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Published: September 30th 2008
Waiting
Waiting for the plane to take us to the US. Travelling also includes a lot of waiting. Here we use the time to take a nap on mummy.Seeing New York and Washington DC
Earlier this year we went to the United States with mum and dad. Yes, you guessed right, mum and dad
still refuse to let us travel on our own. We think we should be allowed to travel by ourselves soon. We are big toys now. It is embarrassing for us to always have the old folks with us whenever we travel. But to be honest there is one tiny advantage to it too - they pay for everything!
When we learnt that we were going to the States we got so excited. We have heard about that country before. When
we were in Yemen we went to a town famous for its very tall houses. That town is named
Shibam but sometimes it is called Manhattan of the Desert. We heard then that in New York there are houses that are even taller than the houses in Shibam. Now that we went to the USA we could finally see if that was true. We get to that later on in the blog because the first days we were up to doing other things.
One thing we find to be strange is that they in Yemen
Mayor's Office
"Without an invitation you can't see the Mayor" is what the guard told us. We didn't get to see the Mayor. That was a pity. have a place called Manhattan of the Desert because in New York they
also have a place called Manhattan. In New York it is an island that is called Manhattan though, not the entire city. We tried to find out from our New York guidebook why the island is named after this place in Yemen but it gave us no clue. We also asked dad why the places have such similar names. He said something about Manhattan being a metaphor and that high-rise buildings all over the World often are compared with the high-rise buildings in New York and that New York is the capital of the World and blah, blah, blah. Well, we didn't understand much of his explanation. We should know better than to ask dad to explain things. Dad reads far too many books to be able to explain anything in a language we understand.
But dad did say something that we thought was interesting. He said that you can find the name "Manhattan" in many places in the World since the name is so well known. So could it be that both places are named after yet another place called Manhattan? Or perhaps Manhattan is
Wall Street
Wall Street symbolises the wealth in United States. But all we saw was a big flag a very common name and that it's just a funny coincidence that we find two places on two different continents with the same name?
Well, we decided to try to get the answers to these questions now that we came to the States. Therefore the first place we went to was the Mayor's Office. Who is better to ask than the Mayor of New York? But when we came to the Mayor's Office there was a guard there who refused to let us in. He said that we could only see the Mayor if we could present an invitation. We didn't have any invitation because we didn't think we would need one. Maybe it was a bit naïve of us to just show up and expect the Mayor of New York to answer our questions right there right then. But we thought at least he could have asked us to come back later the same day or the day after. He may be the Mayor of New York but he can't be
that busy. But the guard just turned us flat down with the words "Without an invitation you can't see the Mayor".
After we had tried to
George Washington Statue
Wall Street symbolises the wealth in United States. But all we saw was a big statue of a man named George Washington get an appointment to see the Mayor, who apparently was so very busy that he wasn't able to even see two cuddly toys like us, mum and dad took us to a street named Wall Street. We couldn't understand why we were supposed to visit that street so we asked mum but her explanation didn't help us much. Mum said that Wall Street is very famous and that people all over the World has heard about this street. We asked her what it is famous for and she answered that is symbolises the wealth in United States since the Stock Exchange is on that street and many important banks have offices there. We don't know what a stock exchange is but we know pretty well what a bank is. It is in banks they make money and it is money that pays for all the travelling we make. So we asked mum if Wall Street help people to travel, but she just looked at us like she didn't understand the question.
We looked at the street and we still couldn't understand what is so special about it. It is a short, narrow and dark street and the only things
A friend we met on the Brooklyn Bridge
On the Brooklyn Bridge we met a friend who also travels all over the World. that we found interesting there was an American flag and a big statue.
Now here is another strange thing. The statue on Wall Street is of a man named George Washington. When we were in the States we first only spent a day in New York before we went to a city named Washington DC. In this country they sure have a habit of using names for places that have been taken by others! First Manhattan, a name they have stolen from Shibam - Manhattan of the Desert, and then Washington DC, a name they seem to have stolen from a man named George Washington. Those Americans don't have much fantasy when it comes to naming places.
But before we left New York and went to Washington DC we did one more thing - we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. On the bridge we met a friend. We never heard his name but he said that he travels with his parents all over the World very much like we are travelling with our parents. It seemed like he was having just as much fun in New York as we were.
From Brooklyn Bridge you can see the
The lower part of Manhattan
The lower part of Manhattan as seen from Brooklyn Bridge. The houses are high. Higher than any houses we have ever seen before lower part of Manhattan. We could now see for ourselves that it is true that the houses in New York are higher than the houses in Shibam. Quite a lot higher too. But this was before we saw the highest house in New York. We will get back to that later on in this blog entry. Because we didn't get to see that house until after we came back from our trip to Washington DC.
