Thursday, October 13, 2005

More of Canada

This morning, we were delighted to see the sun peek it’s head out. We headed down to the falls and bought tickets for the infamous Maid of The Mist boat trip to the falls. There was only the shortest of waits, and we donned our bright blue rain parkas as the boat chugged off. I had done this trip as a child, and it’s one of my fondest memories, but I had forgotten how wet you get! Marie and I spent half of the boat trip hiding under our parks while Nigel and Lindsay tried their best to snap some photos while trying to keep their cameras dry. Still, it was a lot of fun, and a great view of the falls!

Once off the boat, it didn’t take us long to dry off, and we headed back to the hotel, hopped in the car, and drove to Toronto for the afternoon. It was a rainy drive, but once we got there the sun came out a bit. We had lunch right on the water, then walked around the piers and along the lakefront. Back at the falls, we had some dinner and an early night.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Canucks!!

We had an early breakfast at the hotel this morning, complete with self-made Belgian waffles, cereal, coffee, juice and fruit. We were going to swing by the university for Nigel to get some lacrosse gear, but couldn’t be bothered, so we set out for the day’s drive. We headed north along Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes District. It was absolutely gorgeous. The scenery was endless views of lakes, rivers, autumn trees, vineyards, old barns and country towns. We did stop at a few of the wineries to check out the views, and managed to buy a few bottles at the Thirsty Owl.

We arrived in Niagara Falls late in the afternoon and stopped at the border for hot dogs at a little hot dog stand, then crossed into Canada (Oh, Canada!) and checked into our hotel. While driving around, we were surprised at how gaudy and cheesy Niagara Falls (the town) is, complete with the chain entertainment restaurants, Ripley’s museums and haunted houses, one souvenir shop after another, and lots of garish signage. So instead of exploring this once romantic, honeymoon destination, we hopped in the car and drove the short distance to Niagara-On-The-Lake, Canada. This is MUCH more like it! Streets full of boutique shops, cafes and elegant restaurants, beautiful flowers and trees, and all the buildings in old colonial brick styles. We had a coffee while wandering into some of the shops before they shut, then drove back along the winding roads to the hotel. This is definitely an area I’d love to live in! And Lindsay didn’t think the golf courses looked to bad either!

For dinner, we headed to one of the chain restaurants, Tony Roma’s, as Lindsay had a taste for ribs. It was a great meal (portions way too big of course), and afterwards, we walked down to the falls to view them at night. I had remembered from when I was young that there were coloured lights shining on the water, which changed every few minutes, and we soon discovered that they are still there. We tried to walk along the river across from the American Falls to the Horseshoe Falls, but the mist and wind were getting us absolutely drenched, so we gave up halfway there and went back to the hotel. Marie and Lindsay headed to bed while Nigel and I threw on our bathers (not worn since Acapulco) and soaked in the hot tub.

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Fall

After major hassles picking up our rental car (best not elaborated on for our own sanity), Lindsay and Nigel drove the Ford Taurus back to the hotel where we loaded up our bags and headed out of the city. It was surprisingly easy going and there was hardly any traffic. We drove through the Lincoln Tunnel, crossed through New Jersey and headed north to Ithaca, New York, our next stop for one night. The last half of the drive was beautiful, full of colourful autumn trees and old country homes with pumpkins decorating their porches and yards.

In Ithaca, home to Cornell University, we walked downtown, which reminds me so much of Davis, California, where I went to university. It’s fairly small with lots of cute shops, cafes, and restaurants. We had a coffee before heading to the hotel for the night. We ordered pizza and salad for dinner, but it took so long to arrive that we were barely awake while eating it.

Monday, October 10, 2005

Bulls, Bears and an ode to Chris

This morning we headed to the Brooklyn Bridge and wandered along the South Street piers. When the fish stench got to be too much, we walked along Wall Street to the Stock Exchange. Parts of the street were blocked off from traffic and turned into street markets. After exploring those, we had coffee and lunch at a deli on Wall Street.

