Boston

Boston is like a little bit of England that has been taken over by Americans. It's a beautiful city in a pleasant English way rather than an over the top American way. It's full of history and distinction, housing 28 Colleges (Universities) in the metropolitan area alone including Harvard, MIT and Berkley. From its colonial origins to its role in the American War of Independence there's plenty to see in Boston. Its fine art museum houses many European masterpieces (even I recognised some of them - that's how famous they are!). So were it not for all the Americans you might forget which side of the Atlantic your were on.

Many of you may have had to re-read that last paragraph in disbelief, but yes, I really did go into the Boston Fine Art Museum. I met a Scottish minister (the religious type, not political) at the hostel and (since it was free in the evenings) I decided to join him. I was amazed at how many pieces looked vaguely familiar and how many famous artists names I recognised.I had two days in Boston and I elected to spend the first on the 'hop-on hop-off' sightseeing bus. I did one complete circuit which gave me an excellent overview of Boston and then started to get on and off to spend more time at the places of most interest.

I first stopped outside the Boston City Library which is a beautiful building with a highly relaxing fountain in the middle next to which I ate lunch. After lunch I went across the square to Trinity Church which is another lovely old building and a bit of a change from the vast and ancient cathedrals of Europe. However, upon receiving demands to pay vast sums to actually look inside I politely declined.Before leaving the area I took the photo recommended by the bus driver of "the old Boston reflected in the new". At this rate I'll be a real artist soon......Next I took a more historical bent to my wanderings and visited the Old State House Museum. This old building was the centre of the town during the build up to the American War of Independence. It was the site of the Boston Massacre (the circular cobbled area in the photo marks the spot) which was a major event used as propaganda for hatred of the British as well as being the place from which the Declaration of Independence was first read to the public in Boston.

The building has been converted into a Museum which summarises Boston's history and I highly recommend it as a first stop to any visitor interested in history.I swung by Paul Revere's house as well but it was overcrowded and didn't look particularly interesting so I didn't bother to enter and instead proceeded to where the USS Constitution is housed!The USS Constitution, as the Americans love to remind you, is the oldest commissioned ship afloat. So, yet again, the Americans win on a mere technicality as HMS Victory is in dry dock. Typical Americans! Whatever it technically is, physically it is a frigate nicknamed Old Ironsides due to it's seemingly impregnable hull. The museum and tour, however, are excellent so I'm prepared to forgive the Americans this time.

That concluded my first day as I spent a good deal of time wandering throughout this lovely city as well as on the bus tour which included many, many references to how this building was the biggest such and such or contained the oldest wossname. The oneupmanship was incredible! I thought that they were really clutching at straws when proudly announcing that that they had the widest cable stay bridge in the world. That might be impressive to a layman's ears but to an engineer it's like claiming to have the worlds widest skyscraper - it's the length that's the key factor.The next day I spent all day at the wonderful New England Aquarium. Whilst I can imagine that there are better aquariums in the world (good old Kelly Tarlton's, for example, superior in many ways) I thoroughly enjoyed myself looking at all the fishies, seals and jellyfish!Boston was a very interesting, enjoyable and relaxing end to my visit to the USA. It had been an amazing experience to see the splendour of Washington, the pace and scale of New York and the elegance of Boston. The museums and monuments of Washington, Manhattan Island New York and historical Boston I would recommend to any world traveller - but only to visit. I could never live in any other these places. Washington seems artificial and soulless, the pace of New York would kill me and although Boston seems lovely there's just so much about American culture that, to put it mildly, frustrates me. I apologise if this offends anyone, it's just my opinion.

