O Canada! Mais oui Montreal et Quebec!

Montreal

Bienvenue a Montreal.... having successfully outwitted the authorities, we made it past the US/Canada border and up to Montreal. The train journey was long but very comfortable considering we could spread out with so few people travelling that route.

And being French Canadian, all the signs were in French and not a word of English to be found. The Quebecois are very proud of their French language. Not that they want to associate themselves with the French in anyway, heaven forbid! Even though they are all Bilingual, French is the ONLY language they speak. It was therefore up to myself to do the translating for the Dynamic Duo and I was more than happy to get some practise in. However, each time I spoke French to someone, they responded in English. I would then speak English and they would ask me why I wouldn’t speak French!!! Ahhhhh. I was not amused when this charade continued for the next 7 days.

Heidi gets all French in a new berei and scarf down a rambling Montreal Street

Montreal is a very arty city and very much the style of old school European buildings. Downtown was just the prettiest area alive with tourist shops, fountains, gardens, Cathedrals and of course restaurants selling poutine (hot chips smothered in gravy and melted cheese) – a French Canadian speciality.

Poutine, poutine and more poutine! Yummo!

Some of the street art of Montreal - comfortable chairs too!

Our fantastic hostel was located in a wonderfully central location so we walked all the main areas. We had dinner in the fancy restaurant/nightclub street of Rue de St Denis and even one night found ourselves in the very colourful and visually amusing Gay area full of punks! It was 3 days of walking followed by poutine eating and then walking some more.

Some of the beautiful European style architecture of Montreal


Whilst wondering the streets we came across Notre Dame Cathedral and thought we might take a look inside. What we found we did not expect!!! The building was full of stain glass windows, marble carvings and beautiful old wooden pews but the most amazing part of the Cathedral was the display of the Last Supper at the very front. It was a sight that has to been seen to be truly appreciated. A treasure in the middle of the city!

The amazing Notre Dame Cathedral with it's stain glassed windows

It was time to head to the Capital of Quebec though for a further cultural immersion... Quebec city!


Quebec

Driving into Quebec City makes you feel like you’ve driven into an old French town or even a medieval town somewhere in Spain or Germany. With it’s citadel walls encompassing the city and the incredible Chateau Fontenac at the pinnacle of the town it was like we’d stepped back in time. With our hostel being located in old town Quebec it was perfect for more walking and meandering around the city streets. Cheaper on the pocket and better for the backside! On our first full day there, we decided to head into town to check out the shops and sights. However, we took a look out the window and the rain was pouring down. Being the intrepid travellers that we are, we decided that a little rain wasn’t going to stop us so rugging up (it was FREEZING by this stage!) we trotted off down the cobblestone streets. We were very proud of our efforts as we took in history, architecture, language and cultural stuff! Heading down towards Champlain Street we went in search of a cafe to get a hot chocolate but being a Sunday, wet and extremely cold, most cafes were closed so we took the only alternative we could find. We sat down under a large umbrella and had a glass of Sangria each!!!! Just perfect.

An arty shot of the Chateau Fontenac from the street below

The intrepid travellers in Quebec City

Wandering the Streets of Old Quebec town, Serena takes refuge from the rain

Walking down Champlain Street in search of hot chocolate...

.... but instead we found Sangria to warm the cockles of our hearts!

Taking a bit of initiative and to put it simply, because we are poor backpackers, we decided to do a bit of the tourist trail on foot and by public bus! Man we have mastered this public transport thing so well that we have people asking us for directions and we can give them the quickest route possible straight off the top of our heads!

Wandering around outside the gates of the Old Town, we found the Parliament house. We headed inside for a sticky beak and found that they ran free tours every half hour. We just heard the words ‘free tour’ and we were there! The interior of the building was just stunning. It makes our Parliament look so sterile. The two main rooms were painted blue and red and were rather regal looking. The following day we found the public bus and headed out to Mont Morency Falls. We walked around the falls and then down the many many flights of stairs and looking back up the stairs decided that the cable car on the other side of the river was a more enticing return! For $4 it was not a bad day’s worth of entertainment!

The main room of Parliament House was so beautiful

I shrunk in the wash!


