Andy Goes To America/Canada!

Here is a summary of my trip to Boston. I arrived on Thursday night and was picked up from the airport by my friend Yogi. From there we went straight for a curry in Boston. :-)

Next day I got up not feeling any effects from the jet lag and travelled by train into Boston and after working my way across the city via the 'T' underground, did the freedom trail leading from one historical site to the next.  The whole route is marked by a line of 2 red bricks which is a great idea because it means you can wander about and look at the sights without worrying about getting lost.

Here's Yogi Who I went to Visit

On Saturday we got up fairly early and drove down to The Big Apple (not the big smeurk) took a wrong turning and ended up on the outskirts of the Bronx %-( Seeing two burnt out vehicles in the space of a hundred yards we decided it was time to high tail it!

The Chrysler Building

Once we were safely parked up we took a taxi to the Empire State Building. I was hoping to get a genuine New York cabby but unfortunately not. We went up the Empire State Building although the organisation was so bad inside that we were almost sent down before we reached the top! The picture on the left is of the Chrysler building which was taken from the viewing area.

Next we walked along 5th Avenue to Central Park and then back down Broadway to Times Square. Quite a walk. By this time it was dark and getting quite late so we headed back to the hotel in New Jersey.

Next morning we caught the first ferry out to the Statue of Liberty and climbed up to the crown. This was one of the highlights for me.

The Statue Of Liberty (of course!)

Next stop was Ellis Island where the old immigration building has been turned into a museum. We spent quite a while in here reading up on the history of America. Back in Manhattan we stopped off at a Jewish Museum. Much of this was grim but well presented and an eye opener. We were lucky enough to see the tail end of the New York marathon and then unlucky enough to get stuck in the traffic chaos it caused as we headed back up to Boston.

The following day was Indian new year so we had to go out and celebrate with....a curry! :-) I did some more sight seeing in Boston including Boston common, the Cheers Bar and the Aquarium. I walked down to the bay area and had a look at the USS Coni Young (I think that was its name) as well as the very old USS Constitution.

The Real Thing!

On the Tuesday more sight seeing in Boston. First I went up the Hancock tower which is Boston's tallest building (closely followed by the Prudential building). Then after quite a walk I arrived at Fenway Park, home the Boston Red Sox Baseball team. After buying a couple of T-shirts as souvenirs I called in at the Museum of Fine Arts for a bit of culture. This was much better than any of the museums I went to in Texas and was on a par with most of the decent European museums I have been to.

Harvard

Wednesday was Mall day :-) Time to stock up on those jeans and other clothes before being picked up early afteroon for the trip up into Canada.The drive north was terrible thanks to lashing rain and poor visibility. After what seemed like a lifetime we arrived in Ottawa.

I think I was destined to see the Rememberance day ceremony somehow. It starts at the 11th minute of the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month. We were staying in room 1111, spooky! The view from the hotel was superb. After the short walk up to the parliament buildings I staked my claim to a front row spot and almost certainly on Canadian TV :-) After watching the final parade ending an impressive display I had to defrost since standing still for three hours at 0 degrees C is not ideal!

Parliament, Ottawa