USA Diary

A Year On

usadiary — Fri, 4 Oct 2013 14:00:00 GMT

It has almost been a year since Steph and I visited America - a place of some similar and also hugely different cultural aspects to Australia. It was the most amazing month we have ever spend travelling and I would love to go again. The places we went were very different to the ones here in Melbourne, but there was a weird sense of not being too far from home as it held similar feeling as were we live. New York was by far the most amazing, culturly diverse city we went to. It was a melting pop of an awesome mix of different people with different views on life, living together in the biggest, most populated city in America. To us, though, it felt the most safe, the most homely and the most interesting in all the places we went.

America is a long way from Melbourne - a 16 hour plane flight on the way home long! The plane reminded us it was 17000km between the two. Travelling at 100km/h in a car, it would take you 170 hours non stop to drive that distance. Wow!

I love Australia, and still call it home, however New York is the most beautiful, interesting and diverse city we have ever visited. There is nothing quiet the same!

Until next time New York!

Ben and Steph

Las Vegas - Day 18: Mustang, Casinos and Fremont Street

usadiary — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 23:40:00 GMT

This morning, one of Ben's dreams came true when he got to pick up and cruise around America in a new Mustang Convertable.

We caught a taxi to Avis at the airport where the car was pre booked, and at 10 oclock on the dot we were in our red Mustang... ready to drive on the wrong side of the road, in the wrong side of the car.

The roads in Las Vegas are long, straight and wide so it was not too difficult to get around, but because Ben had not driven since leaving Australia, let alone on the opposite side of the road. After leaving Avis, we took the car to a car park (by accident) and drove it around to get the feel of it. Once doing this, and putting the roof down to get the sun, we sped off down Las Vegas Boulevard at 45 MPH (again.. a speed we have no ideas about... but the speed sign said to do it). After the initial stress of "what the hell is going on" and reaching for the gear stick with his left hand like at home, which just hit the door... we were off and into the main strip of Vegas. We pulled in and out of Casinos, stopping for lunch and shopping at Ceasar's Palace, The Venetian and The Mirage.

In the Venetian, we walked around "little Italy", with a built in Canal (on the second floor, we will add) with gondolas you can ride, and shops all around to look like Venice. There is also a central area modelled like St Mark's Square, and the roof is painted like a blue sky with clouds. It is all pretty full on for an indoor area of a casino!

We then took the car down to the famous Las Vegas sign, and tried to get a parking spot in the little median strip but couldn't, so drove in and out 3 times to get the perfect photo!

After this, we took the car to a car park again to get some last minute photos of the beautiful machine, then we returned it to Avis at our Hotel.

This evening, we wanted to go to Fremont St, the old "strip" of Las Vegas. It now has an enclosed roof with light show and lots of entertainment. We caught the bus up there, and stopped at all the other hotels on the way. We arrived, right near the Golden Nugget Casino and walked around for about half an hour before we wanted to leave. We both did not like the feel of the place, with many people of, how do we put this - questionable motives and morals hanging around there. We decided to not stay around too long, and made our way back to the Planet Hollywood Hotel on the Strip near ours to have some dinner, and wander around as we had not been there before.

After a long day, we are back at our hotel now.. and getting ready for tomorrow.. our last full day on our holiday.

Hope everyone is well.

Ben and Steph

Photos: Las Vegas - Day 18: Mustang, Casinos and Fremont Street

usadiary — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 23:30:00 GMT

Photos: Las Vegas - Day 17: Tickets, Bodies, Hotels and Blue Men

usadiary — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 23:30:00 GMT

Las Vegas - Day 17: Tickets, Bodies, Hotels and Blue Men

usadiary — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 23:30:00 GMT

Today has been full on from the moment we got up. Well sort of.. we woke up late which was great after our night out at LAX.

A McDonald's breakfast and coffee sorted out the tummies, and we were out of out hotel by 10.30. We wanted to go and buy tickets at the discounted ticket booth near the MGM Grand up the strip, so we could get cheaper entry to the Bodies Exhibition at our hotel, and the Blue Man Group show at the Monte Carlo. Although sunny, it was only about 18 degrees outside, but the sun was hot standing in line waiting for our tickets. We arrived, and purchased what we wanted with great discounts to see what we wanted.

