My Favorite Cities in Europe

Someone asked me about my favorite cities in Europe, so here they are:

1. Zurich: I just love walking around Lake Zurich, browsing through the shops at Bahnhoff Strasse and taking day tours to Interlaken and Jungfrajoch.
2. Prague: See the castle, Charles Bridge, Old City. Shop for Crystal. And do get a massage at K-5.
3. London: It's very expensive, but loads of fun. Great dining places like Zuma. Clothing at Jaegar's and cant really go to london and not drop by Harrods.
4. Barcelona: One of my favorites to walk around, relax, eat and hang out at the Olympic village.
5. Rome: I have mixed feeling about Rome. Rich in history, museums, piazzas to hang out, but I will never eat "authentic" Italian food again - greasy, bland, and way too much garlic. My taste buds are used to American Italian food that I truly enjoy.
6. Amsterdam: I take the 5th on this one.

I will build up more on each city later. But if I were to make another trip today, it would be to Prague via Zurich.

Recommendations, Marketing & Tennis

I have been staying up late and watching US Open Tennis. Really wanted Blake to beat Federer, but Federer is in a different league. Looks like it will be a Federer v. Roddick final. Or perhaps Federer v. Youzhny. My son, Mikaeel Yunus, want Mikail Youzny to beat Roddick.

And of course I am all for Sharapova.

I was excited to see two of my recommendations make it. Both were for former employees. One recommendation was for a Masters of System Design Management (SDM) program at MIT. The other was for an executive position at a VOIP start up. It is really gratifying to see friends and colleagues move forward and being a part of their success.

I am getting more into marketing - will have a case study and a full page ad appearing in SOA Journal next week.

Retirement

Watched Aggasi's farewell and it reminded me of my Dad's last flight as a Boeing 747 Pilot. Retiring from what one does for a long time must be tough. I am glad my career will not force me to retire.

Was working on my BEA paper all evening...ported it from MS Word to XHTML using NVu opensource XHTML editor.

Dana's Wedding

The effects of Ernesto made it to Boston and it was gray and drizzling all day. That didn't stop us from driving to Lunenburg to attend Dana's 10th Marriage Anniversary celebration and renewal of wedding vows. The food was great and so was the music.

Later, my dear cousins Shani and Jibraan visited us along with Haroon, Tehmina and Samar. It's getting late and Emaan is still hyper. She just spilt water all over the living room.

Separation Anxiety

This is where I will try to separate my professional life from my personal life. I have started reading "The Long Tail Effect" by Chris Anderson. Am enjoying it.