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Last Day Larry

Well, it's the end of another great trip, I don't have any holidays left so I guess it's back to reality, I leave here Friday night and arrive into Brisbane on Sunday morning and back to work on Monday. Can't wait for the 20 hours from New York on a plane, I do have 1 hour stopover in LA.

Trump Taj Mahal

The site of some of my losses (not too much)

Atlantic City Boardwalk

Philadelphia

A bar in Philadelphia

At the Hockey

The hockey was great, a very fast game and quite hard to keep up, I didn't stay till the end because there was so many people it was going to take forever to get back to the hotel, it was a great experience, I was in the second row right behind the players box

Harvard University

This is the statue of Mr Harvard the founder of Harvard University

Boston Common

Niagara Falls

Once again, freezing plus the added bonus of getting wet, pretty amazing though.

Lake Erie - Buffalo

It was quitwe Eerie as it was cold and a bit foggy

Atlantic City

Well Donald Trump is still a Billionaire and I am still not....

It is freezing and windy here as well, so I have had to stay inside and gamble as it is too cold outside..It is not at all like Vegas here, quite pretty really, There is an area with factory outlets and I went there this morning to stock up, but really didn't like anything enought to buy it.

Had a haircut this morning, I was the only white person there.

Had a wander around then hit the slots, went to a few different casinos, I was going to try my luck at Black Jack, but the lowest minimum is $10, I like to take a bit longer than 1 deal to loose $10, so just stuck to the pokies.

I head back to New York in the morning for 1 more day, I fly out on Friday night, I will glad to be back and be warm.

Chris

Philadelphia & Atlantic City

Well I had 2 days in Philadelphia which is a really nice city, I relaxed mainly as I was in a Hotel room and not a Hostel, went to The Liberty Bell, did a tour of the Mint and just wandered.

I have caught a train to Atlantic City this morning and checked into my hotel, very nice, especially as it is only $60 per night.

Not long left now.

Have to keep it brief as I have 15 minute limit on the free computer..

Chris

A groovy Toilet

Found this toilet at Buffalo Airport, you press the button and a new lot of plastic comes out and covers the seat, lovely....

Sears Tower

I I decided to go up th Sears Tower in the evening to get a night view, well it decided to bucket down and cloud over, so here is the view I saw, clouds were lovely...

Buffalo & Boston

Well it was an early start, up at 3am to get to the airport in time to catch the plane from Chicago to Buffalo, I arrived in Buffalo and checked into the hostel, then headed out to Niagara Falls, it was raining (again) and there was still a little bit of snow around, the place is deserted and nearly everything was closed up, I was able to do a tour which was great, but caused me to miss my bus back to Buffalo, so I ended up waiting at the bus stop in the rain for about an hour or so. I finally got back to the hostel at around 11pm, and had some 2 minute noodles (they are actually 3 minute noodles here), then went to bed, set my alarm for 6am for a 7.15am pickup to the airport for a 9am flight.

I woke up at 7.09am and shat myself, made it to the pickup 1 minute late and missed the pickup, so got a taxi and luckily this all happened in Buffalo, it is the quietest city I have ever been in, and I ended up still being early for my flight to Boston.

Arrived in Boston and checked in to the hostel, this one is not inner city, but in the burbs, bu easy to get to by subway and a short bus trip, it is still raining, I headed into downtown Boston and took a tour on an old Army Duck (1942), both on the roads and in the Charles River.

I am hoping it stops raining so I can actually see something.

I have bought a ticket to the Ice Hockey for tommorow night, Boston v Buffalo, I am only 4 rows back so hopefully may get splashed with some blood, or catch some teeth. (this is what a couple of Canadian guys told me, they have come 16 hours on a bus to see the game).

Chicago

Went to Grant park and Millenium Park for a look then on to wander the city, quite a lot of really good public art, saw the Old Water Tower, and went up to 94st floor of the second tallest building here, going to go to the tallest one tommorow(Sears Tower), went to the Museum of Contemporary Art (Tuesday is free day), then on to the NBC Studios, I was hoping to be able to go to a Gerry Springer taping, but that is Thursdays & Fridays, then went on to the Navy Pier to have a look.

I am off to see Altar Boys a musical spoof tonight (love half price tickets). ps, it was ok only, some people seemed to think it was great and started giving a standing ovation, they must have been on drugs as it really was only ok. plebs

The weather cleared up enough today that it was overcast but still a nice day..

Chris

Tuesday in Chicago

It's still raining, I guess the waterproof caot I bought was a good investment....bugger....off I go..

