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HANG TIME, Texas — We've been to the beach to soak up the rays and the scenery. We've dove into a cool mountain lake at the end of an invigorating hike. We've got the adrenaline pumping with a whitewater kayak ride through rapids. We've taken our inner tubes down the river for a long afternoon float.
What else is left to do on these sultry summer days for relaxation except to lie back in a hammock and dream of MVPs who'll heat things up on all those chilly winter nights?
While it's still months away from the season openers, we're taking off from the free throw line in our lazy naps and soaring all the way to April for the top five contenders on my ballot.
LeBron James, Heat — This is when the big fun and the vegetable throwing really starts as LeBron's resume begins to more closely resemble that of Michael Jordan, which only means the worshippers at the Church Of His Airness will scream heresy, among other more unpleasant things. He's averaging 27.6 ppg, 7.3 rpg and 6.9 apg through his first 10 NBA seasons and as he turns 29, only seems to be getting more comfortable in his own skin. When James again leads the Heat to the best regular-season record on the way to a three-peat as NBA champs, he'll be moving into lofty air. Three consecutive MVPs will put him in a class with MJ, Larry Bird, Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain. A fifth MVP overall will tie him with Jordan and leave trailing only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (six). To think that he could be just getting into the meat of his career.
Kevin Durant, Thunder — As long as LeBron is upright, healthy and not getting bored of steamrolling everything in his path, KD just might have to get accustomed to a career as a great second banana when it comes to the MVP. Well, it did work out OK for Robin, Dr. Watson, Paul Shaffer and Chewbacca. There isn't a thing anybody can throw out there to knock Durant, the most prolific scoring machine of this age. No shot is out of his range and he makes every shot look oh-so-easy. He'll either win his fourth scoring title in five years or finish a couple of tenths behind Carmelo Anthony again. Unless Durant really elevates his OKC teammates above an strong Western Conference class of contenders, he'll simply have to deal with being born at the same time as LeBron. But remember, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant were annually overlooked at MVP voting time, winning just one apiece. KD would likely be quite satisfied if he could get just a fraction of their nine combined championships.
Dwight Howard, Rockets — This is how he gets back at the Lakers and all those mean things they said about him. This is how he proves to everybody that he made the right choice by emulating Davy Crockett and settling down in Texas. Howard has already been spending time in the practice gym with his two Houston mentors, Kevin McHale and Hakeem Olajuwon. If just half of their knowledge and fundamentals of the game rubs off on him, the Dwightmare will be over. After two seasons of indecision that also included back surgery and a shoulder injury, Howard will go back to being fit and happy on the court. That should produce another season of leading the league in rebounding, putting a chokehold on another Defensive Player of the Year Award and upping his scoring average off the pick and roll with James Harden and Jeremy Lin. There will be a lot of voters with long memories that won't want to forget his past childish acts. But if Howard lifts the Rockets to 55 or more wins and has them looking like true contenders by April, he's in the MVP hunt.
Derrick Rose, Bulls — After 1 1/2 years, The Return will finally be more than just a TV commercial for Adidas. No more worries about juking this way or that on a surgically repaired ACL. No more wondering about whether he can jump off his left foot and dunk. No more having to listen to all the imbeciles who wanted him to risk perhaps the next 10 years of an All-Star career by getting out on the floor for a few games at the end of last season to prove his manhood. The Rose who returns will have questions to answer to his fans and to himself, but at 24 he's young enough to come back even stronger and better than he was. Keep in mind this is a guy who already has an MVP trophy (2011) on his mantle. A lot has changed in the landscape since Rose collapsed to the floor in the 2012 playoffs. The Heat have won two titles and have found their identity. The Pacers proved they're for real. The Nets are reconfigured and loaded. The East will be a beast, but don't be surprised if Rose comes back with a roar.
Chris Paul, Clippers — You figure that maybe Paul deserves to be given a truckload of MVP trophies just for transforming the laughingstock Clippers franchise into not just the best in the Staples Center, but a real contender. Everybody knows his on-court talent — great handle, penetrating to pass, hits the jumper, steals your lunch with ballhawking defense — but it's his fierce competitiveness and overall attitude that have lifted the Clippers. The Western Conference will be even tougher next season with Dwight Howard in Houston and Andre Iguodala boosting Golden State. But you figure that new coach Doc Rivers will grab the Clippers attention and make them more than just the Lob City sideshow. That means he'll ask even more from CP3 and there's little doubt that the little guy can deliver. They made not improve on last season's 56 wins, but should shoehorn their way into another top-four seeding by winning the Pacific Division. Now that Paul has re-signed and committed to the Clippers, the real good stuff has likely just begun.
PREVIOUSLY: Coach of the Year | Sixth Man of the Year | Defensive Player of Year | Most Improved Player | Rookie Of Year


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Purged of hope and ego.
Fix your attention on the soul,
Act and do it for me.
from "The War of Art"
-Stephen Pressfield
The following is an excerpt from an email I wrote to my best friend Friday morning while I was on the train headed to a competition...
... I just finished that book and while some didn't resonate completely, the last page totally did. Do your work as an offering to God. Not for any other reason or to gain anything from it. I do my part and He does His. And after I'm done with my part, I don't worry about it. The fruits of our labor are not what we have control over. He's given me these talents and this purpose and my job is to do my very best and leave it at that. Oh how simple and yet complex. I don't know... That's just what spoke to me based on what I'm dealing with right now. Life is so complicated, hard, unfair, stressful...but it's really not. I just make it that way. I care so much but maybe I'm caring in the wrong way...
I wanted to share that bit of personal correspondence for a few reasons. For starters, it's very honest. It wasn't written as a blog post I wanted to share with people and make sure was worded just right or had some deep insight attached to it. Also, it was written before my competition. So, in hindsight I can tell you the difference it made in my soul and not just have this break thru moment after I happened to have a good jump on friday.
This past month has been a crazy roller coaster of emotions for me. But I feel like since I read the last page of that book I've turned my corner. And whether that turn continues to produce good jumps or not is inconsequential in terms of the bigger picture. It's centered me again and reminded me of what I believe in my heart to be true.
I believe very strongly about the purpose and meaning of our lives and what we are supposed to do with our gifts and talents. As I grow older, it becomes so much clearer to me... And yet. And yet I still lose sight of that when I hold on too tightly to the fruits of my labor. I don't leave everything on the field, so to speak, I hold on to it and let it validate things that aren't true. And I begin to let the emotions of all of that get the best of me.
I know plenty of people might not agree with these sentiments completely. You can be a professional athlete and be motivated by fame or fortune or even certain accomplishments that you believe will define your career. But for me, even though I don't think I necessarily need to let go of my goals or aspirations, I want to operate from a place of feeling like I'm giving back to the place where the gifts came from. An offering. I want to let go of my ego, do the work to the best of my ability, and give it back to Him. The idea of that makes me happy and feels me with a deeper joy than I have been experiencing as of late, and for that I am grateful.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Hope College Concert Band will perform on Thursday, Dec. 6, at 7:30 p.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
The Concert Band consists of Hope students, alumni, and community members from the Holland and Zeeland area. The band will perform a wide variety of music and will showcase several student conductors from the college's music education program.
The concert program will feature "Courtly Airs and Dances," by Paul Nelson; "Variations on a Korean Folk Song," by John Barnes Chance; "Epinicion," by John Paulson; "Dusk," by Steven Bryant; "Folk Song Suite," by Vaughan Williams; "Toccata," by Frank Erickson; and "Prelude, Siciliano, and Rondo," by Malcolm Arnold.
The student conductors will include sophomore Genevieve Janvrin of Woodridge, Ill.; sophomore Melissa Johnson of Livonia; sophomore Allie Kessel of Custer; sophomore Leah Marie Peterson of Holland; senior Jessica Wells of Indian Creek, Ill; junior Rachael Whitmore of Clarkston; and junior Jacquie Woudenberg of Holland.
Dimnent Memorial Chapel is located at 277 College Ave., on College Avenue at 12th Street.


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by Elise Seyfried
My kids recently expressed sorrow that I finally stopped performing in our children's theatre productions. Our theater group is called Family Stages; also the Rehoboth Summer Children's Theatre. For some reason (wonder why?) they'd always enjoyed seeing their mother make a fool of herself onstage, fussing and fuming as the Wicked Queen in Snow White, "flying" and sword fighting as Peter Pan. I enjoyed it too, but now I've had enough at age 55. I've been playing these parts since 1979, when I was a mere slip of a girl, and it wasn't quite such a stretch to imagine me skipping down the Yellow Brick Road.
Before I met my husband Steve, I never really considered being an actress (though apparently I was such an overly dramatic child that I was dubbed "Sarah Heartburn.") I performed in the school plays, several of which I wrote. It was the writing much more than the acting that captivated me. But as Steve was a dedicated performer, and I was dedicated to Steve, I gravitated towards the theatre so that we could act together.
When Steve and I were young marrieds, it was just the two of us, hitting the road, and the stage, in hundreds of schools, libraries, recreation centers and theatres all over the Northeast every year. Looking back, I truly don't know how we did it. We averaged 2-3 performances a day, nearly every day, with travel in between. The show went on, through fevers and broken wrists and laryngitis. Along the way, we acquired endurance (our record: 5 shows in a single day). We developed thick skins, when the kids were either rowdy or — worse — eerily silent throughout the show.
This often happened in Catholic schools, after Sister Mary Authoritarian, in her pre-curtain speech, warned everyone to be QUIET. Nothing quite as embarrassing as doing comic pratfalls and making jokes to pin-drop silence. We became flexible, as our venues ranged from huge auditoriums to a tiny space between library bookshelves. We learned to live and work together, 24/7, with a remarkable level of civility, even when my lousy map-reading took us three towns in the wrong direction when we were already late for a gig.
Eventually we settled down in Oreland, but continued to keep up our hectic performance schedule. When it was time to begin our family, I breathed a sigh of relief. Surely I could take a much-needed break! But no! What's a little pregnancy anyway? No big deal! So it was back to work for mom, well into the second trimester. I became an expert at concealment, donning ever larger and looser dresses so that the viewers weren't traumatized by the sight of Dorothy, six months along, waddling to Oz.
And I'd be back at it two weeks after giving birth (still wearing the larger, looser dresses). We'd often bring a babysitter along to the show so I could feed my infant backstage mere minutes before going on. No wonder none of the five kids has chosen acting as a profession … they'd all paid their theatrical dues by the time they were toddlers!
For years now, I have been gradually bowing out of the shows, citing the demands of my other job at church and my ever-advancing age. We've hired many terrific (and a few not-so-terrific) young actors, who have been handling the bulk of the performances. Yet I have remained the go-to actress when Steve was in a pinch, largely because of my scary-good memory (in the script area only; in all other areas, the memory is scary-bad).
With no rehearsal I could (literally) leap into "Toad's Escape" and sweep into "Cinderella" without missing a beat. Little wonder, I guess, that my husband still depended on me to save the theatrical day. So, through my 40s and early 50s, on I trouped when needed. Our young audiences, bless them, never commented on the fact that, clearly, Alice in Wonderland was almost as old as their grandmas.
But now I am, at last, truly finished with performing. I always had church duties as a volunteer, but for the past 10 years I've been working 40++ hours a week as a paid staffer, so it's been increasingly difficult to find the time to perform. Also, honestly, I never really loved acting … and I was feeling a bit ridiculous playing ingenues at my age!
I have hung up my crazy costumes for good and retired my ruby slippers. I have kissed a large and very important part of my life goodbye. It was a heckuva lot of fun (mostly) while it lasted; now it's quitting time. Learning when to stop is one of life's most valuable lessons. I pray, as I grow older, I can recognize all the other quitting times in my future. And make my peace with them.
Elise Seyfried is Director of Spiritual Formation at Christ's Lutheran Church in Oreland. She is also an actress, wife, mother of five and co-author (with husband, Steve) of 15 plays for children. She can be contacted through www.eliseseyfried.com.


