Leaving America - the new world for the old.

Wow that was a fast  twelve weeks - fast, furious and fabulous! Have very mixed feelings about New York. The Upper West Side was elegant, genteel (genteel not gentile -  its called the Jewish Park Avenue), you feel like you are living in the centre of the cultural universe and your IQ has increased a few points. Times Square (our second stop in NYC) on the other hand is a bit like hades on a warm, smelly public holiday. 

Then again to be fair, I guess most big cities are fairly awful at the very core.

We enjoyed a lovely picnic in Central Park whilst watching an amateur softball game followed by a very talented busking jazz trio. Went to the movies several times to escape the heat and noise. Spent a lovely day in Brooklyn - couldn't find the flea market we were looking for so we lolly gagged around and ate cake instead. Lost  whole day and part of a night drinking $5 frozen margaritas on the waterfront and spent a lot of times sweating in the sweltering metro getting from a to b.




All in all loved the US -  really friendly and helpful people; great food (contrary to my pre conceived ideas); people are not any fatter than Aussies or Poms (contrary to my pre conceived ideas); people don't actually speak louder than Aussies or Poms whilst in the US anyway (contrary to my pre conceived ideas); loved the US obsession and love for dogs - especially in NYC - it seems everyone has a toy dog and each one is cuter than the next and they take them everywhere; loved the vast differences between the attitudes and lifestyles from coast to coast and endless types of entertainment on offer. 

Even the metro is hilariously funny after 300 margaritas!

Who needs Eharmony.com ?

They love their doggies!

I guess my favourite place was Lafayette - watching the corn grow with Mary and Stu and their lovely family was such a beautiful, loving and restful experience. Next favourite was Mendocino - sort of Margaret River but a bit cuter and wilder and without the boguns (whilst we were there anyway).

Anyway moving right along - we are now in Seville. The flight from US to Seville was LONG… we were delayed two hours in NYC - but we had long breaks between connections so it wasn't a problem. Actually it was all very smooth to be honest  - but we lost one of our suitcases on arrival and after 28 hours travels that really wears you out. Its not like losing a crappy display banner- its much more personal :-)

However, the missing case was delivered the next evening so all ended well. Back to Seville - oh loving Seville so far. What a beautiful and cute city. Really splendid buildings, cute little cobbled streets. We have a lovely little apartment in Macarena (and no people are not doing stupid dances in the streets) and we can hear the cathedral bells ringing on the hour. 

Encantadora apartamento - mucho encantadora esposo!

We are doing the siesta thing as this is the hottest city in Spain - people come out about 9 or 10pm and stay out until 2 or 3am. Its great to see people with babies and little kids, teenagers, tables of respectable elderly ladies all dining and drinking on the streets at midnight. Last night we had drinks in Alameda de Hercules just up the road from our apartment and there was a big screen showing a movie to the public - typical Spanish movie - some half naked man pole dancing!!! I love Spanish films - I never have the faintest idea what the hell is going on - even when they are dubbed into English but they are always full of weird sex of some sort!

I have enrolled in one week of an intensive Spanish Language course for beginners next week. The classes run from 0915 to 1300 - will be fun to be a student in Seville! 

Washington, Boston and a dash of NYC

Washington what a beautiful town - but who knew it was built on a swamp? Beautiful, awe inspiring, magnificent buildings, millions of tourists - although mainly Americans on holiday which is good to see; great food - with a wild selection of restaurants from Abysinnian to Yoruba and everything in between; pretty confusing underground train system - you often have to walk about a mile between platforms; and lots of mosquitos. 

The White House was rather underwhelming - mainly because tourists can only see it from the road and not the side with the balcony that is always shown on television. 

On the other hand the Lincoln Memorial really is awe inspiring - even with the reflecting pool currently under renovation. 

Not a lot of reflection going on here!

Great museums and mainly all free - my favourite was the Museum of Modern History - who couldn't like a museum with a replica of Julia Childs kitchen? Richies favourite was the Newseum - not free but fantastic all the same. The 9/11 area in the Newseum was quite disturbing - and then to come to NYC and see the ground zero really pulls you up short!

Onto NYC - this could be a new love affair (or maybe a one night stand) -  love the energy, love Central Park, love the free Statten Island ferry, love Little Italy and the guy with his ear sliced off (shush!); love upper West Side (the Jewish Park Avenue - where we are staying), love that pedestrians own the road - no one obeys the stop signals - "I'm walkin' here!!!!!" ……. however like a one night stand it could be a short love affair - don't love the rudeness of New Yorkers - like the girl who jammed me up in the metro turn stile because I was too slow…. … still we have two weeks for this relationship to develop so will see if its a keeper or not.

Not quite Sex in the City........

Little Italy NYC

Oh forgot to mention Boston - not too much to say really - nice city, lots of history, GREAT accents….. we stayed with friends in Somerville and mainly ate and drank…….

cutest diner in Boston with the worlds oldest waitress

We did have a bit of culture in the way of the Kennedy Library - very impressive and classy museum.