Volcano Adventures

My latest adventures in America definitely require this blog to be updated. Whilst vacationing in New York, the Icelandic volcano began to erupt, and thus we became part of the millions of Europeans stranded in the United States. What an adventure!

We were really very lucky that the Hasties were able to accomodate us, and therefore we were able to treat this as an impromptu extended holiday. This was my cue to lead us on a tour of important American landmarks.

As you have read below, I have on previous trips to America, visited Independence Hall in Philadelphia, the National Archives, the White House,and the monuments in Washington D.C., but on a trip with those who haven't seen them before, they really are a must see. So we checked in to a hotel in Washington for 2 nights, and first thing on the Thursday morning we set out early to visit the National Archives, as I know the queues for this go round the block later in the day, we decided to do this first. As it happened, we were very early, and were in fact first in line. The weather was beautiful, and it didn't seem long to wait. We headed straight for the Rotunda where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are displayed. (For images of this room and many of the other places visited on this trip, as on some of my other trips, see the film "National Treasure").
Since my last visit to the National Archives, they have added to the display a copy of the Magna Carta of England which is the basis for the rights that were stated by the Founding Fathers.

From the National Archives, we then walked down Pennslyvannia Ave to the White House, past the famous frontage to take some nessessary photos, which included a "Flat Stephanie" photoshoot. (See Above)


Next stop, Union Station to pick up a sightseeing bus, and we chose to do the D.C.Ducks. Ducks are an amphibious vehicle developed during World War 2, to go from land to water. We had an excellent trip and saw Capitol Hill, cruised along the Potomac, and saw the monuments.

We returned to Union Station to get the Metro to Foggy Bottom, also see earlier posts below) and to see the monument that I had missed on my earlier trip to D.C., the Lincoln Memorial. Last time I had wandered the Mall, photographed the Washington Monument, the World War 2, Korean and Vietnam Memorials, and made it to the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial as the sun was going down, and keen to return to the Youth Hostel quite far back across town, I forgot to go inside the Lincoln Memorial. That iconic image of Lincoln in his chair, the one that talks to Lisa Simpson, the one imortalised in so many films, and I didn't go inside and see it on that occasion. So on this trip it was imperitave that we not miss it this time.

Dissertation Information

This is the Subway station for Foggy Bottom in Washington D.C. or as they call it, the Metro, just like our Tyne and Wear Metro. Above it is the Sign on the lampost for George Wasington University in Foggy Bottom.

This trip, like the rest of my travels in the U.S. informs my understanding of America. Just as taking the American Politics class at Alverno helps me to understand better the way that Americans think. They have a totally different expectation of government than we in Europe do. Now I can read about Washington and have my own visual images of it. Even while I was in Washington, I was reading Dan Brown's Deception Point and as I was reading, I was able to visualise the places that I'd been to that day. Now as I'm writing my dissertation, I have a visual image of Foggy Bottom, also the home of the US State Department.

The End of the Adventures

During my last couple of weeks in the US, I visited both New York and Washington DC. The bottom picture is of course Times Square, and the top one is (less obvious this one) The National Archives, where they keep the Declaration of Independence. The weather these few weeks was incredibly hot, it was 95 degrees F. However the beautiful weather meant that the photos I took were great.

Lake Ontario

I've seen some impressive sights on this trip. I've seen Niagara Falls, been up the highest freestanding structure in the world, and I've seen 2 of the Great Lakes. Michigan and Ontario, and I've crossed the Mississippi River.


Here's a picture of Lake Ontario from the CN Tower. To the left you can see Toronto City airport!

On Thursday I'm going to take Amtrak to Washington DC and stay over at the Youth Hostel. I would like to see the National Archives, as its where they keep the Declaration of Independence and other interesting documents. And best of all, all the museums in Washington are free. Should be a good trip, I'm looking forward to it. Weather is still very hot here.

Trip to Canada

Its been over a week since I got back from Canada. I had a fantastic time there.







I went to Niagara Falls and to Toronto and to the highest man made observation deck in the world, at the top of the CN Tower.

The weather was pretty good the day I went to Niagara, it was warm but cloudy, so the sun wasn't baking hot, but we didn't mind getting wet from the spray!

The bottom picture is at John's workshop. I stayed with John and Maureen in Keswick, Ontario, Canada. The middle picture is Patrick who works for John and who took me to these interesting places and did an excellent job of showing me Toronto, and behind him the view of Toronto from the top deck.
The top picture is me getting very wet from the spray from Niagara Falls and because it was so cloudy, earlier in the day there was so much spray, there were no falls to see.
It eventually cleared up, and we went on the "Maid of the Mist", the boat that takes you right in to the middle of the falls. Its true what they say though, they are better from the Canadian side, and the Horseshoe Falls, also known as the Canadian Falls are more impressive.

Toronto is a really nice city, Keswick is on Lake Simcoe, and its very pretty and it does remind me of our own Keswick. I had a really good time in Canada and met lots of nice people. Thank you very much for a great experience!

Final views of Milwaukee

I was able to take some really good pictures of Lake Michigan as I flew out of Milwaukee Airport. This is John and Jodi, my American Family. They really helped me survive my last weeks in Milwaukee. I was sad to say goodbye to them, but I hope we will meet again soon.

Leaving Milwaukee

Milwaukee is where both Harley Davidson and Miller Beer were first made. I visited both factories in my last week in Milwaukee.

On the Miller tour, we saw an introductory video and then some of the factory. There is a huge area for storage, but it is emptied and replaced on a daily basis. They make Miller Light, Miller Genuine Draft (MGD) Milwaukee's Best and Miller High Life and also Foster's and a few others.
We were taken to their own pub, where they served 3 free samples if you are over 21. I'm not 21 for another 3 months, so I had Sprite. The picture above is the entrance to the Miller Inn.

Milwaukee's baseball team are known as the Brewers and Milwaukee is sometimes refered to as Brew City. As well as Frederick Miller, there was also a number of others who started brewing in Milwaukee. Frederick Pabst was another brewer who started in Milwaukee. I also visited the house that he built and retired to. This is a large victorian mansion currently being refurbished and returned to its original state and is open to the public. This is where John works, he is senior historian at the Pabst Mansion, so I got a very good guided tour.

On the Harley Davidson tour you weren't allowed cameras, but there were a few bikes that you were allowed to have your picture taken on. See the picture above. This was also a very interesting tour. Mr Harley and 3 Mr Davidsons began their manufacture in a shed originally on Juneau Ave, where the company still has offices, but the factory has relocated Wauwatosa, on the outskirts of Milwaukee.

Both very interesting tours of great American industry.