Empire State

We didn’t start quite so early this morning as we inadvertently caught up with our lost hours.  After another good breakfast we walked west towards the Rockefeller Centre to have a look at the shopping facilities.

The ice rink in the Rockefeller Plaza.

Doug got his shoes polished in the Rockefeller Centre ($2.50 plus tip!).

We took a bus ride down 6th Avenue and walked one block down East 33rd Street (we can talk American almost!) and we were at the Empire State Building (our destination for today).

It was a long way up to the 86th floor! We didn’t go any higher as it seemed too far to fall.  We got the most astonishing views – more than we could ever have imagined.  The temperature at ground level today was just below freezing but at the top of this building and with the wind chill factor it “fair took your breath away!”

Looking north east across to the East River – the beautiful Chrysler Building is centre, middle distance (pointy top).  The pigeons are quite friendly up this high too!

Looking straight down with the East River behind.

Looking north – Chrysler Building far right.

North West towards the Hudson River.

Looking south towards Downtown and the Financial District.  The new 1 World Trade Center is the tallest building.

Looking straight down (southwards). So many yellow taxis!

Just to prove we were there! (Looking south again)

A semi - streaker being apprehended by the security staff!

This evening we are going to see Barry Manilow on Broadway as we managed to get half price tickets in Times Square this afternoon!

Ground Zero

We rose early this morning and after having a great breakfast (pancakes and bacon!) we took to the bus and made our way to to southernmost part of Manhattan Island to catch the Staten Island ferry.

(Just thought we’d slip in a pic. of the magnificent front lobby of the hotel!)

Catching the Staten Island ferry was our only chance of seeing the Statue of Liberty as the the landing stages on Liberty Island were badly damaged in hurricane ‘Sandy’ last year.  It was a great pity as we were looking forward to going inside the statue.

After getting the return ferry back from Staten Island we took a walk around Battery Park before heading to our main location for the day, which was Ground Zero and the 9/11 Memorial Park.

This fifty foot long bronze plaque, attached to the wall of the fire station (which was specifically built for the servicing of the World Trade Center), remembers the 344 city firemen who lost their lives in the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers.

Photos of each firemen lost.

Before joining a guided tour of the Memorial Park we looked around the temporary museum.  Among other amazing exhibits there were three walls covered with photos of all 2,977 people who died in the collapse of the towers.

Our tour of the memorial park was taken by Bonnie – on the right(a CBS reporter at the time and helper to the survivors) and Frank (who lost his sister in the North Tower who was on the 94th floor and which took the main impact from the plane).  It was a most moving experience to hear their stories.

We took many photos of the Memorial but this one of the South Pool, which covers the exact footprint of the South Tower, shows just how enormous it was.  We were not prepared for how emotional the visit would be and it really does need a personal visit to appreciate just how much 9/11 changed both New York and the world. 

 

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All around the edges of the North and South Pools the names of all the victims are inscribed in the bronze parapets - and behind us stands the base of 1 World Trade Center which is now nearing completion.

 

1 World Trade Center, which at 1,777 feet will be the tallest building in the United States.  It’s the first of 7 planned buildings in the new complex.

We enjoyed a wonderful, and very moving, day.  And the forecasted rain arrived at exactly the moment they said it would!

New York this week!

After a very good plane flight (courtesy of British Airways) we arrived in New York at midday today (Presidents Day of all things!).  We’re staying at the Waldorf Astoria and they have, very kindly, upgraded us to a suite as it’s Doug’s birthday this week. 


So we now have our very own entrance hallway (!) and lounge area - and the rest of the hotel is fabulous as expected.

After settling in we took a little walk around the area – this is the ice rink at the Rockefeller Center – as its Presidents Day there are extra flags everywhere! It’s a pity we Brits don’t fly ours more often. 

Doug in Times Square – the police were involved with someone else!

James in Grand Central Station.

