Day 8
We slept really well in our super king size bed again. After breakfast we made our way into Boston using the 'T'. We evidently came out of a different exit at State Street Station but eventually found our way to Faneuil Hall. This had various stalls selling souvenirs, coffee and sweets. I bought a new purse at a Leather Goods stall and thanks to Steve's willingness to barter I got it for $30 rather than $39.99! Upstairs there is a large hall which is used for ceremonial events but we decided not to go up and made our way across to Quincy Market. Wow! There had to be every type of cuisine under the sun on offer here. Never seen anything like it before. If you were so minded and had the stomach for it, it would be very easy to spend the whole day eating and drinking! Being still rather full from our breakfast we opted for a Raspberry and Mango smoothie for Steve and a Cranberry Orange cooler (cranberry juice, orange juice, lemon sorbet and soda water) for me and went to sit outside to drink them.
Spotting a Harley Davidson store, we went in to get a T-shirt for Chris. I'm not sure if he still holds ambitions to ride a Harley but he'll like the T-shirt! Moving further round the market area we came across a very young pianist and stopped a while to listen. Just 11 years old, Bradley Bartlett-Roche was very accomplished on the piano - not quite so good at singing and attempting Great Balls of Fire was probably a bit too big of a song for him at present. He has plenty of time to improve on that score though. Steve went to wander some more around the market while I stayed put to rest my feet and listen some more. After a short break Bradley returned to his piano stool, laid on his back with his head under the keyboard, crossed his arms and started playing upside-down! Most impressive! Having heard his short set three times by now we moved on to the harbour area and decided to go on the Historic Harbour Cruise rather than visit the Aquarium.
I remembered a little of the history of the Boston Tea Party from school days but it was good to be reminded of the role of the British government of the time in the events that unfolded around the massacre and the dumping of the tea into the harbour. Apparently it took 6 months for the sea and the fish stocks to recover from so much tea! Our guide kept up an excellent narration about the development of the harbour, buildings and islands that we saw on the cruise which lasted for about 1 1/2 hours. Long Wharf, where the cruise started from, used to be 2000m long but the infill to extend the harbour area means it is now about 1/4 that length. There is a clock tower near Boston harbour which is known as the four-faced liar because none of the four clocks ever tells the right time! Apparently the wind particularly affects the minute hand, so even if the hour is right, each clock will give a different time. One of the islands near the harbour is known as Spectacle island because, from the air, it looks like a pair of specs. It is the only one to have grown in height as it was used for landfill - at one time it got so bad that much of the "trash" was blowing into the harbour. Now it has been landscaped and looks very attractive and green with a stone wall surround.
After returning to the harbour, we wandered back to Quincy Market to find somewhere to eat before going back to the hotel. So many places to choose from!! But we settled on the Anthem Kitchen and Bar where Steve started with some clam chowder, I had a taste and it was very tasty indeed. Afterwards, we both had an All American Burger with fries, which included bacon and cheese. Also very tasty but once again too much to finish, for me at least.
On the way to the station we stopped to watch some street dancers who were doing some pretty amazing moves requiring great strength and agility. They also lined up five people from the audience and, after much banter to get the crowd going and persuade us to part with a few dollars, two of the guys did an acrobatic leap over the five volunteers. Suitably impressed we made our way back to the hotel. It didn't seem like we had done that much today, but it had been fairly hot (in the high 80s) and we were both rather tired.
Tomorrow we travel to Niagara on the Lake for the third and final part of our holiday.
Tuesday, 1 July 2014
New York, Boston, Niagara Falls - Day 7
Day 7
A great night's sleep! Comfortable, super kingsize bed and it's quiet :-)
Breakfast at the hotel and then I got a taxi to Boston harbour for the whale watching trip while Steve hired a bike. Not sure my taxi driver knew where he was going as he kept looking at his satnav but I arrived in good time to pick up my ticket and join the queue for boarding the catamaran. It was obviously a very popular tour! I found myself a seat inside where it was air-conditioned as the sun was pretty strong and once we got going after leaving the harbour it was obviously very windy too. As we slowed down on reaching the National Park Sanctuary where the whales are most likely to be seen, about 30 miles from the harbour, I made my way to a spot on the right side of the boat, camera at the ready. You really needed to be near the front of the queue to get the prime spots on the top deck where you could see both sides.
The Naturalist on board with us had spotted a Minky whale but I think it was too far away for those without binoculars to see and they are relatively small. She had told us the signs to look out for - the blow, the back, the tail or rings of bubbles coming to the surface of the water. When the whales are feeding they blow bubbles up in a ring which moves the fish closer together so the whale can then get a good mouthful in one go. It wasn't long before a humpback whale revealed herself after doing just this. It's an amazing sight as they come to the surface, blow and go back down again for another round of feeding. It was fascinating to learn that the tails or flukes of humpback whales have unique markings so that they can be identified. This first whale that we saw had been named Hancock by the researchers - her fluke marking looking a bit like a signature - and she was known to have been first spotted as a calf in 1991 making her 23 years old. She made 5 or 6 appearances before going down for a deeper dive. You have to be very quick on the camera! I managed to get a few shots of her before we moved on a little way further into the sanctuary.
When we slowed down again there was another humpback named Bullet because of a pair of markings on her tail that looked like bullet holes and she had a calf with her who the Naturalist said would be about 6 months old. Bullet's and calf's appearances were mostly on the left side of the boat. We got one chance to see on the right side and I wasn't quick enough with the camera but still amazing to see the size difference. The calf was thought to be Bullet's 5th. Before heading back to the harbour we were also lucky enough to see a fin whale a bit further away. It was much larger than the humpbacks. All too soon, it was time to leave the sanctuary and go back to the harbour.