Mont Morency Falls with the staircase on the right that we walked down

At the top of the falls

Having had our fill of French Canada it was time to move onto the more English side... Toronto.

H and S

Trials, Tribulations and Observations

The Trials and Tribulations of Hostelling as Recounted by Serena

The Lack of Sleep
Staying in hostels is a cheaper way to travel and you meet more people that way but let’s face it, you don’t get much sleep and you meet some very....let’s go with ‘interesting’, people.

In New York City we met up with Rachel from our trek and the three of us were booked into the Big Apple Hostel. The location was great (right off Times Square), dorms were reasonably clean, bathrooms were pretty good and it had a small courtyard and kitchen. What is the one thing that you can’t control in these situations??? Who is sharing the dorm with you.

Our first two nights were spent sleepless due to the very loud, bed shaking, earth moving happenings coming from the bed above me! I know what you’re thinking....SNORING! It was sooo loud that even with my earphones in and music playing I could still hear the air getting trapped through their nose and chest as they tried to breath in. I don’t know if I felt sorrier for myself or the air particles trying to make their way through the clearly difficult passages to the lungs...it must be quite a journey.

I got up, turned the air conditioning down, again got up and went to the toilet, later still I sat on the floor and did some stretches. Heidi then got up and went to the toilet practically slamming the door on the way out and in which did allow for 4 seconds silence. Rachel tossed and turned eventually letting her frustration show by saying “Jesus” and we all realised that the three of us were wide awake. At some point we eventually fell asleep and when it was time to get up it was with bleary eyes and the feeling that somehow we had been awake all night. We were greeted by our fellow roommate with a cheery “Good morning” and when we replied with a sleepy “good morning” she couldn’t understand why we were all so tired when we should “be up and ready to go”. I really wanted to launch her mattress down the staircase the second night in order to get a good night’s sleep but I was reminded by Heidi that I was not in Japan travelling with Leisje and as such my actions could cause some trouble.


The Clueless
In Boston, Heidi and I were put into different rooms for our first two nights and then we changed into another room together for the last two nights. I was assigned the top bunk (in my first room) and so happily nodded off to sleep that night. At 1am I was awoken by a very tall man standing next to my bed peering at me and saying “hello” in an English accent. He introduced himself, I introduced myself, he asked where I was from, I replied Australia and then he continued to talk to me about how he had been out and came across this huge hammock that everyone was lying in and he was on his way out again if I would like to join him. I politely declined his offer and mentioned that I had been asleep and intended to go back to sleep. He left, leaving the door wide open, I closed it. Two minutes later he was back, peering over my railing and asking me if I could wake him up in the morning if he was not awake by 8.30. I said sure and he continued to talk although I have no idea what he said.

Heidi’s night was disastrous. At 2am she eventually went to the front desk (in her pyjamas, Yes, it was that bad!) to complain that the air conditioning in the room was broken and she was about to suffocate (she was horrified that they guy on the front desk was cute and she showed up in her pyjamas, WITHOUT any lipstick on!). The five people in her room were moved to another (which smelled). The following day, we were assured that the air con would be fixed however it wasn’t and Heidi had another sleepless night out on the couch in the hallway.

The Outright Strange
Our second room was much more comfortable and on our last night we met a gentleman (Tony) who was about 60 yrs old and quite nice. He was checking out the same day as us but leaving at 6.30am. We had a late night that night staying up till 2am chatting with both Tony and Harley (very funny Brazilian guy!). Tony was busy packing his bag as and due to Harley’s hunger we went out to the closest 7/11 to get some snacks (aaah the joys of being on holiday). At 5.30am Tony was awake and preparing to leave, yet again packing his bag, getting changed, getting changed again, re-packing his bag, in and out of his locker.... I’m not quite sure how many times he changed his outfit and opened and closed the locker or what exactly was in the many or one plastic bag he managed to rustle the whole morning but after an hour he left. I looked over and saw Harley with the pillow over his head! Heidi then leaned down from the top bunk and asked me for a gun. I offered the use of my well equipped swiss army knife but she didn’t take it.

