It was Friday the 18th and the time had come to say farewell to my parents, they were heading back to New York to catch the plane home and we were heading for Peter and Heidi's house. They came and had breakfast with us in the RV and we said our goodbyes.
On the journey to Peter and Heidi's we managed to miss a turning at one point due to poor road signs so I chose the next best opportunity to turn around which happened to be a stoney car park outside a restaurant. With the RV on full lock making the turn out of nowhere we suddenly hear a huge CRASH! Fran shouts for me to stop as we both look to the back of the RV to see the plate cupboard door swinging around and smashed plates and glasses covering the floor and sink! OOPS! We are still unsure as to whether it was a badly packed cupboard or just that someone hadn't closed the door properly, but we now owe KOA at least 3 plates and 2 mugs. DOH!
We arrived at Waterloo later that day and Peter invited us into their house and treated us to some imported beer and a feast of wings. We all got on like a house on fire and talked into the night. The next day we were taken on a scenic tour of Toronto and told of its history and sights, it was really nice to have the chance to go back and see the things we'd missed as we'd only been there for 3 hours before that and hadn't really seen a thing. Peter showed us the area to the East of town where his daughters live on the lake, it is a really happenin' place that I can best describe as Camden but with a beach on the lake.
The time had come to head South so we departed Peter and Heidi's company (thanks for putting up with us!) and headed back across the border and into Finger Lakes country, it was the worst day we had had in a while weather wise (Canada had been unseasonally warm and sunny – in the 20's) and the rain came down hard. We didn't mind too much as we were just on the road but we needed to decide if we were to stay by the Finger lakes or just rough it in a truck stop. The weather wasn't giving us much of a clue so we flipped a coin and...Finger Lakes it was.
The coin came up trumps as we ended up at a picturesque camp site in Watkins Glen at the South of Seneca Lake, the weather even cleared to boot. The following day we headed to the lake to take in the incredible view and hot sunshine. The campsite had included some information about a Gorge trail so we thought it would only be right to check it out. As it was only just coming into Spring the Gorge was only 1/3 open but it was still incredible. The power of water was once again pointed out to us as we walked through the gorge and followed it upstream, with cliffs cut through the rocks on both sides some 60 feet high. If a coin sends you somewhere it is usually for a good reason!
We stayed another night at the same site as it had a pool and fitness room, perfect for an evenings relaxation. The temperature was that good to us we even managed to have a camp fire and drink beers into the night without even feeling cold. The morning came and we set of for Pennsylvania, Fran had found an area on the campsite information called “The Grand Canyon” and as it was only slightly off-route we couldn't resist. The campsite was a homely family run affair but we could have done without the flies that were thrown in for free.
As we had set off early we had enough time to take trek to the Canyon which rewarded us with more scenic views and even some eagles. Now I haven't yet been to the Grand Canyon but this one certainly had a lot to offer in its own special way. We took a 2 mile trek from the top of the canyon rim, down a wooded path to the base and fast flowing river below, and had lunch on a rock next to the river, watching it flow unto the horizon.
Its was turning out to be a lovely evening and stayed warm so we decided it would be best to light a fire and cook hot dogs, with a side of beer, and desert of toasted marshmallows. What more could you possibly want out of life than a smoked hot dog, cold beer, fire and the stars?
Unfortunately things don't always go that smoothly. The following day we continued South and East and ended up at a camp site with a promising name (Sandy Valley Campground) and offers of swimming, canoeing, lake fishing and hiking trails. The truth of it was that the 'LAKE' was more like a large pond they had (in Fran's words) stolen from the nearby river, there were no activities available and the campsite was mostly occupied by permanent campers that could keep a scrap yard in business for quite some time. Not to mention the nearby town that was inhabited by Hicks that didn't seem to want us in their local... I suppose the rain didn't help too much either!
Things took a decided turn for the better though the next day as again we continued on our journey. As we travelled from a land where the trees by the sides of the road were all bare and the only signs of life were the evergreens and grassy banks it suddenly dawned on us that we could see leaves on trees, and even more-so there was blossom in abundance. We had just driven into Spring. We were surrounded by Pinks and Whites, Yellows and Greens, the sun was shining and so were our soles. At this point we were in the suburbs of Philadelphia which is a bloody nice area with lovely big houses boasting large veranda's and well kept gardens which fran was very jealous of. Anyone with any idea how her blossom tree is getting on please let us know!!
