October

For my first weekend off in October (a Monday and Tuesday) Amy and I head down to Liverpool to take a look around. We get to see the Beatles Museum and the Tate Art Gallery both by the Mersey River. It is bitterly cold here and both off us are suffering from the flu. Amy leaves from Liverpool Airport to head to Spain for 3 - 4 weeks, while I went back to work.

I did manage to get to London for a night – mainly to pick up stuff I’d left at the Barnes’. That bus ride is a long one. I will take the train at every opportunity from now on. I did catch up with Saffa, Benno Jr, Andy White and Bert while down here. Had a great night out at Maxwell’s and Belushi’s.

September

Arrived in London on the 2nd and was fortunate enough to stay at Bert’s place. Not sure what I am going to do for work, as I need to get this hernia operation sorted out first. After seeing a doctor as soon as possible, he sorted me out with a referral to the British Hernia Center.

Had an interview for a job at the Walkabout Inn at Reading on the 6th. I was told that they were mainly looking for women but that Leeds were also looking for staff. I had an interview two days later with Jon Crook who offered me a job the next day. My start date is to be the 27th.

Some time after that I moved down to Barnesy’s at Kingston. They have a bigger place and wanted someone to house sit while they went to Spain for two weeks. I was more than happy to oblige. My only trip into the center of town was to spend a day wandering and to go to the Dali Museum. A great exhibition from my favorite artist. I’m pretty sure that some of the works were the part of a traveling exhibition in Florence I saw in 1998. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing his works of art. Pure genius! Afterwards I walked up to the National Portrait Gallery near Trafalgar Square. The gallery was displaying an exhibition of Australian photographers / personalities. A little bit of home in London.

Buckingham Palace, London

Houses Of Parliament, London

Dali Museum, London

Dali Musem & London Eye, London

On the 22nd I made my way up to Hendon to the British Hernia Center to have my problem resolved. The surgery took a couple of hours. I was under a local anesthetic and don’t remember any of the operation. The taxi back to Kingston was a bit blurry as well. The following two days saw me in pain and I was having trouble walking.

I delayed my trip to Leeds for two days to recover. I managed to catch a train to Leeds on the following Tuesday to start working the next day. I get to share a room with Pete and Fraser. The work is not too bad, but it will take a bit of get used to being on my feet for long periods of time. The aftermath / recovery from my operation is coming on nicely.

On the 29th Amy arrived from the USA. It is so good to see her again – can’t believe it has been seven weeks. She will stay in Leeds for a week before heading off for a trip to Spain.

New York, NY to London, England

As money is really low, I got up this morning and decided to catch the subway straight out to JFK.  I had ages to kill at the airport before my flight onto London and my next adventure was to begin – a 2 year visa to live and work in the UK.  At the airport I spent time reflecting on a great last 5 months, and looking forward to the future and hopefully more travels in Europe.

New York, NY

I was up early to make my way down to the Statue of Liberty Ferry, though not as early as I’d like as only the first ferry of the day gets to climb the statue to the crown.  Unfortunately that was not me.  I walked the whole island and climbed to her feet.  I took a heap of photos of her and the Manhattan skyline. 

Statue Of Liberty, New York

I took the ferry back to Manhattan, then a subway to the Natural History Museum and the Rose Science Center (again part of that City Pass).  These museums did not hold much interest for me and I got through them relatively quickly. 

Manhattan Skyline, New York

Afterwards I wandered aimlessly around the 70th – 79th Street areas.  Just looking around and taking in some of the local buildings. 

I went to the hostel, where I met up with Paul (a Dutch guy staying in the room).  We caught the subway to the World Trade Center (the tallest buildings in New York).  We went to the observation deck for an awesome night time view of the city before making the mistake of going on to the roof, where I almost shat myself.  My fear of heights is well known, but this is the worst it had ever been.  You ride up and escalator onto the roof and the only way to get back down is to walk along a perimeter (which seemed miles to me) to an escalator down.  I’m glad to say I’ve done it, but I would never do it again.  I was more than happy to be back on the ground.  With adrenaline overflowing, it was back to the hostel after this for my last night in the USA.

Times Square, New York

New York, NY

This morning I took a quick bus ride over to the Guggenheim Museum.  This is a beautifully designed museum that is spiral shaped.  Inside the museum the spiral walkway allows you to see everything from top to bottom.  My favorite parts are the models of the sister museums, The Bilbao Guggenheim and the plan for the new museum in New York, on the lower eastern riverfront. 

