In conclusion, we have had a fantastic trip all the way round the world, around 32,000 miles, we have seen many of the worlds famous attractions, also many different aspects of life, some very luxurious, some much closer to the slums. We have met people from all walks of life and been pleasantly surprised at how many really nice people there are out there. In Australia we noticed that you only needed to stop and look up and someone would ask if you needed help ? In fact the only time we were surprised by peoples’ bad attitude was a couple of times in Niagara Falls but perhaps they were both having an off day. Apart from our first month in Perth, where it seemed like it rained every day, we have had exceptionally good weather, hardly a drop of rain and only in New Zealand and Boston have we had to put our coats on in the evening as it got chilly.
In the middle of all this, we had the time at Adam and Tj’s wedding in Daydream Island, meeting her family and spending time with ours in Brisbane too.
Amazingly apart from 1 airport, our check in and customs have been exceptionally smooth and quick with no hassle or bad experiences, with little or no queues, also our timings on and off trains (expect once in San Francisco) have been perfectly timed. We have hired 5 cars, 1 motorbike and 1 Campervan to get around, we have also ridden on planes, a helicopter, trains buses and boats and of course walked many miles. We have slept in 30 different beds since we left Spain, stayed in hotels, motels, hostels, apartments, houses and B & B. Bob has played 10 full rounds of golf and a ½ round in Perth when he was forced to give up in a rain storm. So he nearly managed 1 a week, Cairns, LA, Las Vegas and New York he missed playing due to timescales or the cost of golf there!
It has been really hard to keep up the diary for 103 days, often sitting in bed til 2am typing away, but I am so glad I have because we could not possibly remember everything we did but with the diary we have so many more memories to keep. We also hope that some of you managed to read some of it too and enjoyed some of the funnier moments with us. Along with this we have over 3,000 photos – just be glad I have only put a selection on the web for you !
Yes, we would do it again, but I don’t think Aunt Dorothy has any more money left !! See you all soon.
Oct 14, 2008
Oct 8, 2008
Week 15 October 7th to 10th Last days in Boston
Day 99 Tuesday 7th October
.JPG)
Hey, the massage worked it’s much better this morning, Bob dressed and went downstairs to put the washing in the launderette machine while I showered – back very quickly he said the lady who ran it had gone out and he didn’t know how to use the machine. We had breakfast and I went back down to the launderette and put the washing on while Bob tidied up and made some phone calls about booking golf for Thursday. When the washing was all done we set off for the North End of Boston and the Wharf. Although we had been round this area already on Saturday, it was so busy that we wanted to look at it more quietly. We walked up through the Theatre district and went down different streets to Saturdays visit, taking in the different styles of buildings – it’s a very mixed up area – architecturally. We ended up at the harbor and sat in the sunshine watching the boats and across the water we could see the planes coming into and out of Boston Logan Airport – we were amazed at the amount of traffic there was for a weekday. I had been looking for a new black belt for my new black jeans and found one in Macy’s where we got a visitors discount of about 15% - just for being on holiday – I wish more shops would take this idea up ! Bobs’ leg was aching now so we chickened out of walking home and got on the subway train to the supermarket 10 mins from the apartment so that we could pickup something for dinner on the way back. I think we have been spoilt eating out and not cooking, 6 days of cooking dinners here has been a struggle !!!! Time this evening to finish updating the blog to date and start to repack the bags for tomorrows last move to the Comfort Inn at Revere near the beach and airport.
Day 100 Wednesday 8th October
Do you ever have one of those mornings when you know you have loads to do but can’t get out of bed – well we had one of those this morning. We had to be out of the apartment by 12 and we were still in bed at 9am. Finally we stirred ourselves, showered and had breakfast. Bob popped out to the ATM for some cash and I started to clear the kitchen cupboards and wipe down to leave it tidy. Around 11am, still not finished packing, we thought about the cost of the taxi’s to take us to the hotel and for Bob to go to golf tomorrow and back again and realized it would probably be cheaper to hire a car for the last couple of days. We set about the huge pile of visitors guides and and internet and began to make phone calls – we couldn’t believe it, everyone was unanswered, out of service or truck hire only . By now I was getting worried that we would not be out in time so we gave up on that tack, finished the packing and ordered a taxi. Bob had barely put the phone down and the taxi driver was at the door ! Keeping in mind that we are 2 very high floors up with 5 pieces of luggage Bob had to almost run up and down the stairs with the bags while I carried the hand luggage bags down and the taxi driver just stood there ! no tip for him ! When we got in the taxi we told him where we wanted to go and he seemed to have trouble with English !! I had to tell him 5 times, “the Comfort Inn, Revere” before he said “what’s the address, there are lots of Comfort Inns, which one?” I repeated it again and said that we didn’t live here and he was supposed to know the Hotels – then the penny dropped and he said “oh – Comfort Inn in Revere” stupid man ! Slightly stressed we checked into the hotel, dropped the bags and went out for a walk. Winding our way down the streets to the beach and promenade. The houses here are more how I imagined Boston to be, wooden colonial with verandahs. However, we imagined the beach and promenade to be a bit livelier but in fact it was very quiet and somewhat grubby and tired in looks, however, the sun was shining so we strolled for a mile or so and stopped for lunch at a beachfront café (the only one that looked ok!). We watched the planes coming in and out of Boston Airport which was only about 3 miles away and were amazed at the frequency of them, as one passed over us there was another glimmering in the distance. Rested and fed we strolled back towards the hotel via a different route, passing a shopping centre, a greyhound track and the subway station before arriving back at the hotel. The hotel has a small but heated indoor pool so we went for a swim then, after a shower and change we went down to the restaurant for a meal which was really nice. It was a Mexican restaurant and Bob and I are not known for liking anything hot and spicy but the waiter was very helpful and kind and made some suggestions based on what we did like and how hungry we were. Bob had a chicken dish and I had a large starter of nachos. We finished the evening off with a Baileys in the room as we still had a quarter of a bottle left over from the apartment and a chat with Adam in Brisbane. He and TJ are off to Australia Zoo tomorrow for interviews to work there for 5 days – just as an experience, without pay. Apparently there are thousands of applications every year so they were lucky to even get an interview, if they get offered a job it could be with any animal in the zoo – hope they don’t get tigers or crocodiles or even worse – spiders !!!
