NEW YORK

I was so glad that Mum had been able to meet Fiona and Bob and really wanted her to meet Sybil too. So she came to New York for the day with Julia and Rose and Sybil’s sister Judy met us there too (she lives in Brooklyn so is not too far away). We headed down to Chinatown where we had planned to meet and the ladies had a look around the shops there while we waited.
And we had a Starbucks pitstop.
I know you might be thinking I should branch out from Starbucks but not every coffee shop does caramel lattes and the normal coffee here is kind of blah. Like the chocolate - very strong and bitter.
So anyway we had a lovely day wandering around Chinatown after a huge lunch at a restaurant that Sybil, Fiona and I had been to before. We were at a shop looking at scarves (well Sybil and Mum were) and inside was the cutest little girl. She must have been about two years old and was singing what sounded like “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”. It was hard to tell. Either she couldn’t talk very well because she was so little or she was singing it in Chinese. Either way Mum worked out the tune and started singing along with her and she just loved it. And then kept wanting it to do it over and over (as two year olds do) and we would clap at the end with her. It was sooooo cute! Check out the video - although you can’t hear her that well because we were all singing along and we kind of overpowered her a bit. And for some reason the camera stopped filming before the end but by the time I got around to videoing it (once I realised she wanted to sing it again and again) she had picked up some of the words. Smart little girl!
Although we had eaten heaps at lunch we finished off with coffee and canola in Little Italy.
Yum!

NEW YORK

We had done most of the touristy things that the ladies wanted to see and they were keen to go shopping. I know we had already done a bit here and there but they just wanted to shop for the day and have a look at all the posh places on 5th Avenue. They don’t have Boxing Day here (we got that from the Poms) but they still have after Christmas sales so the shops were kind of busy. It didn’t deter us (well it didn’t deter them). We went to shops like FAO Schwarz, Tiffany’s (Mum wanted to know why you couldn’t see the prices and I told her they probably think that if you have to ask how much something is, then you can’t afford to shop there), Macys, Bloomingdales and Sax just to mention a few. We have had some glorious weather with blue skies, despite the cold, but today just rained and rained and rained. You think that would put them off shopping. But. No.
And I bought some more jewellery.
I know, I know. I am mental. But one thing was a present and the other was a pair of earrings I had being looking for to match a necklace I bought when I was with Nicola. I bought them in the Trump Tower (as in Donald Trump/The Apprentice) where we had gone to have lunch at yet another Starbucks. They were 80% off and a huge bargain!
We had planned to meet up with Fiona and Bob for dinner so we jumped on the subway (I am now very fluent in subway) and headed down to their apartment in Greenwich Village. It was great for Mum to be able to meet some of the people who have been so wonderful to me and that she has heard so much about.

NEW YORK

Christmas day in New York! I can’t quite believe it’s Christmas already (I feel like that every year - seriously we should have it every two years) and being here it definitely doesn’t feel like it. But I’m not complaining - it’s what I wanted. To be somewhere completely different for Christmas that was completely removed from all my other Christmases. And it was - apart from having my Mum here which was just fantastic (that’s one of the bits of Christmas I am more than happy hasn’t changed). And I was so excited to not only be somewhere different but to also have a white Christmas. Well technically it isn’t because it isn’t snowing but there is still lots of snow everywhere so it kind of feels like a white one.
We had a lazing morning (again I hear you say) and the three of us shared some lovely presents (Mrs. W had brought me some shortbread from home - soooooo exciting - she knows me well) and eventually made our way out into the cold to go out for lunch. I had booked us into the Rock Centre Café which is the restaurant at Rockefeller Centre that looks out onto the ice skating rink and where they have the big Christmas tree that they light up each year (kind of like the tree in Frankston only much better). Lunch was three courses and each course you had a bunch of choices. There was way too much food but it all tasted delicious. We each chose a separate dessert and then had some of each - smart thinking, I know.
We were completely stuffed from lunch so we spent the rest of the afternoon walking it off, watching people ice skate, taking photos and of course………shopping. I actually bought myself some MORE jewellery. I have never had so much in my life. I'll have to make myself wear it otherwise what was the point of buying it?
We stopped in at Starbucks again (it was getting cold) and because we were still full from lunch a latte was our dinner. While I was lining up to get them the ladies started chatting to a man who appears to be the first American who picked us as being Aussies rather than Poms!
After Starbucks we walked down to Radio City where I had booked us tickets to see The Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. The Rockettes are a New York City icon and while they have had their time of being a bit “out”’ they have made a come back in recent years. The theatre is huge and is a great example of some beautiful art deco work and the show was great! I enjoyed it a lot more than The Lion King and the ladies thought it was wonderful. We had fantastic tickets (thanks to moi) that were ten rows from the front! So all in all it was a great Christmas Day.
Oh yeah - we did manage to call home and talk to all the family.
Actually that was yesterday. We had to call here on Christmas Eve for it to be Christmas Day at home.