We made our to the Monte Carlo to exchange the ticket voucher for tickets so we didn't have to do it before the show.. and it was only across the road from the ticketing booth. When we got there, the lovely ladie behind the desk gave us better seats than what we had paid for, sitting in premium view A, when we had bought a C! Awesome.

After this, we walked back through the hotels via sky walks to the Luxor to admit ourselves to the Bodies Exhibition. Wow. That is all we can say. It is a collection (a huge one) of real human bodies and organs, preserved to show how they work and inter-relate. It was bizzare knowing these were one real people.. and slightly creepy. We were not allowed to take photos in the galleries, as it was pretty graphic. With humans with no skin, just muscle and skeleton to show how they connect and operate. Others were just organs, and cross sections of other parts. Perhaps the weirdest was the nervous system section of the exhibit, with spines and nerves still in tact. The other weird ones were with muscles split away so you can see how they are connected to other parts.

Some parts of the exhibit showed lung cancer, stroke and other medical abnormalities to help show people the damage that smoking can cause to ones body. It was pretty gross... all the tar in the lungs and black spot tumors around other organs.

After leaving, feeling a little queezy, we relaxed at the hotel for a while, and then made our way over to the MGM Grand to do a bit of shopping. We stopped at the rainforest cafe, and also just looked around.

We made our way home, and got ready in the afternoon to see the Blue Man Group. The show started at 9.30, so we went early and had an awesome dinner at the New York New York hotel. It was an Irish Bar, so we had Shepherd's Pie and a Irish Salad. Continuing after our delish dinner, we made our way to the Monte Carlo with our tickets and played on the slot machines. Ben won again, Steph lost again.

The Blue Man Group is a creative display of music, sounds and visual effects made by all sorts of weird and wonderful equipment, by 3 Men all decked out in black clothes and blue skin paint. We got seated, and watched for the next hour and a half as they dazzled us with amazing accoustics and a fantastic stage show. It invlolved a rave party with huge glowing beack balls, audiece participation and thousands of meters of tissue paper. We loved every second of it, having bits of comedy throughout and loud bass from PVC pipes, robots and other weird machines.

We have enjoyed our time in Vegas so far, and look forward to tomorrow too.

Steph and Ben

Las Vegas - Day 16: Travel and The Luxor

usadiary — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 23:59:00 GMT

This morning we woke up early to grab breakfast at the Handlery before we headed off the airport to catch our plane to Las Vegas.

We got our things together and Super Shuttle collected us about 8.30 from our hotel for our 10.45am flight.

At the airport, with a "discussion" with our driver where to drop us, we got to the United Airlines check in. The staff, again, were horrible and rude, and eventually we got it checked in and after a bit of confusion, went through international depatures (for a domestic flight... go and figure) and security and made it to our gate.

We boarded the plane, a smaller Boing, and found we had the first row of seats in economy with extra leg room. Shame the flight was only for an hour!

We arrived in Las Vegas, were the weather is better and it is a bit warmer, and collected our baggage. We got into a shuttle pretty quick, and after crusing around the casinos of the lower Strip, we arrived at ours.. the Luxor. The Hotel is amazing, beautifully themed in Egyptian style including the main hotel which is a pyramid. We got our bags to check in, and we got upgraded to the best room they offer the general public. Upon reaching our room, 28 floors up the glass pyramid in a sideways lift (literally.. it goes up on a 30 degree angle so it didn't diminish the style of the pyramid with standard lifts), we made our way to our room. It has double doors at the entry, and when we walked in we laughed. The place is huge, with a bar, dining room, lounge, bedroom and two bathrooms. Way too much for 2 people, but we love it!

We also got admitted to the nighclub here at the Luxor, LAX, and went tonight and enjoyed drinks and good music. Ben also won 60 dollars at the casino after putting in 5. Our first day has been great, and we have just explored our hotel, as well as New York New York, Mandalay Bay and The Excalaber.

Until tomorrow - goodnight from us here in Las Vegas!