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Ombudsman slams cop probe into taser death
The NSW ombudsman has criticised a police investigation into the death of a Brazilian student who was tasered 14 times, saying it failed to deal with the issue of police misconduct.
Roberto Laudisio Curti, 21, died in the early hours of March 18 after officers used capsicum spray, handcuffs and a baton and knelt on him after a chase through Sydney's CBD.
NSW Coroner Mary Jerram handed down a scathing finding into the incident in November, calling the officers who tasered him 14 times "thuggish" and rejecting some of their evidence.
She also recommended disciplinary charges for five of the officers involved.
NSW Ombudsman Bruce Barbour on Thursday tabled a special report in parliament about the police investigation in the lead-up to the coronial inquest.
"(It) failed to adequately identify and deal with the question of whether there was any police misconduct," Mr Barbour said in a statement.
The investigators failed to comply with established police procedures for conducting critical incident investigations or effectively examine the lawfulness of the officers involved, the report said.
It made a number of recommendations aimed at strengthening police guidelines so that all relevant evidence is gathered during future critical incident investigations.
Mr Barbour said it should be clear that "any identified misconduct or systemic issues can and should be addressed at the earliest opportunity".
He also recommended that a mandatory notification scheme be introduced, requiring police to immediately notify his office of all incidents involving the death or serious injury of people during policing activities.
Currently they can only do so if a complaint is made.
"The scheme would also require my office to determine whether it is in the public interest to oversight the police investigation," Mr Barbour added.
The coronial inquest found that Mr Curti, from Sao Paolo, had an adverse reaction to a small dose of LSD before stealing biscuits from a convenience store, where police mistakenly believed he was armed.
Ms Jerram found officers then used excessive force in abuse of their powers.
Following the damning findings, the NSW Police Integrity Commission announced it would investigate whether the police were involved in criminal conduct.


text: I have a TT3200 and I'm running the most current code from Manu's Multiproto tree. I also have the szap and scan that have been patched to work with the Multiproto stb0899 driver. The problem that I'm encountering seems to be that when I ran scan I did get a dump of channels (Astra 28.2E) but... I can't tune to any of them. There's a test.conf file with the scan file that includes some channels, but although I tune to them, they're not named correctly. I get the GOD Channel, GOD Europe, etc instead of the one that I'm trying to get. I looked though my scan file and I see the following: My scan file... BBC FOUR:10773:h:0:0:5300:5301:6316 GOD Europe:11680:v:0:0:2311:2312:51103 The test.conf file... GOD Europe:11680:v:0:27500:2309:2310:51103:0 As you can see it seems that the initial frequency seems to be missing. Is there a newer version of scan.tar.gz? Any help would be appreciated. -P


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Im guessing these are grapefruit.
I actually marked a few of these a while back now, they are totally natural and im guessing from the seed of the ancient grapefruit tree.
Theres 4-5 in total and im sort of hoping that they will grow really well and become strong trees in their own right. In the first photo you can clearly see the parent tree.


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1,387 visitors visualized
Dancing zombies
A world record for the most people performing the dance to Michael Jackson's Thriller belongs to 1,227 dancing zombies. ahenkli.net has more than 1,227 daily visitors. Here's an entertaining idea for DOMAIN meetup. If it would be ever possible to bring all of ahenkli.net visitors to one place, how about breaking this record?
View Site Details


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According to a research done by an US university it was found out that at least 10,000 steps a day are necessary for an adult to stay fit. I am sure by now you must be actually calculating the amount of walking you do. It may come as a surprise to many of us, but it should be understood that humans were also primitively nothing less than animals.They used to walk, run, hunt, climb and travel just by the foot. Our genes have pretty much remained the same since then, I guess.
Today with the ease of travelling through cars, motorbikes, buses, etc. it's really a question about the amount of walking we actually do. Simply speaking, the amount of energy that our body has to disburse everyday is not happening.This in turn leads to a sedentary lifestyle and then obesity and then chronic diseases. People who have read my previous post will better understand this. Well if we are not involved in any other form of workout, then this is really a matter of concern.
This particular study was done using pedometers and they have laid down certain classifications depending on the number of steps:
1. Less than 5000 steps/day – Sedentary Lifestyle
2. 5000 – 7499 steps /day – Low Physical Activity
3. 7500 – 9999 steps/day – Somewhat Active
4. 10,000 steps and a bit more per day – "Active"
5. 12,500 steps and more – Highly Active
Just have an approximate estimate of the amount of walking you actually do. I know a couple of my friends who start from their house in a car, reach the office premises, take an elevator, reach to their respective cubes, spend the entire day in front of their laptops and go home pretty much by the same route and they don't even workout !! I am really worried for them.
Are you also like one of my friends ? If yes then you should also start worrying about yourself. I think majority of the lifestyle related diseases like diabetes, heart blockages, hypertension come because simple we don't do any walking, nor are we involved in any form of workouts. So better start walking wherever possible. Walk when you talk on mobile phones, use stairs whenever possible, don't stay for ever at your office desk. take a break, walk around and come back. Grab a pair of new sports shoes, get excited, wake up early and have a brisk walk around the park. Make sure you take those 10,000 steps a day to stay healthy.


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Eidos released a trading update giving a little overview of its financial year 2005 in which is revealed that ShellShock Nam'67, which launched in September, has so far sold circa 800,000 units, and a sequel is already being worked on.
ShellShock: Nam '67 focuses on one man's experience of the most controversial war of modern times. You take on the role of a rookie soldier on his first tour of duty as he experiences the fear, chaos and atrocities of the Vietnam War.
In ShellShock: Nam '67 you must fight your way through a variety of missions ranging from large scale battlefield encounters with the North Vietnamese Army to stealth-based missions such as assassinating a VC General. As you progress from a 'grunt' to Special Forces carrying out classified missions, you have to rely on the same skills and tactics employed in the battlefields of Vietnam in order to survive. The game takes you from the lush wetlands of the South to the mountain borders of the North featuring diverse locations including dense jungles, rural Vietnamese villages and claustrophobic tunnel systems.