NEW YORK

You'll be surprised to know that our next day started with another sleep in. Well not surprised that I did but definitely that Mum and Mrs.Winrow did. I’m talking 9am before we even woke up let alone got out of bed. Not a big thing for me but definitely for them - they couldn’t quite believe it.
We started the day (even though it was the middle of the morning and not the start of the day) with a visit to the Empire State building (and dropping into a few shops on the way). There was a bit of a queue to get up to the viewing area but not too bad. I guess the cold weather helped and maybe the fact it was Christmas Eve. Security to get in was kind of like going to the airport and once we got through the check point we were amazed to see a young guy with a cap on that had Taliban written on it. I know it’s just a cap but still, we’re in the U.S. We didn’t expect to see that and were surprised he got through as they can be pretty strict when it comes to security at National monuments.
Anyway the view was absolutely amazing but very, very cold!
So a trip to Starbucks was in order. Skinny caramel latte’s all round - not to mention the chance to use the internet (the hoity, toity hotel we are staying at charges, naturally).
The ladies (sounds really posh that word but it’s shorter than saying Mum and Mrs. Winrow all the time - except for this time) wanted to take a horse and buggy ride through Central Park in the snow. It wasn’t snowing (tricky to organise that) but there was still plenty of snow around from the previous week. The driver thought we were English (again with that) which surprised me because he had an Irish accent so I thought he would have a better chance of getting it right. Anyway the ride was lovely but over too quickly.
We decided to stay in for the night and I spent the time doing my feet. I had bought one of those Pedi eggs and scraped and filed away until my feet were silky smooth! Add some moisturiser and they felt absolutely glorious.
Pretty exciting huh?

NEW YORK

So I guess you may have read about or heard about the massive winter storms that have been making their way across the U.S. causing huge travel delays. We were kind of worried that we wouldn’t be able to get New York but luckily we did. Actually we had a tail wind and landed earlier than planned, to the white winter wonderland that New York has become since I was here last.
Our first full day in NYC we slept in. You know, to get over our jetlag from the three hour time difference from the west coast. Then we made our way downtown to Battery Park and caught the ferry over to Liberty Island to see the Statue of Liberty. Despite the fact that it was freezing cold (it was so cold that I couldn’t feel my toes) there were still quite a lot of people visiting the famous lady. And boy is she big close up. We then jumped back on the ferry (well not literally) and headed over to Ellis Island. This is where, for many years, immigrants came to be processed before they were granted entry into the United States. We did an audio tour here (actually we did one at the Statue of Liberty too but I couldn’t concentrate because it was so cold) which was great. Sometimes those things can be a bit stupid but it was great here (like at Alcatraz) as you got a lot more information than if all you did was read all the info they put up at each display. They even had people talking that actually came through Ellis Island.

The other really good thing was that it was all inside and my feet defrosted.

While we waited for the ferry to take us back to Battery Park the lady in the line behind us (who, like nearly every American I have spoken to, thought we were English - what is wrong with these people? Maybe it's because we say "pardon" like the English instead of "what") asked us what on earth we were doing here in the middle of winter when it was summer back at home.
Interestingly I found out that over here their seasons start on the 21st of the month. While it might be summer at home, it started on the first of December but here winter didn’t actually start until the 21st of December. Although it certainly felt like it started before that.
Once back at the park we headed to Times Square (via Ground Zero, although you can't see much because the area they are working in is all fenced off) because we had tickets to The Lion King and while we waited stopped off in a few shops (naturally - I’m with my Mum after all) and had dinner at Appleby’s. It’s a chain restaurant and you can find them all over the U.S. You’d think they would be the same price and have the same deals everywhere. But no. In other parts of the country you can have an appetiser and two entrees (that’s what the American’s call a main - I have no idea why when most of the rest of the world know that entrée is first) for $20 but not in New York City. We had one appetiser and one entrée plus a soft drink and two wines and it came to about $78. Admittedly that included tax and tip and the appetiser was a platter (so bigger than the average appetiser) but still………..it seems unfair to charge so much more because it’s New York.