Photos: Las Vegas - Day 16: Travel and The Luxor

usadiary — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 23:59:00 GMT

Photos: San Francisco - Day 15: Golden Gate Bike Ride

usadiary — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 21:32:00 GMT

San Francisco - Day 15: Golden Gate Bike Ride

usadiary — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 21:30:00 GMT

Today has been a long but enjoyable day, filled with classic travel stories of how not to get around.

We started our morning, with more rain around, just wandering around the local streets near our hotel, and grabbing a bight to eat before talking to the concienge about what to do on a rainy day. When we were talking, he said the rain would clear and recommended a bike ride over the Golden Gate Bridge to fill in the afternoon. Other people had recommended it too, so we caught the F Tram down to Fisherman's Wharf and then walked a block to the Blazzing Saddles bike rental shop that the conciege had told us to use.

Signing our lives away to some waiver that said god knows what, we were on our way pretty quickly. The rain had cleared, the skies were blue and we had our cameras ready. The trip started near the marina, and we rode all the way to the base of the Bridge. Along the way we stopped for some great photo opps, and watched the wildlife in the reserves. The ride so far was flat, with only one hill, so we were not struggling at all. At this point, we then had to make our way up one hill on a road to the bike track the went under then up onto the Golden Gate. It was a little tough, but we got through with no problems. Arriving on the bridge was the best feeling.. it was huge, and we were about to ride across something so recognisable and so cherished by the locals in San Francisco. The bridge is long, and obviously flat, so we just cruised along and took in the views going across the ocean side of the bridge. It was pretty windy up there, with it whipping across our faces, but we got to the otherside and smiled knowing we had just completed something so cool.

After this, the trek was down and under the bridge, along to a town called Sausalito. Here, a ferry was going to pick us up and take us back to the Pier near where we started. This part was a bit tougher, with hills up and down, and narrow roads to share with cars. The weather was also starting to get a bit damp, with drizzle starting to develop.

Next.. with a few KM to go, Steph's chain came off the bike, and we couldn't get it back on. We had to walk. Eventually, we got to the pier at Sausalito, and onto the Ferry. As we boarded with our bikes, and took off, we got into the ocean before we realised.. we had gotten the wrong ferry! Instead of going to Pier 41.. it was going to the Ferry Building! This added a couple of K's to our trip.. with a bike we were going to have to walk. Our good day was getting a bit rough.

After about a 40 minute walk, we got back in record time to the bike shop to take our bikes back. We had made it 15 minutes before they closed, and also before the weather set in. We got into a cab to get back home, and just as we did... it started to pour. The weather there is like home! 4 seasons in a day.

After arriving home, we had showers to feel human again, and got our things organised as we are leaving tomorrow. An interesting, but enjoyable day was had - and we are excited for our next stop in Las Vegas.

Ben and Steph

Photos: San Francisco - Day 14: China Town and City Tour

usadiary — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 22:05:00 GMT

San Francisco - Day 14: China Town and City Tour

usadiary — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 21:59:00 GMT

Another lazy morning down in San Francisco - with pretty average weather too. After the longest waiting time for breakfast this morning, we walked across Union Square and into Maiden Lane to look at the Xanadu Gallery. Well not the Gallery itself, but the building it is in. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and Ben wanted to have a look. It was very similar... and we mean very.. to the Guggenheim, including a round ramp up to the second level. The building was beautiful, but the artefacts in it were way to expensive. One ancient Thai budda was $165,000. And no you did not read that wrong.

We left here, and shot the umbrellas up as it had started to rain, and made our way to the entrance of China Town with the China Town Gate. We walked up the up the hill, and found many shops selling weird and wonderful, and very tacky, home decor. From huge sculptures to over the top clothes and fans, we found ourselfs walking back out of China Town and pulling into a Starbucks for a hot chocolate.

We made our way home, unsure of what to do in the afternoon due to bad weather and more rain coming. Steph had a book on San Francisco the hotel gave us when we arrived, and came up with the idea we go for a city tour on a bus. Perfect. In a bus to keep dry from all the rain.

The Conciege at the hotel booked the tour for us, and the company were to pick us up from the hotel in a few hours time. We got organised, and before we knew it were being picked up by Gray Line cruises and taken to their tour bus down at Fisherman's Wharf.