I'll be back though, I'm yet to see the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone National Park or The Rockies. Maybe outdoor America will be more to my liking =)

New York

New York, New York. It's easy to see why so much is made of this city in media all over the world. This city is just amazing and in a very different way to Washington. Where Washington is sedate and majestic New York is vibrant and colourful. In D.C. a sense of planned grandeur is present whereas in NY you get a melting pot of ideas where the 'can do' attitude and competitive one-up-manship has created a mish mash of ever greater and more impressive buildings. New York, The Big Apple, The City That Never Sleeps is a city that is truly alive and really is, at least financially speaking, the capitol of the world!My arrival in New York was less than impressive. Locating my hostel in a poor and dodgy looking area of Brooklyn was perhaps not the most inspiring way to arrive in New York but everything just got better from there on. The hostel I stayed at, Loftstel, was one of the best I've ever been at. Free internet, friendly staff, very sociable and very reasonably priced!

Upon arrival in New York I had secured an unlimited travel pass on the subway (tube, metro, underground railway, whatever you want to call it) for 7 days for just $24. New York's subway is in many ways the best in the world; fast, cheap, extensive, runs 24 hours a day and nowhere near as congested as London's. However, it's also the ugliest, dirtiest and smelliest public transport I've ever used!At one point I visited the New York Transit Museum located in a disused subway station. From an engineering point of view it was fantastic as the bloke running the free tour was a real character describing how the subway and bus systems have evolved over the years. As a point of personal interest I would have liked to hear more about the many very impressive bridges from Manhattan Island to surrounding areas but instead I satisfied my bridge enthusiasms by walking across the famous Brooklyn Bridge. In its day it was a groundbreaking piece of engineering as the world's longest suspension bridge as well as the deepest underwater cassion foundations. I wont describe the details here but rest assured my inner geotech engineering geek was well satisfied! =)On my first full day in New York I started with the clichéd stuff and grabbed a ferry to go and see The Statue of Liberty. Whilst very symbolic and impressive I have to say that there's actually not much to do. You go out on a ferry, the drop you off on the island, they don't let you go up to the top unless you've booked something like three generations in advance, and then you go back. I got some pretty pictures though.However, what was interesting was visiting nearby Ellis Island As well as lots of displays showing you what the immigration process was like they also show you the ethnic diversity of America today and you can trace your Heritage (excuse the pun) if any of your ancestors came through Ellis Island back in the day. Unfortunately I was unable to locate any Heritages as the queues to do so were more than my curiosity could justify.. This is where all those millions of immigrants seeking a new life in America were processed and it's a very engaging museum. By this point I was realising that, whilst they get a lot wrong, Americans do, do Museums well!
The iconic image of New York today is skyscrapers - lots of skyscrapers. Really this is only Manhatten Island but boy is it impressive! The most famous of New York's looming towers are the Rockefeller Centre, the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building and formerly the Twin Towers. Only the Rockafeller Centre and the Empire State Building offer viewing platforms at the top, according to the guide book, and I decided to go too the 'Top of the Rock' and splash out on a visit to the viewing deck. This was recommended as it was cheaper, less crowded and allowed you to actually see the Empire State Building rather than just stand on it. The view was amazing! Looking north you can see Central Park and Uptown Manhatten whilst looking south you can see the Empire State Building with Downtown Manhatten (the financial centre) in the background and the Statue of Liberty in the distance. To the east is Brooklyn and Queens whilst across to the West is New Jersey. King Kong may have climbed the Empire State Building, but it was the construciton of the Rockefeller Centre that helped America climb out of the Great Depression that was triggered by the stockmarket crash of 1929. It is for this reason that New Yorker's are so proud of the place. It's not the prettiest of skyscrapers by any stretch of the imagination but it's very symbolic, I think, of the positive side of the American attitude.
I also visited Times Square which is very sparkly but perhaps not as much as it seems from the movies. It hosts a large number of 'flagship' stores from some of the larger multinational corporations such as M&Ms World and, nearby, an Apple flagship store.The museum of the American Indian was fantastic but disappointingly small with some wonderfully preserved artifacts. Continuing on the cultural theme there was an Italian Feast Festival which meant a few blocks were closed off for pedestrians and the street market was fantastic and delicious! There was also a Mexican parade for reasons I never managed to discover but it was full of noise and energy as it moved through the streets of New York.I also spent a while relaxing in Central Park which includes a nice zoo, John Lennon's memorial (he was shot across the road from Central Park), lots of squirrels and many lovely spots to just chill out.
A couple of nights out with some of the other guests at Lofstel rounded off an memorable trip to New York. It's a city unlike any other I've ever visited and if you love traveling you'll love a visit to New York. So I'm very glad I've been and had a fantastic time but I have to say that the cliche rings true, "Been there, done that".

