24/25/26/9/2013 New York

The last few days have been busy and enjoyable.

We have been to the 9/11 site and walked around the 2 memorial pools and through the memorial museum with items left from the horror. It is a very moving experience and hard to believe that human beings could inflict that amount of pain and destruction on other human beings. 

Yesterday we went up to the Observation Deck on the 66th floor of the Rockefeller  Centre. We were told that the view from there was as good as the view from the Empire State Building. While we don't have a comparison we were not disappointed.  The day was clear and we could see for miles.  The queueing was still there but we only waited about 30 mins.

Ted and Gloria, a couple we met on the cruise, live in Brooklyn New York and invited us out today to ensure we saw New York through the proud eyes of locals. Gloria's family originated from Italy and she lived all her life in the Italian area of New York.  We drove through all the narrow streets of Little Italy and Chinatown, stopping at the small intimate shops that only the locals know exist. Ted drove us over and under and around the Brooklyn Bridge and finished our Brooklyn tour at their house for morning tea and pastries that Gloria had purchased in a small Italian pastry shop. We then drove to Coney Island to see the beach and enjoy a hotdog at the famous Nathan's World Famous Frankfurters, which has been selling hotdogs since 1916. This was our first hotdog in NY as we had been a little hesitant about having one from any of the vendor carts which are on every street corner. The volume of diners was evidence that the food was fresh and safe to eat at Coney Island.

When in NY do as the locals do so they say, so I enjoyed my hotdog with chilli, sauerkraut and a beer in a cardboard cup. It actually all tasted rather delicious. 

Ted and Gloria dropped us back in town right in the middle of the street markets on 6th Avenue. These markets went on for about 20 blocks, selling food, craft and the normal souvenirs.  We bought a hot cob of corn which looked pretty safe to eat and enjoyed the ambiance of the markets basically at  our door. 

We popped the cork on the bottle of champagne in the fridge with Keryn, while we exchanged news on each others day's activities.  Keryn and I walked down to the corner to Times Square to check out tomorrow's theatre times for the show Annie. We are going to the show together tomorrow. Times Square on Saturday night was certainly jumping. It is like being dragged along with the tide of people at The Brisbane Show.

David and I went to see Wicked the other night and loved it.

We have seen and done a lot in NY and are ready for home.  Tomorrow is packing day as we fly out on Monday. Ken and Anne left NY 2 days ago to spend a couple of days in Washington befor flying out for Brisbane today.

The Buxton family sent us a photo of their new addition to their family- a little black puppy called Max.  We look forward to meeting him when we get home on Wednesday.

This will be my last entry on this blog from OS as I am sure that packing is not something worth recording or worth reading about. USA flights are tough on overweight so it will be carefully packing and weighing tomorrow. They charge $25 for each bag anyway and $100 for each and every bag over weight. 

Pam

24/9/2013 New York

We have certainly packed a lot in today.  

Did I tell you that the United Nations is meeting here this week- trust us to pick this week to be in New York.  Accommodation is nearly non existent and prices are at least double what they normally are. President Obama is staying within walking distance of us and most of the streets are blocked off to traffic.  Police are everywhere and every road around is lined with black Lincolns, Buicks, Mercedes, BMW's and huge limousines all feeling that their important passenger is more important than anyone else, so there is a constant chopping and changing of lanes which includes blowing of horns.  The road outside Obamas hotel is lines with 'gravel trucks' - huge trucks loaded with sand.  I can't seem to find out what they would do in the event of an emergency.  Will make some more enquiries tomorrow.

This morning we drove through Central Park in a horse and buggy with Ken and Anne with a blanket wrapped around our legs. The park is about 600 acres and our drive took an hour. It was exciting to see all the places that we have seen in the movies in real life. We saw where John Lennon was shot and Yoko Ono still lives. Also saw the 3 storey apartment that a man paid 88 million for his 22 year old daughter to live in.  The weather is fine with bright blue skies but there is definitely a chill in the air especially in the morning. We shared the road with nannies with their prams, squirrels, skate boarders, bike riders and runners.  Horse riding is no longer allowed in the park.

From there we caught a hop on hop off double decker bus and did the 'down town' round trip which normally takes 1.5 hours but with the high security and road closures it took closer to 3 hours. 

Quick lunch, then out again to join the crush in Times Square which is 2 minutes from our apartment. We purchased some half price tickets to see show ' Fantasticks' which we saw tonight. Just arrived home. Tomorrow night we are going to see 'Wicked'.  These shows are on Broadway and within easy walking distance to us.  

Some of the shops are open 24/7 and some of the department stores close at 10 or 11 pm. Crazy place.  Crowds of people all day and constant entertainment.  Keryn is going to love it when she arrives tomorrow.

