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Published: August 20th 2009
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I’m writing this almost a month after arriving home. Slack, but I thought I’d better finish the story!
Doesn't the sunset picture above really set the scene for the last blog entry, which is about going home... geez I'm clever!
Following the advice of the seat61.com website, I chose to take the train From New York to Toronto, rather than fly. It was a nice view up along the Hudson River for a few hours, but otherwise it was a bloody long trip. I arrived in Toronto twelve hours later, and was met by my Aunt Elizabeth, wearing her gardening hat, and her husband Brian holding up a sign with my name on it, as we’d never met before.
Fortunately and not unexpectedly, they and the rest of my extended family that I met in Toronto turned out to be some of the nicest people on the planet. Elsie and Brian made me feel right at home, and it was a pleasure to stay with them. On the Sunday, all of the family got together for lunch, a soccer game or two, and a big Q and A session.
On Monday we went for
a drive down to Niagara Falls, which was pretty cool to see. It’s one of those sights that sneaks up on you as far as scale and majesty goes. The falls look pretty spectacular from up above (and the Canadians have a far better view than the Yanks do, which must really piss them off), but it’s not until you go on the Maid of the Mist boat tour that you really appreciate it. My initial thoughts were that I'd come all the way here so I’d better go for a ride, but that thought was pretty quickly replaced when you get up to the base of the falls by boat. The amount of water flowing over the 50m drop of the Horseshoe falls has to be seen, felt and heard to be believed. Well worth a visit.
I spent the next few days seeing the sights around Toronto. This included a visit to the Royal Ontario Museum, the CN tower, and having a wander around the city in general, having fun with my zoom lens. I liked Toronto, although I can’t imagine what it would be like to live there in winter with the below zero temperatures
and snow. I’ll have to go back again to experience it I guess!
After a few late nights and many glasses of wine, it was time to leave the luxury and homely feel of staying with family in Toronto, and fly to Boston. Back to sharing a dorm room with five other guys. Great.
Boston was also a great city to visit. I quickly made friends with a few guys at the YHA, and spent the next few days visiting things as diverse as the JFK library (nice building, but otherwise a totally missable shrine to the former president), to the MIT museum, which, being the nerd that I am, I loved. We went on a walking tour of Harvard University (pronounced Haaa-Vaaad), and also had a drink at the Bleacher Bar at Fenway Park baseball stadium. This bar is located underneath the stands at the far end of the pitch, and it’s enormous caged window would have been hit by a few home-run balls in its time. Great view of the inside of the stadium. Apparently you can only sit at the tables on game days in 40 minute blocks, before they bump you for
the next group.
On my last day I went on a whale watching cruise. They guarantee the cruises with a free return visit if you don’t see a whale, but I didn’t have to take them up on the offer. We saw a few different individuals, and a group of three doing their thing, taking a big breath before diving under to go fishing for a several minutes at a time. (Take a jacket with you, as it’s much colder out at sea than in the heat of the city.)
From Boston, I flew to LAX, and I had about seven hours to kill before my flight home. I left the airport and found the transfer to the “Big Blue Bus”, which takes you to Santa Monica. I had a wander around the pier and the beach, and I was surprised at how busy it was for a Monday afternoon. I had a great meal at the Wolfgang Puck café, accompanied by some jazz from some buskers in the street.
I’d planned my trip to catch the new Qantas A380 home from LAX to Melbourne, and I wasn’t disappointed. This thing is huuuge. Picture
your average suburban four bedroom house, multiply by two, bolt two bloody big wings on the sides, fill it with 500 people in the lounge room, and you’re not far off. It’s still cattle class in economy, with limited space in front of your seat, but comfy enough to sit in, and the entertainment system was top notch too. It was notably quiet inside too. A highly recommended way to pass 15 hours in the sky.
Finally,
some useless stats of the trip:
98 Days;
12 Countries visited;
36 cities or towns visited;
52000 km in the air over 12 flights;
(seemed like) 500 hours waiting for planes;
6500km travelled on trains, about a third of which were at over 200km/h
And some
new experiences: Sleeping in a capsule hotel
Trying to get comfy while sunbaking on rocky beaches (we have
realbeaches with sand in Aus)
Enjoyed lots of Guinness (it tastes like crap here)
Japan. Wow, what an experience.
Going whale watching.
Getting naked in public baths in Japan.
Eating (and enjoying) haggis.
Drinking sake.
Being asked for ID in Boston, and, not having my passport on me, being refused service. (I’m
almost 40…)
Thanks for listening/reading my rants and raves. It was fun to write this blog, and seeing so many people reading it, and getting your feedback, really made it all the more worthwhile. You might have to wait a while for the next blog series; I spent all of my money!
But bloody hell it was worth it.
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Liz McGrath
non-member comment
Miss you
It's funny you know. When you share experiences with another person - and that person hasn't experienced them before - you view that same old thing thru the other person's eyes and everything becomes brighter somehow. The old sites become a little less ordinary. That's how I felt when you were here Paul - and of course it had nothing to do with your personality - nice bugger that you are! I will miss seeing the world through your camera though. You have a great talent there and you should see if you can't make some money with some of your shots. Look forward to hearing from you periodically...Three more weeks and Matthew will be off to University and then Brian and I will be empty nesters - so will always a room for you to come back to! Cheers. Elsie