New York, New York

The sun is reflecting off the large and long Hudson River to our left as it has done all day. It still seems a little strange that one of the world's most famous cities is waiting for us at the mouth of this river that is currently flanked by such greenery.


We pass over and past couple of bridges, the one above was especially picturesque, until we got within sight of the big apple.
New York City is within New York State, 'The Empire State' as it reads on the car registration plates, and is made up of five well known boroughs.
But before we even get to New York a couple of problems have to be addressed. When your budget is $100 a day for food, transport and accommodation you are going to struggle in America's most expensive city. To get a room for less than a hundred dollars a night would be possible but not advisable. To be a tourist at night in a dodgy neighbourhood of New York is just asking for trouble so we make a bold decision. We decide to stay across the water from Manhattan Island and downtown New York in the adjacent state of New Jersey. This sounds more extreme than it actually is. For starters, everything is much cheaper in New Jersey because their state tax is lower so petrol is almost a quarter cheaper. Not that you'd want to drive in New York anyway. Having a car presented another snag in staying within Manhattan Island as parking is sparse. Most visitors to this city have flown here for a long weekend and don't have to even think about a car as they'll be using the subway and taxis. New Jersey was the best solution all round and coupled with the shuttle bus outside our motel taking us into the heart of downtown NYC for only $2 for the 30 minute journey our minds were made up.
We check into our motel in a distinctly Mexican neighbourhood. I like being around the Mexicans, they still have life about them and all of a sudden taco stands appear selling Mexican food cheap to the many passers-by. Still, you can tell we're on the cusp of a big city, the traffic is heavy and there's plenty of full buses on their way somewhere. The sun is beaming and as we get on the shuttle bus surrounded by Mexicans we can't help thinking of Mexico city and all its vibrancy.
From New Jersey we pass through the very long Lincoln Tunnel and turn up and out into central New York. All of a sudden we're surrounded by skyscrapers and hemmed in by yellow taxis.
We step off the bus at 8th Avenue and set about finding the nearest Chipotle Mexican Grill for another classic burrito. After the most important thing is sorted we step out onto the bustling street and it suddenly dawns on us that we have no map or idea where we are. We've got used to small cities with nothing much of interest to see but now we're back in a proper city and totally unprepared. We head in a random direction and find ourselves at Grand Central Station.

A stroke of luck you may say. A double whammy really as not only is this a great building and the site of many an American movie classic, it also serves as a spot for gaining a free map and a bit of info about transport back to New Jersey. I've heard that Grand Central Station is smaller in real life than perceived in the films but I thought it was a decent size. Either way it's a good looking building and a constant hive of activity. You can't help feeling a bit of deja-vu as you wander the streets and see buildings like this because you know you've seen them before. I recall watching The Untouchables and a key scene that was shot here and now I'm standing in the very spot.
We scan the map for the big 'must-sees' of NYC and discover that the Empire State Building is on the same road as Grand Central. It might well have been but we couldn't find it, imagine that. Not being able to find one of the most famous skyscrapers in the world! We did spot the Chrysler building though and for me this is one of the ultimate icons of the new york skyline. Shimmering metal covers the building right up to it's half moon and triangular shapes atop. It's apprantly covered in symbols of the motor industry and we do spot the odd icon but we read that most can only be spotted high up alongside.
We continue looking for the Empire State building and don't spot it for a while. It dawned on me that maybe I've never really taken a good look at the building, I've seen it plenty of times on tv but have I really looked at it? It turns out not because when we do stand at the foot of it it doesn't even ring any bells.

In fact it looks a bit dire and understated in comparison to the superb Chrysler building. It didn't help that the ground floor was surrounded by scaffolding as it's undergoing renovation. We think about going up to the viewing area but as the sun has just begun to set and the queue is massive we decide to leave it until tomorrow.
We get take the subway to visit the Guggenheim Museum but that has now closed for the evening and also, typically, under refurbishments aswell.
The next day gets off to a great start, although I was mistaken for a German (not for the first time on the trip). This time it worked in my favour. A woman approached me at breakfast and told me her and her family were leaving that day and would we like 4 city passes. Of course I did! Many major cities offer a city pass within which you get entry to major attractions around the city but pay it all in one go and for a fair amount less than each individual attraction. Although the trip up the Empire State building voucher had been used we still had vouchers for a trip to Statue of Liberty Island, entrance to the Museum of Modern Art, entrance to the Guggenheim Museum and circle ferry tour of Manhattan Island. Not bad for free!
First up we want to take a good look around Central Park, it's certainly the weather for it as the sun continues it's uninterrupted beaming. We get the subway to the north end of the park and plan to walk through it's entirety. The New York subway system is bit over complicated and run down. The stations are dilapidated and the trains are noisy and old. In fact it is probably the worst underground system we've used. Considering there isn't that many stations there is no need for it's complex nature of lines, colours, numbers and letters. London blows it out of the water and both Shanghai and Hong Kong would fall about laughing at the state of it. But, as we've learnt, Americans are told they're the best at everything so they put up with it.

