New York City. Part One - 4th September to 8th September 2016

The day had arrived. It was finally time to fly to my favorite city in the world. New York City. This would be my fifth time in the city (Adrian’s first), and I was still as excited as I was the very first time.

We awoke bright and early for a 6am flight from Chicago O’Hare to JFK, arriving just a little early for check-in. However, we were staying in Harlem, so by the time we got through the airport and out to Harlem on the subway, we were only about 4 hours early. Thankfully, our landlady was on hand and allowed us to leave our luggage at the accommodation. She also recommended a great little Harlem bakery called Double Dutch Espresso, where we could actually get a real and decent coffee (not the easiest to come by in North America), and some awesome pastries. As it was a Sunday there were also many local New Yorkers enjoy a morning brew and it made for some excellent people watching.
         
    


Once we had finished our multiple coffees, we decided to wander around the neighbourhood and get our bearings. Now, a lot lf people may be thinking, hmm, Harlem is not the best place to stay. We definitely would disagree. We loved it. It was close to Central Park and it was only two to three stops on the subway to get to places such as Times Square and the main tourist attractions. Of course there were the quirky, bizarre and just plain weird people, but we have found that in all the cities we’ve visited and in reality, the people of Harlem couldn’t have been nicer.

It was then time to check in. The Airbnb was awesome. Private, with good showers, a view overlooking the streets of Harlem and a functional kitchen. For the price and location, we couldn’t have asked for more.

After a good nights sleep, we made our way back to Central Park. As it was Labor Day weekend, we figured everywhere would be busy and that Central Park would be our best bet. It was. Although it too was bustling, everyone was pretty chilled as it was a public holiday. So it was a nice relaxing day, meandering around one of the worlds most famous parks. We saw the baseball diamonds, the horse and carriages, the duck ponds, and the Alice in Wonderland statue.

 We also stopped and had rest on the big rocks at the south end of the park which have been made famous by many movies. After taking a well earned rest (it’s a massive park), we visited Strawberry Fields. Strawberry Fields is a memorial to John Lennon, constructed right across the road from where he was assassinated by Mark David Chapman in 1980. There was even a guy there singing all of Lennon’s hits (felt a bit odd, him making a buck from busking there, but to each their own).

Once we had savoured all that Central Park had to offer, we wandered over to Times Square for a look around and to see where we would be seeing our Broadway show the following evening. We then went back to the apartment and rested our weary legs. Once recouped, we got spruced up and made our way to Morningside Heights for dinner. We weren’t sure what to expect, as we just Googled pubs near us for dinner. Thankfully, when we got there we discovered a true little local pub, with cheap delicious food and cheap beer (even a free round on the house)! Once again, it was a great place to people watch.

The following day we arose bright and early-ish as we had a big day planned. First stop was the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The largest art museum in the USA. Now, I know some of you are thinking,  snore! A gigantic art museum. Well, it is more than just an art museum.

Not only does it house some incredible works by Pollock, Van Gough, Monet, Manet, Warhol, Rembrandt, Gauguin and the likes, the MET also showcases incredible artifacts from around the globe including, Egypt, the Pacific Islands, Ancient Rome and so on. It’s a fun and interesting place and one I have now had the privilege to visit twice.

Once we were finished exploring the MET, we raced back to the apartment to make ourselves presentable, as we were off to see the musical ‘School of Rock’.  Both of us had seen the Jack Black movie and figured if it was produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber, it would probably be pretty good. It was more than pretty good. It was amazing. Especially the little kids who all sang and played their own instruments. Of course bits had to be added to make it long enough for a two part musical, but it only enhanced the story. We both loved it and for Adrian’s first Broadway show, it was a huge success.

Day four in NYC was a sleep in day. We had been on the go for a while, so a rest was in order. Also washing needed to be done. However, we did have the nighttime to look forward to. We were off to a taping of ‘The Daily Show with Trevor Noah’.

   

We arrived pretty early to the studio just near Hell’s Kitchen and were surprised to see an already long line. So we took our spot and waited. And waited and waited, and waited. We soon discovered that most of the time spent at these tapings involves waiting around, with a little bit of filming thrown in. There was however, an excellent warm up comedian who asked people where they were from and used it as his material for his show. I put my hand up and said we were from Australia. He joked about how awesome and laid back Aussies are and then asked who I was there with. I pointed to Adrian and the comedian asked him where he worked. Adrian told him he worked in a supermarket, to which the comedian replied with a scoff and a laugh. He proceeded to comment on how was it that Australia’s Tom Brady worked in a supermarket and that all the ladies must hit on him. I just nodded and laughed.
Finally it was time for the main show.