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Harvey, Irma & Maria relief efforts continue
Relief efforts continue as we work to support those affected by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, as well as by the historic flooding in Texas and the Gulf Coast in the wake of Tropical Storm Harvey. Thanks to generous donations from our customers, employees and MileagePlus members, our CrowdRise fundraising campaign has raised a total of more than $3 million to support our humanitarian aid and disaster relief partners: Airlink, the American Red Cross, Americares, Operation USA, the Greater Houston Community Foundation and the Humane Society International. We're partnering with Chase Card Services to provide additional bonus miles to members who donate to the organizations and United will match the $300,000 for efforts raised for both Tropical Storm Harvey and Hurricanes Irma & Maria relief efforts. So far we've committed over 7 million bonus miles to give to our customers who make donations.
Our fundraising efforts are just one way we are pitching in to aid those impacted by these natural disasters. Since August 27, we've operated five humanitarian flights from Chicago O'Hare Airport to Houston Intercontinental Airport and operated two additional flights through Thursday, August 31. The planes have been loaded with food, water, amenities (blankets and pillows) and medical supplies valued at more than $295,000. In addition, thanks to donations from Walgreens, we were also able to transport essential items and medical supplies.
We also flew relief flights for those affected by Hurricane Irma. With the help of MillerCoors, a total of 35,484 cans of water were delivered to impacted airports and we are prepared to deliver an additional 74,880 cans of water to areas in need throughout this week. In addition to relief flights, on Sunday, September 10, we flew an extra flight from San Juan Airport to Newark Liberty International Airport with 179 customers, who were initially brought to Puerto Rico via military rescue from islands throughout the Caribbean. As the effects of Hurricane Irma continue, we will be working closely with all local and federal officials throughout Florida to support critical efforts and recovery operations.
All relief supplies delivered will be allocated to employees and customers at Houston Intercontinental Airport as well as at the Houston Convention Center. We've coordinated and covered the costs of transporting relief items from Houston Intercontinental to the Houston Convention Center, and also donated our hangar at Houston Intercontinental to FEMA for 90 days, so they can use it for military and law enforcement operations as well as other relief coordination needs.
We're so thankful for employees coming together and truly #beingunited. pic.twitter.com/0ifM2kgnEW
— We Are United (@weareunited) August 27, 2017
Additionally, our Hurricane Irma fundraising campaign includes accepting donations to help Humane Society International as they rescue animals across the Caribbean most impacted by her path. In collaboration with our United PetSafe program, we made a $25,000 donation to the Humane Society of the U.S. to support relief efforts for animals impacted by the storm in Texas. To further help free up space at shelters in Houston for animals being rescued off of the streets, over September 11 and September 12, we will begin flying a total of 40 shelter animals out of Houston and into our other hub airports across the U.S.
Read more about all of our charitable partners below:
American Red Cross American Red Cross goes wherever they're needed so people can have clean water, safe shelter and hot meals when they need them most. Donations received will provide critical aid to those affected by Hurricane Irma.
Airlink A rapid-response humanitarian relief organization that coordinates and provides air transportation for relief workers and aid supplies from 70 pre-qualified nonprofits.
Greater Houston Community Foundation After receiving an overwhelming number of inquiries from citizens and companies who want to help, Mayor Sylvester Turner has established a relief fund that will accept tax-deductible flood relief donations for victims that have been affected by the recent floods. The fund will be housed at the Greater Houston Community Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity.
Americares Americares emergency response team is on the ground in Florida addressing changing needs and ensuring that critical medicines and supplies reach the people affected. In particular, the organization is providing those in immediate need with medicine and hygiene supplies, while another team is assessing the damage in the Caribbean, as well as continuing to help those affected by Harvey.
Operation USA Supporting health and educational programs, Operation USA helps children and families recover and thrive in the wake of disasters. All donations will support the shipment of vital material aid to those in need in the wake of Hurricane Irma.
Humane Society International Humane Society International works with local and international organizations to provide relief to animals and communities impacted by disasters occurring around the world.
Check back here or visit the United newsroom for updates on our ongoing relief efforts.
Around the web
Going greener at airports across the country
We're lightening our footprint at airports across the U.S. These efforts make your travels more environmentally friendly, as well as lessen the impact we're having on all our local communities. Check out the different ways we're doing this.
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
Biofuels program at LAX is at the heart of our sustainability pledge
We're committed to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2050 so we've invested a lot in biofuels. Biofuels are made with renewable resources like agricultural waste or trash instead of petroleum. We're proud to be the leading airline in biofuels – operating the first U.S. commercial flight powered by renewable biofuel in 2011 and being the first airline to continuously use biofuel for regularly scheduled flights from Los Angeles since 2016.
San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
At SFO, you're flying from one of the nation's greenest airports
Boarding area E in Terminal 3 is our home at San Francisco. The LEED Gold-certified terminal features solar panels on the roof and terrazzo tile made from recycled glass. Sustainably designed with natural light and sweeping views, you can enjoy an open and airy feel throughout as you wait for your flight — a drastic change from the cramped, fluorescently lit terminal of the past.
O'Hare International Airport (ORD)
A new sustainable biofuels plant is coming to the Chicago area
One of our biofuel partners, Fulcrom BioEnergy, has announced that construction will begin in 2020 on a new biofuels plant in the Chicago area. This plant will produce approximately 33 million gallons of fuel annually, nearly half of which will be jet fuel. Our partnership with Fulcrum BioEnergy will reduce our carbon footprint as well as divert waste from landfills and create 160 full-time permanent jobs and 900 construction jobs at the local Fulcrum facilities.
Denver International Airport (DEN)
Our United Club locations at DEN are both comfortable and energy efficient
Through our partnership with Certifiably Green Denver, we've made improvements to both our United ClubSM locations at Denver. The East and West locations have each earned the Certificate of Environmental Excellence. You'll enjoy the same comfort and amenities you know and love at all our United Club locations, and you can rest easy knowing that behind the scenes we're being more energy efficient. We've also introduced recycled products and composting.
George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)
Electric ride: Houston leads the pack in electric ground equipment
While across our network, 39% of our ground equipment systemwide is electric, that number jumps to 74% in Houston. Using electric equipment lowers our emissions and reduces our carbon footprint. This means we use less fuel, as well as keep the air around the airport cleaner for both our employees and our customers.
How to take care of the world as you travel around it
We all want to explore the world and to do so in a way that limits any harm to the earth. We committed to reducing our greenhouse gas emission by 50% by 2050, and our award-winning Eco-Skies program has us flying toward a more sustainable future. You can do your part to help reduce the impact of your travels with these simple tips.
Pack lighter
Jet fuel is a major factor in the environmental impact we have when we fly, and the amount of jet fuel used on each flight is determined by factors including the weight of the aircraft. Ridding your suitcase of those two extra pairs of shoes you probably won't need really does make a difference — for every extra pound on the plane, we load and use more fuel on the aircraft. So if we all pack a few pounds lighter, we can use less fuel per flight.
Bring a reusable water bottle
Frequent flyers are well aware that liquids are not allowed through security, but empty bottles are another story. You can bring an empty reusable water bottle and fill it up at the many water fountains and filling stations throughout the airport. You'll save money and plastic if you don't need to buy a bottle of water in the terminal.
Don't stuff garbage into your cans, cups and bottles onboard
While you may do this to look out for your flight crew, it makes it harder to recycle those items. Since 2010, we've recycled over 30 million pounds of waste — help us separate trash from recycling to keep that going.
Pull down shades and open air vents
Once you've landed, pull down your window shades and open the air vents before you leave the plane. This helps keep the aircraft cool and uses less power for air conditioning on the ground.
Use public transportation
Most major cities have public transportation options to get you to and from the airport. Besides being both quick and economical, you'll also reduce the use of gas from a taxi or rideshare. Public transportation is also a great way to get around and get to know a new city.
Rent bicycles
Biking around a new city is a fun and great way to explore. Additionally, many major cities have introduced bike share programs which make it simple to rent a bike in one neighborhood and return it in another.
Reduce your carbon footprint
You can reduce your travel footprint by purchasing carbon offsets which support projects that reduce greenhouse gases. Calculate the footprint of your travel plans and donate money or miles to carbon reduction projects. Learn more.
Now you can go globetrotting and feel better about treading lightly. Do you have more green travel tips? Share them with us on social media!
DAV Winter Sports Clinic empowers disabled veterans
Heath Calhoun was severely wounded when a rocket-propelled grenade hit his Humvee while serving in Iraq, resulting in the amputation of both of his legs above the knee.
Jon Lujan was also injured while serving in Iraq, and the subsequent surgery damaged his spinal cord, causing permanent nerve damage and paralysis in his lower legs that restricts his movement and left him with no feeling below his knees.
Both Calhoun and Lujan overcame their disabilities to become Team USA Paralympic skiers. Their post-injury athletic careers began at the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic in Aspen, Colorado. The clinic, which began in 1987, hosts veterans with traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, orthopedic amputations, visual impairments, certain neurological conditions and other disabilities for a week of training and rehabilitation. The clinic empowers these American heroes to defy the perceived limitations by participating in adaptive sports that improve their overall health and outlook.
Every year, United flies hundreds of veterans, along with their family members and coaches, to Aspen for the week-long clinic. This year, Calhoun and Lujan returned to Aspen for the first time in years, back to where the rest of their lives originally began.
Heath Calhoun was severely wounded when a rocket-propelled grenade hit his Humvee while serving in Iraq, resulting in the amputation of both of his legs above the knee.
Jon Lujan was also injured while serving in Iraq, and the subsequent surgery damaged his spinal cord, causing permanent nerve damage and paralysis in his lower legs that restricts his movement and left him with no feeling below his knees.
Both Calhoun and Lujan overcame their disabilities to become Team USA Paralympic skiers. Their post-injury athletic careers began at the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic in Aspen, Colorado. The clinic, which began in 1987, hosts veterans with traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, orthopedic amputations, visual impairments, certain neurological conditions and other disabilities for a week of training and rehabilitation. The clinic empowers these American heroes to defy the perceived limitations by participating in adaptive sports that improve their overall health and outlook.
Every year, United flies hundreds of veterans, along with their family members and coaches, to Aspen for the week-long clinic. This year, Calhoun and Lujan returned to Aspen for the first time in years, back to where the rest of their lives originally began.
A captain's dream comes true
SFO Boeing 787 Captain Al Langelaar was only 5 years old when his parents, survivors of WWII, decided to emigrate to the United States from the Netherlands in search of a better life.
"My parents grew up during the Nazi occupation. They were about 10 years old when the war broke out, and when they met later in life and had me, they didn't have a lot of money," recalled Al. "I remember my aunt dropping us off, us getting on a boat, and going inside a cabin to go on this journey across the Atlantic. We had really bad weather, and I got sick inside the cabin. That's basically all I remember."
It was Jan. 31, 1962, when Al and his parents arrived in New Jersey and then took a train to Pasadena, California, where they settled to start their new life.
"My parents didn't speak English, I didn't speak English, they were starting a new life and they worked hard," Al said.
The value of hard work is a lesson that he never forgot, and he knew he would have to work even harder the day he fell in love with airplanes.
"I was 18 years old, and one day a friend from school told me his dad had a small airplane and invited me to go up with him," Al recalled. "Once we were up in the air, he told me he knew some airline pilots. I asked him, 'How do you become an airline pilot?' And the next day I took my first flight lesson. I worked nights stocking shelves at a grocery store to pay for my flying lessons."
After working for several small commuter airlines, Al's career led him to United, and after 34 years of flying the friendly skies, he realized almost all of his dreams had come true. Just one thing was missing.
"I always dreamed of flying to my home country," he said.
Then, finally, the opportunity came. In August 2018, we announced new service between SFO and AMS (Amsterdam). When he heard the news, Al was enrolled in training to fly a Boeing 787 aircraft and wrote to Oscar asking him for the opportunity to be the captain for our inaugural flight.
"It would be an honor for me to fly this inaugural flight and represent United Airlines. My ties to the Netherlands are still strong, I speak fluent Dutch. I am proof positive that hard work and perseverance pay off, no matter how humble your beginnings," Al wrote. To his surprise, his request was granted, and on March 30, his dream came true.
"I actually teared up when my chief pilot notified me that I would have the chance to fly this route," said Al. "I wasn't expecting it. I know it's a very big deal. I know it takes a lot of coordination and trust, and It was just an honor to learn that they were going to put me on the flight and give me the opportunity to represent United on our very first flight from San Francisco to Holland."
After arriving at AMS, he returned to the neighborhood where he grew up, reuniting with the same aunt who drove him and his parents to the boat that took them to the United States 57 years ago.
"As we crossed the Dutch coastline and descended over the tulip fields just starting to bloom, the landscape looked familiar, but from a vantage point I never thought I would see," added Al. "The whole experience exceeded my wildest dreams."
SFO Boeing 787 Captain Al Langelaar was only 5 years old when his parents, survivors of WWII, decided to emigrate to the United States from the Netherlands in search of a better life.
"My parents grew up during the Nazi occupation. They were about 10 years old when the war broke out, and when they met later in life and had me, they didn't have a lot of money," recalled Al. "I remember my aunt dropping us off, us getting on a boat, and going inside a cabin to go on this journey across the Atlantic. We had really bad weather, and I got sick inside the cabin. That's basically all I remember."
It was Jan. 31, 1962, when Al and his parents arrived in New Jersey and then took a train to Pasadena, California, where they settled to start their new life.
"My parents didn't speak English, I didn't speak English, they were starting a new life and they worked hard," Al said.
The value of hard work is a lesson that he never forgot, and he knew he would have to work even harder the day he fell in love with airplanes.
"I was 18 years old, and one day a friend from school told me his dad had a small airplane and invited me to go up with him," Al recalled. "Once we were up in the air, he told me he knew some airline pilots. I asked him, 'How do you become an airline pilot?' And the next day I took my first flight lesson. I worked nights stocking shelves at a grocery store to pay for my flying lessons."
After working for several small commuter airlines, Al's career led him to United, and after 34 years of flying the friendly skies, he realized almost all of his dreams had come true. Just one thing was missing.
"I always dreamed of flying to my home country," he said.
Then, finally, the opportunity came. In August 2018, we announced new service between SFO and AMS (Amsterdam). When he heard the news, Al was enrolled in training to fly a Boeing 787 aircraft and wrote to Oscar asking him for the opportunity to be the captain for our inaugural flight.
"It would be an honor for me to fly this inaugural flight and represent United Airlines. My ties to the Netherlands are still strong, I speak fluent Dutch. I am proof positive that hard work and perseverance pay off, no matter how humble your beginnings," Al wrote. To his surprise, his request was granted, and on March 30, his dream came true.
"I actually teared up when my chief pilot notified me that I would have the chance to fly this route," said Al. "I wasn't expecting it. I know it's a very big deal. I know it takes a lot of coordination and trust, and It was just an honor to learn that they were going to put me on the flight and give me the opportunity to represent United on our very first flight from San Francisco to Holland."
After arriving at AMS, he returned to the neighborhood where he grew up, reuniting with the same aunt who drove him and his parents to the boat that took them to the United States 57 years ago.
"As we crossed the Dutch coastline and descended over the tulip fields just starting to bloom, the landscape looked familiar, but from a vantage point I never thought I would see," added Al. "The whole experience exceeded my wildest dreams."
Women & Whisky: An exclusive tasting with MileagePlus
On March 26, a select group of female United MileagePlus® program members and our corporate travelers used their miles to attend a MileagePlus Exclusives whisky tasting event in Chicago. This event offered customers a chance to learn more about whisky, specifically, The Last Drop Distillers (TLD), network with like-minded women and break the stereotype that whisky is a "boys club" spirit.
The night began with a cocktail hour where customers enjoyed a specially crafted Old Fashioned cocktail using TLD's not-for-sale 18 year old Blended Scotch Whisky. Rebecca Jago, Managing Director of The Last Drop, led the tasting with three of their exquisite reserves. As Rebecca guided the women through the flavors they were experiencing, she stood next to a "perfect-pour" decanter, Phoebe, "Our wonderful pouring decanter was originally developed for our 10th anniversary in 2018. She [Penelope] got her name when we joked that my mother had not poured my father a glass of whisky in 66 years of marriage, so we had to invent a machine to do it for him," shares Rebecca. "The latest, refined version is smaller, and therefore named after my daughter, Phoebe." The tasting weaved through stories of her childhood growing up with the inventor of Bailey's Irish Cream as a father, her travels searching for the perfect batch of Scotch, and the history behind each of TLD current releases that customers got to taste.
Rebecca paired each release with a canapé to complement the whiskies' complex notes, "These aren't spirits you drink every day. But you should certain drink them with pleasure and enthusiasm – cheers!" The first whisky, a 1971 Blended Scotch Whisky has spent over 45 years maturing in different woods and was paired with a Hamachi crudo, plum, umeboshi and scallion skewer to bring out the notes of stone fruits from the sherry and toasty vanilla notes from the time spent in bourbon barrels. Customers were fortunate enough to taste a very old single malt from the renowned Glenrothes distillery, a TLD Glenrothes 1968 Single Malt Scotch Whisky, a tribute to a perfect marriage of spirit and wood, matured for nearly half a century. Customers ended the tasting with a TLD Tawny Port from 1870.
United Vice President of Community Affairs, Sharon Grant, closed the event by commenting on the easiness of the night's conversation, noting how welcoming of an environment Rebecca created through her presentation of the whiskies. "I'll leave you with this," Sharon said, "As they say, a fine whisky, like a beautiful woman, demands appreciation." The group applauded, exchanged business cards and said their goodbyes—it was clear that everyone left the experience reenergized to head into the next day with the support of 30 new women.
MileagePlus Exclusives
A different way to use your miles
United MileagePlus program offers many other ways for members to use their miles that go beyond air awards. One of these options is through MileagePlus Exclusives where members can access VIP experiences across travel, food and wine, arts and entertainment and sports, including access to Uniquely United opportunities such as experiencing our flight simulators, touring airport maintenance bases and being part of historic inaugural flights.
For more MileagePlus Exclusives experiences visit here.
The day off: Tampa
Story by Nicolas DeRenzo | Hemispheres April 2019
Tampa has long been a pop-culture punchline (see Magic Mike), but it's on the brink of a rebirth, thanks to a $3 billion investment by Bill Gates and Jeff Vinik, the owner of the NHL's Lightning. The resulting 53-acre Water Street development aims to be one of America's top medical-tech hubs and the world's first WELL Certified community. Here, a sweet one-day tour of the Big Guava's present that'll leave you hungry for its future.
9 a.m.
No trip to Tampa is complete without a taste of its greatest culinary export: the Cuban sandwich. Start your day with chef Felicia Lacalle's A.M. version (topped with fried eggs and guava-glazed pork belly) at Hemingway's, in the Heights Public Market, a new food hall inside Armature Works, a cavernous 1910 streetcar warehouse.
10 a.m.
Work off the pork belly on the Tampa Riverwalk, a pedestrian and bike path along the Hillsborough River. Cross the Kennedy Boulevard bridge to the University of Tampa campus, which is known for its iconic Moorish Revival minarets (pictured), and then duck into The Shop at Oxford Exchange, a chic lifestyle boutique in 19th-century stables.
12 p.m.
The first phase of the Water Street development is the new Sparkman Wharf, where the city's top chefs serve quick bites out of rainbow shipping containers. After a brisk game of shuffleboard— Florida's official sport?—order piri piri Key West pink shrimp at Edison's Swigamajig and raw Cedar Key oysters, from just up the Gulf coast, at Boat Run Oyster Company.
2 p.m.
Spend an afternoon on the water with eBoats Tampa, which rents out eco-friendly, electric boats that drive as easy as golf carts. They're so quiet that bottlenose dolphins and manatees will often swim up to investigate.
4 p.m.
Back on dry land, hop the free streetcar to Ybor City, which once ranked as the world cigar-making capital and is still home to a slew of storefront tobacco shops. Stop into Coppertail Brewing Co. for a distinctly South Florida brew, such as the Guava Pastelitos Berliner Weisse or Captain Jack's Stone Crab Stout, infused with real crab.
8 p.m.
Dinner is a 10-minute drive away, in up-and-coming Seminole Heights, where strip malls hide inventive bars and restaurants like Rooster & the Till. The kitchen here works magic with local seafood— especially unexpected cuts such as Vietnamese-style cobia collar (pictured), swordfish belly crudo, and chicken-fried grouper cheeks and throats.
10 p.m.
Head back downtown to the Le Méridien Tampa, a hotel in the 1905 former federal courthouse and post office, and follow the glow of the uplit Corinthian columns to your room. Drift off content that you knew this future rock- star of a city before it got big.
Photo Credits: Michael Oster (Heights Public Market facade); courtesy of eBoats Tampa (boat); Images-USA/Alamy (minarets); courtesy of Tabanero Cigars (cigar rollers); courtesy of Rooster & the Till (cobia collar)
Three Perfect Days: Porto
Story by Chris Wright | Photography by Natalia Horinkova | Hemispheres April 2019
To the extent that Porto has an established global profile, it's as the gateway to the Douro Valley wine region, the home of port. But in recent years, travelers have begun to discover that Portugal's second city has so much more to offer. Sure, there's the exquisite architecture, the stunning views, the winding alleys, the Michelin-starred meals. More than all that, though, there's the communal feeling that befits a city with a population of just over 235,000. Porto has been named the top city in Europe by the European Best Destinations organization three times since 2012 and now draws 1.6 million visitors each year, but as you walk through the UNESCO-designated neighborhood of Ribeira, you can still go into a mom-and-pop café and help yourself to a cheap beer from the fridge—proving that, here at least, you can be the best while still being yourself.
The Ribeira neighborhood, a UNESCO World Heritage Site along the Douro
Day 1
Sampling seafood, sipping port, and enjoying the views
I'm eating eggs on the deck of the Torel Avantgarde hotel, looking down on the lazy boat traffic on the Douro River and beyond to the tumbling orange rooftops of Vila Nova de Gaia, Porto's sister city across the water. Or I would be if a seagull hadn't plonked itself two inches from my face. The bird is regarding my omelet with a severe expression—whether out of envy or avian solidarity, I'm not sure. I toss a bit of granary bread over the rail, narrowly missing a nun picking cabbages in the garden next door, and the gull follows.
A boat carrying port barrels on the Douro
This won't be the only time I find myself occupying a scenic lookout. Porto and Gaia rise sharply on either side of the Douro, creating a kind of amphitheater, with each opposing district the star of the show. If you go 10 minutes here without encountering a commanding view of bell towers, palaces, and blue- tiled row houses—all tilting toward the shimmering River of Gold—then you're not paying attention.
The Douro doesn't only serve as a centerpiece for sightseers, however. Dotting the Gaia waterfront are a dozen or so rustic buildings bearing names that will be familiar to anyone who ever raided his granny's drink cabinet: Sandeman, Cockburn's, Taylor's. Snaking east into the Douro Valley wine region, the river is the source of Porto's main con- tribution to humankind: port. It also played a role in the Voyages of Discovery in the 15th century and the acquisition of wealth that followed.
"If you go 10 minutes here without encountering a view, then you're not paying attention."
My plan today is to explore Porto's seats of power— commerce, religion, wine— starting with a tour of the nearby Palácio da Bolsa, a Neoclassical edifice whose interior is a succession of lavish halls, culminating in the Arab Room, a huge, mosque- like chamber embellished with a riot of gold and blue detailing. While the design had less to do with Islam than with the projection of power, it did not go down well with church leaders. "It was meant to be a provocation," my guide tells me. "They were saying, 'We are rich, and we do what we want.'"
The opulent Arab room at the Palacio de Bolsa
Compared to the Igreja de São Francisco next door, the Arab Room is a paragon of moderation. The gothic exterior of the building, which dates to the 14th century, does not prepare you for what's inside. The Voyagers brought a great deal of gold home with them, and it seems the bulk of it was applied to the inte- rior of this church. It's like the Cave of Wonders in Aladdin, with a few suffering saints thrown in. I head into the gloomy crypt, where I encounter eerily lifelike effigies, artworks with titles like Our Lady of the Good Death, and, in the darkest recesses, a window in the floor, beyond which is a mass of human bones and skulls. Lunch time!
