The Motherland

Monday 4/12 (local)

Britain, morning, immigration. That's where I stood after getting off the plane. Immigration was fairly quick and I got a preview of the infamous British accent. Love the British accent, haha. It's fantastic. I was actually sad enough to try and pull it off while talking to the immigration officer. Lots of laughs. The officer didn't give me a dirty look or anything like that, so i'll claim that as a victory - I pulled it off. Mwahah.

A car ride from Heathrow Airport was already pre-arranged. I would stay with Carmen's relatives in London - specifically a place near Northwick Park. After quickly dumping off the luggage at the house it was off to see the city of London, with a guide - Carmen's cousin. To get an initial bearing of where I started have a look at the Tube map. (Section B3, the Metropolitan Line - Purple).

So where was the first sightseeing destination for London? It was Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament - Westminster Station. Quite impressive actually. It doesn't have the awe inspiring view of block after block of skyscraper but it definitely had its charms. After milling about for a little while, and getting ripped off by some annoying 'charity' workers, it was off to Buckingham Palace. This time by foot.

Buckingham Palace is known well and I won't go into much detail here. One aspect of Buckingham Palace that does interest most tourists is the changing of the guard. The changing of the guard occurs everyday from Spring to Autumn and every other day during the period Autumn to Spring. 50/50 chance of seeing the guard. Lady Luck, as always, ensured that I didn't see the changing of the guard. Wrong day. Bah! Oh well, took some happy snaps and moved on.

More of London was seen as the day went on. St. James Park, Trafalgar Square, and Picadilly Circus all were visited. The highlight of the afternoon had to be viewing the Tower Bridge. The Tower Bridge is absolutely beautiful, proof of which can be seen in the photo below. It is important to note that there is both a London Bridge and a Tower Bridge. Tourists beware! Do not go to the wrong one. I did. The London Bridge is a flat, boring, plain bridge whereas the Tower Bridge is the majestic, cool, tall bridge that everyone wants to see.

That ends the sightseeing of London today. The rest of the United Kingdom awaits.

Big Ben

Big Ben Up Close

Buckingham Palace

Tower Bridge

Leaving the Land of the Free

Saturday 3/12 (local)

Started off at a decent time today - 9:00 am - and went for a walk down to the Columbus Circle Shopping Centre. I don't remember the name of the shopping centre but it's the one under the CNN/Time-Warner towers on the circumference of Columbus Circle. If you go there you'll know. I had a quick browse around the centre but didn't go into any particular store. So I can't tell you if the shope are expensive or reasonable.

I ate breakfast on the ground floor - no wait... the basement floor. The entire floor was dedicated to food. Seriously, there was food everywhere. The biggest food market i've seen. I had good ol' bacon and eggs and orange juice. So i'm eating well :D.

Today's adventure took me to the Brooklyn Bridge. Obviously I hopped onto the tram to get there. There wasn't too much hassle in getting there - the subway system is all figured out. It's easy to get to the Brooklyn Bridge but it could have been a little bit easier. The signs from the subway could have been more prominent, as a slight detour is required to get onto the pedestrian entrance. To the credit of the NYC subway there was a map which I initially ignored which eventually guided me towards the bridge.

The Brooklyn Bridge and the view from the bridge was fantastic. Seriously something worth seeing... well maybe not as super-fantastic as some of the other sights in America but it's great to visit such an iconic bridge. As I was saying, the view was fantastic - the odd scyscraper poking above the horizon could be something that looks ugly but seeing a whole mass of skyscrapers was impressive. Plus the water looks great, I love water.

It was obviously cold on the bridge and heaps windy as well. So I didn't really stay there for long. Took a whole bunch of happy snaps and headed back to Manhattan. Oh, as a reference one of the temperature indicator boards was showing 1 degree Celcius. Cold!

Back to town and it was time to do some shopping. Well - not the greatest of ideas considering that it was Thanksgiving period. I disembarked at 32nd Penn Station and walked towards Macy's (the largest department store in the world). Wham! People everywhere. It was crazy. It's just about crazy as Myer in Sydney for the Boxing Day sales but worse. It's difficult to describe but whoa... nuts.

As there were so many people in the store and surrounding areas I didn't stay there long. It was next to impossible to browse as there were either people in the way or people pushing you around. I guess people go crazy when there is a sale on. The only thing that I really bought in ther was a hot chocolate from their in-store Starbucks.

