Apologies for my silence. I have been trying to upload pictures taken during our summer holiday in the US and Canada, but for some reason Blogger will not let me do this. It may have something to do with my new computer, a giant US-born elephant of a laptop named Gail. Anyway, I hope to be able to post them at a later date.
As regards our holiday, it was brilliant. We flew into JFK and hired a car to tour upstate New York. Our first stop was Tarrytown, the town neighbouring Sleepy Hollow, made famous by Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow in which Ichabod Crane is confronted with the Headless Horseman which was rumoured to haunt that vale - which, coincidentally, is a book I just had to buy. This is also the town, where I started my American diet of meat, meat, meat and more meat with a charred turkey burger. After visiting the Old Dutch Church, the bridge and the cemetery featured in the story, we drove further North, following the Hudson as it cleft mountains brusquely in two. The river is impressive and the valley is beautiful. It is baffling to see how soon everything becomes green once you leave the hustle and bustle of New York City behind you, and how much peace, natural beauty and solitude one can find at what is basically a stone's throw from Manhattan.
After stopping for coffee in Cold Spring an idyllic little town on the river with a great view of Storm King Mountain, we went to Rhinebeck to meet some of Olaf's friends at the Dutchess County Fair. The Dutchess County Fair was everything it promised to be. Upstate New York is distinctly rural and the diversity of cows, horses, chickens, ducks, pigs, corn, uncountable types of fruit and vegetable and even an elephant were enough to make our cityfolk jaws drop in astonishment. It was fun to hang out there and see what life is like on a farm - and of course I had to taste a delicacy: grilled cheese (apparently very American albeit not very meaty).
After that, we visited the Vanderbilt Mansion in Hyde Park and drove past the FDR Estates in the neighbourhood. To be honest, the Vanderbilt Mansion was quite a disappointment, it wasn't any more than a big villa. Beautiful grounds and a great view over the valley though. We then crossed the river and left it behind us to go West into the Catskills. We spent the night at New Paltz and after a quick look at the local historic Huguenot Houses (built by settlers with very Dutch-sounding names), it was time for food again. On the menu: a mountain of spare ribs!
The next morning, we left New Paltz quite early for a drive through the Catskill Mountains. We took the little roads and enjoyed the views, the emptiness of the land and the late-summer scent of the trees. After spending the morning this way and eventually stopping to hike to the Kaaterskill Falls, we wished we had more time to enjoy the region, a sentiment enhanced by the discovery of a loss of most of our pictures taken after Sleepy Hollow due to an unfortunate computer glitch. We were on a tight schedule, however, and we wanted to see as much of the state as we possibly could. There was another mountain range we wanted to drive through that day: The Adirondacks. We drove to Lake George and had a look at this tourist-centred fraud of a town which, in spite of the pretty lake, made hurry back to the car after lunch. Blue Mountain Lake was much more quiet and idyllic, and also a place noteworthy for having the weirdest ice cream flavours on offer. One does not get to eat 'Panda Paws'-flavoured ice cream every day... We spent that night in Old Forge, where I had the honour of sampling a cheese steak (which is apparently a Philadelphian specialty).
The next morning, we left the Adirondacks and drove West to Seneca Falls, the home of the American Women's Suffrage movement (to be honest, I had to dig very deep to find memories of history lessons about Elizabeth Cady Stanton), which was very informative, although the visitor's centre we visited was not quite up to the standard we had expected. So onwards we went, along one of the largest of the Finger Lakes towards Ithaca and Cornell University, visiting the impressive Taughannock Falls on the way. I do not believe I have ever seen a university more happily situated than Cornell. Perched on a rock overlooking Lake Seneca and rife with wonderful, deep, rocky gorges (giving rise to the popular phrase 'Ithaca is gorges' which can be seen on many of the T-shirts worn by the student population), the campus consists of beautiful neoclassical buildings and a very friendly atmosphere. If one had to go back to uni again...
We spent that night in outskirts of disgustingly filthy and depressing Buffalo, Tonawanda to be exact. Our motel was in the middle of a formerly industrialised area which appeared to border 'the bad side of town', according to one of the locals. Fortunately, the only bar in the neighbourhood happened to serve food too (Buffalo wings for me, nothing but fried mozzarella sticks for Olaf) and double as the local karaoke bar. Olaf went all out on stage, while I chatted up the local ladies and managed to liberate some of their cigarettes from their sway. All in all, not a bad night.
The next day, it was time for Niagara Falls. What can one say about the Falls that has not been said? They are grand, impressive, beautiful, loud, magical, eerie, divine and terribly touristy. We looked at them from the US side (the upstream side) first to get up close and personal with the falling water and then crossed over into Canada to walk the Scenic Driveway for some panorama shots. Impressive as the falls were, the difference between the US and Canada was breathtaking. Leaving busy, dirty and industrial Buffalo to cross over into a country of glowing hills with farmland and vineyards, was a relief. The food was better - not such a fixation on meat, fresh local fruit for sale at every farm - and who knew Canada produced such lovely wines!