I cross the iron-arched Dom Luís I bridge and enter Gaia, climbing up-up-up to The Blini, which was opened in 2016 by Michelin-starred chef José Cordeiro. The eatery's wraparound windows offer me my first glimpse of Porto from afar. Directly across the river are the houses lining Praça Ribeira, no two alike in color, size, or shape. This is a signature feature of Porto—the city is a captivating shamble of mismatched elements, with its crown the Baroque Clérigos Tower, which still dominates the skyline 250-odd years after it was built.
The emphasis at Blini is on seafood, with a few contemporary flourishes like "lime air" foam. The waiter asks if I'd like to do the chef's choice, and I say sure. It's a great lunch, a big lunch, a parade of courses that includes oysters with lemon butter, tuna tartare with popadam, butterfish soup topped by a huge puff pastry, and baked seabass with pumpkin puree. Between the soup and the seabass I ask my waiter if I can take a quick breather. He smiles and looks at his watch: "You have two minutes!"
"You never know whether your ascent will lead to a point of interest or someone's front door, but that's half the fun."
From here, I waddle down to the Porto Cálem port house for a tour and a tasting. Along with the musty-smelling cellars and the rows of oak barrels are a number of modern doodads, including a 5-D cinema and a guess-the-aroma sniffing station (I get one out of 12: vanilla). In the sipping room, my guide grows contemplative. "A good wine speaks to you," he says. "This is not a fairy tale. You need to close your eyes to understand the message." I'm a bit concerned about closing my eyes and not opening them again, so I sip up and head out.
A highlight of any trip to Porto is Ribeira, a squiggle of alleys lined with gorgeous old buildings, some dating to the Middle Ages. This neighborhood is not glammed-up—you're more likely to come across a physiotherapist's office than you are a fridge-magnet emporium. Look up on Rua da Reboleira and you'll see medieval battlements, but also laundry flapping in the breeze. Riverside Praça Ribeira is the most picturesque spot, with its colorful jumble of houses, but I get more joy out of roaming the alleys behind, which are so narrow at times you can touch both sides. This walk is not for the faint of knee, and it's a bit of a crapshoot; you never know whether a grueling ascent will lead you to a point of historical interest or someone's front door, but that's half the fun.
The Mercado Municipal in Matosinhos
I have time for one more religious edifice before dinner, so I march upward to the granddaddy of them all: the 12th century cathedral, the Sé do Porto, a hulking mish-mash of Gothic, Baroque, and Romanesque designs whose defining feature is a brood- ing, muscular solidity, as if it were built to withstand attack. The square outside, which affords (you guessed it) wonderful views, is also overlooked by the magnificent Paço Episcopal, home to the men who wore the gold-thread vestments and bejeweled miters displayed in the church next door.
From here, I head west, pausing to look at a bunch of straight-back chairs stuck to the wall outside Armazém, a funky indoor market with a clutter of stalls selling everything from patterned tiles to a vintage Vespa. There is also a bar, where I chat with the friendly bartender, who warns me not to drink too much: "We've had a few people who bought things they didn't want."
The dining room an Antiqvvm
After another precipitous trudge, I arrive at the Michelin-starred restaurant Antiqvvm, which occupies a lovely old villa near the cultivated Crystal Palace gardens. The views up here are exquisite, but you forget about that when the food arrives. My tasting menu involves a flurry of artfully presented dishes whose ingredients include scallops, shrimp, brill, pike, squid, oyster leaves, plankton, parsnip, caviar, fennel, roasted celery, and Iberian pork, all washed down with a succession of wonderful wines. Hic.
Seafood fish at Antiqvvm
I make my way back to the Torel Avantgarde, intent on collapsing onto my bed, but cannot resist having a quick nightcap on the balcony. It's a moonless night, and I have trouble distinguishing the river from the hillside from the sky.I try to focus on a cluster of lights dancing on the water, but before long these too are gone.
The view from Alves de Sousa Vineyard
Modern Love
Porto is renowned for its Baroque landmarks, but if your architectural tastes run more toward the modern, don't miss Serralves, a cultural institution set in lush, landscaped gardens in the city's western suburbs. Among the highlights are the Museu de Serralves, a contemporary art museum that was designed by Pritzker Prize–winner Álvaro Siza and opened in 1999, and the bubblegum-pink Casa de Serralves (pictured at right), a former count's villa that was completed in 1944 and is one of the few Streamline Moderne– style buildings in Portugal.
Day 2
Driving through Douro Valley and listening to fado
If there's anything that can shake the piety of Porto residents, it's pride in their beloved Douro Valley. "God created Earth," they say, "but man made the Douro." I'll be driving out to the UNESCO World Heritage region this morning, but first I have to pack up and head over to Gaia, home to the second hotel of my stay.
A luxurious, resort-like property, The Yeatman occupies a hillside overlooking the port houses, its terraced design echoing the sculpted hillsides of the Douro. I sit outside for a while, nibbling on pastries and looking down at the muddled rooftops, then head out to meet Miguel, the Tours By Locals guide who will be driving me today. "Get ready," he says with a smile. "You're about to see one of the most beautiful things in your life."
Fishing in the Douro Pinhao
We make our way along a series of ever-narrowing roads, emerging into a landscape that doesn't quite seem real. First, the perspectives are all off, the lines of the terraced slopes meeting at odd angles, creating a geometric jumble that would do Escher proud. The vines, lit by the morning sun, appear as a Pointillist fluorescence of red, gold, and green. Now and then, the terraces dip into a misty valley, their muted colors somehow lovelier than before. Even Miguel, who up until now has been delivering a running commentary on historical treaties and grape varieties, falls silent.
A Dionysian repose at the Yeatman
A half hour later we arrive at Amarante, a pretty town on the banks of the Tâmega River. The centerpiece is the 16th-century Igreja de São Gonçalo, named after the town's patron saint. As a miracle worker, Gonçalo is said to have had a knack for fertility and virility. (The hands and feet of an effigy in the church have been worn smooth by centuries of hopeful rub- bing.) Outside, an old lady presides over a stall selling the town's signature confection: doces fálicos, anatomical cakes that, according to Miguel, "are given by young men to young women to signal their intent." Indeed.
Another scenic drive brings us to our second stop, the Alves de Sousa vineyard. We are greeted in the main building by a young man named Tiago, a fifth-generation winemaker who leads us to a window overlooking a dappled valley. Below, wisps of bonfire smoke rise through the mist (as if the place needed any more atmosphere). "You can see why we don't need paintings on the walls," Tiago says.
From here, we climb into a 4x4 and head along a narrow, rutted path. To our right is a steep, probably lethal drop, but Tiago seems unconcerned, pointing this way and that while discussing soil acidity, sun variation, and olive trees. "They were planted to mark the boundaries between vineyards," he says. "But it's been so long that people now argue over who owns the olives." It's a good line, but I'm too concerned with staying alive to laugh.
Finally, we stop at a high rocky patch they call Abandonado because the family long ago gave up trying to grow anything on it. In 2004, Tiago badgered his dad into letting him give the disused plot one last try and planted a variety of grapes that has produced some of the winery's best bottles. "It has so much character, full of love," the young man says, sip- ping a glass back at home base. "The wine from Abandonado is very special."
"The terraced slopes create a geometric jumble that would do Escher proud"
Lunch is at DOC, Michelin-starred chef Rui Paula's restaurant in nearby Folgosa. On a riverside dock, we eat crab, confit of duck leg, and Abade de Priscos, a traditional crème caramel pudding served with bacon. While much of Paula's food derives from his grandmother's recipes, he likes to throw in the odd subversive element, which he puts down to the vagaries of memory rather than new-fangled theory. "Memory is the basis for everything I do," he says. "A meal, a journey, a book—if something is beauti- ful, I put it in my head."
Our last activity of the day is a boat ride along the Douro, an hour-long trip that takes us past a patchwork of fiery red terraces and small wine houses, interspersed with the green puffs of olive trees. It's a glorious spectacle. I wonder what it would taste like.
We arrive back at the Yeatman an hour or so before dinner, leaving me with just enough time for the wine-bath spa treatment I've booked. The wine extract is supposed to relax the muscles and hydrate the skin, but, given that there's a stranger behind me massaging my head and I'm clad in nothing but a flimsy pouch, I'm just happy for its water-clouding qualities.
I'm dining tonight at the hotel's Michelin-starred The Restaurant, a gastronomic experience that starts with my napkin being deposited onto my lap with tongs and ends with a glass of prized 1955 Croft port. In between, seated before yet another panoramic window, I am served a multicourse menu that includes oysters with jalapeño foam, cockles in xarém (corn-flour mash), veal with Jerusalem artichoke, and suckling pig. The highlight for me is the chicken oysters served with crispy skin. "I'll never look at a chicken the same way," I tell the waiter, who smiles politely at the sentiment.
I end the night in the hotel lounge, serenaded by a young woman singing fado, the mournful Portuguese folk music whose dominant themes are love and loss. She clutches her hands before her chest, crooning about souls who sailed away, the golden leaves of home, stuff like that—but otherwise she seems perfectly happy. I suppose you'd have to be: As Miguel put it on our boat ride earlier, "This is where we live."
Day 3
Browsing a beautiful bookstore and witnessing the power of the sea
I check out of the Yeatman and head into town for one last bout of sightseeing, which begins in the exquisite lobby of the Infante Sagres, the grande dame of Porto's hotels. From here, I go in search of breakfast, passing the broad Avenida dos Aliados, which is dominated by the 230-foot clock tower of the Câmara Municipal. This area is littered with majestic buildings—the Teatro São João, the Igreja de Santo Ildefonso, the São Bento railway station—but I'm most interested in the Majestic Café, which promises to feed my body as well as my soul.
Which is not to say that the soul goes hungry. The Majestic opened in 1921, and beyond its Art Nouveau doorway you enter a beguiling world of carved wood, burnished mirrors, white-coated waiters, and smiling cherubs. I sit at a marble-topped table and orderrabanadas, a rich and creamy spin on French toast, and a super-sweet bombón coffee.
The Hogwarts-esque Livraria Lello
Buzzing with sugar, I could probably sprint to my next destination, but instead I hop on a rickety old tram, which judders toward the Livraria Lello, yet another local institution that routinely makes "most beautiful" lists. Dating back to 1906, the Lello is still the heart of the city's cultural scene, despite the hordes of Instagrammers who descend on the place today, bent on snapping the stained-glass roof, elaborate carvings, and swirling double-sided stairway. (It's so popular that there's now a €5 entry fee.) A young J.K. Rowling used to spend a lot of time here, and it's impossible not to see Hogwarts at every turn.
From here, it's a short walk to Rua de Cedofeita, a funky shopping street full of dining options such as Dream Pills (a pharmacy-themed candy store) and the Pop Cereal Café. Just up from here is Rua de Miguel Bombarda, a buzzy strip where the walls are adorned with graffiti and every other shopfront is an independent gallery. Also nearby is the Museu Nacional Soares dos Reis, with a collection ranging from 17th-century ceramics to 20th-century portraits to, um, a life-size sculpture of a horse with a wooden leg and a pair of silvery underpants hanging off its rear end.
A stairway from the ultra-hip Mini Bar
My next stop is Restaurante Tripeiro, for a bowl of tripas à moda do Porto, the city's sig- nature dish. The tradition is said to date back to the Age of Discovery, when intrepid explorers sailed away with the choice cuts of meat and those who stayed behind got everything else. Ever since, locals have been known throughout Portugal as tripeiros, or "tripe eaters"—although the name doesn't begin to cap- ture the meal I receive at my small alfresco table. At one point, the chef comes out and I ask him what's in the bowl. "White beans, chorizo, chicken, tripe, and the end of the cow." I ask him which end and he looks at me: "Both." As I chew, an old guy walking by looks at my bowl, smiles, and says, "Bon appetit!"
The Mini Bar's shrimp ceviche
I decide to burn off the offal with a stroll along the Atlantic coast, so I take a cab to Matosinhos, a fishing town a few miles north of the city, then walk south, dodging the massive waves battering the sea wall. At the end of one broad beach I find Lais de Guia, a small bar with a sea- front patio, where I stand and watch the churning water. My walk ends at Foz do Douro, a colorful district dotted with bars and restaurants. Here, next to a squat fort, I join a crowd of locals watching as the waves engulf a nearby lighthouse. "Nature has put on a show for you," one of them says.
Chef Jose Avillez
Damp, I catch another cab back into town for a pre-prandial Negroni at the Royal Cocktail Club, a hip, low-lit bar just around the corner from my hotel. Dinner tonight is at the equally fashionable Mini Bar, the latest venture from José Avillez, who is best-known for his Michelin-starred Belcanto, in Lisbon. Seated in the corner of the red-hued dining area, chill-out music ringing in my ears, I inspect the menu, which lists a starter called Ferrero Rocher (like the chocolate). I ask the waiter about it, and he says, "We try to play with the senses. Nothing is as it seems." Out of curiosity, I order it, along with a tuna tartare temaki cone, roasted chicken with avocado cream, fish and chips with kimchi yogurt, and shrimp ceviche. After the onslaught of food I've received during my time here, I'm relieved that these are all small plates. I'm also happy to find that the playfulness of the menu doesn't come at the expense of taste. Everything—even the chocolate starter, which is actually made of foie gras—is delicious.
I end the night at Bonaparte Downtown, a lively, quirky bar filled to the rafters with bric-a-brac: tennis rackets, cowbells, creepy dolls, vintage walkie-talkies, a black-and-white photo of a chimp eating soup with a spoon. It's a fantastic place, but it's also late, and there's a large, comfortable bed waiting for me nearby. But then, just as I stand to leave, I hear the opening beats of The Clash's punk anthem, "Should I Stay or Should I Go."
The rest is a bit of a blur.
Where to stay
Torel Avantgarde
Located just west of the city center, this new boutique hotel places a premium on spectacle. Just off the bar is the Flower Room, which contains a profusion of dangling artificial blossoms, and each of the 47 guest rooms is decorated in the style of a famous artist (Poppy portraits for Andy Warhol, muted classicism for Leonardo da Vinci). If that's not enough visual stimulation for you, book a room with a balcony overlooking the Douro.From $215, torelavantgarde.com
The Yeatman
This Gaia hotel has 109 river-facing rooms, each with its own terrace or balcony. Named after a local port-producing family, The Yeatman boasts a formidable cellar, and its rooms contain subtle wine-related details. (Or not so subtle: The bed in the Presidential Suite is fashioned from a huge barrel.) Despite the luxurious spa, Michelin- starred restaurant, and elegant public spaces, the hotel's biggest selling point is its refreshingly unstuffy approach to service.From $290, the-yeatman-hotel.com
Infante Sagres
Situated in the center of Porto, this 85-room hotel opened in 1951 and immediately set the standard for luxury in the city. A recent renovation introduced a few mod flourishes—most visibly in the adjoining Vogue Café, with its "fashion fusion" food and super-stylish décor— but the old grace and glamour remain in the elaborate ironwork, stained-glass windows, gold-hued dining room, and marvelously rickety vintage elevator.From $220, infantesagres.com
Around the web
Earth Day weekend getaways
Earth Day falls on April 22, so head to one of these five easy-to-reach destinations to celebrate. Each has abundant outdoor opportunities to celebrate Earth's elements — earth, wind, fire, air and water — in their most natural states.
Earth: San Francisco, California
The Golden Gate National Recreation Area is the most visited park in the National Park Service and not only because it's in the heart of a major metro area. The parklands extend 40 miles along the coast, both north and south from San Francisco and right into the city, with hundreds of miles of trails that show off the Bay Area's redwood forests, ocean beaches, historic buildings and other wonders. Exploring the Marin Headlands, discovering the dunes of San Francisco's Fort Funston or hiking on Sweeney Ridge near San Francisco International Airport are all worthy Earth Day experiences. Stopping by Earth Day San Francisco on April 21, is another great way to celebrate with a full day of music, kids' activities and Climate Rally speakers scheduled.
Wind: Boston, Massachusetts
Surprisingly, Boston, not Chicago, is America's windiest city year-round and spring is when it's windiest, making it the perfect place to worship the wind. You can let it power you on a Tall Ship sailing cruise from Boston Harbor. You can walk or ride a rented or bike-share bike along the Charles River Esplanade to watch windsurfers and sailboat captains carve the wind. Or you can head to Franklin Park, Boston's largest and most kite-friendly park, to teach your kids how to fly one and then visit the park's zoo where the roars of lions Dinari and Kamaia are carried through the wind all the way to the zebra exhibits.
Fire: Hilo, Hawaii
From Hilo, the largest town on "The Big Island" of Hawaii, it's only a 45-minute drive to Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, where Halema'uma'u Crater has been continuously erupting since 2008. You can drive close enough to witness the steaming vents as the crater is visible from the park's volcanology museum. Visitors in good hiking shape may even witness lava gushing in dramatic fashion from Kilauea Volcano into the ocean. As a bonus, admission to the national park will be free on Earth Day and a free Earth Day Fair will be held for the 30th year at Hilo's University of Hawaii campus on April 20. Once you're worn out, you can explore and enjoy a white, black or even green sand beach — all found near Hilo.
Air: Fort Myers, Florida
Fort Myers is one of the top cities in the U.S. with the cleanest air (and lower pollution rates) based on the most recent two-year period studied by the American Lung Association for its "State of the Air" report. Visitors to the Gulf Coast city can breathe in the clean, fresh air — warmed to an average late-April high of 83 degrees — while raking their toes through beach sand or strolling the boardwalks of Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve on a free 90-minute guided walk. You can also rent bikes or a kayak at Lakes Regional Park or enjoy the family-oriented Earth Day celebration on April 22 at Fort Myers' Calusa Nature Center & Planetarium. If you're feeling bold, you can catch even more air by parasailing while at Fort Myers Beach.
Water: Minneapolis, Minnesota
"City of Lakes" is more than a nickname, and Minneapolis lives up to it with 13 lakes within its boundaries, including the popular Chain of Lakes connected by recreational paths through city and regional parks. These lakes can be circled on foot, bike or watercraft; bikes, kayaks, canoes and paddleboards can be rented at Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet. There are more "water features" too. The Mississippi River flows through Minneapolis and St. Paul and has its own recreational path on both banks. There's even a 53-foot waterfall — Minnehaha Falls in Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis. Twin Cities-area Earth Day events include the Earth Day Run from April 20-21, in St. Cloud, which drew more than 3,000 runners last year for a 5K, half-marathon and half-marathon relay — plus there's a health expo and two post-race parties.
If you go
United Airlines offers flights from U.S. cities to all of these destinations. Visit united.com or use the United app to make plans to reach your Earth Day destination.
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The feedback from customers and employees was clear: we needed to improve our boarding process. As part of our ongoing efforts to put customers at the center of everything we do, we identified boarding as an opportunity to improve the airport experience. We tested a variety of different boarding processes on thousands of flights across multiple airports. Best practices emerged from each test, and combined, they now form what we are calling "Better Boarding".
Better Boarding consists of three key improvements
Less time in line:
By reducing the number of boarding lanes, there is more space for customers to enjoy the gate areas, many of which have been completely remodeled with more comfortable seating and in some airports, the ability to have food and drinks from within the airport delivered directly to the gate area. Over the years, we have invested millions of dollars in our terminals, and now with less time spent standing in line, customers will have more time to dine, shop, relax, work or enjoy a United Club℠.
Simplified gate layout
Say goodbye to the five long lines we see today
Group 1 will board through the blue lane.
Group 2 will board through the green lane, followed by groups 3, 4, and 5.
Late arriving customers in Group 1 and 2 will use the blue lane.
Customers in groups 3, 4, and 5 always use the green lane.
Better information:
We are providing customers with more information throughout the boarding process so that they feel more at ease, and more equipped with the latest information about their flight. Customers with the United app can receive a push notification once their flight starts boarding. Customers will only receive the notification if they've opted in for push notifications and have a mobile boarding pass in the app's wallet.
Enhanced communications
Be in the know about boarding
Customers will receive boarding notifications through the United app (if they've opted in for notifications).
Improved gate area digital signage to guide customers through boarding.
Balanced groups and better recognition:
United MileagePlus® Premier 1K® customers will now pre-board and United MileagePlus Premier Gold customers will be boarding in Group 1. For more information on our boarding groups, visit: https://www.united.com/web/en-us/content/travel/airport/boarding-process.aspx
Improved premier customer recognition
We're happy to make them happy
Improved premier recognition and better positioning of customers to create balanced boarding groups.
The new Better Boarding process is just one of the steps we are taking to improve the customer experience. We will continue to collect feedback from customers on ways we can further improve boarding and you may receive a post-travel survey to tell us more about your experience
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Neighbors, coworkers, parents, protectors, heroes. All of these labels and more encompass the men and women whose devotion to our country serves as the truest embodiment of the American spirit. We're talking about Veterans. Join host Phil Torres as he heads to our nation's capital to learn more about these heroes and to explore just how many United employees are veterans on this Big Metal Bird.
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BossOne needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 68 designs submitted by 28 freelance designers.
We need a logo for a new media agency.
I want our logo to be designed. Our company provide advice to clients who want to buy TV or radio spots, billboards, internet advertising etc.
We are not creatives, we do business, we buy and sell media.
Our job isn't funny...
But the owner of the place is sometime a little bit euh, crazy?
Important: it's for an arabic country
- Clear
- Serious
- Creative
- Two colors max (black/red)
- the "A" or the second "E" of "mediaze" should be... euh, tell me!
- Hard to say...
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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Forms Jobs
The restored 1782 "Potter's House" is the oldest brick house in Forsyth County
(Also known as the "Potter's House")
The arrival of Gottfried Aust in 1755 brought the much-needed craft of pottery-making to Wachovia. Taking advantage of an abundant supply of clay in the Bethabara area, Brother Aust supplied lead-glazed earthenware pottery-not only to the households of the Moravians in Bethabara, but also to many of the settlers in a fifty- to sixty-mile radius. According to archaeological excavations, thirty-five different pottery forms were being made in Bethabara by Aust and his associates from 1756 to 1771. Because of the threat of attack during the French and Indian War, Aust's pottery shop was situated inside the walls of the Palisade fort during its first 7 years. After the fort was torn down, the pottery building was expanded. When Aust moved to Salem in 1771, the pottery was dismantled and transferred with him. For fifteen years thereafter, there was no pottery in Bethabara.
In 1786, Aust's apprentice, Rudolph Christ, persuaded the Collegium in Salem to allow him to establish, once again, a pottery in Bethabara. Christ was interested in making Queensware, also known as "fine pottery." Aust and Christ had learned how to produce the English-style pottery in Salem in 1773-74 from a traveling potter named William Ellis. From 1786 to 1789, Brother Christ ran a pottery in the old smithy in Bethabara. After the death of Aust in 1789, Christ moved back in Salem to direct the pottery there.
Gottlob Krause, a former apprentice of Aust in Salem, them became the master potter in Bethabara. While master, Krause made the same kind of earthenware pieces that Aust had produced. It is believed that Krause was dissatisfied with the pottery building where the house of Johannes Schaub, Jr., the dyer, which had been built in 1782. Krause was probably in the house, known now as the 1782 "Potter's House," from 1789 until he died in 1802.
John Butner, a former apprentice of Christ's in Salem, took over the pottery in 1802. After the demise in 1801 of the Oeconomie-Bethabara's economic system in its early days (records are less substantial), it is believed that John Butner, and later his son Joseph, ran a pottery out of the 1782 building between 1802 and 1872.
The Provincial Elders' Conference of the Moravian Church, Southern Province, purchased the Potter's House from Clyde Shore in 1957. The house was restored to its current state in the mid 1970s.
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Portland State University's (PSU) School of Business Administration is launching a new online undergraduate degree program in fall 2013. It will be the only program of its kind in Oregon.
Scott Dawson, dean of PSU's business school, said the undergraduate program is tailor-made for working students.
"About half of the undergraduates in the School of Business Administration (SBA) work full time –- a higher percentage than any other school at the University," Dawson said. "Having more online offerings is part of our effort to meet students where they are – to be more responsive to the consumer," he said.
Registration for the degree program began last week.
The program is designed to be part time, with two classes per term over a three-year period. It will include video conferencing with classmates and faculty, streamed lectures from campus, and assignments in local communities. And because of the online nature of the program, students will learn skills for working in online environments – an increasingly prevalent aspect of business.
Creation of the degree is part of a larger effort by PSU to offer more online programs. The SBA is also planning to add an online masters degree in supply chain management, and will convert a partially-online MBA program to be completely online. Both are scheduled to begin in the fall.
To learn more or to apply for the program, go to pdx.edu/sba/online-bachelors-degree-program.


