Tuesday, October 25, 2005
A whole new world...
I think I've found a new set of friends... Occasionally when I'm travelling I'll pick up a pen from a souvenir shop. On returning from this holiday (with a Boston Baked Beans pen and Gone with the Wind pen) I've done a bit of research and found out that these pens are made in Denmark by a company called Eseken and are called Floaty pens. Lots of people like them! Sadly I don't think my collection comes this woman's, but I'm going to do an audit of the pens and see what they're worth!
Fiona and Mhairi, sitting on 'Carrie's stoop', New York
Here's Fiona and I on our 'Sex and the City' bus tour on Sunday. One of the stops was at the location that they use for Carrie's apartment exterior and here's us sitting on the stoop!
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Normal service to resume shortly
If you're reading the blog, you will notice it's looking a little sketchy! I've not been able to track down internet access over the past few days, and where we're staying now in Concord it's limited to 15 minutes, so I've just made some notes now. When I have some time (maybe in New York), I'll spend some time fleshing it out. We're having a great time though - even if the weather is quite different in New England than it was in the deep South!
Thursday, October 13, 2005
USA trip Day Six - Charleston
Had a nice sleep in after a travelling day yesterday. I was staying in a B&B in the historic district of Charleston - the Rutledge Victorian Guesthouse. I was originally meant to have Emilie's room, but I got upgraded to Abigail's room which had a Huge bed! Had breakfast with some fellow guests, including some very religious people who kept on talking about looking for the 'truth' in the media and how the Constitution meant that the country was based on Christian values exclusively and should stay that way. Thankfully they left before I put my 2c in, but I had a chat with a university professor, who was VERY excited to hear that I was from New Zealand and was insanely jealous that Angus had been in the Lord of the Rings films.
Did a walking tour of Charleston in the morning which is the most beautiful place. I loved it. The historic districts have been beautifully restored with many gorgeous houses. The main style of house in Charleston is the 'single house' - a building built at right angles to the road, normally three story with three long porches running along the length of the building. The front door normally opens straight onto the porch or a garden.
Charleston is on a harbour where the Cooper and X rivers meet - there is a new bridge, the Ravenel Bridge, that was opened in July (I saw them blowing up the concrete pylons of the old bridge). I went out on a boat tour to Fort Sumter, where the first shots were fired in the American Civil War (or "the unpleasantness" as it is known in the South). The Fort itself didn't interest me that much but the cruise was interesting and there were loads of dolphins around the fort which was fascinating to watch.
After only eating a hotdog on the train last night, I decided to treat myself to a nice meal and went to Anson which was very nice. I had the local speciality, 'She Crab soup' which was lovely and some fried shrimp. Bizarrely there was a Kiwi working as a waiter (we get everywhere...) but I didn't end up talking to him.
Did a walking tour of Charleston in the morning which is the most beautiful place. I loved it. The historic districts have been beautifully restored with many gorgeous houses. The main style of house in Charleston is the 'single house' - a building built at right angles to the road, normally three story with three long porches running along the length of the building. The front door normally opens straight onto the porch or a garden.
Charleston is on a harbour where the Cooper and X rivers meet - there is a new bridge, the Ravenel Bridge, that was opened in July (I saw them blowing up the concrete pylons of the old bridge). I went out on a boat tour to Fort Sumter, where the first shots were fired in the American Civil War (or "the unpleasantness" as it is known in the South). The Fort itself didn't interest me that much but the cruise was interesting and there were loads of dolphins around the fort which was fascinating to watch.
After only eating a hotdog on the train last night, I decided to treat myself to a nice meal and went to Anson which was very nice. I had the local speciality, 'She Crab soup' which was lovely and some fried shrimp. Bizarrely there was a Kiwi working as a waiter (we get everywhere...) but I didn't end up talking to him.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
USA Trip Day Five - Atlanta - Savannah - Charleston
After checking out of the hotel this morning, I caught the train down to the Martin Luther King Jr National Historic Site - a fancy title for a museum, church and birthplace. The museum there is quite interesting - a lot of information on the freedom riders and different boycotts and marches that went on during the fight for civil rights. There was a machine in one corner that asked you questions (eg how many jelly beans are there in the jar) to ascertain whether you were eligible to vote. Of course the only important question was "What colour are you?"
I wasn't too fussed on going on the tour of the house where King was born in but I'm really glad I did. Our tour guide, Rev. Williams, a retired preacher, had marched together with . His children were also amongst the first black children to go to an integrated school. As he was a former preacher he had a powerful and emotive delivery when he spoke to us and on a couple of occasions he stopped us and quite sternly reminded us that people, both black and white had been killed fighting for equal rights. What we were learning about was not just history he said, it was real life, and it was painful and dangerous. By the end of the hour-long tour, most of us were in tears. It really was a very powerful experience.