It was time for the occasion we had been hurrying towards. After settling down at the cutest little B&B, we dressed up and walked over to the neighbouring Vineland Estates to celebrate the wedding of Nissrine and Alessandro. It was a small wedding, very intimate and quite possibly in the most beautiful location they could have chosen. The vineyard was on a hill overlooking Lake Ontario and the bride and groom could meander through the vines in sunset, providing them with oodles of undoubtedly gorgeous pictures. The ceremony was short, her dress amazing, her hair up with a feather, roaring twenties style, and their kissing superb. We had been afraid we would not know anyone but the bride at the wedding but it turned out two of our (Nissrine's and mine) former colleagues from Milan were there as well. Besides, everybody there was lovely and we had a great time making new friends.
After brunch, we unfortunately had to leave again the next morning, not having had enough time to catch up with Nissrine and to really get to know Alessandro. We did, however, have a long drive back to NYC ahead of us and had to return the car that evening. We still had two days left before we were to fly to back and wanted to spend some time visiting the city - and catching up with Kuba and Agnieszka and their kids. Or so we thought. A wild Southern lady called Irene had other plans and decided to hit New York City the day we were supposed to fly out. We made it back to the city alright, handed in the car (and we glad not to be responsible for it when the storm hit) and made it to Kuba and Agnieszka's lovely apartment in Brooklyn, when we found out our flight had been canceled. The next two days were spent inside, having stocked up on water and food supplies, batteries and alcohol. We watched movies, played games and got a little drunk - how else is one to weather a storm? A storm, which was quite a disappointment by the way. It was windy, there was rain and some branches got ripped off from trees but that was it. It was a bit over-hyped, if you ask me.
However, as of the day after, summer returned with a vengeance and we managed to get an alternative flight back later that week. We spent four lovely, unexpected days in New York City, in a hotel just South of Central Park opposite Carnegie Hall and went sightseeing and shopping to our heart's content. The result: a trainload of books from The Strand, a new laptop for me and lots of branded clothing for almost nothing at Philene's Basement. We went to a Broadway show (The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert), spent half a day in the Metropolitan Museum and walked until our feet bled to be able to see all the sights. The most memorable ones? For me, it must be Ground Zero, the new tower they are building seems to scream defiance and a refusal to give in, and The High Line, abandoned train tracks high up in the air running along the West Side once used to supply the city with food but now reinvented as an urban park with amazing views. Plus, we got to meet up with Erik for breakfast just before we left.
As I said before, I will try to upload some pictures later. It would be nice to be able to show you some of the beautiful spots we got to experience.
As regards our holiday, it was brilliant. We flew into JFK and hired a car to tour upstate New York. Our first stop was Tarrytown, the town neighbouring Sleepy Hollow, made famous by Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow in which Ichabod Crane is confronted with the Headless Horseman which was rumoured to haunt that vale - which, coincidentally, is a book I just had to buy. This is also the town, where I started my American diet of meat, meat, meat and more meat with a charred turkey burger. After visiting the Old Dutch Church, the bridge and the cemetery featured in the story, we drove further North, following the Hudson as it cleft mountains brusquely in two. The river is impressive and the valley is beautiful. It is baffling to see how soon everything becomes green once you leave the hustle and bustle of New York City behind you, and how much peace, natural beauty and solitude one can find at what is basically a stone's throw from Manhattan.
After stopping for coffee in Cold Spring an idyllic little town on the river with a great view of Storm King Mountain, we went to Rhinebeck to meet some of Olaf's friends at the Dutchess County Fair. The Dutchess County Fair was everything it promised to be. Upstate New York is distinctly rural and the diversity of cows, horses, chickens, ducks, pigs, corn, uncountable types of fruit and vegetable and even an elephant were enough to make our cityfolk jaws drop in astonishment. It was fun to hang out there and see what life is like on a farm - and of course I had to taste a delicacy: grilled cheese (apparently very American albeit not very meaty).
After that, we visited the Vanderbilt Mansion in Hyde Park and drove past the FDR Estates in the neighbourhood. To be honest, the Vanderbilt Mansion was quite a disappointment, it wasn't any more than a big villa. Beautiful grounds and a great view over the valley though. We then crossed the river and left it behind us to go West into the Catskills. We spent the night at New Paltz and after a quick look at the local historic Huguenot Houses (built by settlers with very Dutch-sounding names), it was time for food again. On the menu: a mountain of spare ribs!
The next morning, we left New Paltz quite early for a drive through the Catskill Mountains. We took the little roads and enjoyed the views, the emptiness of the land and the late-summer scent of the trees. After spending the morning this way and eventually stopping to hike to the Kaaterskill Falls, we wished we had more time to enjoy the region, a sentiment enhanced by the discovery of a loss of most of our pictures taken after Sleepy Hollow due to an unfortunate computer glitch. We were on a tight schedule, however, and we wanted to see as much of the state as we possibly could. There was another mountain range we wanted to drive through that day: The Adirondacks. We drove to Lake George and had a look at this tourist-centred fraud of a town which, in spite of the pretty lake, made hurry back to the car after lunch. Blue Mountain Lake was much more quiet and idyllic, and also a place noteworthy for having the weirdest ice cream flavours on offer. One does not get to eat 'Panda Paws'-flavoured ice cream every day... We spent that night in Old Forge, where I had the honour of sampling a cheese steak (which is apparently a Philadelphian specialty).