Getting out of the dimly lit passageways into the bright sunshine and abundant life of north Central Park is a bit of a shock at first. This is clearly a slightly poorer part of town but nonetheless happy. A lake is surrounded by people fishing, kids playing or taking part in a school lesson, old black guys laying back and chewing the fat beneath the sun. This may well live up to the hype and actually be one of the best city parks in the world.
We pass through curvaceous rows of blooming flowers and an Alice in Wonderland statue to a vine covered pagoda under which a solitary man goes through his tai-chi routine.
People buzz around preparing a marquee for an event whilst artists attempt to capture the glorious colours of the flowers encircling a fountain. The park is massive, there's no understatement here, with such a variety of activities going across it. A huge lake is constantly in view for the hordes of runners and roller-bladers whizzing around it probably not even glimpsing at the attractive skyline peering at the water.

We then take in another fountain that is surrounded by pink Spanish tiling and a grand staircase that leads into a covered archway in which a musician plays his way through some classical pieces amongst the faded frescoes.
Halfway down the park we dive into the Guggenheim Museum thankful that we didn't have to pay the $18 dollar entrance. Again we take the UK's free museums for granted and at least give the opportunity for all walks of life and wallet size to have a nosy into the world of art and culture.
The Guggenheim is a white circular building that for me isn't pleasing to the eye but the great exhibition of Chinese art made up for it. A horde of fake wolves, tigers covered in arrows and firecracker art make it worth the visit. The hanging cars in the lobby followed us all the way from the west coast and Seattle's museum of modern art.


By this time the sun is already on it's way down (which shows how big the park is!) when we stroll past baseball fields and a small wood to the end of the park and head towards the Empire State Building. The queues are immense and we have to walk the final 6 flights of stairs up to the sardine-packed viewing area for sunset. The views are spectacular across the city and the around the island itself. As the sun disappears the lights of the city begin to show yet another classic view of the famous city and we elbow our way to the exit and the bar. At the ground floor of the building is a bar which we dive in to sample some of it's brewed ales. And good they are too, it was just a shame the busy downstairs bar closed at half ten and everyone had to leave or go upstairs, very odd and totally against my European principals! Unfortunately we miss the last bus to New Jersey and have to wait an hour for one from a different firm.
Originally we were staying for only 2 nights but they've now passed and we've not even seen half of what we wanted, looks like we'll have to stay a little longer!

Small state to Empire state

I didn't know which state was the smallest in America, probably because I didn't care, but nonetheless I know it now as we cross the state line from Massachusetts to Rhode Island. It must have taken about 30 minutes to reach the tip of the state and it's main town, Newport, but we do pass through some quaint towns along the way.

Fairhaven is the main town that springs to mind for it's general beauty and sedate nature. It feels like Britain years ago but cleaner and in more of a fantasy reality that never really happened kind of way.
Newport is yet another holiday destination for New Yorkers that houses huge mansions along the sea's rocky cliffs.
Newport is bigger than I initially gave it credit for as we find out from a long walk about town from it's small tree sheltered square. The roads are narrow and winding with a definite Britain feel. The houses are pristine and anything over a hundred years old has a sign attached to an outer wall to tell you that someone of interest lived there once.


Nearer the seafront is a long shopping and bar strip where we wander for a while in the chilling breeze of early evening. It's a weird fact of American towns that we stroll around without seeing more than a handful of people. A town like this would be teeming with life in England but here it looks like a deserted film set or a Walt Disney rendered theme park street.


More colourfully painted wooden houses back on to this row of bars and beyond that and up round the corner are cobbled streets and low lit cafes that lead up to grand mansions and their grounds with high walls to keep out the peasants. You can briefly walk along a narrow cliff path in front of some of these huge manors overlooking the ocean.