As we said before, after spending only one day in New York we had to go to Washington DC. That was OK with us because we knew that we were going to come back to New York in a few days time. We simply had to wait a few days to explore the rest of New York. Now we had another city to explore. A city just as exciting as New York.
The first day we spent in Washington DC we took an extended tour of the city. The first stop of this tour was a cemetery where an American president named John F Kennedy is buried. We heard that the president shortly before he died had been shot in Dallas. Being shot
JFK
The grave of the American president John F Kennedy in Dallas is something he has in common with
J. R. Ewing.
On this day we also saw the White House.
Emma: "This time it really
was the White House. Jean-Claude, do you remember when
we were in Paris and you thought that Sacré Cœur was the White House?"
Jean-Claude: "Yes I remember. But it really
looked like the White House."
Emma: "OK, I admit that for a while I too thought that Sacré Cœur was the White House. We are not too bright, are we?"
Jean-Claude: "No, I guess not..."
In the White House, the real White House, the President of the United States lives. But as far as we understand he can only stay there as long as he is President. If he looses the president election he get evicted and he becomes homeless. It must feel strange for the presidents of the United States. One day you are the most powerful man on the planet and you sleep in a fabulous bed in the White House and have 10 body guards following you everywhere. The next day you flunk the election. You get tossed out and have to sleep on a filthy mattress in a homeless shelter and have 10
the White House
The White House - the home of the American president people ahead of you in the line at the soup kitchen.
The White House in Washington DC is in one end of a vast open place called National Mall. The National Mall is very popular and a lot of people walk around there every day. It seems to us like the people of Washington DC needs a hobby. Since they are walking around on the National Mall all day they can't have much to do.
In the middle of the National Mall there is a large stone pillar called the Washington Monument. The Washington Monument looks like a big sewing needle. Dad really wanted to visit that monument and go to the top of it. But we never did because it was very difficult to get hold of the tickets you must have to be allowed to enter. What we don't understand is why on earth dad wanted to visit a monument that looked like a sewing needle. He has never shown any interest in the textile industry before and we have never seen him mend any clothes at home either. Dad is strange sometimes.
In the other end of the National Mall you can find a
The National Mall
The National Mall where in the middle there is a large stone pillar, looking like a big sewing needle. big house called the United States Capitol. It is big white and fancy, just like the White House. We wonder if that is a joke or something. They have two big white houses not far from each other, but only one is called the White House. The United States Capitol is just as white as the White House so why isn't the United States Capitol also named the White House? It would fit perfectly with the tradition the Americans have in giving places and things names that have already been taken by someone else.
Emma: "I think they should rename the United States Capitol and call it the White House."
Jean-Claude: "Or why not rename
both the White House
and the United States Capitol and call both of them Sacré Cœur?"
Emma: "And then the French could rename Sacré Cœur the White House..."
In one corner of the National Mall we found this really nice statue of a man named Albert Einstein. Dad got all excited when he learnt about this statue and he barely managed to grab hold of us when he ran over there to see it. We could see on his face that this statue
Statue of Albert Einstein
Us and some children climbing a statue of Albert Einstein must have something to do with science. Dad is a science nerd and when he sees something that has to do with science he behaves a bit strangely. When he ran towards the statue he had his typical science behaviour. We were right in our assumption that the statue had to do with science. Dad explained that Albert Einstein was one of the greatest physicists in history and also one of the most intelligent men to have ever lived. We don't care if he was a good scientist or not. All we care about is the fact that he is a very good statue that was nice to climb. We were not the only ones who thought it was fun to climb the statue of Albert Einstein. All the children thought so too, so the statue could sometimes get a bit crowded.
The next day in Washington DC we went to a museum. Museums are often dusty and a bit boring but not this one. This was - the National Air and Space Museum, "a museum dedicated to the history and science of aviation and spaceflight". That is fancy language for "museum with a lot of planes and space
The US Capitol and two (!) dogs
Us in front of the US Capitol. Note the dog walking behind us rockets". We like planes and space rockets so this was our kind of museum.
They had a lot of interesting stuff in this museum. Among other things they had a lot of space related items on display and that is so cool. We saw a real space suit that has been worn by a real space man, we saw a real space capsule that has been in space and the best of all - in the museum they had a real moon rock on display. We touched this rock! We have touched the moon! Maybe we will never go into space but at least we have touched the moon!
