Back to reality.

Trip of a lifetime!

This trip has been absolutely fantastic. It's a bit surreal coming back to normal  life. 

We landed yesterday morning, had hardly slept on the plane, so we were pretty tired all day.

One of the really strange things was seeing London from the air, and spotting all the things we recognised. 

We saw the Shard from the air, and later that afternoon, I went out for a walk, around Southwark and crossed Southwark Bridge and saw the Shard up much closer!

Returning to reality this morning was a bit strange. It was actually very comforting to be a commuter on a subway system I know.

Having seen so many exciting things this week, it's a good thing to remember how lucky I am to live in another amazing city. As much as I love America, I'm loving living in London too. I'm still adventuring.

There had to be a Mall Day

There had to be a mall day. No trip to the USA is complete without a trip to at least one Mall.

We've been getting up a little late, but the hard work of sightseeing is beginning to take its toll. You can't burn the candle at both ends, and put in a full days sightseeing, walking etc, without eventually crashing. And our accommodation is so comfortable here, it's hard to wake up.

We're sleeping in the basement, which is nicer than it sounds. In America, people often have very useful rooms in their basements. Even a bar and home cinema!  So the beds in the basement are very comfortable, and it's so lovely and dark down there, that our body clocks can't quite work out where we should be, but we're very tired. We've not quite switched to East Coast time, but we're doing pretty well. 

So after breakfast and everyone was up, (it is Saturday after all) we made a plan of what to do with our remaining hours left Stateside. 

First was a trip around the block, there was a yard sale happening in the estate. So of course we had to take a look. 

Another essential part of a holiday in this part of the US is a trip to the farmers market. 

It's got all kinds of things, far more than you'd imagine. There is food. But there are also furniture shops, fabric shops, second hand shops, a pet shop with puppies and kittens. 

I bought some fabric for my next quilting project, I already know what I want to do next, but I'm busy with a  New York / Americana themed bed runner for myself. It's something I've wanted to buy for a while, plus I wanted a small manageable quilting project. It's coming along quite well, but it's all hand sewing, so it's taking me a while. 

We picked up some groceries, and after a good rummage, we were hungry. There's a diner near the Farmer's Market, somewhere I'd not been before, and it was really quite authentic. Just what you imagine from the movies. A mixture of movie posters, local maps and photos of local sports teams on the wall, it had a very real American feel to it. 

I'm not sure how to define what I mean by real America, but I'll try. 

I mean a mixture of the idealistic view we get from the movies, and of the things that really do happen. There's a certain moment of realisation that what we see idealised in film is in fact drawn on reality. The American dream exists.  

There are so many things about America that we fail to perceive through media that can only be realised through living there, visiting family and friends who live there, and truly engaging with the people. That is real America for me. 

We drove to Cristiana, Delaware, to the big mall with the Apple Store. My objective was to buy an iPad mini, tax free of course in Delaware. 

Mission accomplished, we had a quick scoot around a couple of other shops and soon it was time to head back, unpack our shopping and repack our cases. 

We had a lovely tea of salad and last night's pizza. Pizzas here are huge remember, 3 pizzas fed 6 of us last night, and some of it fed us all again, accompanied with some salad and potato salad and home grown cherry tomatoes.  

Soon it was time to leave, say our goodbyes, and be on our way to the airport. 

It's Goodbye to Philly again, but I'm already looking forward to the next time! 

Free Birthday cake

Free birthday cake and pool day. - Friday

So it's our first really lazy morning waking up in a lovely comfortable bed, so of course we woke up late.  We've really worked hard at the sightseeing on this trip, so we deserve a bit of a break. 

We had breakfast and a coffee, and when we were finally ready to go out, it was just about lunchtime, so the first stop was Panera for lunch. 

It's a lovely coffee shop that does fairly substantial lunch type things, sandwiches, salad, soups and cakes. It's where I used to go for breakfast when I was staying in the youth hostel in Chicago, so of course I have a loyalty card. 

As I handed over my loyalty card at the checkout, the lady told me, you have a free birthday cupcake this month, it's good now through the end of November. 

As today is our second last day, I asked for it now. 

I had a red velvet cupcake with white topping. 

After my mozzarella and tomato panini, I couldn't manage it for lunch, but as it was in a box, I could easily take it with me.

Our next stop was Target, just across the road, but as this is America, you have it drive around the car park, and across the road.  

I love this store! It's huge, it's got everything. It's like Walmart, but a better supermarket. It has always seemed to be cleaner, and have nicer products than Walmart. They have a vast range of toiletries, they've got electrical goods, their clothes are good and reasonable prices. 