Our lodging for the next few nights was to be Kristen's house, as she so kindly offered (after us badgering her via email) to put us up in her parents guest room. Her house is in an area a fair way East of Philadelphia, in a quiet private development (think Wisteria Lane as Fran mentioned earlier). Kristen makes a wonderful host and makes sure that we don't go hungry or thirsty and even goes to the effort of printing out some maps of Philly for us before she goes to work (Thanks again Kristen!). Now it would be wrong to go to Philly and not have a Cheesesteak, so we obliged. “But what's a Cheesesteak?” I hear you cry! Basically its a sub roll with shredded steak and melted cheese topping, I'm drooling over the keyboard just writing this!
On the Saturday (26th April if you've lost count!) Kristen was off work and offered to take us to Six Flags Amusement park in the neighbouring State of New Jersey. Its a great park with lots of adrenaline based roller coasters, one of which is newly built: the Kingda Ka. It has to be, without a doubt, the fastest accelerating thing I have ever experienced. It goes from 0-128 MPH in 3.5 seconds and shoots you up to 45 stories high and back down again – you could barely keep your eyes open because of the wind hitting you in the face. It is advertised as the tallest and fastest roller coaster on the Earth, worth queing for!
Whilst there we also decided to ride the log flume. At this point I should probably tell you that it was not the warmest day we have experienced since being away, in fact it was rather cold, and given the hot weather we had had before that day we were all wearing shorts and T-shirts. While standing in the queue we had watched people coming off the ride and decided that no one seemed to be getting very wet so we should be ok. Famous last words! Fran sitting in the very front got absolutely soaked, I got pretty wet and Kristen got the tail end of things – everyone standing at the exit stopped to stare at us as we left the ride in disbelief! They all assumed we had been having a water fight on there and could not believe how soaked Fran was as she had water dripping from everywhere!! Kristen says this was the funniest thing that happened all day...!
The following day we said our goodbye's and hit the road. Kristen had talked Fran into taking the wheel for this part of the journey so she did just that, and drove us from Pennsylvania, through the entire state of Delaware, to Maryland. Our next stop was the nations capital, Washington DC. We had been recommended a campsite that had good transport links to the center which was lucky as the first day the rain came down with a vengeance. We headed for one of DC's many museums that offer free entry, the Air and Space museum. There are some very special artefacts inside ranging from the first Apollo craft to a Spitfire to a V2 rocket. We both really enjoyed it and if you ever visit DC I would say it is a must see.
The weather improved the next day so we were able to go and see some of the many monuments that DC has to offfer, namely the Washington and Licoln memorials. Unfortunately all the tickets for the tour of the Washington monument were gone (I think you have to get up at the crack of dawn to get those tickets!) but it was still a great sight. The Lincoln memorial was very good and insightful too, as there is a new section under the main monument where they have put a lot of Lincoln quotes and history. You can see why so many people go there for inspiration as it is such a great place for thinking and contemplating. On the whole I found DC to be a slightly odd city though, as it is built around the monuments and the Mall, with the Whitehouse at right angles to the Mall and Capitol Hill at one end. Unfortunately due to the massive amount of history contained within the Whitehouse not to mention what it stands for itself as a building and monument you can no longer get near it without a very good reason. There is a section of fencing that must be over 100 meters from the house where you can get a photo taken (see Flickr for ours!) but that is AS CLOSE as you can get.
At this stage we agreed that what we both really needed was some beach action as we were nearing a month into things and we still hadn't just sat back and enjoyed the sun. With that notion we embarked again on the Wednesday and set our sights on Chesapeake Bay, more specifically the Cape that stands out separated by the ocean on the East Coast of Viriginia. It was a long drive but when we arrived at Kipoteke State Park it was well worth it. We were rewarded with a pine wooded area with little civilisation, that backed on to sandy beaches stretching for miles in both directions, and a warm and sunny evening to boot. We had dinner and then walked back to the beach to watch the sun set over the ocean (the mainland was that far across the bay that you couldn't see it on the horizon!).
Still not completely satisfied with the temperature and the beach we had found, we continued further South the next day. Our journey took us across the only way back to the mainland (other than back-tracking) via the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. It is 20 miles of Bridge-Tunnel-Bridge-Tunnel-Bridge and quite a testimony to mankind's ingenuity. The bridge leads you straight into the centre of Virginia Beach, which is a lovely city based around its deep stretching beaches. We stopped to take a walk along the beach for a couple of hours but decided it would be best to get some more mileage under our belts.