After Macy's, rather the craziness of Macy's, it was time to head back to the hotel for checkout. As it was a bit too early to head off to the airport I watched some tv - Mythbusters. Ahh.. gotta love that show. Two busted myths later (trapped in a falling lift equals dead and toy cars don't beat real cars when the only force is gravity) and it was 4:00pm. Time to head to the airport.

The only practical way to the airport was via the NYC subway, so that is what I took. This time I took a different route to the airport. Instead of taking the subway to Jamaica Station I took the subway down past Brooklyn to Howard Beach station.

Advice for everyone - don't do it. Take the train to Jamaica. The train to Howard Beach was a little unsettling. I wasn't too concerned for my safety whilst catching subway trains but it was here that I felt the least safe. Kind of eerie that trip. People looking at you, starting at you, and the carriages were dead quiet. I got to the airport on time but it could have been a little less unsettling.

Boarding and flight - nothing to special. Got to the airport well on time. The British Airways staff wanted me to use the eletronic check-in but it didn't quite work. LO. Technology didn't quite cut it. Oh well, ti's good to know that i've still got a job as a software engineer. The flight itself wasn't terribly exciting. I sat towards the front and in the central area of the plane. No windows, on the aisle. All I can remember is that there was a crazy baby on board that cried alot. The trip lasted 6 odd hours but as time zones were being corssed I arrived in England in the morning (leaving flight was at 6:30pm).

Brooklyn Bridge

Looking towards the Financial District

More to See in NYC (Part 2)

Friday 2/12 (local)

I mentioned that the tour was very informative and it was, no joke. On the tour our attention was drawn to Bono's residence, Yoko Ono's residence, Madonna's old residence, the Dakota hotel (where John Lennon was shot), Regis' work residence, the shooting location of Will and Grace, and much much more. There were so many facts that i've forgotten most of them :).

The Uptown Loop tour passed through several New York City points of interest, besides points of modern pop/celebrity culture. We as a sightseeing tour group passed through the largest gothic cathedral in the world - St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Apollo Theatre, the resting place of General Ulysses Grant, Harlem, and Museum Row.

I got off at one of the stops on Museum Row, that stop was the closest one to the Guggenheim Museum. The Guggenheim Museum has to be one of the most known museums in the world, right up there with the Louvre and the Smithsonian Institute. Unfortunately for me the museum was undergoing a rennovation - but there was still an exhibition on. The exhibition showing was Russia!, a collection of Russian artwork through time. Probably not the greatest collection of works around the world but I learnt much - so it wasn't all that bad.

To top off an intense two days of sightseeing one more tour was taken. This tour was a special tour only during the December/January period, when all of New York City (or large tranches of it) are illuminated by Christmas lights. Unfortunately for me it was a 2+ hour trip. I thought it would be a quick drive around Midtown as that's where Macy's and the Rockerfeller Centre were. It was unfortunate because I needed to go to the bathroom about half way. OMG.

Lesson for everyone - before doing tours and things like that make sure you go to the bathroom! Even if you don't really need to go at the time. To finish off the story and the day i'll say that I didn't make it to the end of the trip. I got close but I didn't finish it off. I made it to the last leg of the tour (Rockerfeller to Times Square)... but I had to get off at the Rockerfeller and bolt to the dunny. LOL. Almost ran straight into the female toilets as well (as the two bathrooms were in completely different locations and signage wasn't so obvious). The trip was great though.

The night lights tour drove around a fair slice of the island of Manhattan. We went through Broadway, over to the Chrysler buliding and Grand Central Station, past the Empire State Buliding, up to Columbus Circle, and back to Macy's and the Rockerfeller Centre. I'm sure that there were more locations but bear in mind that for half of the trip I was desperate to use the loo.

Anyhow, that's pretty much it for the day. Quite alot to take in for a day - information overload. One more day in America left (and it's not even a full day).

Flight Deck USS Intrepid

Seinfeld Soup Nazi Place

Dakota Hotel (Lennon Shot here)

St.Patrick's Cathedral

Times Square at Night

More to See in NYC

Friday 2/12 (local)

Today was another intense day of sightseeing. Hmm. I'm saying that way too often. I'm not really getting alot of sleep, but oh well - not oveseas much and I won't get th oppoortunity to do so once I start full-time work.