We enjoyed the Lion King and had great seats. I saw it in London about nine years ago and it was pretty much the same. It was a good show but it's not my favorite - I actually enjoy the Disney movie more than the live show althought the costumes are absolutely amazing.

CALIFORNIA - SAN FRANCISCO

The day after Mum and Mrs. Winrow got here, Belinda flew back home. So while they went out for their first day of sightseeing, I hung out with Belle until she left for the airport and then went to the laundromat. Which was very exciting. Not.
The next day while Mum and Mrs. W. checked out a bit more of San Fran, I went to the Half The Sky ( www.halfthesky.org ) office to volunteer for the day. Half The Sky is the organization that I volunteered in China with in 2007 as part of a work crew in an orphanage. Their head office is based in Berkeley which is not far from San Fran. Well not far if you are driving but about an hour an a quarter on public transport. Which is how I got there. First I had to walk to the bus (some “dude” tried to get me to “throw” him my number so he could “show me” around next time I was in town - never going to happen), then a bus ride, next was a short walk to the BART station where I took a train that goes under the water (Berkeley is over in the Bay area) and then another bus and another short walk. I must say I was impressed with myself and hopefully Sarah and Paul are giving me a round of applause as they read this.
Berkeley is a lovely town near the water and the shopping area kind of reminds me of Brighton. Lots of really nice, expensive shops.
I spent the day printing labels and cards for people who have made a donation on behalf of someone else for Christmas or other special occasions. They tend to be pretty busy just before Christmas (not to mention the fact that they recently moved offices) so even though I was only able to go for one day - I hope that I helped out.
Giving a donation in honour of someone, instead of giving them a present that they probably don’t want or need is a fantastic way of giving something to help others. Think about it next time you struggle to buy something for family or friends. And then do it before you buy something just for the sake of buying something.

At the end of the day we met up at Union Square and went on cable car ride up and down the steep streets that San Francisco is famous for.

CALIFORNIA - SAN FRANCISCO

Today was kind of a slack day. We wandered around a few shops and then took another bus tour. It was part of the ticket we bought yesterday but this time we went on the park loop. It was a bit more of an architectural tour and we got to see some lovely old Victorian houses. There is a particular part where there is a row of gorgeous Victorian houses called the Painted Ladies. If you think the photo of these (the one of the row of houses with the park in front) looks familiar, then you're right. Especially if you were a fan of the comedy from years ago called "Full House." Which I was. These houses are from the opening and closing credits.

Lesson for the day - painted ladies is a term used for Victorian and Edwardian houses painted in three or more colours.

Excitement for the day - my Mum is here!!!!!!

CALIFORNIA - SAN FRANCISCO

Today is Belinda's birthday.

Well here in the U.S. it is. In Australia it was yesterday. Two days of birthday - not bad!

We took a bus tour today. It's one of those ones where you can buy a ticket for two days and then get on and off as you like. We took half of the city tour and then got off at Pier 33 to go over to Alcatraz. In case you didn't know it's the prison that is out on an island (a big rock actually) that closed down years ago and now you can tour it. We took the ferry over and then the long walk to get to the main building where you can take an audio tour. It takes you through the prison and the audio is done by ex inmates and officers. The freaky thing is, that the wives and children of the officers that worked there, lived on the island as well. Not keen on that idea.

After Alcatraz we got back on the bus (after waiting around for half an hour as we missed getting back on when we wanted to and they only come around every half hour) and finished the city tour. We decided to go to the movies for Belle's birthday and she wanted to see "Did you hear about the Morgan's?" It came out today but apparently it has already been released at home which is kind of weird. I always thought all movies came out here first. Maybe they used us as guinea pigs - the test audience? It was an okay movie. Kind of what you expect from that sort of movie where you know there's going to be a completely unrealistic happily ever after ending.

Did that sound a bit cynical?

CALIFORNIA - SAN FRANCISCO

Our first full day in San Fran turned out to have lovely blue skies which was great. We walked down to Union Square, which is the heart of downtown (well that's how it appears to me), shopped a bit and checked out the ice skating rink (didn't skate but wait till I get back to NY) and the Christmas tree.

We decided to see a show while we were here so we booked tickets for Wicked. I had seen it in Melbourne but Belle missed it and there wasn't anything else we wanted to see. I had enjoyed it so much the first time (thanks to my spa buddy surprising Joyce and I with tickets - fantastic ones at that) that I was happy to see it again. So we made our way to the theatre district to buy them and then jumped on a cable car and headed down to Fisherman's Wharf. I am pretty sure that the cable cars are the same thing as the trams we have because they have one here that is from Melbourne. In fact they have them from all over the U.S. and different parts of the world.