We then took the subway up to Rockefeller Center, where we were pleased to see that the ice skating rink was already in place. We also just happened to catch the end of the Columbus Day Parade, full of Italian-themed floats and decorations since Columbus was Italian. We wandered around some shops, including the NBC studios, and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, then down 5th Avenue past the New York Public Library (closed for the holiday) and back to our hotel. Dinner was at another Tex-Mex/Hawaiian-Mex type place just around the corner from the hotel.

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Chinatown fun

Today was cooler but dry at least. We took the tour bus up to Central Park and spent the morning walking through it. It is such a gorgeous, peaceful place, and the morning mist and fog was beautiful. All of the leaves have started to turn from green to bright yellow, orange and red. We gave Tavern On The Green a miss, as well as the Guggenheim (which we now regret) and Metropolitan Museum of Art, both of which had huge queues. We walked along 55h Avenue for a while, then crossed over to Central Park West and walked along the huge mansions to Columbus Circle, stopping for a bit of window-shopping and a great Tex-Mex lunch at a cute upstairs restaurant.

We then took the subway to Chinatown. During our entire stay in New York, there were threats of terrorist bombs on the city’s subway system. Supposedly all bags were to be searched, and security was to be increased. However, we never once had our bags looked at, nor did we see any security. We did see some guys in HazMat suits outside one station, but it was a false alarm.

In Chinatown, we walked along Canal Street as I was looking for a handbag. . We were able to give Marie and Lindsay a taste of what some of our experiences were like in China. I ended up buying a few bags. I bought one from a guy who offered to take me to the back room for all of his Louis Vuitton stuff, and I had to go to the back to get the designer label stuck on like a sticker. The other bag I got from one of the “take it and run” guys who stop on the street, quickly open up a huge sheet full of his wares, then bundles it all up again for a quick getaway when police are spotted.

We wandered back to the hotel for a coffee and a bit of relaxing before walking down the street to an Irish pub for drinks and a great meal. It was nice to get a bit drunk have a chance to chat to Marie and Lindsay about the two family members we lost while we were gone.

Saturday, October 08, 2005

"You're Fired!"

Today we saw uptown New York and Brooklyn from the top deck of the tour bus. It made for quite a wet experience since it pretty much rained the entire day. Still, we enjoyed seeing all of the old, rich buildings and famous shops. We got off the bus at Central Park South and tried to have a coffee at the Plaza Hotel, but it's closed for renovations. Apparently they're making it residences with only a few floors left as hotel rooms, since it's such a desirable location and so many people just live there anyway. So instead we had a Starbuck's at the Trump Towers, drying off and warming up as we took in all of the hideous golden decor. I definitely remember it from my first trip to NY years ago.

After drying off, we headed back out into the rain for a delicious lunch at a traditional New York deli. The afternoon was spent wandering around shops such as FAO Schwartz, Bloomingdale’s, Saks, Tiffany, and Kate Spade. And of course, we didn’t buy anything.

After a wet and soggy day, we grabbed a coffee at the Dunkin’ Doughnuts across the street from our hotel and took it back to our room to relax. Later in the evening, Nigel and I headed out to the Lower East Side for some more shopping. We enjoyed walking around this neighbourhood as it is full of original and quirky shops, lots of pubs and bars, cheap and expensive restaurants & cafes alike, and streets full of people out and about.

On our way back to the hotel, we grabbed some salads from Wholefoods and took them back to the hotel for a late, light meal and relaxing.

Friday, October 07, 2005

First Day in NYC

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARIE!!!

We all had a bit of a sleep-in this morning, but were up in time for our free breakfast of muffins and less-than-average coffee downstairs. From our hotel, we walked up to Time's Square and got on one of those double-decker tour buses to take in the sights. We sat up top, open to the air, and got off at Battery Park. We made the impromtu decision to take the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty, so after a quick pretzel, we got in line and were on the next boat. Despite the rain clouds in the sky, the air was clear and we had some beautiful views. We got off at the statue and walked around it but didn't go up the base (the statue itself is closed because of security-aka terrorist-issues). Finished in 1886, the statue was actually built to promote French republicanism.

