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Published: October 28th 2006
Hey Gang
I have some devastating news to report. All of the photographs from Italy and when we first arrived in England have gone. The memory card has completely disappeared and we have lost all of those memories. I was initially very distraught, but Tim has convinced me that we can always go back again.
Whilst in England we were not able to get a bank balance from an ATM so we had no idea how much money we spent or how much we had left. Consequently we were very frugal and did not do everything that we intended to do, as England was very expensive. Since we have been in America we have discovered we have more than enough money left to last us and in fact could have hired a car in England for another 2 weeks. Not to worry, we can always go back there again too. By the way I forgot to put all of my liquids and gels into the suitacases so we had to leave behind the very delicious Limoncello that we bought in Italy. We gave it to Geoff and Alison. I guess we will be able to buy it in Leichhardt. Tim, by the way, says of all the beers he has tried since we started this trip, the Italian Peroni beer is the best by a very large margin. I also lhad to surrender my lip gloss and perfume at Heathrow.
And so to New York. I am absolutely in awe of this city. We arrived on Wednesday to clear blue sky and quite cold. Our hotel (Howard Johnsons) is great and very comfortable. It is situated in Flushing which is between Queens and Brooklyn on Long Island and the residents are mostly of Chinese origin, which makes for some very interesting, but very tasty evening meals.
The first night we explored this area but it was quite cold and not a lot of shops were open late. The next day, Thursday, we got the Long Island Railroad into Manhattan. A return train ticket into Penn Station was $10, so not too bad. The guy at the ticket office was more interested in telling his colleague about his kitchen renovation than in serving us, but we managed to get a ticket anyway. He is the only person here who has not been falling over themselves to assist. The trip was 2 stops only and Penn Station is right next door to Madison Square Garden on Seventh Avenue.Incidentally, it is wise to note that if you travel on the train after 9am you are in off peak period and it is slightly cheaper. However, you need to return after 8pm as the peak period goes from 4 to 8pm, otherwise you must pay an extra $2 per person. Seventh Avenue is also known as Fashion Avenue and leads right into the Garment District. Some of the prices are outrageous, but more are ridiculously cheap. We walked all the way to the Hudson River Ferry Terminal which is a very, very long walk. The first thing we did though, was to go to the top of the Empire State Building. Forget Sleepless in Seattle they only went to the 86th Floor; we went to the 102nd floor! What a view from up there. It is like being on another planet and looking down on earth. They say that on a clear day you can see 80 miles in any direction. It was a clear day, but freezing cold. Tim felt a bit dizzy looking down, but I could have stayed there a few hours, just drinking it all in.
It is worth a reminder that this building was erected in 53 weeks in the 1930's, so it is an awesome achievement. The Twin Towers were taller, but less majestic I would think. The security was very strict, but understandable.
On Friday we took the open top tour bus. It was a bright clear day but absolutely freezing. The cost was $50 each but well worth it. The trip took about 6 hours to go most of they way round Manahattan. The ticket is good for 48hours so you can get off at any place that interests and continue the next day if you wish. The traffic of course was terrible, but the guides were very knowledgable. One example of their typical Noo Yawk humour was this, " You can tell whether you are in Chinatown or Little Italy by the restaurants. In Chinatown they have ducks hanging in the windows. In Little Italy they have witnesses!".
It was so cold on top of that bus we had to get off and buy Hats and ear muffs and gloves. Thank goodness we bought a thick coat in England. The tour finished in Times Square just as the neons were coming on so it was spectacular to see that. By the way it is very easy to walk in the wrong direction. I was convinced that Broadway led straight to Herald Square and within easy reach of Penn Station but in reality we were heading towards the north end of Manhattan. Tim and I had words about it but in the end I consulted the map and conceded that we were going in the wrong direction, and it resulted in a $10 cab fare back to Penn Station, which is a hell of a way.
The forecast was for rain to start at 10pm and continue Saturday. In reality the rain started at 8pm and it has been torrential since then. It is now Saturday and we are somewhat housebound but we will venture out later today to find a laundromat. The rain and wind was so strong last night that it was blowing back into the external air-conditioner pipe an into our room.
Next week when the weather is better we plan to go to Washington and/or Philadelphia. Washington will probably mean an overnight stay as it is 5 hours away. Niagara Falls is more than 8 hours away and the cost of flights is prohibitive so we cannot go there this time. On Tuesday there is a Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village so we are hoping the weather will clear up.
Thats all for now. Sorry there are no pictures. The camera is charging at the moment and there is no connection near the computer to plug in the camera anyway.. Hope you enjoyed our reports so far.
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steven
non-member comment
just to say hi
hi guys sounds like you are having a ball . guess who sitting on my lap thats right sam he follows me around the house . sorry about your photos what a shame you will just have to go back my bag is pack . miss you lots tim a ford won the big race cant shut kiven up he is driving me up the wall . all is fine cant sell house dam , time runing out for that . miss you heps cant wait to hear all about it well some people have wor wor tomorrow by for know steve xxxxx