Went for a morning stroll down to the Rockerfeller Centre as I needed to check out of the Vanderbilt YMCA that day. Needed to have a quick stroll around the area before departing for another New York locale. It was quite a nice stroll in the end. The overall atmosphere of New York City is fantastic, and the morning stroll showed me why. It's great to have a short holiday here.

So first off it was time to move hostels - from the Vanderbilt YMCA to Swiss 1292. Again another hostel that is not quite so near a NY subway station. Although i'm not too sure why i'm complaining... there's more coverage in NYC than in Sydney. The hostel lies on West 54th street however the nearest stations are 59th St Columbus Circle and 50th Street (on the blue line). I got off at 59th St Columbus station and walked down to the hostel. (Map for the entire New York City subway).

Everything didn't quite go to plan. It was 11:00am and the friendly lady at the desk told me that check-in was at 2:00pm. Damn. Luckily luggage could be dumped there and that's exactly what I did before heading out for some more sightseeing. Note: the luggage storage was a shed out the back.

I was interested in both the helicoptor tour and the Intrepid Air-Space Museum. As I really didn't have time for both before 2:00pm I chose to go to the Intrepid Museum, primarily because it was closer.

The Intrepid Air-Space Museum was fantastic. Being a sci-fi fan and highly interested in military history it was quite a treat. Not only did I get to be on an aircraft carrier deck, I also got to see a variety of planes, and I also got to check out the captains deck. Truly amazing. Not for everyone, but definitely for me!

After the Intrepid I needed to head back to the Swiss 1291 hostel to pick up the room key. The collection of the room key was easily done and then the room was shown. A 6-bed room (more like 3 double bunks), fairly spacious and not too cold. Reasonable.

Following getting the room keys it was off to explore the Upper East and Upper West of Manhattan as they have been left largely untouched. So I hopped onto the Uptown Loop of the Sightseeing tour.

This was quite a good tour as the guide was very knowledgable and quite charismatic. We went up the Western border of Central park - where some of the New York City elite reside. The buildings along the park were not only expensive but were also quite majestic.

Radio City - Rockerfeller

Christmas Decorations - Rockerfeller

CNN/Time Warner Building

Outside Trump Towers

Aboard the USS Intrepid

Midtown and Down (Part 2)

Thursday 1/12 (local)

The next step was the financial powerhouse of New York City and the world - the venerable Wall Street. Totally overrated - can't see anything, that's why. I was looking forward to hopping into the New York Stock Exchange for a look, but alas. Closed to the public due to September 11. Had to visit I guess. I'm sure things get exciting inside the buildings but tourists don't get to see anything. I did get to see some fully armed police though - very cool. The rifles they were carrying were sleel, deadly and probably three quarters of a metre long. I wanted to get a photo with them, but was scared that i'd get shot or imprisoned. Haha.

Anyway, after the disappointment of Wall Street I hopped onto the City Sightseeing bus and headed down to the UN Centre - for the guided tour. A little strange fact (although it makes sense) is that the entire compound is international territory and not United States territory. If you go to New York City the UN tour is something worth seeing. Got a tour of the Conference building which included the Secuirty Council, Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly. It's good to visit these places - the big players of the world all visit here from time to time. A neat place to visit indeed.

It was now starting to get a little darker but the sightseeing continued. As mentioned before this day was packed. So the next sighteseeing location was Madame Toussaud's Wax Museum. This was a neat little place to go to, just run around and take photos with famous people. Interesting, but I wouldn't go back a second time. Snap, snap, and go.

After Madame Toussauds it was time to head into a Chinese restaurant. Found some Chinese restaurant on the way to the Wax Museum and made a mental note to come back to it afterwards. Truthfully, this is the first Chinese meal that i've had since leaving Australia. It was a Shanghai-nese restaurant (Northern anyway, not Canto) and I had some Schezuan chicken - very nice indeed. I was also thinking of Shanghai stir fry noodles as well, but oh well... only could choose one.

Next stop it was the New York Skytour. First off let me tell you - on it's own it is a ripoff. Fortunately the New York Card covers the ride, so all good. It's quite neat how you can see New York from the air but it definitely isn't worth US$20 unless it's real. While the views on the skytour were good there was far too much movement. If you go and do the Skytour you will know what I mean. Probably not as good as a helicopter tour of the city - but cheaper.