We arrived back at about 2.15 and after a brief wander around the harbour I tried to find the T station so I could go back to the hotel to meet up with Steve. For the uninitiated, they're not obvious with the T sign often being displayed only on one side of the entrance. After a while I decided to go into a bar for a drink, a chance to use the restroom and ask directions. Felt pretty silly when the station entrance turned out to be just across the road :-/ Having stayed in the bar just long enough to see the Brazil vs Chile penalties, I made my way back to the hotel, eventually arriving about 4.00 to find Steve chatting with a couple of women at the bar. They were very pleasant and chatty and were in Boston for a concert at the Fenway Stadium by Zac Brown, described by them as like a country version of the Dave Matthews Band.
I'll have to let Steve fill in the details about his bike ride but he did around 22 miles, getting to Fenway Stadium - home to the Boston Red Sox baseball team - where he bought a baseball for $10 as a souvenir. He had got back to the hotel about 1.30 so spent most of the afternoon in the bar drinking beer, watching World Cup football and chatting to other hotel guests - all women it seems!
After Steve had downed 4 beers (not full pints allegedly) and I'd had a diet Coke and another drink comprising Grey Goose vodka, grapefruit juice, soda water and lots of ice, we went to freshen up before having dinner at Dante, the hotel's Italian themed restaurant. Apart from drinks, I'd only had a few mints since breakfast and Steve had only had a banana so we were both fairly hungry. To start I had some Ricotta cheese (made by the hotel chefs), which was drizzled with olive oil and herbs, accompanied by some crostini while Steve had some bruschetta. Our main course was the same dish of tagliatelle with gamberi (king prawns), spicy Italian sausage and tomatoes, except I had the half size portion. It was delicious and, for the first time, I was hungry enough to eat it all! I then had some chocolate and hazelnut ice-cream, also made in the hotel. It was tasty but a little bit grainy rather then creamy. Steve had to help me finish it.
After some Earl Grey tea, we retired to our room. Tomorrow we plan to visit Faneuil Hall, Quincy Market and possibly the New England Aquarium.
A great night's sleep! Comfortable, super kingsize bed and it's quiet :-)
Breakfast at the hotel and then I got a taxi to Boston harbour for the whale watching trip while Steve hired a bike. Not sure my taxi driver knew where he was going as he kept looking at his satnav but I arrived in good time to pick up my ticket and join the queue for boarding the catamaran. It was obviously a very popular tour! I found myself a seat inside where it was air-conditioned as the sun was pretty strong and once we got going after leaving the harbour it was obviously very windy too. As we slowed down on reaching the National Park Sanctuary where the whales are most likely to be seen, about 30 miles from the harbour, I made my way to a spot on the right side of the boat, camera at the ready. You really needed to be near the front of the queue to get the prime spots on the top deck where you could see both sides.
The Naturalist on board with us had spotted a Minky whale but I think it was too far away for those without binoculars to see and they are relatively small. She had told us the signs to look out for - the blow, the back, the tail or rings of bubbles coming to the surface of the water. When the whales are feeding they blow bubbles up in a ring which moves the fish closer together so the whale can then get a good mouthful in one go. It wasn't long before a humpback whale revealed herself after doing just this. It's an amazing sight as they come to the surface, blow and go back down again for another round of feeding. It was fascinating to learn that the tails or flukes of humpback whales have unique markings so that they can be identified. This first whale that we saw had been named Hancock by the researchers - her fluke marking looking a bit like a signature - and she was known to have been first spotted as a calf in 1991 making her 23 years old. She made 5 or 6 appearances before going down for a deeper dive. You have to be very quick on the camera! I managed to get a few shots of her before we moved on a little way further into the sanctuary.
When we slowed down again there was another humpback named Bullet because of a pair of markings on her tail that looked like bullet holes and she had a calf with her who the Naturalist said would be about 6 months old. Bullet's and calf's appearances were mostly on the left side of the boat. We got one chance to see on the right side and I wasn't quick enough with the camera but still amazing to see the size difference. The calf was thought to be Bullet's 5th. Before heading back to the harbour we were also lucky enough to see a fin whale a bit further away. It was much larger than the humpbacks. All too soon, it was time to leave the sanctuary and go back to the harbour.
We arrived back at about 2.15 and after a brief wander around the harbour I tried to find the T station so I could go back to the hotel to meet up with Steve. For the uninitiated, they're not obvious with the T sign often being displayed only on one side of the entrance. After a while I decided to go into a bar for a drink, a chance to use the restroom and ask directions. Felt pretty silly when the station entrance turned out to be just across the road :-/ Having stayed in the bar just long enough to see the Brazil vs Chile penalties, I made my way back to the hotel, eventually arriving about 4.00 to find Steve chatting with a couple of women at the bar. They were very pleasant and chatty and were in Boston for a concert at the Fenway Stadium by Zac Brown, described by them as like a country version of the Dave Matthews Band.
I'll have to let Steve fill in the details about his bike ride but he did around 22 miles, getting to Fenway Stadium - home to the Boston Red Sox baseball team - where he bought a baseball for $10 as a souvenir. He had got back to the hotel about 1.30 so spent most of the afternoon in the bar drinking beer, watching World Cup football and chatting to other hotel guests - all women it seems!
After Steve had downed 4 beers (not full pints allegedly) and I'd had a diet Coke and another drink comprising Grey Goose vodka, grapefruit juice, soda water and lots of ice, we went to freshen up before having dinner at Dante, the hotel's Italian themed restaurant. Apart from drinks, I'd only had a few mints since breakfast and Steve had only had a banana so we were both fairly hungry. To start I had some Ricotta cheese (made by the hotel chefs), which was drizzled with olive oil and herbs, accompanied by some crostini while Steve had some bruschetta. Our main course was the same dish of tagliatelle with gamberi (king prawns), spicy Italian sausage and tomatoes, except I had the half size portion. It was delicious and, for the first time, I was hungry enough to eat it all! I then had some chocolate and hazelnut ice-cream, also made in the hotel. It was tasty but a little bit grainy rather then creamy. Steve had to help me finish it.
After some Earl Grey tea, we retired to our room. Tomorrow we plan to visit Faneuil Hall, Quincy Market and possibly the New England Aquarium.
