Whoa, Ok so where did the time go?? We have been very lax and lazy about our blogs since leaving the European continent. One might say getting into the US Spirit 😉
Since arriving on the American continent Duncan and I have been focusing on the New England area with a little of South Eastern Canada for good measure.
As luck would have it our arrival into New York coincided with my best mate, Penny’s, arrival into the Big Apple also. On the same day even, not planned, completely random! Pen and her boyfriend Adam arrived by cruise ship from London and us by plane from Madrid.
By this stage Duncan and I had spent 4 months in non English speaking countries. It was a blessed novelty after so long to arrive into a country and be able to have fluid, decent conversation. To be able to ask the customs officer what the exact document we needed to have and then be able to understand his answer word for word! Yay! It did strangely take us a couple of days to find our English. Random things like when someone held open a door for me, I struggled to find the right word for thank you. On the shuttle ride to our hotel in Manhattan I loved being able to understand the conversations of the other passengers. By the end of the 40 minute drive I wanted it to stop, sometimes it is nest not to understand the language!
Our time with Pen and Adam included a couple of days in New York and in Boston.
We stayed at On the Ave which was just off Broadway and 77th, a great location to do most things via foot in Manhattan (although some things were a bit of an epic walk!). Our time in Manhattan included seeing some of the ‘must do’ touristy things like Times Square, Central Park, Broadway, Flat Iron Building, Ground Zero, Strawberry Fields and even catching the Subway (despite it being 10 degrees hotter than outside when it is already 30 outside!).
On our second night in New York we briefly parted ways with Pen and Adam for my Birthday present that Duncan had organised for me way back in Portugal. A night of Phantom of The Opera on Broadway. I have seen it twice before and still was overwhelmed by the powerful music, story and effects. The theatre was one of the original Broadway theatres, wonderfully ornate and dripping with atmosphere. A really fab way to experience a very New York activity, dinner and a Broadway show. I can now always say that I went to see the longest running Broadway musical on Broadway. Thank you Dunky for a wonderful Birthday present I will never forget!
Our following days were spent slightly diverting from the Touristy sites, although you still couldn’t help but happen upon something famous as they so bountiful in New York. We headed over the bridge to Brooklyn to experience a rinky-dink American Diner. Complete in the original skyline design we had Bloody Marys and great tucker in a very retro and cool location. After some wonderful vintage clothes shopping we experienced China Town and Little Italy and got ourselves ‘a slice’ and a beer at one of the Italian restaurants.
(A little aside) After my first full day in New York I felt like that I was constantly walking on a Movie or TV set. Everything from the taxis to the street signs, to the cafes or shops made famous on Sex and City or Seinfeld (for example) looked so familiar. After being immersed in such striking culture from Vietnam to Spain I thought that the US would be too familiar to my own to experience the ‘culture buzz’. But (for better or worse) the US has such a big effect on our own culture that it was kinda cool to experience some of the quintessential ‘US’ things that we so often in our media Can’t help but get a little buzz when I hailed down a taxi in downtown Manhattan Carrie style 😉 )
To glam it up a bit for one of our evenings we headed to 5th Avenue to one of the popular bars, 230Fifth, on the top floor of a 5th Avenue building it affords one of the best views of the Empire State Building. We had a wonderfully time sipping back the (yes, very overpriced) cocktails while experiencing the quintessential New York Skyline at sunset (was worth the price of the drinks… almost 😉 )
(Dunk) Not happy with bidding our adieus in NY, we continued up north to Boston with Pen and Adam. With our new hire car in tow, we quickly found out that the States was a big country. Our 3 and a half hour trip to Boston was WELL worth it! Staying just outside the city (due to cost), we enjoyed 3 fun filled days in Boston, combining Kam’s love for history, and my love for TV shows and sport!