The house itself had four bedrooms, and was very nice. It was owned by King's grandfather, and as the family were middle class, they had a very high standard of living. There were 'shotgun' houses across the road - so-called because if you fired a shotgun through the front door, if no-one were standing in the way, the bullet would leave via the back door. There was a clear line of sight through the house. Many of the houses in the area had been bought by the National Parks Service, restored and rented out. So it's a very nice neighbourhood. The whole area is called 'Sweet Auburn', named after the street.
Travelled out to the airport next to catch my flight to Savannah. Managed to negotiate my way a little more successfully around Atlanta Airport this time! Had a strange experience after checking in. I noticed a large number of soldiers gathering together - they were all in uniform, what looked like desert fatigues. I assumed that they were on their way to Iraq. There were about 200 of them and when they'd formed together, they marched through the concourse to their plane. People went nuts - they were clapping and cheering, going up to the soldiers and saying they were praying for them. I just felt chilled, knowing where they were going and that it was likely some of them weren't coming home.
Caught my flight to Savannah OK. I landed at Savannah at 3.30pm and my train to Charleston wasn't leaving until 6.30. Unfortunately the train station is just as far out of the city as the airport is, and it was closed until 5.30. So I stayed at the airport, reading, and watching a cat in a cat carrier go round and round on the luggage carousel. Then I caught a taxi to the train station where, frustratingly, the train was 2 and a half hours late! It was so frustrating! I had originally wanted to drop my luggage somewhere in Savannah and wander around for a couple of hours but that's not possible. So had a long, hungry wait at Savannah train station. The train, when it finally came, had been travelling from Miami and was on its way to New York. Train was OK, nice big comfy seats.
When I got to Charleston, the train station there is also miles out of town so I caught a cab to my B&B, arriving there about 11!
I wasn't too fussed on going on the tour of the house where King was born in but I'm really glad I did. Our tour guide, Rev. Williams, a retired preacher, had marched together with . His children were also amongst the first black children to go to an integrated school. As he was a former preacher he had a powerful and emotive delivery when he spoke to us and on a couple of occasions he stopped us and quite sternly reminded us that people, both black and white had been killed fighting for equal rights. What we were learning about was not just history he said, it was real life, and it was painful and dangerous. By the end of the hour-long tour, most of us were in tears. It really was a very powerful experience.
The house itself had four bedrooms, and was very nice. It was owned by King's grandfather, and as the family were middle class, they had a very high standard of living. There were 'shotgun' houses across the road - so-called because if you fired a shotgun through the front door, if no-one were standing in the way, the bullet would leave via the back door. There was a clear line of sight through the house. Many of the houses in the area had been bought by the National Parks Service, restored and rented out. So it's a very nice neighbourhood. The whole area is called 'Sweet Auburn', named after the street.
Travelled out to the airport next to catch my flight to Savannah. Managed to negotiate my way a little more successfully around Atlanta Airport this time! Had a strange experience after checking in. I noticed a large number of soldiers gathering together - they were all in uniform, what looked like desert fatigues. I assumed that they were on their way to Iraq. There were about 200 of them and when they'd formed together, they marched through the concourse to their plane. People went nuts - they were clapping and cheering, going up to the soldiers and saying they were praying for them. I just felt chilled, knowing where they were going and that it was likely some of them weren't coming home.
Caught my flight to Savannah OK. I landed at Savannah at 3.30pm and my train to Charleston wasn't leaving until 6.30. Unfortunately the train station is just as far out of the city as the airport is, and it was closed until 5.30. So I stayed at the airport, reading, and watching a cat in a cat carrier go round and round on the luggage carousel. Then I caught a taxi to the train station where, frustratingly, the train was 2 and a half hours late! It was so frustrating! I had originally wanted to drop my luggage somewhere in Savannah and wander around for a couple of hours but that's not possible. So had a long, hungry wait at Savannah train station. The train, when it finally came, had been travelling from Miami and was on its way to New York. Train was OK, nice big comfy seats.
When I got to Charleston, the train station there is also miles out of town so I caught a cab to my B&B, arriving there about 11!
USA trip - Atlanta Day 4
This morning, I went to Atlanta's number one attraction, World of Coca-Cola. Was expecting teeming crowds, but thankfully I arrived before the rush. World of Coca-Cola is basically a big marketing building for Coke - it's full of advertising throughout the ages, and information about how the brand has spread worldwide. There's no information on the secret recipe! It was all very glitzy. At the end are two rooms where you can sample different Coke drinks from around the world - I thought that there would be some variety of different Coke flavours from different locations, but it was actually things like Ginger Beer and Mello Yello. Some of the excitement of unlimited Coke was tempered by the fact that I was on my own, and that it was about 10.30 in the morning! The gift shop downstairs was almost as large as the museum, and I succumbed and bought a Tshirt.