Having left Virginia Beach it was only a short journey to get to the Northern most part of the Outer Banks, which is a 100+ mile Sand Bank which juts out of North Carolina in a SSE direction, before turning to head back towards the mainland in a SW direction. It is made up of 4 main sand islands that in places are no more than 30 meters wide, with a single road linking most of them, a ferry linking the bottom 2, and another ferry to get you to the mainland from the Southern most point. The houses at the top end around the towns of Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills are all little wooden brightly coloured affairs, all standing atop stilts in case of flooding. Most of the businesses you see all the way down the island are family run and it really feels like you have found a piece of land untouched by corporate America.
We visited the Cape Hatteras light house which has been marked a heritage sight and got the most amazing view of the bays and sand dunes from the top, it's just so awesome, the little marshy bits and pure white sand. It's apparently eroding quite rapidly and we were told that another couple of hurricanes could easily wipe out the banks which is sad to hear as it's just lovely here.
That night we stayed roughly half way down the Banks at a campsite in Rodanthe. It came as no great surprise that the beaches to the East coast come with wind thrown in for free. If you ever take up Kite Boarding (looks far too hard to me!) then you should without a doubt book your next holiday here as it is Kite Boarders paradise. With the calmness of the bay to the West but the constant wind due to it being out at sea it makes a great place to learn or just enjoy the sport. Our 2nd day on the Outer Banks we stayed in Hatteras, the most Southern part of the main island. That brings us to day, we travelled via ferry to the Southern most Island Ocracoke. We had great fun hiring a 2 person kayak and braving our hand out of the bay and into the sea, but it was far too much hard work in the hot sun so instead we just did a couple of laps of the boating lake, then spent this afternoon on the beach. As I (finish) writing this I am sitting in our RV on the 2 hour 15 minute ferry back to the main land where we will find a local campsite for the night.
So far our journey in the RV has encompassed over 2,300 miles and we have seen sights that have taken our breathe away. To say that we are having fun and enjoying mostly every minute would be an understatement. We are of course missing everyone back home loads, but your messages and emails are keeping us going.
Take care!
Karl & Fran
Monday, 5 May 2008
Friday, 18 April 2008
Boston, and the RV
Hi Everyone! When we last spoke we were just getting ready to go and see the New York Knicks take on Orlando Magic at the almighty Madison Square Gardens. The venue was impressive, but unfortunately the game didn't count for much, the support was lacking but we still have a good (beer aided) time and its always amazing to watch sports stars show how easy they find their game, whatever it may be. I would love to go back to MSG for a big final as the atmosphere would be incredible.
We packed up most of our stuff that night in preparation for our journey to Boston in the morning. Our mode of transportation was the Feng Wah coach service – New York to Boston for the sum of $15 each, what a bargain, and best of all it was 30 seconds walk from our lodging in China Town (I feel the word Hotel is a bit generous given the facilities!). 4 hours later and the skyscrapers and clean streets of Boston stand in front of us, a very different city to New York. For starters it is a LOT more compact, much less busy, and on the whole a lot cleaner, but it still has a lot to offer (oh yeah – it was a fair bit colder too!).
We got directions via the transit to Fran's Great Aunt's house – to give you a bit of background here Fran has never met her 75 year old Great Aunt, but Moira is in contact with her every so often as they got into mischief together in London some 30 years ago; we arrived and knocked at the door, to find no answer. Had she changed her mind and decided she didn't want to meet her Great Neice after all? No, we just had the wrong address! Kathleen is a legend of her own time, having lived in America 30+ years she still has her Irish accent, and to say she is well travelled would be an understatement. For every country we mentioned she had a story to tell, we got on like a house on fire.
Before meeting when talking on the phone Fran had mentioned that we had found New York cold, and being very accommodating Kathleen decided it would only be right to keep the house nice and warm for us – I've been in cooler saunas! We had the windows open all night and we still didn't sleep it was soooo hot, bless her.
