What do you do when you have a free weekend… You go to Las Vegas and see a show! How do you like the image that is generated by AI? OK I will use real photos from here 😉
No, this time is not Lady Gaga, but as you can see from this posting that is one of the best shows we’ve ever attended but let me share some more about this one!
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But, let’s start sharing a new restaurant that we checked out this time in the Wynn Casino. Where’s the new Michelin star restaurant called Wei Ling.
It is highly recommended and would try it again.
The drinks are amazing and all the entrees although they seem very common are much more unique in flavor, tenderness and quality.
Our big highlight though was to show that to And it was at the Park MGM where we actually got some really good seats.
I highly recommend getting these tier and seats with tables as the views and service is amazing for only a few extra dollars.
I wonder if I can sell these limited edition extra passes?
Apparently, Rhianna was just a few seats ahead of us!
Mariah Carey entered with quite a crew, but I must admit musicians and dancers were quite amazing.
She had a great opening with her very large crew and holiday theme and it was a delight to be right front and center as this kicked off.
And then she kicked in with some her well known classics. She changed her outfit a few times as you can see. She did need quite a few breaks from time to time and if you watch closely to some of the videos she is looking at a teleprompter.
he downside was the show was only a little longer than an hour, but it was a good time.
But it all ended in fun and some great music and vibe and entertainment And we’re lucky that we were able to see her because we don’t know if she’ll have any more concerts in the future.
When in the LA area for conference, what else can you go see if you are in the area for a weekend Hollywood of course!
Hollywood of course, but there is so many other things to see as well. How about the popular Venice Beach?
I’m not sure if it is because of the rain if just because it really looks like a tourist trap more than anything else, but on a Saturday morning it is empty. This this is where they filmed the movie “White Men Can’t Jump.” I do not really want to jump around in the rain this morning.
This is where Arnold Schwarzenegger goes to workout with all his friends on the weekends like today.
We learn something new about Venice Beach area is that there is a different set of homes where there are actual canals where people like to go canoeing and kayaking.
Since it was raining, we thought it would be best to check out and see if any of our celebrity friends were home and were up for coffee since nobody is going out in this weather. Taylor Swift did not seem to be in the mood though…
So we wondered if we could go trick or treating in the day instead since this house looked welcoming for visitors…I guess I did not have enough Hocus Pocus today.
Without question, Beverly Hills is better to visit in the rain then in the hot summer, because that means it will not be crowded.
And driving around, there is so many places to see it’s hard to decide where to stop and check out.
It almost becomes a test to see how many buildings you recognize from TV shows and movies.
Speaking of TV shows…we tried to get on a famous Netflix TV show but no luck today.
No celebrities to hang out with here, so lets go try and have lunch with some! We had a great brunch at the Beverly Wilshire with all the other aspiring actors and actresses. Highly recommended.
But since we were in the area, why not check out the most famous shopping street in the United States: Rodeo Drive.
I was actually surprised in how small and short the street and shops are compared to how people rave about it, Maybe it is it because of the famous Donkey Kong statue at one end of the street?
It is great place to take pictures and everyone welcomes you into their shops. Just do not expect to find parking anywhere nearby to park your rental car though! All the spaces are taken up by valets and G-wagons.
Still no luck on finding the celebrities on a rainy day, so we decided to go try and catch a movie at the Dolby Theatre where they hold the Academy Awards each year…but it turns out, the only open it once or twice a year for second events and rarely for actually movies.
It was so hard to believe this is where all the dressed up celebrities come for the Oscars…this place is in the middle of a regular shopping mall and they just put up big curtains to create an illusion it is a special place.
I went to UCLA this week to check out all the roaming robots!
Actually, this week, I had a great opportunity to speak and collaborate at the same table with an Internet Reslience workshop with Steve Crocker and Vint Cerf at UCLA…
which was literally 1 block away from where the Internet was born!
and I got to meet Leonard Kleinrock who shared and discussed the mathmetical algorithm he created for packet routing.
you can see the original routes and connections that spawned after the first packet was sent from UCLA to Stanford.
and see the first IMP system to send a packet on the Internet!
It was saved and the only other one is in the computer history museum,
It almost looks like a modern rack doesn’t it?
with original chassis and boards built by Honeywell.
If you do not believe me, you can double check the government serial number 🙂
and even check out the log book entries when the first activities and (first buffer overrun crash) occured on the Internet!
We had an opportunity to go see Adam Sandler for his “You’r My Best Friend Tour”
and check out the Climate Pledge Arena which is where the local Seattle Karken hockey team plays but we’ve actually never been here before since it was previously called Key Arena.
The underground parking garage is very very convenient and highly recommended but the parking is a little expensive.
We were not sure what to expect but Adam Sandler had a few openers to kind of warm up the crowd which only took you know 15 to 20 minutes and then he comes on stage.