With the car at the ready we decided to drive North of Boston to Gloucester, a fishing town that was thrust into stardom for the thousands of fisherman who left Gloucester never to return, and the subsequent movie ‘The Perfect Storm’. The amazing monument to the lost fishermen was staggering; the bar used in the film Prefect Storm was memorable and so powerful. To see so many years where hundreds of fisherman were lost – in just one year. So many widows and so many kids without fathers, and for those kids to then lose their own lives a few years later! We moved on for lunch into our lobster experience of a lifetime. We arrived into Rockport , MA, and sat down at Roy Moore’s lobster pound on the deck looking out onto the water for the freshest, most delicious lobsters, our $15 could buy!!! No service, no drinks (BYO beers and wine – well planned by us!), and definitely no frills, the lobsters were picked by us, boiled fresh and slapped on our wooden pallet table, with melted butter and greeted with massive grins from all. Honestly BRILLIANT!! Best lobster experience!!
Back in the heart of Boston we followed the Freedom Trail, a walking trail that took in the history of the beginnings of Boston and the birth of America as we trekked throughout the city we saw the oldest of everything in America and the gravesites of such historic figures such as Paul Revere, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, all of which have vast historical significance to Boston, America, and beer drinkers 😉 . The walking tour was a great way to see the city, and find out about the history of such things as the Boston Tea Party and the signing of the Declaration of Independence, one of the main reasons why Boston is on the tourist map.
For me, the reason why Boston was on the map, was due to a different Samuel, Samuel Beckett. ‘Cheers’ was set in Boston, and the Cheers bar (which doesn’t look anything like the bar from the movie) still stands down the quintessential stairway underground. Even though it was full of tacky merchandise, souvenirs, and overpriced drinks, we still loved it!
Our last highlight was one that I won’t forget soon! We all decided that there would be nothing like seeing America through the national pastime of Americans, Baseball! We snapped up some good seats online for Game 2 of the Boston Redsox v Cleveland Indians series (a big series, and a game that needed to be won before the Redsox met the Yankees next week). Not starting out well, we braved the weather, and nestled in a bar as the rain caused a delay to the start of the game. Soon we realised that the bar was actually underneath the bleachers, but more so than that, actually had a big window at ground level, that looked onto the field! Not much to see however, just covers over the field, and eager fans waiting for the game.
Like them, we waited, and it was well worth it, the game went to the bottom of the 9th where the Sox made a base hit with loaded bases to win! Through the mist of consuming hot dogs and beers, singing Sweet Caroline with the entire stadium, and seeing the sox win, we now understood why this was Americas favourite sport! Very fun! And we now have our baseball team…Go the Sox!!
We headed back to New York City so that Pen and Adam could continue their journey, and we could start ours. We dropped Adam and Pen off at their hotel, and in immaculate timing, we found ourselves driving though Manhattan in a crazy storm, and running very late for our dinner date with my relatives in Long Island! Embarrassed, we trundled onto their doorstep, at about 9:30pm, but instantly it felt like home. Peg and Mark were so hospitable, and lovely, it was great. Nothing like staying in a wonderfully family home having a home cooked meal after so long! We caught up on old times (last time I saw them I had dreadlocks and a nose ring) and filled them in on our travels.
We caught up again with Adam and Penny in Manhattan one more time for Adam’s 30th birthday. On a hot day in New York we took a we took a great walk along the Highline Walk, an ex elevated train line that has been transformed into a raised pedestrian walkway, full of cook gardens, plants and artwork. This was a lovely change from the hustle and bustle of New York City streets and a innovative way of how something that was an eye sore has been turned into something of beauty – really cool. After a well deserved birthday cocktail, and another funky retro diner lunch, our day came to a close again at 230Fifth, for a last glimpse of New York City’s most notable landmark.
Our long Island stopover was a lovely pitstop, as Kam got to know some of my family, and we both had a little bit of home for a few days. It was nice to discuss US life with real Americans, and really get in touch with Mark and Peg, and Max’s impending college beginnings. We slowed down and got ourselves set for our next journey, bought supplies, packed the car, and got set to hit the road! But that wasn’t without another lovely home-cooked breakfast, a few more chats with Peg and Mark, a couple of happy snaps, and the most amazing packed lunch from Peg (which came in very handy later on – more on that later). We had a great start to our USA/Canada leg, but now we were ready to hit the road. Northward bound!