We also enjoyed the stationery department before heading to check out. 

After such a long time in Target, we were all a bit tired, so we went home. 

Not wanting to waste a minute, and as Mike had said he'd kept the swimming pool open especially for us coming to visit, I decided it was time we made use of it. We'd intentionally brought swimwear, so it didn't take much for us both to get ready and try to get in the pool. 

The water felt cool. But underneath it was a bit warmer. There had been temperatures of 100 degrees F 2 days earlier, but the temperature had dropped to somewhere in the 80's. 

We eventually managed to get in, swimming for a short while. It gets easier to be in, once you get used to it. 

Afterwards, we sat in the sunshine, with a magazine, and for the first time on this trip, we had 5 minutes to rest, with no where to be rushing to, nothing calling us to hurry up. What we were doing, was exactly the activity we had planned. A little in shine and sunbathing. Back home it's turning Autumnal pretty quickly, so this is our last sniff of the summer.

Soon, Mike came to bring us some more activities. First up as part of the American experience, was the sit on law mower.

I've done this before, and it's good fun. Imagine having to mow 1/4 acre, it's quite a lot of lawn, so the truck is very useful. 

It makes for some good pictures too! 

Next up in the all American experience, a trip to the liquor store. I've been trying since my last trip to Milwaukee 2 years ago to obtain the gin from Great Lakes Distillery. 

It's called Rehorst, after the owner of the company.

It seems from the updates I see on their Facebook page, that they have come a long way since I visited 2 years ago. But unfortunately, I can't find a distributor that can ship to the UK. They can't ship to a delivery address in Pennsylvania. Liquor in Pennsylvania is state controlled. So I guess I'll have to plan a trip back to the Mid West to get my gin. But in the mean time, we visited a store to explore, and buy some beer. Plus, as we were out of luck on the gin I wanted, we bought some American gin anyway. Both of us bought a different one for a gift.  

On the way home we stopped to pick up pizza, and they were huge!! 

Independence Hall, Art Museum and a lot of walking

Independence, Betsy Ross, reading terminal and the art museum 

So after last night, I was worried that we wouldn't get everything done that I wanted us to see. We woke up late, and I went out to get us some breakfast. I went to the end of the street and walked 1 block and found a coffee shop. The coffee was good, and so were the bagels. Plain bagel and cream cheese for breakfast, well we are in Philadelphia! 

When I got back to the hostel, Cath was nearly ready, so we went out to get our tickets for Independence Hall. We had a quick look in the shop, and then went across to see the Liberty Bell. The hostel is only 3 blocks from Independence Hall, it's a great location in Old City. 

The tour we had of Independence Hall was my 5th, and I still enjoyed it. 

The woman who gave it was really interesting and informative.

Next we needed lunch, so we went to The Bourse, which I've just recently realised is a place we went on my first trip. We had some fast food Chinese that time, and this time we had fast food Mexican. We had a look around the tacky gift shops, and got some postcards, and then it was a walk up to Betsy Ross House, to see where the lady who sewed the first American Flag lived. After that we carried on walking towards Elfreth's Alley, the oldest, continuously occupied street in America.

We both took some great pictures and then decided we were so tired from all the walking that we needed to get the subway to get to our next destination.

Reading Terminal Market is a fantastic food market, there are places to eat serving all kinds of food from Cheesesteaks to breakfast. There are fish counters, and a whole counter entirely devoted to Jerky, of all different flavours! 

We stopped for a drink, it was almost 5pm, and then we were on the next stage of our walking tour. From here we walked up through Chinatown, to JFK Plaza to see the statue, and again we caught the evening light absolutely perfectly.

We got some really lovely pictures again, and then walked all the way down Benjamin Franklin Parkway, to the Art Museum. Walking up the Rocky steps, following all the runners, running up and down, and turning back to look over my shoulder to see the view rising up behind me.

It's one of the many things I love about Philadelphia, its skyline is as beautiful and impressive as some of the more famous and recognisable skylines. It's skyscrapers are as interesting as New York or Chicago, although Chicago is definitely my favourite! 

We caught the evening light across the city, and had to move fast, the Art Museum was only open for another hour or so.

I've made it this far, it's the second time I've got as far as those steps. We had to be effective with our time. It's the Impressionists that I wanted to see, Van Gogh's Sunflowers. And of course some Monet, which I love.

We enjoyed the small section that we saw, grabbed a cup of tea and a snack, and went outside to catch a bus back to Old City. 

We returned to the hostel, via another sushi restaurant, and had a fairly tame, quiet evening. In bed by lights out! 

