Finally......

Just a quick note to advise I am finished with my blogging adventure... thanks to those who came along the journey with me....

It is time for me to go solo and get on with what ever comes next.

 

God Bless America and thank God for New York City

 

 

 

Philadelphia

Another day, another city.... on my way to Philadelphia I got to experience an Amish Village and caught a ride in this horse and buggy - the Amish's real and current mode of transport.  I learnt all about the Amish and what they can and can't do - to be honest I heard they have no TV and my eyes glazed over...

 We stopped into one of their market squares and came across a most impressive array of pickles - my favourite and as a bonus there was free tastings..... lets just say I can recommend them all.

 Next stop was Philadelphia and a certain set of stairs from a famous movie....

 Are you warm.... this statue should help answer what movie

 and this picture kind of gives it away .... I climbed to the top and felt the Rocky within me while watching 2 guys really running up and down the stairs in true Rocky style - it was a moving moment.

 This is the view from the top of the fist pumping stairs - a glimpse at the Philadelphia skyline

This is a famous bell - called the Liberty bell, apparently very famous in the early day creation of the USA as it is known today..... not something I had heard of before and lets face it, every city I have been to lately claims to be the most important in USA history and I am sure they all are....  I am just happy to have a look around this country that seems to have some sort of memorial or museum for every time someone sneezed!  They are so busy remembering the past.

Philadelphia was worth a visit - not sure that I need to go back but then Chicago is hard to beat as far as the cities I have seen so far.  The Amish country was interesting but they have mobile phones that apparently they are only allowed to use outside... yeah right!

That's enough travelling for the minute, it cant always be buses, trains, planes and auto mobiles.

xx

Washington DC

Washington was not a disappointment, a capital city full of all things American History, large impressive buildings and security 

Above is the Abraham Lincoln memorial building - all in the National Mall where most of the most historical and tourist worthy memorials are.

 View out across the National Mall

 Lincoln statue

 Vietnam War memorial

The White House - taken through a security fence with a lot of zoom

The Capital building where Obama will have his inaugertion on 20 January where he will be sworn in for another term as President of USA

Look who I ran into.....

 The stars were just everywhere and all wanted a photo with me

 I knew his death was an elaborate hoax

Picture perfect couple

 Stealing my frame and lime light as always Oprah!

The tour may have included a trip to Madam Tussaud......

Washington - well worth a visit with lots to do and see tho mostly all USA history and Government museums  and buildings - really clean and well thought out city.

Chicago with love

Chicago - we love you. What an awesome city, my 2nd favourite in the USA.

I loved it within 10 minutes of getting off the airport train.  It has large streets, is really clean and the architecture is amazing.

 I walked around as much as I could in my 3 days there and am happy to say that all the necessary shops were present and more.. But... you pay more tax in Chicago than NYC on general goods so shopping was not high on my list.

I did a 4 hour tour that took in both the north and south of the city of Chicago, great idea as I got to cover a lot of ground with an informative (tho a little rehearsed) narration.  The tour even went by the Obama's Chicago residence but all you can see is thick trees so no photo - just think of some tall green trees and you are picturing what I can say is the Obama residence.

 Millennium park is a central park in Chicago, it has a huge outside auditorium much like the Myer music bowl in Melbourne and a theatre, art institute, parkland, plaza complete with a year long ice skating rink and many famous sculptures - Chicago is very art and sculpture savvy.

 This sculpture is a focal point in the park and tourists flock to it.  It is a sculpture by Anish Kapoor (Indian/British sculptor) called Silver cloud - the locals call it the bean.  It picks up all reflections and is actually super cool.

Can you tell I loved it.....

And of course that ice skating rink to tempt (taunt) me once again .......

 Architecturally Chicago ticks all the boxes for me - I think I love cities because of the diverse buildings. I marvel that most of the buildings are 100's of years old and think how did the people way back then without the mod cons of today build these amazing, still standing and functioning buildings..... It fascinates and impresses me.

 Chicago is also very sports orientated and there are 2 major sporting fields there - the Chicago cubs baseball ground and the other is Wrigley field.

 We also went to the Chicago Zoo on the tour - it was a great zoo and is free to the public - great for families.

Enough from me, I am not a travel writer and I know it gets boring  looking at other peoples travel photos.  I really like Chicago and would go again, I had three days there which was enough to look over the city but I am sure there is more to do out of the city centre - Milwaukee is only a few hours away which I believe is also worth a look.  I also think Chicago reminded me of Melbourne a little so maybe there lies the attraction plus it is not as noisy and crazy busy as NYC - a nice change.

Thanks Chicago and thanks to the Westin.... I love your amazing beds!

Boston

Today was my trip to Boston - an early start to join the tour on 42nd street at 6.30am - left at 7.00am after waiting for some stragglers - why wait I say, if every one else can be on time then why not them and to make it worse they rocked up with starbucks coffees and breakfast so obviously had time to stop for that... do I sound harsh?

Anyway... 5 hours later we arrived in Boston.  The bus trip was great as we went through the Bronx borough and Connecticut which is a very wealthy state with large houses - all dusted in snow so very pretty.

To me Boston was like Sydney - larger and newer buildings than NYC and it revolves around a harbour.  Very pretty.

 Boston is very historic with a lot of history surrounding the creation of the USA and the constitution. I did not really remember it all but there were some famous names and historical USA events named in the tour.
It is also a city that is full of Universities and learning institutions... the first American Public School was opened in Boston hundreds of years ago.

 We also went to Cambridge where Harvard University sits - beautiful university and famous for graduating USA leaders - Obama, Bush, Clinton all graduated here.  Harvard business school is one of the worlds top renowned university courses and a degree in this is coveted by many.

 Lots of grand 'halls' as they are called - all classrooms and student facilities.

 Boston Common is the central park of Boston and of course there was an ice skating rink to tempt me.

 We also went to a navy port of some sort - the name escapes me but there was some petty impressive army gear there.

Boston is worth a visit but I think a day trip is all that may be required.  The tour guide told us that Boston is also famous for the actor Ben Affleck as he came from there and has made some movies there..... leave it up to you if you find that note worthy.

Next trip is Chicago - the one I have been looking forward to most - I am having a few days there on my own so should get a good look around and it helps that I am staying at a fancy hotel...I am praying for a bath tub!
xx