Month: December 2012

The Modern Rome

billkralovec
.

We spent the afternoon yesterday touring around Washington DC. This is my second visit to the city and I was really inspired with awe at the architecture and layout of the city. It reminded us of many of the European cities we visit, and that is because the original plans of the city were based on European cities. The parks and grand buildings make me think that it must be like what Rome was at its height of the empire. It is a grand capital and fitting for the American Empire.

It is amazing to see that these institutions we hear of all the time, like the IRS (Internal Revenue Service), the FBI, etc., actually have offices and is a real place. Washington also has so many bike paths and parks and the Potomac Riverfront is beautiful. It is a city that I could definitely live in.

As you can see in the photo above, the city is getting ready for President Obama’s Inauguration Parade coming up next month. There were viewing stands being constructed in front of the White House and the main stage in front of Capital Hill (above). The city also has so many museums and cultural institutions, it would be a great place to live.

I’m in front of the White House

The Founding Fathers really chose well for a capital. I hope to come back for another visit, there is so much to see. I would like to thank our good friend Kim Winter for showing us around the city and inviting us out to her home in Virginia.

Washington Monument

A Special Evening

billkralovec

 

.

We had a wonderful Christmas Party on Christmas Eve night. Pennsylvania even had it snow to make it a white Christmas! It was great to be surrounded by new family and friends and eat and drink too much. The kids were so excited and screaming and running around like crazy.

We prepared a traditional Christmas Eve Slovak meal with all the traditions and dishes. The meal featured seven dishes, none of which is meat. We made salmon patties, pirohi, oplotki, lentils, etc. Some of the traditions include putting straw under the table cloth, locking all the doors of the home, and setting an extra place setting at the table.

It was a very special evening for all of us in many ways! Merry Christmas!

Ironton Rail Trail

billkralovec

 


The past couple of days I’ve been taking the kids out to a very cool area called the Ironton Rail Trail. It is a 9 mile trail that was adapted from an old railway. Along the trail there are the remnants of an old cement company including the building above. Trail management has also a bird feeding station that was quite active with birds, even in winter.

Beyond the old buildings there is an old quarry that is filled with water. Yesterday there was a thin layer of ice on the pit and the kids had a great time breaking the ice and throwing broken ice chunks on the surface.

We played army and they really enjoyed themselves. It is nice that local authorities and concerned citizens have gotten together to make such nature preserve possible. With the onslaught of highways and housing developments in the area, it is a welcome relief to the malls, chains of box stores, and suburbs.

The NFL Game Experience

billkralovec
Owen and Oliver Enjoy the Game

Yesterday we attended a National Football League game at Lincoln Financial Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The game featured the host Philadelphia Eagles taking on the Washington Redskins. In an exciting finish, the Redskins defeated the Eagles, 27-20 to take a lead in their division. You can read about the game and see the highlights on NFL.com.

This post is more about the game experience for a family. The American sports stadium experience is much different than other countries. First of all, the tickets were extremely expensive. Our seats, as you can see, were very high up in the stadium near the end zone, cost $95 each. If you include parking ($30), food ($20 for 2 cokes, a hot dog, and small pizza) and gasoline (approx. $20), it was a $370 day. I would never pay that on a regular basis and if we had season tickets, that would be $3,700 for the year. I didn’t mind paying it for a one-time experience for the boys, but it is too much to ask for a season.

Why so high ticket prices? Well, the minimum salary for a rookie is almost $400,000 per year. I also think the cost of the stadium, which was partially publicly funded, also has to do with the cost. I don’t think the experience for me and my two children is worth $370. I would prefer to lesser level of football (player skills, stadium comfort, etc.) and a lower ticket price.

Robert Griffin III hands off to the running back

That being said, we really had a great time and it continued the boys’ interest in football. We’ve been playing everyday during the holidays, which is becoming a Christmas break tradition.

As I written before, attending a game is really an excuse to drink. I am not sure how many fans understand the game well or have played the game. Personally, football is the sport I enjoy watching the most. Despite an average of only 11 minutes of action per 3-hour game, it is the only sport (except Detroit Tiger baseball game, or Tour De France or Olympics) I can watch from start to finish.

Another aspect of going to the game is comparing it to staying at home and watching the game on television. With the hassles of lining up to get in, the cold, having limited access to other game highlights and statistics, the NFL should really consider the in-game experience. It is much more comfortable to stay home with the DirecTV Red Zone channel and watch all of the games.

I would like to thank my Uncle Jack for getting the tickets and taking us to the game. It was an experience we will not forget!

Wegmans Supermarket

billkralovec

In my visits to Pennsylvania, one of the experiences everyone should do is a shopping trip to Wegmans Supermarket. It is a chain of grocery stores in the Mid-Atlantic region. They have the best and biggest selection of food I have ever seen. It is an amazing experience – do not go when you are hungry. An article in the Atlantic, gives a good description of the business.

Our first visit to Wegmans, however, ended in disaster. Both Owen and Ollie had a virus that caused them to vomit profusely. It struck just after a meal there (they have a restaurant). It eventually led to Oliver visiting the emergency room to get some anti-vomiting medicine after 12 episodes.

Oliver Not Feeling So Well..

Below is an excerpt from the article. I recommend a visit to Wegmans for anyone visiting the Mid-Atlantic (Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, New Jersey) region.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Cashiers are barred from interacting with customers until they have completed 40 hours of training. Hundreds of staffers are sent on trips around the U.S. and world to become experts in their products. The company has no mandatory retirement age and has never laid off workers. All profits are reinvested in the company or shared with employees.

