New Years Eve, morning...

Just taking a moment before we head out for the day to catch up.  We're going in to the British Museum for a while this morning and then coming back to pack up and head out to Oxford for NYE.  London seems very much as I left it.  Perhaps a little darker, greyer and wetter, given the season.  It's still not one of my favourite places.  I can't single out a particular thing I don't like about it, it's just a place I find it difficult to warm to, and have a sense that wouldn't change much over time.

We had a wander around yesterday afternoon and into the early evening.  Just long enough to see some "yes I'm definitely in London" sights.  Anyway... the washing machine is demanding to be emptied, so I'd better get going.

In the UK again

Despite the 4 hour delay, the trip wasn't too bad at all.  British Airways were very good to us and everything went according to the new schedule.  Picked up a copy of Dead Like Me season 1 at the airport to keep me amused, so the time passed quite quickly.  Especially after spending the $21 BA gave us for dinner at a surprisingly nice restaurant.

So, made it to Owen's friend's place in London, slept in until just after 11am, and here I am.

We're heading in to the city shortly to go to the Natural History Museum and other Londony things before heading back to his place at Oxford tomorrow for NYE.  From there I head up to Edinburgh by train on the 3rd.  I'm there for a week before I head back to Oxford to crash overnight on my way to the airport.

Looks like I've been lucky

50cm of snow dropped in NYC overnight, airports closed "Storm Cripples US Northeast".  Just as well I decided to bet on the UK being clear.  My alternative plan was to make my way back to the US west coast, almost certainly via one of the various closed airports.

The local news here has been a bit vague about what's going on in Canadian airports.  They've been talking about people being stranded in Toronto, but it's starting to sound like that's because they were all headed for places like New York, and everything has just compounded from there.  According to British Airways and the local weather report, Montreal is all clear for the next few days at least.

What will be happening in two weeks when I'm on my way back via New York is anyone's guess.  If the last few days have taught me anything, it's that there's little point making changes on the basis of what might happen or what might be a better idea.  It feels a bit like jumping around supermarket checkout queues trying to get through quicker.  You can never tell for sure what's going to happen until you get there.

I did a last bit of wandering around and shopping today.  The temperature was down around -12 to -14 with a wind chill dropping things a few more degrees, possibly as low as -20 according to the weather report.  Wind chill takes on a whole new meaning in this kind of climate.  Think instant ice cream headache when a gust of wind suddenly hits.  Still, I haven't had any trouble coping with it.  Given the choice between this kind of climate and somewhere hot and humid, I'd still take this every time !  The snow blocking paths and doorways and all the dressing and undressing might get a bit tiresome after a full winter though.

My finger is getting a bit sore after typing, so I'll head off now.  Need to think about packing my bag for tomorrow anyway.  My flight isn't until 7:45pm, but will need to check out of the hotel my midday and help Garry get himself over to the apartment he'll be living in for he next few months.

Getting Tired

Don't know if it's the cold, the travel, the nice warm room or what, but I'm feeling pretty dozy again this afternoon.  Mind you, it has been nice to be in the one place for more than a couple of days and just take the chance to do very little, sleep a bit, without feeling too guilty.

We went out to the Olympic site today, went up the tower for a look around.  Nothing too remarkable but certainly interesting to get a better sense of the scale of the city.

Unfortunately my camera battery chose this morning to go from well charged to completely flat, so the pics below were taken with my phone.  Still, not a bad effort.

We headed back in to the city after a bit of a wander around, had some lunch, and then I left Garry to the boxing day sales in search of warmer clothes.  I came back to the hotel for a bit of a nap and to finish booking things for the next part of the trip.

I have a hotel and transport too and from Edinburgh booked now.  I'll be meeting Owen in London on the 29th.  We've cancelled the road trip to the Lake District as that seemed a little risky in the current weather.  Instead we'll spend a couple of days with friends of his in London before heading back to Oxford for NYE.  From there I head up to Edinburgh on the 3rd.  No real plan at this stage other than to wander around and look at the city.  Then it's back to Owen's place at Oxford on the 10th so I have a slightly easier means of getting back to Heathrow on the 12th.  Then it's overnight at a hotel near JFK (New York) and home.  All things going to plan I'll be back in time for brunch at XXII on the 15th.

Travel plans

After much consideration and a bit of advice from various weather sites and people on the ground, I've decided to forge on with the UK part of the trip.  At this stage the backlogs are beginning to clear, the trains are running and the weather is on the improve.  Insanely enough they are predicting up to 10 degrees or so by the time I'm due to arrive.

