match. We decided on a quiet day together with some holiday-themed snacks for the day of games. This was our frozen holiday slush drink:
The late games/supper snack was cocktail meatballs (I threw a few of these on a bun with the sauce for an outstanding sandwich):
Here’s what I saw during this week’s games:
Eagles: What had been a virtual inevitability became official on Sunday, the Eagles will miss the playoffs this year. That being said, they played a very efficient game against the Cowboys for a 20-7 win. Granted, Dallas had their backup QB in the game and were resting some of their starters on offence, but it was a complete and clean game for Philly. Vick had a strong game and was well protected by an OL that has really come together as the season has gone on. The defence pressured McGee all game with a 4 man rush and added to their NFL leading sack total. Now on a 3-0 run, the Eagles have a meaningless game next week with which to close out the season. I uttered my annual “Maybe next year” on Sunday for my Eagles as their Super Bowl hopes ended – sadly, something I’ve said every year I’ve watched football.
Giants/Jets: I needed the Jets to win to keep the Eagles alive for a playoff spot. In their infinite wisdom, they called 64 (!) pass plays for Sanchez. That was complete foolishness. The Jets may still make the playoffs in the AFC, but they’ve really fallen from their near championship form from the past two seasons. They’re a team with no running attack, an overrated defence and a coaching staff that might be running out of motivational tricks. The Giants didn’t look much better in this game. They’re set for a winner makes the playoffs game with Dallas next week. Given how those two teams have played down the stretch, a tie might be a fitting result.
Steelers: Charlie Batch may be the ultimate backup QB. He was almost mistake free and led a balanced attack on the way to a 27-0 win. The Rams really weren’t a challenge in this one. The goal for Pittsburgh will be to win their finale against the Browns, hope for a Ravens loss and just get healthy for the playoffs.
Packers / Bears: After a very slow start, the Packers pulled away on the strength of 5 Rogers TD passes. The Bears had a solid game plan early in running the ball, but couldn’t keep pace once the Packers offence warmed up. For the Packers, Jordy Nelson is a really under-appreciated WR. He’s quietly having an outstanding season. After signing a 4 yr $14M contract, he might be one of the best contractual values in the NFL. Funniest moment of the TV broadcast – a woman holding up a sign in the Lambeau Field crowd that read: “My cheating ex boyfriend is watching from the couch instead”
Indy/Houston: Nice win by the Colts using a last minute TD drive for their second win of the season. A lot of undisciplined play by Houston aided that drive, but Orlovsky made 2 nice passes to Wayne to pull the game out. Houston will make the playoffs but needs to play much more disciplined football once they get there to have any success.
Broncos/Bills: Tebow came crashing back down to earth with a 4 INT game. Someone once wrote that Tebow’s throwing motion looked like a moose trying to <expletive> a washing machine. That’s a pretty accurate description of the performance on Sunday. He’ll need to shake that off next week for a win to make the playoffs.
Saints/Falcons: Drew Brees eclipses Dan Marino’s single season passing record in a blowout win over their division rival. Atlanta will make the playoffs, but it’s clear from this game they’ll be hard pressed to keep pace with the Saints should they meet them in the playoffs.
Week 15 observations
You’d think that after 14 Sundays of football, the routine would get boring – but it never does. We spent the morning preparing the day’s snacks, got the dual TVs setup and as the clock struck 2pm, I was ready for some football. With Christmas decorating mostly done, here’s what game day looked like this week a bit later in the afternoon (Eagles/Jets on TV on left, Pats/Broncos on right):
A really outstanding day of snacks. For the early game, I made a black bean dip based on this recipe. The recipe is a bit on the bland side, so I punch it up with some lime juice, about twice the hot sauce and a bit of garlic. For the late game, we tried a new wing recipe (we used drumsticks) that we loved – super easy, very tasty and delicious looking:
As for the games, here’s what I saw this week:
Eagles/Jets: My Eagles kept their exceptionally slim playoff hopes alive. In the back of my head, I know it’s just so they can let me down in some sort of spectacular fashion, but it keeps things fun for another week. Prior to their game against the Jets, to stay alive they needed a Redskins upset of the Giants (can’t remember the last time I cheered that hard for the Redskins). The game against the Jets was sloppy by both teams – so bad in fact, that the Eagles committed 4 turnovers and still won by 26. Aside from three really bad turnovers (2 on special teams), the Eagles played well. The defence harassed the Jets all game and looked very physical against a normally physical offence. Vick and the offence moved the ball efficiently and turned each of the Jets turnovers into points. Vick has to get some self-preservation skills quickly or his career isn’t going to last much longer. His desire to keep plays alive saw him knocked to the ground violently a few times in this game – I was surprised he got up from a couple of those. The most enjoyable thing to watch this year has been the running of McCoy. He had 3 TDs in this game and has really established himself as one of the top running backs in the league.