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- Lucian Bute v Carl Froch
Froch wants Kessler or Ward after Bute win
Carl Froch has promised there is still a lot more to come from him after postponing his retirement following a thrilling victory over Lucian Bute.
Froch became a three-time super-middleweight world champion with a fifth round knockout of former IBF champion Bute in Nottingham on Saturday, bouncing back from a disappointing defeat to the classy Andre Ward in the final of the Super Six tournament last year.
Froch admitted that he was planning to announce his retirement if Bute, the heavily favoured Canadian, ended up getting the better of him - but is now looking to fight his way back to the division's summit after an impressive comeback performance.
"After the devastating defeat to Andre Ward I was left questioning my future in the sport," Froch said. "The desire has never been in question because I've always wanted to win the four belts and become a legend and remain at the top of the game until I get sick of it.
"I'm not sick of it yet. I still love boxing, I still love getting up in the morning and running, I love seeing my body change over the training camp.
"All that tonight has been brought to a head with this win."
Written off in some quarters ahead of the fight with Bute, Froch was happy to prove the doubters wrong. While Bute has the option of a rematch written into the pair's original fight contract, Froch could now be set for mouth-watering contests against the likes of Mikkel Kessler or even Ward oncemore.
"I like to be involved in big fights that I can get up for, and I think Mikkel Kessler could be the fight," Froch told Sky Sports News. "He's got a win against me - albeit a very close win that of 100 people 50 might say he won and 50 would say I won - so to get a rematch against Kessler I'd happily give him the chance to fight for my IBF title.
"That's the fight the people want to see, and I like to give the fans and the broadcasters what they want.
"Although, there is a guy called Andre Ward who has a win over me - I'd love to avenge that defeat because that's the kind of man I am."
In the meantime, however, the 34-year-old was simply happy to silence his critics.
"A lot of people, who are entitled to their opinion, had a lot to say," he said. "There's been a lot of negativity floating around but that drives me on and fuels me.
"But I did this tonight for myself. Because if I didn't win tonight, I would have been left questioning my future in the sport.
"I may have even thought about announcing my retirement. But I'm so far from that after that performance because it was so clinical and devastating.
He added: "I felt so strong and fit, I felt like I turned back time.
"I knew it was do or die. I knew that if I couldn't perform at this level any more then I don't want to go back to fighting for British and Commonwealth titles.
"But that was the very best of me tonight and there's a lot more to come in the future."
Bute, who required stitches to a cut beneath the eye following the fight's conclusion, did not attend the post-fight press conference.


