Howdy y´all !

Last week I visited the second largest state of the US: Texas. This state is bigger than France, but also less populated - 24 million residents in Texas, versus 64 million in France. My uncle & aunt live half an hour south of Dallas, where I entered a completely different world: instead of large cities, a lot of traffic and working, I was chilling in between dogs, horses and turkeys. The fact that it´s another world became clear the very first minute, when a little snake blew into their pool!

After two days of relaxing, enjoying the 80-degree weather, and driving around in enourmous pick-up trucks, me and my aunt&uncle drove to Texas' capital Austin on Monday. Dallas - Austin is a three-hour drive, and Austin is the liberal centre in conservative Texas. During the day, we visited the State Capitol and the Texas State History Museum (about the history of this once independent state, and about the time where it was part of Mexico - ironic because of all the current issues with Mexicans in the South!). At nighttime however, it became clear what this city is all about: it´s the ‘live music capital’ of the US – Sixth street is a street filled with live music bars, and even on a Monday night there´s live music everywhere!

On Tuesday we visited the largest urban bat-location in the world: about 1.5 million bats spend their summer underneath a bridge in Austin! 18 inch holes make this the perfect location for them. Unfortunately, these flying rats had already taken off to Mexico to look for more heat. After visiting Mount Bonnell (spectacular views) and the Oasis (a restaurant near a lake, that fits 1.800 people - yes, everything is bigger in Texas!), we drove back to the ranch near Dallas.

Texas wouldn´t be Texas, if residents didn´t walk around with their ´protection´. The residents love the second amendment, and nearly everyone carries a gun with them. While I don´t completely agree with this reasoning, it is a lot of fun to legally shoot outside-doors (don´t worry - only on cans!). My cousin showed me his 9mm glock and sniper rifle, and after we found some empty cans and bought ammo (for sale in many regular grocery stores), we shot on a piece of wood and some empty cans. Another American experience for me!

On Wednesday morning, it started raining - something unique for hot Texas, so it was time to get back to the East Coast. Here are some pictures from the Lonely Star State.

Bruce Springsteen in Philly

Last Saturday, I joined about 100.000 people in Philadelphia for Bruce Springsteen's open-air concert on a crowded Benjamin Franklin Parkway. This concert, organized within one week, had the intention to show support for Obama and encourage people to register to vote in PA. Here's a video and some pictures (this time, I didn't take them myself!)

 

American Football

September and October are the best months for many Americans: the Baseball season ends (and finally gets a little exciting, after 162 games), while American Football and Hockey start. In a city like Philadelphia (known for its passionate sport fans), you just can´t ignore it: on one day everyone in the city wears red-white shirts to support the Phillies, the next day they´ll wear orange and black for the Flyers, and if the Eagles play, the city totally turns green.

Last Sunday I got the opportunity to visit an Eagles game. By now, I´ve been pulled into sports completely, so I was more than happy to go!!

The fun starts a few hours before the game, when people start Tailgating: fans park their SUVs on a huge parking lot, open their trunk, get a barbeque and the fun begins. Many of them don´t even have a ticket - they´ll just hang out and listen to the radio!

Once you walk into the stadium you´ll be completely overwhelmed - 70.000 people are cheering for the team. After the anthem the players walk onto the field, supported by cheerleaders and loud firework. Our seats were in between many die-hard fans, who listened to the radio during the game and created some great entertainment in the breaks!

A few weeks ago, I visited a sport that is not that popular - but it was fun to see (again, thanks to tailgating): Polo! Although I didn´t have high expectations, it was a lot of fun... Especially to see how horses are being transported (see the last picture!) :)

 

Cycle 4 Savings!

When the following e-mail came in, I didn't have to think very long about my answer: 'Who wants to help ING Direct US in September by encouraging people to save their money, by performing random saving acts while we´re biking down to Washington DC in three days in orange jersey´s?' Being Dutch, born on a bicycle, they didn't have to ask me twice!

After a few training rides in Delaware in the previous weeks, we started this ride last Wednesday. 40 associates from different locations came together to leave on ING Direct-labeled bicycles. After a great kick-off event with a protein-rich breakfast in Wilmington, the ride to Perryville, MD started. 42 miles with many hills later we arrived in this small town, where we encouraged locals to save their money by picking up their restaurant bill (so that they could put that money in an Orange Savings Account)!

The next morning was early, but that was necessary since we had to bike 57 miles (of which many miles uphill) to Baltimore. It was a long ride, but thanks to a truck full of energy bars and sport drinks (it's still America) we made it. In downtown Baltimore, we encouraged local commuters that used their bicycle by giving them money for their Orange Savings Account. Save your money, ride a bike to work!

On Friday, we had to finish by biking another 50 miles to DC, but thankfully not as hilly as the first two days. However, we got lost in the industrial area of Baltimore (even though two following cars had GPS) which made us race to a meeting point, 10 miles before DC. At this location, the COO of ING Direct US and the mayor of Washington joined us to finish this event! After arriving at City Hall, a press conference was given and the bikes were donated to the city's school system.

We finished this event with a nice dinner and some beers in DC, and a few hours of sleep later we left with the bus back to Wilmington. It was great to be a part of this event!

Here are the pictures:

This guy with the orange cap is DC's mayor!

The magnificent view...

During my last visit in New York I finally got a chance to 'climb' the Empire State Building. And it's definitely worth a visit!! At night, the highest point in this huge city gives you breathtaking views on all corners; here are some pictures (click on them for a larger size):

East Coast road trip

Last week my brother visited me from the Netherlands. We made a road trip on the East Coast: after 2 days of Philly, we visited Atlantic City (hanging on the beach & in casino's), spent 3 days in NYC (still amazing) and went to Cape Cod, Boston and Cambridge.

Cape Cod is a special area. Its shape on the map led to the nickname bicep of America. It is a lot different compared to other parts of the US: houses are colorful, there are not as many fast food places but there are a lot of fish restaurants, ice-cream shops, and lighthouses. We did a whale watching tour in Hyannis: a tour of four hours on the Atlantic. After about an hour, we found a group of whales: huge!! The baby whales are really nice, they stay on the water surface and are curious about the boat, so they keep playing around it. On the way back we ran into a large group of dolphins that kept swimming in the waves of the boat!

The next day, we travelled along to Boston. This city has a lot of old area's and has the Freedom Trail, a 2.5-mile walk through the city which leads to many historic sights. It ends at the Bunker Hill monument, where you can walk up the stairs (296 steps) to get a nice view over the city!

On Sunday we went to Harvard University in Cambridge. It was nice to see this campus, after reading the Harvard Business Review many times while I was in college. The student live looked pretty nice, with many terrasses and squares which is (unfortunately) unique for cities in the US...

Here is a video of the Whale Watching tour & pics of the trip!