The bus was pretty much empty, and we sat on the top deck to get good views of the places we were going. We cruised around neighbourhoods of San Francisco, and the tour guide told us about the city's rich history and information about the places we went.

We cruised through Down Town San Fran, and stopped at the Civic Centre to take photos of the City Hall and UN Buildings. We boarded back on the bus, and made our way up through the fancier parts of town, visiting awesome Victorian mansions such as "The Painted Ladies" on what they call "Postcard Row" (as it has an amazing backdrop to these houses) and the Four Seasons (four houses painted as one season each, complete with snow flakes, autum leaf and sun decals). After this, we made our way up to Twin Peaks.. one of the highest point in the city. The fog was starting to roll in off the bay, so the tour guide took us up there early. The view was stunning, and if there was no fog you would be able to see for miles. We could clearly see the city and the bay, and the Golden Gate Bridge with fog over the top of it.

After this, we cruised through other parts of the town, with more interesting houses, and down to Golden Gate Park. The park is beautiful, and is completely man made in such that is was built from scratch on what was originally sand dunes. Not a single plant there is native to San Francisco! It is huge, covering some ridiculous space of land, and is similar to Central Park in New York. We stopped at the music bowl, which was interesing, as a few people of the hippy movement were chilling out in the rain and relaxing. Just up ahead was the Japanese Tea Gardens, a small section of land that is landscaped in traditional Japenese way including little tea houses in the gardens. It was beautiful, and such a cute little part of the Golden Gate Park.

We travelled again, this time making our way through other historic parts of the city, and then onto the Golden Gate Bridge. It is huge, and the suspension cables (if all the wire in them was added together) would wrap around the equator 8 times. It felt awesome to be crusing across such a landmark, and once we arrived at the other side, we got out and were able to take pictures of were we had been. The bridge was built in an art deco style, with steeped art deco motifs along the tall towers of the bridge. It was getting dark, and we jumped back onto the bus and on the way home after seeing most of the city in one day!

For dinner, we booked at a lovel Italian restaurant near our hotel, and enjoyed their classic and fairly prices Italian food.

Tomorrow is our last day in San Francisco, and we are not sure what we are doing yet. Until then, goodnight from us!

Ben and Steph

Photos: San Francisco - Day 13: Alcatraz and the Piers

usadiary — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 20:33:00 GMT

San Francisco - Day 13: Alcatraz and the Piers

usadiary — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 20:30:00 GMT

Today in San Francisco, we woke up pretty early to fit in our breakfast at the grill down stairs so we could make it to our 9.30 ferry to Alcatraz... the USA's most infamous prison.

We caught a tram car down from Market Street, all the way to Pier 33 where the ferry took off from. It was an interesting ride, as we saw parts of the city we hadn't seen yet. This part is pretty flat as it runs arounf the coast. Once we got to our destination, we jumped off and made our way to the ticket booth to collect our pre paid tickets. We arrived pretty early, so the lady put us on the earler ferry at 9.10. Awesome. So we waited in a line with about 200 other people, and all made it into the ferry with no problems. To get good views, we sat on the top deck in the sun looking out over the San Francisco harbour. With the Golden Gate Bridge to one side, and Alcatraz island to the other, it was a scenic ride out.

Once we got to the island, we could see all the run down buildings of the prison. There was also a lot of graffeti on some of the buldings near the dock, which we later found out why.

We had a brief intro to the island via a park ranger once departing the ferry, and watched a quick history video in the Ferry Building. Alcatraz was first a army fort, then a prison, then a refuge for native American Indians (who had done all the graffeti) and now a national park.

The first thing we did was join a guided tour, which turned out to be awesome as we entered parts of the island that were closed off to others. We walked through eerie tunnels, went into creepy buildings and also got told about the grim history of the island. Steph and I thought the worst was when the prison closed in the 60's due to high costs to keep it open, it was abandonded for about 8 years.. during this time, anyone with a boat could literally get off there and do what they wanted. Stories of drug labs in some buildings were told, as were weapon deals and other illegal activites as no one ever visited. Once it became a National Park, it was all cleaned up again, but vandalisation to the buildings during this time was not reparable.