Monday, 30 June 2014
New York, Boston, Niagara Falls - Day 6
Day 6
Today we're travelling to Boston by train which leaves from Penn station at 11.00 am. So plenty of time to finish packing, get some breakfast and make our way to the station which is literally across the road from our hotel.
As it had been so good, and not far away we returned to Guy and Gallard for breakfast. We shared a fruit cup of strawberries and pineapple then Steve played safe with another Western omelette while I had a strawberry yogurt with granola. I had also bought a pain au chocolat but ended up saving it for later.
Although the entrance to Penn station was just across the road, we had to go pretty much all the way to the other side of the station to find the platform that our train would be leaving from. It's a fairly old station and there was just the one escalator for all the passengers to get down with all their luggage. We had "reserved seats" but unlike in the UK they were not specific seats and we could board anywhere. We were most impressed with the comfort of the train, nice wide seats and plenty of leg room, and also that wifi was available via Amtrak which was infinitely better than that from the hotel! The journey took about 4 1/2 hours (a slight delay due to police activity on the line once we were about half an hour away from Boston) - not quick but quite a relaxed trip. We came in to Boston South station so had to get a taxi to our hotel - the Royal Sonesta - which is on the Cambridge side of the Charles river. Looking at a map of the area, it was quite remarkable the familiar place names being shared in the UK and New England including Braintree, Manchester, Warwick, Taunton, Bristol and Portsmouth.
This hotel is very nice indeed - from our window we can see the Museum of Science and part of the Charles River. It is definitely more expensive but seems worth it. The only niggle being that there are no facilities for making tea or coffee in the room. Thankfully the water is drinkable as there is a charge of $4 for a bottle!
Having freshened up and got some directions and a map, we walked over the river into Boston - about 1 1/2 miles - to an Irish bar and restaurant called Kinsales. Some dishes on the menu were offered at smaller serving sizes so I opted for the smaller Steak Tips with colcannon and green beans (still couldn't eat it all!) with a glass of sangria, while Steve had swordfish with sweet potato chips and vegetables with more beer to drink - he's getting through them this holiday!!!
Now to get back again using the 'T' as it is known. We thought we were in the right location for State Street station but could we see the entrance?! It really wasn't obvious so we had to ask someone who kindly pointed it out just across the road from where we were standing. Next battle was to buy tickets from the machine which didn't seem to like our dollar card. Success at the 5th or 6th attempt! We have been very surprised that in most places they don't use chip and pin but still rely on a signature or, in the case of machines like those at the station, on reading the magnetic strip. Evidently, you have to swipe the card at exactly the right speed! The same had happened earlier when trying to get some more cash out.
We had to make a change from the orange line to the green line - there is also a red and a blue line to make up the Boston underground system - in order to reach the station nearest our hotel which is probably 2/3 mile away. Made it back getting slower as the feet were giving out by this time.
Tomorrow it's whale watching for me and a bike ride for Steve. :-)
Today we're travelling to Boston by train which leaves from Penn station at 11.00 am. So plenty of time to finish packing, get some breakfast and make our way to the station which is literally across the road from our hotel.
As it had been so good, and not far away we returned to Guy and Gallard for breakfast. We shared a fruit cup of strawberries and pineapple then Steve played safe with another Western omelette while I had a strawberry yogurt with granola. I had also bought a pain au chocolat but ended up saving it for later.
Although the entrance to Penn station was just across the road, we had to go pretty much all the way to the other side of the station to find the platform that our train would be leaving from. It's a fairly old station and there was just the one escalator for all the passengers to get down with all their luggage. We had "reserved seats" but unlike in the UK they were not specific seats and we could board anywhere. We were most impressed with the comfort of the train, nice wide seats and plenty of leg room, and also that wifi was available via Amtrak which was infinitely better than that from the hotel! The journey took about 4 1/2 hours (a slight delay due to police activity on the line once we were about half an hour away from Boston) - not quick but quite a relaxed trip. We came in to Boston South station so had to get a taxi to our hotel - the Royal Sonesta - which is on the Cambridge side of the Charles river. Looking at a map of the area, it was quite remarkable the familiar place names being shared in the UK and New England including Braintree, Manchester, Warwick, Taunton, Bristol and Portsmouth.
This hotel is very nice indeed - from our window we can see the Museum of Science and part of the Charles River. It is definitely more expensive but seems worth it. The only niggle being that there are no facilities for making tea or coffee in the room. Thankfully the water is drinkable as there is a charge of $4 for a bottle!
Having freshened up and got some directions and a map, we walked over the river into Boston - about 1 1/2 miles - to an Irish bar and restaurant called Kinsales. Some dishes on the menu were offered at smaller serving sizes so I opted for the smaller Steak Tips with colcannon and green beans (still couldn't eat it all!) with a glass of sangria, while Steve had swordfish with sweet potato chips and vegetables with more beer to drink - he's getting through them this holiday!!!
Now to get back again using the 'T' as it is known. We thought we were in the right location for State Street station but could we see the entrance?! It really wasn't obvious so we had to ask someone who kindly pointed it out just across the road from where we were standing. Next battle was to buy tickets from the machine which didn't seem to like our dollar card. Success at the 5th or 6th attempt! We have been very surprised that in most places they don't use chip and pin but still rely on a signature or, in the case of machines like those at the station, on reading the magnetic strip. Evidently, you have to swipe the card at exactly the right speed! The same had happened earlier when trying to get some more cash out.
We had to make a change from the orange line to the green line - there is also a red and a blue line to make up the Boston underground system - in order to reach the station nearest our hotel which is probably 2/3 mile away. Made it back getting slower as the feet were giving out by this time.
Tomorrow it's whale watching for me and a bike ride for Steve. :-)
Saturday, 28 June 2014
New York, Boston, Niagara Falls - Day 5
Day 5
A bit of a rough night with the return of burning bladder symptoms :( Undoubtedly the heat hasn't helped matters although I have been drinking loads. But we're off to Liberty Island today, this time using the Metro to get down to the departure point at Battery Park. First some breakfast on route to the station.