Day 101 Thursday 9th October
Bob was up at 6.30 this morning to play his last game of golf on the trip, there is a course about 7 miles away, although there is one closer but when he phoned they said it was a members club and he would have to be invited by a member !!! Stuffy lot !!! He went down for breakfast and ordered a taxi and off he went. I in the meantime tried to get back to sleep but couldn’t so I watched the morning news and went down for breakfast around 8am – it was only continental breakfast but it was included in the room rate so one can’t complain. I read the morning paper in the reception area while I drank my coffee as it was a bit busy in the breakfast room then went back to the room to change into my swimsuit for a morning swim. I had the pool to myself which was lovely, although the windows look onto the lift area so everyone waiting for the lift looks into the pool – I kept my head down and continued with my lengths ! I spent the next hour, unpacking all the bags and repacking in some sort of order for travelling then went to the laundry to do the last bit of washing (I like to keep on top of it). Then checked my emails, did some research for a DVD drive and ipod charger and read my book til Bob got back. He arrived back with his tales of his round with 4 ladies. The sun had shone and he had had a fairly good round, scoring a birdie on one hole and stopped to have a drink with them before Frank, his taxi driver had come back to pick him up and bring back. It was such a lovely day that we decided to catch the train back into Boston, we were about 5 miles outside of the city in this hotel and there was nothing much to see or do around, except the beach, so we caught the train to Boyleston Street in the centre and had a ciabatta sandwich for lunch, then a walk round the shops, up and down narrow streets and came out opposite the cinema we had visited a couple of nights before. We went in to see what was on and saw that the film, Nights in Rodanthe with Richard Gere opened that night and as I have just read the book we decided to come back in an hour and 30 mins to get tickets for the afternoon performance. We noticed there seemed to be an awful lot of police around, they were on every corner and very visual – couldn’t see that anything particularly was happening though. We looked for another suitcase as we weren’t sure if we were within the weight limits for 3 bags and thought we might have to go to 4 bags, but Macy’s wanted over $200 for a medium sized bag. Before long we were back at the cinema and taking our seats for the performance. There was only about 10 people in there but 2 sitting a few rows behind us were making some strange sounds I am sure they weren’t watching the film ! but every time I turned round to look it was too dark to see ! Well, I sobbed my heart out, quietly, what a lovely film and Richard Gere doesn’t age much, Bob made fun of me crying but when I went to the loo to blow my nose there were 3 other girls in there doing the same ! We came out of the cinema to find it was dark but there was a train station opposite so we hopped on the train and were back at the hotel in a jiffy. Bob was hungry as he had had a long day and not had much for lunch but I couldn’t eat so he ordered a Mexican meal on room service and I helped him eat the salad and crisps.
Day 102 Friday 10th October
We went down for breakfast at 8am this morning, going back to the room straight afterwards and beginning the final packing. We logged onto the internet to see if we could checkin online which we did, then Lucy came online so we had a few mins chat to Dan who was excited that we would be there for breakfast tomorrow. With extended checkout until 12 o’clock we were able to go for a swim in the hotel pool and when we were showered and ready to go Bob took the luggage to reception and had it locked into the luggage room while I printed off the boarding passes and then we set off for the beach with our books. It was only 15 mins walk and it was so warm that we unzipped our trouser legs off and sat on the sand for an hour reading and trying not to take any notice of a couple having a very loud argument on the beach. Time to walk back and pick up our bags and the shuttle bus arrived to whizz us to the airport. Baggage dropped off, well within the allowance thank goodness, we went through customs very easily and after a quick walk round the duty free we found a Chinese for something to eat and settled down for an hour wait to board our last flight. As flights go, it was the worst – not impressed with British Airways, we were in row 50 of 55, the seating was cramped and it was so hot we had to resort to using the safety information card to fan us. The meal was ok but the breakfast was a dried up croissant and some jam and Butter with an orange juice ! We only got about an hour sleep in the 6hr flight and landed ahead of time at 5am Saturday morning. We were through customs very quickly but when we phoned the car hire company there was no reply – we waited 20 mins on the phone before someone answered and then we stood for another 20 mins outside waiting for the minibus to pick us up to collect the car. Finally on the road at 6.45am we drove a clear road all the way back to Coventry to have breakfast with the grandchildren at 8.30 to end our trip of a lifetime.