Steelers/49ers: The two power outages that delayed the game meant I only stayed with it until half-time before heading to bed. This is a tough loss for the Steelers and may have cost them the #1 seed in the playoffs. Roethlisberger isn’t the same QB without mobility and it’ll be interesting to see if he gets rested in either of the 2 remaining games to ensure he’s healthy for the playoffs. They’ve virtually guaranteed the #5 seed and a first playoff match-up on the road against the AFC West winner (Broncos and Tebow perhaps?).
Jags/Falcons: This horrible Thursday night match-up saw me head to bed before the half. Although I enjoy the Thursday night games later in the season, match-ups and blow-outs like this can’t keep anyone’s attention.
Chiefs upset of the Packers: The Chiefs prove the saying that any team can win on any given Sunday. It was a great physical display by the KC defence that won them this game. It might also have been a sign that the Packers are going to have to change some of their game plans due to injuries along their offensive line. Even Aaron Rogers looks human if the pass rush consistently gets to him.
Baltimore’s loss: Maybe it’s because there’s a Terrible Towel permanently on display in my living room during the season, but it was a lot of fun watching the Ravens lay another egg… almost as much fun was watching Ray Lewis pout on the sidelines. He, in particular, looked old and slow in this game. This team is soft on the road. I’ve said it a bunch of times this year – don’t trust the Ravens. However, if they can get the #1 seed and play at home throughout the playoffs, they’ll have a chance.
Smart football insights on Twitter – I really love following some of the football thinking on Twitter during the games. In particular, @MikePereira (former VP of officiating for the NFL) has incredible rules based insight on complicated rulings that come up through the day. If something odd happens in a game, he’ll have a perfect explanation in about 30 seconds posted while the announcers on TV (usually) have no clue and/or struggle with the rules. He’s the best thing on Twitter every Sunday for anyone who’s a football geek.
Last Day in Seattle
December 3 – Given Seattle’s reputation for coffee, I scouted out Caffe Umbria with a location close to my hotel for a morning cappuccino and croissant. Easily the best coffee I had in Seattle. This is a delicious way to start a day:
I grabbed a bag of coffee beans to bring back to Halifax with me and started to make my way to the Experience Music Project (EMP) museum. For about the next half hour, I feel like I descended into a series of Simpsons episodes. First, to get to EMP I need to take a ride on a monorail (and as it banks into the final turn heading past the museum, I can almost hear Lyle Lanley himself running off with bags of money after skimping on safety standards):
Then I lay eyes on the EMP and its Frank Gehry design harkens me back to his design of Springfield’s concert hall / Montgomery Burns state prison:
Simpsons references aside, this part of Seattle feels like time passed it by a bit. Seattle Center and the Space Needle came into being for the 1962 World’s Fair. Maybe it’s the chilly, grey morning I’m here, but it feels like it has seen better days. That being said, the Space Needle itself is a pretty impressive architectural landmark:
Here, the Space Needle and its reflection in the side of the EMP:
The EMP is one of the most interesting museums I’ve been to in my travels. There’s a bunch of displays on music history, especially focused on key artists of the Pacific Northwest (Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana and the other “grunge” acts of the 90s). One of the things I really enjoyed was a display of electric guitars through the ages, including this 1952 Gibson Les Paul:
As a bit of a collector of concert set lists, I liked this one – the set list from the last Nirvana show ever (in Germany):
One of the best features of this museum were the interactive rooms where you could play instruments. Here’s a picture of one of the “pods” of instruments – guitar, bass and drums. After some interactive instruction on how to play the instrument, you could team up with others in the pod to play parts of a song. For the pod I tried, I got to play rhythm guitar for Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” in concert with a bass player and a drummer who had just “learned” their instruments:
This impressive sculpture (“If VI was IX: Roots and Branches”) in the main hallway of the music-related displays let’s you hear the permutations of the sounds it can produce:
There were also great exhibits on the making of the movie “Avatar” and an installation on horror movies (with displays featuring costumes and props from the classics). The best part of the horror movie installation was that you could orchestrate the music and sounds in the room (I enjoyed a few minutes of adding screams and chainsaws to an orchestral piece which had a few folks looking at the displays wondering what was going on) Overall, it was a wonderful interactive museum and a great place to spend a few hours on a chilly overcast day.