Chris

Chicago

Left Rogersville on Monday at lunch time and flew to Chicago, it's cooler here and they did have a bit of snow last week. It was 12 degrees when I flew in, but quite nice and then it started to rain. Got a shuttle from the airport which is a long way out of town, so didn't arrive at the hostel in Downtown Chicago until 5pm, and have really just settled in, been out for a wet walk to get some food and I think I will have a quiet night in and work out what I will do over the time I am here, I leave on Thursday to go to Buffalo.

Chris

Sunday in Tennessee

Sunday we were up at the crack of 10am and of to Gatlinburg, in the Great Smokey Mountains, didn't see any bears but heaps of tourists, Ben & I went up in a chairlift and had a great view of the town and surrounds. It was a tourist town but still very interesting, Vashti, Ban & I went into Ripleys Haunted House, we had a good laugh especially when a little girl got scared and started crying...

We had a really nice day and saw some great things, ( I am again not able to upload any pictures), so will ahve to wait for the pics.

Rogersville House decorated for Halloween

BlueGrass Band

They were excellent, the lady singer did mention she was allergic to hay, and perhaps this was a bad place for her to be..

Hill Billy Tractor Heads

Big Hair

Elvis is alive and well in Tennessee

A small pumpkin

Note the couple to the right, they were about the same size as the pumpkin

Classic car on parade

Heritage Days in Tennessee

Festival in
Rogersville Tennessee, about 30,000 people over 2 days visit.

Tennessee

Hello all, an interesting day yesterday (Thursday), the flight out of New York was on time, but half way there they told us that we had been put into a holding pattern as things were delayed into Chicago, so they sent us out into Indianna to fly in circles for a while until we could land.

It was freezing (literally) in Chicago which was interesting as I just had a T shirt and a jumper. The flight out of Chicago was delayed by 2 hours, which was good so I didn't miss my connection to Tennessee, but I did arrive 2 hours late so Don, Cathryn and Ben had a nice wait in Knoxville (again).

Rogersville is in for a big weekend, it is Heritage days this weekend, street parades and markets etc, they are forecasting 67 in the day and freezing at nights, bbbrrrr, I had asked if I would need thermals before I came and they told me "no", it will be nice weather....they lied.

Overnight Buffalo had lots of snow and everything is shut down, it is a state of emergency, I am due there Wednesday, so they better get themselves sorted out by then....Please...

Chris

Brooklyn Bridge

Tile Mosaic in the Subway

Hudson River

Carparking New York Style

Bondy this is what we need

Plane hits building in New York...

Well a light plane flew into a building on 72nd Street this afternoon, I was way down on 14th Street, they say the people in the apartment only got minor injuries and it was only the pilot and one other killed, the pilot was the New York Yankees pitcher, people get very spun out here if anything like this happens, they have been very deeply affected by sept 11th I think.

Thats all for today, I am off to Tennessee tommorow..

have a nice day everyone

Chris

Funny

An interesting Mix

The sign on the right is for Chelsea Day School and the sign on the left is Weightwatchers????

Wednesday

Took the Staten Island Ferry to Staten Island (funny that) for a quick look then went to the American Financial History Museum then on to The Skyscraper Museum (amazing, mostly about the building of the World Trade Centre), did you know that the cranes used in the construction were imported from Australia and had never been used in the USA before. Then went and saw the "Bodies Exhibition", revolting I should have gone before lunch, very interesting but ...they are real bodies.

I then went to The Ground Zero Museum Workshop, which was next to The Heller Gallery (very well known), it has been set up by the only photographer who was allowed into Ground Zero, amazing, they have some small pieces of glass from the windows, the glass at the top was 3 inches thick, also some marble from the foyer and other artifacts, did you know that the force of the collapse forced stuff 100 feet below street level and that fires burnt for 3 months down there, the reason that 1200 families got no remains at all was that the fires burnt so hot for so long that it burnt all DNA from the bones. A moving experience, you can't just go there you have to make booking, I was luck enough to meet the photographer, a nice bloke with a lifetime of stories to tell. The Museum was all done very tastefully in consultation with families and officials, worth a look next time you are here.

Then back to the deluxe accommodations and then to another movie.

Chris

Calm Yourselves Girls - The Naked Cowboy

Day 3 or is it 4??