Very pretty day in Montreal

My hand is a bit sore tonight, so not a lot of typing.

We had a nice clear day today so Garry and I went for a walk to Mont Royal - a huge park on a hill in the northern edge of the downtown area.  I didn't get a chance to visit when I was here before and thought it would be a good place to get a look at the city.

What a beautiful place.  Covered in snow of course, but just a great place for a walk.

Decisions, decisions

British Airways have ramped up their cancellation/rebooking request from "people who don't want to travel" to "those without an essential need to travel".  I could probably still go, but am starting to think it's probably wiser to cancel the cross Atlantic portion of the trip and perhaps head back over to the West coast to revisit some of those places I had wished I had more time.

What do all of you think ?

Montreal

We arrived in Montreal by train last night.  Very long trip on a very full train.  It seems Amtrak are even less organised than Countrylink, but we managed to get here all the same.  The hotel is quite cool and we're all set up here for the week over Christmas - we have a little kitchen in our room that we have begun to stock up, not knowing just what will or won't be open over the next few days.

Right on queue (that is, right after the woman in the shop selling Garry a new phone said it was unlikely to snow now until after the new year) it started snowing.  Interestingly enough neither of us is finding it as cold here as it was in New York, and I didn't find it remarkably cold there either.  Once the snow started it seemed to be even warmer, although that's when the footpaths became particularly slippery.

I'd have to say, Montreal is feeling a lot more Christmasy than anywhere else I've been.  It's probably the combination of lots of decoration, carols coming from every speaker in every shopping centre, and the snow.

This last one is just for Mum - I am wearing both the scarf and the hat now... even in this awful photo...

Forgive my absence

Things have been quite tiring and busy the last few days.  I've been pretty much occupied or exhausted since leaving Seattle last week.  Got myself to New York, got a lift to the apartment with the owner which was rather good of him.  One of the benefits of a B&B arrangement I suppose.


Met Garry at the apartment and got ourselves settled in.  There had been a problem with the central heating in what was otherwise a great apartment.  Thankfully the problem meant the heating had to be left on full which meant the apartment was quite nice and toasty - just had to leave a window open to stop it getting too hot, especially upstairs where the beds were:

The only real problem I had is the main reason I haven't written for a few days.  Walking down stairs on the first morning there I slipped on the last few steps and somehow managed to land right on my left little finger.  Don't seem to have broken anything, but it blew up like a balloon and bruised rather badly.  I'm only now starting to be able to type again and it's still quite painful.

So, between me complaining about my hand and Garry complaining about the cold... Actually we've had a fairly good time I think, all things considered.

I liked New York, but really, I could take it or leave it.  I didn't find it too big or busy for me.  It's really a world unto itself in a surprisingly small space.  As with any of the other places I've visited it, I think it would take a more significant amount of time to get to appreciate it.

I didn't end up doing all that much sightseeing.  Between being damn tired, having my hand all puffed up and in pain, we ended up just having basic wander around in between Broadway shows :).  We wound up seeing 3 - "A Little Night Music" which we planned before I left, "Promises, Promises" which starred Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes, and "Next to Normal".  All were great shows, but I have to admit I liked the last one best.  It was as much drama as musical and particularly moving.

We managed to have a wander through Central park, ate hotdogs, went to the MOMA and Natural History Museum.  Didn't get around to going up the Empire State Building or going out on the water for a closer look at the statue of Liberty.

Some thoughts on future travel

As with the last time I travelled to the US, I'm finding myself wishing I had more time to explore.  I've had a quick taste of a couple of new cities and have found that I'd really like to spend longer in both.  I need to take significant holidays more often and some of those holidays should be stays of 5 days or so to some of the cities I've wanted to have more time in.  Given flights to the US are often available at a pretty significant discount, there's really no reason not to take maybe 2 or 3 weeks to travel to 2 or 3 places rather than trying to assemble a grab-bag of things to do to make the most of the flight.

Another thing I'm starting to think is that it would be nice to have someone to travel with.  For the most part I quite enjoy traveling along.  You can make your own way in your own time, seeing whatever you want to see.  However, there are times when it's nice to have someone with you.  I'm not someone who really enjoys eating out alone (does anyone really?).  So generally I end up grabbing something I can take back to the hotel or maybe eat in a park or something if the weather is nice.  Spending a bit of time with James in San Francisco was great for this reason alone.  A few breakfasts and a great dinner one night with a friend of his who lived near the hotel. all experiences I wouldn't have had if I were on my own, and really memorable parts of the journey.  I'm really looking forward to the next few days with Garry for this reason alone. 