The next morning, we left the Adirondacks and drove West to Seneca Falls, the home of the American Women's Suffrage movement (to be honest, I had to dig very deep to find memories of history lessons about Elizabeth Cady Stanton), which was very informative, although the visitor's centre we visited was not quite up to the standard we had expected. So onwards we went, along one of the largest of the Finger Lakes towards Ithaca and Cornell University, visiting the impressive Taughannock Falls on the way. I do not believe I have ever seen a university more happily situated than Cornell. Perched on a rock overlooking Lake Seneca and rife with wonderful, deep, rocky gorges (giving rise to the popular phrase 'Ithaca is gorges' which can be seen on many of the T-shirts worn by the student population), the campus consists of beautiful neoclassical buildings and a very friendly atmosphere. If one had to go back to uni again...
We spent that night in outskirts of disgustingly filthy and depressing Buffalo, Tonawanda to be exact. Our motel was in the middle of a formerly industrialised area which appeared to border 'the bad side of town', according to one of the locals. Fortunately, the only bar in the neighbourhood happened to serve food too (Buffalo wings for me, nothing but fried mozzarella sticks for Olaf) and double as the local karaoke bar. Olaf went all out on stage, while I chatted up the local ladies and managed to liberate some of their cigarettes from their sway. All in all, not a bad night.
The next day, it was time for Niagara Falls. What can one say about the Falls that has not been said? They are grand, impressive, beautiful, loud, magical, eerie, divine and terribly touristy. We looked at them from the US side (the upstream side) first to get up close and personal with the falling water and then crossed over into Canada to walk the Scenic Driveway for some panorama shots. Impressive as the falls were, the difference between the US and Canada was breathtaking. Leaving busy, dirty and industrial Buffalo to cross over into a country of glowing hills with farmland and vineyards, was a relief. The food was better - not such a fixation on meat, fresh local fruit for sale at every farm - and who knew Canada produced such lovely wines!
It was time for the occasion we had been hurrying towards. After settling down at the cutest little B&B, we dressed up and walked over to the neighbouring Vineland Estates to celebrate the wedding of Nissrine and Alessandro. It was a small wedding, very intimate and quite possibly in the most beautiful location they could have chosen. The vineyard was on a hill overlooking Lake Ontario and the bride and groom could meander through the vines in sunset, providing them with oodles of undoubtedly gorgeous pictures. The ceremony was short, her dress amazing, her hair up with a feather, roaring twenties style, and their kissing superb. We had been afraid we would not know anyone but the bride at the wedding but it turned out two of our (Nissrine's and mine) former colleagues from Milan were there as well. Besides, everybody there was lovely and we had a great time making new friends.
After brunch, we unfortunately had to leave again the next morning, not having had enough time to catch up with Nissrine and to really get to know Alessandro. We did, however, have a long drive back to NYC ahead of us and had to return the car that evening. We still had two days left before we were to fly to back and wanted to spend some time visiting the city - and catching up with Kuba and Agnieszka and their kids. Or so we thought. A wild Southern lady called Irene had other plans and decided to hit New York City the day we were supposed to fly out. We made it back to the city alright, handed in the car (and we glad not to be responsible for it when the storm hit) and made it to Kuba and Agnieszka's lovely apartment in Brooklyn, when we found out our flight had been canceled. The next two days were spent inside, having stocked up on water and food supplies, batteries and alcohol. We watched movies, played games and got a little drunk - how else is one to weather a storm? A storm, which was quite a disappointment by the way. It was windy, there was rain and some branches got ripped off from trees but that was it. It was a bit over-hyped, if you ask me.
However, as of the day after, summer returned with a vengeance and we managed to get an alternative flight back later that week. We spent four lovely, unexpected days in New York City, in a hotel just South of Central Park opposite Carnegie Hall and went sightseeing and shopping to our heart's content. The result: a trainload of books from The Strand, a new laptop for me and lots of branded clothing for almost nothing at Philene's Basement. We went to a Broadway show (The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert), spent half a day in the Metropolitan Museum and walked until our feet bled to be able to see all the sights. The most memorable ones? For me, it must be Ground Zero, the new tower they are building seems to scream defiance and a refusal to give in, and The High Line, abandoned train tracks high up in the air running along the West Side once used to supply the city with food but now reinvented as an urban park with amazing views. Plus, we got to meet up with Erik for breakfast just before we left.
As I said before, I will try to upload some pictures later. It would be nice to be able to show you some of the beautiful spots we got to experience.
2 comments:
So much I could respond to:
"We drove to Lake George and had a look at this tourist-centred fraud of a town" -- how I feel whenever I stop by it (My father and his parents had a summer home quite near there)
"The High Line, abandoned train tracks high up in the air running along the West Side once used to supply the city with food but now reinvented as an urban park with amazing views" -- I want to see it. The last time I was in The City, it wasn't yet open.
It sounds like an amazing trip! And so funny you went to see Priscilla: QOTD, I hope it was as good as the movie :D See you two soon
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