Two Aussie first-timers in Disney! Lots of photos! NEW- FINAL CHAPTER! - Ch 20, Pg 30

[scottny]

Sounds like a great time in Washington. I have not been there in over 20 years.
Looking forward to seeing how you liked NYC.
Great job on the report.

 

[Marion]

What a great report! It's really nice to hear about famous places and it certainly sounds like you saw a LOT. It's a shame Mr Bush neglected you so badly though... he could have at LEAST had you up for tea when you stopped by his house! Really nice photos too

I'm very much looking forward to seeing New York through your eyes next

 

[Sue88]

As soon as I saw your photo of the Lincoln memorial I thought "That reminds me of Forrest Gump." So don't feel like you are alone about that!

I like those tourist trains too! I went to visit St. Augustine Florida and did the tourist train there with my sister and her kids. It was really fun! We saw many of the oldest buildings in the U.S. St. Augustine is the oldest city in the U.S. and has the oldest house, the oldest school, the oldest general store. It also has the fountain of Youth (but it didn't seem to work on me ) and has a picturesque fort overlooking the water. There is also I nice lighthouse. Lots of museums too.

You both look very cute in your "giggly" photo!

 

[southernbohemian]

This chapter was hilarious! Great writing!

Unfortunately, George W Bush wasn’t there to meet us when we stepped off the plane.

Where is the tag fairy?

By the end of it, we were whispering to each other, “Who voted for him then!?”

They're all here in Texas. Where people obviously don't mind being blatantly manipulated.

Then, instead of going out to a nice bar for some drinks, we went back to our hotel room and watched Beaches on TV. Yep, Beaches.

And you hadn't realized by now that he was going to propose? Your DF really loves you, trust me. My BF really loves me, but if its not sports, he's not watching it.

I’m amazed at how well that photo turned out, because it actually came from me being really brave and sticking my arm through a 10 metre high electric fence, and taking the photo really, really quickly. I didn’t really fancy being shot down that day, so I was quick. I felt so naughty, that afterwards we had to leave straight away, in case one of the zillion security guards confiscated my camera. Heee.

Glad you didn't get deported! Or shot!

Can't wait for the next installment!

 

[lisaj]

Still reading, still loving it.

 

[Marjol]

You really did the same things as we did in Washington!

We also visited the Holocaust Memorial Museum and were very, very impressed. Ofcourse it was awful, but I think you have to see this to understand what was going on back then!

I really loved this part of your trip report and I'm looking forward to your New York report!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I am loving your report! I feel inspired to take an extended vacation to visit all these sites you have gone to. You sound like you are having a lot of fun. What hotel did you stay at in DC? I love Georgetown as well. It is a really relaxed and beautiful town and I would love to stay there when I visit DC again.

 

[Glendamax]

Ok - You've seen more of DC than I have, and I live an hour away. I guess I need to get down there one weekend!

Isnt it weird how the monuments, and the "historical palces" are a bit romantic at night? I thought it was odd that a few of my top romantic dates have been surronded by historical buildings and statues!

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Can't wait to see how you enjoyed New York!

 

[QuirkyButterfly]

You insulted my home, my beautiful Canberra, I am crying (jk) it is a pretty boring place with not much to do. We are moving to Sydney next year so that is going to be a big change. I think most young people move out of Canberra after school is through. I am really enjoying your posts and often wonder how America ever voted in George Bush. I don't think that I will visit Washington I am not interested in Politics at all. I used to work in Parliament House and after standing next to John Howard regularly at the Aussies cafe line politics has lost all of its "glamour". Can't wait to hear more, after watching all of Sex and the City religiously I really want to go to New York.

 

[missmun52]

I am looking forward to hearing about your time in NY. I do understand how you feel about DC as I myslef was a protester at one time. When I was away in school I was on my Student Gov't and we went to protest a cut in the funding for financial AID for New York State which allows many people to be able to go to college.

 

[luvmyboys]

AussieAngel,

First of all, I am LOVING your trippie. It is funny and interesting, but most of all authentic! A lot of the trip reports here are funny and interesting, but also bear the strong smell of L'eau d'Exaggeration, KWIM?

