Teresa and Paul's World Tour - 2011

Working on the bucket list went on hold last week since we were working on the move and the Peru trip, but the week prior we made some progress. One of the activities on the list was to have an excellent steak before departing. And, at the top of my list was the steakhouse, Strip House. I went there years ago when I worked for Avanade and we had an enthusiastic group called "Meatopia". We would visit the city's best steakhouses and rate them accordingly. My personal favorite is where Paul, Phil, Corrine and I returned. The ambiance is a bit irreverent and tongue-in-cheek, made obvious by it's name (think of a 60's bordello theme). And it has a nice laid back feel. All of this is made better by the excellent company and some mighty fine wine we brought in with us (taxes for bringing alcohol into AUS are high, so we needed to drink or give away our grog before we moved). The steaks were prepared nicely, the wine was tasty (a Caymus Cab and a Cannonball Cab), ...

One consequence of planning for our big trip is that Teresa and I are now much more sensitive to our day-to-day spending. Our general assumption is that around $100 is equivalent to a day on the road, so it was not an easy decision to splash out on tickets to a performance of Tosca at the MET ( Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts). Of course our bucket-list is there for a reason and the assumption is that this would be the last opportunity Teresa and I will have to attend an Opera in one of the most iconic buildings in Manhattan, immortalized in the Cher and Nick Cage movie Moonstruck . As it turns out our decision to buy some last minute tickets yielded some wonderful seats in a private box, on the first level up from the floor and about 10 seats back from the stage. The box seats also came with its own key locked door (with an usher with the key), private entrance foyer (just for our box), secure coat rack, and confortable and intimate set of 8 seats… ...

We've created our first draft of the NYC bucket list. Contrary to some bucket lists, these are items that we've done in the past and we've loved so much, or are such a part of our time here, we want to do them again. So, here it is, in no in any particular order: Happy Hour at the Ritz Carlton in Battery Park City (views of Lady Liberty and Staten Island...or is that Ellis Island??) Walk through Central Park and go to the Boat House Visit the Whitney Museum (Edward Hopper exhibit going on now!) Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge Eat steak at the Strip House Walk around the Village and Soho and dine at Woo Lae Oak Picnic on the Staten Island Ferry (this is something we haven't done together yet) A visit to Puck Fair (where Paul and I met) Perhaps an opera at the Met One night out full of bowling and karaoke Wish us luck!  We'll let you know how we progress in whittling down the list!