.JPG)
Hey, the massage worked it’s much better this morning, Bob dressed and went downstairs to put the washing in the launderette machine while I showered – back very quickly he said the lady who ran it had gone out and he didn’t know how to use the machine. We had breakfast and I went back down to the launderette and put the washing on while Bob tidied up and made some phone calls about booking golf for Thursday. When the washing was all done we set off for the North End of Boston and the Wharf. Although we had been round this area already on Saturday, it was so busy that we wanted to look at it more quietly. We walked up through the Theatre district and went down different streets to Saturdays visit, taking in the different styles of buildings – it’s a very mixed up area – architecturally. We ended up at the harbor and sat in the sunshine watching the boats and across the water we could see the planes coming into and out of Boston Logan Airport – we were amazed at the amount of traffic there was for a weekday. I had been looking for a new black belt for my new black jeans and found one in Macy’s where we got a visitors discount of about 15% - just for being on holiday – I wish more shops would take this idea up ! Bobs’ leg was aching now so we chickened out of walking home and got on the subway train to the supermarket 10 mins from the apartment so that we could pickup something for dinner on the way back. I think we have been spoilt eating out and not cooking, 6 days of cooking dinners here has been a struggle !!!! Time this evening to finish updating the blog to date and start to repack the bags for tomorrows last move to the Comfort Inn at Revere near the beach and airport.
Day 100 Wednesday 8th October
Do you ever have one of those mornings when you know you have loads to do but can’t get out of bed – well we had one of those this morning. We had to be out of the apartment by 12 and we were still in bed at 9am. Finally we stirred ourselves, showered and had breakfast. Bob popped out to the ATM for some cash and I started to clear the kitchen cupboards and wipe down to leave it tidy. Around 11am, still not finished packing, we thought about the cost of the taxi’s to take us to the hotel and for Bob to go to golf tomorrow and back again and realized it would probably be cheaper to hire a car for the last couple of days. We set about the huge pile of visitors guides and and internet and began to make phone calls – we couldn’t believe it, everyone was unanswered, out of service or truck hire only . By now I was getting worried that we would not be out in time so we gave up on that tack, finished the packing and ordered a taxi. Bob had barely put the phone down and the taxi driver was at the door ! Keeping in mind that we are 2 very high floors up with 5 pieces of luggage Bob had to almost run up and down the stairs with the bags while I carried the hand luggage bags down and the taxi driver just stood there ! no tip for him ! When we got in the taxi we told him where we wanted to go and he seemed to have trouble with English !! I had to tell him 5 times, “the Comfort Inn, Revere” before he said “what’s the address, there are lots of Comfort Inns, which one?” I repeated it again and said that we didn’t live here and he was supposed to know the Hotels – then the penny dropped and he said “oh – Comfort Inn in Revere” stupid man ! Slightly stressed we checked into the hotel, dropped the bags and went out for a walk. Winding our way down the streets to the beach and promenade. The houses here are more how I imagined Boston to be, wooden colonial with verandahs. However, we imagined the beach and promenade to be a bit livelier but in fact it was very quiet and somewhat grubby and tired in looks, however, the sun was shining so we strolled for a mile or so and stopped for lunch at a beachfront café (the only one that looked ok!). We watched the planes coming in and out of Boston Airport which was only about 3 miles away and were amazed at the frequency of them, as one passed over us there was another glimmering in the distance. Rested and fed we strolled back towards the hotel via a different route, passing a shopping centre, a greyhound track and the subway station before arriving back at the hotel. The hotel has a small but heated indoor pool so we went for a swim then, after a shower and change we went down to the restaurant for a meal which was really nice. It was a Mexican restaurant and Bob and I are not known for liking anything hot and spicy but the waiter was very helpful and kind and made some suggestions based on what we did like and how hungry we were. Bob had a chicken dish and I had a large starter of nachos. We finished the evening off with a Baileys in the room as we still had a quarter of a bottle left over from the apartment and a chat with Adam in Brisbane. He and TJ are off to Australia Zoo tomorrow for interviews to work there for 5 days – just as an experience, without pay. Apparently there are thousands of applications every year so they were lucky to even get an interview, if they get offered a job it could be with any animal in the zoo – hope they don’t get tigers or crocodiles or even worse – spiders !!!