The next day we toured Boston, we set off on the Freedom trail which is a walk through Boston streets, with historical sites along the way, it was all very interesting as this is one of the oldest cities in America. About half way through the trail we arrived at Faneuil hall, where there was a group of teenagers and onlookers standing in a semi circle, goading each other on to dance etc, but to be honest we couldn't see what all the fuss was about. We hung around for a bit and then it all kicked off, check out the video below:
We continued our tour of Boston and decided that we would check out the views from the 2nd tallest building in Boston on the Skywalk, we somehow timed it by luck that we got to see all the views in daylight and then we suddenly realised we were going to be treated to an incredible sunset to top it off, $11 very well spent.
Our 2nd day in Boston we went to the aquarium, to see the fishies, which was fun. Later on we met up with my folks and went for dinner. That is all.
At this point the excitement was building to a crescendo, the anticipation of a Roadtrip looming, it was nearing RV TIME!!! My folks picked us up and we drove to the Middleboro KOA where our fibreglass warrior was awaiting the trip of a lifetime, 9000 miles coast to coast. It was as good if not better than we could have imagined. At just over a year old it was in pristine condition with all the whistles and bells, this was going to be good. My mum was green with envy and I wont be the least bit surprised if a camper is bought in Green st Green in the not too distant future. Check out Fran's RV video tour:
We stocked up with food essentials, chairs, beer, wine and anything else we might need (for that night) and bedded in. Tomorrow we would hit the road.
It was probably the best nights sleep we had had since arriving (what with trains flying past our windows, the fleapit that was the Sun Bright Hotel, and the sauna of Kathleen's place) and we were ready to hit the road, my folks were hanging around in Boston for a couple of days so we went on without them. We headed straight for the nearest Springfield (what else would you do in America with a set of RV keys in your hand?) via old Sturbridge village. Sturbridge is a mock up of a historic settlers town just West of Boston where they still make everything the old way, from cloth to nails and everything in between.
We then hit Springfield which to be blunt was a dump. The roads were awful and at times it felt like the RV might not make it through in one piece. On the bright side we did make it to the Dr Seuss monument minutes before it closed and got to see the statues which was fun.
Our 2nd night in the RV showed us the importance of booking your accommodation BEFORE arriving. We had headed North into the the Berkshires (mountain range) aiming for a campsite that we had seen on our map. At the point we started to see snow on the side of the road we started to wonder if maybe we might have made the wrong decision. Eventually finding the campsite as darkness was setting in it became evident that there were no lights on in the campsite, as it was SHUT. Fran tried to convince me to stay there the night anyway but I wasn't too happy with the situation so we decided to head back South towards the Interstate and civilisation. Jump forward 3 hours to 10.30 and we were parked next to a rig in a truck stop on the Interstate, not exactly what we had planned but a valuable lesson learned.
We were heading towards Canada, specifically Toronto, we had met back up with my folks in Albany before hitting the aptly named Finger Lakes region which was beautiful. We got lucky with the weather and had sunshine for a few days (albeit it was still cold) which made it a lovely journey. At this point I had been coming down with a sore throat that was feeling very much like tonsillitis (an infection that I am very familiar with) so a pharmacy recommended that we would have to visit a Hospital to get a prescription for some Antibiotics as they couldn't sell us any over the counter. 2 hours in the hospital (having been Admitted, told to wear a gown, and then Discharged – thanks American health service) prescription in hand we set off for Toronto.
The next night saw us in a campsite West of Toronto where only 3 weeks earlier they had been under 8 foot of snow. By the time we arrived it was mostly gone but they were only just opening, and the water wasn't even turned on. The following day we had a whirlwind tour of Toronto (having braved the chaotic roads into town and managed to find a car park with an attendant generous enough to let us park there). The city has an incredible underground shopping area, with miles of tunnels linking each section to the next, it is understandable when you realise how cold it gets there. Its quite a sight and worth a visit.
We then headed for Niagara where we would be spending 3 nights. My parents picked us up from our campsite so we could all have dinner together. They mentioned we should pop up to their room to look down at the falls as you could just about make them out. As we walked into the room and my dad opened the curtain Fran's jaw went through the floor and a stunned silence encompassed the room. The power of the falls is beyond anything I can describe and if you haven't been you should put it in your diary as a must see. We have done some of the tours and seen the sights Niagara (and Niagara on the lake) have to offer, but the falls are just beautiful by night or day. Lake Ontario which is where the river flows to is also a sight to see, we spent the afternoon skimming stones and liberating stranded driftwood. The weather while we have been here has been very good to us (today was t-shirts and shorts weather).