Our home for this week.
As we are tired tonight due to getting up this morning at 4am! as well as the 5 hour time difference, we made our way back to the hotel for cocktails in the hotel bar before having an early night. 

A few days in Prague

We’ve just returned from a few days in Prague.  Never having been before, the city was as beautiful as we’d expected.  We used the bus and the tram from the airport to the city (cost £1) and were delivered safely just a few feet from our hotel at about 3’o clock in the afternoon.  That was early enough to get settled into the hotel and for the short walk across the bridge to the old town in the evening.

One of the very large locks (yes we have to get one in somewhere!)which allows boats to pass down the River Vltava.

James, on our first evening, crossing the river with the Old Town, and Charles Bridge, in the background.

On Monday we did a lot of walking and sight seeing . We went up the Astronomical Clock Tower in the Old Town square to get an awesome view of the city.  It’s a very long way off the ground and James is having to get used to heights these days!

A view from the Clock Tower with the Old Town Square below and the fantastic towers of the church of Our Lady Before Tyn (the Harry Potter church as we liked to call it!).

The Charles Bridge – the most frequented place in Prague.  This is where the Royal Road crosses the river on it’s way to Prague Castle and the cathedral of St Vitus (up on the hill, right of centre).  It’s a spectacular medieval structure with it’s many huge stone statues. Spot the bloke in the yellow hat!

Close to our hotel was this very thought provoking monument in memory of all those who lost their lives, or had their lives ruined, by communism.  The statue is repeated on each step but less and less of the man remains as you walk up the steps.

Prague Castle and St Vitus Cathedral at night.

The “Harry Potter” church at night.

On Monday evening we went to a classical music concert in the Smetana Hall which is in this beautiful Municipal House.   

Wherever we go we like to get off the tourist trail and experience the “real” thing.  For about 50p you can get a tram out of the city centre to where people actually live and where the bars and restaurants offer great food, great atmosphere, amazing prices and where the people are really surprised to see two crazy English people!  We had some interesting experiences!  

On Tuesday we had a wonderful surprise ourselves – it snowed!  In fact, for a while it obscured the fabulous views of the city during our visit to the castle.

The man with the yellow hat again! – getting towards the top of the steep climb to the castle.  The view should have shown the Lesser Town, the river and the Old Town in the background, which we did eventually see when it stopped snowing.

In the centre of the castle complex (which is absolutely vast) is the Cathedral of St Vitus (which is absolutely vast!)

A frozen guard at the one of the entrances to the castle.

After our visit to the castle we walked back into the Old Town to see it in it’s snow covered beauty.  Surprisingly, the cobbled streets and pavements are lethal in the snow – even worse when they use their big motorised brushes to sweep it away.  James survived intact despite several collisions with the ground!

We very much enjoyed our three nights and four days.  It’s a very lovely city with all the buildings being exceptionally well maintained.  It’s just a pity there is so much graffiti in places.  We had an enjoyable flight home during which we had an interesting and informative conversation with Honza, a very pleasant young man from Prague who was destined for Falmouth in Cornwall to meet up with his girlfriend and who will be delighted to read about himself here. 

We now have a few days at home and then we’re off on Monday for a week in New York to celebrate Doug’s birthday.  Hopefully we’ll be able to blog while we’re there this time. 

Solihull–still up north!

Thursday morning saw us having a fried breakfast with Stephen and Jayne at ‘The Willow Tree’ cafe in Mercia Marina before bidding them farewell and heading our way in a southerly direction.  We had a great couple of days with Stephen and Jayne, and getting a very welcome “canal kick”.  Thanks guys!

We headed towards Birmingham to visit more canal boat friends – this time Bob and June, from nb ‘Autumn Myst’, in Solihull.  After another wonderful warm welcome we got settled into their beautiful home and enjoyed an Indian take – away meal in the evening.

On Friday morning we took a walk into the centre of Solihull with Bob and the gorgeous Phoenix (guide dog puppy in training).  Having never been to Solihull before we were equally impressed with both the old parts and the fantastic new shopping centre.