Observations on the USA

1) Growing ‘em tall
I’m not sure what is in the water over here but it strikes me that the States has quite a lot of very tall men. This got me thinking one day (clearly I had nothing better to do!) how it was that Australia doesn’t seem to have as many tall men as the USA??? Is it just that the population is so much larger then Australia that the frequency is higher? Is it really something to do with their diet or were the convicts that were sent to Australia all just short? I could be onto something here...it would be hard to be a thief if you were tall wouldn’t it? It’s not like you could blend into the crowd as you were running away. Then I realised that 8 wks of not using my brain is starting to take an effect and immediately ceased that thought process.

2) Signage: What the?
Signage in the USA makes me think of Rove’s “What the?” segment. Simple things like the words “Pull to operate” on the doors. That got me wondering if a door was really something that you “operate”. I had always thought you operate heavy machinery or a doctor operates on a patient, I would never put down on my CV “can operate doors”. Is there a need to have the extra two words to explain? If so why are so many doors missing this instruction and simply left blank with no Push or Pull on them at all?
One of the first signs that made me laugh was when we were horse riding at Eastons. I came across a road sign that had “Road is unfinished”. I was wondering if it just meant that the road was not sealed or if you would be driving along and suddenly the road would disappear, like a train track that was unfinished? As you can imagine, the picture that was in my head make me laugh.

3) Hazardous Hazardlights
How many times do you see people in Australia driving with their hazard lights on? When I was learning how to drive I was told that the hazard lights were to be used in cases such as your car is broken down, or there is a problem with the car so you have to drive slowly. These were the kind of situations I was lead to believe warranted the use of your hazard lights. I swear every second car here has its hazard lights on! Is it an obsession over here? The one that really took the cake for me was when I was walking down the street and saw a car driving with its hazard lights on, I watched as the car got closer to me wondering what the problem could be, only to see that the driver was eating his burger with both hands and no hands on the steering wheel! I guess that is cause for the hazard lights!

4) To Flush or Not to Flush? That is the question!
Public toilets are never a fun thing to use but they are a necessary part of any city or roadhouse. Public toilets (or restrooms as they are referred to here) give pretty good first impressions in the States. Firstly there are so many different kinds of toilets you need a degree to work out how to operate each one. Each has it’s own flush operating system. There are no doors that you have to push or pull “to operate” (haha!) to enter the main toilet building as they have strategically made you walk around the corner, past a wall to enter. Hygienic yes? There are paper toilet seat covers provided for them, again hygienic and even many toilets flush automatically for hygiene purposes. Then there are the taps, they are censored to turn on automatically, the soap dispenser is automatic and the paper towel dispenser is automatic – not a germ to be touched! Or if there is only a hand dryer they are super powerful and move the skin around on your hand when it blows them dry so they actually are dry when you’re finished! No wet hands here when walking out!

You know how there is normally at least one toilet in public toilets that is blocked?...well in America there is usually 3 out of 5 blocked. For the first 2 days I was beginning to think that Americans just don’t believe in flushing the toilet (this is for the non automatic flushers)! Strange I thought....then I started to come across many toilets that you need to flush several times because the “flush” has NO strength in it! I still could not however figure out what was going on with the automatic flushers? Do they just not work very well?

One of the things I like is that seat covers are provided and whilst I choose not to sit on public toilet seats, I always have that fear that I am somehow going to loose my balance and fall onto the toilet seat. So with this in mind I always put down a seat cover... Remember that this was a new experience for me (the seat cover being provided that is) and over the first 2 weeks I lost many a seat cover into the toilet whilst I was trying to place the thing on the seat! So sometimes it would take me 2-3 covers before I was successful. Then of course, there is the question of how does the toilet know when to flush?? Several times I have been waving my hands and dancing about the sensor on the toilet in order to get it to flush (mental imagines anyone!), I then of course realised that the reason there are so many toilets that are not flushed is because nobody else takes the time to dance around the toilet like a goof in order to make it flush! Oh they joys of public ‘Restrooms’ in the USA.

Syracuse with the Salisbury Family

Well it was time to bum off friends again!!!! So packing up our wonderful rolling ‘backpacks’ we headed to the bus station for our 7 hour journey to Syracuse. Where? I hear you ask.... yep that’s right, Syracuse, up State New York to visit my lovely friends Jay and Lisa and their absolutely gorgeous 4 month old twins Miss Elliot and Master Jackson. Jay and Lisa are friends of mine from when I worked in a hotel in Cairns. Jay is a native American and they moved back 5 years ago and said they always held an open invitation to me to come and visit. A decision they may have lived to regret!

