Good things Fri 8 Jan 10

GOOD THINGS: Wini's birthday
My baby is so far away, it's her birthday and I haven't had the chance to speak to her yet ... even though I've rung her twice!

Hey ... this is supposed to be about good things; not a pity party! LOL


Wini and Clarissa goofing it up in front of the world globe on Ellis Island. One of my favourite photos ever.

I hope you had a wonderful day,baby girl. We all love you and miss you ... and we're sending you lots of kisses and hugs.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo (I think that's 24 kisses and hugs and one more of each for good measure! You know how your momma likes to kiss and hug you.)

Project 365 US Mon 24 Aug 09

CENTRAL PARK
Central Park is a huge oasis of calm and serenity in the middle of New York; it was hard to believe we were in New York as we were riding around it.

Rickshaw ride.
What I really wanted was to go on a horse drawn ride. They are so gorgeous but the tour is limited and only covers a small part of the park.

But we went on a rickshaw ride and it turned out to be fantastic ... as was our tour guide; a Turk who was studying language in Turkey and who came over each year to ride rickshaws and make enough money for the following year.

It was a great idea to save Horace's feet and the best way to get the most out of touring the park. Our guide was full of interesting facts about the park and we stopped at several places to look around and take photos.

The only downside was how sorry we felt for him. The day was stinking hot and humid and lugging all three of us around can't have been easy, especially given the hills and dales of the park.


Rickshaws were everywhere ... the park was full of them and horse drawn carriages.


Our rickshaw driver catching a lift on the back of a horse drawn carriage. I couldn't blame him at all.

Famous buildings and homes.
Around the park are the homes of many famous people, which our driver pointed out to us.


Marilyn Monroe lived with Joe di Magio in the apartment with the largest balcony.


This is the building from the movie Ghostbusters ... it's instantly recognisable.


Woody Allen and Soon-Yi's apartment is in this building.


And I couldn't leave out the Trump tower ... right at the entrance to the park. But it's nowhere near as big as I thought and really gaudy. Not at all tasteful although I did like the big globe.

Beautiful fountains and views.
Central Park really is a park in the best sense. It's a huge open space covering 50 city blocks and is so varied: fountains, rocks, walks, bridges, boating and lakes. There was something different to see around every corner.


The fountains from Friends ... this thing is so small. I never imagined that from the opening to Friends.


Walking towards the largest fountain in the park. I think this was my favourite part of the park.


Across from the fountain was an underpass with the most amazing walls and ceiling. This was part of the tiled ceiling.


This was one of the decorative elements from the walls. And right beside this was a bridge and groom having their photos taken.


My threesome with the lake behind them ... I actually managed to get them to smile!


The lake was so pretty and it would have been nice to go boating for ourselves.


This was also my favourite part of the park! These benches must have been decades old because quite a few were deteriorating, and there were so many of them.


What would Central Park be without seeing a squirrel?


The park was full of these rocks ... apparently the only natural feature in Central Park. After our rickshaw ride we sat down on one to have a picnic before we walked around a little.

John Lennon's memory.
New York loves John Lennon ... I don't know what else to say. The memorials to him are kept alive by New Yorkers and visitors alike.


Outside the doors on the street is the actual place John Lennon was killed ... it somehow makes it all so much more real to have seen it.


This is the memorial to John Lennon. It's covered in roses and renewed each day. There were so many people sitting there, some crying, with one guy playing and singing Beatles and Lennon songs on a guitar.


Part of the park, close to where Lennon was killed is set up as Strawberry Fields. This plaque sets out all the countries who helped to set up the fields.


This is the apartment Lennon and Yoko Ono shared, and where Yoko Ono still lives.

Project 365 US Sun 23 Aug 09

STATUE OF LIBERTY AND ELLIS ISLAND
When we finally got to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, as well, it was so worth the wait.

I loved climbing the Statue of Liberty, and there was so much to see on Ellis Island ... including a mock hearing for an actual potential immigrant.

And even better Diane came to visit from Montreal and it was so good to be together.

Getting there.
Ferry's the only way to get there really ... but rather than travelling from Battery Park we left from Liberty State Park and headed first for Ellis Island.


This was the ferry we took to get there.


A bit more animated than usual ... you can rely on Wini to go into hysterics about just about anything!


The view of Manhattan was brilliant as we passed by ... complete with yachts and other ferries.

Ellis Island

This was the view of Ellis Island from the ferry as we arrived.


The girls together had such a great time. Clarissa's really missing Wini now she's gone and they were really goofy, mucking around together.


This tree was an interesting way of depicting the origins of many words in use today ... I didn't know hunky-dory was a Dutch saying.


Again, Wini was in fine form laughing much of the time ... and she's so infectious she had everybody else laughing with her.


There was so much information everywhere you went, but this question came under the heading of 'Mental Testing'. Basically, it was helping to discover whether a potential immigrant was intellectually capable, or should they be sent back.


I was drawn to this photo of children sleeping. Tbey looked so peaceful but it made me wonder what it must have been like for the women with children wondering what it would be like in America.


And lastly our very own sleeper. Lloyd works harder than anybody I've ever met and sleeps so little. I know I couldn't do it and he seriously needs to slow down.<

Statue of Liberty.
My camera battery went flat as we caught the ferry to the Statue of Liberty ... so the following photos are courtesy of Clarissa; and I haven't downloaded them as yet. Call back later for the update for the statue.