It was a long, cold wait for the ferry back, but luckily we were in line under some cover, as it started to rain not long after we got in line. It was windy and cold, so we skipped Ellis Island. From Battery Park, we walked to the site of the World Trade Centre. It was astounding how big of a hole has been left in the ground after the rubble was removed. There is a great display of the history of the twin towers from their conception, through construction, destruction, and what has been planned to replace them. It was sad to remember September 11th, but great to see that most of the surrounding buildings have been renovated, and that pretty much everything is "back to normal" so to speak.

From there, we walked to Tribeca, a quaint neighbourhood full of cobblestone side streets, unique shops, excellent restaurants, and tree-lined streets. We celebrated Marie's birthday with an excellent meal at a great little place, complete with many drinks and dessert. We walked up Broadway, stopping in some shops along the way to Union Square, where we got on the subway back to our hotel.

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Dumplings in the Big Apple

Our taxi picked us up today at the un-Godly hour of 4:45 am. We were sure we'd need a caffeine fix at such an hour, so our kind taxi driver drove us to several 7-elevens until we found one NOT cleaning their coffee machines and had a fresh brew. We were sure to get ourselves to the airport a generous 3.15 hours ahead of our scheduled departure flight, so as not to repeat the scene last time on leaving Mexico City.

We checked in with no worries, and had plenty of time to waste. No shops in the airport were even open at this time, so we just sat there. And sat and sat and sat. After about an hour of people-watching, the boredom was enough to drive us to drink. even though it was just after 6:00 am, we hit the bar, which was, mercifully, open. The rules of international airports dictate that it's always beer o'clock as it's the cocktail hour somewhere in the world...at least, those are our rules. Not that we need any rules to drink alcohol whenever we feel like it. Nigel had a few beers, and I had a few vodka cocktails, and we spent most of our remaining pesos.

The flight from Mexico City to Dallas/Fort Worth was uneventful. Unfortunately, we were on American Airlines, but nothing too bad happened. In Dallas, we got our bags, went through immigration and customs, re-checked them, then took the shuttle bus from the international airport to the domestic section. There were 2 soldiers in uniform on the shuttle, coming home from Iraq on a 2 week furlough. Nigel got his first taste of Texas when a few of the old men on the bus started clapping for them as they got off at their stops. Don't Mess With Texas. At the domestic terminal, we had just enough time to grab some lunch to-go and get on our flight to New York, knowing the American Airlines crew wouldn't feed us.

We arrived in New York around 3:00 pm, got our bags, and took a shuttle bus from La Guardia to Grand Central Terminal. It was so fun seeing New York with Nigel for his first time. I had been before, but I was 12. It was a short trip into the city, and from Grand Central Terminal we could have hopped on a free mini-bus to our hotel, but it was only about 12 blocks, so we put our packs on and walked. It was great to be in a city with huge buildings and long streets again.

We walked up Park Avenue South to our hotel, the Wolcott, on East 31st Street in Midtown, checked in, and checked out our little room. It's a really old hotel, so the rooms are small, but okay. After a shower, we took the subway to Chinatown in Lower Manhattan and walked along Canal Street. Tons of stalls and little shops line the streets, selling all of the knock-offs and copies of name brands, plus pretty much anything else really. It honestly felt just like China. We ended up eating dinner at a little place called Shanghai Cuisine on Bayard Street. The place was packed, so we knew we'd found a good place. We had dumplings and Tsing Tao beer and ate with chopsticks and really felt like we were in Shanghai again, the very beginning of our travels. It was awesome.

After dinner, we decided to walk a little way along Broadway and pop into some shops. We ended up walking from Lower Manhattan, through Downtown to Midtown and our hotel, over 30 blocks. But it was fun, we found some great shops, and we were just loving being in such a huge city with so much going on.