Oh, oops. Got to backtrack a little. The Skytour is actually inside the Empire State Building. Something that I forgot to mention. Anyways, the highlight of the night was to follow the Skytour - the view from the top of the Empire State Building (technically not the top, but you know what I mean).

Let me tell you up front - this is a must do! Admittedly I did it at night but i'm sure that the view is just as good if not better during the daytime. It was bloody cold and bloody windy but boy was it worth it! I took many pictures although a vast majority of them didn't actually develop well, which is a bit of a shame. Oh well, some of them did turn out well and look mighty impressive. I didn't really stay out that long - it was way too cold. My hands were about ready to fall off after taking the photos. Damn cold.

An intense day of sightseeing - Very tiring yet very rewarding. Wish I had more time in New York but no matter. Got to make do with what you've got.

New York Stock Exchange

United Nations Secuirty Council

New York at Night

New York at Night

Midtown and Down

Thursday 1/12 (local)

Today consisted of power sightseeing. I ventured all over the lower half of Manhattan. In particular I went past Battery Park, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the UN complex, Madam Toussauds, and the Empire State Building.

Today was an intense day because New York City is huge and I only had two and a half days left, practically. So what was required before I started? Passes. Yep. Tourist busses called New York Sightseeing (or something) are able to take you all over town - so I bought a two day pass so that I could both visit attractions and travel as well. The pass cost US$109. Quite good value for money as you will soon find out.

So first off it was down to Battery Park - as that is where the ferries to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis island are. Now, Battery Park is called that because it is the site of an old fort. Batteries of cannons were obviously housed within the fort - and hence resulted in the super creative name of Battery Park. An interesting little fort: flat and circular with decomissioned cannons sitting at the firing ports (windows).

After wandering around for a while and listening to the coloured bands playing at the Park it was time to see the famous Statue of Liberty. First off, it was cold. Bloody cold. Then I hopped onto the ferry... and stayed outside. Cold is an understatement... a very big one. I was freezing my ass off outside - but I had a feeling that staying inside will mean bad photos or no photos of the statue. No pain no gain. Camping out on the best spot proved to be a wise choice indeed.

The Statue of Liberty is a magnificent structure majestically standing above the water. It's quite calming looking at the jade-like green structure that makes up Lady Liberty. Obviously some happy snaps were taken but it really is a sight to see. Some people may think - what is the point? but that's definitely not what I was thinking.

It does sound like a bit of a cliche but the Statue of Liberty really is the leading image of freedom and democracy. Immigrants leaving the Old World or the ravages of 20th century war really would have been elated to see the Statue as they entered New York City. A magnificent sight and a very cultural/spiritual experience as well.

Speaking of immigrants - that leads me to Ellis Island - the next stop for the ferry that I took. This time, however, I sat inside the heated interior of the ferry. A wise move, a wise move indeed. After the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island wasn't really that special (although in isolation the Ellis Island Immigration Centre is an interesting visitng point). Here all the immigrants to the United States (via New York City) from abroad would have to be held here and be processed before being allowed entry. Interesting. Inside is an immigration museum - but I didn't go in and have a look... there was much, much more to do.

The Statue of Liberty

Manhattan Island (South)

Wall Street

Return to the Big Apple

Wednesday 30/11 (local)

It was an early morning today as it was off to New York City - the return. A teary farewell from my relos followed by some preliminary sightseeing in New York City. Oh - also saw a Broadway show! Truthfully not terribly much was done in a holiday sense - which is a bit of a shame. But that's what happens sometimes. It all wasn't a waste so don't worry about that. I did come to terms with the general layout of the area though.

Train, Pennsylvania, New York City - Penn Station. Time to check into the hostel. Unfortunately there were no real stations nearby (subway stations). So anyway - off to 59th street on the Yellow (N/R/W) line. A couple of blocks to walk and there I was at the Vanderbilt YMCA. Tiny, tiny rooms! But a clean bed is all that's really needed - so all good. (Map for the entire New York City subway)

As I checked in at 12:00 pm (midday) there really wasn't that much time to sightsee - as days are short and I was yet to eat lunch. So step one was to find lunch. Wandering around the Vanderbilt resulted in finding a nice little food shop. A hot dog shop near the United Nations complex. I ordered a Pacific Hot Dog, and it was very nice indeed. Probably not the healthiest thing to have, but oh well.