We found a place called Guy and Gallards on the corner of 29th street and on the basis of "if it's busy, it must be good" we went in. It turned out to be an excellent place for coffee with various freshly made brews available. I wasn't very hungry so just had some fruit and a Danish pastry, plus Earl Grey tea, while Steve chose G&G's version of a Western omelette, which he said was probably better, and a mocha coffee that was pretty good.
After buying some fruit from a street stall we crossed the road to make sure we were going into the downtown subway entrance, we succeeded in topping up our Metro card with our dollar currency card and got a 50cent bonus, wow, and found our way down to the platform. Thankfully we didn't have to wait long for the metro train. Although the trains themselves are air-conditioned, the stations most definitely are not and are even hotter than at street level. The journey was nice and quick, taking no more than 15 minutes to get all the way from 28th street to South Ferry at the end of the line 1 which is right atcthe bottom of lower Manhattan. Stops seemed to be rather more frequent than on the London underground being roughly every five blocks (about 1/4 mile apart) but the Metro is definitely the quickest way to get around New York.
We made our way across Battery Park to where the Liberty Island ferry departs - a fairly long queue to go through the airport style security but, to be fair, it moved reasonably quickly. All the seats had gone by the time we got up to the top deck but Steve had found me a spot on the lifebelt container where I could sit. It was very hot but at least a bit of a breeze by the open water and a bit more when we got moving. At last we had the stunning views of the Manhattan skyline before us - photos to be added later - before turning towards Lady Liberty. She is an awesome sight to behold as you get closer to the island and you get some idea of how immigrants must have felt when arriving in America after their long journeys in the late 1800s and early 1900s. A true beacon of hope for a future of freedom.
After landing on the island, we made our way first to the cafe to get a drink and found a stall selling "Bill's Lemonade" $5 for a 32 oz cup of fresh lemonade - quite sweet but very refreshing. We ended up getting through three of these between us during the day.
We collected our audio guides and started making our way around the base of the statue. I hadn't realised before that Gustav Eiffel was involved in Liberty's construction or that Pulitzer had done much of the fundraising for the pedestal so that she could be installed securely. The statue designed by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi is formed of moulded copper plates bolted on to a framework so it's not solid. Apparently the copper took 30 years to weather and give Liberty her green colour as the patina formed. The torch has had to be replaced - the original is now in the entrance to the museum which you can't get to without a Pedestal ticket. We couldn't get tickets as they were fully booked up until August. The new flame is coated in 24 carat gold leaf. Again we'll have to add some photos later but she is a real sight to behold. We also took more photos of the Manhattan skyline from the island.
After an ice-cream and our 2nd fresh lemonade, we went back to the ferry and decided that we would get off at Ellis island before returning to Manhattan. Ellis island is where immigrants were "processed" before continuing their journeys into America. The museum is huge but airy and mercifully cool inside. I would have liked to look around more but was seriously flagging by this time so sat in the main entrance hall while Steve went to look round the exhibition depicting the stories of some of the immigrants.
After picking up our 3rd lemonade for the journey, we got on the ferry back to Manhattan and got the Metro uptown to return to our hotel and freshen up. As our family and friends will know, Steve also has a birthday with a 0 coming up in August. He had identified a particular set of headphones that he would like (Beats Studio wireless) that would be slightly cheaper than if purchased in the UK. So we headed to 6th avenue where there was a store called Radio Shack in a shopping mall, found what we wanted and made the purchase. Somehow we always forget that prices in the US are generally shown net of tax and there's a sales tax to be added.
Next, where to eat - so many places to eat around including various street stalls selling burritos, empanadas and many other delectable treats. Eventually we settled on the Martinique Café where Steve had a split pea and ham hock soup and an 8oz burger followed by tiramisu and all washed down with a beer, and I had a New England fish and chip sandwich (left most of the bread and half the chips which were a tad on the overdone side), followed by a creme brulee (managed about 2/3 of it) with a glass of pinot grigio. Not quite sure what has happened to my appetite on this trip but we are basically having two meals a day - a late breakfast and dinner - with lots of fluid and the occasional ice-cream but neither of us has felt hungry during the day.
And so to bed ... Tomorrow we travel by train to Boston.
A bit of a rough night with the return of burning bladder symptoms :( Undoubtedly the heat hasn't helped matters although I have been drinking loads. But we're off to Liberty Island today, this time using the Metro to get down to the departure point at Battery Park. First some breakfast on route to the station.
We found a place called Guy and Gallards on the corner of 29th street and on the basis of "if it's busy, it must be good" we went in. It turned out to be an excellent place for coffee with various freshly made brews available. I wasn't very hungry so just had some fruit and a Danish pastry, plus Earl Grey tea, while Steve chose G&G's version of a Western omelette, which he said was probably better, and a mocha coffee that was pretty good.
After buying some fruit from a street stall we crossed the road to make sure we were going into the downtown subway entrance, we succeeded in topping up our Metro card with our dollar currency card and got a 50cent bonus, wow, and found our way down to the platform. Thankfully we didn't have to wait long for the metro train. Although the trains themselves are air-conditioned, the stations most definitely are not and are even hotter than at street level. The journey was nice and quick, taking no more than 15 minutes to get all the way from 28th street to South Ferry at the end of the line 1 which is right atcthe bottom of lower Manhattan. Stops seemed to be rather more frequent than on the London underground being roughly every five blocks (about 1/4 mile apart) but the Metro is definitely the quickest way to get around New York.
We made our way across Battery Park to where the Liberty Island ferry departs - a fairly long queue to go through the airport style security but, to be fair, it moved reasonably quickly. All the seats had gone by the time we got up to the top deck but Steve had found me a spot on the lifebelt container where I could sit. It was very hot but at least a bit of a breeze by the open water and a bit more when we got moving. At last we had the stunning views of the Manhattan skyline before us - photos to be added later - before turning towards Lady Liberty. She is an awesome sight to behold as you get closer to the island and you get some idea of how immigrants must have felt when arriving in America after their long journeys in the late 1800s and early 1900s. A true beacon of hope for a future of freedom.
