Week 2 - St John's Newfoundland, New York

Just looking back so realise I've  'done' Iceland twice! I was really tired the first time so a bit more detail the 2nd!

St Johns wonderful. We came in through very narrow entrance into bay, surrounded by hilly streets of city & volcanic cliffs surrounding them - quite spectacular!
We were in all day & 'parked right next to city. Cold day again & wet to start off. Soon cleared to warm sunny day.

We walked up the streets & steps to the top road. Two lovely cathedrals & rows if brightly coloured 2 storey houses.






4 of us hired a taxi for an hour - CA$50 -& went out to the picturesque bay village of Quiddy Viddy, about 6km away. Next up to Signal Hill & Cabot Tower (named after founder John Cabot). It was from here Marconi's first radio signal received. Great views!
WIND wad incredible - we literally had to hold on to Warren to keep him on the ground!!!





Warren's video camera got wet in Iceland & hasn't worked since! He bought a new wizbang Go Pro camera but he's not overly impressed with it.

Our said away through narrow channel wonderful. We saw many whales ........ & a PUFFIN!!!!!





After 2 sea days NEW YORK!!!
We arrived after midnight & went past the Statue of liberty about 2am. We stayed up for it.

Terrible HOT - 37 the first day & 34 the next. Getting off the first day was timed because of the time it takes to go through Customs. We were due to get off at 12.45 - half the day gone - but at least we were cool.
We were finally through the Customs' lines at 1.50. You should have heard all the complaints!!!!
We decided to take the Circle cruise around the 'island' of Manhattan - great view of special buildings & bridges from the water with a COOL breeze. 
On the way back Warren went through the Air Sea & Space Museum next to our pier. I caught up on WiFi & news at home.







On the 2nd day we walked up the few blocks to get the subway train down to see the Freedom Tower & 9/11 memorials. Spectacular Westfield shopping complex (Brookfield Place & Plaza) & views. 
We got the train back to walk the High Line ( created from old railway tracks above the city) & Chelsea Market. 









We were very pleased with the ease we got ourselves around! Catching a taxi back to the ship ($14) - hailed down in the middle of an intersection for us by a nice guy!!! - topped off the HOT day.

We sailed out in a severe electrical storm!







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Riverside Farm Enniskillen

When we were here 6 years ago we stayed in the self-contained cottage on Riversidd Farm, 2 miles out of Enniskillen the main town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. I had been told about it by Vi Wiggins the very active lady on the Fermanagh Gold (genealogy) Interest List I belonged to. Molly & son Mark Fawcett who own the farm, B&B, caravan park, marina & are the most wonderfully warm & welcoming people. We stayed for 2 months on the farm in 2015 so coming back was like coming home! MOST of my Irish families lived within 15 miles of Enniskillen. We arrived on a Saturday afternoon just before my 'newly found' American (Boston) family! Carol is my 2nd cousin. She & husband Arthur & 3 adult children Paul, Cheryl & David were spending a week in Ireland seeing all they could! Carol's great-grandfather Patrick was my g-g-grandfather, Robert Collum's younger brother. When 8 of Robert's siblings went to America they changed their name to...
Read more

The other Collums

When I started researching my g-greatfather Robert Collum, I found another Robert S. Collum who was the Honorary Consul for Portugal who lived in various Sydney (posh!) addresses - all called 'Enniskillen' where my Collum's came from! He ended up living on a poultry farm in Herring Road Marsfield/Eastwood where I grew up! He married Emily Suttor, daughter of the Bathurst MP & there is a photograph on them in Freeman's Journal in the Mitchell Library. His father was Dr Robert Collum, born in 1814 in Enniskillen, who married Flora Nightingale  SANDEMAN from Scotland. The Sandeman's were a very (wealthy) influential family whose descendants were huge 'multi companies' of importers & exporters throughout the world eg tea plantations in (Ceylon) Sri Lanka, wine in Europe, spices Far East. Dr Robert & Flora had 15 children who all had SANDEMAN as their middle name (according to Scottish tradition). Dr Robert was in the British Army then Physician fo...
Read more

Last day in England

Image
A last day to get everything 7before the cruise & see some more of the places nearby. Over the weekend we'd looked up Podiatrists so Warren could get histoenails cut!!! Wondered about how to get there, appointments & the like. So we set off at 8.45 & walked to the end of our block. Across the road was the Royal Nail Salon with a youngish Chinese guy standing outside. Warren said to him 'do you cut toenails?'   Yes.  Can you cut mine? Now?  Yes! In we go - & out 5mins later with cut & filed nails - £5!!! Bargain! We walked the easy mile walk into the town centre. HUGE Maison Dieu grey stone building that takes up a whole block. Now Town Hall & Creative Arts Centre. It was founded by St Augustus in 9oos as a Monastery & Hospice. At Clarke's shoe shop Warren bought  pair of sandals. I got more lozenges, eye drops & Panadol for my 2nd cold of the trip! We then bought a Day Tripper bus ticket. First we went to Canterbury (34 m...
Read more