Fisherman's wharf was pretty cool. Very touristy but not mega tacky. Just very coastal and sea sidey. We found a fun shop for left handed people whose catch phrase was something like "I made be a lefty but I'm always right." Well I don't know about that (mostly because I'm not left handed of course) but apparently left handed people are meant to use the creative side of their brain more, hence lots of artistic people are left handed.

At least that's what I read in Oprah's magazine.

After the wharf we headed back to our local (the bar/pub/restaurant next to our hotel that we love) for dinner and then headed off to the theatre. The hotel called a taxi for us but it took so long getting there that we just hailed one. We got one of those drivers that drives like a maniac and talked non-stop the whole way. Luckily for us it wasn't too far. I mean don't you hate that? You want to be polite but you don't want a full blown conversation with the guy. Plus he had an accent so he was hard to understand and I think he thought we were stupid because we couldn't work out what he was talking about. Eventually I realised he wanted to know what the work irk meant. English wasn't his first language (hence the accent) and I have no idea why he wanted to know what that meant - maybe he was just trying to expand his vocab.

Anyway the show was great (I think Melbourne was better - maybe because I had a better seat and the theatre at home was bigger and so the whole thing seemed larger and grander) but we had to walk a bit before I managed to grab a taxi after the show. This time it was a dodgy old car and the driver locked all the doors once we got in. Bit disconcerting. But then maybe it was to protect us from other people jumping in. Well that's what I told myself. The good news is that we got back safe and sound despite the dodginess of the car and the door locking.

Obviously, otherwise I probably wouldn't be typing this.

And you wouldn't be reading it.

CALIFORNIA - SAN FRANCISCO

After leaving L.A. and Malibu behind we stayed the night in a place called Grover Beach and the next day drove to San Jose (pronounced San Hosay). We went to Macy's and I picked up my favorite Clinique mascara at a great price ($14 each - normally $36 at home) plus I got a free one for buying two. You've got to be happy with that! We did a little bit more shopping and then that was it for the day. After staying the night in San Jose we made the short drive the next morning to Berkeley so I could drop by the Half The Sky office (I volunteered with them in China in 2007) and then to Emeryville to visit the Pixar Studios. Pixar made movies such as Toy Story and Finding Nemo and Belle was really hoping we could go in (even though we knew we couldn't) but a photo out the front was all we could do.

It was our last day with the car so before we dropped it off at the airport we drove over the Golden Gate Bridge and back. The weather was pretty crappy as you can see from the photos but it was still cool to go over. Then it was off to the hotel to drop our bags off and then the airport to drop off the car. I drove about 3000 miles on this road trip (I forgot to check the distance when I got out of the car but had been watching as I drove so 3000 is a pretty good estimate). So all in all I have driven approximately 14,400 miles across America in my three road trips. I have to say I'm pretty darn impressed with that and it doesn't even include the two weeks I drove around the east coast of Canada. I'm so used to driving on the wrong side of the road in the wrong side of the car now that it will be interesting to see how I go when I get home.

The other thing I wanted to mention is that of all the places I have driven over here, San Francisco (or more acurately, the Bay area) has been the most difficult. There are so many over passes and twists and turns that even with Shelia, I made more wrong turns here than anywhere else - even L.A. was easier. Poor Sheila was going crazy re-routing every five minutes!

CALIFORNIA - LOS ANGELES, BEVERLY HILLS, VENICE BEACH, MALIBU

Today instead of getting on a tour to see the sights, we decided to do our own.

The Tracey and Belle tour of L.A. At no cost - apart from petrol.

Technically it should be named Shelia's L.A. Tour because if it wasn't for her (the gps, remember?) we wouldn't have been able to do it.

Anyway we started out going past the Walt Disney Concert Hall which was designed by Frank Gehry. You may have heard of him - well probably not unless you're into architecture. But as well as the concert hall and other stuff, he has been doing a lot to revitalise downtown Los Angeles which in the past has had a reputation for being a bit scuzzy.

At least that's what the LPG says. Not having been there before I can't really say for sure. But with most things the LPG has been pretty spot on.

Anyway as you can see it's an amazing building. If you like that kind of look. Which I do.

Our next stop was Rodeo Drive. The shopping part is not actually that large but it's definitely very hoity toity. No stars in sight though.

We also drove around Beverly Hills - lots of money there. Belle wants to live there. It was nice to see a place where all the houses are unique and individual (lots of developments in America where all the houses are pretty much the same with the same colour scheme).