One of the funny openers before Adam came on was David Spade and it was nice to see some of the Saturday Night Live characters come on stage with him.
He has sense of telling stories and then sing a few songs with background videos. One of the most popular ones was the Halloween song since we were a few days away from Halloween.
They were all quite funny but I must warn you they are not for kids it is definitely an Adult theme and content.
We also got to see Rob Schneider the Saturday Saturday Night Live cast member also join him on his get that was very adult themed but quite funny.
I was fortunate to have the recent opportunity to visit and present at a conference again in Barcelona, so I took a moment to share a few experiences for my loyal followers.
It is a very fashionable airport for sure.
But let’s talk about the city!
There are so many sites to see when walking around the streets
(and I am not just talking about the shopping district)
I guess I was overdue for an airline review and I recently had the opportunity to fly and rate Lufthansa this week – it was exciting to try since it has been more than 10 years since I last flew long distance on Lufthansa to or through Germany.
The start with the good: Lufthansa has the fastest and most efficient boarding even with a two aisle large jet. Phenomenal.
It was nice to get a little snack as soon as you sit versus waiting an hour to board and take off. A bag of nuts, but I must admit they actually tasted quite good with some champagne.
The bad: the seats are still the worst and least comfortable since I was in the military. I felt like I was sitting on a metal ejection seat with a 5mm seat cushion. You need the pillow to actually survive sitting for 10 hours.
Continuing with the bad… The entertainment system had the worst experience to actually browse options. Click OK click OK click OK with the basic controller…
And the headset? Do I need to say any more?
OK – the food. The appetizer and bread were quite tasty and fresh.
The main entree of beef something…it was SO dry, I had to drink water with every bite to actually chew the meat and swallow it.
On the way back from Frankfurt, it was a little better with the warm veggie stew…but the pretzel was almost stale.
I will share a loung review shortly, but if you would like to compare this flight with all my other Airline reviews, just check out this page and I think you may be surprised by some of the results: Airline Reviews | David Cross Travel Blog
Sweden has some great national parks that are not far from the city – this one was only 30 minutes from Stockholm
So many paths and choices to check out all the lakes …
The various berries like the lingoberries can found along all the trails
And very small and tasty blueberries too!
There are supposed to be strawberries and raspberries as well but we did not find any of them on our afternoon out, but we did find some of our little beetle friends along the way!
Many calm and relaxing lake views
You can even make some licorice tea it you like.
The ducks definitely like their licorice roots even more than the Scandic natives
When we found an even more secluded lake
We had a BBQ and cooked some hit dogs.
And the ducks could not resist joining us as soon as the fire was lit!
And of course, what do you eat for dinner after a long day hike? Swedish meatballs!
Why doni say that? Because we are staying at hotel which is formerly the bank where this famous robbery and incident occured!
But let’s explore the city of churches and palaces from all over Europe origin. This one was German design.
which is basically a connected set of islands built from Viking settlements and fiefdoms over the past 1000 years.
There are many popular museums throughout the city – maybe as many as St. Petersburg in Russia!
But the most popular museum is…you guessed it right, the Abba museum!
and if you can look closely, in the city pictures, you can zoom in and see the office where one of the Abba singers is hanging out and working in his office 😉
Of course, we checked out the Royal Palace
We did not pay the required gold coins to survey the national treasury and crown jewels
But we snuck into some of the free places that reminded of us of the Vatican
but the guards shooed us away quickly when they saw us!
So we detoured a little down the famous priests alley
Which is known as the local Ghost walk tour for some reason….
Maybe it was this little guy that scares away people who do not donate and help the homeless in Stockholm. If you rub his head, just like the dog paws of the Moscow subway, it will bring you good luck
We used the good luck he gave us to find some good deals in the mile long tourist shopping street!
But the one thing you really DO have to be careful if is the bikers…they will happily knock you over if you stray in their path!
So after a long day of walking around, what is the best thing to do?
Have dinner at one of the classic local street side restaurants – Sturehof 😀
It is very popular for locals and tourists to hike around the city in the seven mountains surrounding the area. We went up to Mount Ulriken.
It is best to take the cable car up the first half of the way to access the best trails
They are pretty fast and efficient but get crowded in peak times
They do not have great views though, so enjoy the 60 minute ride to get to the top and then that is when the best pictures can be taken.
We did a 5 mile hike ourselves to the top where you can see the North Sea in the distance.
It is about 1000 feet in elevation, but there are some great ponds to check out
and historical places where they used to have water troughts for the horses.
Many people struggle to actually see the North Sear as it rains 270 days a year in Bergen and it is very overcast.
The wild sheep were pretty friendly on the way up.
This one was checking out the old military bunker in the distance and wondering what might still be stored there since most of the population has been nervous about Russia recently.
But if you ever visit Bergen, this is one of the best and easiest hikes almost everyone can enjoy or have a picnic!
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