Travelog for: Kalli

This afternoon we took in the sights at the Museum of Natural History in New York. It was very cool. Bec didn't get any photos of us inside the museum though (for some reason, all this time later I can't recall why!) All we can say is that it was very cool, and they have a great website if you want to see more!

Today we had a very exciting day. We had to get up very early and catch the subway all the way down to the very tip of Manhattan to get in a long line to buy our tickets to go and visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It was a very cold wait but very worth the time taken.
We were all very excited as the ferry got closer and closer and closer to the statue and she just got bigger and bigger and bigger!


It is amazing how big the statue really is! Her Height from top of base to torch is 46 metres, her hand is 5 metres long and her index finger is almost two and a half metres long! In the museum under the monument they had a full scale replica of her foot.  Look - I am not even the same height as her toe!


This is the original 1886 lantern of the Statue of Liberty. They had to replace it when this one started to leak.

We all needed some time out after our very hectic day yesterday so we took a wander through Central Park. It is amazing - once you're in there you can almost forget that you are right in the middle of one of the world's busiest cities! It was the perfect way to recharge the batteries (and fun to see some of the famous sites from different movies and tv shows too!)


Bethesda Terrace:


This is the dairy. It was built so that children from the tenements could get free milk. Nowadays its the information centre. It reminds me a lot of a gingerbread house!


And the literary fun in the park
Balto:


The lake where Stuart Little went sailing:


Hans Christian Anderson with the Ugly Duckling:


It was a great day - so nice to walk and take in the fresh air! (well, as fresh as the air does get in New York anyway!)

Today, sadly, was Cassiopeia's last day travelling with us.
To make the most of it we started the day bright and early at the Empire State Building. Sadly it was a very hazy day, which made it very hard to see anything clearly from the viewing platform (starting to get discouraged by these towers after our experiences in Toronto!)
For a city that is so well known for its skyscrapers, its amazing how most of the biggest ones are in the one area.


We'd decided against the expensive audio tour, so I can't really say what everything was that we were looking at, but it was a pretty good view despite the haze and the smell of the smog!


Our next stop was a ferry trip on the Hudson River, where we got to see the amazing Brooklyn Bridge.


A different look at the city skyline...


And we got another look at the Statue of Liberty.

Our last full day in New York...

After dropping Cassiopeia off to continue her travels we headed back into Central Park to visit Belevedere Castle, something we hadn't had time to do the other day.


The views from the top are pretty special (in someways better than those from the Empire State Building!)


After a visit to The Met, we headed out to visit the UN Building.


This of course is a replica, but you can just see the Aussie flag peeking out. We missed out on seeing the real flag as the bus stop is at the Z end of the alphabet and by the time the tour was over all the flags had been bought in for the night So, this is as close as we got.


This of course is a symbol of what the UN stands for... an end to conflict and world peace.

Yet another very early morning start, this time we had a bus to catch - to Philadelphia where we're spending the weekend.

As Philadelphia is 'the birthplace of the American Revolution' we were keen to see the famous sites, but not so keen on the rain that poured from the sky, drenching all of us in the queue waiting to get in to Independence Hall!


This is where the Declaration of Independence was written and signed. Well, maybe not in this room exactly... but in this building.


Next stop, the Liberty Bell, where I was examined very closely before being allowed in!
(photo)

Another day, another early start, another ride on a Greyhound bus... this time to Washington DC.

First stop.. The White House, which is actually a lot smaller than I'd imagined it to be!


Following the White House there was a little wandering around while we waited for it to be time for a free walking tour of the monuments to start.
First stop on the tour was the Washington Monument. Its not so clear in this photo, but if you look carefully at the monument you can actually see where work on it stopped during the Civil War - the top part is a different colour to the bottom as the rock came from two different quarries.


Our next stop was the World War Two memorial, which is interesting as its not just for the American soldiers who fought in the war, but also for those who worked on the homefront and all of the Allies.


Then we moved on to one of the most famous sites in all of DC (not that most of them aren't famous, but you know what I mean!) - the Lincoln Memorial


and the Reflecting Pool - a major "Wow! I'm really here!" moment.
Having gotten there right on dusk, the pool was especially reflective!


We also visited the Vietnam Veteran's memorial and the Korean War Memorial, but by that time it was getting too dark to take clear photos.

After a thought provoking morning at the Holocaust Memorial Museum a walk in the open (under the first blue skies we'd seen in a while!) was more than called for, so a walk around the Tidal Basin to the Jefferson Memorial seemed like a very good idea.


And it was. The cherry blossoms were out

and it was just so peaceful sitting on the stairs of the memorial and soaking up some sun while watching the world go by!

Hey
Did you know that the zoo has free entry and that they have pandas there? Two very good reasons for going we thought, so after figuring out the train ticket machine we set off on a little adventure to find our way to the zoo.

A fellow Aussie, looking a little lonesome in his enclosure. As hard as we looked and looked we couldn't find the wallaby that was supposed to be in there too.


A-ha a Panda, one of Bec's 'missions' ticked off!


Some very active Red Pandas. In some ways they reminded us of puppies!


Some more time spent with the pandas.... Actually, a lot of time spent with the pandas!






And some more time...


Finally we could move on to check out some of the other animals:
Gorillas


Tiny turtles


And, orangutans on their "O Line", which criss-crosses the zoo and allows them to travel from one enclosure to the other (the area below the platforms are electrified so that they can't escape!)




Some more turtles. I couldn't help but think of how much Cassiopeia would have liked it here!

Looking at the map we discovered that the National Cathedral was quite close by to the zoo, and being big West Wing fans, decided that it was worth a visit. It took a little work getting there - the bus routes aren't all that clearly marked, so we ended up on one of those hop-on, hop-off tourist buses  as that seemed like a good idea at the time!
The Cathedral was very impressive (as most cathedrals are)


Most especially, this stained glass window, designed in honour of the moon landing. It even has a small piece of moon rock in it!
(photo)

Our last day of sightseeing in the US started with a bright and early start to get into the line for tickets to tour the Capitol. The tour was interesting and we learned a lot about US history and government.


We followed it by getting a ticket to go to see the government in action, but unfortunately they'd all gone for lunch. We eavesdropped on a tour by an intern and learned even more.

Our afternoon was spent checking out some of the Smithsoneon Museums - the Museum of the Native American and the Air and Space Museum.
While they were both interesting, the Air and Space Museum was the more interesting of the two. We looked at the Spirit of St Louis and were amazed at how tiny the plane was. Lindburgh must have been extremely brave to even contemplate crossing the Atlantic in it, let alone doing it!


Here's a model of the original lunar landing module.


I imagined life on the moon....

but in the end decided that it just wouldn't be for me!

An overnight stop in New York, then a run thru Dulles Airport thanks to a storm and delayed flight and we're on our way to London!