So in the afternoon I wandered around the Midtown East area of Manhattan. Just browsing as it were. It's quite a feeling just walking through the streets of NYC. I ended up getting a look at the United Nations Secretariat building, the Chrysler Building and Grand Central Station.

Both Carmen and I decided that it was a good idea to go and see a show - so that is what we ended up doing. We headed up to Times Square and bought discounted tickets to the Phantom of the Opera (50% discount, as it's off-season).

The show was to commence at 8:00pm just off Broadway. Ate some Japanese food and then headed off to the show. I ate some special sushi named Spider Sushi, it wasn't made up of spiders but was made up of shrimp and cost US$20. The show was quite impressive - I quite liked it.

I'm not too sure where i've heard portions of the Phantom of the Opera music before but i've definitely heard some aspects of the show before. Fantastic. When the orchestra started belting out the "main theme" I was impressed, hooked from the start. Both the performers and orchestra were fantastic.

The performance wasn't without its flaws. Flaws due to obnoxious audience members. One bloke a couple of seats down kept shuffling in his chair - he was obviously brought along by his wife (= dragged), he eventually fell asleep. That wasn't the worst of it. A group of young American chicks kept giggling and making quiet comments throughout the show. Seriously... just because some of them are attractive doesn't give them the right to disrupt a show.

After the show - went back to the hostel and watched an interesting new American show (or maybe it isn't quite new). The Comedy Channel there is something that I would very much like to see much more of. The show titled The Colbert Report was hillarious. Americans are known for covering primarily American stories and not too much else. In this show they provide 17 seconds of world news, and it was one of the funniest little skits i've seen in a while.

UN Secretariat Building, New York

Chrysler Building

The Birthplace of America

Tuesday 29/11 (local)

One day to visit Philadelphia, the city. A town with much history, and a town with only a couple of buildings worth visiting. Today I visited the Liberty Bell, Independance Hall and wondered around the so called Historic District. This night I was not babysitting just the one kid, but three.

First off it was off to the city centre of Philadelphia. As I was in the suburbs I had to catch the train. I can see why the Americans have a love for the car - it's more convenient than public transport (in Philly anyways). Out in the suburbs - there is next to no public transport.

Anyhow, what did I go and see? The sights around the Historic District of Philadelphia. The first stop - the Visitors Centre. There we found out what we needed to do and followed the suggested plan outlined by the guide.

The Liberty Bell was the first of the sights visited. Quite an interesting story that the bell has - it cracked, was repaired, and then cracked again. Anyhow, turns out to be quite a nice bell (bronze). It does indeed have a massive crack up one side - as you can see with the photo taken below.

The next sight was Independance Hall. Guided tours take place every hour so i hopped onto the next available one. Unfortunately a school group came along as well (a high school group). Independance Hall was good to look at - a well preserved environment which preseves the way in which it looked when America broke away from England. In Independance Hall the Declaration of Independance was agreed to, signed, and publicly announced. Finally, the smart-ass kids that happened to come along to the tour should never be allowed off school property - a totally unruly bunch. Ah wel... I was young once too.

After viewing Liberty Bell and Independance Hall it was time to head down to Penn's Landing. Didn't quite make it all the way to the Landing but I at least at lunch nearby. I tried Philly Cheese Steak - the local tucker. I wish I hadn't. It was a reasonably simple meal: dinner roll + steak + melted cheese. Not for me. I'll take the standard Aussie Steak Sandwich anyday (steak + beetroot + lettuce + BBQ sauce + toast). It wasn't a bad meal, just that it wasn't exactly my cup of tea.

After eating lunch I spent much of the remaining time wandering around the Historic District. Visited the Quakers Church, saw the US Mint building, the Consitution Convention Building, and others... forgotten their names. Didn't go into any of these buildings, just looked.

Returned back home to my cousin's place and from there we headed off to dinner - one of my cousin's friends. The trip was a little longer than expected but that's because I thought we were just doing down the road. Haha.

Anyways, what happened was the we all had a lovely Vietnamese pho dinner. After that it was an intense night of babysitting. It all started out with playing catch with Matty. Then one of the host's daughters came over to play - Geraldine. The host's daughters love to play with Matty so it was inevitable that they'd come too. So what we ended up playing was pass the bouncy ball. An interesting game that lasted a while. Then it got tougher - alot tougher. (By the way, the other daughter's name is Martine).

