New York - relief at last

Today is 10 degrees cooler than the last 10 days....hoorah!! It certainly made getting around (and being around) MUCH more comfortable.

It was all about the kids today. A play in Central Park in the morning followed by a walk down Broadway to the Manhattan Childrens Museum (while Shane went to the Guggenheim Art Gallery). What a fabulous place for kids! The girls had a fantastic time playing on all the exhibits and getting dirty with paints - they could have happily stayed for a week.

After lunch at a 'typical' burger joint, we stumbled upon one of those magical places that you can only dream about......a cupcake shop!!!! The array of different cupcakes was unbelievable and it was a touch decision which one to choose - but I couldn't go past the 'red velvet' cupcake.  The girls are normally happy to have anything with sprinkles on it so I knew they wouldn't be disappointed with whatever they got!

 

 I think we may become regulars!

An afternoon play in Central Park and the day is done....by all reports the weather is set to stay like this (cloudy and cooler at 25 degrees) for the next few days and I must admit I am thankful for that.

New York - new beginnings

Another steamy, hot day in the Big Apple.
I have realised that New York, in summer, with little kids...isn't the best time to be here. It is just SO hot (although the locals say that this is unusually hot for this time of year) and SO crowded!! When I come back to New York (and I say 'when' not 'if' because I know there will be so many things that I won't get to see) it will definitely NOT be in the middle of summer and middle of school holidays!
We took the kids to Central Park this morning for a turn in the playground - the girls fell in love with a tyre swing that spun around and around.....although with so much spinning and so much heat, poor Eloise's stomach didn't cope so well.
We have a 'squirrel spotting' competition in Central Park - I am ahead 3 to 0. They are cute little creatures.

There IS a squirrel running up the side of the tree.























Today we went to the 9/11 memorial site. We were VERY lucky that we had tickets for a time that obviously wasn't too busy (it's a christmas miracle!) so we got through the 4 security checkpoints really quickly!
The memorial itself is very beautiful. It is strange to think of these massive structures just collapsing. Walking in the streets surrounding the site it is impossible to imagine the terror and chaos that must have been so overwhelming at the time. The building works are going along at the buildings that will replace the world trade centre will be pretty impressive.

The two pools or waterfalls that are in the footprints of the twin towers are amazing. Just the size of each one is astounding but when you see the names of the 2,977 people killed (including those on the other flights that came down that day) it brings home what this is all about.

 The 9/11 museum is still not open yet but I can imagine it will make the whole experience even more memorable.

Moving on from there we stopped by Times Square. I don't think I have ever seen more people in one spot in my whole life! It is pretty amazing with the lights and the colours and action - but not the best place to be with two tired and hungry kids. Glad I saw it though.

I think the weather is supposed to cool down tomorrow which will be good - we might try and go to the Central Park zoo.
The girls have been FANTASTIC so far this trip - Neve has walked miles without much complaint - although she has not stopped talking since we left Newcastle - it is getting beyond ridiculous! Eloise is getting into the travelling groove and is coping really well with the heat and crowds. I am very proud of both of them!

New York - our lady Liberty

Today was a busy day.
We took our first 'subway' ride - which was an adventure all in itself. I can imagine that in the midst of winter the subway would almost be a warm 'escape' from the snow and cold outside - but when it is 30+ degrees and the subway is another 5 or 6 degrees warmer - the feeling of actually being 'roasted' inside a metal tube under the ground isn't that pleasant.

But it gets you downtown and around town really quickly and efficiently so there will be no more complaints (apart from how crowded the subway is - I thought London and Japan trains were busy but they are nothing compared to New York. Although the photo below was taken right at the end of the line when most people had gotten off.

Anyway - we made it downtown and got on the Staten Island ferry which took us past the Statue of Liberty and gave us a great view back to the business district of New York.

 The Statue of Liberty is beautiful - smaller than I imagined but I am sure if you get up close (which we didn't do - apparently the line to get on the island that the statue is on is several hours long) it would be much bigger....

The city actually doesn't look that big from this angle - but this is really only the 'tip' of New York...it goes back from here for miles! The building that you can see being constructed in the middle of the shot (with the cranes on top of it) is one of the new 'twin towers' that are being constructed the other ones were destroyed on September 11, 2001. We will visit the memorial site for this tomorrow.

Neve (of course) made friends with a local on the ferry and we learnt a lot about New York and taught her and her Mum a lot about Australia.

After some lunch, we walked uptown (New York has 'downtown' which is to the south and 'uptown' which is north) and saw Wall St and the New York Stock Exchange. This was the first time I had seen people actually dressed in suits and business clothes - even in New York the dress is far more casual than I thought it would be. You can't actually go in the stock exchange - it is all roped off - not sure if this is normal or whether there was something happening.

Catching another subway train uptown we found the Plaza Hotel (where "Eloise" the book/movie/story takes place). The girls were VERY excited about this (particularly Eloise) and we HAD to go inside and take a look. It was VERY fancy but Eloise found a familiar face on the wall.

Across the road from the Plaza is the famous FAO Schwarz toy store. There were quite a few dilemmas with the girls not being able to decide what doll they liked best....eventually they chose one each....although we did spy a doll with a freakishly familiar face on the box.....

Who does this look like????????

Hello year 1. This is Neve. I am missing you all very much. I hope you are enjoying this blog. We will try and post updates every day. Please leave a comment if you can.
Thank you.