Since they in this museum have so much space related things we wanted to go and see the section on Star Wars. So we asked dad if he knew where in the museum the Star Wars things are. He then gave us a strange look and then he said that he didn't believe that Star Wars really counts as "history of aviation and spaceflight". We didn't know if dad was joking or not but a little while later we were proven right. Star Wars
does count as "space history"
Statue of a Lion
Statue of a Lion in Washington DC because there
was an exhibition on Star Wars in the museum. There wasn't very much on display there though but we did get to see both R2-D2 and C-3PO. We stayed there for a while having a chat with the heroes from Star Wars. They told us that they next had a job to do in Sweden. They were going to be the stars of a genuine Star Wars exhibition. That was wonderful news to us and we immediately started to make plans to go and see this exhibition in Sweden.
Since we are so late with writing this blog entry you, if you are a follower of this blog that is, already know that we visited that exhibition a few months ago. You can read all about our adventures there on
this link to that blog entry.
Right where they in the museum had the Star Wars section they had two more things we would like to mention here.
First we met
Kermit the Frog. Kermit really is a long time favourite of ours. He said it was a bit dull to sit there in the museum all day but also comfortable. He is well taken care of and that is not the
A Moon Rock
In the museum they had a real moon rock on display worst that can happen to a toy when he goes into retirement. Some toys end up on the street and have to go to the soup kitchens to get food (where they might bump into an ex president or two) and others even have to go as low as to act as the evil character in series like
Pokémon. Well Kermit is lucky. He sits in a museum all day and have a slow but comfortable living there. But we have a better living travelling all over the World. One day we are going to ask Kermit if he wants to go with us. But as long as we are forced to travel around with mum and dad that is not going to happen.
Now there was one more exhibit in the museum we wanted to talk about. We might add that we don't really have the same opinion about this toy. We are talking about Barbie.
Emma: "I can't believe they put Barbie in the museum next to Kermit. What a scandal!"
Jean-Claude: "I admit Barbie isn't very intelligent. She is even more stupid than I am. But she is pretty..."
Emma: "Jean-Claude, compared to Barbie you are
Space Suit
A space suit that has been worn by a space man as smart as that guy in the statue, Einstein. That is how stupid she is!"
Jean-Claude: "...but she is pretty..."
Emma: "She is
not pretty. She is just a cheap slut. She doesn't even look like a woman. She has the body of a
man. She shouldn't be in a museum! She should be in a trash dump!"
Jean-Claude: "So, so, so. Take it easy. There is probably a good reason why she was in the museum. But let's not waste time or energy to find out why. She's not worth it."
Emma: "You are right. She is not worth it.... ...hope she gets a hernia."
When we left the National Air and Space Museum mum and dad had a little special treat for us. They bought space ice cream for us. It was strange because it was neither cold nor wet. But it tasted much like ice cream so it was good anyway.
When we were in Washington we stayed with a nice couple who lives in a suburb of Washington. They had a gargoyle in their house. We have met gargoyles before when we
were in Norway and when we
were in Paris. Mum and dad always take photos of
Space capsule
A space capsule that has been in space them but we think they are scary. When we saw that the nice couple had a gargoyle in their house it really scared the beejeepers out of us. The gargoyle noticed that we got terrified and told us that he looks nasty but actually is a nice toy deep inside. We tried our luck and started talking to him. It turned out that he really was nice. He also explained to us that most gargoyles are nice and that we shouldn't be afraid of them anymore. That was good to hear. Next time we meet a gargoyle we will try to talk to him or her.
On the last day in Washington DC mum and dad went separate ways.
Emma: "Mum went to a flower garden and brought me with her."
Jean-Claude: "Dad took me to see more planes. The National Air and Space Museum is so big that they must keep some of their exhibits outside of town. That's where dad took me. Thanks dad for bringing me there. Planes are more fun than flowers."
Emma: "Flowers are more beautiful than planes. And I am happy that mum brought me over to see the flowers. 'Too many planes
R2-D2
We met R2-D2 in the section on Star Wars in the National Air and Space Museum make Emma a dull girl'"
Jean-Claude: "In the other section of the National Air and Space Museum they have many interesting planes. The best ones are Enola Gay, the plane they used for dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945, and the Space Shuttle Enterprise. Though Enterprise has never been in space so maybe it is wrong to call it space shuttle?"
Jean-Claude: "Dad and I found a funny thing on the way back from the museum this day. We found one hell of a road - we found Route 666.
Route 66 I knew about before. But
Route 666 was new to me."
Emma: "Well, I am a little bit envious of you there. It would have been fun to see that..."