All three kids decided to want to do something different. First off Matty wanted to keep playing pass-on-the-ball. Next, Geraldine (younger of the two girls) wanted some stories read to her and finally Martine wanted to show her gymnastic routines. Wow - I have so much respect for childcare workers now. It's crazy juggling everything. I can't imagine what it is like with a room of 10 or 20 kids! Even though it was tough - it was great fun. Kids are great. This lasted until about 10pm, by then it was time to head home (and the kids to sleep).

Liberty Bell

Independance Hall

Conference Room - Independance Hall

Travel Diary 2005 - 2006

It may be somewhat difficult to track the travel diary as the links on the right hand side only track the last half-dozen or so entries. So from this page you will be able to access all of the travel blog entries from the one cenral location. (The link to this portal page will also be available from the right hand nav bar).

(Note the two Tuesday 22/11 - This is due to the time difference between Sydney and Los Angeles).

Tuesday 22/11 : The Journey Begins
Tuesday 22/11 : Los Angeles - Day 1
Wednesday 23/11 : Los Angeles - Day 2
Thursday 24/11 : Los Angeles - Day 3
Friday 25/11 : Touchdown in New York City
Saturday 26/11 : The Trek to Philadelphia
Sunday 27/11 : DC - The First Day (Part 1) (Part 2)
Monday 28/11 : DC - Day 2 (Part 1) (Part 2)
Tuesday 29/11 : The Birthplace of America
Wednesday 30/11 : Return to the Big Apple
Thursday 1/12: Midtown and Down (Part 1)(Part 2)
Friday 2/12: More to See in NYC (Part 1)(Part 2)
Saturday 3/12: Leaving the Land of the Free
Monday 4/12: The Motherland
Tuesday 5/12: Cambridge

DC - Day 2 (Part 2)

Monday 28/11 (local)

By this stage my camera had run out of battery power. Since nearly everything that needed to be captured was indeed captured it wasn't too much of a proble. It's a bit of a shame though - as the camera doesn't seem to take all that many photos. One hundred odd may sound like alot but this includes daylight shots (those not requiring flash). At night, i'm guessing that only 35 to 40 shots are doable due to the flash. Hmm...

Between 12:00pm or 12:30pm we were headed back to Philadelphia. On the way ou we passed the FBI building and the IRS building. Took some photos with Jason's camera, and then fell asleep. Go me!

I awoke back in Philadelphia - meaning that I slept for something like two hours. Haha. Oh well. I always seem to sleep in cars and trains - habit I guess. We pulled into the driveway, hopped out of the car and was back home. Matty was extremely excited and was yelling out "Daddy, Daddy!". However, when Matty saw me instead of Jason he changed to what he was saying to "Daddy, come here". LOL. Still scared of me.

The afternoon was spent attempting to interact with Matty, but progress was slow. It was more of an opportunity to catch up with my cousins. Then there was a breakthrough - it was time for tennis (in the house). First off he was playing tennis with Kara, then I started playing as well. All seemed good until Kara left the room.

Matty quickly lost interest and went searching for his mother. That's alright - progress was being made. After some more tennis, supervised, things turned out great. Not only did we play tenis, we played some golf as well. A golf variant. There is no hole, the ball is just hit with a golf club. Oh well - just as fun. By the end of it all I could interact with Matty easily, as long as Jason and Kara were nearby (like in the adjacent room). A lovely kid.

Matty's brother Danny is a baby. So interaction is quite limited. However Danny does respond to smiling with smiling. Which is something that I find neat. He also likes to hold things, from what I can tell. When I hold my index finger out he grabs it and squeezes it from time to time. Very cool indeed. Kids are great... wait, i'll change that - well behaved kids are great.

Dommer was fascinating as another surprise party was planned for my cousin - well, a dinner with some unexpected guests. Friends from the UK were along for the dinner. I guess this was plan B - the contingency. We were at a restaurant that brewed its own beer. Not being a fan of beer I didn't really try anything - oh well. I ate a steak burger. (I'm not going to mention anything about how I got to the steakhouse. If you are super intelligent then you can figure it out :D).

The trip back home. First off I walked Matty to the car - yep, he walks. You can hold his hand and start walking, that easy. Anyhow - the trip back. In the car was Jason, Matty, Danny, and I. All the guys - with the exception of Jason's UK pal Huy. I learnt an interesting trick that you can try on babies if they're crying and you are driving home. I kid you not - this trick worked. Emperically tested... once.