Travelling day, and a ghost tour in Philly

Tuesday morning we left New York, but before we could, we had to squeeze in one last thing. We have to see Bloomingdales! 

Fortunately it's quite close to the hotel, so it's easily walkable. We're up early, and packed, have breakfast, and taking our coffee with us, in true American style, we leave quite early. 

10 minutes walk, and we're there, and we're a little too early, it doesn't open until 10 am.  When the doors open, we can go in, and its really impressive. It's much brighter and cleaner than Macy's, and despite they have a British theme going on, we enjoyed our little wander through the really classy department store. Talk about 'coals to Newcastle' we came here for the American theme surely!?

Then it's back to the hotel to check out, and take the subway to Penn Station for the Amtrak back to Philadelphia.

I'm really looking forward to being back in Philly, I'm fairly confident that I know my way around the city, and I'm hoping to have a bit more time to explore. 

It's why I wanted to stay over in the city so much. Center city as it's known is such a beautiful place, it's vibrant and yet really chilled out.

From 30th Street station we took the subway to 2nd st. We were staying in the Hostel International  Youth hostel in Old City. 

I've stayed in HI before, in DC and for a week in Chicago, and both times it's been good. 

We checked in, and the receptionist was really friendly and helpful. We dragged our cases up the staircase to the female dormitory and sat down for 5 minutes. Finally arriving on the second section of our trip, we could relax a little now. 

After a little unpacking and resting, we went out to explore, first wandering along to Penn's Landing, and in search of an afternoon drink. We came across a nice bar that was part of the Hyatt hotel, and sat down for a refreshing cold glass of wine.  

It was nice to be able to sit and relax for a while, and enjoy the view across the river.  Soon we decided it was time to find something for evening meal, as we had plans to return to the hostel for the 8pm Ghost tour! 

We continued through the streets to catch a glimpse of South Street, decided to eat in a sushi restaurant a few doors down from the Hagen Dazs cafe that I remember from my first trip 10 years ago! 

Time was getting on, so we paid the bill, (the check) and went back to the hostel. A quick turn around to drop off some stuff we and went downstairs to meet the guide.  

It was already dark now, and there were 21 of us on this tour. The guide was informative and friendly and had some interesting ghost stories. Plus, we got a good view of the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall all lit up at night. It's beautiful. 

Along the tour we got talking to some of the other people staying in the hostel. That was really the point of the ghost tour, the hostel is very friendly, and keen on promoting social activities. They do a really good job. On our return to the hostel, there was a free beer for anyone who had done the tour. 

I'm not really keen on beer, and I've had so much on this trip! I managed the one but we decided it was time we went back out for another drink somewhere else. 

It's what I really wanted to do on this trip, travelling with a friend means that we can really appreciate the nightlife, and enjoy the real city. 

With the German and Romanian guys we met on the tour, we asked the hostel for a recommendation on where was good nearby. 1 block over was the recommendation, so that's where we went. It was a bar with a wide range of beers. For me, time for a cider! 

We chatted, and we danced, and returned to the youth hostel around 2.30 am! 

I was worried we would be too tired to do any sightseeing the next day, but as you'll see, I needn't have worried.  

Fun Times

So many sights and new experiences today ...

So this morning it took us a little while to get going, but our hotel is close to the UN, so we thought it would be interesting to see, just to say we'd been there. We picked up the sightseeing bus from there. 

It did the end of the downtown loop tour, and took us back to Times Square. We stopped off here for a spot of shopping and took a bit of time to really take in where we were.

We passed an Aeropostale, and decided to take a look. We both found a couple of bargains, but the best thing about this shop we stumbled upon without realising.  

On the upstairs floor of this shop is a viewing deck, it's on Times Square, and there is a balcony that sticks out on a corner, and gives you a perfectly clear view to stand with your back to the neon lights. It looks great. And there is also an obligatory tacky Statue of Liberty. 

We also decided that it would be good to stop for a drink and maybe a spot of lunch. Sightseeing is hard work, and so is shopping. So Hard Rock Cafe it is. 

We had a nachos to share, which is from the Starter menu, and we were full enough for lunchtime. The portions are really huge here, everywhere! It's just one of those things that you have to think about when ordering. At home you might have a starter and main course, over here you'd really be wise to share something. 

It's all very well if you can take it home in a box, but when you are travelling and staying in hotels or hostels, it's not so easy. 

After that it was time to get back on the sightseeing and complete a couple of missions. A trip to Macy's is an absolute must, it's such a huge part of New York. So we walked from Times Square down to West 34th Street, via a few other shops. 