Guggenheim Museum, New York

From there I caught the subway down to the World Trade Center to try and get half price tickets to a show – any show, I’m in New York – but they only have tickets for the following day, and I am trying to go sometime today.  So I walked back to Times Square to the TKTS booth where the line for tickets was huge.  I took the option of walking to different theaters to see what I could do there.  There was a ton of shows I wanted to see eg Saturday Night Fever, Jekyll & Hyde, Chicago, Cats etc, but I settled on Swing at The Theater – a $20 ticket in the last row for the matinee.  I ducked into McDonalds in Times Square for a quick lunch before getting back to the show.  As a single, because the theater wasn’t full, I got upgraded to an $80 seat (Woo Hoo!).  The show was awesome!  There was no real story, but a live band (on stage, not in an orchestra pit) and dancers bringing great swing music to life.  Not one of the bigger Broadway shows, but I’m very glad I chose it. 

After the show I was back on the subway to Lower Manhattan to view the Statue of Liberty from a distance.  It was too late to catch the ferry over, yet I was right next to the Staten Island Ferry, but not realizing it was free and would’ve given me a closer view, I did not get on it.  I will be back tomorrow to get a closer look.  I was on the verge of another migraine and my hernia was giving me some grief so I headed back to the hostel at 6pm and stayed in for the night.

New York, NY

I started off the day getting off the subway at Central Park West to see Strawberry Fields – the small tribute to John Lennon.  It is in the park, near to the building where he lived and was murdered. 

From there it was back on the subway to the Museum of Modern Art.  I am there for one thing only – to see Dali’s “Persistence of Memory’, but that floor is closed for renovations.  It’s Europe all over again!  I found a City Pass at MOMA which gets me into 6 attractions around town for half price, so I picked one up to use over the next couple of days.  From MOMA I walked over to Radio City Hall and to the outside of the Chrysler Building. 

From there I walked across town to the Hudson River to the USS Intrepid.  This is a retired navy aircraft carrier which is docked on the river and now serves as the Sea, Air & Space Museum.  I loved it!  There was heaps of information on the carrier itself but it was the space missions that caught my eye.  It was sad reading about the Challenger disaster from many years ago.  Also on the ship was the Iwo Jima statue of the 6 Americans hoisting the flag after the Battle of Iwo Jima.  Next to the Intrepid is another retired naval ship and a submarine, the USS Growler, which I took a guided tour of.  The submarine was way too small for my liking.  It made me feel very claustrophobic.  Having said that I am 6 inches taller that the limit to be a crewman.  I could think of nothing worse than being stuck under water in this tin can. 

USS Intrepid, New York

After the Intrepid I headed back across town to the United Nations Building.  Unfortunately it was closed in preparation for a meeting next week.  So instead I walked up to the Empire State Building (the 3rd attraction on my City Pass) and took the lift to the observation deck on top.  The view of Manhattan, both north and south, was marvelous.  Could also see right down the Hudson as well as over to New Jersey.  I had wanted to stay up there for sunset, but cloud cover killed that idea.  I took a ton of photos before heading back down.  I walked over to Times Square for a slice of pizza before heading back on the subway to the hostel at about 8.30pm.

View of Southern Manhattan from The Empire State Building, New York

Washington, DC to New York, NY

We get up and catch a cab to Union station.  Here I am on the Greyhound to New York and Amy is on Amtrak back to Charlotte.  Saying goodbye (again) is tough, but it is made slightly easier by the fact that she will be coming to England sometime within the next 6 – 8 weeks.  

The bus is an uneventful 3½ hour drive, most of which I was asleep.  I arrived at the terminal in New York right near Times Square and then spent most of the afternoon looking for a place to stay.  Three hostels, Big Apple, Banana Bungalow & the YHA were either full or closed.  Eventually I found a bed at Central Park North, on 109th Street, just outside Harlem.  I do a quick walk to the Tourist Info before heading back to the hostel.  I stayed in for the evening as money is getting fairly low.

Fairfax, VA to Washington, DC

We waited at Chase & John’s to return their keys and thank them for their hospitality.  Chase drives us to the Metro where we catch the train into DC again.  We plan on staying in a hostel, but it’s full, so we ended up at the nearby Braxton Hotel, 5 blocks away.  It seems a little dodgy, but it will do for the night. 