The rest of my last vacation day in Seattle was about trying some drink and food. Making my may back to downtown Seattle, I stopped at Elysian Fields for lunch and tried their famously-entitled “Men’s Room Red” ale. Delicious:
On my way to supper, I make a quick stop in for happy hour at 106 Pine, a wine shop and tasting bar featuring a solid selection of Washington state wines. Here’s a Merlot that took some of the chill out of the evening:
From there, it was on to Andaluca for a Spanish-inspired small plates meal. First course: Broken Egg Papas Frites with chorizo and roasted mushrooms (and really, I could have just ordered this two more times and gone back to the hotel extremely happy):
Second course (complete with a warning that eating raw seafood may be a health hazard): Spicy Calamari bruschetta with saffron aioli – exceptionally fresh and very spicy/hot:
A very interesting Washington state Pinot Noir with strong hints of licorice. Unusual and interesting and quite nice for a cold night:
Last course: Paella with chicken, chorizo, grilled prawn, harissa butter and saffron:
Fully warmed up from the inside, I took in some of the Christmas lights in the shopping district of Seattle before heading back to the hotel. Among the pictures, the first and last ones below are of the Macy’s star and Christmas tree at Westlake Center:
Unfortunately, that marked the end of the vacation part of the trip. I did come away with some perspectives on Seattle in the course of just under 3 days:
1. Seattle is a very friendly city. People smile, engage in conversation and really seem to be down to earth folk. The west coast lifestyle is something I’m finding resonates with me.
2. The food culture in Seattle is something I could really get used to: Fresh seafood and variety like I haven’t seen in other coastal places including here in Halifax; Great local red wines; Enormous selection of microbrews across the spectrum of styles; A deep appreciation and care for the quality of food; It would be great to shop, cook and eat here.
3. In some respects, Seattle is like many other larger cities. But on its doorstep is immense natural beauty – lakes and rivers, mountains and pine trees. If/when I get back to this area, I’ll spend more time exploring what’s around this area. I could easily imagine this being a great place to live for a few years.
Do I dare call this Sleepless in Seattle?
December 2 – When my head hit the pillow the previous night after a day of traveling across the continent followed by a football game, it was for a much needed sleep. Unfortunately, staying in a hotel with so many Eagles fans meant a bit of noise as everyone returned to the hotel after spending some time at the bars around the hotel – it was less than a perfect night of rest.
A bit bleary eyed, I made my way to Zeitgeist Coffee for a jolt. A delicious corn and blueberry muffin and a good cup of coffee got the day off on the right foot:
I didn’t realize how hilly downtown Seattle was. On my map, from the coffee shop to the Columbia Tower office building (where I was going to take in views of Seattle from their 70th floor observation deck) looked to be about a 10 minute walk. Most of those 10 minutes were what seemed to be straight up the side of a mountain. After a good and unexpected workout, I end up there to take in the sights. I had the place mostly to myself. Partway through my time in the observation deck, I had a nice chat with the only other person to visit – Kim from Korea. He seemed to think I came from father away, but I think he had me by about 2,000km. Needless to say, neither of us was close to home. Here are some pictures of the views.