Battlestar Galactica at the EMP

Anyone who knows me well knows how exciting this was.  Only a fairly small exhibit, being based primarily around three 'life size' space craft props, but fantastic none the less.  I haven't had such a hard time leaving a venue in a very long time.  The only thing that would have made it better would be to have other Battlestar obsessed friends there to share it with.

I showed up when the building opened at 10am, and between that and the fact that winter is a quiet time for them anyway, I had the exhibit to myself for most of the morning.

I think perhaps only Jeremy would have some idea what Battlestar means to me.  It's not an obsession in the same way that something like Star Trek or even Star Wars is for some people.  It's just something that I loved as a child which was so cleverly revived... Anyway, something I couldn't pass up and am very glad I was able to see.

Seattle

Let's not go into the trip here too much.  Train line was flooded out so was replaced by a bus.  4 hours of a screaming child while trapped on a bus that I had to be up before 5am to catch...  'nuff said.

I think Seattle is going to one of those cities which takes a while to get to know.  Consequently I'm not going to get to know it, but I feel it has potential.  The hotel I booked is a couple of blocks from the Space Needle and is rather more impressive than I expected given the price.  I don't tend to bother with pics of hotel rooms, but I made an exception for this one because it's just cool

As you can see, there was a break in the cloud just after I arrived, so I thought I should make the most of it and go do the compulsory trip up the Space Needle.  It's not that high a tower but it was quite cool all the same.  Having a look around from up there reinforced what I thought earlier, that it looks like an interesting town.  It was unusually windy up there apparently, and damn cold (the staff estimated about 40F - or about 4C).  Got a chance to try out the beanie and gloves :)  Still nothing like what I'll cop when I get to NYC and Montreal, but certainly the first time I've really felt cold so far.

A couple more pics of the tower

Tomorrow is all about Battlestar Galactica http://www.empsfm.org/exhibitions/index.asp?categoryID=164&ccID=286 . Then off to NYC on Thursday.

Quick summary of a quick visit

Was in and out of Vancouver way too fast.  That said, it was a great time.  The hotel was brand new and a great deal in the perfect part of town - down by the water on the eastern side of Downtown

Had a lovely dinner at Rav and Ryan's place on Sunday night.  I had been really looking forward to seeing them again, and it was just so nice to spend time with friends when everything else is feeling a bit alien.  Fergie is gorgeous in that very special way that only bulldogs have, and they are certainly doting parents :)

Spent my last day chasing up chores (washing, organising train tickets) before paying a visit to the aquarium.  Really couldn't leave Vancouver without seeing the sea otters and belugas

All in all, too short a stay, but a great one.

Vancouver

Still working on my post from yesterday in San Francisco.  In the mean time however I've left have arrived in Vancouver.

I was given the full high tech scan at the airport this time - completely painless.  Free wireless at SFO airport so I started work on the last of the San Fran blog posts while I was waiting for the flight.  There was a particularly pretty sunset there as well, though couldn't really see much of a photographable nature, so I just enjoyed it.  You have to do that sometimes I feel.

The flight itself was really quite good.  About 2 hours on an Embraer 190.  Far bigger and more comfortable seating than the flight from Sydney, and with a working entertainment system, unlike the 13 hour trip from Sydney.  The thing which struck me the most though was how much quieter and more civilised it all was compared with flights so far.  I can't be certain, but I feel it was due to the preponderance of Canadians on the flight.  Everyone just quietly going about their business and allowing each other a bit of private physical and aural space is quite a contrast, even having only been immersed in the US for a few days...

There's a train from the airport right in to the city now, so getting to the hotel was easy enough.  Raining of course, but not heavily (still have to get around to buying myself a decent umbrella).  Also, it doesn't seem nearly as cold as I was expecting.  I'm sure that will change if the wind picks up or something, but so far still no worse than a chilly Sydney winters day.

Still wide awake but I suppose I should head for bed.  Catching up with Ryan and Rav for dinner tomorrow night so I think a sleep in, a little bit of wandering and a little shopping is in order tomorrow.

... and stops again

Both James and I were a little worse for wear after dinner last night.  We didn't drink that much, but a couple (three ?) of glasses of wine before heading out to dinner with a local friend of his seemed to leave us both a bit slow, grumpy and nursing sore heads this morning.