Back at the hotel, we watched some TV then went into the lobby to wait for Nigel's parents to arrive. We read some magazines and the newspaper, and waited and waited. Finally they arrived, and it was so great to see them! It had been nearly 11 months since we'd seen them. They were exhausted as they'd flown from Adelaide to New York in one go, but they did a great job of staying up to share some champagne before we all went to bed just after midnight.

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

The Very Last Day

Well, it's sort of a sad day for us. Technically it's not the last day of our trip, but it's our last day in a foreign land, so we feel like it's the last day. So what did we do? Saw an American movie of course.

It happened to be the best day to see a movie, as Wednesdays are half price. I think we paid about US$1.20 each to see 'The Wedding Crashers.' Over the weekend at my sister's in L.A., my Aunt Nancy had been saying how it is now her favourite movie and worth a good laugh. We were glad to have an afternoon of giggles, and a movie in English after Clifford "el perro rojo grande" dubbed in Spanish on the bus.

We walked back to our hotel through Barrio Chino to browse more knock-offs and rip-offs at the stalls packed tightly along the streets, then just enjoyed our last views of the sights of Mexico City and speaking Spanish. We should have gone to bed early with such a long day tomorrow, but we didn't.

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Laziness taking over

Not much was accomplished today. We slept in, took our laundry in, then walked around Barrio Chino to browse the cheap stalls selling whatever. We used the internet, got some dinner, watched some TV. I guess it looks like we're getting pretty lazy in our final days of travel...

Monday, October 03, 2005

The last ride

Our opinions of Acapulco somewhat restored by the cliff divers and a good dinner last night, we decided not to press our luck and wanted to head back to Mexico City for our last few days in the country. We caught a nice ¨Pluss¨ bus for the 5 hour ride back to the capital, our very last bus ride. Looking back on the last 11 months, I´d be curious to know just how many bus rides we have been on...I´ll have to count them. It was an uneventful trip (though we were treated to Clifford´s Big Movie dubbed in Spanish), we caught the metro from the bus station to our hotel, walked around a bit and went to the chemist, then got rotisserie chicken takeaway for dinner. Glad to be back in Mexico City after Acapulco.

Sunday, October 02, 2005

Acapoophole

Waking up to a new day, we were determined to find the good side of Acapulco. We promptly checked out of our dingy hotel and took one of the many air-brush painted, pimped out buses to the resort hotel area and found a place for US$30, with a swimming pool. A lot of money for us, but a bargain in this town. It is really hot and humid in Acapulco, so after having some lunch (as it was lunchtime by this stage), we went for a swim in the pool, very refreshing. We then showered and were going to watch the famous cliff divers, but they only have one afternoon show, the others being in the evening. So we got on our bathers and went down to the beach.

The beach as Acapulco looks pretty much how we expected. High rises dotting the sand along the pacific. There were lots of people out on the beaches and eating at the many restaurants. We were happy to see that most of them were Mexican vacationers. We walked along the beach for a while, searching for a good place to sit for a while and go for a swim. This idea was quickly shot down when we approached a river of water rushing from the land into the ocean. If the smell didn´t give away what is in the water, then the piles of black and brown gunk floating in it does. It was and endless supply of raw sewage spewing out into the water. We couldn´t really believe it at first, and stood there for a while watching locals try to make the huge leap across so as to avoid stepping in the tainted water. It was so disgusting. The hotel pool was turning out to be an even bigger bargain than we originally thought, as there was no way we were swimming in the ocean now (despite the fact that tons of others didn´t seem to care/know and were happily frolicking in the ocean).