A very happy Miss Elliot

A cruisy little Mr Jackson


But what a lovely week we had with the Salisbury family along with their pet lop-earred rabbit, Rudy. They have recently purchased a new house and have done up the third level as a studio apartment equipped with it’s own bathroom and lounge. That became the Heidi and Serena penthouse!! What luxury especially after staying at the poorly run hostel in Boston. We made use of the space we were given and within ten minutes of our arrival we had spread our stuff from one end of the room to the other – oh the feeling of joy to spread out!

Dinner time - not easy with 2 bubbas so mum and dad take one each

Rudy the lop-earred rabbit let me cuddle her - well when she couldn't escape that is!

The one difference, and boy what a difference, coming from Boston to Syracuse was the sudden temperature drop. From the heatwave they’d been having in Boston we were suddenly plunged into 15 degree temperatures! Ahhhhhhh, time to bring out the jeans, coat, scarf, gloves and long sleeve tops. Yes we are truly Queensland wusses.

The next week I was in heaven with 2 babies at my disposal for constant cuddles. Serena helped keep them entertained simply by looking at them and each one would crack up... hmmmm what were they telling her?!!!! Jackson and Elliot were the most beautiful little human beings and always so happy. Except maybe the one day that Serena sat in the back of the car with them and they both started to SCREAM. Freaking out, Serena jumped in the driver’s seat and Mum (Lisa) jumped in the back to calm them down. This meant that, yes, Serena drove us home – on the wrong side of the road! Well it was actually the correct side considering that we were in the States but it wasn’t the side she was used to. But 20 minutes later we made it home safe and sound, all in one piece and not a dint on the car. Well done Serena!

Serena and Heidi become instant baby sitters and love it!


The beautiful architecture of Syracuse University - minutes away from the Salisbury home


Having the weekend off, the Salisbury family followed in tow by Heidi and Serena, packed up the 10 tonnes of baby gear, our winter woollies and headed to the Finger Lakes region for a day outdoors. This was such a beautiful area. Lakes surrounded by rolling green hills that were just starting to change colour with the Fall season as well as family recreation parks. We took a gentle walk to a waterfall and then had lunch in one of the quaint little towns in the area. Infact, the area is home to the famous Ivy League University Ithica so it had quite a modern funky feel to it.
Many a home cooked meal was had as we prepared each evening around the kitchen table, babies in basinets before heading to bed to leave the oldies to drink a beer and share good food together. It was just what we needed at that stage in our trip and we enjoyed the company of our two friends very much. We are hoping to see them back in Australia one day.

Our walk at the finger lakes out to a lovely waterfall with the Salisbury gang

Little Jackson loves his mode of transport!

Making our way along the dry creek bed to the waterfall

Dad gets double the cuddles in before making the trek to the waterfall


But all good things must come to an end and so at 5am one morning we were up and on our way to the Train Station for our 12 hour journey into Canada and Montreal to be precise....

H and S

Tea Party anyone? Cos we're in Boston!

Boston... home to the Red Sox Baseball team, Boston Tea Party, Trinity Church.... and the worst hostel in history! Well actually the kitchen was great but apart from that......

Having survived the 14 block walk through New York carrying our entire lives, catching the Bus to Boston which arrived 1.5 hrs late making it a 5.5 hr journey in total, taking the Metro into Boston Downtown where we had to lug our bags up and then down 2 flights of stairs, then attempting to walk the rest of the way to our hostel before realising we were headed to the wrong one and walking BACK to the start and another half hour to our hostel, we arrived a little tired, to say the least. All this in a bit of heat wave 32 degrees. Boston was meant to be cold all year round!

Serena’s next excerpt outlines our next few days in the hostel in stark detail. The upside to it all is that we managed to get 1 night of sleep out of 4! Not all a total loss.

The Trials and Tribulations of Hostels.

Staying in hostels is a cheaper way to travel and you meet more people that way but let’s face it, you don’t get much sleep and you meet some very....let’s go with ‘interesting’, people.