Glad you had such a good time in the US (so far)-- I for one, can't wait to visit Australia!

Can't wait to hear about your proposal-- Niagra falls is such a beautiful place!

 

[hjd0411]

Hello there "AA"! Savannah sounds great - I think I saw a documentary on it some time ago - very "olde worlde".
I visited Washington DC many years ago and really enjoyed it. I was only there for about 2 days and didn't make any of the Smithsonian (except the outside - ) Going to a restaurant in Georgetown was where I saw my first (and only, thank goodness ) police hold-up at gunpoint! Scared the you-know-what out of me, I can tell you!!! Then after the restaurant we had a drive around the monuments at night, like you, and they were beautiful.

Looking forward to hearing more - I loved NYC, too, but again too long ago. I must go back!

Had any decent rain in Melbourne yet? Not a drop up here - everything is dying!!!

Thanks for your report.

Heather

 

[travellovingirl]

Aussie Angel--
I also want to know where you stayed in GTown. I took my family and did not have that much room!!

Been loving your trippie for weeks as a "lurker"... do I recall you are going to Ireland next??? Can't wait!!!!

 

[canes876]

Another lurker here that is a big fan. Love you trippe. and big fan of Australia, lived in Brisbane for 6 months as exchange student. Best time of my life!!!

 

[WDW Fan]

So glad you enjoyed your trip to Savannah and Washington DC. There's just so much sightseeing to do in both places. I love the sightseeing buses in DC too. It's so nice to be able to just hop on and off whenever you want. Looking forward to reading about your impressions of NYC. I live about 40 minutes away from the City and frequently go in to see Broadway shows. It's such an exciting place to be.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Aussie Angel, Thanks for continuing your great trip report with your tour of Savannah and Washington! It is so fun to see it through your eyes as a non-American, though I think we are alot the same! Thanks for taking the time to continue your story! Proposal is coing up we're waiting!

 

[DebIreland]

Great chapter!! Washington sounds like an amazing city. You got to see a LOT!! Wow! Looking forward to seeing how you liked New York. We were there 2 years ago and loved it - can't wait to go back!

Keep up the good work!

 

[AussieAngel]

Hi everybody!!

Whoops, I haven't replied in a little while, sorry!! It's the same old reasons, really! Life's just busy, busy, busy! But who's isn't!? Eeeek, sorry!! But I'm back now, and ready to write the next chapter!!

(If the next chapter isn't up today, it will be tomorrow! I'm having a bit of trouble logging into my PhotoBucket account at the moment for some reason...)

Scutapipig... Yay, you were the first post! You draw the underdog line at Tom Cruise, hehee! I always despised him (except when he was Jerry Maguire, because, you know... he was hot.), but recently I just feel a bit sorry for him! I can't help it. Sad, I know!

LouDisney... Glad you're enjoying the trip report!! You should go visit Washington again, it's nice!

soxnation... Wow, if I lived 5 hours away from NYC I'd be there every second weekend!! Hehee! Lucky thing!!

scottny... I bet Washington has changed in 20 years since you've been there! And yep, my New York chapter will be up very soon!

Marion... I know!! Mr Bush could have invited us around for tea, you're right!! We would have had so much to talk about!! Hehee. Or not.

Sue88... Yay, I'm glad you thought of Forrest Gump in the Lincoln Memorial photo too!! Hehee! St Augustine sounds lovely too... I've heard of it, but don't really know anything about it. And thanks for your nice compliment about our giggly photo!!

southernbohemian... Wow, thanks for your long post! Love it! A few people quietly mentioned to us that the people who vote for Bush all live in Texas, ha! I guess it is a big state...! And aww, no I didn't know DF was going to propose, even when we watched Beaches together!! Silly me!! Hehee!!

lisaj... Hey, thanks for sticking around! Nice to know you're still enjoying it!

Marjol... Funny that we did all the same things in Washington! I guess it's all the "touristy" stuff that most people do! We had fun though!

