A Day In The Life...

Thursday, June 26, 2008

For All the Sports Fans...part 2

ARCO Arena, located Sacramento, California, is the home to NBA's Sacramento Kings and WNBA's Sacramento Monarchs.

AT&T Park is the home to the San Francisco Giants. The park opened in 2000 officially replacing Candlestick Park as the home of the Giants. Three bronze statues of the Giants all-time greats adorn the park's exterior. The Willie Mays statue is located in front of the ballpark entrance at Willie Mays Plaza. Another statue dedicated to Willie McCovey stands over McCovey Cove where many homerun balls land. A third statue, of former Giant pitcher Juan Marichal sits outside the right-field gate entrance.

Oakland's McAfee Coliseum is a multi-purpose stadium and serves as the home for the Oakland Atheltic's and the Oakland Raiders. The stadium was formerly known as the Oakland-Alameda Stadium

Located adjacent to 'The Coliseum' is the Oracle Arena. Home to the NBA's GoldenState Warriors.

Road Trip, Day 3

This morning started with a trip to the California State Capitol building

Next, was a visit to the historic Governor's Mansion. Unfortunately, it was undergoing a major facelift. They did, however, have this scaled down model of the mansion. No longer serving as the Governor's official residence, it is now used primarily for public and state ceremonies and events. Governor George Pardee was the first governor to live in the mansion and Ronald Reagan was the last.

Named after the founder of United Farm Worker union this small open space is nestled in downtown Sacramento. Surrounded with tall old palm trees, flowers and grass it is a great place to relax during the day. Many times during the year, various musicians play on temporary stages set up on the small northern meadow. During my visit, a vendors had gathered to set up their stands for the Farmer's Market.

A quick stop at the local Hard Rock Cafe to add to my collection...

Next stop, Oakland and San Francisco...baseball, anyone?

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

For All the Sports Fans...part 1

Here, I am attempting to live out every sportsfan's dream: visit every Major League Baseball park...but I'm also trying to visit their Minor League affiliations.

First, SafeCo Field, the home of the Seattle Mariners...

Second, Cheney Stadium, the home of the Tacoma Rainiers (Mariners AAA)...

Third, PGE Park, home of the Portland Beavers (Padres AAA)

Next is Raley Field, home of the Sacramento RiverCats (A's AAA)

Road Trip, Day 2

With approximately 600 miles to travel to Sacramento, I didn't expect to make too many stops...

I did, however, snapped this photo of the State Capitol in Salem prior to jumping on I-5 South.

This is a photo of Mt Shasta at 70mph...

I finally arrived in Sacramento at 7pm...time to find a hotel and crash for the night

Next: California State Capitol, Hard Rock, Oakland A's game, San Francisco AT&T Park and maybe...Apple HQ.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Road Trip, Day 1 (part 2)

The Grotto, known as The National Sanctuary of our Sorrowful Mother, is a Catholic sanctuary, in Portland, Oregon. Nestled both at the foot of and on top of a cliff. A large meditation hall (far right) whose main chamber is at clifftop level extends down to the foot of the cliff; the cross on the hall is visible many miles

away. In addition

to a church and a plaza with a replica of The Pieta (right), there are several thousand feet of trails, including a trail of the Stations of the Cross, along which the faithful may pass in contemplation.

Nike World Campus located at One Bowerman Drive in Beaverton, OR. The original Nike World Headquarters is comprised of 74 acres. To keep pace with the growth often company, Nike embarked in 1995 on a 90-acre expansion project immediately north of the original campus. In doing so, Nike was able to consolidate the offices onto one campus. The North expansion project was completed in the spring of 1999. The project consists of four office buildings (containing more than one million square feet, an athletic center, a conference center, parking structure, additional day care facilities and playgrounds, new outdoor sports facilities, and extensively site improvements. All the building are named after Nike atheletes sucj as the Bo Jackson Sports and Fitness Complex (pictured above), the Jerry Rice Bldg, the Dan Fouts Bldg, the Micheal Jordan Bldg and, of course, the Tiger Woods Center, just to name a few.

Road Trip, Day 1

After saying good-bye to the Solis Clan I started my trek to California. The trip started at 10am with a quick picture of Mt Rainer. Until recently, the mountain was hidden behind unseasonable low clouds...

Next, was an hour drive south on I-5 to the State Capitol in Olympia.

Below, is another view of the State Capitol Building with a replica of the Tivoli Fountain (foreground)

Here's a photo of Mount St. Helens from the Visitor's Center...

Next, Onward to Portland...