In New York City we met up with Rachel from our trek and the three of us were booked into the Big Apple Hostel. The location was great (right off Times Square), dorms were reasonably clean, bathrooms were pretty good and it had a small courtyard and kitchen. What is the one thing that you can’t control in these situations??? Who is sharing the dorm with you.

Our first two nights were spent sleepless due to the very loud, bed shaking, earth moving happenings coming from the bed above me! I know what you’re thinking....SNORING! It was sooo loud that even with my earphones in and music playing I could still hear the air getting trapped through their nose and chest as they tried to breath in. I don’t know if I felt sorrier for myself or the air particles trying to make their way through the clearly difficult passages to the lungs...it must be quite a journey.

I got up, turned the air conditioning down, again got up and went to the toilet, later still I sat on the floor and did some stretches. Heidi then got up and went to the toilet practically slamming the door on the way out and in which did allow for 4 seconds silence. Rachel tossed and turned eventually letting her frustration show by saying “Jesus” and we all realised that the three of us were wide awake. At some point we eventually fell asleep and when it was time to get up it was with bleary eyes and the feeling that somehow we had been awake all night. We were greeted by our fellow roommate with a cheery “Good morning” and when we replied with a sleepy “good morning” she couldn’t understand why we were all so tired when we should “be up and ready to go”. I really wanted to launch her mattress down the staircase the second night in order to get a good night’s sleep but I was reminded by Heidi that I was not in Japan travelling with Leisje and as such my actions could cause some trouble.

In Boston, Heidi and I were put into different rooms for our first two nights and then we changed into another room together for the last two nights. I was assigned the top bunk (in my first room) and so happily nodded off to sleep that night. At 1am I was awoken by a very tall man standing next to my bed peering at me and saying “hello” in an English accent. He introduced himself, I introduced myself, he asked where I was from, I replied Australia and then he continued to talk to me about how he had been out and came across this huge hammock that everyone was lying in and he was on his way out again if I would like to join him. I politely declined his offer and mentioned that I had been asleep and intended to go back to sleep. He left, leaving the door wide open, I closed it. Two minutes later he was back, peering over my railing and asking me if I could wake him up in the morning if he was not awake by 8.30. I said sure and he continued to talk although I have no idea what he said.

Heidi’s night was disastrous. At 2am she eventually went to the front desk (in her pyjamas, Yes, it was that bad!) to complain that the air conditioning in the room was broken and she was about to suffocate (she was horrified that they guy on the front desk was cute and she showed up in her pyjamas, WITHOUT any lipstick on!). The five people in her room were moved to another (which smelled). The following day, we were assured that the air con would be fixed however it wasn’t and Heidi had another sleepless night out on the couch in the hallway.

Our second room was much more comfortable and on our last night we met a gentleman who was about 60 yrs old and quite nice. He was checking out the same day as us but leaving at 6.30am and whilst he tried really hard not to disturb us he did. I’m not quite sure how many times he changed his outfit and opened and closed the locker or what exactly was in the many or one plastic bag he managed to rustle the whole morning but after an hour and a half he left. I looked over and saw Harley (very funny Brazilian guy!) with the pillow over his head! Heidi then leaned down from the top bunk and asked me for a gun. I offered the use of my well equipped swiss army knife but she didn’t take it.

Short of being extremely tired and meltingly hot, we did enjoy the city of Boston. It is such an old city with so much history yet it is filled with such young people being a major ‘School’ (University) town. August 31^st is Students Returning day so there was a buzz to the place with removalist trucks filling the streets, mattresses being carried past cafes and parents doing load after load of box moving from car to apartment. Having decided to get a dose of history, we teamed up with a guy named Matt who was sharing the Dungeon of Hell Room 402 with me the night before, and headed out to walk the Freedom Trail. A short stroll later, we found ourselves at the beautiful Boston Common and Gardens, under a tree soaking in the breeze. Having decided it was far too hot to walk, we jumped on one of the open air, guided ‘Trolleys’ (Tram) and saw the city that way. Much better! And it even included a free harbour cruise. The city Library and Trinity Church are the biggest asset to Boston. Both have such beautiful architecture and have been preserved so well.