Day 101 Thursday 9th October
Bob was up at 6.30 this morning to play his last game of golf on the trip, there is a course about 7 miles away, although there is one closer but when he phoned they said it was a members club and he would have to be invited by a member !!! Stuffy lot !!! He went down for breakfast and ordered a taxi and off he went. I in the meantime tried to get back to sleep but couldn’t so I watched the morning news and went down for breakfast around 8am – it was only continental breakfast but it was included in the room rate so one can’t complain. I read the morning paper in the reception area while I drank my coffee as it was a bit busy in the breakfast room then went back to the room to change into my swimsuit for a morning swim. I had the pool to myself which was lovely, although the windows look onto the lift area so everyone waiting for the lift looks into the pool – I kept my head down and continued with my lengths ! I spent the next hour, unpacking all the bags and repacking in some sort of order for travelling then went to the laundry to do the last bit of washing (I like to keep on top of it). Then checked my emails, did some research for a DVD drive and ipod charger and read my book til Bob got back. He arrived back with his tales of his round with 4 ladies. The sun had shone and he had had a fairly good round, scoring a birdie on one hole and stopped to have a drink with them before Frank, his taxi driver had come back to pick him up and bring back. It was such a lovely day that we decided to catch the train back into Boston, we were about 5 miles outside of the city in this hotel and there was nothing much to see or do around, except the beach, so we caught the train to Boyleston Street in the centre and had a ciabatta sandwich for lunch, then a walk round the shops, up and down narrow streets and came out opposite the cinema we had visited a couple of nights before. We went in to see what was on and saw that the film, Nights in Rodanthe with Richard Gere opened that night and as I have just read the book we decided to come back in an hour and 30 mins to get tickets for the afternoon performance. We noticed there seemed to be an awful lot of police around, they were on every corner and very visual – couldn’t see that anything particularly was happening though. We looked for another suitcase as we weren’t sure if we were within the weight limits for 3 bags and thought we might have to go to 4 bags, but Macy’s wanted over $200 for a medium sized bag. Before long we were back at the cinema and taking our seats for the performance. There was only about 10 people in there but 2 sitting a few rows behind us were making some strange sounds I am sure they weren’t watching the film ! but every time I turned round to look it was too dark to see ! Well, I sobbed my heart out, quietly, what a lovely film and Richard Gere doesn’t age much, Bob made fun of me crying but when I went to the loo to blow my nose there were 3 other girls in there doing the same ! We came out of the cinema to find it was dark but there was a train station opposite so we hopped on the train and were back at the hotel in a jiffy. Bob was hungry as he had had a long day and not had much for lunch but I couldn’t eat so he ordered a Mexican meal on room service and I helped him eat the salad and crisps.
Day 102 Friday 10th October
We went down for breakfast at 8am this morning, going back to the room straight afterwards and beginning the final packing. We logged onto the internet to see if we could checkin online which we did, then Lucy came online so we had a few mins chat to Dan who was excited that we would be there for breakfast tomorrow. With extended checkout until 12 o’clock we were able to go for a swim in the hotel pool and when we were showered and ready to go Bob took the luggage to reception and had it locked into the luggage room while I printed off the boarding passes and then we set off for the beach with our books. It was only 15 mins walk and it was so warm that we unzipped our trouser legs off and sat on the sand for an hour reading and trying not to take any notice of a couple having a very loud argument on the beach. Time to walk back and pick up our bags and the shuttle bus arrived to whizz us to the airport. Baggage dropped off, well within the allowance thank goodness, we went through customs very easily and after a quick walk round the duty free we found a Chinese for something to eat and settled down for an hour wait to board our last flight. As flights go, it was the worst – not impressed with British Airways, we were in row 50 of 55, the seating was cramped and it was so hot we had to resort to using the safety information card to fan us. The meal was ok but the breakfast was a dried up croissant and some jam and Butter with an orange juice ! We only got about an hour sleep in the 6hr flight and landed ahead of time at 5am Saturday morning. We were through customs very quickly but when we phoned the car hire company there was no reply – we waited 20 mins on the phone before someone answered and then we stood for another 20 mins outside waiting for the minibus to pick us up to collect the car. Finally on the road at 6.45am we drove a clear road all the way back to Coventry to have breakfast with the grandchildren at 8.30 to end our trip of a lifetime.
Oct 4, 2008
Week 14 September 30th to October 6th New York and Boston
Day 92 Tuesday 30th September in New York
.JPG)
Adam had phoned last night around 8pm as we stood in Times Square looking at all the sparkly bill boards so I said we would talk on the webcam when he got home from work, that would be 7am tomorrow morning for us, so we set the alarm to be and showered for 7am so that we could get an early breakfast. We wanted to do the Empire State Building and we were told best time was morning, it opened at 8am so we went next door to Starbucks for a quick breakfast (cake and coffee) and joined the queue at 7.45am. The morning was warm, sunny and clear so we were hoping for a good view and we weren’t disappointed. We could see right across New York and filled the camera with photos and then the battery went flat ! Being only across the road from the hotel we nipped back for an hour to charge it, Bob had seen a 1hr film developing shop just down the road so he took our throw away camera with the Niagara film in it to them and then we spent the time studying all the leaflets and brochures we had, planning what to do and where to go. Around 11am, with the camera battery recharged, we called back to the film shop and picked up the photos then we got on the NY Sightseeing tour bus (blue one) the red one was a rival company, to do the downtown tour. We drove past some of the famous sites, 42nd street, Broadway and the theatres, Times Square, Little Italy, the Chinese quarter, down to Wall Street and the financial area and into the Harbour where we left the bus and boarded the ferry to the Statue of Liberty – I have never seen so many people on one boat , we were crammed in and as another boat passed it set up a bow wave that had us rocking and rolling over several degrees – nearly brought up breakfast -! Once underway it was ok and round the statue then off to Ellis Island where we got off. Here we saw where the immigrants were brought in the 1920’s who wanted to enter America, the way they were treated and housed while papers were issued – there were some horrifying stories. Another boat had arrived at the dock and there wasn’t a long queue so we hopped on and went back to Manhattan (the name apparently comes from the Indians who lived there originally, they called it Mahata which meant island of hills). It was around 5pm now and outside Wall Street, only minutes from the harbour, were hundreds of reporters waiting to see what had happened to the stock exchange that day. On the way back to the bus stop I slipped off a pavement and went sprawling, luckily nothing damaged only a bit of pride, a nice young policeman helped me up and we continued up the road passing ground zero where the Twin Towers had been. Building is in progress but they don’t think it will be completed until 2014. Back on the bus we continued the downtown tour finishing 1 stop before the one we started from and walked round the shops, stopping at Macy’s we realized we were hungry so we went to their restaurant and ate a lovely 3 course dinner with wine for a very reasonable cost. From here we took a slow walk back to the Hotel, our feet were aching from the days walking but we enjoyed every minute.
