Fortunately, I had other things to do, which included getting to the Hard Rock Café at Yankee Stadium, to add to the count, visiting my grandparent’s gravesite, a promise I made to them and to myself that every time I come to New York City, I would visit them, and I have kept that promise. I even wandered around the city, saw a street fair on 6th Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) and as well as Bryant Park. And explored Times Square, just to get the vibe and stopped into the Hard Rock in Times Square where they were celebrating Pinotober for those who collect pins and while I have been there before, so I can’t add it, I had a chance to really see the memorabilia including one of Billy Joel’s motorcycle and Harry Chapin’s typed copy of W.O.L.D, and of course, much more. I also had a chance to visit with my aunt and uncle for lunch a local Romanian restaurant called the Romanian Garden in Sunnyside, where I am staying while here. It is a very diverse and active area of Queens, and the weather has been very nice, so people were out and about. Even saw a sign at one of the stores that the Powerball was a 1 billion dollars. Crazy thinking about that number. They bought two tickets, I did not. ​

As I was speaking with Rosa last night about my pursuit, and yes, she is also at a different point in life, she reminded me that seeking out work in Italy or elsewhere may not be easy and I do understand that. I also reminded her that I have been able to weather many storms and manage many bumps in the road over my lifetime. I also reminded her that I can continue with my business from anywhere in the world to anywhere in the world as was proven out this past summer, and that tutoring and/or teaching English as a Foreign Language is within my grasp now. It may take time, but it will happen. More importantly, if I don’t take a chance now, then when? Now, when the new year, yes, I know still two months away, is upon us and who knows, what it will bring, with the craziness in this country and the world, I am not tied down to a state, a city, a company, and nothing is really holding me back here in America. You only live once and I will live it. I am willing to give it that shot, both personally and professionally. 
It does not matter where I live and how I live as long as I am happy. Isn’t that what it says in the US Constitution, the pursuit of happiness. Well, I am on that pursuit, and I am the happiest when I have been with her and each time, we are together, it is a test and while nothing is perfect and it should not be, we enjoy each other’s company. Yes, and while it was a shorter amount of time, this summer proved it is possible and I am only looking for a chance to move forward in our relationship. She is, always, on my mind and in a month’s time, we will be together again.

For this week however, I am off to the Big Apple for a conference and trade show at the Jacob Javits Center and also a little personal business including a visit with an uncle of mine, visiting my grandparent’s gravesite and for the fun of it, hitting the 72nd Hard Rock, up near Yankee Stadium. Funny, I have never been to Yankee Stadium, even though I lived in New York City for many years of my life, and it should a little quiet up there now that the Yankees have been eliminated from the playoffs, but the pursuit of happiness includes the Hard Rock experience, so I will continue to add to my collection. Yes, I have been to the one at Times Square. Next week this time off to Europe for the month of November and a part of December, for business and more travel adventures I will be excited to share with you. The routine of packing and unpacking continues. What packing ideas do you have to share?
Until next week, thank you for your support of my crazy little world and of my small business. It is truly appreciated, and as always, I am interested in your thoughts, comments, questions and adding to the discourse is always appreciated be in on the site itself or on Facebook, Twitter or wherever you read this.

It is crazy to think that a week ago yesterday, I was enjoying watching the Vikings beat the Saints at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and then enjoying some of the classic foods in the East End of London the next day on a foodie tour. In fact, the sample fish and chips were so good, that afterwards, I went back and had the full portion. I left last Tuesday back to the states and back here in New England and no, never did to Windsor this past go around. Maybe next time and glad to see that the Vikings made history by winning the game yesterday against the Bears, to be the first team to win the next game after returning from an international game.

Actually, the reason I'm one step closer also has to do with my time in Rome this summer. As you perhaps recall, besides arranging travel and of course, being with Rosa, I was working on completing my practicum, so I would be certified to teach English as a Foreign language and I had to complete at least 20 hours of actual experience teaching English to non-native speakers. Well, I did it and with Rosa’s help, getting me a couple of her friends and acquaintances, I completed, in fits and starts, the 20 hours and included a few with her along the way. She is not a native English speaker, so it counted. The most interesting part of the experience was getting back into teaching mode as I had not done that in a while. ​

After the business part of my time here, it was time to did a little exploration of London and, having been here before, in fact last year, most recently, I wanted to explore London, as I did last year after the business part of my trip, pounding the payment, but actually tried the Hop On Hop Off experience with one of the supplier’s companies and things seemed to go well for the first hour or so, and then things seemed to unravel. As the route continued, we started going around in circles, and we passed by St. Paul’s Cathedral, not once, not twice, but three times, and it is definitely worth seeing, but even with diversions (English for detours). Oh, that’s right, British English, not American English, we continued. It seemed that finally, we were back on track, and I was getting to a stop where I wanted to change route, so I came down from the top. As it turned out, this was a new driver, he was getting further behind, as he had done the repeated route, diversion or not, and then did not even stop at the designated stops at the end of the route, so he could get back on track. Perhaps, more training should have been involved. ​

In the end, we got back to the beginning, which in this case, Piccadilly, I would have had to repeat the whole route again, just to get back to the place I had wanted to get to. As it turns out, however, one of the tour operator employees, listened to what had happened, and radioed ahead to one of the drivers of the other route, escorted me to the meeting location, so that I would not have to meet that route by doing the whole circuit over, and connected to the second route. In the end, I was on my way, headed in the correct direction and had a very nice conversation with the driver, a gentleman by the name of Trevor, who was originally from Jamaica and has been with the company for some 30 years. He and chatted for the better part of the time. No, I was not distracting him, and he knew the city and history, like the Black Taxi Cabbies and being in the same age bracket, we talked about many things, so it was almost like a personal tour, even though there were others on the bus, upstairs. In the end, he made, along with the tour operator employee, whose name I did not get, a mistake by a rookie driver into a pleasant experience and then enjoyed lunch, by then I was very hungry, at the Churchill Arms Pub and had Thai food. It was good and albeit strange, for a British pub, it was a nice experience, after which, I walked back to my hotel about 1 ½ miles through some very nice neighborhoods. ​