And that is where we are. Tomorrow we head back North to meet a friend of Mark's for a couple of days before we head South to get a great tan :) keep in contact all!
We packed up most of our stuff that night in preparation for our journey to Boston in the morning. Our mode of transportation was the Feng Wah coach service – New York to Boston for the sum of $15 each, what a bargain, and best of all it was 30 seconds walk from our lodging in China Town (I feel the word Hotel is a bit generous given the facilities!). 4 hours later and the skyscrapers and clean streets of Boston stand in front of us, a very different city to New York. For starters it is a LOT more compact, much less busy, and on the whole a lot cleaner, but it still has a lot to offer (oh yeah – it was a fair bit colder too!).
We got directions via the transit to Fran's Great Aunt's house – to give you a bit of background here Fran has never met her 75 year old Great Aunt, but Moira is in contact with her every so often as they got into mischief together in London some 30 years ago; we arrived and knocked at the door, to find no answer. Had she changed her mind and decided she didn't want to meet her Great Neice after all? No, we just had the wrong address! Kathleen is a legend of her own time, having lived in America 30+ years she still has her Irish accent, and to say she is well travelled would be an understatement. For every country we mentioned she had a story to tell, we got on like a house on fire.
Before meeting when talking on the phone Fran had mentioned that we had found New York cold, and being very accommodating Kathleen decided it would only be right to keep the house nice and warm for us – I've been in cooler saunas! We had the windows open all night and we still didn't sleep it was soooo hot, bless her.
The next day we toured Boston, we set off on the Freedom trail which is a walk through Boston streets, with historical sites along the way, it was all very interesting as this is one of the oldest cities in America. About half way through the trail we arrived at Faneuil hall, where there was a group of teenagers and onlookers standing in a semi circle, goading each other on to dance etc, but to be honest we couldn't see what all the fuss was about. We hung around for a bit and then it all kicked off, check out the video below:
We continued our tour of Boston and decided that we would check out the views from the 2nd tallest building in Boston on the Skywalk, we somehow timed it by luck that we got to see all the views in daylight and then we suddenly realised we were going to be treated to an incredible sunset to top it off, $11 very well spent.
Our 2nd day in Boston we went to the aquarium, to see the fishies, which was fun. Later on we met up with my folks and went for dinner. That is all.
At this point the excitement was building to a crescendo, the anticipation of a Roadtrip looming, it was nearing RV TIME!!! My folks picked us up and we drove to the Middleboro KOA where our fibreglass warrior was awaiting the trip of a lifetime, 9000 miles coast to coast. It was as good if not better than we could have imagined. At just over a year old it was in pristine condition with all the whistles and bells, this was going to be good. My mum was green with envy and I wont be the least bit surprised if a camper is bought in Green st Green in the not too distant future. Check out Fran's RV video tour:
We stocked up with food essentials, chairs, beer, wine and anything else we might need (for that night) and bedded in. Tomorrow we would hit the road.
It was probably the best nights sleep we had had since arriving (what with trains flying past our windows, the fleapit that was the Sun Bright Hotel, and the sauna of Kathleen's place) and we were ready to hit the road, my folks were hanging around in Boston for a couple of days so we went on without them. We headed straight for the nearest Springfield (what else would you do in America with a set of RV keys in your hand?) via old Sturbridge village. Sturbridge is a mock up of a historic settlers town just West of Boston where they still make everything the old way, from cloth to nails and everything in between.
We then hit Springfield which to be blunt was a dump. The roads were awful and at times it felt like the RV might not make it through in one piece. On the bright side we did make it to the Dr Seuss monument minutes before it closed and got to see the statues which was fun.
Our 2nd night in the RV showed us the importance of booking your accommodation BEFORE arriving. We had headed North into the the Berkshires (mountain range) aiming for a campsite that we had seen on our map. At the point we started to see snow on the side of the road we started to wonder if maybe we might have made the wrong decision. Eventually finding the campsite as darkness was setting in it became evident that there were no lights on in the campsite, as it was SHUT. Fran tried to convince me to stay there the night anyway but I wasn't too happy with the situation so we decided to head back South towards the Interstate and civilisation. Jump forward 3 hours to 10.30 and we were parked next to a rig in a truck stop on the Interstate, not exactly what we had planned but a valuable lesson learned.
