All Done

This is it!!!  We have all had a great time at the festival as well as our respective holidays.  Thanks for joining us.  We shall see you all back in Brisbane and back in the boat.  xxx

San Fransisco

A bit cooler in San Fransisco!
Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Chinatown, Castro, Haight Ashbury, North Beach for some good Italian, a good old piano bar in Lefty O'Doul's (you can imagine!), great times in San Fransisco.

Almost done - Rosalie, Geoff, E and Pam are off to the Napa for a few days before flying home (hope they get some nice wine for us all :)).  Jo and A are flying out tonight.

The Last Days - Las Vegas

Only a few of us left in Las Vegas and San Francisco.  Las Vegas is all people say.  Amazing to say the least!!!!  An adult playground.  Elaine (now known as E), Pam, Rosalie, Geoff, Jo and Adrianna stayed at the lovely Bellagio.  It was hot hot hot but that did not stop us checking out the sights, shopping and casinos. 

The Bellagio is very nice.  Food is amazing and the buffet for brunch great - we all hoed in and stuffed ourselves silly - it lasted the day.  One of the Bellagio highlights is the Fountain show - choreographed to different music for each showing - it is fabulous to watch. 

We all went on the helicopter ride to Grand Canyon.  Amazing!  Not so sure about being in the front seat with the pilot but worth landing in the canyon and having champagne.  It was very hot - about 46 deg C.

Casinos everywhere!  Of course we have all made our donations.   The 2 tragics of the group went and saw Donnie and Marie (1 somewhat reluctantly).  It was a blast.  Wonder who the tragics were :)

Shopping - we were told that shopping in Vegas is a must - we all made a dent in our wallets with some great bargains.

New York New York - WOW!!!

The last 5 days have been spent in fabulous New York.  Most of the time playing in Manhattan.

Traffic, noise, people, buildings, everything - nothing like any of us have ever seen...

We all arrived on our bus and said good bye to our guide Edith and driver Dave, dumped our bags and went for Pizza.  Then off to Times Square - with many, many other people.  Quite overwhelming and the lights were amazing!  Then back to our hotel for a nightcap.

The next few days saw most of us splitting up and and doing our own sightseeing in smaller groups.  All much the same but via different days and methods. 

Most took the option of the hop on and off bus.  Great value and a great way to get oriented with the area.  Some of us went to Ground Zero - worth the visit to the museum to listen to stories and read perspectives from children, survivors and witnesses.  Very moving to see and it is a valuable way to ensure this is never forgotten.  Building is underway now for the new building and memorial which will be worth revisiting upon completion.

Free ferry ride for some on the Staten Island ferry - with a birds eye view of Statue of Liberty. 

Some took in the Empire State building for the view, others did the Rockefeller Building (The Rock) - for an amazing ride up the elevator with a fast view of the lift shaft in lights!  To the top of the rock for amazing views of the city.  A little hazy but impressive all the same.

Greenwich Village is lovely and it was good to get away from some 'traffic'.  Plenty of lovely buildings and cafes and some markets to wonder through.  At Washington Square we were entertained by some singers and there were plenty of people sun baking and keeping  cool.  Temperatures are starting to soar!.

Of course a highlight of the trip was the 50th birthday celebration for Sue!  '230' on 5th Avenue - rooftop with a great view of the city - impressive view of the Empire State building at dusk/night.  The celebration was fun and followed into the night back at our hotel.  It is a 50th that Sue will not forget.  (pics to come).

The next day many of us met at the Boat House (Central Park) for brunch.  (a couple were a bit shabby but we won't name names :)).  What a location!  Central Park is HUGE!  Walking around was amazing and it was incredible to think that around us is a really busy and noisy city.  You would think we were miles away!  Some of us took in part of the park including Strawberry Fields where there is a memorial for John Lennon.

A few of us then went to Harlem - and some had to shop for a bargain.  Harlem is a complete contrast to Manhattan.  It was just how we would have pictured it.  Being a Sunday there were plenty of people dressed in the Sunday clothes for Church - we were a little late for a service.  There are plenty of Harlem characters.  We met a lovely lady - Joyce with a couple of her adopted kids.  Elaine got talking to her and it turns out her daughter recently died as a result of breast cancer, she also had a son who recently passed away.  So sad but she has an amazing spirit and faith and is now looking after her daughter's children as well as other adoptees. 

Grand Central Station - a world of it's own!  When in NYC you have to visit and take a ride in the subway.  The station itself is huge with shops, bars, restaurants, shoe shiners, and people a plenty.  We went to the Oyster bar for a well earned coldie.  It really is not hard to get around.

New York really is a city that never sleeps!  After 5 days - we barely touched the surface!  It is a place to come back to again and take in more.  This is where most of us split up to either go home, or continue our holidays.  See you in Brisbane Caramel, June, Sharon and Gary.  Ruth - to Belfast to visit family.  Janelle and Graham to London and Greek Islands no less!  Karen, Lizzie, Elaine and Pam are going to Washington.  Karen and Lizzie then do the beautiful inner passage cruise, and Elaine and Pam will see Jo and Adrianna in Las Vegas (VIVA!!!).  Rosalie and Geoff are going the stay at the Heartbreak Hotel in Memphis and will also meet up in Vegas.  Ellen and Paul are staying in NYC, Sue is meeting up with family in NYC then heading to Vegas then Disneyland.  Kate and Nicole gong to LA.  All in all we are heading off to see different things and some will meet up again.  The blog will continue for a little bit from Las Vegas.  Thanks for following us.