Trevor came across as a really down-to-earth guy, interacting with the audience and having a laugh. His guest who neither Adrian or I knew, was entertaining, as was the skit done by Hasan Minhaj about the new IPhone. Over all it was a very funny show (especially due to the amount of content Trump provides) and a fun experience.

The fifth day came and again we had a little sleep in. We then enjoyed our new favourite coffee and pastry spot for a few hours, Double Dutch Espresso. Later we decided to go for walk to find the restaurant made famous by the T.V show, Seinfeld. Still after all these years, people were outside of ‘Tom’s Restaurant’, getting their picture taken with a piece of T.V history. It was pretty cool.

   

   

Later that afternoon we had our second talk show taping. ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’. Once again there was a massive line, but once again we had priority tickets, meaning we got to sit pretty close to the stage. Again the guests weren’t hugely famous (there was Tituss Burgess, Jeff Ross and Adam Richman from Man v Food), but all were entertaining. Colbert however, was excellent. He too was very friendly with the audience, interacting with them and joking around. It was really cool to see. He also started the show on a hover board, as only a techy like Colbert would.

After the show, we made our way through the nighttime hustle and bustle of Times Square. The place, as expected for Times Square, was packed. It had seemed busy on our first daytime visit, but here in the evening it had really come to life with all sorts of characters out and about looking to make a quick buck! Aside from the usual kind of dressed up characters (Elmo, Batman, Transformers etc) we also had the pleasure of seeing a grown middle aged man dressed up as a baby, promo girls wearing nothing but body paint and G-strings and the Times Square Cowboy, playing his guitar wearing only a hat, boots, white briefs, and a strategically placed guitar! Dishonorable mention to the lady in her 60s (at least) who was doing a Naked Cowboy imitation act, with her saggy boobs and butt on display for all.

We chose Bubba Gump Shrimp Company for dinner (a restaurant based on the movie ‘Forest Gump’). It was pretty delicious, expensive and of course, the shrimp was excellent!  We then made our way to Rockefeller Centre. Rockefeller is the NBC studio where 30 Rock was filmed and also the location for one of the best views of NYC, day or night. And it did not disappoint! The lights of the city were spectacular, especially the beams emitted from the lights in Times Square. It was quite a sight. After taking in the nighttime views, we made our way down, grabbed a Ben and Jerry’s and headed back to the apartment for the evening.

So far it had been a fun five days in NYC.

Holly.

Toronto and Chicago - August 28 - September 3, 2016

We arrived back in Toronto late on Monday the 29th of August after two big transit days covering the 1015km back from Tadoussac. On our arrival we were pleasantly surprised to receive an upgrade from our Hostel due to the previous mix up that had occurred on our last stay. This meant a life of relative luxury with a king bed and ensuite! We got an early night, as we had big plans for our last day in Canada – a day trip to the famous and spectacular Niagara Falls!

We had chosen to go with a tour company for the trip which threw in the bonus of a stop at one of the wineries in the Niagara Peninsula. This area was famous for its ‘ice wine’, different from regular wines, in that the grapes are harvested and squeezed frozen from the vineyard. We had assumed that we would be stopping at the winery on our return from the falls but no, it turned out to be stop number 1! So at 10am in the morning we were given the opportunity of having some sampled wine to wash down our breakfast.

After trying the regular reds and whites of the vineyard we moved on to the opportunity to sample some of this ice wine. Even the samples required a payment and the reason for this is that when frozen, each grape will only yield one drop of wine, meaning that the product was just too valuable to just give away! We both tried a sample and I have to say that the product was delicious, but a little too pricey to become a staple! The taste was very crisp and sweet without really even having the traditional wine aftertaste.

We moved on from the winery and passed on to the next stop on the tour , Niagara-on-the-lake, a small village. Unfortunately due to strict town laws, the tour bus was unable to stop (the multiple buses were blamed for ‘cluttering’ the scenic town), so instead we slowly passed down the main street. It was a beautiful and quaint looking town. One landmark that was pointed out to us was the Prince of Wales Hotel. It was a little expensive for our tastes at an average cost of over $300 per night but it had a rich guest history including Queen Elizabeth II in 1973.

Next stop was ‘the whirlpool’, a bend in the Niagara river that the water flows to directly after cascading over the falls. Here the rapids of the river chop and surge creating a strong whirlpool effect. According to our guide anything or anyone who washes downstream from the falls will end up right here. However, due to the rips and currents, whatever winds up here, will spend three days on the river bottom before making it to the shore!

After observing the whirlpool and the overhead cable car for a few minutes it was time for the main event – the falls themselves! We were allocated three and a half hours of free time and had numerous activities we could choose from while in the area. We had been warned about the over the top tourist overload at the falls but still, it was a shock to see numerous casinos as well as all sorts of cheesy tourist traps everywhere we looked. As our guide said – everyone is out to make a dollar!