LifelongDreamer... Ooh, you should definitely do an extended vacation trip!! Yay! In Georgetown, we stayed at the Georgetown Suites, which you can find at www.georgetownsuites.com I think our room was $170 a night, or something like that, but it was huge, and a fantastic location. Plus there was a free Business room, and you could use the computers and internet for free for as long as you like! Great to write emails back home.

Glendamax... Yeah!! I agree with you about the monuments being romantic at night! It all seems quiet and peaceful, and they're all beautifully lit. Nice!!

Quirkybutterfly... Hehee, I'm glad I didn't offend you with my comments about Canberra! We quite liked it really, but it took a long time to get used to! It's so different to anywhere else... and I never really got used to how you had to drive to the next suburb, because they're so far away. I'm used to being squashed in everywhere, in Melbourne! Sydney will be a big change!! Good luck with it!!

missmun52... Ooh, you were a protester! Hehee, good on you! I hope you didn't get whacked with a baton!

luvmyboys... Oooh, "L'eau d'Exaggeration"!! I love it! Glad you're enjoying my report - I've had lots of fun writing it too!!

hjd0411... Wow, I'm glad we didn't see a holdup at gunpoint in Georgetown! Yowza!! Were you hiding under the table!? And since you asked, yep, we had quite a bit of rain last week! Well, it rained for an hour or so - that's considered a lot nowadays!! Hopefully more will come soon!

travellovingirl... Ooh, see above for my Georgetown Suites recommendation! (In my reply to LifelongDreamer.) Glad you're still liking my report! We've still got a few more places to go before we get to Ireland - New York, Toronto, Montreal, and then Ireland! We'll get there soon though!

canes876... Yay for lurkers!! Thanks for stopping by!! Glad you liked Australia when you lived here!

WDW Fan... Wow, you live 40 minutes from New York! I'm so jealous!! And yep, Savannah and Washington were great - lots of sightseeing!!

MAGICFOR2... Hey, glad you're still enjoying the report! And you're right - the proposal isn't too far away!! Only one more city to go! Hehee!

DebIreland... Oooh, I must go and read your most recent update!! I'll be over there in a jiffy! And yes, we did see a lot in Washington! But we also got to sleep in, which was nice!

Okay everybody, thanks so much for all your lovely comments!! It's so nice to hear that people are still enjoying my report! I'm still having fun writing it too!! I'll have the next chapter up very soon!

 

[AussieAngel]

Chapter 17 - New York, New York, it’s a wonderful tooooown….

Well, the big day had finally arrived! No, not Disneyworld. We’ve already done that. This was the day we were heading to New York City! Weeeee! When we first planned our trip, the first place we knew we wanted to visit in America was New York. We’d just heard so many great stories about it being such an exciting place, and it’s… New York!! The place everybody heard so much about after 9/11, and the place of a trillion movies and tv shows – who wouldn’t want to go and visit!?

Plus, may I say… Sex and the City. I know it might be a bit sad that I love that show so much, but I do. I really do. And they just make New York sound so fun and fabulous! So… we were going! For 5 nights – the longest we were anywhere, apart from Disney.

Now, our flight from Washington to New York. Our flight was nasty. Nasty with a capital N. Let’s just say, disaster after disaster occurred, and we were meant to arrive in New York at 1.50pm, but after a 5 hour delay at the Washington airport, we eventually arrived at 6.50. Did I say it was Nasty? Yowza. We actually could have dealt with that, if the other passengers on our flight could have relaxed just a wee bit. They were kicking trash cans. They were punching walls. They were screaming at United employees. They were swearing at anybody who looked at them. NASTY. At one stage, DF and I were seriously considering just walking away from that flight and booking ourselves on another one the next day, because we were seriously getting scared of the other passengers. I mean, I know it’s awful to be delayed, but it’s also awful to kick and punch and swear and scream when there’s nothing anybody can do about it. Anyway, let’s not dwell on the flight, because it really was awful. And what made it even worse was that we could have very easily caught a train to New York, which leaves every hour on the hour from Washington, and only takes about 90 minutes. Grrrrr.