The central square inside Boston Library - a very peaceful place

Inside the library, this is typical of the architecture

Trinity Church - pity you had to pay to go in! Yes even Catholics!

Serena and Heidi infront of Quincy Markets - one of the stops on our Trolley Tour

The beautiful gardens of Boston Common


Salem was the final destination on our list of places to visit around Boston. Known for it’s Witch Hysteria in 1692 where 19 people were hanged, 1 crushed to death and 3 died in prison for crimes of Witchery (yes again I was listening!) it is forever cemented in America’s history. A short walk, a Metro ride and a 30 min train journey and $20 later, we arrived at Infamous Salem. Hmmmm.... not much needs to be said about the place. The town certainly has taken advantage of this one event in history and scraped every last bit of tourism out of it that they can. It’s Halloween on steroids. The witch museum, the witch dungeon, the witches house and so much more, is really no more than plastic attempts at making money out of unsuspecting tourists. My advice... watch the movie, The Crucible and you’ll get more information about the Salem Witch Hysteria than visiting the actual (tourist trap) town.

Just when we thought our final night at the hostel would bring us some much needed sleep, but we were joined by our mate Tony, the one Serena described above. We were still all awake at 1am whilest he ‘packed’ his bags ready for the morning so our Brazilian Room mate Harley, Serena and I all decided to take a walk down to the corner store for a midnight snack. 2am, back in our room he was still ‘fluffing’ about. We knew though that we had till about 8am for a little sleep in... until of course Tony decided to get up at 6am and ‘pack’ his bag. WHAT THE? A herd of wild elephants would have made less noise! Well, all in the fun of communal living I guess. So today ends our Boston sojourn and we head towards Syracuse in upstate New York to stay with some good friends Jay and Lisa. Looking forward to that bed, and NO SNORING!!!! Until then our followers.....

H and S

I've got to be a part of it - New York New York!

These vagabond shoes.....



The idea of up rooting your entire life to go ‘backpacking’ around the world is one that many people dream about their entire lives. It certainly was our dream for many years so we did just that. We quit our jobs, packed up our lives, went out and bought a backpack and filled it with our few worldly possessions that were to last us the next year or two. Our downfall was at the buying of the backpack stage.... a backpack that has wheels should be the first indication that it could be a little big. The other indication could be that when you stand it upright, it is 2/3rds of your height so picking it up to lug it on your back is not really going to be an option! And this is exactly what Serena and I bought!

The upsides of ‘backpacks’ such as these: 1) The Wheels - thank God for wheels! At least our backs will thank us in 30 years time AND 2) they do allow for more space to get 4 seasons worth of clothing in not to mention those oh-so-heavy toiletries.

The down sides of ‘backpacks’ such as these: 1) If you cannot find an elevator in subways, train stations or hostels you are screwed! Particularly going up cos going down you can at least just sit it at the top and then give it a big push! AND 2) If the person coming towards you doesn’t move out of your way, someone is going to get hurt and it ain’t me (not always a downside mind you with some people you meet!).

So here we were in the ‘City that Never Sleeps’ good ol’ New York City or NYC as we like to affectionately call it, wheeling 2 fat toad like cases through the streets with ‘Get outta my way or lose a foot’ looks on our faces, on a mission to find our hostel. Our bus driver kindly dropped us at Central Station and said something that was not in English and left us to find our way. (There are more foreign speaking people in this country than English speakers!) And soon after we did find our way cos we are so clever! The Big Apple Hostel has to be THE BEST located hostel anywhere in the world. Only one block from Times Square, it even has a Starbucks located just across the road! Oh and it has a GREAT elevator! Clean, comfortable, with a kitchen that backs onto a little terrace out the back, there is not much more any hostel could offer.

We met up with Rachel, one of our Treking friends and settled into our 4 person room. Serena plus Heidi plus Rachel = 3 people leaving therefore the 4th bed free. It’s a little like waiting for a Christmas lucky dip when you wait for the last person(s) to come into the room to see exactly what you get: would it be a couple of girls looking for people to go sightseeing with? Would it be a lone guy from Austria with some interesting tales of his homeland (yes we are staying in mixed dorms!)? Or would it be a scatty old lady, rather on the largish size (beaches and whales come to mind), who when she introduces herself says with a rather London accent ‘oh yeah, I have a snoring problem Most of me friends just throw something at me so feel free to do the same if I wake you’. And guess who our fourth person was? Lucky guess..... you know then that the next few nights you ain’t going to get much sleep. Rather appropriate in the 'City that Never Sleeps'. Oh the joys of communal sleeping. You must read Serena's segment on the Trials and Tribulations of Hostels to get the full insight... see blog following.