Project 365 US Fri 21 Aug 09

BITS OF THIS AND THAT
There was no particular focus today.

Some of the things we did are:
* making sure Horace rested his feet and legs
* meeting Jo's daughter Chevonne for the first time
* having a nice dinner at the end of the day at Ruby Tuesdays with Lloyd ... and making sure we took Lloyd to dinner for a change
* helping Jo get ready for the big party tomorrow.

But the things I have photos of are:

Liberty Park.
We wandered over to see the Statue of Liberty but arrived just as the last ferry was leaving so we took the chance to explore Liberty State Park and take some time looking across at the Manhattan skyline, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.


The park we decided to explore since we were there.


Clarissa and Wini looking out towards the Statue of Liberty.


Horace, Lloyd, Wini and Clarissa chatting.


The rear of the Statue of Liberty ... the view from Liberty Park.


The view of Manhattan, with Ellis Island in the foreground.


Me, Lloyd, Wini and Clarissa together ... Horace took this one of us.

The big girls' big night out.
The big thing of the day was the girls going out with Chevonne, Jo's daughter, to a nightclub in Manhattan.

I know they had a nice time, if coming home at 4.30am is evidence of a nice time, and it was great for both girls to go out at night in New York to see what it's like.


I actually got a nice shot of Wini ... she let me use her for the set up shots.


I couldn't get a nice shot of Clarissa ... she always seemed to have a funny expression or her eyes closed. But isn't Chevonne gorgeous?

Project 365 US Thu 20 Aug 09

HORACE'S TRIP TO THE DOCTORS
After my experience to the doctor in Canada for my bronchitus, this time we experienced the US health service for Horace's feet and legs.

They've been swollen since we first got off the plane in New York and headed for Canada and really we should have something about it much sooner ... he should have come to the doctor with me when I went.

But now he has a rash on both legs which I don't like the look of. In fact the two together are really scaring me.

As usual a trip to the doctor took all day ... what with the waiting for the appointment to arrive followed by the waiting in the waiting room!

But in the end we were finally seen around 20 to 8 by Jo's own doctor (Dr Nasta), who prescribed water pills called Furosemide for the swelling, and potassium supplements and bananas/oranges for the water pills.

The rash didn't bother her at all. Lucky I'm not a doctor.

What did it cost: $85US for the doctor, $11.99US for the Furosemide and $12.99US for the potassium.

Cheaper than it cost me in Canada.

I just hope it works.

Project 365 US Wed 19 Aug 09

FIRST EXPEDITION TO NEW YORK ... SHOPPING!
We decided to brave the New York subway and take a trip to the Big Apple ... the four of us: Horace, Wini, Clarissa and I.

Our first big trip was to shop ... of course to keep Wini and Clarissa, especially, happy because Clarissa is mad for shopping, all the time!

We had to catch a local train into Penn Station and from there we headed along Broadway up to 42nd steet and Time Square, turned right along 42nd and headed to 5th Avenue and then along 5th Avenue back to 32nd Street and back to Penn Station.


This corner must be part of folklore.


The corner of 5th and west 37th, on our way back.

It was a huge walk, especially for Horace with his swollen feet, but we rested as much as we could and it was wonderful to do it all together.

I don't know what I expected from Times Square but it was much smaller than I expected. And I didn't expect it to be a plaza with seats for people to sit down ... I guess I just expected it to be an open street with cars the same as the rest of Manhattan.


Some of the lights and crowd in Times Square.


If you think Wini, Horace and Clarissa look excited this is after I asked them to cheer up!

And of course we got a little shopping in ... with Wini the obvious winner. That girl could shop ... well, for any country she was living in. Me? I bought a bag in Macy's from the Australian company Fossil. Sounds strange, but I've never seen the Fossil bags in Macy's in Australia.


Wonderful Macy's ... I want to go again!

What I really enjoyed that day were the street dancers on 5th Street. These guys were good--serious athletes--and we stayed for a while watching them do their stuff.









And this is as close as we're likely to get to the Empire State Building, since none of us is keen on heights. The silly thing is, it doesn't even look like it should from this angle and I'm disappointed. But not disappointed enough to change my mind!


See what I mean ... this is not the Empire State Building!

Project 365 US Tue 18 Aug 09

FIRST DAY WAS A QUIET ONE
Our first day was a quiet one ... we hung around the house, sent a few emails and organised our money; and I got to download my photos to date and work on the blog. I hadn't done anything on the blog until I arrived in New York.

We also hung out with Lloyd's kids, their cousins from upstate and the boys next door ... it reminded me of my summer holidays hanging out with my friends finding anything and everything to do.


This is the younger of Lloyd's daughters: Chianne, and she is such a darling.


This is the huge difference between my childhood and theirs; they are never separate from their mobile phones!


This is a cousin xxxx, and the two boys next door.


Chianne and her cousin xxxx; I could have taken him home and Clarissa asked him one night whether he wanted to come with us.

And we got to see the nine puppies one of Lloyd's dogs recently gave birth to ... there were originally ten but one died. You heard right: nine puppies!


A few of the puppies playing together.


The mother feeding the rest of the puppies.