ANYWAY!! We eventually arrived in New York!! I don’t think I’ve ever breathed a bigger sigh of relief. Bad, bad passengers. But we were in New York! Yahooooo! We caught a cab from the airport into the city, because we were exhausted, and also because we had no idea where to go. Can I just say… how exciting is it, to drive into New York for the first time ever!? All of a sudden you’re literally in the middle of the busiest city in the world. And wow, did we hold onto our seatbelts! Eeeek!

While we were in New York, guess who else was in New York? Yep, our dear friend – George W Bush! No, he still hadn’t come to say hi to us… he was in town for the big UN conference, or something or other. Which didn’t mean much really, except that apparently the city was much busier than normal, because so many streets were blocked off. Okay!!

And so, we arrived at our hotel at around 8 oclock. What was our hotel like, I hear you ask? Hmmm. Imagine, if you will, the smallest, dingiest, darkest, noisiest little room from typical 80’s movies set in New York, and that was our room. Let’s just say we left the chain on our door at all times. It grew on us though, really! And how we chuckled when we realised that the room actually used to be an apartment! Someone actually used to live in that teeny, tiny room!! And pay squillions for it! Hehehee. But that being said, it was in an amazing location. It was a block away from the Rockefeller Center, and just around the corner from Broadway. We really couldn’t have asked for a better location. And after all, it was New York! Who wants to sit around their hotel room!?

So we threw our stuff in our room, and headed next door to a fantastic little Italian restaurant, where we had the best pasta, and coconut ice-cream in the world! And guess what else!!! Two people walked in 10 minutes after us… and we knew them!! They were two people from our Nasty plane!! WOW!! Seriously, what are the odds!? In the biggest city, to run into people from the same flight, in the same restaurant, at the same time!? I just couldn’t help it – I ran up to them and said, “HI!!” They knew me straight away – we had, after all, been sitting in the same waiting area for 5 hours – and we had a big chat about the horror that was our plane flight. Wow! I still find that story amazing.

Anyway, that night we just couldn’t help ourselves – we went for a walk to Broadway. And we loved it. Just walking around in that city is so entertaining and fun. We could have done nothing else for 5 days and we would have had a great time. Hehee. We popped into the fabulous Hershey’s store, and loaded up on Peanut Butter Cups, and also, guess what else! (I keep saying that, I know!) We found a gourmet popcorn store, and yes, they had cheese popcorn!! Awesome!! I bought a big bag, and we headed back to our scary hotel room for the night.

Now, I’m at a bit of a loss of how to write the rest of my report about New York. I could go the normal route and say, “And then we did this… And then we went here…” But I feel like that wouldn’t do our time in New York justice. Because we did see and do a lot, but it wasn’t really about that! You know that old saying that in 20 years, you won’t remember a person for what they said or did, but you’ll remember them for how they made you feel? Well, New York is like that.

New York FEELS exciting. We walked around, and we FELT like we were in the busiest, most fun, fabulous city on earth. And I know I sound corny, but I really think it is the best city ever. I live in Melbourne, and I love Melbourne, but New York is the BEST! We loved LA as well, but New York was just brilliant. You might have noticed from my reports in other cities, that I’m big on thinking about the vibe of a city. San Francisco had a cruisey, relaxed vibe. LA felt fun and airy and light. Savannah felt slow and cosy. Washington felt tense but still nice. And New York? New York feels ALIVE.

After my first day there, I knew why the Sex and the City people said New York was another character of their show. Because it feels like another character, as you walk around the streets. There’s something really going on there. And jumping ahead a bit, when we left New York and arrived in Toronto, I felt seriously homesick. And I felt sad in the pit of my stomach, like I’d left a friend behind who I wouldn’t see again for a long time. I know that’s weird because we were only there for 5 nights, but seriously! It’s officially my favourite city, ever.

Okay, little rant over!!

So what did we do in New York!? Well the first day, we explored! We walked around blocks and streets and had no idea where we were, and shopped, and ate, and drank, and had a lovely, relaxing day! We looked in book stores, and bought wholesome American clothes at GAP and Abercrombie & Fitch, and ate at TGI Friday’s! We were in America, why not!?