The river and falls are the official border between the USA and Canada, with the Rainbow bridge being the official border crossing. On the US side of the river sat Bridal Falls, a straight waterfall that fell over several scenic boulders on it way to the river. Further round was the Niagara Falls themselves in a horseshoe shape, so powerful that the spray from the falls rose tens of metres into the air creating a hazy effect. Interestingly our tour guide had told us that the original location of the falls was nearly 5 kilometres further down the river where the whirlpool sits today – over time the power of the water has caused severe erosion meaning that the falls are ever moving and changing.

We moved on to our first activity, the Niagara Skylon Tower. This reminded me of a smaller version of the CN tower in Toronto and was a relatively recent addition to the area, only completed in 1964. It stands at 775 feet or 236 metres tall, which meant that it was the perfect location to give us our first glimpse of the falls themselves. We were also very lucky in the fact that we had a beautiful, sunny and clear day which meant the view was spectacular! Also from the tower we had a great birds eye view of the entire area and could watch the Hornblower and Maid of the Mist as they cruised into the spray of the falls. After soaking in the majestic views and snapping some photos it was time to make the short walk down to the riverside in order to board the Hornblower ourselves.

After a short wait we were issued our red raincoats and set off on the quick 20 minute journey into the splashzone. From up close the power of the falls was amazing and the spray was strong enough to make you feel like you were standing out in the rain! After a few minutes hovering at the base of the falls it was time to turn the boat around and make our way back to the shore soaked, but also well and truly satisfied with the experience.

After disembarking the boat we decided for the remainder of our free time we would meander along the walkway on the Canadian side. As we moved towards the head of the falls we watched the zipliners soar through the air overhead as they enjoyed an amazing view. The observation point at the top of the falls allowed you to get within a couple of metres  of the falls themselves and have a great view of the crystal clear waters before they made their descent. Then, it was soon time to make our way back to the pickup zone where we boarded our bus and made our way back along the highway to Toronto. We had a fairly low key final night in Canada and got up nice and early the next morning looking ahead to the next stage of our journey – 10 weeks through the USA!

The next morning we walked down to the lakeside area of Toronto as we made our way to the airport for our flight. Being fairly budget conscious we had gone with Porter Airlines, a local Canadian based company that we thought would be  the equivalent of a budget Australian airline, maybe Virgin or Jetstar. The airport Porter was based out of was located on Toronto Island a small island just off the mainland in Lake Ontario. This meant that as we walked to the Porter Lounge (a lounge for everyone!), we had a fantastic view over the Toronto skyline, with the CN tower right in the middle. Next surprising benefit was the fact that we had free snacks, coffee and beverages while we waited for our plane! Porter, we cant wait to fly with you again!

The flight between Toronto and Chicago took about 90 minutes and mostly gave us views of flat farmland once we had crossed over the lake. We got in to Chicago in the mid afternoon. Once we had cleared customs (much easier than I had expected for mainland USA) we made our way to the Chicago Getaway Hostel (about 20 minutes north of the city by public transport).

We found the hostel to be highly organised and of an excellent quality. This was a pleasant relief as during our research, we had found a lot of negativity around USA hostels in general (as well as sky high pricing!). An added benefit was the free, high quality breakfast served up each morning in the common room.
For Chicago we had decided again to go with the Citipass. This gave us cheaper access and the ability to bypass the lines to a handful of Chicago’s most popular attractions. However, as we only had three full days to explore the city, it meant we had a few jam-packed days ahead of us!

For our first full day we decided we’d have to a split it between the Field Museum of Natural History and Chicago Aquarium. After catching the excellent public transport South of the city we arrived at the Natural History Museum to be greeted in the foyer by Sue, the most complete tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever discovered in North America. We had budgeted for 4 hours within this museum and it was soon apparent that this was going to be nowhere near enough time. We picked the key exhibits we wanted to see and cut anything that we felt would be a double up to what we had seen already. However, this still left us pushed for time!

First up was the excellent 3D movie Exploring the Arctic, an amazing Natural Geographic production that showcased the diverse fauna of the area as well as the struggle for conservation amid the threat of global warming.  After this we took a stroll through history as we spent a good couple of hours exploring the museums Evolving Planet exhibit in depth. This was an amazing walk starting 4 billion years ago in the Precambrian era and following the Earths history through to the modern day. Of course this tour included another passage through the era of the dinosaurs with a huge hall filled with amazing species. Almost as impressive was the huge volume of prehistoric mammals and megafauna skeletons in the Pleistocene room.