Next, I caught the bus to Athens, Georgia, the home of REM and the B52s. The Greyhound terminal where the bus left from was a little dodgy, but once on the bus, it was fine. Drive down took about an hour and a half, and like a cliche, I listened to REM the whole way! The bus driver gave everyone a strict talking to on the way down, laying out the kind of behaviour he expected. I was fascinated by the Kudzu vines that covered many trees, bushes, power lines and telegraph poles. They looked like they were smothering and taking over the landscape - quite creepy!
Had the afternoon in Athens to have a look around. There isn't actually all that much to do, but it was pleasant to walk around a typical American college town. There was a music heritage walking tour, but many of the buildings marked were old clubs and venues.
Back in Atlanta, it was dog appreciation evening at the hotel! On the front porch, about 30 people were sitting with their (small) dogs, having a drink and buying merchandise.
Walked down to Mary Mac's Tea Room for dinner - this is an Atlanta institution and offers real Southern cooking. They gave me some free collard greens for a starter - can't say I'm a fan! But then I had some delicious southern fried chicken, sweet potato souffle (gorgeous!!) and broccoli. I even had a 'Hurricane' ######## ("reminiscent of New Orleans"). (for some reason, Blogger isn't letting me publish the word '########' - so that you're not kept in suspense, it's a concoction of alcoholic liquor).
Next, I caught the bus to Athens, Georgia, the home of REM and the B52s. The Greyhound terminal where the bus left from was a little dodgy, but once on the bus, it was fine. Drive down took about an hour and a half, and like a cliche, I listened to REM the whole way! The bus driver gave everyone a strict talking to on the way down, laying out the kind of behaviour he expected. I was fascinated by the Kudzu vines that covered many trees, bushes, power lines and telegraph poles. They looked like they were smothering and taking over the landscape - quite creepy!
Had the afternoon in Athens to have a look around. There isn't actually all that much to do, but it was pleasant to walk around a typical American college town. There was a music heritage walking tour, but many of the buildings marked were old clubs and venues.
Back in Atlanta, it was dog appreciation evening at the hotel! On the front porch, about 30 people were sitting with their (small) dogs, having a drink and buying merchandise.
Walked down to Mary Mac's Tea Room for dinner - this is an Atlanta institution and offers real Southern cooking. They gave me some free collard greens for a starter - can't say I'm a fan! But then I had some delicious southern fried chicken, sweet potato souffle (gorgeous!!) and broccoli. I even had a 'Hurricane' ######## ("reminiscent of New Orleans"). (for some reason, Blogger isn't letting me publish the word '########' - so that you're not kept in suspense, it's a concoction of alcoholic liquor).
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
USA Trip - Atlanta Day 3
Luxuriated in my nice hotel room this morning - 78 channels! Not a lot on though, but I did enjoy catching up on ' Live with Regis and Kelly', an early morning chat show that I got addicted to last time I was here.
Went down to the Greyhound station to check out times to Athens for tomorrow - it looks kind of dodgy, but manageable! It only takes an hour or so to get to Athens, so it shouldn't be too bad. Then travelled up to Buckhead, a suburb in the north of Atlanta to visit the Atlanta History Center. Had to catch the train, then catch a bus, then walk about 15 minutes - and this is for the major museum in Atlanta - an example of how reliant Americans are on cars!!
The Atlanta History Center is huge - it's basically a huge park with a museum and two houses to tour. One of the houses, the Tullie Smith house is an example of a plantation house from the mid 19th century. It was very simple, with the kitchen in an adjoining outhouse. They have recreated how the farm would have looked, complete with cornhouse, blacksmith's shop and barns. The land that the farm was on would have been given to the owner following the removal of the Native American inhabitants. There was also another huge house on the grounds from the 1920s. The museum had exhibits on folk craft and the Civil War.
Went and had a wander round one of Atlanta's largest malls, Lenox Square. It's so huge it has a Bloomingdale's, a Macy's and a Nieman Marcus on the premises, as well as a huge array of shops. Decided not to do any shopping, as I'll save that for New York. Had a burger at a restaurant in the mall for dinner - it was a bleu cheese and bacon burger - yummo!
Was going to go and see Liz Phair play that night at a theatre in Buckhead, but in the end I was too worn out from walking round all day. Still haven't adjusted to the new time zone and am waking up at 6am!