Monday night I went to an Off Broadway show, it was excellent, I sant next to an Author who has just released his book, I can't remember his name (no-one well known).
Tuesday
Well its been a busy timeTuesday I started off in Central Park fo a wander, then off to The Trump Tower, (luck he's not flashy) Tiffanc's then to Carnege Hall & The Russian Tea Rooms followed by Columbus Circle, tried to get tickets to the David Letterman Show, but needed to have a contact number as you put your name down then they call you to tell you if you have tickets, so that was a no go, then down to Times Square and got to see the Naked Cowboy, then on to Rockerfeller Centre and had a look at the Skate Rink, James Blunt was on at Radio City Music Hall, no tickets left, so off to the Empire State Building.

What a view, paid the extra money and went to the 102 Floor, unbelievable view, I was totally blown away (not literally), it was a clear sunny day, took about 17 million photo's.

Saw the new Matt Damon / Jack Nicholson film ( I can't remeber the name but a great movie.

Exhausted again & still

Well it's now Monday night, today was a holiday "Columbus Day", really only public servants had the day off, I walked accross the Brooklyn Bridge this morning then headed to Time Square for a look, its still there and still busy. Next it was to Battery Park to see the "Skyscraper Museum", but it was closed today so I went to see the Columbus Day Parade but it had finished, so it was then off to the Metropolitan Museum, it was open so I went in, it is so huge, and I really am not a museum person, but I did have a look around at the Cesane to Picasso Exhibition. I saw paintings by Van Gough, Picasso, Cesane, and heaps of other really famous dead people, very amazing and I can now say I have see their work.

I went back to Time Square and bought a ticket to an Off Broadway show, it is in the second row, so I am a little unsure of how great it will be and it was a $25 special so it will probably be rubbish, but we will see, the guy who reccommended it certainly talked it up. I had a look at a Rolex watch in Time Square the chap who was selling it from a briefcase assured me it was a good watch, It was $30 and as I startted to walk away without buying it he dragged me back reducing the price to $15, I didn't buy it as it can't be that good if it is only $15.

I will put up some photos soon as I have finally found an internet cafe where I can upload.

Chris

I'm Back

Well here I sit in Union Square New York on a sunny Sunday afternoon, so knackered as I have not had any sleep since Friday night, oh well maybe tonight.

My plane from Brisbane to Sydney was delayed by about 30 minutes then when we landed in Sydney we had to taxi for about 20 minutes, so I arrived at Customs 30 minutes before my flight time to be at the back of a line of about 400 people (a guess, I didn't actually count them), so I did what anyone would do and skipped to the front of the line, and got on the plane as they were making the final boarding call, and by that time I was of course crapping my daks...

Qantas is heaps better than United, the plane was quite empty so got a couple of seats, but did not sleep a wink, did see one of the funniest movies I have ever seen, go and see it "Kenny", toilet humour, very funny. So landed in LA and waited a while then flew to New York on a Qantas domestic flight in Jumbo, very single person on the plane had their shades shut and slept the whole way. Arrived into New York, (late) at 8pm, got to my Hotel (very loose use of the word and slept .

I Met up with Goran and we spent the day wandering with some friends of his, they went out to dinner and I met up with them later at a North African bar with Serbian staff for a drink, and then I couldn't sleep so just layed there all night and got up at 6.30am.

Where I am staying the rooms are smaller than a goal (jail) cell, (I'm not joking), and you can hear the person in the next room breathe, but for $36 a night in Central New York, what can I expect, it is clean and in a great location in the Bowery District.

I have been up to Times Square this morning and think I will walk over the Brooklyn Bridge after lunch, it was freezing Friday but is a sunny day about 21c today.

It is great not having to be a power tourist, I am going to go inside some things this time, which will be better tommorow after some sleep I hope, I may ask the person in the next room not to breathe tonight.

Chris

Had such a great time I'm going Again

Well, I had such a great time in USA that I am going again, so I fly off again on 6th October for another 3 weeks, a bit indulgent I know, but, as everyone said to me "why not", so I am . I am spending 6 days in New York this time as well as Tennessee, Chicago, Niagara Falls, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlantic City and back to New York....

Here we go..

Chris

Central Park

My Favourite Place - New York

My Favourite Photo - From the excercise yard at Alcatraz

My Favourite Star

Joshua Tree

Indian, if I had known they needed cowboys I would have taken my Chaps...

Hoover Dam, note the size of the cars on top

Me, & the Chopper at the bottom of the Canyon

Grand Canyon from the Helicopter

Vegas

Mitch Buccanan was not there the day I was there

Fighting in the streets - Hollywood

The Famous Viper Room in LA, Where River Phoenix died