After landing on the island, we made our way first to the cafe to get a drink and found a stall selling "Bill's Lemonade" $5 for a 32 oz cup of fresh lemonade - quite sweet but very refreshing. We ended up getting through three of these between us during the day.
We collected our audio guides and started making our way around the base of the statue. I hadn't realised before that Gustav Eiffel was involved in Liberty's construction or that Pulitzer had done much of the fundraising for the pedestal so that she could be installed securely. The statue designed by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi is formed of moulded copper plates bolted on to a framework so it's not solid. Apparently the copper took 30 years to weather and give Liberty her green colour as the patina formed. The torch has had to be replaced - the original is now in the entrance to the museum which you can't get to without a Pedestal ticket. We couldn't get tickets as they were fully booked up until August. The new flame is coated in 24 carat gold leaf. Again we'll have to add some photos later but she is a real sight to behold. We also took more photos of the Manhattan skyline from the island.
After an ice-cream and our 2nd fresh lemonade, we went back to the ferry and decided that we would get off at Ellis island before returning to Manhattan. Ellis island is where immigrants were "processed" before continuing their journeys into America. The museum is huge but airy and mercifully cool inside. I would have liked to look around more but was seriously flagging by this time so sat in the main entrance hall while Steve went to look round the exhibition depicting the stories of some of the immigrants.
After picking up our 3rd lemonade for the journey, we got on the ferry back to Manhattan and got the Metro uptown to return to our hotel and freshen up. As our family and friends will know, Steve also has a birthday with a 0 coming up in August. He had identified a particular set of headphones that he would like (Beats Studio wireless) that would be slightly cheaper than if purchased in the UK. So we headed to 6th avenue where there was a store called Radio Shack in a shopping mall, found what we wanted and made the purchase. Somehow we always forget that prices in the US are generally shown net of tax and there's a sales tax to be added.
Next, where to eat - so many places to eat around including various street stalls selling burritos, empanadas and many other delectable treats. Eventually we settled on the Martinique Café where Steve had a split pea and ham hock soup and an 8oz burger followed by tiramisu and all washed down with a beer, and I had a New England fish and chip sandwich (left most of the bread and half the chips which were a tad on the overdone side), followed by a creme brulee (managed about 2/3 of it) with a glass of pinot grigio. Not quite sure what has happened to my appetite on this trip but we are basically having two meals a day - a late breakfast and dinner - with lots of fluid and the occasional ice-cream but neither of us has felt hungry during the day.
And so to bed ... Tomorrow we travel by train to Boston.
New York, Boston, Niagara Falls - Day 4
Day 4
We had both slept without earplugs - they're not the most comfortable and I think we were so tired the noise didn't matter!
Steve got a result after complaining about the birthday surprise. The receptionist had to talk to the manager and they decided to waiver the cost. We had not used anything. The wine had arrived while we were at the theatre, but they offered everything as complimentary.
Breakfast today was at Andrews Coffee shop a little way up 7th Avenue. We shared a fruit cup, and I had apple and cinnamon pancakes, which I couldn't finish, and Steve had a Western omelette which included ham, green peppers and onion accompanied by some fried potatoes.
Using day 2 of our tour bus passes, we picked up the bus near the Empire State Building and followed the same route to get down to Battery Park to catch the connecting bus for the Brooklyn tour. The Battery Park is in front of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, which is actually a large vent from the subway and famously featured in the Men in Black film. Battery Park itself is also undergoing extensive redevelopment but we found our way round to Clinton Castle where we could buy tickets that include landing on Liberty Island and use the restrooms. Unfortunately tickets to actually go up the statue are sold out for a couple of months, and even tickets for access to the pedestal were sold out - so definitely one to book ahead if you're in New York and want to go inside. Having a little time before the bus was due to depart we looked around the information panels describing the history of Battery Park and Clinton Castle which has had several incarnations.
The Brooklyn tour promised a stop with good views of the Manhattan skyline. When we picked up the bus for this tour, it was already pretty full and there were no seats on the upper open top deck. This turned out to be a blessing as it was very hot and the lower deck was air-conditioned although it did mean we couldn't see the sights so well. To be honest this tour was not what it promised to be. The view of Manhattan where the bus stopped was largely obscured by construction works, most of the commentary on the audio guide was out of sync with our location and at 2 1/2 hours was far too long. Others evidently thought the same. After returning to Manhattan the driver was persuaded to let us off before the designated stop. We went to get a long cold drink and a snack at a Pret a Manger on Broadway near Fulton Street subway before getting the Metro back towards our hotel.
Thankfully a very helpful lady who was also going uptown directed us. We were not on the right line for getting to Penn Station and had said we needed to get to 28th street which we thought was the nearest to our hotel, since there is a 28th street station 3 blocks away from our hotel. Having changed trains on to line 6 which has a 28th street station we decided to get off at the 33rd believing we would be only 2 blocks away. Outside we realised we were much further east than we wanted to be as 6 is the Lexington Avenue line and doesn't run near 7th avenue. So we walked across the avenues to 7th and down to the 31st, a little longer than we thought for a chance to freshen up, catch up on blogging and decide what to do this evening. A map of the lines at the subway station would have avoided all this but there wasn't one at all at the entrance we went into. Checking out the subway later shows there are three 28th street stations on different lines - we'd got on the wrong subway! You live and learn and at least we can now say we have tried bus, taxi and Metro in New York!
Although we had spent much of our day on buses, we were pretty tired so decided to stay local for dinner and just went across the road to Harrington's Bar and Restaurant. I ordered a dry martini with lemonade but it wasn't quite what I was expecting - the lemonade was evidently a fresh, still lemonade and very sweet. Steve had a Sam Adams Summer Ale. I chose a saffron linguine for dinner which included what the Americans call shrimps but we call King prawns and a saffron infused creamy tomato sauce, and very delicious it was too, but I still couldn't eat it all. Steve had a Cottage Pie - a traditional dish in the US as well it seems.
