Montreal

Note: belated because Amy wrote it and asked me to look over it. I forgot. Here'tis. Now you can all quit your wingin'.


We are back in Hobart now and I know no-one will read this any more, but we have to finish it properly.


After Boston we went back to New York for one night. Luckily the Broadway strikes had finished, and we got to see The Lion King - yay! Even if it did use up most of the money we had left!


The next morning we got up early to catch a train to Montreal. As we headed north more and more snow appeared, until eventually all the lakes were frozen and no grass was in sight.

We stayed with Jason's second cousin, Angela, and her two lovely children - Felixe and Maxim. It was great to catch up with them all, and the kids certainly kept us busy!


We went to an awesome bakery for some yummy French pastries...



We went for a walk in the snow-c0vered park with Felixe and Maxim. There is a hill there that all the kids have fun playing on. They get all sorts of sleds and mats and snow boards and fly down the hill. It looked like so much fun, although Jason said it is a little rough on the knees!





On our last night in Montreal we stayed at a really nice hotel and had the nicest food ever. The meat was sooo tender. And my chocolate pudding was perfect, with yummy chocolate sauce oozing out off a small chocolate cake, served with rich vanilla ice cream. Mmmmmmmm.

The next day we sadly made our way to the airport to begin our long journey home.

After 30 hours of either being on a plane or in an airpot, we finally arrived in Sydney. We got through customs surprisingly quickly - it's so much faster when you don't have to do fingerprinting and photos like in America! Then we headed over to the baggage collection place. We waited and waited. The same bags were going round and round. Finally we realised that our bags weren't going to come out. Then some airport staff informed us that our bags were still in LA. So all we had was our carry-on luggage for our stay in Sydney, which consisted of random toiletries and a few items of clothing none of which were suitable to wear in sunny Sydney. So we had to buy everything - hopefully our travel insurance will cover that. Our luggage should be arriving in Hobart either today or tomorrow - fingers crossed!

We had a really good time in Sydney. We stayed at our friend's place, and she kindly drove us around places and made us scrambled eggs for breakfast. We went to Campos and had some good coffee and yummy pastries, wandered around Newtown, then took the ferry back to Manly.


Thanks to everyone who kept in touch with us while we were away and commented on our blog - it helped us to not be so homesick. We're really happy to be back and can't wait to see everyone.

Boston

We thought DC was a little chilly, but we weren't prepared for mounds of snow beside the road when we arrived in Boston! The first thing on our agenda was to buy scarves and gloves. This wasn't as easy as it sounds - for some reason most of the scarves available were really thin and had holes in them - not very good for blocking out wind!

We spent our first day walking around the "Freedom Trail", which covers most of the historic sites in Boston. If there is one thing this holiday has done, it has proven once and for all that I have a much better sense of direction than Jason (now I better publish this post quickly before Jason manages to read this and delete it).

(a frozen lake)

We didn't quite finish the trail - I got distracted by some bargains at a clothing boutique, and then by a cafe with really good hot chocolates. Some fresh snow as we walked home finished the day off nicely.

On our second day we went to the original Cheers (ie the pub the TV show was based on) ........

...........and then to Harvard..........

Tomorrow morning we catch an early train back to New York. Hoepfully the Broadway strikes will be over and we can watch the Lion King. Then the next morning we head to Montreal.

Washington DC

On Thursday we had a 3 hour train ride to Washington DC, which was much quieter and more relaxed than the bustle of New York. I wanted to put up a photo to show everyone our wonderful family and hosts, but they bribed us with lots of wine and hot chocolate, so we better not. My Aunty Debbie met us at the station and took us to their friends house where we stayed.

They were all very welcoming and it was great to be able to relax there and eat real home-cooked food for a few days!! I got rather into Sudoku while we were there, although that was nothing compared to my puzzle addiction.....

We saw all the major sights....

The Capitol, where some students in costumes sang us some Christmas Carols

The White House
The monuments

We went to the National Portrait Gallery. I challenge you to tell me which president this is a sculpture of.....

A sculpture park (this huge spider is just for you Mum!!!)

It was really nice to go to a city with family there - much more relaxing than staying in a hotel room. And because it was cold I got to snuggle up in front of an open fire - one of my favourite things to do.

One last thing..... Happy Birthday to my wonderful 20 year old sister (I know it's not really your birthday any more, but it is here for another 6 hours!!). We hope you had a fantastic day and love you very much.

New York, New York

The New York skyline over the Central Park Resovoir at sunset

Its amazing what you can do with a low-end digital camera when you've got views like this to shoot!

New York was an absolte breath of fresh air (Ok, perhaps that wasn't the best phrase to use there, the air wasn't exactly easy to breathe at times, but bare with me - I'm tired). Especially having come from LA. The people were courtious, the city felt safe and the public transport system was fantastic. Also, New York bagels are a great (and cheap) breakfast.

When we arrived at our hotel (The Vanderbilt YMCA), we were greeted by a modern and great looking foyer containing a modern and great looking receptionist. We checked in and got our keys, then headed upstairs.
When the elevator doors opened, we thought it'd taken us to another building. The corridor was old and the doors to the rooms were much too close together to allow us to hold any hope that we'd get a big room.
Imagine an empty broom closet. Now imagine that same broom closet with a bunk bed and a colour tv. Thats it, you've got it.
Basically the room was only good for sleeping in which turned out to be fine. We spent more time out exploring than we did in our room anyway.

On the first day we caught the subway to Central Park and made our way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Inside we found a great many things, too many to list here. I hear a picture speaks a thousand words, so I'll let it do it for me -


(What words come to mind for you?(Please, not a thousand))

After that we wandered Central Park. It was absolutely breath-taking in the fall. The leaves were all a golden brown and falling on the ground. The park was quiet, but we still found some interesting sights. There was a large group of people dancing on roller skates/blades around a DJ who was doofing away. I understand the kids call them phat beats. There was even a dude dancing on a Segway with a lady on skates!


^Spot Amy at Bethesda Fountain!




^A squirrel on the move

Visited Times Square almost every day we were there. There was just so much to see!
We went to Ripley's, ate hot-dogs, saw Hitman at the cinema (To Steve: Nyah nyah!) and even got to see Mary Poppins on Broadway, despite the stage-hand strike! The Broadway show was just incredible. I didn't much expect to be excited by a Disney film adaption, but it was great. The sets were perfect, the music was faithfully reproduced and sung and the special effects were amazing. We hope that the strike has finished in time for our trip to Montreal from Boston. We have an overnight stay in New York on the 6th of Dec and really want to see The Lion King.



I'm almost asleep at the keyboard here so I'll keep it short from now on (Amy's already asleep).

We walked across brooklyn bridge which afforded us some beautiful views of the city. Well worth the sore feet!
We even got to see one of the many iterations of Law and Order being filmed! We were ushered off the set very quickly, but not before I got a shot of some guy I understand is a main character.




Well, thats all from me. I could go on, but these toothpicks are hurting my eyelids.
Goodnight all.