Downtown Seattle (Space Needle in the middle of the frame with Puget Sound to the left):
Closer view of the Space Needle (the red and blue blobs beside it are the Frank Gehry designed Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum):
The two Seattle stadiums (Safeco field, home of the Mariners in the background; CenturyLink Field, home of the Seahawks and site of the Eagles massacre from the night before in the foreground):
View eastward past Mercer Island (on a clearer day, Mt Rainier would be visible)
I had yet to discover the free buses that run throughout downtown Seattle, so I made my way by foot to the Olympic Sculpture Park. This waterfront park features a number of large-format pieces of public art and was a great place to wander around for an hour or so.
Bunyon’s Chess (1965) by Mark di Suvero:
The Eagle (1971) by Alexander Calder
Probably my favourite piece in the park, Typewrite Eraser, Scale X (1999) by Claes Oldenburg:
Love and Loss (2005-2006) by Roy McMakin
Schubert Sonata (1992) by Mark di Suvero
In the park, they had these neat eyeball seats (you can sit behind the eye ball) – loved the whimsy of these:
The views out on Puget Sound were really nice even on this grey day. Here I am before making my way back toward downtown:
I was told that if you have one day in Seattle, you have to see the Pike Place Market. And if you have two days, you should go twice. I’m a huge fan of markets, so this was great advice. Here are a few pics from a slow stroll through the market in the afternoon:
Here’s the Pike Place Fish Market (made very famous on various Food Network shows by their flying fish routine):
The selection of fresh seafood was incredible:
The drawing attention at this fish stand is the throwing and catching of whole fish. I was lucky enough to be standing around when the fish starting flying. Here’s a video of a true Seattle experience.
Just across the street from the market is one of two things depending on your viewpoint: (1) the origin of coffee culture in North America or (2) the thing that started the decline of coffee culture in the rest of the world. Perhaps it can be both. Here it is, the very first Starbucks:
Week 14 observations
The last quarter of the season kicked off with a great slate of games. Here’s what I saw this week:
Eagles – They got a very ugly 26-10 win over Miami. The offence was bottled up for most of the day and the Eagles kept trying, but couldn’t get anything going in the running game. They capitalized on a couple of turnovers and short fields to put points on the board. Two things in particular I took note of that speak to the very rare showing of grit and toughness that helped them win this game:
1. The defence was the star of the game stopping Miami 6 times on 3rd or 4th down and less than 2 yards to go, sacking Miami QBs 9 times and forcing 3 turnovers. Without those stops, it would have been a very different game.
2. LeSean McCoy, although being bottled up in the run all day, he converted 5 of 6 attempts of 2 yards or less into first towns (or TDs).
The eternal optimist in me now knows the scenario by which the Eagles sneak into the playoffs – they need to win their last 3 games (Jets, at Cowboys, Redskins) and need Dallas and the Giants to both go 1-2 or worse. That’s a very remote shot, but it keeps things interesting for at least another week.
Steelers – They earned a hard fought win over the Browns and look to have escaped a devastating injury to their QB. Roethlisberger is a bit like a zombie – he just keeps getting back up to play. After leaving for one series after what looked to be a horrible ankle/leg injury, he hobbled back to lead the team to the win in the second half. The more troubling injury in this game may have been to their centre, Pouncey. He suffered a similar injury late lat year which kept him out of the Super Bowl.
Browns – On the opening drive of the game against the Steelers, they had a 4th down and goal from the 2 yard line. This is a team that is missing the playoffs, has an ever more disenchanted fan base and is riding a 1-10 streak in games against their division-rival played in Pittsburgh. Kicking a FG on the first drive of a game like this is akin to giving up before you get started. Whenever you’re playing a team that so clearly outclasses you in talent, you’ve got to be aggressive in every decision to get a win. Terrible decision made by a terrible coach of a (sadly) terrible team.
Bears/Broncos – All the press is about Tebow, but how about the things that happened that gave him a shot to earn the headlines. With less than 2:00 left, if Bears running back Marion Barber simply falls down in bounds rather than running out of bounds, the Broncos would have only had about :15 left to mount a comeback, rather than more than :50. Prater makes a 59 yard FG to tie the game and send it into overtime, then kicks another 50+ yard FG after Marion Barber fumbles the ball as the Bears were driving for the winning FG in OT. Barber may have cost his team a playoff spot with 2 inexcusable mistakes. The first one simply isn’t made by a smart football player. Tebow was impressive in the 4th and OT and the hype machine will be torqued up to max for next week’s game against Brady and the Patriots.