So, one more day in New York and we will finally be going to Liberty Island.
We had both slept without earplugs - they're not the most comfortable and I think we were so tired the noise didn't matter!
Steve got a result after complaining about the birthday surprise. The receptionist had to talk to the manager and they decided to waiver the cost. We had not used anything. The wine had arrived while we were at the theatre, but they offered everything as complimentary.
Breakfast today was at Andrews Coffee shop a little way up 7th Avenue. We shared a fruit cup, and I had apple and cinnamon pancakes, which I couldn't finish, and Steve had a Western omelette which included ham, green peppers and onion accompanied by some fried potatoes.
Using day 2 of our tour bus passes, we picked up the bus near the Empire State Building and followed the same route to get down to Battery Park to catch the connecting bus for the Brooklyn tour. The Battery Park is in front of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, which is actually a large vent from the subway and famously featured in the Men in Black film. Battery Park itself is also undergoing extensive redevelopment but we found our way round to Clinton Castle where we could buy tickets that include landing on Liberty Island and use the restrooms. Unfortunately tickets to actually go up the statue are sold out for a couple of months, and even tickets for access to the pedestal were sold out - so definitely one to book ahead if you're in New York and want to go inside. Having a little time before the bus was due to depart we looked around the information panels describing the history of Battery Park and Clinton Castle which has had several incarnations.
The Brooklyn tour promised a stop with good views of the Manhattan skyline. When we picked up the bus for this tour, it was already pretty full and there were no seats on the upper open top deck. This turned out to be a blessing as it was very hot and the lower deck was air-conditioned although it did mean we couldn't see the sights so well. To be honest this tour was not what it promised to be. The view of Manhattan where the bus stopped was largely obscured by construction works, most of the commentary on the audio guide was out of sync with our location and at 2 1/2 hours was far too long. Others evidently thought the same. After returning to Manhattan the driver was persuaded to let us off before the designated stop. We went to get a long cold drink and a snack at a Pret a Manger on Broadway near Fulton Street subway before getting the Metro back towards our hotel.
Thankfully a very helpful lady who was also going uptown directed us. We were not on the right line for getting to Penn Station and had said we needed to get to 28th street which we thought was the nearest to our hotel, since there is a 28th street station 3 blocks away from our hotel. Having changed trains on to line 6 which has a 28th street station we decided to get off at the 33rd believing we would be only 2 blocks away. Outside we realised we were much further east than we wanted to be as 6 is the Lexington Avenue line and doesn't run near 7th avenue. So we walked across the avenues to 7th and down to the 31st, a little longer than we thought for a chance to freshen up, catch up on blogging and decide what to do this evening. A map of the lines at the subway station would have avoided all this but there wasn't one at all at the entrance we went into. Checking out the subway later shows there are three 28th street stations on different lines - we'd got on the wrong subway! You live and learn and at least we can now say we have tried bus, taxi and Metro in New York!
Although we had spent much of our day on buses, we were pretty tired so decided to stay local for dinner and just went across the road to Harrington's Bar and Restaurant. I ordered a dry martini with lemonade but it wasn't quite what I was expecting - the lemonade was evidently a fresh, still lemonade and very sweet. Steve had a Sam Adams Summer Ale. I chose a saffron linguine for dinner which included what the Americans call shrimps but we call King prawns and a saffron infused creamy tomato sauce, and very delicious it was too, but I still couldn't eat it all. Steve had a Cottage Pie - a traditional dish in the US as well it seems.
So, one more day in New York and we will finally be going to Liberty Island.
Wednesday, 25 June 2014
New York, Boston, Niagara Falls - Day 3
My 50th birthday!!!
Started very nicely indeed with some cards and gifts that Steve had packed, there will be some more when we get home. Will have to add photos to these blogs when we get home too, some on camera, some on phone which I was able to post to FB but the lack of wifi other than in the hotel lobby makes it difficult to do now.
We decided to take up an open top bus tour package that we can use over two days. So, after breakfast at Al's Delicatessen - fruit salad followed by eggs, bacon (or ham for Steve), hash browns and toast which was all superb - we walked up to 42nd street to pick up the bus for the first leg of the tour. Al's Deli was evidently popular with the locals which is always a good sign.
We thought we would be able to get off for the World Trade Centre Memorial, then pick up the bus again for a few stops to do a boat trip around Liberty Island and get back in good time to shower, change, have dinner and get to the Imperial theatre for Les Mis in the evening but it didn't quite work out like that.
The bus starts with a loop going up 8th avenue and back down 7th taking in Times Square, turns along 33rd street past Madison Square Gardens (which is round!), then back again along 34th past Macy's to stop 2 for the Empire State Building. It then took us down 5th Avenue past the famous Flatiron Building, continues on 5th into the Greenwich area where it turns onto the lower part of Broadway to go through Soho (now for the uninitiated Soho means SOuth of HOuston street and there is also NOHO), and on to the Financial district. We got off at stop 7 for the WTC Memorial.
9/11 is one of those days when you really do remember where you were and what you were doing when the dreadful news came through about the planes crashing in to the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Virginia. There is still quite a lot of construction/redevelopment work going on around the WTC area but the Memorial Museum has recently opened and the Memorial itself is tasteful, respectful and a great tribute to all those who lost their lives that day. Despite some noise from the construction works coming through the sound of the waterfalls set in the footprints of the two towers it was peaceful and, aside from one idiot trying to move people away because he wanted his photo taken which Steve was asked to take, everyone around was just calmly reading the names and walking around the two pools. The queue for the museum was very lengthy, and being rather hot and a bit footsore, we found a pub to get a drink and use the "restroom".