For the next few ours, we took the audio tour around the main cell block and heard stories of escapes, famous criminals and how life was on the "Rock". It was interesting to see how iscolated it was - however from my experience, Port Arthur in Tasmania is MUCH more of an intense and creepy prison!

We left the island after exploring it about 12.30, and made our way back to shore. We had lunch at Peir 39, and then walked up and down it looking at all its cute shops and cafes in the sun of the afternoon. We made our way home, and relaxed for the rest of the day due to all the walking around Alcatraz.

Photos: San Francisco - Day 12: Travel, Cable Cars and Wind-y Roads

usadiary — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 20:05:00 GMT

San Francisco - Day 12: Travel, Cable Cars and Wind-y Roads

usadiary — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 20:00:00 GMT

This morning started off crap. From the moment we woke up at 4am, it was going to be a long day. After getting a confirmation email the shuttle company was going to arrive at 4.35am, we were horrified and only half ready when they rocked up at 4.20am and asking where we were. We grabbed all our stuff, got in the lift both looking average and sleepy, and ran out to the van. Not the best start.

Picking up other people was not great either. The driver was aggressive, and everyone else seemed to have to same problem as us. This guy was running on a different clock. We eventually made it to JFK airport, in pretty good time really. Walking into the American Airlines terminal, we thought our troubles would be over. Not so.

No staff to check in, it's all automated, and turned out even though we had booked together, we were at literally opposite ends of the plane on a 6 hour flight.. and told we were going to have to pay for baggage that was allocated already.

After speaking to someone who did not know much, we spoke to a Supervisor who overrided the baggage problem, but due to the flight being a domestic, lots of people were travelling solo, and had pre booked seats all over the plane so we could literally not sit next to each other. All in all, was not going to be a big problem, the baggage was the main issue as we had recently purchased a new suitcase for all the things we had "acquired" (a.k.a bought lots of stuff).

Again, going through security and customs, being pocked, x-rayed, drug-screened and ordered to partially undress, we got to our gate and got a hot drink to calm us down.

We thought we could just ask, on the off chance for a spare seat of two from the boarding gate staff. Success... there was a row with apparantley less legroom the rest of the plane that they generally keep free. We could have it. So we took it. Upon boarding, turns out it had heaps of leg room compared to other flights we had been on. This day was not going to be as average as we first thought.

The plane was smooth, and we both had a good sleep which has helped with the time zone difference.

Arriving at San Francisco airport and getting our luggage has been about the easiest experience at an airport in the USA. We walked out, it was calm, quiet and our bags came out all together on the carousal within 5 minutes. We followed the signs outside, and withing another 5, were on a shuttle to our hotel.

We passed some questionable suburbs on the way through, giving each other the look hoping we were not near it. Turns out, we are not at all, and our hotel is amazing. The Handlery is comfortable, oldish but stylish. We settled in, and the staff here are awesome in helping us.

To get things going today, we had some lunch at a cafe and talked about what we were going to do for the afternoon. 15 minutes later, we had bought a 3 day public transport pass and were on a Cable Car crusing the hills of San Francisco in true post card style. Those things actually pick up a fair bit of speed.. then slam on the breaks to stop. We were sitting down, but the people hanging off the side had it a bit tougher than us. We got off at Lombard Street, the most crooked street in the world. Google it and have a look... it is amazing and so many people were walking and driving it. Would not want to live there purely for the tourists, even though the houses were beautiful and most likely had a price tag to match.

We caught a cable car back home, and have settled in to our hotel nicely. Tomorrow we are visting Alcatraz... cannot wait to share with you all.

Facebook us!

Ben and Steph

New York - Day 11: Guggenheim and Broadway

usadiary — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 22:30:00 GMT

Our last full day in New York turned out to be a relaxing and enjoyable one. The weather today was a bit average, but it didn't quite make it to full rain, only drizzle, and didn't affect our plans.

After another awesome day of sleeping in, we had left over Chinese food for breakfast to save ourselves some money. Having a microwave in the hotel was super convenient, so we made the most of huge portion sizes that American's seem to give.