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Back in early February I visited Naples and another famous volcano site, Mt Vesuvius

The Best of Sicily

We recently returned from a port visit to Sicily, Italy. Normally as part of the Engineering Department, engineers rarely get the opportunity to go on tours and enjoy the sites of the ports we visit. However, through some creative managing, we were able to put together a port-and-starboard rotation where everyone was able to enjoy some time off the ship.

A visit to Augusta Bay is where we stopped this month. A-Bay lies nestled between two Italian cities, Saracusa and Catania. More of a industrial area it is 45 minutes away from NSA Sigonella. After the long bus ride we are able to shop at the NEX and eat at the food court where the local Taco Bell always had a long line. There's also a new APPLEBEE's on the base and for the first couple of days was crowded with sailors.

A lot of tours were scheduled this time around primarily because this was our last visit to Sicily. Tours to Saracusa, Mt Etna and the bar where The Godfather was filmed were the highlights.

Me and a few of my friends took advantage of the Mt Etna tour which included a wine tasting at a winery. We left early Monday morning headed to the winery. We arrived at the winery around lunchtime. It was located at the base of Mt Etna. We were given a tour of the small plant before spending a few hours tasting the various wines they produced. Afterwards we were given the opportunity to purchase some bottles of wine. Next we headed toward the top of Mt Etna. Mount Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and is in an almost constant state of eruption. Although it can occasionally be very destructive, it is not generally regarded as being particularly dangerous and thousands of people live on its slopes and in the surrounding areas. As we traveled up the mountain side, you can see several rooftops of homes that were engulfed when the volcano last erupted. The eruption also completely destroyed the Rifugio Sapienza, on the southern flank of the volcano. Footage from the eruptions was recorded and used as the landscape of the planet Mustafar in the film Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. When we arrived at the top it was cold but not freezing. Enough to keep the snow on the ground. I was surprise to see the amount of people at the top of the mountain. Maybe it was a holiday or something. Unfortunately the cable car that would travel along the hillside wasn't working that day. But all in all it was an enjoyable tour.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

A Nice Day for a Hike

One of the most fascinating sights of Sardegna can be seen from La Maddalena and its just minutes from the Palau pier. One Sunday afternoon I decided to take a hike and discover Capo D’Orso, Bear Rock. Nestled about two miles from the landing, Bear Rock is a naturally sculptured rock from resulted by centuries of erosive forces. Up close, the rock doesn’t seem to resemble anything, only a pile of stones that have been cut by the strong winds blowing. But as you transit north from Palau, glance to the right and you can see the rock shape resembling a bear on all fours. From a top the landmark, you can get a beautiful bird’s eye view of Santo Stephano, our ship’s homeport and the beautiful island of La Maddalena
It has been said that the rock was used as a landmark for mariners since ancient times. It has been identified as an essential navigating point of the Mediterranean. The earliest reference of the “Bear” was made by Homer in the 10TH century B.C. In the epic tale “The Odyssey”’ the heroic Ulysses visits a spring near the bear. In circa 200 B.C., the geographer Tolomeo describes Bear Rock in a book on the geography of the known world.
There weren’t many people visiting the site, I’m guessing because it was off season. Normally it would be crawling with tourists and campers over the summer months. I guess that’s why many of the shops and eateries were closed. If you’re ever in Sardegna don’t forget to stop by and see it.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

YOU HAVE TO SEE...

After waking up from our night of partying, we decided to get an early start on our sight-seeing. Our first stop, McDonald's. Some of us haven't had any McD's in months and felt that we should start the day off right.

With McD's checked off our list we rode the tram from Termini to the Vatican City stop. Once we got off the tram station it was a 15 minute walk to the surrounding walls of the Vatican. At the entrance was a looooooooong line that extended around the corner 1/4 mile away. Since it was still early, I had decided that I was going to brave the length of the line and wait to go in. But as luck would have it, an English tour guide was asking us if we would like to join in on their group which was only a few hundred feet from the entrance. We quickly said yes and in 30 minutes we were going through the security point within the Vatican Museum.

All I can say is "WOW!" The Vatican was totally amazing. Our tour guide was awesome as she gave thorough explanations about all the exhibits. In the Octagonal Courtyard there was adorned with many marble sculptures such as Perseus and Apollo. We then ventured thru the Hall of Busts on our way to see the bust of Hercules, which is believed to be the model that inspired Michelangelo when painting Adam on the Sistine Chapel. Our next exhibit was Michelangelo’s Tapestry Room which was dimly lighted to help preserve the ancient crafts. It was pointed out that the ceiling was painted in such a way that it looked as if it was three-dimensional. The shadowing technique was effectively used centuries ago. It was also effective is some of the woven tapestries. On Rafael’s ‘Resurrection’, one can witness the stone slab Jesus has his foot on follow the viewer as they walk past it. It was simply amazing. I was like a kid in a candy store. I was in awe as we enter each room. The Sistine Chapel was UNBELIEVABLE. It’s absolutely breathtaking. Seeing first hand this body of work and realizing the conditions at which he worked in to complete it is unimaginable. Unfortunately photos were forbidden from being taken. It’s said that flash photography harms the pigment of the paint.