I'd actually almost forgotten about the football being on and England's last match vs Costa Rica but it was on (on one of about 10 screens - the others were showing Italy vs Uruguay) and we got chatting to a couple of others - one guy now living in New York but originally from Yorkshire - who were also watching so we stayed until the end of the match before going to get the bus further round Battery Park to where we could pick up the boat. Now England only drew the match but a much improved performance gives something to hope for. Again a lengthy queue for the boat trip that would take an hour to go around Liberty Island. After some debate we decided that since we needed to get back to our hotel to freshen up and have dinner before going to the theatre we had better just have a wander round the seaport area and get the next bus back and use day 2 of our tickets to come back for the boat trip. The first bus was very full so we had to wait for another. The bus route on the return journey takes you past Chinatown, through East Village and then up First Avenue past the United Nations. It all took rather a long time because of the traffic. Eventually we arrived at the Rockefeller Center stop and got off there to walk the 14 blocks back to the hotel finally arriving at around 5.30 with a pitstop along the way to eat. We had an hour to freshen up, and get to the theatre.
As mentioned in a previous entry, Steve had been cooking up another surprise for my birthday. Unfortunately the hotel messed up big time and hadn't done what he had asked. There was supposed to be a bottle of wine, some cakes, birthday balloons and a banner saying Happy Birthday but they hadn't brought things up at the time requested. They were delivered while I just had a towel around me!!!! :-0 It was really too late as we just needed to get out again and it rather spoiled Steve's carefully thought out surprise. I was more upset for him than for myself.
Anyway, we managed to get a taxi to the theatre and picked up our tickets for Les Miserables. We found our seats with a reasonable view of the stage courtesy of a rather officious attendant who kept telling people to hold their tickets up. If truth be told, we didn't enjoy it as much as I thought we would. We should perhaps have researched the story before going as we found it quite hard to follow, particularly in the first half where there are leaps in time as the story unfolds. The story is totally told in song and trying to understand the story was difficult because we couldn't hear the words clearly. There were some individually excellent performances of the well-known numbers, notably I Dreamed a Dream and Bring Him Home. American theatre audiences are much louder than British ones with much whooping and cheering after these songs and a standing ovation for the cast at the end of the show.
And so to bed after walking back to our hotel - it was still pretty warm outside and extremely busy with lots of people many of whom had also probably just left a Broadway show. All in all, although things hadn't quite gone to plan, it was a grand 50th birthday.
Started very nicely indeed with some cards and gifts that Steve had packed, there will be some more when we get home. Will have to add photos to these blogs when we get home too, some on camera, some on phone which I was able to post to FB but the lack of wifi other than in the hotel lobby makes it difficult to do now.
We decided to take up an open top bus tour package that we can use over two days. So, after breakfast at Al's Delicatessen - fruit salad followed by eggs, bacon (or ham for Steve), hash browns and toast which was all superb - we walked up to 42nd street to pick up the bus for the first leg of the tour. Al's Deli was evidently popular with the locals which is always a good sign.
We thought we would be able to get off for the World Trade Centre Memorial, then pick up the bus again for a few stops to do a boat trip around Liberty Island and get back in good time to shower, change, have dinner and get to the Imperial theatre for Les Mis in the evening but it didn't quite work out like that.
The bus starts with a loop going up 8th avenue and back down 7th taking in Times Square, turns along 33rd street past Madison Square Gardens (which is round!), then back again along 34th past Macy's to stop 2 for the Empire State Building. It then took us down 5th Avenue past the famous Flatiron Building, continues on 5th into the Greenwich area where it turns onto the lower part of Broadway to go through Soho (now for the uninitiated Soho means SOuth of HOuston street and there is also NOHO), and on to the Financial district. We got off at stop 7 for the WTC Memorial.
9/11 is one of those days when you really do remember where you were and what you were doing when the dreadful news came through about the planes crashing in to the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Virginia. There is still quite a lot of construction/redevelopment work going on around the WTC area but the Memorial Museum has recently opened and the Memorial itself is tasteful, respectful and a great tribute to all those who lost their lives that day. Despite some noise from the construction works coming through the sound of the waterfalls set in the footprints of the two towers it was peaceful and, aside from one idiot trying to move people away because he wanted his photo taken which Steve was asked to take, everyone around was just calmly reading the names and walking around the two pools. The queue for the museum was very lengthy, and being rather hot and a bit footsore, we found a pub to get a drink and use the "restroom".
I'd actually almost forgotten about the football being on and England's last match vs Costa Rica but it was on (on one of about 10 screens - the others were showing Italy vs Uruguay) and we got chatting to a couple of others - one guy now living in New York but originally from Yorkshire - who were also watching so we stayed until the end of the match before going to get the bus further round Battery Park to where we could pick up the boat. Now England only drew the match but a much improved performance gives something to hope for. Again a lengthy queue for the boat trip that would take an hour to go around Liberty Island. After some debate we decided that since we needed to get back to our hotel to freshen up and have dinner before going to the theatre we had better just have a wander round the seaport area and get the next bus back and use day 2 of our tickets to come back for the boat trip. The first bus was very full so we had to wait for another. The bus route on the return journey takes you past Chinatown, through East Village and then up First Avenue past the United Nations. It all took rather a long time because of the traffic. Eventually we arrived at the Rockefeller Center stop and got off there to walk the 14 blocks back to the hotel finally arriving at around 5.30 with a pitstop along the way to eat. We had an hour to freshen up, and get to the theatre.
As mentioned in a previous entry, Steve had been cooking up another surprise for my birthday. Unfortunately the hotel messed up big time and hadn't done what he had asked. There was supposed to be a bottle of wine, some cakes, birthday balloons and a banner saying Happy Birthday but they hadn't brought things up at the time requested. They were delivered while I just had a towel around me!!!! :-0 It was really too late as we just needed to get out again and it rather spoiled Steve's carefully thought out surprise. I was more upset for him than for myself.