Day 93 Wednesday 1st October
With a 3 day bus pass we decided to do the uptown tour today, but firstly we wanted to be at the Marriot Hotel early as we hoped to get half price theatre tickets for tonight. Unfortunately when we arrived there were only tickets for 2pm performances available which would not fit in with our plans for the day so we decided to come back at 3pm when the office was opened for the evening performance tkts. Next we went into Toys R Us in Times Square as it’s the biggest one in the world and it has an 18ft ferris wheel in the centre of the shop. The stop for the uptown tour was 2 blocks away so we walked there and joined the short queue for the next bus. The tour was very different to the downtown tour as much of it was alongside Central Park and the area was much more residential rather than high rise office blocks. We saw Duke Ellington Street and his statue near where he used to live, the front doorway where John Lennon was shot and killed and up through Harlem which is a much nicer place than I imagined. Prices of property here is extortionate, around $4,000 a month rent for a 1 bedroom apartment!
Day 94 Thursday 2nd October
We didn’t have much to pack as we hadn’t unpacked, the hotel was definitely a short stay place with little luggage space as there was no wardrobe, just 3 coat hangers on the wall and 2 small drawers so we left most of our stuff in the suitcases. We showered and went out for breakfast next door. A short walk to digest breakfast then back to the Hotel to finish packing and have a read until it was time to leave at 11am. All checked out, we had the option to get a cab to the railway station but it was only about 12 mins walk – probably as quick as a cab with the amount of traffic around. So we set off pulling 3 suitcases now and wearing 2 rucksacks, arriving at Pennsylvania Station in plenty of time for our 12.03 departure. The journey was only 3.40 mins as it was a limited stop business train so we sat back and enjoyed the scenery. Most of the journey being along the coast we soon left the high rise buildings of New York in favour of the wooden colonial buildings along the coastline. Arriving ahead of time we exited the station and set off for Tremont Street where we were staying. When we arrived we were surprised to find that the apartment was on the top floor of a 4 storey old Victorian house. It is not of the best quality, definitely furnished for rental but it has its own loo, kitchen and bedroom so it will do for 6 days. We dropped the bags, signed the rental agreement and set off to find out where we were and to get some shopping in for meals for a couple of days. It took us 15 mins to walk to the local supermarket and shopping mall where we had a couple of hours walk round and then did the food shop. Walking back to the apartment at sometime after 7pm as it was just about dark, we could see inside some of the apartments and houses on the way – I love looking into windows to see how they have their rooms decorated.
Day 95 Friday 3rd October in Boston
I woke with a stiff back this morning, I think I pulled it attempting to pull the suitcase up the stairs, however, we had promised ourselves a bit of a rest here so we had a lazy breakfast, caught up with some blog and talked to Lucy on the webcam before going next door to the laundry to do some washing. At the other side of the house was a barbershop so Bob went in to get his haircut and finished around the same time as I was bringing the washing out so we went back to the apartment for some lunch then set off for a walk. We can’t believe how lovely the weather is and the forecast is good for the rest of the week too. We walked, stopping to look at anything that interested us, the streets are mostly clean, wide and quiet - such a change from New York. The houses are very Victorian with lots of ironwork on the fronts of them and mostly they are kept very tidy. We walked for about 4 hours, in which time we had checked out the 2 main Trolley Bus Companies for our tour tomorrow to orientate ourselves. Back to the apartment for dinner and a baileys on ice – we treated ourselves to a bottle so I could put my feet up and ease the back while we surfed the net and booked a hotel for the last 2 days here by the airport and a hire car from Heathrow.