Our next 5 days were full of sunshine, walking and pizza and our nights were full of glitz, glamour and more pizza! We spent a whole day dedicated to wondering through Central Park. Taking the Metro up to 110th Street we walked and walked past lakes, public swimming pools, jazz bands, baseball pitches, saxophone players, fair grounds, ducks, dog walkers, hot dog stands and lots and lots of trees! That Park has to be New York’s biggest asset – by day that is!

Our first rays of sunshine in Times Square


Showing off our new handbags whilst waiting to catch the subway: Bronx direction bound!

Putting on our meanest faces in the subway - sunglasses, lipstick and all

Baseball players in Central Park

Just meandering the paths of Central Park

Little ponds and lakes can be found everywhere with little row boats and swans

Looking towards to the city through the trees


And no trip to New York would be complete without a trip up the Empire State Building. Both Serena and Rachel were afraid of heights but both decided to face their fears and head straight to the 86th floor - at night of course when it didn't look so high... or was it because the city looked all the more beautiful with the twinkling lights. In any case, the trio headed through all the security checkpoints, removing all belts, coins, cameras, straight jackets, giving up your first born child... etc to the top. And what a view!!! New York did not disappoint. Although somewhat windy and overcast, the clouds added an aire of mystique around the city and helped to enhance and reflect the lights. Of course this trip had to be followed up with a reward of gelato at the end!

The Empire State Building at night



My artiste shots....



In colour...
In sepia...

In black and white...

Heading back to the city along Broadway we found Macy's - unfortunately closed!

At the base, inside the Empire State Building: Rachel, Serena and Heidi

The View from the top on a full moon night

The busy streets of New York

Looking over Manhatten towards the Brooklyn Bridge




Some random night shots of New York City:

Cousins Heidi and Claire meet half way across the world for a drink in Times Square

We found the home of the Late Show!

The Glitziest Maccas we've ever seen


Horse and Carriage rides through Times Square - how romantic!


Our first night saw the 3 stooges in desperate need of meat... yes we ended up at ‘Dave’s Famous Steakhouse’ that night for the biggest steak I’ve ever seen. We still don’t know who Dave is and are not too sure that his Steakhouse is all that famous but gosh darn, they cook a mighty good Rump! Serena went in for the kill.... 18 oz of pure prime rib and not to forget all those vegies. (see the before and after shots). Needless to say she was so happy with her dinner that the photo became her facebook profile pic for the next week – now that says something!

Steak, ribs and vegies all round!


Serena's before shot....

Serena's very proud after shot...


And don’t forget the Pizza people. We ate it like it was going out of fashion. Mmmmm pepperoni pizza

Serena could not wait to get stuck into that Pizza


More pizza including stuffed pizza!

Heidi tries to get it in one bite... we soon learnt that true New Yorkers 'fold' their Pizzas in half


One evening there was a free Movie on in the park. It was part of a week long film showing and on that night they were showing the 1933 version of King Kong. FABULOUS! It was the most delightful evening sitting outside on a hill slope with so many people just enjoying a good old fashioned evening of free entertainment. The film was so clichéd yet so good and many laughs were had all round.


King Kong takes on New York... in 1933

With very precise planning of dates, Serena was able to celebrate her 29th birthday New York style. The night before we all got dressed up to the nine’s and were joined by my little cousin Claire from the Uk and her friend Ceri, also from the UK. Heading out to dinner looking tres chique, we enjoyed a New York feast and then made our way to the HA! Comedy Club just off Broadway. New York comedy clubs are rather interesting with approx 5 stand up comedians performing in any one session. There were quite a lot of laughs had in our very intimate room of approx 50 people. We then headed across town on foot to Sweet Caroline’s bar for yet another fix of Duelling Pianos. Yes it is an entertainment past time that we have come to love.