A doomed Internet startup? Occupy Wall Street fantasy? Bankrupt retailer recently purchased by Walmart?

No, a $6.2 billion-a-year, 79-store-supermarket chain with cult-like loyalty among its customers.Wegmans, which operates its 79 stores in New York, Pennsylvania and four other East Coast states, shows that a business can generously train its workforce and profit handsomely…

High volume, according to company executives. The chain’s stores are enormous – usually 80,000 to 120,000 square feet – larger than a typical Whole Foods and roughly double the size of a traditional supermarket. And they feature a dizzying array of 70,000 products, nearly twice the number available in a standard grocery store. Across the East Coast, Wegmans supermarkets have the highest average daily sales volumes in the industry.

 

What Money Can Do

billkralovec

 


Owen and Oliver are shown playing in a park in front of the Bethlehem Steel Blast Furnaces. We are visiting the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania for the holidays. The Lehigh Valley is located about an hour’s drive from New York City and Philadelphia in south eastern Pennsylvania. The valley consists of three cities, Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton which are considered one urban area. The population of the three cities is around 800,000 people.

A couple of days ago we visited the SteelStacks, which is a 10-acre campus dedicated to the fine arts, education and entertainment. It was developed on the land formerly occupied by the Bethlehem Steel Company. For centuries, the company, as well as others in the state, were the industrial backbone of the USA. In 1999, the company finally closed and the city of Bethlehem rallied together to develop the site into an amazing community cultural and entertainment center. Only in America could 70 million dollars be raised to turn what could have been an eyesore, into a thing of beauty and fun.

Lehigh Valley Iron Pig Stadium – Coca Cola Park

We are going back today to visit the Christmas Market and listen to some live music. There also are some art galleries and education centers run by the non-profit, ArtsQuest.

The entire area has really impressed me! They have taken many of the old factories and mills and turned them into fine arts centers, restaurants, night clubs, etc. One of the steel company’s former site is now a baseball stadium, home to the Triple AAA affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs.

I’ll be blogging more about the area and our travels this holiday.

The Magic of Movies

billkralovec

 


I finally wrapped up shooting for the Montevideo sequel last week. They are filming the final game of the Yugoslavian team. They lost to the host Uruguay in the semifinals of the 1930 World Cup. The game was filmed in the beautiful Pink Studios, a large complex located outside of the Belgrade near the airport. The huge complex has nine sound studios and several Hollywood films have been shot there. The most famous movie being The Raven (2012).

The producers made the stadium, field, and locker rooms in the big #2 sound stage. It is a massive room with the green back drop. It was strange to do my parts without seeing a field or game. I watched the raw footage of the scenes before going into the booth.

It was an incredible experience and I thank all the extras, directors, make-up, costume, cameramen, etc. who helped me get through my scenes.

The Thermal Baths of Budapest

billkralovec

 

Szechenyi Bath and Spa, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

We had a really nice weekend in Budapest. The highlight of the visit was our trip to the Szechenyi Bath. The city is famous for its thermal pools and this one is its most famous. As you can see from above, the pools are inside a beautiful. old building from the turn of the century. You can see the steam rising from the outdoor pools. The spa is located in a big park near the zoo and the statue square.

It is a strange experience for an American. They are open to the public and it costs around 10 Euros to enter. You can either get a private cabin or a rent a locker. There were probably about 500-600 people, but the pools are so big it didn’t feel too crowded. It was a cold night (-2C) and it is a bit dodgy heading out to the pools from the locker room, but once you hit the 38C water, it is quite heavenly.

The Spa is a great example of Neoclassical architecture.

The kids absolutely loved it. We went to the various pools, both indoor and outdoor. My favorite was the “whirlpool” that sends out a fast current that pushes people around in a circle. It is hilarious to be bumping into people.

I highly recommend visiting one of the many thermal pools in the city. It is a great thing to do on a cold winter’s evening. It is very relaxing and got us very hungry.

Nemi and Kralovecs Feeling Refreshed

It was a great day indeed, which included drinking mulled wine at the Christmas Market and a Mexican dinner at Iguana’s, one of our favorite restaurants in Budapest.

Roasted “Kurtos” Bread is a Kralovec Family Favorite

Snowstorm of Dec 2012

billkralovec

 

Snowstorm of Dec 2012, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

We had a crazy amount of snow this week in Belgrade. It snowed last weekend and a couple of times earlier this week. The temperatures have stayed below zero all week so it stayed around.

The picture above is what I faced for several mornings. Sweeping the car, scraping the ice off the windows, and shoveling the drive. I don’t mind it at all! The city does not plow the side streets so parking and navigating is a mess. It is also a hassle to put on and take off the snow clothes of the kids.

In speaking with the kids however, and watching the joy they found in playing in the snow, I am so happy that Serbia gets so much snow. Owen’s class at school built a really cool snow cave and all three of my kids play out in the snow every day.

Volim sneg! Hoću još snega!

Owen Turns 10!

billkralovec

 


Thursday night we celebrated my son Owen’s tenth birthday. We traditionally do it together with his friend, Bor, who was also born on the same day. We went to the Intergalatic Diner, a 1950s-themed restaurant with excellent shakes, onion rings, big hamburgers, and mini jukeboxes at the tables. It is located by the Saint Sava Cathedral in Vraćar.

Bor and Owen’s other friend, Tudor slept over that evening. The boys were laughing late into the night. The adults had a great time as we invited Aleš, Jasmina, Claudiu, and Vesna. The night was full of laughs, hugs, arm wrestling, and camaraderie.

I can’t believe that it is 10 years since the birth of Owen. They went by so fast! Happy Birthday Owen – we love you!