After absorbing Michelangelo’s greatest work, we then entered St Peter’s Basilica. That church was absolutely enormous. Measuring 118 meters long makes it the largest church. Michelangelo’s Pieta is encased on the immediate right and was surrounded by eager on-lookers. The church had various tombs that were adorned with many statutes designed by notable sculptors such as Bernini and Fontana.

Though our tour was satisfying I feel I need to revisit The Vatican City as well as Rome itself. There is simply too much to see over one weekend. So hopefully before I depart from Italy next year I’ll be able to explore Rome once again…And you should too.

P.S. Don’t forget to visit Naples, Pisa, Florence and the birthplace of Romeo and Juliet, Verona.

WHEN IN ROME...

For several weeks, I was contimplating what to do over the Veteran's Day weekend. It was my first time that my duty didnt fall over a long weekend and I really wanted to do something, anything. After surfing the net for flights, I came up with some reasonable choices: Paris, Rome or London. Paris was at the top of my list since I found a roundtrip flight for about 100 Euros. My only problem though, was to find someone to take me to and from the airport. I could take an Italian taxi, but that would cost 60Euros. I asked several people but no one could give me a firm yes or no...So after 2-3 unsuccessful days I had to switch to Plan B.

Plan B was to go to Rome. A friend of mine mentioned he and another friend were headed to Rome for the holiday. He also mentioned that two separate groups were also going. I called one of those groups and asked if there was room for me to tag along and he said, "Sure". So we purchased our tickets at the airport Friday morning to catch an afternoon flight.

After a short 45 minute flight we took a taxi into Rome to check in to our hostel. Once we located the building and set down our bags and decided to get some Chinese food at the restaurant below us. After savoring there jasmine rice and sweet and sour chicken, we decided to met up with one of the groups at another hostel. There, we ate some more dinner, drink beer and began to party with international students. George and Yala were the 'host and hostess' and invited us to go out with them to the Capo di Fiorni.

Bars to the left, bars to right, we were surround by at least 15 bars and all filled with people; students, tourist, locals, you name it....Drink, drink, drink and we did....we stumbled home around 3'oclock in the morning....

Friday, September 29, 2006

Ciao!

I must say that the past several weeks have been very different than my weeks when I first arrived in La Maddalena. First of all the weather has changed drastically...Gone are the mid-90's temperature, humidity so high you can't breathe. We are now experiencing cool winds coming across the Med with temperatures reaching only the mid-70's. We also seem to get thundershowers during the late-evening/early morning time. So often that we are forced to wear jackets...I guess I better start buying winter clothing before I start to freeze....But all in all the workdays aren't to bad here. Every so often we experience our share of emergent repairs, mind you the ship is realllllly old and has been negleted for decades. So although we may stay late from time to time, we are quite lucky to be able to hit the beach early and still have our weekends off.

I have found a 3-bedroom apartment that I'll be moving into soon. Mostly paid by the Navy but unfurnished. That's okay cause I plan in turning it into CLUB DEVIATE every Friday and Saturday and charge everyone $25 to get in and have all you can drink....I'm gonna make me some moola! ! !

A few friends are planning on doing some sightseeing, weather permitting. Not sure where cause I'm not the one driving, but some expressed going to the Acshun Mall and eating McDonald's and maybe some bowling....Doesn't matter to me as long as we do something.

Word was released that the ship will be headed stateside (Washington State) in late 2007. How cool is that? I know Roy's excited. We plan on transitting across the Atlantic Ocean with stops in Florida and Virginia before going thru the Panama Canal to head up the coast. We should be in Bremerton before the holidays.

Baby Christian is doing well. I have heard that he weighs close to 10lbs and has been smiling a lot. I recently bought him his first pair of Nike shoes, he'll be sporting those in a month or two. Eydee and I are hoping to have a christening in mid-December so clear your calenders for a party afterwards.

Anyway it's Friday night and we just got paid (party's jumpin', feelin' righhhht) and me and the boys are planning on finding a party somewhere in La Madd.
Until next post...take care y'all