Day 96 Saturday 4th October
This morning we had planned to spend the day riding the Trolley Bus round the city. However, I think I pulled my back on Thursday pulling the suitcase up the stairs to the front door of this house and yesterday evening I was in a bit of pain so I decided to take it easy. Fortunately the bed here is very comfortable and I had a good nights sleep so the back is a bit easier today. The first bus leaves the town at 9am so we made it for 9.30, bought the tickets off a very nice man who gave us “pensioner rates” and set off from stop no. 7. We stayed on enjoying the views and the commentary about the city, how it was originally only 1.8sq. miles in size and how most of the 48 sq miles of Boston now is built on landfill taken from the hills. We also saw lots of sights, the most gruesome was the house where the Boston Stranglers last victim was found. We came back round to stop no. 1 which is on the wharf. Here we visited Quincy Market, Faneuil Hall Marketplace and the harbour, where we found 2 mounted policemen on huge Clydesdale horses. We watched some Colonially dressed marching bandsmen entertaining the people. Today some of the streets were closed because it was the grand opening of a walkway called the Greenway, around the city. After a bit of shopping in the markets and some lunch we stopped at the ticket office for half price theatre tickets but there was nothing on that we fancied so we hopped back on the bus for two stops to no. 3 where the Naval Yards are. Here we climbed onto the USS Constitution, a very old ship they are continuing to renovate to its original glory . Also we went into the museum and then onto the much younger Destroyer ship from WW2 called the Cassin Young, named after a brave naval man. Finally, with my back starting to ache I sat in the sunshine and read the leaflets we had collected while Bob went into the Museum of Constitution which told the life story of the USS Constitution. Back on the bus we continued to stop no. 5 and visited the State House Museum which is one of the oldest buildings in Boston and where the Governor General lived and who only answered to the King. Also this was the place where the Boston Massacre occurred when the Bostonians rioted about the amount of taxes the English government were putting on them. The sun was shining and so we walked right through downtown Boston, past the park and right back to the shopping centre near our apartment so that we could pick up some food for dinner.
Day 97 Sunday 5th October
.JPG)
Even though the sun was shining it was Sunday morning so we had a leisurely breakfast and read the local paper that had been thrown at the front of the house in a plastic bag. Around midday, with trainers and coats on we set off for a walk to the Boston Common. There was a very good singer on the bandstand singing gospel songs and we stopped to listen for a few moments and also to see a park ranger on a horse who was also listening. The park was very busy with families enjoying the autumn day. Going up hill we exited the park on the other side into the Beacon Hill area which is one of the nicest areas of Boston. A very historic hilly area, the houses are Victorian, 3 and 4 storey terraces but very elegant and ornately decorated. We climbed up and down taking some photos where we found famous spots – the authoress Louisa May Alcotts’ house, the house where the Boston Stranglers’ last victim was found etc. stopping for coffee and a cake in the main street. Leaving the area we continued down one of the shopping streets and came across a hair salon open on Sunday and on a whim I went in to see if they could cut my hair. The owner said he could do it now so I couldn’t back out and sat for an hour while we chatted and he cut and cut until I said Stop ! $45 and about l lb of hair lighter we came back out into the afternoon air and I felt chilly. Must have been a “on a whim” day because we passed the Apple shop and went in, coming out 15 mins later with docking speakers for my ipod. Bob can’t get over how I spend so much on a Sunday afternoon walk to the park ??
Day 98 Monday 6th October
The weather man said it might rain today so we decided to take scarves and coats as we had decided to take the longest walk yet to Cambridge in the Harvard University area. We headed north towards the river and crossed the Longfellow bridge over it, arriving in East Cambridge about an hour and a half later.
We started to walk towards Harvard University, passing the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) which is a very strange shaped building but realized that it was going to be too far to walk all the way to the University Museum from here, especially as my ankle was twinging. We looked around the area and ended up buying some new jeans, a shirt and a handbag for me and some trainers for Bob for ridiculously cheap prices. We had planned to go to the cinema this evening as “The Duchess” starring Kiera Knightly was premiering here so we found a subway and with some tuition bought a 4$ ticket and hopped on a train towards home. We didn’t have any more than an hour before we had to leave to walk to the cinema so we stopped at the pizza parlour across the road which was recommended to us by the landlord and ordered a takeaway, resting my feet while we ate it. Bob had checked the paper and the 8.05 performance was the last one so we set off at just after 7pm and arrived at 7.40pm to find that the performance was at 7.05 and 9.35pm !!! I was not going to walk all the way back without seeing the film now so we bought tickets for the 9.35 performance and went round the corner for a drink in a bar. Around 8.30 the barman asked if we wanted another drink before he closed -What !!!!! We didn’t order another but we did stay until around 9pm when everyone had gone. Slowly we walked back to the cinema and waited for the 7.05 performance to finish before going in and settling into our seats. We enjoyed the film but when we came out it was 11.30pm and my ankle was still sore from earlier walking, also I didn’t fancy walking back in an area we weren’t sure about so we jumped into a taxi outside the cinema and were home in a jiffy. Bob massaged some oil into my ankle while I sipped a Baileys before bed hoping that it would be ok for tomorrows walk.