We were heading towards Canada, specifically Toronto, we had met back up with my folks in Albany before hitting the aptly named Finger Lakes region which was beautiful. We got lucky with the weather and had sunshine for a few days (albeit it was still cold) which made it a lovely journey. At this point I had been coming down with a sore throat that was feeling very much like tonsillitis (an infection that I am very familiar with) so a pharmacy recommended that we would have to visit a Hospital to get a prescription for some Antibiotics as they couldn't sell us any over the counter. 2 hours in the hospital (having been Admitted, told to wear a gown, and then Discharged – thanks American health service) prescription in hand we set off for Toronto.
The next night saw us in a campsite West of Toronto where only 3 weeks earlier they had been under 8 foot of snow. By the time we arrived it was mostly gone but they were only just opening, and the water wasn't even turned on. The following day we had a whirlwind tour of Toronto (having braved the chaotic roads into town and managed to find a car park with an attendant generous enough to let us park there). The city has an incredible underground shopping area, with miles of tunnels linking each section to the next, it is understandable when you realise how cold it gets there. Its quite a sight and worth a visit.
We then headed for Niagara where we would be spending 3 nights. My parents picked us up from our campsite so we could all have dinner together. They mentioned we should pop up to their room to look down at the falls as you could just about make them out. As we walked into the room and my dad opened the curtain Fran's jaw went through the floor and a stunned silence encompassed the room. The power of the falls is beyond anything I can describe and if you haven't been you should put it in your diary as a must see. We have done some of the tours and seen the sights Niagara (and Niagara on the lake) have to offer, but the falls are just beautiful by night or day. Lake Ontario which is where the river flows to is also a sight to see, we spent the afternoon skimming stones and liberating stranded driftwood. The weather while we have been here has been very good to us (today was t-shirts and shorts weather).
And that is where we are. Tomorrow we head back North to meet a friend of Mark's for a couple of days before we head South to get a great tan :) keep in contact all!
Sunday, 6 April 2008
Welcome to New York
It all started so well, 5:30am and on our way to Heathrow, bags packed and full of excitement. After tearful goodbyes, we realised that checking in without the hotel's details was going to be impossible!! The first hurdle was here and we hadn't even left London! The details were all on the laptop but it was taking forever to switch on so we called on the only person we knew would be up at that time in the morning, thank you Keith!!! OK so all details in hand we headed to the checkin desk, only to be told that our bags were too heavy and we would have to pay excess baggage, NO WAY! Budget planning kicks in and we buy another hold all to spread the weight, genius. Great bit of luck then as somehow we manage to bag seats in the emergency isle, leg room galore - yippee!!!
2 movies later and we're already in New York JFK, chaotic airport and totally unorganised but we finally get through customs, and a huge sigh of relief! We find a taxi and the taxi driver has NO IDEA where our hotel is, and asks why we are staying so far out of town, ooops....well it wasn't that far out of town in the end but we can safely confirm that we braved the ghetto and are still here to tell the tale, and we are definitely at grips with the subway system. The first afternoon, a bit weary, we headed out of town the wrong way and believe me that's a mistake you learn not to make again quickly. It's quite amazing how decrepid everything seems to be in parts, and other parts are just like Wisteria Lane (from desperate housewives for any sad individuals who don't watch the show!).
We both think that Times Square is by far the best attraction in New York, to say that it's awe inspiring is not saying enough about it, every square inch of every single building is covered in animated screens telling you anything and everything in a blaze of lights and colour, we stood on the corner when we came out of the subway station and just tried to take it in, not quite believing that we were actually there, the big apple in all it's glory right in front of us! Where do you start exploring this city? TGI Friday's of course!!
The next day we joined a circle boat tour which circled Manhattan island and we saw the Statue of Liberty, other interesting landmarks and got blown about by the freezing cold wind!! It's a great way to orient yourself with a city. There are SO MANY shops in New York!! And since we are at the beginning of our trip we are trying not to spend any money but it's so hard with so many things being thrust upon you on literally every street corner and everywhere in between.
Getting around is really easy, and we bought what they call a 7 day fun pass, equivalent to a weekly travelcard which gets you around all the tubes and buses for $25.00, yes folks, that's basically the same price as we pay for a one day travelcard in London!!!!