Early afternoon Bob and June took us the short distance from their home to Kingswood Junction to get yet another ‘canal fix’.

This is June at the top end of the junction with Bob, Doug and Phoenix heading off in the distance.

Here we are appreciating the feeling of leaning on a lock gate again!

We enjoyed a bowl (or two) of June’s terrific home made soup back at their place before we set off home in the late afternoon. It seemed much longer than an overnight stay with them and lovely to catch up again. Thanks very much Bob and June and we look forward to doing a bit more cruising with you in the spring.

Footnote:  After the last blog we kindly received a definition of “North” from one of our readers and we’d just like to say that, for people who live just a gnat’s whisker off the sea wall on the south coast, anything past the M4 is north!

Up North!!

Yes, we’re above the Watford Gap right now.  Yesterday we travelled up to Mercia Marina, in Derbyshire, for a couple of days to visit friends Jayne and Stephen on nb ‘Dolce Far Niente’. On the way we called into our boat builders MGM at Thurmaston, Leicester for an impromptu visit and to see their latest build nb ‘Muleless’ – and it’s coming on well and looking good in its maroon livery.

We arrived at Mercia marina mid afternoon in a snow shower and biting north wind.  Amid the cold weather our welcome from Jayne and Stephen was as warm as it always is.

In the evening we took the short walk into Willington to the The Dragon pub for a lovely meal together, followed by the regular pub quiz.

Jayne, Stephen, Doug and James just about to tuck into a marvellous meal.

Today we made a homage visit (by car this time) to dear old Fradley Junction where we had a drink and a bite to eat in one of Jayne’s favourite places – The Swan, or the “Mucky Duck” as we all know it.

James, Jayne and Stephen outside The Swan at Fradley (making light of the biting cold north wind again today!)

After a quick bit of shopping in Burton on Trent, which was much nicer than we expected, we headed back to Mercia and warmth of Jayne and Stephen’s boat for a cosy evening in tonight.

Bournemouth and Budleigh Salterton

We had a good stay in Bournemouth last week – Doug enjoyed his whist convention and we still had plenty of time for a little shopping and sightseeing.

Earlier in the week we took a trip to Poole (in the rain).  There are few things more bleak and lonely than coastal towns in the rain, but just occasionally something happens which grabs the attention………….

……….like the local boat building company (sunseeker) premises catching fire and threatening to destroy their newest vessel half way through it’s construction!

Thankfully the fire brigade got the blaze under control quickly.

Back in the comfortable surroundings of the hotel we enjoy a drink (or two) with some of the whist players – Doug, Wendy, Ivy and Marion.  Sorry we didn’t manage to get the whole group together for a photo.

For most of the week we had great weather – dry and sunny but with a strong wind some of the time.  Just across the road from the hotel we had this lovely view of the pier and seafront.  To the right is part of the Russell – Coates Museum.

The museum is the legacy of Sir Merton and Lady Russell – Coates who were wealthy Bournemouth benefactors in the nineteenth century.  They left their home (a birthday gift from Merton to his wife!) and it’s contents to the nation.  It houses their collection of art, furniture and objet d’art from their world travels and is well worth a visit if you’re ever in Bournemouth. It’s free in the winter months.   

The main hall of the house, which has many rooms, all of which are open for you to wander round.  It’s one of those places which probably require a second visit in order to see everything.

After our five days in Bournemouth we continued west for a week end in our previous home town of Budleigh Salterton, where we caught up with a few friends.  We had a busy and most enjoyable time and thanks go to Palle for putting us up and for dinner on Saturday evening,  to Howard and Wendy for their hospitality and company on Friday evening and to Marion for lunch and the lovely time we spent with her and Janet.  It was also nice to bump into Jill who is a regular reader of this blog we found out!

Sunset on Budleigh Salterton seafront.

Sunset, looking east, on Budleigh seafront.