.JPG)
Adam had phoned last night around 8pm as we stood in Times Square looking at all the sparkly bill boards so I said we would talk on the webcam when he got home from work, that would be 7am tomorrow morning for us, so we set the alarm to be and showered for 7am so that we could get an early breakfast. We wanted to do the Empire State Building and we were told best time was morning, it opened at 8am so we went next door to Starbucks for a quick breakfast (cake and coffee) and joined the queue at 7.45am. The morning was warm, sunny and clear so we were hoping for a good view and we weren’t disappointed. We could see right across New York and filled the camera with photos and then the battery went flat ! Being only across the road from the hotel we nipped back for an hour to charge it, Bob had seen a 1hr film developing shop just down the road so he took our throw away camera with the Niagara film in it to them and then we spent the time studying all the leaflets and brochures we had, planning what to do and where to go. Around 11am, with the camera battery recharged, we called back to the film shop and picked up the photos then we got on the NY Sightseeing tour bus (blue one) the red one was a rival company, to do the downtown tour. We drove past some of the famous sites, 42nd street, Broadway and the theatres, Times Square, Little Italy, the Chinese quarter, down to Wall Street and the financial area and into the Harbour where we left the bus and boarded the ferry to the Statue of Liberty – I have never seen so many people on one boat , we were crammed in and as another boat passed it set up a bow wave that had us rocking and rolling over several degrees – nearly brought up breakfast -! Once underway it was ok and round the statue then off to Ellis Island where we got off. Here we saw where the immigrants were brought in the 1920’s who wanted to enter America, the way they were treated and housed while papers were issued – there were some horrifying stories. Another boat had arrived at the dock and there wasn’t a long queue so we hopped on and went back to Manhattan (the name apparently comes from the Indians who lived there originally, they called it Mahata which meant island of hills). It was around 5pm now and outside Wall Street, only minutes from the harbour, were hundreds of reporters waiting to see what had happened to the stock exchange that day. On the way back to the bus stop I slipped off a pavement and went sprawling, luckily nothing damaged only a bit of pride, a nice young policeman helped me up and we continued up the road passing ground zero where the Twin Towers had been. Building is in progress but they don’t think it will be completed until 2014. Back on the bus we continued the downtown tour finishing 1 stop before the one we started from and walked round the shops, stopping at Macy’s we realized we were hungry so we went to their restaurant and ate a lovely 3 course dinner with wine for a very reasonable cost. From here we took a slow walk back to the Hotel, our feet were aching from the days walking but we enjoyed every minute.
Day 93 Wednesday 1st October
With a 3 day bus pass we decided to do the uptown tour today, but firstly we wanted to be at the Marriot Hotel early as we hoped to get half price theatre tickets for tonight. Unfortunately when we arrived there were only tickets for 2pm performances available which would not fit in with our plans for the day so we decided to come back at 3pm when the office was opened for the evening performance tkts. Next we went into Toys R Us in Times Square as it’s the biggest one in the world and it has an 18ft ferris wheel in the centre of the shop. The stop for the uptown tour was 2 blocks away so we walked there and joined the short queue for the next bus. The tour was very different to the downtown tour as much of it was alongside Central Park and the area was much more residential rather than high rise office blocks. We saw Duke Ellington Street and his statue near where he used to live, the front doorway where John Lennon was shot and killed and up through Harlem which is a much nicer place than I imagined. Prices of property here is extortionate, around $4,000 a month rent for a 1 bedroom apartment!
Day 94 Thursday 2nd October
We didn’t have much to pack as we hadn’t unpacked, the hotel was definitely a short stay place with little luggage space as there was no wardrobe, just 3 coat hangers on the wall and 2 small drawers so we left most of our stuff in the suitcases. We showered and went out for breakfast next door. A short walk to digest breakfast then back to the Hotel to finish packing and have a read until it was time to leave at 11am. All checked out, we had the option to get a cab to the railway station but it was only about 12 mins walk – probably as quick as a cab with the amount of traffic around. So we set off pulling 3 suitcases now and wearing 2 rucksacks, arriving at Pennsylvania Station in plenty of time for our 12.03 departure. The journey was only 3.40 mins as it was a limited stop business train so we sat back and enjoyed the scenery. Most of the journey being along the coast we soon left the high rise buildings of New York in favour of the wooden colonial buildings along the coastline. Arriving ahead of time we exited the station and set off for Tremont Street where we were staying. When we arrived we were surprised to find that the apartment was on the top floor of a 4 storey old Victorian house. It is not of the best quality, definitely furnished for rental but it has its own loo, kitchen and bedroom so it will do for 6 days. We dropped the bags, signed the rental agreement and set off to find out where we were and to get some shopping in for meals for a couple of days. It took us 15 mins to walk to the local supermarket and shopping mall where we had a couple of hours walk round and then did the food shop. Walking back to the apartment at sometime after 7pm as it was just about dark, we could see inside some of the apartments and houses on the way – I love looking into windows to see how they have their rooms decorated.
Day 95 Friday 3rd October in Boston
I woke with a stiff back this morning, I think I pulled it attempting to pull the suitcase up the stairs, however, we had promised ourselves a bit of a rest here so we had a lazy breakfast, caught up with some blog and talked to Lucy on the webcam before going next door to the laundry to do some washing. At the other side of the house was a barbershop so Bob went in to get his haircut and finished around the same time as I was bringing the washing out so we went back to the apartment for some lunch then set off for a walk. We can’t believe how lovely the weather is and the forecast is good for the rest of the week too. We walked, stopping to look at anything that interested us, the streets are mostly clean, wide and quiet - such a change from New York. The houses are very Victorian with lots of ironwork on the fronts of them and mostly they are kept very tidy. We walked for about 4 hours, in which time we had checked out the 2 main Trolley Bus Companies for our tour tomorrow to orientate ourselves. Back to the apartment for dinner and a baileys on ice – we treated ourselves to a bottle so I could put my feet up and ease the back while we surfed the net and booked a hotel for the last 2 days here by the airport and a hire car from Heathrow.