We stopped for lunch at Trio’s (mmm….pizza) on our way walking back into the monument area.  Unfortunately we got caught in a thunderstorm, so turned back to the hotel.  Fortunately we made it back as the skies opened up.  We had dinner at a local Thai restaurant just near the hotel.  We head back after dinner and just hang out, as it is our last night together until Amy comes to England in a couple of months.

Me in Washington DC

Fairfax, VA

I woke up this morning with a disgusting migraine, so spent most of the day in bed.  John & Chase are off to a friend’s wedding and have kindly let us stay at their place – and use their car.  The first time we left the house was to go to dinner at Chevy’s.  This is in the same area as the restaurants from the previous 2 nights.  The Mexican food was good, but I’m pissed that I have wasted a whole day in DC because of a migraine. 

Fairfax, VA

Chase, Amy and I caught the Metro into downtown DC this morning.  We started off our day at the mall, which is a long grass lawn between Capitol Hill and the Lincoln Monument.  We made our first stop at the National Art Gallery, where the main exhibition was of scale models of famous European buildings, including many Russian ones I’d seen 2 years ago.  The main reason we’re here is to see Salvador Dali’s “The Last Supper”.  This is another amazing Dali masterwork and different take on the standard view of Christ and his disciples the night before He died.  

Chase & Amy @ Capitol Hill, Washington, DC

Lunch was at Union Station before we headed over to Capitol Hill.  We walked around the building, but did not make an attempt to go inside. 

Back down the Mall we walked to the phallic Washington Monument.  On the next half mile walk to the White House, we saw the presidential helicopter fly overhead.  

The White House, Washington, DC

Me @ Washington Monument, Washington, DC

Some pictures outside the White House before we get back on the metro back to Chase’s.  John joined the 3 of us for dinner at Greavy’s, one of John’s favorite sports bars.  We spent the evening in there watching some college football.

Charlotte, NC to Fairfax, VA

Chase picked us up this morning as we are going to spend a couple of nights with her and her husband, John, in Fairfax, Virginia, just outside DC.  Our only stop on the trip was for gas and a quick bite at Wendy’s.  We arrived at the Chase & John's not long after the afternoon traffic at 5pm.  The four of us went to dinner at a nearby restaurant, Sweetwater.  Once again the food is superb as we enjoy a few beers before eating out on a patio.

Charlotte, NC

Today started at the post office where I sent some stuff back home and other on to Barnesy in England.  We then drove out to Clover, South Carolina, to Amy’s grandmother’s farm.  Oni lives on a 200 acre farm, which Don works and her Uncle Joe lives and runs his surveying business.  We spent the afternoon with Oni and walked the farm and headed over to the cabin, which was the original homestead over 200 years ago, that Joe is restoring. 

Back at Mrs. Lau’s we were well fed on our last night in North Carolina.

Charlotte, NC

We spent most of the morning just getting our stuff together and tidying.  Early in the afternoon we drove out to the Charlotte Country Club, where Don and Nancy are members, and spent the afternoon lazing by the pool.  While there we met up with Peter, an old high school friend of Amy’s, who is the tennis pro at the club.  

Amy and I joined Don & Nancy for dinner at Manzette’s, an Italian Grill.  Once again a restaurant in the USA impresses.  After dinner we went to Chase’s moms to hang out for the evening.

Charlotte, NC

Sleeping was heaven.  And it wasn’t until about 11am that we got up and a lazy day was instilled.  A drove me around Charlotte for a couple of hours, delighted to both show me her town and reminisce over the places of her youth.  During our travels we picked up food for dinner.  Chase joined us for dinner with Mrs. Lau and Larry, and a plan was hatched to meet Chase’s family in Washington DC.

Charlotte, NC

We walked to the pharmacy early this morning to drop off some photos to be developed.  Amy’s best friend, Chase, came around to hang out for the afternoon.  Living on opposite coasts they don’t to see much of each other.  Later we picked up our photos on the way to Amy’s Dad’s, where we spent the late afternoon visiting and reliving the trip.  Time slipped away quickly and we ended up staying there for dinner that evening.  When we got back to Queens Road West, Amy’s stepdad, Larry, had returned from seeing his family in Pennsylvania.  Again we got to relive our trip through stories and photos.