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Conference Center & Meeting Space
Heidel House Resort & Spa is surrounded with fresh air and natural beauty, and is one of the only Wisconsin meetings destinations to offer incredible lake views directly from conference spaces. Expansive windows and walk-out terraces are the perfect setting to inspire event attendees.
Make your next meeting a Wisconsin meeting – lakeside, on beautiful grounds, assisted by our knowledgeable associates. With 177 guest rooms nestled on the shores of beautiful Green Lake, meeting space for gatherings large and small, shoreline dining, golf, water and winter sports, distinctive area shopping and a spa oasis, Heidel House Resort & Spa offers guests a perfect setting for an unforgettable experience.


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Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings
Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST)
ITEST Under Revision
Program Solicitation 17-565, Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST), is currently under revision and will be re-issued in time for potential PIs to submit proposals, per NSF guidelines. Please avoid submission of proposals under the existing solicitation.
STEM Learning and Research CenterThe STEM Learning and Research (STELAR) Center builds capacity and magnifies the results of ITEST projects to deepen the impact of the ITEST program. To learn more about STELAR, the ITEST program, and current and past ITEST projects, please visit http://stelar.edc.org/.
|Address general questions to
|(703) 292-8628
|David L. Haury
|(703) 292-5102
|Amy L. Baylor
|(703) 292-5126
|David B. Campbell
|(703) 292-5093
|Julia V. Clark
|(703) 292-5119
|Michael Ford
|(703) 292-5153
|Margret A. Hjalmarson
|(703) 292-4313
|Julie I. Johnson
|(703) 292-8624
|Rebecca Kruse
|(703) 292-4211
|Julio E. Lopez-Ferrao
|(703) 292-5183
|Celestine H. Pea
|(703) 292-5186
|Joseph Reed
|(703) 292-5187
|Ann E. Rivet
|(703) 292-4764
|Monya A. Ruffin
|(703) 292-4635
|Robert Russell
|(703) 292-2995
|Chia Shen
|(703) 292-8447
PROGRAM GUIDELINESSolicitation 17-565
Important Information for Proposers
A revised version of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 19-1), is effective for proposals submitted, or due, on or after February 25, 2019. Please be advised that, depending on the specified due date, the guidelines contained in NSF 19-1 may apply to proposals submitted in response to this funding opportunity.
Full Proposal Deadline Date
August 14, 2019
Second Wednesday in August, Annually Thereafter
As the nation continues to expand the horizon of opportunities and possibilities through advances in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), the need for a more diverse and well-prepared STEM workforce is also expanding [1]. The challenge of preparing citizens for the expanding workforce and the changing workplace environments calls for new innovations in STEM education [2]. ITEST is a research and development program that supports projects to promote PreK-12 student interests and capacities to participate in the STEM and information and communications technology (ICT) workforce of the future. The ITEST program supports research on the design, development, implementation, and selective spread of innovative strategies for engaging students in technology-rich experiences that: (1) increase student awareness of STEM occupations; (2) motivate students to pursue appropriate education pathways to STEM occupations; or (3) develop disciplinary-based knowledge and practices, or promote critical thinking, reasoning skills, or communication skills needed for entering STEM workforce sectors. ITEST projects may adopt an interdisciplinary focus that includes multiple STEM disciplines, focus on a single discipline, or focus on one or more sub-disciplines. The ITEST program supports projects that provide evidence for factors, instructional designs, and practices in formal and informal learning environments that broaden participation of students from underrepresented groups in STEM fields and related education and workforce domains. Projects that actively engage business and industry partners to better ensure that PreK-12 experiences foster the knowledge and skill-sets needed for emerging STEM occupations are strongly encouraged.
[1] National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2016). Developing a National STEM Workforce Strategy: A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
[2] National Research Council. (2012). Education for Life and Work: Developing Transferable Knowledge and Skills in the 21st Century. Committee on Defining Deeper Learning and 21st Century Skills, J.W. Pellegrino and M.L. Hilton, Editors. Board on Testing and Assessment and Board on Science Education, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
This program provides educational opportunities for K-12 Educators. This program provides indirect funding for students at this level or focuses on educational developments for this group such as curricula development, training or retention. To inquire about possible funding opportunities not directly from NSF, please look at the active awards for this program.
What Has Been Funded (Recent Awards Made Through This Program, with Abstracts)
Map of Recent Awards Made Through This Program