We took a good look around, bought some stamps, and the went out to take in some more shops. 

Time was getting on, and conscious that we still had plenty to achieve today, we needed to catch the next sightseeing bus, which we duly did, and realised that it was the last one that day.

Slightly disappointed by how early it was finishing, and this is day 2, on reflection I'm not sure I'd do a sightseeing tour bus in New York again.

Don't get me wrong, the routes are great, and the pre recorded commentary was great. But yesterday we had someone quite boring. This morning the guy was quite interesting. But when we got on this bus, the tour guide was actually quite rude, and patronising, and if I'd been paying enough attention to understand him, I think he was actually quite offensive.

With the knowledge and experience I have now, I would certainly do New York sightseeing on my own terms next time. You might not see much when you're underground on the Subway, but it's all part of the experience, and. It gets you from A to B pretty quickly.

Escaping the rude tour guide who as we leapt off the bus at Battery Park told us "This us the last bus, you will get a taxi back right?" -  No we don't intend or need to get a taxi, we'll figure out the public transport. Tourists we might be, but inexperienced we are not! 

Just across text street was our next destination, a first for me, a trip on the Staten Island Ferry. 

As we arrived in the Ferry terminal, we realised that we should probably try and get something to eat. Not knowing how long the trip would be, or what we would find on the other side, and plus, we intended on coming straight back on the next ferry. So we grabbed a slice of pizza which was more than enough for us as a meal. Taking our coffees with us, in the way that we're learning everyone does, we went to catch the ferry. 

The great thing about the Staten Island ferry, is that it's free. It's listed in all the guidebooks as the best way to see the Statue of Liberty for free from the river. There used to be a 40 cent charge for the ferry, but Giuliani abolished the fare when he was mayor. 

Awesome, so this half hour or so trip across the Hudson is completely free. And the view is amazing. More amazing views, last night it was Top of the Rock, and tonight Statue of Liberty.  You just really have to see it to appreciate it. Reaching up from the tip of Manhattan are two beams of light. They reach as far as you can see and they pool in the sky. It's so strong and powerful, we both felt a little moved by the sight. 

It's the memorial to the Twin Towers. It's good to recognise the tragic events. But there's something about emitting those huge, powerful beams into the sky, more visible in many ways than the Twin Towers were, that seems almost too much. It's very gung-ho American. It's almost too much, but it's almost tear jerking too, it's something intangible, visible but not physical that represents such a gap in the lower Manhattan skyline. 

The loss isn't visible, but it's present in the hearts of the people who live there. 

We got off the ferry, and turned around and got straight back on the next one. 

Returning to Manhattan, we found a bus which I thought would get us back to where we wanted to be in Midtown. 

It was a long route, but it completely coincidentally took us back to where we'd started this morning, right by the UN again.

From here we walked up to Grand Central Station, eventually found our way in, and as it was fairly late, found it fairly quiet. The food court downstairs was closed, the shops were closed. Disappointingly as the shops here are pretty good.

But the station is still beautiful, it's immense! 

Back out on the street, we headed back to Times Square, we were really looking for some tacky gift shops, but didn't find anything in them that suited what we wanted at a price we were prepared to pay. So we took a good look around, Cath bought a watch from the Swatch shop, and eventually we decided to head back to our hotel. Despite our late start, we'd made the most of our time, and it was around midnight.

Tomorrow is travelling day, so we definitely needed to get back and get some rest.

Early to bed, early to rise...

I'm so lucky. Sometimes we forget how lucky we are. I live in one of the most exciting and vibrant cities in the world. (London) Don't get me wrong, I miss Newcastle. And I love visiting the US, but it's easy in my excitement to forget that I'm so lucky to be counting this trip as my fourth visit to New York! 

I'm getting to know roughly where I'm going, know where I want to be and know what I want to see. 

We didn't get to bed too early last night. We made it to midnight in our nice French wine bar that seemed to be part if the hotel. But the jet lag kicks in when you wake at 7am. This is a good thing when it means you get up and go out on your first adventure out of the area. 

We walked up towards Rockefeller Plaza in search of breakfast. We eventually got a pastry and coffee to take out, and sat in the sunshine. 

We walked from Rockefeller Plaza to Times Square, and just off it is where we got our sightseeing bus tickets. We were fairly tired and hungry by now, so we picked up some snacks and got on a bus to do the 'Uptown Loop'. 

There are some great things to see in Uptown Manhattan, but we were tired, and enjoyed listening to the pre recorded commentary on what we were passing. Central Park, Grant's tomb, Harlem. We got off the bus at the other side of Central Park, the east side, walked the bottom edge of the park and wandered a little, trying to grasp the vastness of the park, and how incredible it is. It's an oasis in the middle of skyscrapers. 