Not sure if you remember the famous 'naked cowboy' in America.  Well he was singing on the street in Times Square and grabbed me as we were crossing at the lights.  Photo attached. This photo is definitely not going on Facebook but I had to share it with you for a  laugh. 

We are hoping to go to Ground Zero tomorrow.  There are long queues to get in but we really want to go there. 

Having fun.

Pam

9/2013 New York

We made it.  We are finally in New York for the first time.

Our trip was planned around a few things that we wanted to do and some other things that we would like to do, and David did a great job of combining these all together in this cruise.  Our wish list consisted of visiting New York and going through the Panama Canal.   We have been through the Panama Canal and loved the experience.  

Our entry to New York was in daylight and it was cold, extremely windy but hugely exciting. We stood on the front deck of the ship as we came into NY and luckily had new shipboard friends who lived in Brooklyn NY to give us our personal commentary as we came in.  All the things you see in movies and magazines suddenly become reality.

Today we spent a couple of hours in NY and decided we had never seen such a strange mix of people.  We hired a taxi to take us on a city tour and luckily struck a black local taxi driver who has lived and breathed NY all his life and was happy to show us his city.  Best way to see and get a feel for a place. 

We hopped onto a ferry and went to Statton Island and back. Took a thousand photos of the Statue of Liberty but were not close enough to get good photos.

Tonight is our last night on board as we disembark tomorrow.  We have a week in NY to enjoy the city.  

Tomorrow is the start of the heads of state meeting of the United Nations so the  city will be busy and on high security. Today we saw military boats everywhere with machine guns on the front racing up and down th NY harbour.  

We will be sad to leave the ship bit looking forward to our week in NY.

21/9/2013 Charleston South Carolina USA

Here we are In the deep south where they talk reeeeeeal slow and with a lovely drawl.  

We entered the breakwater into the huge Charleston Harbor from the Atlantic Ocean and docked in the centre of the beautiful old town. Now that we are back in USA we no longer have the military escort into the docks.

The town was founded in 1670 and originally known as Charles Towne to honour King Charles of England. Originally founded by the English who then decided it was too swampy and mosquito ridden to be a worthwhile settlement.  When the French decided to settle here, the English quickly changed their mind and the city was established by English, French and West Africans.

The population today is about 700,000 residents and the city is situated directly on the earthquake fault line of the east coast. Many of the houses show evidence of past earthquakes with part of their brick structure bulging and most houses now have steel rods inserted from one side to another for support. The rod ends have decorated caps on the outside of the house, attempting to hide and individualise each house. 

This is Gone with the Wind country and the houses are beautiful Georgian style.

We went on a horse and carriage ride through the city- Charleston's version of the  hop on hop off bus. We clippity clopped through the old streets between the beautiful old houses, sharing the road with the local traffic through the traffic lights and moving to the side of the road to let cars pass when space allowed. At one point the animals decided to urinate in unison while they were waiting for the traffic lights to change, which was very noisy and caused a rush of pedestrians to scurry out of the way. To comply with strict environmental control the driver produced a pink plastic marker from her pocket and dropped it onto the road to indicate to local council workers the deposit just left.  They then quickly sponge up and wash down the road to ensure minimum damage to their harbour.

David and Ken thn took a local bus ride to see the seamier sixe of town, while Anne and I checked out the markets, meeting back in an Irish pub for a drink before reboarding the ship. There has usually been an Irish pub in our ports.

During the afternoon the dolphins came to our side of the ship to show off their babies and put on a diving display for us, disappearing under our stationary vessel only to reappear and float on their back as if asking for a belly rub.

Birds love flying with the ship using the air currents and on our departure from Charleston we were accompanied by about 30 pelicans giving us an aerobatic display. The pelicans in this part of the world are grey and small and not as nearly as nice as our home grown black and white pelicans with huge beaks.

We were impressed with Charleston and it's gracefull homes and beautiful harbour.

The next day will be a sailing day without a stop and our next port is New York. We have a sleepover on board in NY when we dock and the next day we disembark. 

We are looking forward to a week in NY but will miss our lovely home on the sea. We have thoroughly enjoyed our trip and met some really nice people.  We are impressed with the size of this ship, being smaller than others we have been on and are blown away by the level of service by the staff. Wish I could take some of them home. 

NY here we come..we arrive am so hope to have some amazing photos.

Pam

19/9/2013 Port Canaveral - Kennedy Space Centre

Today was another early dock and an early start for our tour. But what a day.

We went by coach to the Kennedy Space Centre and were lucky enough to have a tour guide who has worked at the space centre for 8 years.  Her father had also worked there so she was very informative and very interesting.  