This does remind me of the America shown in many films, for this location I suggest some kind of college horror.
Newport is a nice stop-off and if the wind wasn't so unforgiving then the beaches around here would be worth a visit also.
We head back north into Massachusetts and to it's capital, Providence. The town seems decent enough with a youthful college streak but the rain is tipping down so we continue on. The town, or city I should say, of New Haven is next up. I'd heard of New Haven in a Doors song but never really considered why it was mentioned at all. It turns out to be the home of one of America's most famous universities, Yale. I also never realised that New Haven would be so big either. When we saw a handful of skyscrapers looming in the low rain clouds we were surprised. More leafy streets pass by with moderately cool kids hanging around and looking generally dopey. We spot a large student party at a detached house, it looked just like the movies!
We stop off later on in the grim town of Poughkeepsie. Normally we wouldn't bother getting out of town somewhere like this but we did notice that down by the river it wasn't too bad so we went for a walk. Kids and their parents were gathering in a small marquee at one end of the river walk preparing for the Mexican festival 'Cinco de Mayo', The 'Fifth of May' celebrations we find out later aren't really celebrated in Mexico, other than one city, with the common misconception being that this is the date of Mexican independence from Spain. In fact it's the date that the Mexicans defeated the French army, in the Mexican city of Puebla, when they stopped repaying a loan. Even then the French went onto invade and take over Mexico City for a while. Either way adverts for Mexican beer are all over and at least it gives the Mexican Americans a chance to celebrate their homeland. Although it's overcast the large suspension bridge and gathering Mexicans make for a decent walk.


We're right on the cusp of New York State here but visiting the most expensive city in America on the weekend is out of the question for us. Instead we head North West into New York State's lush green area of natural beauty, the Catskill Mountains.
The Catskills are a vast forested and mountainous affair that offer real tranquility in close proximity to New York City. We stay around the region for a couple of days. Starting in thick morning fog we negotiate hairpin bends that lead us into thickly covered green hills. We take a totally unprepared two hour walk up along a trail besides a ledge that looks out over to yet more rolling hills. If only we'd thought of taking some water or food at least.

Curving our way back down a mountain we stop off at a large reservoir that is perfectly still. A few people are strolling along admiring the dam and with good reason, it acts like a mirror beneath the green mountains and moored rowing boats.


A sign adjacent tells us that this in fact used to be the site of two towns before the valley was flooded, unfortunate for the inhabitants no doubt. Hopefully they could swim.


I didn't realise until it came to our attention on the map that this is near Woodstock. Soon we find ourselves passing a welcome sign into the aforementioned town that has made a name for itself by hosting two music festivals, the most famous being the original in the 60's. Although the festival was named Woodstock we hear that the actual farm on which the event took place is some 60 miles away, nowhere near but in American terms that's close! The main street of Woodstock is awash with old leather faced hippies with long, and now grey, hair and tie-dye t-shirts. There are some of the newer age of hippies hanging around and playing guitar. It seems strange after driving around the area and not really seeing much human life, it's been mainly farmland and cows, to suddenly enter a small town with one street and quite a number of people milling around.
We spend another day passing through the odd semi-rural town all wrapped in leafy surrounds. The time has come, we are too close to think about going anywhere else. Only one major destination in America left that I was really looking forward to, New York City.