My next stop was Columbus circle, and the mall in the middle of the Time Warner towers. 

First stop the Whole Foods Market in the basement. It's even better than the one in South Kensington; though it doesn't have the food court, it does have a bar for beers. And if you want to buy take away food at Whole Foods Market, you can eat it in the bar as long as you are buying beer. Seems like a good deal really. 

After a spot of shopping at Sephora and some clothes shops, we headed back towards Rockefeller Plaza, and as we were in the area, we decided to do Top of the Rock. It was amazing! I've done it before, I've seen that view and I knew it was going to be great, but I was still unprepared. I was still completely blown away by the view. 

We managed to catch it just as the light was fading. The sunset across Manhattan was beautiful, the  quickly disappearing light across Central Park, the orange glow over the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. We took loads of pictures and left after it got dark. 

We decided to head back to the hotel and eat at the sushi restaurant two doors from the hotel. 

One strange thing in the restaurant, as we sat down there was a group across from us, and hearing their voices was a bit bizarre. Three and a half thousand miles across the pond, and there are 4 Geordie guys in the same restaurant. I usually like to guess exactly where the Geordie accent is from, and Cath agreed with me, they sounded like North Shields / Whitley Bay. It's that small world thing again, whenever you go in the world, you'll always find a Geordie! 

Feels like coming home

It's so familiar, it's a place I've returned to many times. It's a good feeling. 

It's a familiar journey, I've done it quite a few times before, but usually connecting a flight from Newcastle to one at Heathrow. Today's journey began with a bus and a tube train. The start of many trains on this trip. 

Once again I'm tour guiding. Taking someone else on their first trip to the USA. I love America so much, I'm always happy to introduce someone else to its delights, and it's quirks. 

We checked in, cleared security, had breakfast in Giraffe, and had a little time to wander before going to the gate. 

We already knew we were a little delayed, and I was slightly worrying about our connection with the Amtrak train in Philadelphia, but there was nothing I could do. 

Eventually we boarded, and we were on our way. The journey passed fairly uneventfully for us. At least until 4hours out over the Atlantic, and we heard the announcement: "If there is a doctor on board, could you please make yourself known to the cabin crew?" 

The call bell in front of us went, and the crew lady came running... "Are you a doctor?" And the lady replied, "Yes, a neurologist, and we have a surgeon, what do you need?"... 

It turned out that they initially thought the lady was having a heart attack. 

We never found out exactly what happened, but we got priority landing at Philadelphia and we had to wait for the paramedics (is that what they're called in the US?!) to get on board, and take the lady off. She didn't look well, but at least she was being looked after.

We cleared immigration, collected our bags and were on our way to the start of  our adventure.

We took the SEPTA train R1 from the airport to 30th St station. It took about 20 minutes, it's fairly easy.

We arrived with time to pick up a pretzel and a coffee, board our Amtrak train and now relax.  

Upon arriving at Penn Station, we found 

our way to the subway, decided that this would be our quickest way to the hotel, and sure enough it was a good journey. Despite the stairs and heavy suitcases, but we managed.  

We checked into the hotel, and became aquainted with our tiny little pod that would be our home for the next 3 nights.

Knowing that the best way to combat the jet lag is to force yourself to stay awake, and also aware we needed food, we took ourselves out to investigate the nearby bars and restaurants.  

After just a little exploration, we returned to the bar right by the hotel. 

It was a little French style wine bar, and it served food. Perfect.  

We took our time, enjoyed the wine, finally crawling into bed after midnight new time!   

Returning to the U.S.

Preparing for New York...

So it's time to tidy this page up a little. It's been 2 years since I was last in the USA.  I don't often add to this blog when I'm not actually there or just shortly after. 

This one is a bit of an anniversary, it's 10 years since I first went to America. 10 years since I fell in love with the people, the culture, the history and the politics.  

I'm not saying I agree with all of it.  I quite strongly dislike some elements of it. For more details see my other blogs....

www.wormybamthoughts.wordpress.com

But if you really love something, you can't just ignore its flaws, you want to improve them.  

But since I first crossed the pond in July 2003, this will be my 10th trip through US customs and immigration,  one way or another, through several different airports, including Toronto! 

This time is a little different, I'll have a friend for company, and we're staying in a combination of hostels and staying with my  family.  Appropriate that I'm going back to where my travels all began.  

The arrangements are all still a little bit loose, but I'm so ready to get planning, and this time with so many different adventures behind me, I'm ready to plan some new ones.