Went down to the Greyhound station to check out times to Athens for tomorrow - it looks kind of dodgy, but manageable! It only takes an hour or so to get to Athens, so it shouldn't be too bad. Then travelled up to Buckhead, a suburb in the north of Atlanta to visit the Atlanta History Center. Had to catch the train, then catch a bus, then walk about 15 minutes - and this is for the major museum in Atlanta - an example of how reliant Americans are on cars!!
The Atlanta History Center is huge - it's basically a huge park with a museum and two houses to tour. One of the houses, the Tullie Smith house is an example of a plantation house from the mid 19th century. It was very simple, with the kitchen in an adjoining outhouse. They have recreated how the farm would have looked, complete with cornhouse, blacksmith's shop and barns. The land that the farm was on would have been given to the owner following the removal of the Native American inhabitants. There was also another huge house on the grounds from the 1920s. The museum had exhibits on folk craft and the Civil War.
Went and had a wander round one of Atlanta's largest malls, Lenox Square. It's so huge it has a Bloomingdale's, a Macy's and a Nieman Marcus on the premises, as well as a huge array of shops. Decided not to do any shopping, as I'll save that for New York. Had a burger at a restaurant in the mall for dinner - it was a bleu cheese and bacon burger - yummo!
Was going to go and see Liz Phair play that night at a theatre in Buckhead, but in the end I was too worn out from walking round all day. Still haven't adjusted to the new time zone and am waking up at 6am!
Sunday, October 09, 2005
USA trip - Atlanta day 2
Woke up at about 6.30 this morning which isn't too bad, time changes considering. Realised that even though there are 77 channels on the television in my room, half of them were showing infomercials and half of them were broadcasting church services which was not really that entertaining.
After a breakfast muffin, I set off for the CNN Center and the tour of the studios. It was a very slick operation, much like the station itself. The tour guide did seem to be reeling off the script by memory, but it was very interesting to see how the sequencing of the live feed happened and also to see the main newsroom from above, seeing how the whole operation fitted together. We even got to ride up the world's longest free standing escalator!
Following this, I walked over to the Centennial Olympic Park, which was the park developed to celebrate the 1996 Olympic Games. It's used as a public space now, and has some fantastic circular fountains which despite the cool weather, some children were dancing in.
There was a football game on at the nearby Georgia Dome - Atlanta versus New England. There were loads of people indulging in what I later learnt was called 'tailgating' - this is where people park up in a car park, get out the BBQ and have a few beers before going to watch the game. Virtually everyone I saw had a team shirt on - very colourful!
Caught the train up to the Margaret Mitchell House and took the tour. Mitchell lived and wrote Gone With The Wind in the house, which she referred to as 'The Dump'. She'd been working as a journalist since leaving school, and had taken about nine years to write the book. There was also a small museum with memorabilia from the making of the film.
After this museum and lunch at a cafe, I was picked up by my Atlanta colleague Dave who drove me around a couple of the lovely areas of Atlanta - lots of houses from the 30s designed in lovely open neighbourhoods. I had wondered why, when we flew into Atlanta, why so much of the city was parkland. There are a lot of parks, but also in many areas, people have huge sections with many trees. There doesn't seem to be any kind of building code, and there are a few houses that have been built more recently and really jar. Dave then drove his partner John and I out to his friend Peggy's house - Peggy lives about half an hour out of town and worked as an enamalist most of her life - she still does a little bit today, and gave me a lovely wee plate of a dogwood plant. We had a southern dinner with her and a couple of her neighbours - chicken, sweet potatoes, cornbread, green beans and collared greens. For afters we had pecan pie. It was very enjoyable, and so nice to meet local people and have a chat to them. There were lots of cardinals flying round on the property but sadly we didn't see any of the deer that live on the farm.
After a breakfast muffin, I set off for the CNN Center and the tour of the studios. It was a very slick operation, much like the station itself. The tour guide did seem to be reeling off the script by memory, but it was very interesting to see how the sequencing of the live feed happened and also to see the main newsroom from above, seeing how the whole operation fitted together. We even got to ride up the world's longest free standing escalator!
Following this, I walked over to the Centennial Olympic Park, which was the park developed to celebrate the 1996 Olympic Games. It's used as a public space now, and has some fantastic circular fountains which despite the cool weather, some children were dancing in.
There was a football game on at the nearby Georgia Dome - Atlanta versus New England. There were loads of people indulging in what I later learnt was called 'tailgating' - this is where people park up in a car park, get out the BBQ and have a few beers before going to watch the game. Virtually everyone I saw had a team shirt on - very colourful!