I really can’t remember what happened that night. Hmm. But never mind, because the next day, we went on the double decker touristy red bus! Wooo! If you read my Washington chapter, you’ll know I love those buses. I just love being a tourist! And this bus was a great one – for $70, you get to ride the buses for 48 hours, plus a free night tour, plus entry to the Empire State Building, plus a trip on the ferry to the Statue of Liberty! Yay!

Except we were a bit bad, because when we were driving through the streets of New York, we were both looking around and taking everything in, in so much detail, that we forgot to take photos of a lot of it! There weren’t as many “landmarks” as in Washington I guess – but we enjoyed traveling through the different areas of New York – Chinatown, SoHo, Downtown, Uptown, etc, and taking it all in. One of my favourite things about traveling around New York was when someone saw a one-storey building. There’d be a scream of excitement, followed by, “Hey! I spotted one! There’s a one-storey building!!” because they are very few and far between! They’ve all been knocked down to build high rises. The design of the city is amazing.

Of course, we did catch this little landmark…

The Empire State Building! Aww, we were definitely in New York! We waited in long lines to head right up the top and look-out over New York, which was fantastic, except we realised we probably should have gone up another building, so we could see the Empire State Building. Because once we got up there, we really didn’t know any other buildings! Except the Chrysler Building, and Central Park. But here we are up the top, in the wind! Yay!

We also hopped off the bus at Ground Zero, where the World Trade Center used to be, and really, it’s a big construction site surrounded by fences and lots of people. But still, the size of the area was overwhelming. It will be nice when they eventually have a the new Freedom Tower up. We popped into the little makeshift 9/11 museum which is next door, which was only little, but still very moving and emotional.

And then, it was on to the Statue of Liberty! We caught the ferry over to the island, hopped off, walked around the statue, took some photos, then hopped back on the ferry! If you want tickets to go up the Statue, apparently you have to be there first thing in the morning. So we missed out on that, but never mind. It was nice to see it anyway. Here’s DF on the ferry, with the Statue of Liberty in the background!

This chapter is going forever, I think I’m going to start a new chapter, to break things up a bit! Back in a sec!

 

[AussieAngel]

Chapter 17 continued… Still in New York!

So after a big day exploring the sites, we had a little break in the afternoon, then jumped back on the bus at night, for our night tour! This wasn’t a hop on / hop off tour – you just stayed on the bus and drove around for 2 hours – which was actually really fun! It was lovely to see New York in the night, without having to walk around and get lost! We stayed sitting up the top of the bus, which was freeeezing. It was mid September, and it was starting to get cold in New York. Here we are, up the top of the bus, wearing our hoods! Ha! Nerds!

We may or may not have bought some cheese popcorn on the way home to our hotel that night.

The next day was one of my favourite days ever. Not just on our trip – ever! Oooh, big call! I know! We continued on our 48 hour bus tour, and this time headed straight to Central Park. It was a sunny, beautiful, warm day in New York – not a cloud in the sky! Perfect for walking around New York, and perfect for… rowing a little boat around the Central Park lake!

Yep, we hired a cute little row boat and rowed around for an hour! Awww! So romantic and sweet! Except that DF kept growling at me every time I wobbled the boat to make him nervous. Hehee. He’s told me recently that he wishes he had have had the engagement ring with him then, because it would have been the perfect romantic moment, but nope! Never mind! Heee! Here I am, pretending to row the boat, because actually, we were positioned in a way that DF had to do all the work!

After our row, we chilled out in Central Park, bought an ice-cream, and went for an explore. We could have played in Central Park all day! It really is amazing! One of our favourite parts was ‘Strawberry Fields’ – the tribute garden to John Lennon. Here’s the central part of the garden – somebody had put a peace sign made of roses around the edge, which I thought was beautiful…

We sat on a park bench for a while in Strawberry Fields, which had an official plaque on it. I can’t remember whose name it was, but the engraving said, “To (somebody), who always enjoyed a rest on a good park bench.” I just thought that was so sweet, and I wish I had have taken a photo of it! I wonder if anyone else knows what I’m talking about?!