I wanted to drive past a few of the major studios and we found Paramount pretty easily. But do you think I could find Fox Studios where my buddies from Bones film?

Nope.

Well we found the general area and what we think was the entry to the carpark but that was it. Bit disappointing.

For me, not Belle.

I had heard a lot about Venice Beach so after getting over not finding Fox (well sort of getting over it) we headed on down there. It was kind of dodgy but I can see that in summer it would be a place full of people and lots of entertainment. We should have gone to Santa Monica beach - I think it's the posh one.

Our last place for the day was Malibu and here too there is lots of money. A lot of the houses are accessed from private roads so we just drove along the coast road and got an overview of the whole thing. It was a nice drive actually. Much better than the boring drive on the interstate we usually have when driving to our next stop.

CALIFORNIA - UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

Today was another touristy (some might say tacky - it really depends what you're into) day for us in the land of make believe we know as Hollywood. Today, we went to Universal Studios. Luckily for us the weather held out and although there were some dark clouds as the day wore on, the sun still shone and there was not a drop of rain.

As it's winter the place was not packed which was great for lining up for everything. The longest we had to wait was about ten minutes and often we could just walk straight in. One of the first things we did was the Studio tour. You sit in a tram type bus type thing that drives you around the sound stages and outdoor sets with a tour guide giving commentary along with showing videos about what movies were done at particular sets. A lot of them are recognisable but close up they do lose a bit of the magic because they don't look as good in real life. But that could be because they are not all being used and so aren't 'dressed'. We went down Wysteria Lane (from Desperate Housewives) and that looked great as it was all set up. We were at the studios on the weekend which is kind of good but also kind of bad. If it was a weekday we might have seen some stars there filming but if they were using particular sets (like Wysteria Lane) we wouldn't have been able to look at that if it wasn't the weekend.

There were lots of other great things to see such as special effects and a show with animals from the movies (which was super cute), not to mention the shops.

One really odd thing we saw (and I'm pretty sure they weren't meant to be there) were deer. Yes deer. Three deer randomly walking along one of the roads of the back lots that we had taken on the studio tour. Very bizarre.

The food left a lot to be desired but then that's to be expected at this kind of place.

All in all a fun day was had by all.

Just trying to see how many times I could fit the word 'all' in a sentence.

CALIFORNIA - HOLLYWOOD

Why is it that we get to sunny California................and it's raining. I mean what's the story with that? Not happy Jan!

Anyway we slept in this morning and as it was raining it's head off outside, were thinking about lazing around all day. But around lunchtime we thought we may as well go out if only just to drive around and have a look. So we drove through the rain to Hollywood Boulevard and checked out the Hollywood walk of fame. The street was fairly busy considering the weather and there were tons of street performers dressed up, walking the streets. The idea being that you have your photo with them and they earn tips.

We passed on that.

What we did decide to do was go to Madame Tussauds wax museum. Belinda would have you believe that we actually met a whole bunch of celebs. But really what are the chances that we ran into Uma Thurman and she held a knife (a really big one) to my throat?

ARIZONA - SCOTTSDALE

After Roswell the plan was to drive to Tuscon in Arizona.

Which we did.

The rest of the plan was to go to the Presidio Historical District as the LPG recommended it as worth seeing for the 19th century buildings and craft stores.

Which we didn't.

Well actually we did. What I mean is we went there and drove around the area the LPG talked about but it wasn't even worth getting out of the car for. We saw maybe one old building and definitely no craft stores.

So we went but we didn't, if you know what I mean.

This just meant that we got to Scottsdale a bit earlier and had more time to relax in the room.

I jumped on the treadmill again but was uninspired as the two hours of Bones that is usually on at that time (and keeps me in the fitness room longer) wasn't on!!!!!!! Very disappointing I can tell you. Law and Order was on instead. Not really into that show anymore although later in the night there was an old episode with Emily Deschanel (Bones) in it.

Despite that disappointment I did get to watch the Christmas episode of Bones, so that made up for it.

Seeing as how this blog is about my travels and not Bones (although I realise this post may sound otherwise) I should get back to that.

So we stayed in Scottsdale the night and got up early to visit Taliesin West. You may remember that when I was in Wisconsin with Nicola we visited Taliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright's school/home. Well this one is where he lived in the winter months. And the architectural school does the same thing. Half the year in Wisconsin and the other half in Arizona. Anyway it was a great tour and the buildings were amazing. I won't go on about it because most people won't find it that interesting (unlike all my other posts which obviously are) but you can see for yourself in the photos.