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A picturesque uphill drive from Madapur (about 25 kilometers from Madikeri)sets the mood for what's in store- the sprawling Bellarimotte Estate that overlooks the Kotebetta peak which sets amidst the 80-acre coffee, pepper, cardamom and orange plantation of Bellarimotte Estate.
The guests are met at their cottage by the hosts Vijai Deviah and his wife Ramolla. Vijai and Ramolla are very modest and unassuming people. Their homestay too has a certain lack of pretension. The two rooms in the cottage are simple- there are no television sets or other electronic gadgets in there. Both the rooms however are very spacious, immaculate and spotlessly clean. The service at this homestay is personal yet unobtrusive.
Vijai and Ramolla like to have guests who seek to be in communion with nature. Their simple advice for guests coming to this homestays is to leave their iPods behind so as to listen to the soothing sounds of nature here- be it the chirping of birds, the cool breeze whistling or the roar of the nearby river.
While there is no need to set an alarm to wake up in the morning- one is woken up by the chirping of birds. This homestay incidentally is a delight for bird watchers- over a 100 species of birds can be spotted at the Bellarimotte Estate.
Civets too are known to roam around the Estate. Incidentally, Civet Coffee made from civet droppings of undigested coffee berries is worth it's weight in gold across the world. If guests are interested, Vijai can offer them freshly brewed Civet Coffee. Guests can drink in the beauty of the surroundings while sipping the most expensive brew in the world from the sit out of their cottage.
While at this homestay a guest can also enjoy a game of tennis or billiards at the nearby Madapur Club. Vijai Deviah, who happens to be a member of the latter can take his guests along to the Madapur Club.
Those seeking a relaxing holiday will find this home an ideal place to soothe their stressed nerves.
CheersBye © 2019