After using up much of our time already we quickly viewed the hall of birds, the mammal display and the history of oceanic culture exhibit. A certain highlight was the taxidermied remains of the Tsavo Lions. Infamous for the deaths of many construction workers on the Kenya-Uganda Railway throughout the year of 1898 and made famous in the Val Kilmer/Michael Douglas movie ‘The Ghost and the Darkness’.

We hurried to the museums special exhibit, the hall of Terracotta Warriors. This was an on loan exhibit from China, along with many amazing artefacts from  the mausoleum of Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang, responsible for the construction if the Great Wall (amongst many other things.) His achievements in life were so great that when he died he was buried with an entire kingdoms worth of terracotta statues in order to protect him in the afterlife. These statues numbered more than 9000 including soldiers, chariots, horses, acrobats, musicians, and assorted animals. Amazingly this gigantic tomb was only discovered in 1974 by a farmer digging in his lands. The museum only had half a dozen of the actual ‘warriors’, but the detail was amazing and I could only imagine what it would be like to see thousands of them all lined up in the original pits.

This brought our time in the Field Museum to an end and we made our way across to our second stop of the day, the Chicago Shedd Aquarium. On the way we had a quick lunch stop at a hot dog cart to enjoy a genuine Chicago style hot dog (beef, tomato, mustard and a pickle spear). The aquarium was located on a small spur of land jutting out on to lake Michigan with a great view back over the city skyline. There were many excellent exhibits inside including a huge amazon display and many local North American Species.

The highlight of the aquarium was certainly the family of Beluga Whales who were super friendly and all came over to the edge of their pool to say hello. We were lucky enough to observe the whales interacting with their trainers at the end of the day and watched as they showed off some of their skills and behaviours. All of a sudden it was closing time and the end of our jam-packed day! We did still have time to drop by the Buckingham Fountain for some sunset photos (this is the fountain made famous by the beginning credits of the TV show ‘Married with Children’).

The next morning we woke early in order to beat the crowds. Our first stop was one of the two tower observation decks open within the city, the John Hancock Centre 360° observation deck. It was a beautiful day and our plan paid off, we were straight to the  94th floor with no waiting. The view was spectacular right up and down the shore of the lake as well as over the buildings of downtown Chicago. Almost as entertaining was watching the visitors who tried the ‘tilt’ view. This is where you essentially stand in a piece of the building, hold on to hand rails on the wall and the whole room is rotated so you are staring down at nothing but glass and a drop of over 305m to the ground below. One woman walked out of the room and stated that she had done enough already for the day and was going back to her hotel room. It was 9am in the morning!

       

Following on from the tower we had a walk along the waterfront and stopped in at a few famous Chicago landmarks including Navy Pier, Lakeshore Beach and a few blocks in, the Chicago Theatre. By the time we made it to Millennium Park and the Cloud Gate sculpture (aka the Chicago Bean) the crowds were out in full force!

 The sculpture is reflective and due to its curved edges offers some warped and distorted views of the surrounding areas and skyline. I had dreams of getting some great inventive travel photos here, but sadly every photo taken included roughly 1000 other tourists trying for the same thing!      

      
 

A few hundred metres away further down the park was another interesting and inventive work of art, the Crown Fountain. This fountain consisted of two giant block towers set facing each other around 30 metres apart. Each inner side of the block was covered with a video screen that showed a giant face, with each face staying on screen for a few minutes as they frowned, smiled and made general human expressions. At some point in each faces rotation they would pucker their lips at which point (to the waiting children’s delight) a stream of water would shoot out. Very cool and original indeed! The fact that the images of the faces come from 1000 Chicago local residents made the fountain a real highlight of the park (and the city as a whole).

We spent the afternoon walking the downtown city streets checking out some of the interesting murals and sculptures set around the area. Two standouts were the ‘Moose Bubblegum Bubble’, the winner of a student contest, and the Flamingo, bright red and towering 30 metres in to the air.

For our final day in Chicago we started out by visiting the Art Institute. This was a gallery located near Millennium Park and was gigantic in size. I cant imagine anyone ever managing to see every piece in a single day but we were happy to spend a couple of hours browsing through a few of the galleries, particularly the modern and contemporary wings which always tend to offer up some interesting pieces.

After another quick Chicago dog for lunch, we headed to our final major tourist stop of the visit, the second view from the sky at the Willis Tower. This view was set back a little further from the lake than the John Hancock, and more towards the inner edge of downtown so it gave a more complete city view. The Willis tower also gave you a slightly higher view, from the 103rd floor, as you might expect from the second tallest building in America! (We were also very thankful for our Citipass at this point as we managed to cut a 3 plus hour wait to a mere 30 minutes by being eligible for the express line!)

We spent one final night in our hostel and set our alarms for 3am, ready for our early morning flight to our next city, New York!

Adrian.