The next day we went back to New York again. There we first went to see a statue we have actually seen before. First time we saw it was when we read Reskaninen's blog
entry on New York. Next time we saw it was when we
were in Paris. This statue looks like a woman who has just won gold at the Olympics. We call it Statue of Winning the Gold Medal at the Olympics but everybody else call it
C-3PO
We met C-3PO in the section on Star Wars in the National Air and Space Museum Statue of Liberty. We once thought it was strange that they can have so similar looking statues in two different cities. But we understand better now how that can be possible. Our friend Zakjekonijn explained that beautifully in a comment on
a blog entry we have on Millesgarden. The statues are not fake or copies or anything. Statue makers sometimes make cover versions of each others statues. Just like musicians make
cover versions of songs statue makers make cover versions of statues. It makes perfect sense when you see it that way.
In New York we saw a house with the number 666 on it. We were only in the States for a few days and we saw the number twice. The Number of the Beast seems to be popular around here. Or maybe it is just yet another example of Americans not having enough fantasy to come up with new names for things. We can almost picture them when they had to name that house
Man 1: "Oh man, we have this building in New York we have to come up with a name for. Do you have a good name we can use."
Man 2: "Oh chucks. No names here bro. Can't we
Kermit the Frog
Kermit is lucky. He sits in a museum all day and have a slow but comfortable living there. just recycle a name like we usually do?"
Man 1: "Yeah maybe we can do that. Do you know any name from where you come from?"
Man 2: "I grew up in Pennsylvania near Route 666. We don't use names there. Everybody is retarded in Pennsylvania."
Man 1: "Route 666, you said? Let's call the building 666. What the heck..."
Later the same day in New York we went to see a place called Strawberry Fields. But we were disappointed when we didn't find any strawberries there. A Strawberry Fields where they don't grow strawberries. That's stupid! In New York Strawberry Fields is just a big park. We found a mural that said Imagine and that's where all the people went to take photos. So we went there to have our photo taken too. Dad said that this park was set up in memory of the British musician John Lennon and the park in named after one of his most famous songs, Strawberry Fields Forever. That's the reason for the name of the place. We think it should be compulsory to hand out free strawberries to everybody in a place named Strawberry Fields. But we didn't see a single
Barbie
Emma: "Barbie shouldn't be in a museum. She is cheap and stupid and a slut."
Jean-Claude: "...but she is pretty..." strawberry that day.
But in another part of the park we saw a nice statue we could climb. The statue was of the Danish writer
Hans Christian Andersen. The statue was nice to climb but not as nice as the statue of Albert Einstein we found in Washington DC.
It is funny how they in one end of this big park in New York have a place dedicated to the memory of a British musician and in the other end have a statue dedicated to the memory of a Danish writer. Don't they have any Americans worth remembering?
The last day in New York we went to a place called Times Square. It was a very strange place. There were TV-screens everywhere. It was strange but also fun.
This day we also went to see the building we mentioned earlier in this blog entry - the highest house in New York. It is called the Empire State Building and it is impossibly high. When we were at the top we asked dad to hold us over the guard rails so we could see how high it really was. When he did that, or as he called it -
Space Ice Cream
Mum and dad bought space ice cream for us. when he pulled a Michael Jackson, we actually got scared. It was so high that it was almost impossible not to get acrophobia (fear of heights). Remember, it was not dad's fault that he held us over the guard rail. We asked for it so we only have ourselves to blame. Don't report dad to the police or Save the Toys or anything. Mum and dad don't mistreat us. They are a bit dull, boring and very embarrassing but they don't mistreat us!
Finally we'd like to mention the statue we found on lower Manhattan. It was of a big bull. In Washington DC we found a statue of a Lion and in New York a statue of a bull. Wonder if this somehow reflects the personalities of the people who live in these two cities. That is a question we probably never will find the answer to.
When we were in the States we noticed that the Americans don't have much fantasy when it comes to give name to cities, places, statues and other things. But since we have such a popular blog we thought we could help them a little bit. So here in the end
Meeting a gargoyle
It turned out that gargoyles are nice after all... we have therefore added a few suggestions on how they can rename their cities and places.
"New York" can be renamed "Very Tall House City"
"Washington DC" can be renamed "The City Where You Can Touch The Moon"
"Statue of Liberty" can be renamed "Statue Of Winning A Gold Medal At The Olympics"
"Empire State Building" can be renamed "A House So Tall It Will Give You Acrophobia"
"Washington Monument" can be renamed "Monument To The Makers Of Sewing Needles"
This is the end of this blog entry. Hope you liked it.
Emma and Jean-Claude
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