So there we are in the car and Danny starts crying. I'm in the back seat next to him and I have no idea what to do. I was thinking Should i say 'hush' in a soothing tone? Should I sing a lullabye? Should I tickle the baby? Is he hungry? I was at a loss. Pro at parenting? Not me, that's for sure. So anyway, Jason says only 5 minutes to go, 5 minutes and then Danny stops crying. Amazing! Unfortunately Danny began to cry again after a couple of minutes, and we weren't exactly close to home. So this time I had a shot - only 5 minutes to go. Nothing. He didn't fall for it. So I tried somehing else: okay, okay - 4 minutes to go, nearly there. Then Danny stopped crying. Wow! Onto something here. In actual fact 5, 4, 3, and 2 minute tests all worked, one after another. I think i'm onto something. I better patent the idea. It's great.

The evening was spent playing with Matty and talking to my cousins. It was a thoroughly enjoyable night. Playing with kids followed by intelligent conversation. Excellent things to counter computer-game dependance. Haha. It was really great to be with my cousins. Sightseeing was and will most likely be features of my holiday but being in Philadelphia with my cousins really is a highlight. It just goes to show how important family is and how much it means to me.

Memorial Eyes Mystery Solved!

Triceratops - Natural History Museum

DC - Day 2 (Part 1)

Monday 28/11 (local)

Today was another day of D.C. sightseeing and there was quite a bit left. Today saw us visit the Pentagon, the Washington Monument, and the National Museum of Natural History before heading back to Philadelphia. As is the norm thus far on the trip - it was a blitz. We were out of Washington D.C. by approximately 12:30 pm.

First stop, the Pentagon. Down from the hotel we drove, past the Lincoln Memorial and along one of the boundaries of the Arlington Military Cemetary. A slow gentle curving road then lead to one of the entrances to the Pentagon.

There were no signs saying Visitors Welcome or even Visitors Centre. Foiled. All we saw were gates and steel blocades. Ack. Well that didn't quite stop us. The adventure continued as we tried another entrance. Driving along the stretch of road we were on previously we saw a sign labelled "Pentagon City". Woohoo! We took the turn.

As we drove up the road we quickly realised that there was no turning back. We were fast approaching a boom gate - a manned boom gate. Several emotions were all surfacing at once: surprise, curiosity and angst. My emotional state was a bit of a cocktail. My thoughts were also a jumble - What security measures are in place? Do the guards carry weapons? Are we going to be in trouble? I want to speak to my lawyer... all of these thoughts popped up. Most of all I was excited. I'm not too sure how the other two were feeling but... WOW. Adventure plus.

The first thing we were asked was What are you doing here?. Quickly thinking Jason mentioned that we were trying to get to Washington D.C., phew - saved from a free one-way ticket to Guantanamo Bay (or something similar). The guard then quickly gave us a complicated set of instructions to get back to Washington D.C. She then stopped talking, looked at me, and then sternly said No cameras! OMG, scary. My Canon IXUS was indeed in my right hand - I quickly fumbled around with my bag and promptly put away the camera. A tense moment that one... let me tell you.

We were soon moving back to Washington D.C. but I couldn't help but feel as though hundreds of eyes, whether mechanical or human, were trained on us as we departed the heart of the United States Military. Phew. Don't try this at home kids.

Next stop - the Washington Monument. The riddle of the evil eyes needed to be solved. If you haven't been to D.C. you may or may not have noticed that a pair of red lights flash periodically at the top of the Washington Monument. We ventured up to solve the riddle, and to see the view from the 550 foot observatory floor.

Some information on the Monument. The entire structure (external) is made of stone. There are no steel suports, nothing. It's just a big slab of rock that is heavy enough not to move. The monument was initially funded by private citizens before construction halted in the 1800s, resulting in an ugly stump in the US Capital. Congress wised up and passed on the required funds to finish the project.

The story must ring true, as you can tell from the outside that there is a difference in the colour of stone used in the bottom compared to those at the top. Furthermore, the mystery of the evil eyes was solved. It is just a simple pair of red lights mounted on each face of the wall. Such an anti-climax.

Following the monument it was time for some more museum viewing. Anoter Smithsonian Institute Museum was visited by us - this time it was the National Museum of Natural History. We only spent aobut an hour there, so obviously none of us finished looking at all of the exhibits taht the museum had to offer. However, there were quite a few impressive displays at the museum.