Washington D.C.

Washington D.C. is typical of the patrotic United States of America that is portrayed in Hollywood movies. The 'bigger is better' atitude, the wide open boulevards packed with gas guzzling cars, the 'throw away' society, the extravagance, the shear size of everything and the near worshipful reverance of fallen patriot Americans. Frightening at times? Certainly. But, boy, is it impressive!

I had four full days in Washington D.C. Whilst I was staying with my distant Canadian cousins, the Theilmanns. They were superb hosts and I can't thank them enough for their exceptional hospitality. This is a photo of (from left to right) Mike, Maren, Kate and me (elder daughter Lily was away at university).

I arrived late Saturday night and on Sunday I was allowed to indulge in my personal interests and so was taken to see the very impressive, nearly 7km long, Chesapeake Bay Bridge! =D

As we were out that way already we also visited a beautiful nature reserve on the shores of the Potomac (CHECK) River and wandered through the rather nice, historic, town of Annapolis.

The next day I slept in and so only arrived at Arlington Cemetery at about midday. This is a national cemetery where thousands of American 'heroes' are buried.

Mostly this means those killed at war but I also saw the eternal flame at John F. Kennedy's grave and the memorials to those who died in the tragic ends to the space shuttles Challenger (YEAR) and Columbia (YEAR). Also here is the well known Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

I must confess that I didn't actually like Arlington Cemetery. Whilst no grave site is a happy place it seemed to me that the whole place is less about 'lest we forget' and more about glorifying those buried there. To me that's glorifying war and that just makes it even sadder.

Putting that all behind me I then went to see the Pentagon, just cause. No photos allowed and surprisingly enough I wasn't allowed in either. I decided discretion was the better part of valour and so didn't ask anyone which bit the plane hit =P

Next up was the Smithsonian Museums. If you're not already aware, the Smithsonian museums are probably the largest collection of stuff in the world! Spread over about a dozen or so buildings, most of which are individually bigger than the Auckland Museum, they cover everything housing masterpieces of art to complete dinosaur skeletons to the re-entry pod of Apollo 11! If you like Museums and have not visited the Smithsonians then you've not lived. Oh, and did I mention that they're all free? I indulged my inner child by visiting the Natural History Museum and checking out the dinosaurs =)

To put things briefly out of chronological order, the last thing I did was visit the Smithsonian National Aerospace Museum. It was soooooo awesome!!! I only got halfway through the museum when all of a sudden it was closing time and I'd been there for five hours. Not to mention the fact that there's a second part of the museum out by the airport where the have a whole bunch of stuff in a big hanger. Fantastic!

Whilst the Museums are fantastic, Washington is, of course, most famous for being the Capital of the USA. The government buildings, memorials and monuments are incredible. With a mild obsession with neo-classical architecture the Americans have constructed some magnificent, albeit unorigional, buildings. Photos are always the best descriptions in this case and here's a summary of some of my favourites:

Capitol Hill (where the Senate sits etc.) also shown in the first photo of this blog entry.

The reflecting pool (as seen in Forrest Gump!) with the Lincoln Memorial at the back and the WWII memorial at the front.

If you don't recognise this one you've obviously been living in a cave for the last 100 years. (Which begs the question how come you have access to this blog if you've been living in a cave?)

The Washington Monument.

Washington is a really interesting place to visit and I had a great time there. I'm glad I've been but I don't think it's a must 'revisit' kinda place. Well, perhaps to go and see more of the Aerospace Museum! =)