49ers – With their loss, they opened the door for the Saints to reach the NFC’s 2-seed for the playoffs. This team has got to figure out their red-zone troubles. Even though I haven’t followed many of their recent games closely, I keep noticing David Akers running out for field goals and have noticed FG-heavy scores. If they don’t start scoring more TDs, they could be in for an early playoff exit.
Patriots – Their secondary looks horrible. The Redskins shouldn’t be able to score 27 on anyone. It will be interesting to see if Brady and the offense can keep outscoring teams in the playoffs.
Thursday Night Football, Seattle style
My alarm goes off at 3:15am. Cab arrives at my condo at 4, I’m at the airport shortly after 4:30 and the first leg of my first trip to the Pacific Northwest gets off the ground right on time at 6. An uneventful flight to Newark is followed by an equally uneventful flight to Seattle. I even managed to select a row where no one was in the middle seat for the 6 hour cross continent leg. A painless train ride into the city has me at my hotel by 2pm PT with enough time to unpack and take a quick breather before the 15 minute walk to the stadium so I can be inside as the gates open at 3. Here’s the view as I approach the stadium:
Once inside, I make a beeline to the NFL network set – they’re live on the air for the pregame show. From left to right, here’s Mooch (Steve Mariucci), Marshall Faulk and Michael Irvin:
Rich Eisen and (obscured by the set lighting) Deion Sanders:
As the NFL network guys throw to a commercial break, I head over to the Eagles sideline for a look at a few players starting to warm up.
Vince Young:
LeSean McCoy:
Brent Celek:
On my way to the other side of the field, here’s Brandon Mebane, defensive tackle for the Seahawks signing some autographs:
I love getting into the stadium as early as I can so I can walk around for a bit before it gets crowded. Here are a couple of pics of this very beautiful stadium.
Looking south from the north endzone:
Looking north toward downtown Seattle:
The sideline seats:
It’s difficult to be a fan of the visiting team in any NFL stadium. I’ve seen beer-fueled fights and confrontations just for wearing the opposing team’s jersey in games in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New Orleans and Chicago. As I really lean much more toward the lover end of the lover-fighter scale, my lack of physical intimidation skills meant I left my Eagles jersey at home. Unlike the mass of Eagles fans behind me in the picture below, I’m taking no chances – nothing with an Eagles logo graces my body today (Luckily, when I make my way to my seat in the upper deck, I’m sitting next to season ticket holder Steve who’s a huge Seahawks fan but agrees not to out me as an Eagles fan):
About an hour before game time, it’s time to find some stadium food. I’m a bit disappointed in the selections here. With the great Pacific Northwest cuisine, there’s not much at the stadium different from general run of the mill stuff. However, I’m a sucker for garlic fries and microbrews (Red Hook IPA, one of the best beers I had during my trip), so this works out pretty well:
After the delicious snack, I walk around the upper deck and find this great view of downtown Seattle:
After two hours inside the stadium, here are the pregame festivities – fireworks during the Seahawks player introductions as seen from my seat:
… and finally, the moment I’ve been waiting for. Here are the teams lined up for the opening kick-off:
The game ended up being a real disappointment for the Eagles. Here’s a picture of one of the high points – LeSean McCoy taking a hand-off on what would be a 2 yd TD run:
Here are the Seahawks on offense, lined up for a play directly in line from my seat:
The Eagles end up losing 31-14. As you can tell from the picture below just after the game, I’m not too torn up about the loss. It was a great experience. The Seattle fans were really friendly, the stadium is beautiful and it was a perfect December night for football.
Week 13 observations
Through some incredibly fortunate dumb luck, I was scheduled to attend some business meetings in Redmond, WA which coincided with my Eagles playing the Seahawks in Seattle. A couple of clicks through Ticketmaster and I had myself a seat about 10 rows up in the upper deck on the 35 yard line:
I’ll write more about my experience at the game in a later post, for now I’ll concentrate on the game itself.