On the ground floor were Early Life, Dinosaur Era and Mammals exhibitions. All of these provided some fascinating reading. However, the most important/impressive of the features were the life sized displays of the dinosaurs. There were full reconstructions (of the bones, anyway) pf a Tyrannasaurus Rex, a Triceratops, and also a Brontesaurus. Very neat indeed. Being devoured by a T-Rex or implaed by a Triceratops are definitely not fun ways to die. Finally, On the second floor there were more exhibits - but I was unable to reach them. Apparently there was a natural rock exhibition which contained diamonds and gems. I missed out :(. Oh well.

The Lincoln Memorial

The Jefferson Monument

DC - The First Day (Part 2)

Sunday 27/11 (local)

After visiting the Lincoln Memorial it was off to the US Capitol. What a lovely building it is. If you want to see something that resembles the strength of America you only need to look at the US Capitol. First of all it is huge, has a large sweeping dome and looks quite Classical (in the Greek sense, although I could be way off with my description). The Australian Parliament House is pissweak in comparison to the US Capitol. I would have loved to sit inside the Congress and Senate chambers - oh well, not to be. The only thing I can say is that the Australian Parliament's flagpole is bigger. Take that America! LOL. There were no pollies (politicians) about today as it is Thanksgiving Sunday today.

Next stop involves American History. Where exactly? The National Archives. The home of the United States Declaration of Independance. The history of the United States is interesting in all aspects and the Declaration of Independance is no exception. I'll give a brief history lesson in a sec.

On display in the National Archive is one of the versions of the Magna Carta (yes, the document signed by the old kings in England saying that the king is not above the law and a whole bunch of other stuff), the Declaration of Independance, the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

History lesson time - so how did the United States of America eventuate? Well first of all there were a dozen British colonies. The British smashed the French ending the Seven Years War and started taxing the Americans to pay for the cost of the war (I think Tea Tax was one of the taxes). This effectively gave the Americans the shits, resulting in the 'Tea Party' incident resulting in the close and fortification of the port city of Boston. The colonies got together and wrote to the King. They got barred. So independence it was. How is that for a story! What about in Australia? Some blokes posed the question "How about Australia? Forget about this separate colony business" and England agreed. No declaration, no wars, nothing. Awww...

Last stop of the day (as it was nearing closing time for all of the museums and galleries) was teh National Air and Space Museum. Note: there are actually two parts - I went to the National Mall part. Anyhow, what a cool museum. I could spend a whole day here, unfortunately I had approximately 45 minutes. When the lights went out and the guards were ushering us out the door I was sad, very sad indeed. I am going to have to come back to Washington D.C. to finish off the museum. Ah well.

So what did I end up seeing? Well I saw the Welcome Centre, the Milestones of Flight exhibit, How Things Fly exhibit, Looking at Earth exhibit and finally the exhibit detailing the timeline of the Space Race. Some notable pointers - I got to touch a piece of the moon. Woohoo! Got a camera movie of me doing so - quality stuff. Another pointer is aerial photography. In World War 2 the Allies made use of stereo photographs (for 3D effects). OMG it's cool! I saw a bridge and a coastline of one of the river banks in 3D, truly amazing. The photos were that aged yellow paper colour, but it was all in 3D. Something that is recommended for viewing by me. The story of the Space Race is a real thriller and it was great to see replicas about the place.

Darkness befell Washington D.C. and it was time to head to our prearranged accomodation. I did no organisation whatever and it was a great relief. Many, many thanks must go to my cousins Kara and Jason for arranging the DC trip and accomodation. We stayed the night at a place called the River Inn. Luxury. I got the couch, but it was still luxury. Beats the cheapy hostels that I was staying at in LA and NYC, that's for sure! Obviously the River Inn would be much more expensive than hostels but its worth it. Yep, definitely. The bedroom was quite lavish, too - but I didn't get to sleep there. No complaints from me.

The US Capitol

The Washington Monument

Hard to keep up

Well the Contiki tour is over as is my skiing trip to Austria. Unfortunately I havent really been able to post frequently as the travel timetable has been quite compact (although when I am free internet access is either non existant or exorbitantly priced).

I will endeavour to post when I can... a day at a time. Lots of fun under the winter sun.

Finally, I would like to wish everyone a belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!