Caught the train up to the Margaret Mitchell House and took the tour. Mitchell lived and wrote Gone With The Wind in the house, which she referred to as 'The Dump'. She'd been working as a journalist since leaving school, and had taken about nine years to write the book. There was also a small museum with memorabilia from the making of the film.
After this museum and lunch at a cafe, I was picked up by my Atlanta colleague Dave who drove me around a couple of the lovely areas of Atlanta - lots of houses from the 30s designed in lovely open neighbourhoods. I had wondered why, when we flew into Atlanta, why so much of the city was parkland. There are a lot of parks, but also in many areas, people have huge sections with many trees. There doesn't seem to be any kind of building code, and there are a few houses that have been built more recently and really jar. Dave then drove his partner John and I out to his friend Peggy's house - Peggy lives about half an hour out of town and worked as an enamalist most of her life - she still does a little bit today, and gave me a lovely wee plate of a dogwood plant. We had a southern dinner with her and a couple of her neighbours - chicken, sweet potatoes, cornbread, green beans and collared greens. For afters we had pecan pie. It was very enjoyable, and so nice to meet local people and have a chat to them. There were lots of cardinals flying round on the property but sadly we didn't see any of the deer that live on the farm.
Saturday, October 08, 2005
lengthy!
Well I'm finally in Atlanta, after a very long day! Flight left Gatwick at 12.20 and it was a direct flight of about nine hours. Very excitingly bought a camera from Duty Free before I left - a Fuji FinePix f10. It's really lovely! Sadly I've had to wait until I got here to play with it as it needed a charge, but tomorrow, I enter the digital world!
Flight was ok - watched War of the World (just ridiculous) and Mother In Law (entertaining enough, was nice to see Jane Fonda on screen again!).
Atlanta Airport is apparently the busiest airport in the world (but don't they all say that?). Anyway, lining up for immigration took forever, we had to get our fingerprints and photos done. There wasn't a major questioning of "what are you doing here?" etc. thank goodness, but I had all my bits of paper printed out if there was. Then after going through customs, and picking up luggage, there was then another security check, our bags were taken off us again, we had to be scanned and take our shoes and belts off to be scanned. After putting shoes and belts back on again, then we had to travel on the transit to the entrance to the airport where we retrieved our luggage again! Rigmarole! I guess the US is on a higher state of alert at the moment though.
Travelled into Atlanta on the metro which is known as the MARTA here. Found the guest house that I had booked, and it was all shut up - I'm really unimpressed! I booked through Opodo, and had confirmed the booking with them. But according to the B&B next door, the guesthouse where I was meant to be staying has turned into an accomodation bookable only by the week. It looks quite dodgy now, and apparently one of the current guests has a pig in his room! The lovely woman at the guesthouse next door recommended the Hotel Indigo nearby, so that's where I am now. It's really lovely! Can't wait to go to sleep in the lovely bed! It's a bit more expensive than I wanted to pay, but when you've been travelling all day, you don't really care!
Needless to say, I've sent Opodo a stroppy message, demanding an immediate refund and an explanation. Not nice being in a strange city, on your own, lugging round a suitcase with nowhere to stay!
Flight was ok - watched War of the World (just ridiculous) and Mother In Law (entertaining enough, was nice to see Jane Fonda on screen again!).
Atlanta Airport is apparently the busiest airport in the world (but don't they all say that?). Anyway, lining up for immigration took forever, we had to get our fingerprints and photos done. There wasn't a major questioning of "what are you doing here?" etc. thank goodness, but I had all my bits of paper printed out if there was. Then after going through customs, and picking up luggage, there was then another security check, our bags were taken off us again, we had to be scanned and take our shoes and belts off to be scanned. After putting shoes and belts back on again, then we had to travel on the transit to the entrance to the airport where we retrieved our luggage again! Rigmarole! I guess the US is on a higher state of alert at the moment though.
Travelled into Atlanta on the metro which is known as the MARTA here. Found the guest house that I had booked, and it was all shut up - I'm really unimpressed! I booked through Opodo, and had confirmed the booking with them. But according to the B&B next door, the guesthouse where I was meant to be staying has turned into an accomodation bookable only by the week. It looks quite dodgy now, and apparently one of the current guests has a pig in his room! The lovely woman at the guesthouse next door recommended the Hotel Indigo nearby, so that's where I am now. It's really lovely! Can't wait to go to sleep in the lovely bed! It's a bit more expensive than I wanted to pay, but when you've been travelling all day, you don't really care!
Needless to say, I've sent Opodo a stroppy message, demanding an immediate refund and an explanation. Not nice being in a strange city, on your own, lugging round a suitcase with nowhere to stay!
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