TMac blows out the Rip

Markus’ flight took of with approximately half an hour delay at 11.56 and was very smooth and did actually go by quite fast, even though Markus did not manage to sleep albeit the flat bed Austrian offers in business class. So he enjoyed the food, listened to lots of music and watched “Up in the air”, a movie with George Clooney about a frequent traveller (does that sound familiar?) as well as a few episodes of CSI New York to be prepared for the Big Apple. Upon an on-time arrival the Markus adrenaline level jumped as he could not find his passport and immigration documents anywhere. Only after a search for ten minutes and all passengers exiting ahead of him he found it well hidden in one of the storage compartments.

Somewhere over the Atlantic

As immigration into the US in the end was unproblematic and also the taxi-ride to the Parker Meridien Hotel, just by Central Park, was smooth and quick the stage was set perfectly for the first highlight of the New York trip: Markus has bought tickets for an NBA game in the Madison Square Garden. Together with a colleague he walked the few blocks south towards MSG and picked up his ticket for the matchup of the New York Knicks and the Detroit Pistons.

The gladiators are being introduced to the crowd...

As the game was not sold out it was no problem for Robert to buy a ticket in the same block and so they enjoyed a good American show with beer, hotdogs and a highs-coring game. As both the Knicks and Pistons are not really part of the strongest teams in the NBA this season the game quality was not outstanding, but there was quite a few spectacular moves and a lot of room for American showtime. In the end the home-team around Tracy McGrady beat the Rip Hamilton’s Pistons by 24 points. After the game Markus and Robert walked back to the hotel via Time Square and Markus soon fell asleep with a view over Central Park in order to be ready for the conference

Jakob, Kerstin & Markus