An End of Summer Trip to Quito

After a year in New York, we had about a month before needing to be back in Knoxville. We decided to ease the transition by taking a trip to Quito, Ecuador. The purpose of the trip was, first and foremost, to catch up with some friends who had been living in Knoxville before we left for New York and are now back in Ecuador. Their son and our Little Lady are good friends and they were both excited to see each other. The time in Ecuador would also give the LL a chance to be immersed in a Spanish language environment for a few weeks to bolster her bilingualism. It was also a chance for another adventure.

Holiday Season NYC, Part 5 - Holiday Windows

New York is justifiably famous for its flagship department stores. And one of the annual events is the windows that they unveil during the holiday season. On the busy streets of Manhattan, an attention-grabbing window is seen by thousands upon thousands of people each day. Windows are very valuable marketing space. And the stores use this space to maximum advantage. And we used their efforts to our maximum advantage by taking a look at pretty much all the major stores this year.

Holiday Season NYC, Part 4 - Santas!

The Little Lady is 5. Surprisingly, she really does not care all that much about Santa Claus. She knows who he is, of course, but it's not like she was just dying to meet him this year. But we are in New York, and I would have been surprised if some of the best Santas cannot be found here. I mean it seems like there is this little under-the-radar movie about a little girl and the Macy's down on 34th Street. So it would have been just a little wrong not to check out some of the options, right? We did. And we found the real Santa Claus.

Holiday Season NYC, Part 3 - Tea at The Plaza

The Little Lady has been excited about the Eloise stories ever since we got to New York. These are a series of stories about a 6 year old who lives with her mother in the Plaza Hotel. She is always getting into trouble and having many adventures in the city and in the Plaza. It so happens that we live about 6 blocks from the historic Plaza Hotel. One of the things they do there is an Eloise-themed tea for kids in the Palm Court. This is something Eloise did in the stories, and the Little Lady was excited to give it a try. You can do this at any time of the year, but we figured doing it during the holiday season with the hotel all decked out would make for an even more memorable experience. We had fun. I would not do it again.

Holiday Season NYC Part 2 - Retro Subway Ride

Last weekend featured two particular highlights: Seeing the New York City Ballet perform The Nutcracker and taking a ride on very old subway cars from our neighborhood station. It was easier to take photos of the subway experience, so I'll start there. But The Nutcracker was also great fun. I'll post on that separately.

First Snow of the Winter

Saturday marked the first snow this winter in NY. After the Little Lady finished up with her Spanish class, we decided to head out to Central Park to take advantage of the fresh snow. We wore ourselves out, but had a great time. See all the carriages driving by in the snow was beautiful. The atmosphere was one of celebration. And the snow hanging in the tree branches made for a magical setting. Mostly photos below with minimal commentary.

Holiday Season NYC, Part 1 - Botanical Garden Train Show

It is a true pleasure to be living in NYC during the holidays. We took advantage by seeing the Macy's Parade in person. But there is an amazing richness of events and places to visit in the run-up to Christmas. We are doing our best to take full advantage. One of our first experiences was a visit to the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) Holiday Train Show.

Thanksgiving in the Big Apple!!

This is a great time of year. Thanksgiving is a useful time to reflect. It's obviously a time to be appreciative for the good things in life. It also marks the beginning of the longer holiday season including Christmas. This period of expectation is the most joyous month of the year for me and many others, I'm sure. It's extra special for us because the Little Lady was born in early December almost five years ago now. And we have extra reasons to be thankful this year, having a year in New York to work and live and play. And this Thanksgiving we took full advantage of being in New York.

A Weekend as NYC Tourists with Knoxville Friends

A couple of weeks ago the Jennings family from Knoxville were able to make the trip up to New York. It was a real treat to have them with us. While they were in town, they got a chance to visit lots of top city attractions. And we got to act like tourists for a couple of days. Here are some of the highlights.

New York Halloween - More than Enough Candy to Share!!

We don't go all that crazy on Halloween. But the Little Lady does like to make her rounds for some candy. We have a perfect neighborhood back in Knoxville for trick-or-treating -- houses with great architecture and fun decorations, plenty of friends to connect with along the way, safe sidewalks, and lots of generous folks handing out candy. It's a good time. And it's a lot different than the upper east side of New York. Here's how we did it this year.