Anyway, we managed to get a taxi to the theatre and picked up our tickets for Les Miserables. We found our seats with a reasonable view of the stage courtesy of a rather officious attendant who kept telling people to hold their tickets up. If truth be told, we didn't enjoy it as much as I thought we would. We should perhaps have researched the story before going as we found it quite hard to follow, particularly in the first half where there are leaps in time as the story unfolds. The story is totally told in song and trying to understand the story was difficult because we couldn't hear the words clearly. There were some individually excellent performances of the well-known numbers, notably I Dreamed a Dream and Bring Him Home. American theatre audiences are much louder than British ones with much whooping and cheering after these songs and a standing ovation for the cast at the end of the show.
And so to bed after walking back to our hotel - it was still pretty warm outside and extremely busy with lots of people many of whom had also probably just left a Broadway show. All in all, although things hadn't quite gone to plan, it was a grand 50th birthday.
Monday, 23 June 2014
New York, Boston, Niagara Falls - Day 2
Day 2
A somewhat fitful night's sleep as our body clocks adjust. The noise from 7th Avenue is audible despite the double glazed windows (maybe through the air-con outlet?) so we were glad of the supplied earplugs to put NYC on mute!
Hotel is close to Macy's so we decided to go there first and have breakfast taking the recommendation of one of the staff as to which place to eat was best and plan our day. Decided to wait for the sightseeing bus tours and make our way to Tiffany's for buying my birthday present, then go to Central Park and the Rockefeller Centre on the way back. Walked to Madison Avenue hoping to find somewhere on the way to buy a Metro ticket so we could get a bus. Ended up walking up Madison Ave as far as 42nd street to get the ticket at the subway station by Bryant Park. Then found the bus stop for the service that would take us further north before walking back from Madison to Fifth Ave (the buses only go south along Fifth Ave). It took us a while to find Tiffany's having walked right past it! We got distracted by Trump Tower which rightnext door. Surprisingly a number of people that we asked did not know where it was but we made it eventually. I'll share what I got later, for now suffice to say I have a very generous husband :-) As I write this at just after 7.30 local time, it's already my birthday in the UK - might as well bag the extra hours from the time difference and have a 29 hour birthday!!
Being rather hot and thirsty by this time we bought a fresh juice drink from a vendor near the entrance to Central Park - mine was orange, pineapple and strawberry, Steve's was blueberry, raspberry and apple. Most refreshing! Next, find a "restroom" - we couldn't find the ones that were meant to be close to the zoo so ended up buying a $2 map to find some others before heading further into Central Park for some lunch. Everyone tells you about large portion sizes - the Caesar salad I had would easily have fed 2. Steve had a burger and then gamely helped out with the salad as well. Fed, watered and relieved we made our way back to Fifth Avenue and walked down to the Rockefeller Centre. As I was struggling with my feet we decided to get another drink and sit awhile before going to the Top of the Rock for views across the city. But then we found Ben & Jerry's among the various shops around the concourse. Steve had a smoothie made of cranberry juice, strawberry sorbet and banana while I thoroughly enjoyed some chocolate peanut buttery and chocolate fudge ice-cream.
And so to the Top of the Rock - 43 seconds to go up 67 floors. We got a souvenir photo!
Amazing views across New York - but we'll have to share some of those photos after we get home from the cameras. It looked as though the Empire State Building is a similar height. We could also see Liberty Island in the distance to the southwest. To the north was Central Park - it is huge! We must have barely gone in 1/10 of its length.
Now chilling with a glass of wine courtesy of the hotel for messing Steve about with some surprise he's evidently cooking up. We're not really hungry now so are not going out again this evening.
Tomorrow (my 50th birthday!!!!), not sure if we'll be watching the England match after all but we have Les Miserables booked for the evening.
A somewhat fitful night's sleep as our body clocks adjust. The noise from 7th Avenue is audible despite the double glazed windows (maybe through the air-con outlet?) so we were glad of the supplied earplugs to put NYC on mute!
Hotel is close to Macy's so we decided to go there first and have breakfast taking the recommendation of one of the staff as to which place to eat was best and plan our day. Decided to wait for the sightseeing bus tours and make our way to Tiffany's for buying my birthday present, then go to Central Park and the Rockefeller Centre on the way back. Walked to Madison Avenue hoping to find somewhere on the way to buy a Metro ticket so we could get a bus. Ended up walking up Madison Ave as far as 42nd street to get the ticket at the subway station by Bryant Park. Then found the bus stop for the service that would take us further north before walking back from Madison to Fifth Ave (the buses only go south along Fifth Ave). It took us a while to find Tiffany's having walked right past it! We got distracted by Trump Tower which rightnext door. Surprisingly a number of people that we asked did not know where it was but we made it eventually. I'll share what I got later, for now suffice to say I have a very generous husband :-) As I write this at just after 7.30 local time, it's already my birthday in the UK - might as well bag the extra hours from the time difference and have a 29 hour birthday!!
Being rather hot and thirsty by this time we bought a fresh juice drink from a vendor near the entrance to Central Park - mine was orange, pineapple and strawberry, Steve's was blueberry, raspberry and apple. Most refreshing! Next, find a "restroom" - we couldn't find the ones that were meant to be close to the zoo so ended up buying a $2 map to find some others before heading further into Central Park for some lunch. Everyone tells you about large portion sizes - the Caesar salad I had would easily have fed 2. Steve had a burger and then gamely helped out with the salad as well. Fed, watered and relieved we made our way back to Fifth Avenue and walked down to the Rockefeller Centre. As I was struggling with my feet we decided to get another drink and sit awhile before going to the Top of the Rock for views across the city. But then we found Ben & Jerry's among the various shops around the concourse. Steve had a smoothie made of cranberry juice, strawberry sorbet and banana while I thoroughly enjoyed some chocolate peanut buttery and chocolate fudge ice-cream.
And so to the Top of the Rock - 43 seconds to go up 67 floors. We got a souvenir photo!
Now chilling with a glass of wine courtesy of the hotel for messing Steve about with some surprise he's evidently cooking up. We're not really hungry now so are not going out again this evening.
Tomorrow (my 50th birthday!!!!), not sure if we'll be watching the England match after all but we have Les Miserables booked for the evening.
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