U.S A

                                                     Harlem week in Central Park

                                                              Jack found a mate

                                                            Central Park

                                                        Steps at Times Square

                                    View of Empire State Building from the Rockefeller Centre

                                                   Up the Empire State Building

                                                   Central Park fountain

                                              Martin Luther King Memorial - Washington

                                                Outside the White House

                                                       Abraham Lincoln Memorial

                                                     Korean War Memorial - Washington

                                                                    Times Square

Hi all, at the moment we are on the bus to Washington D C, the bus was running about 45mins late to pick us up but the driver has assured us he will make the time up.

Our week in Orlando was extremely hot but we had a fantastic time doing the theme parks. At the resort we stayed in and in many others, Disney had a shuttle to and from every park every 20mins., so we could come and go to the parks as we pleased We encountered a few thunderstorms but did not miss out on anything - I have never seen so many people sweating and looking for the mist spray taps before. As we were heading to the gate you could tell which people were just arriving they looked so fresh. Some of the rides we went on were absolutely amazing. At Universal Studios we had an express pass that allowed us to go straight to the front of the queue- it was well worth the extra money. Some of the parks were open until 2am but we didn't manage to stay until then. There was no end to the merchandise you could buy, if we were going straight home I would have bought a case full of souvenirs.

Our trip to the Kennedy Space Center was also a day well spent, although we needed more time.

Our week in New York has also been great, our hotel was 2 minutes from Times Square so we would be down there every evening. On the first day we did bus tours around Uptown, Downtown and over to Brooklyn and then went to see Million Dollar Quartet off Broadway.

Second day we took a ferry to Liberty Island and climbed up the Statue of Liberty to the crown. (glad it wasn't any hotter)We then wandered around to Wall Street and over to the site of 9/11 where they have a preview site of the memorial being built.

We used the subway to get about and took it over to Brooklyn so we could walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. We spent an enjoyable day exploring Central park – buskers, rappers, people selling beautiful pictures and John Lennon's 'Strawberry Fields' area.. It is such a beautiful park and I would love to see it in the snow and Autumn.

It was Harlem week this week and so on Sunday we took ourselves to Harlem and experienced some great culture. I have a video of some of the people dancing in the streets with whatever they had in their hand at the time – totally enjoyable.

Sunday we started the day with a church service held in a theatre where you were ushered to your seat. For one hour they sang songs and then the preacher got up and delivered his message in a very enthusiastic way- it was just like you see on TV. (people swaying and hands outstretched saying Amen)

We did the other important sites of the Big Apple being the Empire State Building and the Rockerfeller Center we also walked along Fifth Avenue and saw Brooke Shields, Daniel Radcliffe and Lady Ga Ga.

Washington

It has been hot here and we have used the hop on bus to get around. Have seen many famous places of interest including the FBI headquarters, Martin Luther King Memorial, Arlington cemetery(Kennedy Memorial) Pentagon, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument(which now has cracks in it after the earthquake) White House, Capitol Building and every other government building you could think of.

Being part of the earthquake scare has been interesting, but now we are on 'Hurricane Watch ' which is threatening most of the east coast, so it's good we are flying to Buffalo today. We are due in Boston on Monday so hopefully it will be all over by then. (This part has been typed at the airport)

Love to all C & J

Having trouble uploading pictures so will try another time.

The last of Europe

Berlin

First up – walking tour. We covered all the main tourist sites and decided which ones we would go back to. The sites included Brandenburg Tor, Checkpoint Charlie, Jewish Memorial, Museum Island, site of the 'book burning' Reichtag and to parts of the Berlin Wall. We also went out to Sachenhausen - another Nazi Camp just outside Berlin where we learnt more about what went on. We also were given a couple of free tickets to go up the tower at Potsplatz to get a great view of the city. Most days were suuny with a couple of rainy ones, when Jack then went off to visit some of the museums. (ways of escape across the wall)

Amsterdam

Arrived after a 7 hour train trip from Berlin to beautiful warm weather in Amsterdam and immediately took a cruise around the canals, this was just as exciting as Venice. Bikes- millions of them and I don't know how many times we nearly got ran over – thank god they have bells on their bikes. Quite an exciting place and the 'Red Light District' was an eye-opener. We took a trip to the countryside to make sure we saw some windmills, cheese and clogs- we weren't disappointed. I had considered taking a bike ride around Amsterdam but it looked a risky activity for tourists without a helmet. On one of our days Jack went to the Heiniken Factory and I went to the Van Gogh Museum. A visit to the Anne Frank House was one we really enjoyed.

Paris

Thousands of people all wanting to visit the same thing- the Eiffel Tower. Jack refers to the Eiffel Tower as the oil rig and says it looks good at night. It took us 1 hour 20 mins to get to the top after waiting along the way up and in line, but it was worth it. I just couldn't believe we were there looking at it.

We did lots of walking and lots of riding the Metro. We managed to get into the Louvre to see Mona without a wait as we were lucky enough to find a different entrance, we took a cruise along the Seine and visited the Pantheon, Catacombs, Arc de Triomphe, Sacre Coure, Notre Dame, Luxembourg Gardens and the Moulin Rouge windmill. On the last day we took a trip to Monet's Garden at Giverny, 45mins out of Paris. .

Riding the Metro at peak times is certainly interesting, with people performing on the trains to evangelists on the platforms, not to mention the number of homeless people lying about. Personal space on board the train is a rare experience, it is usually an armpit, face or back that you are close to.

Sometimes it feels like you have walked a kilometre by the time you have reached your designated platform.(going through many tunnels and up and down escalators/stairs )and we still can't get used to dogs on public transport, in fact I nearly stood on a dog's foot as I didn't see it sticking out .

So the history tour is over and it's theme parks for 7 days straight in very hot weather, hope we can handle it.

Hope the weather is warming up a bit and that you are all well.

Note in the picture below the open male toilets around Amsterdam central area.

10 hour flying trip and we have hit the theme parks in 36c.

Love C & J

                                                          Urinals in Amsterdam

                                                            Bike city

                                                   Zaanse Schans  windmills

                                           
                                                              Brandenburg Gate Berlin

                                                      Jewish Holocaust Memorial Berlin

Eiffel Tower - Paris

                                                               
                                                                             View from inside the Louvre - Paris

                                                             Monet's Garden - Giverny