To be fair, my excuse was not being able to sleep.  I was ready to crash when we got home from dinner at about 11, but by the time I finally settled in to sleep it just didn't happen.  I remember seeing daylight before I eventually dropped off for a while.  After breakfast James had to move out to another hotel since this one doesn't have any vacancies for the next few days, which is a shame.  It was nice having him just down the hall to collect to go find meals etc.

So, today I had a roaring headache, but despite the forecast, there was no rain as such so I headed off on a walk.  I headed west of the hotel this time to have a look around Golden Gate park.  For Sydney siders, imagine the domain, the art gallery, botanical gardens and centennial park all rolled into one huge rectangular space with significant hills and you'll be getting close.  Pictures can be seen in the ongoing catalogue of the trip at Graham Escapes Again - The Gallery !.

Something I found interesting at first and then almost annoying was the number of gum trees.  I smelled the first one before I saw it, which probably contributed even more to the sense of familiarity of the place:

It was one thing when there were only one or two, but eventually there were whole groves off them.  I suppose they might seem nicely exotic here.

I had considered seeing an exhibition at the De Young museum, but when I checked what was there I realised I had actually seen most of it before in Sydney, and I didn't really feel like being indoors today.  By 11 or so a lot of the cloud had started to lift and mist was starting to rise out of the hills:

... so I decided to press on.  Took a few pictures of a series of fountains and then had a fellow photographer insist on taking photos of me - I have to admit, as much as I hate photos of myself, they're not too bad.  Amusingly while he was taking them, another couple of tourists wandered by and offered to take the camera so the two of us could have a photo together, on the assumption we were traveling together.  I could see this could turn into a very large group photo if we weren't careful, and so could the insistent American who started it, gracefully declining the kind offer and moving on.

This is something I've been told about the US previously, and certainly since I've been here: there does seem to be, more than a willingness... almost a compulsion to just strike up a conversation with the nearest person you can find about anything and everything as if you've just bumped into an old friend.  I won't say it's universal, but it is very much the opposite of the Anglo/Australian 'polite but distanced' way of being around strangers.

There was a great example of this on the bus ride back to the other side of town when I had seen enough parkland for one day (nearly 3 hours of traipsing around an admittedly beautiful park seemed like enough).  I'm sure I would enjoy the very crowded buses more if I weren't so tired and, well, myself.

Standing near me was a young guy carrying a box with a picture of a candy dispenser on it.  A woman sitting nearby caught site of it pointed it out to her friends "look at that, isn't that cute...." etc etc.  We got the whole story of the thing, where it came from, who it was for, that he was on his way to buy candy to put in it to give to his little sister for xmas and so on.

After a couple of stops, passengers had moved a little and a young woman standing behind candy dispenser boy mentioned to him that she thought she recognised him - he's a ballet dancer of some kind and she had seen him perform recently.  So another little conversation ensued until the young woman left.  Candy dispenser boy, who by now I had learned was named, almost inevitably, Daniel, sat down next to a guy in his teens who had got on the bus just after me.  He turned to Daniel and asked what kind of dancer he was because he was too... and so on.  By the time we all reached our destinations I knew rather a lot about these two, their youtube videos, what they liked and didn't like about dance, teaching styles and so on.

I could see how someone could grow to either love or loath that kind of free flowing exchange.  Being on the reticent side myself, and coming from a maintain a respectful distance and sense of decorum kind of society, it's all rather strange, but not without it's charm.

While I've been writing this someone has started playing the trumpet somewhere outside.  Playing rather well I have to say, possibly there's a restaurant or club of some kind nearby, something with a slightly Spanish sound to it.

Despite the fascinating conversation, I still had a shocking headache and was beginning to regret deciding to go all the way downtown to try to buy a local sim card for my phone.  When I arrived I found something to eat and headed down to the water front to see if I could find somewhere nice and open to sit down for a while.  I found Pier 14, a pedestrian walkway not far from the Bay Bridge and ended up taking some quite decent photos:

... this one is probably my favourite.

I was tempted to try to make my way around the waterfront to the Golden Gate bridge, but by now fatigue really set in and I just couldn't see myself doing it before I lost the light.  If I'm lucky the weather will hold and I'll have time to head down there tomorrow on the way to my Alcatraz tour.

I've just been off researching the best way to get to the best spot to do a bit of bridge watching.  So, provided the weather does indeed hold, I should be set.  Right now though it's 10pm and I'm just beginning to feel drowsy.  I think I should now put this thing away and allow the instinct to sleep to kick in.