Cod and chips

Just south of Boston is the small town of Quincy. We'd read that this was a quaint and historical town that is the birthplace and former residence of one of America's revolutionaries, John Quincy Adams.
We stay in what seems to be the only motel within our price range and soon regret it. All the rooms we take a look at have severe mould and/or water damaged ceilings and the receptionist is surrounded by plexi-glass, never a good sign. Still the quaint town we've read about might be lovely. Wrong. I getting tired of the self promotion of places as dire as this. It's just another 'could be anywhere dull' town. But, as it's Laura's birthday we decide to go into a nice looking restaurant, a bit of a feat itself in somewhere like this. The Japanese place was decent enough, although I'm pretty confident that the waitress and kitchen staff were Chinese. We eat huge amounts of sushi from a large boat shaped tray on our table whilst reminiscing about Japan.
We left Quincy's persistent rain the next morning after briefly stopping at the uninteresting home of John Adams.
On the road we stop off for fish and chips in a restaurant on the docks of Plymouth. Not bad either but that wasn't the real reason for stopping off here. Plymouth rock is supposed to be the point at which the Pilgrims first landed from Britain to start a new life. I say 'supposed' because in fact it's all bollocks. There is a rock, and even a replica Mayflower ship, but it was undergoing a make-over for future visitors. We learn that the rock at the landing point in fact was only named the landing spot a hundred years after the landing itself. Then the rock was split in half, half outside the town hall and half at the water's edge. A chisel was kept close by so visitors could knock a bit off for themselves to take home with. And then it turns out that a rock was never mentioned in the early reports of the landing. It goes on. We then discover the pilgrims landed further down the coast at Provincetown first and moved up here later. Even worse was the fact that a village even further down the coast had been inhabited for a year by struggling Brits. So you may come to think what is the point of Plymouth Rock and why is it so well known? I wonder this myself as we get back in the car from the rain and speed away from what is otherwise is a nice looking bay.
A few well dressed towns are passed through before stopping at the largest town on the peninsula named Cape Cod. The land mass is shaped like a muscular arm showing it's strength to the Atlantic. Cape Cod is a a popular holiday vacation area for the surrounding major cities. You can see why as there's 20-odd miles of undeveloped coastline that has been set aside for preservation under the national park scheme. Former president, JFK, designated this area to the national parks service, unsurprising as as he enjoyed many a break there with his family.
The weather has improved, blue skies and sunshine feel the norm here, and it feels good again to get away from a city.
We stroll along reed beds and beside inlets of clear water before it all opens out before us at one of the top 10 beaches in the country. A long undeveloped stretch of clean sand that meets more bluer than blue Atlantic waves. The wind is a bit chilly but that can't take away the beauty of this relatively deserted beach. A rarely seen red and white striped white house sits well back from the shore. I don't know why but I've always had an image of New England's coastline of lighthouses, rugged shorelines and pretty towns. All but the lighthouses is true. It turns out that adjacent to the lighthouse is the point at which the transatlantic telegraph line to Europe was attached. This reduced times of communication with Europe significantly but it didn't last long.
We follow the coast a bit along the road to the tip of the cape at Provincetown. This place is a gay haven, so we've heard, but it's also a rare type of town in the U.S. Narrow, one car-wide, streets weave between quaint buildings that lie metres from the water's edge. It's almost like a fishing town of coastal Britain but with loud fat Americans. It's a bit touristy but it looks nice enough. I keep wondering where the hell all the fish and chip shops are? We're right next to the Atlantic in towns with more fishing boats than cars and still not a chippy in sight. A small town like this has at least 3 pizzerias but not one chippy. There's a bit of an artsy theme going on, some better than others, around the residential streets and the spring scene of blooming cherry blossom trees helps the whole Cape look like colourful painting.
Right on the tip of the cape is a wooden tower that you can climb for great views of the peninsula and back towards Provincetown and it's high granite tower. Apparently, this is the tallest all granite tower in the world, who cares? It was built in tribute to the pilgrims that landed here from jolly England. It wasn't explained why there's a fair smattering of Portugese restaurants and flags dotted about the place.
We move on in search of an elusive portion of fish and chips and strike it lucky with the only place we see on the whole peninsula. There's a definite change in people's accents here. From the generic American accent we hear everyday a slight twang has appeared from Boston to here. The decent bloke in the chippy gives us a large portion to share and insists that our pancake-like fish batter is how they eat it in England, I disagree but it isn't too bad at all. The girl behind the counter then tells us about her fried burger meal that she'd eaten in Newcastle, 'Is that how you eat hamburgers in England?'. Odd.
Cape Cod is a picturesque line of beaches and towns and is worth a visit off-season. I imagine when the summer comes the place is bulging with the many vacationers from the large metropolises nearby. Fishing boats, lighthouses, blue ocean and whiteboard houses. Sounds like a watercolour right there.

Tea, massacres and magnolias

With the state of Maine behind us we enter Massachusetts and it's most famous city, Boston. Images of Boston have beamed through our television for years in the shape of a couple of well known sitcoms, Cheers and Ally McBeal. Other than TV I know that this was the kicking off point of the American revolution and their sporting teams are the Red Sox and the Celtics. The latter being a nod to the Irish contingent who crossed the pond here and now reside in their faux Irish thousands. In fact more Americans now claim to have Irish blood than the actual population of Ireland.
Again our budget is struggling to meet the high prices of a city like Boston so we're forced to stay out of town, luckily it's not too far though. In fact the are in which we stay is a nice neighbourhood, Watertown, which is just a stones throw from the famous Harvard university.
We park up in the leafy, floor filled euro-style streets of the edge of Boston downtown. Tall brick terrace buildings flank the streets upon which fresh colourful flowers in full bloom run the length of the path. It's a picture book scene of spring in an eastern American city.
A large park and gardens dominates the city and makes for more good photos and a pleasant stroll. It's a welcome change to be amongst a park in the centre of a city once again and the surrounding terraces of red brick buildings give the place an air of London. From here it's into the main shopping street and downtown proper. The streets are clean, relatively busy and surprisingly tramp free. The mainly dull shopping area has a sprinkling of older buildings and we have a look for the Boston Massacre site that started the revolution in front of one of the oldest city buildings, but we couldn't find it. Ok, so we try and find the boat that started the Boston tea party from which British India tea was thrown into the water in opposition to a British embargo, but we couldn't find it. Both of these crucial moments in American history aren't signposted and even though included on a map are impossible to find. We end up stumbling upon a rather a fairly lifeless market area that has a great looking colonial building adjacent, Faneuil Hall.