Anyway we left our lovely hotel in Brooklyn and moved to China town, where we found the cheapest hotel possible. It's really central so we could go out in the evening without fear of something horrible awaiting us around the corner! When they say China town, they don't mean that there a few Chinese shops / restaurants...it's literally like being in China, all the people are oriental, all the signs are in Chinese (with English equivalent underneath) and the most amazing food markets I've ever seen, pity I had no wok with me to cook up a feast! Also it's really weird that there are sections of the city dedicated to particular types of shops alone, need jewellery? You go to the jewellery section of town, want Italian food, you go to Little Italy and so on.
We've had a great time in New York, we've been to the Empire State building and looked over the whole city, relaxed in Central Park which is gorgeous, had an injection of culture at the metropolitan museum of arts, seen an ice hockey match (Rangers V Islanders), watched Rent at a real Broadway theatre, visited Ground Zero (eerie), got smashed at an Irish bar and went clubbing at a club called Tonic, to name but a few things. All in just 6 days so far, it's definitely a city that never sleeps and recommended to anyone, there's something for everyone here.
Tonight we are going to a basketball match to watch the Nicks and then tomorrow we head by coach to Boston and visit my (Fran's) Auntie Kathleen before picking up the RV on Thursday, which we are so excited about it's unreal!!! Catch up with you guys soon!
We'll also have a sort through the photos and post some up in the next couple of days – need to find free wifi somewhere first! Oh and we've heard its snowing back home - Adam get your snowboard out!!
2 movies later and we're already in New York JFK, chaotic airport and totally unorganised but we finally get through customs, and a huge sigh of relief! We find a taxi and the taxi driver has NO IDEA where our hotel is, and asks why we are staying so far out of town, ooops....well it wasn't that far out of town in the end but we can safely confirm that we braved the ghetto and are still here to tell the tale, and we are definitely at grips with the subway system. The first afternoon, a bit weary, we headed out of town the wrong way and believe me that's a mistake you learn not to make again quickly. It's quite amazing how decrepid everything seems to be in parts, and other parts are just like Wisteria Lane (from desperate housewives for any sad individuals who don't watch the show!).
We both think that Times Square is by far the best attraction in New York, to say that it's awe inspiring is not saying enough about it, every square inch of every single building is covered in animated screens telling you anything and everything in a blaze of lights and colour, we stood on the corner when we came out of the subway station and just tried to take it in, not quite believing that we were actually there, the big apple in all it's glory right in front of us! Where do you start exploring this city? TGI Friday's of course!!
The next day we joined a circle boat tour which circled Manhattan island and we saw the Statue of Liberty, other interesting landmarks and got blown about by the freezing cold wind!! It's a great way to orient yourself with a city. There are SO MANY shops in New York!! And since we are at the beginning of our trip we are trying not to spend any money but it's so hard with so many things being thrust upon you on literally every street corner and everywhere in between.
Getting around is really easy, and we bought what they call a 7 day fun pass, equivalent to a weekly travelcard which gets you around all the tubes and buses for $25.00, yes folks, that's basically the same price as we pay for a one day travelcard in London!!!!
Anyway we left our lovely hotel in Brooklyn and moved to China town, where we found the cheapest hotel possible. It's really central so we could go out in the evening without fear of something horrible awaiting us around the corner! When they say China town, they don't mean that there a few Chinese shops / restaurants...it's literally like being in China, all the people are oriental, all the signs are in Chinese (with English equivalent underneath) and the most amazing food markets I've ever seen, pity I had no wok with me to cook up a feast! Also it's really weird that there are sections of the city dedicated to particular types of shops alone, need jewellery? You go to the jewellery section of town, want Italian food, you go to Little Italy and so on.
We've had a great time in New York, we've been to the Empire State building and looked over the whole city, relaxed in Central Park which is gorgeous, had an injection of culture at the metropolitan museum of arts, seen an ice hockey match (Rangers V Islanders), watched Rent at a real Broadway theatre, visited Ground Zero (eerie), got smashed at an Irish bar and went clubbing at a club called Tonic, to name but a few things. All in just 6 days so far, it's definitely a city that never sleeps and recommended to anyone, there's something for everyone here.
Tonight we are going to a basketball match to watch the Nicks and then tomorrow we head by coach to Boston and visit my (Fran's) Auntie Kathleen before picking up the RV on Thursday, which we are so excited about it's unreal!!! Catch up with you guys soon!
We'll also have a sort through the photos and post some up in the next couple of days – need to find free wifi somewhere first! Oh and we've heard its snowing back home - Adam get your snowboard out!!
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