Ahh, Central Park was so lovely! It set the mood perfectly for a relaxed, fun day in New York. If we had more time, we would have really liked to do a walking tour of Central Park, to see more. Oh well – next time!!

Next up, we popped into FAO Schwarz – a huge big toy store! And you know it – it’s the one in Big, where Tom Hanks plays the piano on the ground! And so… yep!! I played the piano on the ground!! Weeee!

We hopped back on the bus after that, and stayed on it for a while, so we could see Brooklyn and The Bronx – or are they the same place? Hmmm. Anyway, we saw lots of places!! And well… let’s just say we were thankful when we entered New York City again. Hehee.

Now, the next night, we had tickets to go see RENT, the musical, on Broadway. Weeee! I just adore Rent, and could quote it word by word. So I was very excited about going to see that the next night. Except at around 5pm that day, after our fantastic sight-seeing day, I said to DF, “Hmm, I wonder if we could get last minute cheap tickets to a show for tonight too!?” and to my surprise, he agreed! I told you it was a great day!! We went back to our hotel and had a quick look at the Broadway brochures we had, and decided to go see Beauty & The Beast. You know you love it, it’s Disney!!! Beauty & the Beast is my other favourite musical, apart from Rent! I was lucky enough to see it 3 times in Melbourne, when Hugh Jackman played Gaston! Weeee!

So anyway, we ran next door to our favourite little Italian restaurant, gobbled down another delicious dinner, then skipped to Broadway, and the Beauty & the Beast theatre! Oooh! We lined up at the ticket booth… and yes! They had last minute tickets! Yahooooo! We ended up getting fabulous seats for around $40 each – bargain!! So we had a lovely night at the theatre, to end our fabulously lovely day in New York!!

Oh boy, this New York chapter is going on forever!

The next day was our final full day in New York, and we spent it on a “Movie and TV Show Tour”! Hehehee! It was actually one of our favourite tours of our whole trip. The tour guide was fabulous, and the bus was equipped with little tv screens in front of you, so when you passed a place from a movie, the scene from the movie would appear on the screen! Hehee! Along the way, the tour guide asked quiz questions about movies and tv shows which were filmed in New York (like Friends, Sex & the City, Seinfeld…), and if you answered the question first, you got a free lollipop. Let’s just say, DF and I ended up with about 18 lollipops! Heee!

Here’s the Friends’ apartment building, hehee!

We also saw the Ghostbuster’s fire house, the cupcake shop where the Sex & the City girls buy cupcakes, the Cosby Show’s front steps, Will & Grace’s apartment building, the Soup Nazi shop… and squillions more places that I can’t remember right now. But seriously, do the tour if you’re in New York! It’s great fun!!

That afternoon we did some more shopping, buying tourist presents for family back home, and none for ourselves. Whoops! And that night we went to Rent! Yayyyyy! Except, I didn’t love it. DF thought it was okay, but I was a bit disappointed with the actors. They just seemed lazy and just… not very good! Ahh, well.

Afterwards, we had our final walk down Broadway. We popped back into the Hershey’s store and stocked up, then of course, bought some more cheese popcorn! My last cheese popcorn, actually! I haven’t had any since then! Oh dear!! Here’s DF on Broadway on our final night…

And so that, my friends, was our New York trip. Phew! Are you glad it’s finally over!? I certainly wasn’t! I so didn’t want to leave! On our leaving day, I was already planning our trip back. We were there for 5 nights, and we really didn’t scratch the surface of things to see and do.

And also, what made things even sadder was that we were leaving the United States! We were heading from New York to Toronto, Canada, which I know is really exciting, but this was always our “America” trip, so we felt sad that that the majority of our trip was over!

I can’t tell you how much I loved New York. DF loved it too, but probably not as much as I did. It just clicked with me, in a way that no other place ever has! And I wanna go back!! I wanna go back now! But you know what? To get to Orlando from Australia, you have to go stop at either the Los Angeles airport, or New York. Hmmm. The little wheels in my head are already in motion. Maybe next year? Maybe New York for 5 nights, followed by Disney for 10 nights? Hehee.

Next up… Toronto, Niagara Falls, and a special proposal! Hehee!