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Holiday Inn Oklahoma City North-Quail Spgs
Holiday Inn Oklahoma City North-Quail Spgs
13800 Quail Springs Parkway
13800 Quail Springs Parkway
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
United States
Check In: 3PM
Check Out: 11AM
Check-in Age:21
Book With Us Advantage
- Best Price Guarantee
We promise you access to the guaranteed best available prices, or your first night is free.
- Online Reservation Guarantee
Your room is guaranteed.
- No Booking Fees!
We do not charge any booking fees for making reservations directly with us.
- Data Privacy and Site Security
IHG takes your privacy seriously and works to protect you. All personal information you provide is encrypted and secure.
Welcome to Holiday Inn Oklahoma City North-Quail Spgs
A great central location in North Oklahoma City's vibrant corporate, medical and retail area means you can make the best use of your time when you stay at the Holiday Inn & Suites Oklahoma City North–Quail Springs. Our hotel's great location places us nearby the FBI offices, Linn Energy, AT&T, Hertz, AAA, as well as major health centers, including Oklahoma Heart Hospital, Mercy Health System of Oklahoma and Integris Cancer Center. Sports fans love our easy access to all sports venues such as ASA Softball, D-BAT, The Plex, Arctic Edge, UCO, OCU, Soccer City, the State Fair Grounds, North OKC and Edmond Soccer Clubs. For leisure travelers, Oklahoma City offers a wide variety of activities. Experience great shopping at Quail Springs Mall, Relax at nearby Lake Hefner, visit the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, or pause for a quiet moment of remembrance at the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum.
We've got what you need for a successful stay. Unwind after a busy day with a stress-busting work out in our fitness center then take a swim in our saline pool. Satisfy your craving at Kem's Restaurant or stop by for a drink at our lounge. Traveling with little ones? Kids stay & eat free, making us a perfect choice for family fun vacations. Relax in one of our spacious rooms or suites all of which offer thoughtful amenities including free high-speed, wired and wireless Internet access, refrigerators, microwaves and Keurig coffee makers.
Kids Stay and Eat Free
Kids ages 18 and under stay for free when sharing their parents' room. Up to four kids ages 11 and under eat free any time of the day in any Holiday Inn® on-site restaurant.
|Kids Stay Free
|Kids Eat Free
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|18 and Under
|11 and Under
Free High-Speed Internet
- Wired Internet Available in Rooms, Suites, Business Centre, Public Areas and Meeting Spaces.
- Standard wired internet service is free for all IHG® Rewards Club members
- Wireless Internet Available in Rooms, Suites, Business Centre, Public Areas and Meeting Spaces.
- Standard Wireless internet service is free for all IHG® Rewards Club members
Shuttle/ Parking
- Car Parking Available
- Complimentary Daily Self-Parking is available
- Complimentary, on property parking available for all guests. Please remove all valuables from vehicle as hotel is not liable for items lost or stolen.
Pet Policy
- No pets allowed
- Guide Dogs Allowed
- Our hotel does not accept pets. Service animals welcome.
Credit Cards
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- Diners Club
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- Smoke-Free Facility
- Number of Floors: 5
- Total Number of Rooms: 109
- Number of Suites: 48
- Number of Non-Smoking Rooms: 109
- Number of Accessible Rooms: 8
- Connecting Rooms Available
- Public Entrance
- Guest Rooms
- Lifts
- Public Restrooms
- Registration Desk
- Exercise Facility
- Business Centre
- Pool
- Number of Accessible Meeting Rooms: 3
Accessible Hotel Areas
- Registration Area
- Accessible Guest Rooms
- Business Centre
- Meeting Room
- Exercise Facility
- Pool
Hotel Areas with Accessible Routes from Accessible Public Entrance
- Accessible Self-Parking
- Van Accessible Self Parking
- Ramp Access
- Portable Bathtub Seats
- Closed Caption TVs
- Telephone with TDD
- Visual Alarm/Alert in Guest Rooms
- Visual Alarm/Alert in Public Spaces
- Communication Kits with Visual Alarms
Provided by Hotel
You can be assured that when you stay at an IHG Green Engage Hotel, you are participating in an advanced, world-wide sustainability effort. We understand that it is important for you to have an active role in protecting our environment and that's why we've made it easier for you to choose a hotel that matches your sustainable values.


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By Ed Harris
Downtown Plantsville business owners appear to be in favor of eliminating on the street parking in the area, a major proposal of the planned Plantsville Renaissance.
The on-street parking on the already narrow streets in the area has been a consistent safety concern, and many officials and merchants have expressed a desire to eliminate it altogether over the years.
Parking would be available in nearby current and future municipal lots. A proposed lot would be near Quinn's Tavern. Southington Economic Development Coordinator Lou Perillo called the proposed lot a "catalyst" for the proposed renaissance.
"It's just not safe at all," said Sean Michanczyk, owner of Paris in Plantsville about the parking in the area. "It's more of a hassle."
Michanczyk said that students and patrons of his have lost the side mirrors on their cars due to the tight spacing.
Bob Celentano, owner of Plantsville Station Antique Shoppes, said he would be in favor of eliminating on the street parking, as long as there is an alternative.
The two Plantsville business owners, along with others, commented on the parking issue during a recent Plantsville walkthrough hosted by the Southington Chamber of Commerce.
The town is working on securing grants to officially begin the renaissance project, though some local developers and business owners have already begun improving the area on their own. The project would be similar to the one done in the center of Southington.
The project, which has been scaled back from its original scope, would include widening the sidewalks and including benches and lampposts. The new scope of the project would run from the drug store to the trail, officials said.
Two overlooks, or viewing platforms, would also be included along the West Main Street bridge, which would provide an area to relax along the Quinnipiac River.
The proposal also calls to remove on street parking. This would allow for the extension of the sidewalks further into the street.
"The plans are drawn, the issue is funding," said Perillo.
Southington State Rep. Dave Zoni, who attended the walkthrough, said he would do what he can in Hartford to have possible grants released.