Phildagr8's VirtualTourist Home Page

Okay, where to start? How about a quick summary, like a table of contents 'plus', and then you can skip to the part(s) you like best? That sounds like a good plan, so here we go!
First, being from Long Island, NY, I can tell ya about the places to go there.
Second, I moved to Buffalo, NY and lived there for several years while doing the college thing. Frequented Canada, too!
Then I moved to central upstate NY before moving out of NY. Not much to talk about there, but there are places worth stopping at if you're "just passing thru".
Next state: Massachusetts, and that's when the real trips begin, and they're as follows:
California,
Dusseldorf, Germany
Walmartville.. where Walmart and Perdue are headquartered. (The actual name of the town escapes me right now.)
Hong Kong, China (with a visit to "the mainland"...and yes, HK is part of China, but there's a drastic difference between the two... long story.)
Then on to Poland, Romania and Amsterdam.
And then back to Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan & Bangkok!
I went to Arkansas for the day, and Chicago is planned next week, after my next trip to Puerto Rico in December, and Hawaii next October. Whew!!
That's it for now, as I wasn't expecting to write a thesis.. but you can feel free to ask me ?'s and I can fill ya in if I can.

It's incredible to see how stained-glass items are made. When I first heard of "stained glass", the only thought that came to mind was 'oh, church windows, right?' Wrong. There are some amazing lamps and other items that are made with it, and it's amazing how they look. First, the colored glass arrives in huge flat sheets/panes, like plywood. The pieces are cut by hand into the individual pieces. Each glass piece edge (that will be connected to another) is wrapped with a narrow copper tape, and then the pieces are laid out onto the desired pattern to hold them in place and then solder is dripped onto the corners to hold them in place until the pattern is completed. The piece is taken off the pattern and the uncovered areas of copper tape are covered with solder. The whole item is dunked in light oil and wiped dry with a rag. Voila!

Jet lag?...what's that? Well, two things to keep in mind: Hong Kong is 12 hours AHEAD of Eastern Standard time. (Going to Germany?...well, they are 6 hours ahead, so don't waste any time trying to figure it out; just bear with me)....When your Boston flight leaves at 7am Monday (I had a 1 hour layover at LAX, so keep this in mind), you'll land in HK Tuesday evening around 7pm, so you lose a day and a half. Your body doesn't realize it, so no matter how much sleep you get on the plane, I recommend you bring something (cough medicine w/alcohol, no-doz, sleep-ease, Vivarin, etc.) to get adjusted to the time difference & jet lag quicker. When you arrive, get your watch to the new time and either try to stay awake as long as possible, or get some sleep quickly, or else you might find yourself in need of a comfortable resting spot to "do some thinking", or worse, you won't be able to fully enjoy your visit where ever you are.

One of my next endeavors will be to find the scenic roads of New England and 'tour' them on my motorcycle. A convertible comes close, but there still no comparison to the feel of riding a motorcyle, leaning on the turns and in direct touch with the air around you. There are some amazing roads and highways in New York & New England that won 'scenic awards' while all the foliage is changing colors during the fall. Tune in next time when I add some of these photo's, and maybe I'll see ya out there!!

coming soon to this page... still under construction..like most interstates! ha!!