After breakfast, we went for a stroll to the East Side of Manhattan, walking up next to Central Park, then through, to get to the Guggenheim Museum.

The museum, designed by Ben's favourite architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, is an amazing piece of artwork its self. We got admitted using our City Passes, and made our way through the museum. The design is awesome, it is a circular ramp that rises 6 levels, with galleries off some parts of the main walkway. This means you don't miss anything, and the flow of traffic is great. The main artworks shown was an exhibition of Picasso, so it was cool to see some of his interesting works. We don't do that thing were we stand and look into something for too long, we just have a quick appreciation then move to the next.

To keep a bit of Frank Lloyd Wright, Ben bought some mugs designed by him from the gift shop.

After a few hours there, we walked back to our hotel. All rugged up, and with hoods on, the slight drizzle did not bother us. We skipped lunch, being super full from brekkie, and after a quick stop at the hotel, we made our way to Times Square, as there is a ticked booth "under the red stairs" that sells heavily discounted tickets for Broadway shows on the same day. The downside? You have to wait in line.

So we caught the subway, and made our way down to Times Square. We pushed, and shoved through the day time shopping crowds.. however, it was really quiet compared to at night. When we arrived at the ticket booth about 2.30 (it opens at 2) we were stoked to find there was a few people, but not many waiting. Total time in line, to save 40% of a show... 5 minutes. We decided to see Jersey Boys, even though we both don't really enjoy musicals. We were keen on the Lion King, but tickets were expensive an it was pretty much the only show that didn't have discount. We bought our tickets for about $70, which is a steal really for where we were in the seating. We pocketed them, and made our way back up to the hotel.

As we had to be up the next morning at 4.30am to get the shuttle to the airport, we packed all our stuff in the afternoon when we got home.

After packing, showering and making sure we were good to go in the morning, we went out for dinner before the show. As a bit of a cycle, we ate at the same diner we did on the first full day in NYC.

Another easy subway trip, and we arrived just near the theatre were the show was being held. We bought some beverages (which um, cost $27 for a Malibu and Coke, and a beer... ) and were seated in the old 1920's theatre.

The show was really entertaining, showing the story of the formation of the Four Seasons band, and the struggles they went through to be noticed. It was cool how they connected it all around their songs. We both really enjoyed the show, which was great considering we both don't normally do musicals.

We finished off the night was some gelati on the way home from the show, and what a great end to our time in NYC. We have had such a fantastic time here. We highly recommend it to any one. The longer you can spend here, the better. It is an amazing city for so many reasons.

Well, almost good ending. Arriving back at the hotel, we decided to pay any charges so we could just leave in the morning. Turns out Steph racked up a $149 phone bill to her Mum at home... for a mere 9 minutes. We lost it.. with laughter. Both thinking the desk attendant was joking, she laughed too and said "noo.. really". We still laughed.. won't be calling home again anytime soon.

Steph and Ben

Photos: New York - Day 11: Guggenheim and Broadway

usadiary — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 22:30:00 GMT

New York - Day 10: Rockefeller Centre and the Museum of Modern Art

usadiary — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 23:15:00 GMT

Today in New York City, it has been cloudy with bursts of sun, and warm. Our normal two jackets would have been too much today. We had a great sleep in, and lazy start to the morning with a cooked breakfast on the corner of our hotel with a coffee to boot. We didn't have much planned for today, so we caught a train down to Times Square and walked through there during the day light hours. We tried to get tickets for a Broadway show, but they sell them half price on the day (in which we were going to go tomorrow) so we are going to wait. We made our way to the Rockefeller Centre, a series of Art Deco sky scrapers built in the 30's around 50th and 51st Street. The buildings are beautiful, and symmetrical, full of artwork, sculptures and an ice rink. We wandered around this cultural centre, taking it all in as we also snapped a few photos.

Our next stop today was the Museum of Modern Art. It is on 53th St, so just a few blocks up. We wandered up there, and using our City Pass got in with no waits. We wandered up and down all the floors, looking at famous artworks from Matisse, Van Gogh, Dali and the imfamous "Scream" painting. It was interesting to see such high value works all in one place, and we enjoyed our time there.

