Freezing in the Big Apple

Gen and Matt moved to NY because of work and their two gorgeous twins are US born. They took to the Peruvian hats and llama toys and Gen and Matt were so impressed with tales of South America they were wondering about going South on holiday.  Hmmmm.... I'm not sure how a Bolivian holiday would work with toddler twins. Best of luck there.

They live in Hoboken which is the bit to the Left hand side of the Hudson river which is on the left hand side of New York - you know what I'm trying to say.  It means you are only 5 minutes ferry ride across the water and rather than being dwarfed in an alleyway between tall sky scrapers you look across at a fabulous skyline - the views were outstanding. STOP PRESS - Matt and Gen just changed flat to the block nearer the water and will be actually looking directly across at Empire State building with a terrace for the girls.

We really liked Hoboken - it used to be where they built all the ships and was a hive of heavy industry with memorials to all the workers who powered the war effort - a bit like Teesside without the views of Manhattan I suppose. Now all the industry is gone and apartment blocks take their place. Back a couple of blocks are lovely old brownstone houses. All  along the front is a path where you can walk or cycle North or down towards where you can see the Statue of Liberty. 

Ten minutes jog down there is Hoboken Station which is an old Beaux Arts movement building with wrought iron and Tiffany glass everywhere. Gorgeous.  Anyway I shall stop sounding like an estate agent.

We walked with the girls on the High Line in Manhattan - an old elevated railway that they have converted into a footpath with gardens planted all along.

We managed to get to two shows -we are so mean we didn't want to pay much so we got standing tickets for Kinky Boots the Musical (if you haven't seen the original film starring Chiwetel Ejiofor who starred in Twelve years a slave you must get it) and then returns for the New York ballet at the Lincoln centre. Their production of the Nutcracker was good but nowhere near the productions starring the ballet school Dads put on over the years at Bingley. 

We also got to the Guggenheim (great building - weird art) and the Metropolitan art museum (would need a week there) but we didn't really have enough time.  By a bizarre coincidence Amelia's boyfriend Stuart had planned a long weekend in NY as a surprise Xmas present for Amelia while we were there. So when he proposed and she accepted we were there the next day for a celebratory Brunch. Wedding plans still forming but Up North and in Summer 2016.  A lovely end to the holiday. 

And then it was off back to Blighty with a 260mph tailwind to speed us on our way. NY was very cold but very clear and dry apart from when it was raining hard but the welcoming UK was just cold and dark and raining. BUT with only a couple of weeks to go before the shortest day we would soon be heading towards summer again. 

There may be a follow up Blog post with evaluation, lessons learned etc., in the best educational tradition but for now I would just say - If you get the chance to do some extended travelling - then go for it. 

 

Turkey in Texas

They say that the average American consumes 5000 calories on Thanksgiving Day so we were not to be outdone. We had never been in the U.S. for this holiday before and it was entirely fortuitous that the dates fell into place on this trip. 

It's a strange event in some ways, like much over here just different enough from the UK to suddenly jar you into noticing we are 2 countries divided by a common language as Churchill put it. When we arrived I could see how easy it would be to adopt a posher British accent and steadfastly refuse to say elevator when they obviously mean lift. Any hows y'all make up your own minds now. People are usually charmed by a British accent and immediately want to know where you are from. On a run I asked a guy for directions and had to prise myself away. He had just gone to pick up his post from his front gate in his golf buggy - it must have been all of 50 metres to the gate. 

The weather was gloriously sunny and so we could have our lunch outside and over the next 10 days  it kickstarted our running again and we enjoyed walking the dogs in the "local" park. But let's be honest - there isn't a lot to do in Texas apart from visit family. There really is no such thing as a Public Footpath in the US. We went up to a State Forest for a great 2 hour walk but it was a 2 hour drive - otherwise everywhere is private property and you could get shot for trespass. We really should celebrate the network of public paths everywhere in the UK.

It was great to catch up with Lesley and Piers and Helen and Kate and when the weather suddenly dropped from borderline needing the air conditioning to nearly freezing it was time to move on.  We were off to New York on the last leg of our journey.