Eagles reach a new low
The 31-14 final score flattered the Eagles. Among the problems in this game:
1. Vince Young is an atrocious QB. Three of his four interceptions were horrible (one came on a deflected pass that was more his receiver’s fault). The game clinching TD for Seattle came when he was picked off on a screen pass. What was terrible was that *I* knew that a screen pass was coming based on the formation the Eagles lined up in. Unfortunately, so did one of the Seahawks linebackers who stepped in front of the pass and returned it for a TD.
2. Tacking – Really, there wasn’t any. Marshawn Lynch ran for 150+ yards, many of those after first and second contact was made. His first TD was a symbol of the Eagles defensive softness. He should have been tackled by about 4 guys, but kept the pile moving until he shook free for the TD.
3. DJax – The seat I had at the game provided a great perspective on his complete lack of effort all night long. Numerous times he just jogged through his routes showing no effort. He missed downfield blocks which would have resulted in longer gains for his teammates. He looks completely disinterested in playing. The Philadelphia media is awash in stories that he should have received a contract extension earlier in the season which shows a complete lack of understanding of human motivation. For my money, the Eagles and DJax can’t part ways soon enough.
4. Really, running the football is an option – For me, this is a dead horse I wish I could stop beating. How McCoy only has 17 carries in this game is beyond me. Just give him the $^&*$#@ ball already.
5. Game management – A couple of items of note: (1) The lack of pace in the hurry up offence with the Eagles down 24-7 then 24-14 was perplexing. Still very much in the game, they were using most of the :40 clock to get their plays off, reducing their chance of mounting a comeback; (2) Andy Reid elected not to call timeout inside of 1:00 left in the first half. After a Seahawks FG, the Eagles were only left with less than 0:30 to get points – it could have been twice that; (3) In an obvious punt situation in the 4th quarter, the Eagles couldn’t get the right guys on the field in time and had to burn a valuable timeout. These three are symbolic of troubles in game management that have plagued my team for years. Reid should really have an assistant coach to whom he delegates all time-related decisions.
All that being said, it was a great experience to see the game in Seattle. The Eagles were so bad that I didn’t feel any urge to stand up and cheer, which likely helped me return to the hotel with all my teeth (ok, a bit of an exaggeration – Seattle was by far the friendliest stadium for visiting fans I’ve been to so far).
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I was stuck with only regular broadcast TV in my Seattle and Redmond hotel rooms on Sunday, so only got to see parts of a couple of games. This also affected my snack lineup – this is what I could scrounge up from a very sketchy corner store close to my hotel:
Here’s what I saw from the few games I got on TV:
Steelers – Bengals: Cincinnatti is losing steam and it’s tough to see them hanging on for a playoff spot. Pittsburgh laid a good beat down on them. The most encouraging thing I saw for the Steelers was the play of James Harrison. After injuries slowed him earlier in the year, he looks like his old self, and that means trouble for any offence they go up against.
Packers – Giants: I watch enough football that I’ve got strong held opinions about the ability of each of the officiating crew (yes, I need help). Jeff Triplett’s crew officiated this game, and they’re normally horrible (and Triplette just looks like he doesn’t know what he’s doing most of the time). However, in 4-5 extremely close calls, they got all of them right. (Note: The day after the game, there was a still photo published that showed the crew should have awarded the Giants a TD that they ruled as an incomplete pass – so maybe not as strong a game as I first thought). As for the game itself, it was one of the top 3-4 games all year. Great back and forth action, exceptional plays by both teams and a few lead changes down the stretch.
Lions – I only saw about 25 minutes of this game and saw them commit 3 really dumb penalties (including one player shove an official). That team is really one of the most undisciplined teams after the whistle, and with their actions over the past 2 weeks, will only draw more attention from officials until they clean up their game.
With the time difference out here on the west coast combined with some evening conference activities, I completely missed the Monday night game. Looking at the game recap on SportsCenter this morning, it doesn’t look like I missed much.
I love traveling, but I’m very happy that week 14 will see me back home with Sunday Ticket, Red Zone, dual TVs and gourmet snacks.
Bluenose Traveler 