A Great Autumn Weekend in the City

It seems that fall weather has finally arrived to New York. We enjoyed a glorious weekend, with temperatures generally in the upper 60s with plenty of sun. A major storm arrived on Sunday, which gave us a great excuse to just relax in the apartment and enjoy each other's company. But Saturday we stayed busy. Here are the highlights:

Settled in to Life on the UES

This academic year we are in New York living on the Upper East Side. We're fortunate to have a leave from our usual work in Knoxville to focus on research and writing as Visiting Scholars at the Russell Sage Foundation, located in the city. We've now been here for about a month and have settled into live here easily and well.

An Embarrassment of Culinary Riches in Lima

We are long back from Lima by now, but I wanted to write down a quick take on a number of restaurants and coffee shops we visited on our summer 2017 trip. Bottom line here is that Lima has an amazing number of very high-quality dining options. All of the places mentioned here are good enough to recommend, though you'll see I'm much more excited about some than others. The coffee scene is still developing, but it has progressed markedly over the past couple years (our last visit was in 2015). All of the places I mention here are in what I would consider the top tier of coffee spots in Lima. There was no clear winner, but these are all worthy options. This list just scratches the surface. I'll perhaps add to it as I think of more places and make more return trips.

Peruvian Independence Day is July 28th. But in reality the entire month of July in filled with a variety of events that help to celebrate the culture of Peru. For the past two years, the Ministry of Culture in Peru has partnered with many other cultural institutions in Peru to sponsor the "Retablo Sinfónico." We heard it was a great and fun performance, so we decided to get tickets we are so glad we did.

Lima History and Culture

Last weekend we had fun taking a trip to the historical center of Lima on Saturday. It ended with a surprise that made the Little Lady very happy.

A Fun Father's Day Weekend

Last weekend was Father's Day. Beyond one meal, we did not really do anything specifically to celebrate the holiday. But the meal we had was really remarkable. And the other things we did, which could have been any other weekend, added to the enjoyment. Here is a quick rundown.

Horse Show and Lunch at Dpaso Mamacona

Peru has a very strong equestrian tradition. Horses arrived to Peru during the Spanish conquest, and particular breeding practices gave rise to the Paso, or Peruvian Smooth-Gait Horse. The most distinctive feature of the horse is the way it walks. Peruvian breeders wanted horses that were comfortable to ride and easy to control So in their breeding decisions, they focused on maintaining horses with good temperament and a smooth gait. Therefore, on of the most distinctive characteristics of this horse is that it does not trot. It has a four-beat gait that is very smooth and comfortable. This weekend we went to a show featuring the Peruvian Paso, and it was great fun!

Urban Design and Subtle Effects of Location

It feels like we are a lot more mobile during this visit to Lima than last time, and I think this is rooted in subtle differences in how the location of our current apartment allows us to interact with elements of urban design. We are just a few blocks from where we lived on our last trip. But, somehow, it feels much easier to get around. The Little Lady is two years older, but I don't think that explains it. There have also been some general infrastructure improvements that I'll mention. But I think the most important explanation is connected to the details of our location and how location affects our interactions with the built environment.

A Wonderful Trip to the Cordillera Blanca

Last week the Little Lady's school was closed for a week of vacation. When school is closed it's tough for Jana and I to make as much progress on research and writing. We traded off childcare duties for the first part of the week, but knowing that work time would be reduced with school closed, we made plans to get away from Lima for a long weekend starting on Thursday. We wanted to go someplace we've never been before, and were hoping for something quiet and close to nature. We ended up choosing the Ancash region, which contains some of the highest mountain peaks in the western hemisphere. Huaraz is the capital of the region, and we made our base there. It was a great weekend, and I highly recommend a visit to the area if you're ever in Peru. Here are some of the highlights:

Settling In

We've only been in Lima for a little over a week. Several of those days included work-related academic conferences. But at this point I'd say we're pretty much completely settled in. That includes a school for the Little Lady, a full complement of groceries that are restocked on a regular basis, a work routine, and finding our bearings around the neighborhood. Here is where things stand and how we were able to set things up so quickly.