New York, New York

Here we are in New York - the Big Apple.
It is certainly BIG...we walked for HOURS today and barely even scratched the surface. Tomorrow we ride the subway to see different parts of the city!

Yesterday was a big travel day. Out of the hotel by 830am but then our flight was delayed until 1230pm so there was a fair amount of hanging around the airport. Our 'car service' picked us up from New York airport and we arrived our or apartment - a HUGE manhattan brownstone on the upper west side - 2 blocks from Central Park and 2 blocks from Broadway.

On 'our' street lives the actor Alec Baldwin and the singer Tony Bennett and apparently a few other celebrities are close by as well.

We managed to hold off the kids from exploring too much yesterday but this morning it was straight to Central Park. I was amazed at how huge it is (we saw it from the plane as we flew into New York) and how many playgrounds there are - and we barely saw 10% of it.

We wandered down through Central Park until we reached the Museum of Natural History which we visited - but not before our first New York hot dog and pretzel experience!! The kids loved the hot dogs but weren't so fussed about the pretzel - they were just impressed by the size!

The Museum of Natural History was enormous! It would take days to see everything - but we gave it a good go and saw quite a lot of it in the few hours we were there. It was also nice to get out of the heat (32 degrees today).

The afternoon was spent resting and then wandering around the local neighbourhood. Its mostly a very quiet residential area which is nice - lots of kids around.  We have found a gelato-type stand run by a pair of old ladies and Neve is in the process of trying each flavour.

Tomorrow we hit the subway and make our way 'downtown' for more exploring. We have learnt that most playgrounds have some sort of water-feature that the kids can play in to cool down - so will remember to pack the girls swimmers.

Chicago - hot hot hot

Today in Chicago was HOT!!! It was one of the hottest days on record with a temperature of 104 degrees Fahrenheit (which is 40 degrees Celsius). Too hot to go out and do much so there was a lot of time spent at the pool!

The heat reminds me of another 'hot' time in Chicago...the great fire of 1871. The fire burned down most of Chicago. It started about 9pm on Sunday October 8 and didn't get under control until early Tuesday October 10. The traditional account of the origin of the fire is that it was started by a cow kicking over a lantern in the barn owned by the O'Leary family. In 1893, the  reporter who wrote the O'Leary account, admitted he had made it up. The barn was the first building to be consumed by the fire, but the official report could not determine the exact cause of it.

I never understood the meaning of the children's song until now....

"Late one night, when we were all in bed,

Old Lady Leary lit the lantern in the shed,

And when the cow kicked it over,

She winked her eye and said,

“There’ll be a hot time in the ol’ town tonight!”

FIRE!  FIRE!  FIRE!"

One of the few buildings to survive the fire was (ironically) the Chicago water tower which still stands today (in photo).

Tonight we went to the "Rainforest Cafe" for dinner. VERY kid friendly with animals and trees all over the place. Neve freaked out a bit but eventually calmed down and enjoyed it!

The girls enjoyed the photo booth at the Rainforest Cafe.

Tomorrow we say goodbye to Chicago and fly to New York  -  "Start spreading the news....."

Chicago - general observations

Today was a rest day for most of the family...just hanging out by the pool and not doing much. I (Claire) had to work - but that is why we are in Chicago so can't really complain about it.

  PROOF I AM WORKING!!!










We did manage to do an 'architectural tour' of Chicago by boat this evening. It was great and the history and stories of the buildings is really interesting. It was another hot day so being on the water was a nice place to be.

 The girls with their balloon 'wings' walking along Michigan Ave, the main street in Chicago.

 I have noticed a few things about Chicago...
- not sure if EVERYONE here is on holiday (it IS the middle of summer and school holidays here) but everyone dresses REALLY casually. Shorts, t-shirts and thongs seem to be the standard uniform. I think I can count on one hand how many people I have seen in suits or dressed as if they are going to work (and most of those are at the course I am at!).
- there are more African American and Hispanic American people than Caucasian Americans.
- everyone is super polite. Even everytime I walk into the hotel there is someone who stands at the door who acknowledges you - usually by saying 'welcome back'....which is weird when you have only been gone 5 minutes to go across the road for ice cream.
- Neve LOVES the revolving doors that go into just about every shop, building and restaurant. I swear she would spend all day just going around and around in them if she was allowed
- bread here is far too sweet....it almost tastes like cake.
- all the pedestrian crossings are perfectly timed so that by the time you reach the next intersection the light has changed so you can walk straight across - bonus.

One more day in Chicago before we fly to New York. It has gone too fast already!

Chicago - heating up

Today is hot....34 degrees. Tomorrow and the next day are supposed to be hotter - not looking forward to that.
Despite the heat, we did manage to see some more 'cool' stuff today.
I found that famous sign from the Chicago theatre...

And we also managed to find the Chicago Cloud Gate (or 'the bean' as most people call it) in Millennium Park. It looks like liquid mercury (which I am told it is supposed to look like) and reminds me of "The Terminator" movies - I keep expecting it to morph into some alien creature and run through downtown Chicago. It was pretty amazing and my favourite thing so far.....

Unfortunately Eloise slept through the whole thing....




The architecture in Chicago is amazing...not sure if New York is going to be able to beat this!!!

















After visiting 'the bean'. We went to the family fun fair in Millennium Park. There were lots of activities for the kids to do (all for free - yay!). The girls made kites (which actually DID fly) and started a tower of blocks (which hopefully someone else will finish for us) and saw a flamenco show. Neve was straight out there grabbing the marracas and getting right into it.....