I went on the tour with only half interest as I did not think it would be of great interest to me but felt I should go seeing we were so close. We were all blown away with the centre.  It was so well organised and displayed it was like being at one of the Disneyland theme parks but offering information and education on a really interesting level.

It is hard to believe how large the place is and how massive the shuttles are. They have a 3d IMAX theatre showing the space program from starts to current. I really felt like I had been to space.  There were loads of other displays as well, including Atlantis, the latest space shuttle to return from space. It has been transporting equipment and goods to the international orbiting space station. It is massive, so how these things ever leave earth is a amazing. The space programme began in the early 1960,s and all calculations had to be done manually as this was prior to computers.  As they pointed out they put man on the moon before they put wheels on suitcases.

James Reilly, an astronaut spoke to us during our lunch and he was very interesting.  He has been in space 3 times and told stories and showed film and photos of his experiences.

The NASA Centre is only 1 storey high but the same height as a 35 storey building. We could see it from our ship and we were 30 miles away. We didn't go inside this building for security reasons. The space shuttles are assembled ready for launching in this building hence need the height and space.

The space ships are launched towards the sea for security reasons and staff need to be 3 miles away from the launch pad for their safety.  The NASA site is hundreds of acres in size and is secured by 4 bridges which can be raised to ensure security if required.  The only occassion in recent times that this has happened is 9/11.

Everyone on the tour thoroughly enjoyed the Kennedy Space Centre tour and we would happily recommend it to anyone who is in the vicinity.

Tomorrow we are off to have a horse and carriage ride in Charleston.  This is Rhett Butler country from Gone with the Wind and renowned for old world charm.  Looking forward to it.

 

Pam

17/9/2013 Fort Lauderdale -Miami

Today we had an early start on our day tour to Miami. The ship docked at 8 am amd we were the first tour group off the ship. 

This was our first port of call back into USA so we had to present our passports and go through immigration.  What a pain. They are so without a smile or sense of humour and with only 2 officers on duty it took forever to get everyone through, so our tour got away to a late start.

Our coach took us firstly to the Everglades  for an air boat ride across the alligator infested swamp waters and the skimmed across the grass growing in the area.  There was not much animal life around and we only saw a glimpse of a smaller alligator hiding in his hole in the trees. We saw an alligator sunning himself behind the bus when we returned so that was our close encounter. The boat ride was fun though. Holds about 30 people and can really move when it gets going.

We then went to the beachside suburb of Miami to see where all the rich and famous live, do coffee in the sidewalk eateries hoping to be seen.  

Our next stop was for lunch at a Cuban restaurant. Veeeery forgettable. Actually horrible. We all complained.  one of the worst meals I have been offered anywhere.

From there we went by coach to Biscayne Bay for a scenic cruise to see where the rich and famous live or play. We saw the house Elizabeth Taylor owned and many others lovely homes owned by the wealthy people of the world. Some have homes on an island only accessible by helicopter or boat. 

It was a long day as we had been out for 8 hours and it was very hot.  We were glad to bet back on board.

Australia is still the best place we have seen.

16/9/2013 George town Cayman Islands

Wow what a day. 

Arrived at George Town Cayman islands around 8am. We anchored out in the horseshoe harbour as the water is too shallow for a dock for large ships.  Our ship hold 400 passengers and the Disney Ship holding 3800 passengers arrived as well. We were dwarfed.  We went ashore via our tenders which is fine but takes longer to to and fro from shore rather that walk down the gangplank onto the wharf.  

Only 13 on our day trip which is nice. Smaller coach and not so many bodies to round up at each stop. 

Fort port of call was 'Hell' in Hell St. Small gift shop name Hell selling appropriate gifts and t shirts. 

Next stop was the turtle farm where they mate, incubate, rear and then release turtles.  We were allowed to hold some of the smaller ones.  So cute.  

Then onto a flat bottom boat for a 1/2 hour trip to see the stingrays.  The water is green and beautiful. The crew have squid and as soon as they get Into the water with the bait dozens of stingrays appear. We got into the water with them and it was amazing as the rays swam around you and flapped you with their wings. And nuzzled our legs looking for food.  They will take the food from your hand.  I was not brave enough to feed them and in actual fact was doing a pretty good job of walking on the water or climbing on anyone's back that was close to me when the rays got close to me.

Eventually I relaxed enough to enjoy it all but Ken said he had never laughed as much as watching me that day.   Photos attached. Sorry about the quality but these are photos of the TV screen from a DVD of our day. My face will tell its own story. 

All in all it was a wonderful day and something that we will always remember.  We really loved the dolphins but knowing that the rays are in the wild makes this experience so much more awesome.

On our way back towards USA now and after a day at sea we reach Fort Lauderdale.