For a time we wondered if this was the massacre site, but it wasn't.
If you're wondering what all this massacre business is all about then I will explain. If you already know then be prepared to be mesmerised by my description of events! Ok, maybe not. The Boston Massacre was influential in America becoming separated from British rule. British soldiers on nightly watch outside the old state house had become points of frustration for the Bostonians and we're a target for venting local grievances about the British taxes and so on. One cold night this abuse escalated into a barrage of thrown items upon the troops along with torrents of abuse. A soldier was knocked to the ground as a crowd gathered taunting the soldiers to fire upon them. The soldiers did and 5 people perished. The soldiers were sent to trail but a Boston lawyer saved them from prison. This lawyer, John Adams, eventually become a leading player in the move to split from British rule and even at the time of the trial his brother, Samuel, was heavily involved in the beginnings of revolution.
We do eventually happen upon the spot of the massacre at a rather overshadowed old state house that's now seems miniature in comparison to the large sky scrapers either side. There's a plaque on the floor that we can't quite see as it's surrounded by construction works and jostling people rushing into the old state house as it's now a tube station. In fact, this pivotal point in American history was almost flattened to build offices but when Chicago offered to buy it, transport it and rebuild it brick by brick the people of Boston held firm and the powers that be just flattened everything around it instead. This is the American way.
It's even more odd that this building came so close to demolition considering that America's first official president, George Washington, was inaugurated and made his first speech here! More of the same continued at the waterfront. The ship, which is depicted on our colourful map, that was the site of the Boston Tea Party was also nowhere to be seen. We heard much later that the ship had actually burned a few years ago and no-one had thought to rebuild it. This again is massively influential in the formation of the United States of America. It was this ship on which the British India Tea Company was transporting it's goods into the harbour. This aggrieved the Bostonians as they were not allowed to import and export goods other than those to the British Empire. The British India Tea Company had been granted sole license to trade. The already annoyed locals decided to board the ship and throw it's cargo into the cool waters below. The captain was apparently covered in hot tar and then stuck with feathers and paraded through the streets. But did we find any of this out in Boston? Nope. I'm sure their museum would've told us but by this point we'd read a fair amount on the subject anyway.
We get one back over the Yanks by getting another parking ticket of which we had no intention of paying, what revolutionaries we are.
Overnight we get some complete lunatics stopping next door to us who drunkenly argue like true demented loons for hours. At one point it even sounded like the woman of the couple was being strangled. You know your motel is going to be a bit dodgy when your room door is metal. Next day we head out tired and grumpy looking for Harvard University. It should be right near our motel and we head glimpsed it the day before. True to form here in Boston, we couldn't find it. It's no wonder though, the road signs here are frankly woeful. They tell you were you want to be going for a couple of miles but when the road splits or comes to a T-junction all the signs disappear and you're left with total guesswork. Invariably the guess is totally wrong and you've wasted 3 and a half hours of your day trying to find something that you weren't really that bothered about seeing in the first place. We do, however, take a stroll around the student town of Cambridge for a short while to see if we stumble upon the University amongst all these students. All we find is our faithful burrito chain, which made us happy enough. The manager of the place chatted to us a bit about his friend from Manchester. 'He still thinks he's in England because he watches football and wants to go out and start a fight.' You can take the man out of Manchester....
Boston, I'm not sure I get it. A couple of days here was enough as all the sights around downtown can be seen in a day and then the next day is spent tooling around the plain neighbourhoods. There are some decent looking buildings, the streets seem clean, the tramp population is minimal but on the whole it's not somewhere I'd recommend. The lack of general life is a failing of America and Boston doesn't escape it. From a place that is home to the American revolution I expected much more in the way of historical interest but it turns out otherwise. It's also bloody cold, the North Atlantic really doesn't take any prisoners here.
And what of the famous Cheers bar? Well, the bar is still the same from the outside but inside it's totally different as the real Cheers was filmed in a set. Some entrepreneurial soul has thought it wise to build a replica of the set over at the market, which is housed in glass through which you can peer inside at what looks nothing like the fabled bar of the 80's sitcom. The disappointment continues. To be honest, there's nothing really to come out of your way to Boston for. If you're in the area then why not but otherwise I can think of at least 10 far better cities off hand.