We have had, and continue to have a blast!!!!!

Ruth

WOW!  Driving into NY City was amazing, especially as we moved closer to the Helmsely Hotel and our stop for the next few nights.  Noise, noise, noise - honking horns and blazing sirens!  This is it!  Up to Time Square, lights enough to mesmerise with giddiness.  Off on the Hop on/Off bus, photos from Brooklyn Bridge and the amazing little chapel, Trinity Church which survived a fire and more recently the bombing of WTC.  It's all been fabulous using the subway and working out the grid.  Truly a marvellous city ending with a wonderful party on the rooftop bar for Captain Snooze's 50th at '230'with the Empire State in the background.  Then brunch in the morning at Central Park - The Boathouse.  It has all been so awesome.  Love to all, Ruth.

Janelle P

Hi All  So much to do in New York.

Snooze's 50th at '230 on 5th Ave' on the rooftop bar with the Empire State in the background.  What fun with all the girls!  Shame it has to end.  Safe travels home everyone!  Janelle and Graham xx

Tourists:

E and A shopping in Harlem

Hello New York !!

Apologies for being a couple of days late with the blog but we are having such an amazing time being tourists and enjoying ourselves that time seems to slip away.  This morning we left our hotel at Boston and headed off for New York.  On our way we passed through Newport, Rhode Island, which is a lovely place.  Some of the houses are just incredible - lots of money in parts of Newport !!!

We stopped at the Breakers, which was built as the Newport summer home of Cornelius Vanderbilt II, a member of the wealthy United States Vanderbilt family.  It was amazing - the 70-room mansion boasts approximately 65,000 sq ft (6,000 m2). of living space. The home was constructed between 1893 and 1895 at a cost of more than $7 million (approximately $150 million in today's dollars adjusted for inflation).

We then had lunch at the Pier at Newport, and met our server Barbara whose daughter was diagnosed with breast cancer at 38 years of age (2 years ago).  Barbara has only just moved to Newport from Florida, as the oil spill has ruined tourism and job opportunities.  We were ready to settle in for a session, but needed to get back on the bus.  Off again, through Conneticut and onto New York.   We drove through Queens, the Bronx and past Flushing Meadows - and then we saw Manhattan in the distance.  Those of you who have seen NYC for the 1st time will understand the excitement in the bus. 

We arrived at our accommodation - the New York Helmsley Hotel and realised that Caramel and June had left their luggage behind in Boston.  Thank goodness for Fedex.

Most of us headed off for a pizza dinner and then walked to Times Square (about 5 blocks away).  It is just as you have seen in photos and on TV, only better.  This city is amazing - busy, loud, exciting and fabulous.  Police presence is everywhere.  Once again, how do we sign off apart from saying that we are having an amazing time.

The Breakers

Newport

Boston...

A full day in Boston.
Started with a tour of Boston Common and walked around Beacon Hill.  Said Cheers outside the Cheers bar (sadly we were early so could not actually çheer with an ale).
We then ran the Boston Marathon - well, we saw the start and finish line!
We also now have many smarter people in MBT- with their new Harvard T shirts after our visit to Harvard.  Very smart indeed.

Finally we walked the Freedom trail and ended up at Quincy Markets where we had lunch, a potter around and back to the hotel for pizza.

Next we head to NEW YORK via Newport.  We are running a day behind with our blog, but we will be up to date shortly.

Niagara to Boston

We headed off about 8am this morning for our long trip to Boston.  On one side of Niagara is USA - on the other side is Canada.  We needed to pass through US Customs and it only took us 1 hour 20 minutes, which was better than the 3 or 4 hours that is sometime takes when the bus queue is long.  And off we travelled into New York State ...

We stopped at Albany which is the capital of New York State.  There wasn't much happening at Albany - seems the whole city knocked off early.  We saw the Egg which is the centre for performing arts and the New York State Capitol building.  We also had the obligatory squirrel sightings - we love the squirrels and the guys love watching grown women with cameras chase them all over the place.

We took advantage of the long bus trip - we napped, read our books and some of us decided to open a mini bar at the back of the bus. Do you know how hard it is to pour scotch into a tiny little coke bottle when the bus is moving??   We paraded up and down the bus in our new masks (kindly provided by Rosalie) and played celebrity heads to pass the time.

We arrived at our hotel in Boston about 7pm, and made our way next door for dinner at the Rustic Kitchen Bistro and Bar.  Every Friday night they have a live cooking show with a live audience who eat the food as it is prepared.  We all got very excited and had to have our photos taken (photos to come).  We felt like we were Master Chef contestants, even though we were mixing in empty bowls and not actually cooking anything.

We are off for a city tour tomorrow - until then....

Goodbye Niagara Falls

Albany - The Egg

Albany - Capitol Building - look at all the people !!

On the buses - Elaine and Ellen

Celebrity heads

Cheers

Jo and Captain Snooze (isnt this one scary !!)

 

Caramel reads Élaine's fortune