So, we decided to have a drink instead, even though they are not cheap. We settled in under an umbrella at one of the many places on the sand, and decided to splurge on US$10 for 2 drinks. We placed our order, only to be informed that it would be another 35 pesos for the use of the umbrella and chairs! It only took us about 3 seconds to laugh at the man, jump out of our chairs and quickly walk away. We think these restaurants have a lot of nerve to charge for the ¨use¨ of their umbrellas and chairs when they are already asking an arm and a leg for drinks and food anyway. We finally managed to find a guy willing to let us use his umbrella and chairs for free if we bought a drink. So we had 2 beers for 40 pesos (we´ve been paying about 16 pesos for 2 beers) and sat there for a while, just watching the people.

We walked back to our hotel along the street, thus avoiding the disgusting sewage this time, and went back to the hotel for another swim. We relaxed for a bit before heading over to watch the clavadistas, or cliff divers. The cliff divers of Acapulco have been delighting spectators since 1934, jumping from 25 or 35 metres. Where they perform now is a beaufiul spot on the Pacific, and we arrived in time to enjoy the sunset. When the show was about to start, about 6 divers (in speedos) climbed down one side of the cliff, turned on the spotlights, then scaled the opposite wall (they dive into a small inlet between 2 cliffs when the tide is high). They all prayed to the Virgin Mary at one of 2 altars they have up on the top, and then one by one they dove it. It was pretty cool, and they had my heart racing. We were glad there was no cheesy music or anything.

Afterwards, we took a pimped out techno bus back towards our hotel, and lit our mouths on fire with delicious tacos al pastor for dinner, before heading back to the hotel and to bed.

Saturday, October 01, 2005

Acapulchole

Today didn´t really start off great, and only got worse. We went down to one of the bus stations in Taxco around 11:00 am to catch the 12:10 bus to Acapulco. They wouldn´t let us buy tickets until the bus arrived. So we waited and waited, and still the bus did not come. Nigel kept asking one of the ticket ladies, and she said there is a lot of traffic, and the bus will come, just keep waiting. So we waited and waited some more. 1:00 came around, and by 2:00 we were really frustrated. They just kept telling us there is a lot of traffic. Well, the next bus was scheduled to leave at 2:40, and we didn´t want to miss out on this bus either. Finally we talked to someone who said that the 12:10 bus had broken down and was not coming, and the bus at 2:40 was also cancelled. Well, did I give them a piece of my mind! We had been waiting for over 3 hours, only to be told the same thing over and over, NEVER once any information about the services being cancelled. We were pissed, and the guy who works the tourist information booth vouched for us as well. Never take the Estrella Blanca group buses in Mexico. So we stormed out of there and walked about 1km down the road to another bus station, the Estrella de Oro buses. Here is was a sea of calm and quiet. We bought our tickets for the 3:00 ¨Pluss¨ service to Acapulco, one step up than the Primera (1st) class and the same price as the other crappy company. They were friendly and helpful, the bus showed up and we left on time. And it was a pretty luxurious 5 hours to Acapulco.

When we arrived in Acapulco, it took us over 2 hours to find a hotel. Not only were they way overpriced, they were dirty and gross as well. We struck out in the resort hotel area, so went to the supposedly cheaper area and still couldn´t find anything. I sat in the Zòcalo for a while while Nige walked around some more. By 10:00 pm we had to settle on a not so great place for US$22. In desperate need of a beer and some dinner by this stage, we dropped our stuff in the room, and headed out to get some food. This is supposed to be the cheaper area in Acapulco, but we struggled to find a reasonable priced taco place or anything for that matter. We finally found a place tucked in behind some tourist stalls, but the food was so greasy and gross that I barely touched my tacos. Nigel ate his hamburger and sorry excuses for french fries, but didn´t enjoy them. We then headed to Oxxo, Mexico´s version of 7-eleven (though they have these too) and got some 2-minute noodles. When we got to the beer fridge, we read a notice saying that due to elections, no alcoholic beverages may be sold in the city for the next 2 days. What!!??? That was just the last straw for us. So far, Acapulco is not really a place where we´d like to spend any time. We took our noodles and microwaved popcorn back to our hotel, where Nige managed to get the girl to sell us a few beers. They were overpriced but cold. But after the day we had, we didn´t even really enjoy them.