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The Empire State Building

14 Feb 2013 By

During our previous visit to NYC we had a chance to enjoy the view of Manhattan from the Top of the Rock, so this time we decided to experience it from the top of the Empire State Building. Everyone knows that the Empire State Building is an icon of New York City, as well as the United States of America. Located at 350 Fifth Avenue (between 33rd and 34th Streets) in New York City, the Empire State Building is a 102-story skyscraper. The height of the building to the top of its lightning rod is actually 1,454 feet or 443.2 meters. We obtained Main Deck & Top Deck Express tickets online, which allowed us to skip the lines, except a security line, to both observation decks. The Main deck on the 86th floor and the Top deck on the 102nd are marked in the following picture.

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Christmas Time in NYC

29 Jan 2013 By

For the majority of people, Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. Dave and I decided that there is no better place to be at Christmas than NYC and took off for a road trip with a couple friends. New York didn’t disappoint us. The city is a pretty spectacular sight at that time, with Christmas trees, department-store window displays and other holiday attractions popping up around the city.

The Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center is the main attraction at Christmas time, drawing a huge crowd of holiday visitors every day. An interesting fact is that the tree is donated every year, and interested Giant-Norway spruce owners can submit their trees for consideration. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, this season, resident Joseph Balku from Flanders (N.J.) offered his tree, which survived Hurricane Sandy.

Christmas tree 2012 is an 80-year-old Norway spruce which weighs about 10 tons and stands 80 feet tall. It is wrapped in about five miles of LED lights with 45,000 bulbs, topped with a 550-pound LED-powered Swarovski star studded with 25,000 crystals, and had no other ornaments.

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Delightful Florida Beaches

21 Jan 2013 By

After visiting Universal in Orlando, Dave and I spent the rest of our short vacation with family in Florida. We had a very nice relaxing time there.  Of course, we couldn’t miss spending some time on our favorite Florida beaches. One day we dedicated to go to delightful Daytona Beach, which is considered one of the best beaches in the country. Daytona Beach has 23 miles of sandy, white beaches, which are open to pedestrians 24/7 with free access! This time we entered the beach from the side of the open amphitheatre, which is located on the North end of the Boardwalk amusement area and overlooks the ocean.

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Marvel Super Hero and The Lost Continent

13 Jan 2013 By

Marvel Super Hero Island is my second favorite island after Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando’s Islands of Adventures theme park. It seemed like we were stepping through the pages of popular comic books with their Super Heroes and Villains. Here we found amazing theme sets of Spider-Man, X-Men and Captain America among others, as well as some great rides.

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Best Halloween Experience! – Part 1

12 Dec 2012 By

IMG_0738Halloween is a very different holiday. It’s not like any others, is it? Every year Dave and I try to do something special on Halloween. We visited a couple of Haunted houses in previous years and, of course, we carved traditional pumpkin Jack-O Lanterns.

This year we combined our visit to Florida with a trip to Universal Studios in Orlando. During the 2 hour flight from DC we watched as hurricane Sandy was moving towards the Northern States of the East Coast, including our home. JetBlue is one of my favorite domestic airlines for its spacious leg room and for the direct TV, which makes it possible to follow real time events.

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Cancun – Paradisus (Gran Melia) hotel

11 Nov 2012 By

This is the last post on our Cancun vacation, which I want to complete with some pictures of the hotel we stayed in. Formerly known as the Grand Melia Cancun, the Paradisus Cancun has consistently won the AAA 4 diamond award and is part of Preferred Hotels of the World.

It has modern pyramidal design and consists of 5 pyramid-like buildings. Picture of the hotel building and the room can be viewed here. The 5 star Paradisus Cancun is located ocean front and is an elegant, spacious and distinguished hotel. Here is the beautiful hotel lobby where guests are greeted with a new flower arrangement every day.

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Cancun – Shopping & Dining

08 Nov 2012 By

We didn’t do much shopping during our stay in Cancun, but I want to mention a couple places that we liked. One of them is La Isla Shopping Village. It is a beautiful outdoor mall set in the middle of the Hotel Zone, complete with charming canals, luxury boutiques, inexpensive brands, high-end department stores, fast food, fun restaurants and upscale dining.

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Cancun Day 7 – Xplor Adventure Park

05 Nov 2012 By

Xplor was the highlight of our Cancun vacation, so we left best for last. Xplor is a natural adventure park opened in July 2009. The park is situated approximately 35 miles (56km) south of the Cancun airport and occupies an area of 59 hectares, of which 8 are underground. Xplor offers 4 thrilling activities: zip lines, amphibious vehicles, underground raft adventure, and stalactite river swim.

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Cancun Day 6 – Underwater Museum

01 Nov 2012 By

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to breathe underwater? Well, this is what scuba diving allows you to do: to breathe underwater, maintain buoyancy, propel yourself through the coral reefs and most importantly stay underwater for a prolonged period of time. On this day, Dave and I were going to visit the MUSA  – underwater museum in Cancun at the same time as learning to scuba dive for the first time with AquaWorld. It seems like we chose the right time for a dive in the warm Caribbean waters with great visibility.

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Cancun Day 5 – Xcaret Park (Part 3)

26 Oct 2012 By

Butterfly Pavilion at Xcaret is the most impressive butterfly habitat I’ve ever seen. According to Xcaret’s web site, this is the first butterfly breeding facility in Mexico. The structure is 49 feet high and has nearly 38,000 sq. ft. of free flying space, the largest butterfly facility in the world. It features only regional species native of the Yucatan peninsula in their natural habitats and its caretakers work diligently with some 5,000 butterflies in an intensive breeding program for 20 endemic species. I guess this butterfly sign warns us, the visitors, that we are getting closer to the Butterfly Pavilion.

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