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