Day 96 Saturday 4th October
This morning we had planned to spend the day riding the Trolley Bus round the city. However, I think I pulled my back on Thursday pulling the suitcase up the stairs to the front door of this house and yesterday evening I was in a bit of pain so I decided to take it easy. Fortunately the bed here is very comfortable and I had a good nights sleep so the back is a bit easier today. The first bus leaves the town at 9am so we made it for 9.30, bought the tickets off a very nice man who gave us “pensioner rates” and set off from stop no. 7. We stayed on enjoying the views and the commentary about the city, how it was originally only 1.8sq. miles in size and how most of the 48 sq miles of Boston now is built on landfill taken from the hills. We also saw lots of sights, the most gruesome was the house where the Boston Stranglers last victim was found. We came back round to stop no. 1 which is on the wharf. Here we visited Quincy Market, Faneuil Hall Marketplace and the harbour, where we found 2 mounted policemen on huge Clydesdale horses. We watched some Colonially dressed marching bandsmen entertaining the people. Today some of the streets were closed because it was the grand opening of a walkway called the Greenway, around the city. After a bit of shopping in the markets and some lunch we stopped at the ticket office for half price theatre tickets but there was nothing on that we fancied so we hopped back on the bus for two stops to no. 3 where the Naval Yards are. Here we climbed onto the USS Constitution, a very old ship they are continuing to renovate to its original glory . Also we went into the museum and then onto the much younger Destroyer ship from WW2 called the Cassin Young, named after a brave naval man. Finally, with my back starting to ache I sat in the sunshine and read the leaflets we had collected while Bob went into the Museum of Constitution which told the life story of the USS Constitution. Back on the bus we continued to stop no. 5 and visited the State House Museum which is one of the oldest buildings in Boston and where the Governor General lived and who only answered to the King. Also this was the place where the Boston Massacre occurred when the Bostonians rioted about the amount of taxes the English government were putting on them. The sun was shining and so we walked right through downtown Boston, past the park and right back to the shopping centre near our apartment so that we could pick up some food for dinner.
Day 97 Sunday 5th October
.JPG)
Even though the sun was shining it was Sunday morning so we had a leisurely breakfast and read the local paper that had been thrown at the front of the house in a plastic bag. Around midday, with trainers and coats on we set off for a walk to the Boston Common. There was a very good singer on the bandstand singing gospel songs and we stopped to listen for a few moments and also to see a park ranger on a horse who was also listening. The park was very busy with families enjoying the autumn day. Going up hill we exited the park on the other side into the Beacon Hill area which is one of the nicest areas of Boston. A very historic hilly area, the houses are Victorian, 3 and 4 storey terraces but very elegant and ornately decorated. We climbed up and down taking some photos where we found famous spots – the authoress Louisa May Alcotts’ house, the house where the Boston Stranglers’ last victim was found etc. stopping for coffee and a cake in the main street. Leaving the area we continued down one of the shopping streets and came across a hair salon open on Sunday and on a whim I went in to see if they could cut my hair. The owner said he could do it now so I couldn’t back out and sat for an hour while we chatted and he cut and cut until I said Stop ! $45 and about l lb of hair lighter we came back out into the afternoon air and I felt chilly. Must have been a “on a whim” day because we passed the Apple shop and went in, coming out 15 mins later with docking speakers for my ipod. Bob can’t get over how I spend so much on a Sunday afternoon walk to the park ??
Day 98 Monday 6th October
The weather man said it might rain today so we decided to take scarves and coats as we had decided to take the longest walk yet to Cambridge in the Harvard University area. We headed north towards the river and crossed the Longfellow bridge over it, arriving in East Cambridge about an hour and a half later.
We started to walk towards Harvard University, passing the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) which is a very strange shaped building but realized that it was going to be too far to walk all the way to the University Museum from here, especially as my ankle was twinging. We looked around the area and ended up buying some new jeans, a shirt and a handbag for me and some trainers for Bob for ridiculously cheap prices. We had planned to go to the cinema this evening as “The Duchess” starring Kiera Knightly was premiering here so we found a subway and with some tuition bought a 4$ ticket and hopped on a train towards home. We didn’t have any more than an hour before we had to leave to walk to the cinema so we stopped at the pizza parlour across the road which was recommended to us by the landlord and ordered a takeaway, resting my feet while we ate it. Bob had checked the paper and the 8.05 performance was the last one so we set off at just after 7pm and arrived at 7.40pm to find that the performance was at 7.05 and 9.35pm !!! I was not going to walk all the way back without seeing the film now so we bought tickets for the 9.35 performance and went round the corner for a drink in a bar. Around 8.30 the barman asked if we wanted another drink before he closed -What !!!!! We didn’t order another but we did stay until around 9pm when everyone had gone. Slowly we walked back to the cinema and waited for the 7.05 performance to finish before going in and settling into our seats. We enjoyed the film but when we came out it was 11.30pm and my ankle was still sore from earlier walking, also I didn’t fancy walking back in an area we weren’t sure about so we jumped into a taxi outside the cinema and were home in a jiffy. Bob massaged some oil into my ankle while I sipped a Baileys before bed hoping that it would be ok for tomorrows walk.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