Short of being arrested, we were let off with a warning from New York's finest NYPD - and a photo of course!


The comedy club

Getting our giggles at the HA! Comedy Club - Rachel, Ceri, Serena, Claire and Heidi

All dressed up in Times Square

Happy Birthday to Meeeee!!!!

Just posing for the Paparazzi as usual!

The following day, the ACTUAL day of celebration, I headed into town earlier in the morning to wait in the queue outside the ‘Cheap Broadway Shows Ticket Booth’ in Times Square. Anyone who has been to New York will know this place EVEN if they haven’t waited in the line themselves, as it is hard to miss. Each day, the booth opens up at 10am to offer 50% off the price of certain Broadway shows for that night only. So, being the birthday girls big day, I left her sleeping in bed (snoring lady had checked out the day before!) and I waited in line for approx 2 hours. Thank goodness for Starbucks just across the road to give me my much needed coffee fix. During this time I made some life-long friends... there was Angela from New Jersey: I learnt all about her kids and their families. There was also a mother and daughter from North Carolina who were up for the mother's 60th birthday. I learnt all about their travels too. Infact, the small group surrounding me all became very good friends during those 2 hours!

Serena, Rachel and I were all hoping to see ‘Wicked’ upon the recommendation of just about everyone we spoke to (including all my new found friends in the queue), but due to its current popularity and our current status as ‘backpacker’, it was out of our price range. We did however get tickets to see La Cage aux Folles starring Kelsie Grammar. It is the musical version of the movie, ‘The Bird Cage’. And wasn’t it fabulous! The costumes, the colour, the glitz and glamour... not to mention the men’s legs in tights looked fantastic – so jealous! Of course this was to be followed by a feast of New York Pizza... yet again.

The Theatre in which we saw the very Funny 'La Cage Aux Folles'.

Our most 'gruelling' or patience testing day had to be when we decided to head down to the ferry terminal and take a leisurely cruise across to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island... or so we thought. Getting off the subway we looked around and saw the line up for the tickets. Wondering over we realised that the line went on... and on.... and ON..... with no end in sight. So we did as all respectful tourists do and joined the queue, not bothering to find out what everyone was queuing for. A little while later we realised that the line we were in was for people ALREADY with their tickets. So leaving Serena to wait patiently in her line, I went to the other line to purchase the tickets. Man, people love to queue. 2 hours later, I had the tickets in my hot little hand and met up with Serena and Rachel who had gallantly held our ‘spot’ in the other line (this is when travelling in pairs comes in very handy) and we boarded the ship with the 400 other people. We cruised around the statue and when it came time to get off on Liberty Island, seeing the queues to get back on the boat, we quickly decided that we had seen the statue at it’s best from the ship! So staying on we proceeded to Ellis Island.

Just cruisin' - after 2 hours of just waiting!


Miss Liberty peaks between Serena and Rachel

The Statue of Liberty with Manhatten in the background

The throngs of people waiting to get back onboard at Liberty Island...

Displays of luggage at Ellis Island


Ellis Island has a very interesting history. Approx 1 million people in America can trace their history back to an ancestor who came through there when emigrating from Europe to the States. The biggest influx took place from 1910 – 1950’s. The museum set up there is really amazing and worth the visit... even worth the 2 hours in the line up to get there! Wondering back on foot we passed many New York icons... the Bull out of the movie Hitch, Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange and even Ground Zero which has come along way since I was last in New York 6 years ago but still has a long way to go. We even saw Elmo who stood patiently every night on the corner of our street taking photos with people just to make $1.... brave person. He was later joined by the Cookie Monster.

The site at Ground Zero

What I thought was the New York Stock Exchange... well it was, just the back entrance!


The New York Stock Exchange from the front - now that's better!

The 'other end' of the Bull out of the Movie 'Hitch'

Chilling on Wall Street - spot the tourists!


Serena finds an old friend

And so ended, very quickly, our days in NYC. So much left not yet done, can only mean one thing.... New York is definitely on our list of places to return too. Our last day saw us once again, wheeling our ‘backpacks’ 14 blocks through the busy streets of New York to catch our bus to our next stop.... Boston.

Luv H and S