Apr 21, 2012 - Last email from New York

Hi again Well this fantastic trip is almost over and Mary was right - it does feel like home after such a long time here. The last weeks weather has been perfect - high teens or low twenties. They are amazingly accurate with the weather forecasts, even when they show by the hour and maximum temperature is not reached till about 4pm or so. The highlight of the week was a trip up the Hudson River by train to a place called Salisbury Mills Cornwall and then on by cab to Storm King Art Centre, a 500 acre sculpture park in a wonderfully scenic...

Apr 13, 2012 - New York

Flying backwards wasn't particularly my cup of tea for take off and landing but the flight overall was good, back on the top of a jumbo, loads of storage and room and good food but the BA entertainment system is pants and due an upgrade. 21 years aince I was last here, and being on a business trip is so much easier than backpacking, taxi from the airport straight to times square, nice room waiting with a view straight out into Manhattan, although Manhattan has a view straight in to and the blinds don't stop the flashing lights all...

Apr 11, 2012 - Email No 5

Hi Everyone Time is marching on and have only another 8 days here. Being in one place for 6 weeks takes the pressure off to rush , rush so one lives a little like at home. Since returning from Philadelphia a week ago have been busy making sure I go to all the places I wanted to before departure date creeps up and it's time to leave. Weather has been pretty cool although it is interesting that 14 here seems much warmer than in Sydney and often just need 2 layers of clothing. Have tried to upload some photos but it hasn't worked. So what...

Apr 5, 2012 - Email No 4

Hi everyone Just back from 2 nights in Philadelphia. Went by train - took about 1hour 20mins. Scenery not very interesting. It's a city of just over 1.5million people and of great historic importance to the US as it's where the then 13 states got together and negotiated federation and independence and where their constitution was drawn up and signed. Interestingly their population decreased by about a quarter since 1950. A guy we spoke with put that down to the authorities dealing with the "black problem " by raising property taxes so the...

Mar 27, 2012 - Email no 3

Hi everyone Just home after seeing an excellent play - The Best Man written by Gore Vidal and starring Angela Lansbury, James Earl Jones, Candice Bergen, John Larroquette and Jefferson Mays. About campaign to chose presidential candidate in 1960 . Timely revival. Very cold today - eventually reached 8 degrees but was 1 most of the day. Tomorrow forecast 19 so it's all over the place. Today we wandered around Chelsea and The Meatpacking District. They are sort of in midtown along with Soho, Noho,TriBeCa , the Flatiron Districy and West and...

Mar 25, 2012 - NEW YORK CITY!!!

MOST INCREDIBLE WEEK OF MY LIFE! Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh just thinking about NYC makes me want to go back so much. It was such a fun week I would love love love to live there. Or at least have a home there I could visit whenever I wanted! Day 1 - So I left for the airport mega mega early Friday 16th - to be specific..woke up at 4am and got picked up at 5.45am.. I didn't sleep much, I always always think I'm going to oversleep when something important is happening the next day! My flight was at 8am to Atlanta, and then I got a connecting flight...

Mar 21, 2012 - start spreadin' the news, I'm leavin' today; I want to be part of it, New York, New York!

The last day in New York was here, and I couldn't believe how quickly a week had flew by. I would miss all my friends, and the big, loud city which I'd begun to love. The last day I was going to spend on shopping with some of the people I've met during the week. We headed to every big store we could find, but because we couldn't efford a purse worth $3000, we continued to some of the vintage stores. Cheap and cool at the same time, we told ourselves. I didn't have so much time, so after 3 hours we said goodbye to each other, and I headed...

Mar 21, 2012 - concrete jungle where dreams are made of

I've already been on a Broadway-show so I couldn't imagine what John wanted me to see. ”The most American thing you'll ever see in you intire life” was all he said when I asked him. When the evening fell we took the cab to a big arena, where a lot of people stood outside, forming a big cue. ”Are we going to a game?” I asked, but John and Jessica just smiled. When I think about it now, I think Jessica knew what was going on all the time. That bastard. When we got out of the cab, there was people everywhere screaming two teams names. I only...

Mar 21, 2012 - I'll always love you though New York

The next day my friends Jessica and John stood outside my door, shouting for me to get up. When I finally opened the door, they stood there with big smiles and with a basket with bread and juice. ”We thought you'd wanted some breakfast,” they said and threw themself on my bed. After chatting, laughing and eating for over an hour, they asked me what I wanted to do next. I couldn't decide what I wanted to do, my brain was still asleep and I was tired because of all the food. ”It's bad you weren't here on the 4th of July! It's like the most...

Mar 20, 2012 - email 21 March

Hi everyone What a great time we are having in New York. The weather has been amazing - except for one or two days it has been at least 20degrees which is great for this time of year. 22 at the moment. And we expected 12 to 16. Might have to go shopping if this keeps up. So far we have been to a Beethoven Concert by the New York Philharmonic which we thoroughly enjoyed, then for me a second time at War Horse, one of the best plays I have ever seen and which I saw here last year. Just as good the 2nd time around.t was St Patrick's Day...

Mar 14, 2012 - you promised me Broadway was waiting for me

The day after the Broadway-show, my friend Jessica asked me if I wanted to go take a coffee at the Starbucks-shop down the street. I agreed and told her to meet me up at 11 o'clock. As usual, the town was filled with noises everywhere, but I was slowly getting used to it. When I saw my old friend by the entrance to the shop I felt how lucky I was being in New York; I haven't met Jessica for about 3 years, not counting with last night, and now I realised how much I've missed her. We sat down just to talk, but when she heard that I hadn't...

Mar 14, 2012 - Safe in New York

Hi everyone, Just a quick note to let you know that we have arrived safely and are enjoying balmy weather. Just returned from having dinner outside at an Italian restaurant. Very unseasonably warm. Got to 21degrees. Expected drop to 14 tomorrow. Apartment is good and we are becoming familiar with the local area. Did lots of walking today after a good sleep in. The Virgin flight was great - i had 3 seats to myself so was able to lie out. Hotel in LA was great and we took a bus out to Santa Monica for a few hours to look at the beach. That's...