In the afternoon, looking for a bit of down time, we took some books and found a spot in Central Park with a hot chocolate from Starbucks too. We watched the animals in the gardens, and the people walk, ride and run past. It was nice to just sit for a bit and reflect on all we had done the last few days. Another part of Central Park we walked through today is "Strawberry Fields", a section dedicated to John Lennon of the Beetles who was shot in his appartment building next to Central Park on 72nd E St. It is a lovely place with lots of fans taking photos of all the murals and plaques.

For dinner, we could not be bothered doing much, so we got Chinese delivered to our hotel. Ben also popped out to the Lavain Bakery, renowned in Manhattan for its' baked goods. He bought 2 cookies, $4 each, both so big in size it was unbelievable. We popped a bottle of wine and enjoyed a great meal with out the hassel of the hundreds of people in the streets of New York. The cookies were amazing.. with partially melted chocolate chips in the middle to add the texture.

Today has been great, and relaxing, and we are looking forward, yet also sad, tomorrow is our last day in the Big Apple.

Ben and Steph

Photos: New York - Day 10: Rockefeller Centre and Museum of Modern Art

usadiary — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 23:00:00 GMT

New York - Day 9: Statue of Liberty, Wall St, 9/11 Memorial, Central Park and Tiffany's

usadiary — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 23:00:00 GMT

So today we managed to get our act together and get up on time to make our way to visit the Statue of Liberty.

We caught the number 1 train at 72nd Street Downtown to 14th (as the rest of the way is still damanged by water from Hurricane Sandy), and switched services to Wall St which is right near Battery Park - the launching place for the Statue Ferry.

The train ride was great, taking us little over 15 minutes to make our way down the island underground. We got off at Wall St, and had a look around at the country's financial institutions. It was still a mess down this end of the island, as the water rose well above sea level during the hurricane. We walked along the river front, and lots of work was being done to restore it to operational glory. The buildings are huge down in the Financial District, and we were dwafed by them. The walk around to Battery Park was lovely, as we again chose a day with fantastic weather to get out and about. We passed historic docks, and helicopters taking people on tours over the city, and eventually arrived at the port at about 10am. It was relatively quiet, and we didn't have to wait in line to get our tickets redeemed. As Liberty and Ellis island, both included as stops on the tickets, were damanged drastically during the huge storm, the public cannot visit these islands at the moment. So the company running the cruises did a hour tour of New York Harbour, and pointed out historic icons, buildings and stories from the past.

One of the highlights of our trip so far, was seeing the Statue of Liberty. Her stern stare welcomes any incoming boats, as she has done for the past 126 years, to a land of freedom for immigrants. Built in 1886, she was a present from the French to the Americans as a sign of friendship. A French sculpture, with the help of a young Andre Gustave Eiffel, designed and built the enourmous copper statue, and shipped it over in pieces to New York where the Americans had built her pedestal. She has been given a number of restorations since, the latest closing public access inside the statue between 2011-2012. Since 2004, after the 9/11 attacks, access the crown has been forbidden until recently, and to get a ticket is up to a years wait for the privelage. When open, any one can access the pedestal, which includes information, plaques and a museum.

Such an icon, we took some amazing photos of her holding her torch and tablet symbolizing freedom for people around the world.

After the tour, we stopped at the 9/11 memorial of the Twin Towers. It is a horrible, sad location and we both felt so bad even being there as many innocent people lost their lives that day in 2001. We didn't stay long, and made our way back on the subway to our hotel for a breather.

After lunch and drink, we walked through Central Park to the East side, stopping and talking to squirrels on the way through. If you make noises like you would to get a cat's attention, they come running for you to investigate if you have food. They get really close, figured out we had nothing, gave us a look of disgust, and ran back into the gardens to find nuts.

Steph wanted to go shopping at the New York traditional jeweller of Tiffany & Co. The 3 floor building in the 5th Avenue mecca of prime retailers was a success... Steph walked out with a few little blue bags... and a credit card bill to reflect. Lucky for work to pay off in a few weeks time!

We walked home, exhausted, with the sun setting and our tummies rumbling. A hotchocolate from Starbucks was a must, and back home we made it after a full day of walking and exploring more od this amazing city.