Posted by Chris on Feb 3, 2009 in
Americas,
USA Since we were in Albany today it was worth taking a look at the city before hitting the road and heading for Lake George, in the Adirondack National Park. We took a stop at the Corning Tower to go to the observation deck (42 floors if my memory serves me right), which is free. You need to show photo ID on your way in, and you get a little printed security badge. I suspect that on a clear day, the views would be stunning. However, it was rather overcast and snowing, so we really couldn’t see a great deal. However, there was no waiting time and the place was empty so it was still worth it. After that we went to the Capitol building, which is very grand and well worth a look (great architecture). Again, this is free and comes with airport style security check. This was really all we had time for, so we jumped in the car. From what I read, Lark Street would have been well worth a look, it’s noted as a good place for younger people, but we had bigger fish to fry! Read more…
Tags: USA
Posted by Chris on Feb 3, 2009 in
Americas,
USA Well, arrived in Boston after a great flight. Got the usual grilling from Customs & Border Protection though! Met friends in Logan airport in and then headed to our hotel. They had warm chocolate chip cookies for us at reception, very nice indeed! Didn’t get up to much as it was about 8 by the time we got sorted, so just headed to an Irish bar close by and then went for a steak at Flemings. Between three of us, we had one side and didn’t actually finish it – the onion rings were enormous.
Yesterday was Superbowl sunday, and we made a very early start…we were out wandering by 8am. We walked the ‘Freedom Trail’, which is a great way to see the city, and it’s all free! There are lots of communities in Boston; we stopped and had a coffee in a shop in Little Italy. It reminded me of more civilised scenes from gangster films.
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Tags: Boston, USA
Posted by Chris on Jan 23, 2009 in
Americas,
USA Well, in a rather sudden move over a few beers with a colleague a few weeks ago, I have booked up to go back to the USA again…and I’m going a week tomorrow! The discussion led to me checking the flight prices with KLM, purely as a matter of interest. I expected to laugh at the sheer expense of the flight…but for a change, this wasn’t the case. For just £350 I have a ticket to Boston (via Amsterdam), flying home from JFK (via Paris).
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Tags: USA
Posted by Chris on Nov 11, 2008 in
Americas,
USA The unseasonably good weather I have been enjoying is long gone. When leaving the hotel yesterday, it was minus 7. Toasty. So finally the ski jacket that came with me is being put too good use. The car was frozen too, and Hertz didn’t see fit to give me a scraper.
At the weekend we took a trip to Minneapolis. We got a very favourable rate on a hotel that was about a 5 minute walk to the main street (1st), so we decided to make a weekend of it.
First port of call was the Mall of America, which is huge. So huge that it can accommodate a theme park with 3 roller coasters right in the middle of it, along with a bunch of other rides. We spent a few hours wandering round the shops, but malls are malls at the end of the day! We were going to go to Hooters for lunch, but the queue was too big, so we went to the food court and joined an even bigger queue. But hey, it was a good burger! We took a few rides and then set off to our hotel.
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Tags: USA
Posted by Chris on Nov 2, 2008 in
Americas,
USA Halloween is a big deal in the USA, as we discovered on Friday when we turned up to a bar, dressed normally, only to discover that everybody was in fancy dress! Not to worry, we still had a good night and did a tour of Rochester’s finest night spots – Gilligans, Kathys and a brief stint in CJ’s; until we realized that we were the youngest there by at least 20 years.
Ironically, low calorie light beer is very popular here. In England we refer to this as “water” but fortunately I have been introduced to a great white beer called “Blue Moon.” You need to be careful mind…the large glasses are definitely more than a pint! We were briefly talking to a “security” guy in Gilligans, who was only identifiable as a security person by his t-shirt. We mentioned how we had came dressed as “European Guys” to which he replied “Wow, you have really convincing accents” and then went on to say how everyone from Europe sat down with a straight back, with their hands on their knees, drank tea and spoke like Hugh Grant. We all had quite a chuckle at that. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that there’s more to Europe than England. We had a great night (a good band were playing in Kathys), but everything shut at 2, and with the nearest place open after 2 over an hours’ drive away, we decided to call it a night.
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Tags: USA
Posted by Chris on Oct 29, 2008 in
USA During my time here I get a hire car which is all paid for. I hadn’t booked in advance, so I made a reservation with Hertz just a few hours before I wanted to pick up. When I turned up at the Rochester Hertz office, there was only one car outside – and it certainly wasn’t a “compact” (I can’t rent a better car, that’s the rules!). I thought perhaps it was “out back” so I went into the office and was told that the car I had ordered was not yet available…so they had upgraded me. So for the next 4 weeks I will be driving round in a 3.2 litre, 224bhp, 220lb/ft beast. But lets not get too excited here, this is an American car and so it weighs approximately 10 tonnes…but there is a bit of life when you floor it and the 4 speed automatic box springs to life and drops a cog. It’s a Saturn Aura….like a bigger, posher version of the Mondeo/Vectra. However, this is not the place to drive fast, so I don’t yet know if it has bellows where the suspension should be – so watch this space. It’s very comfortable though, and when you turn it on, the dials do a little dance. Like an Aston…just not as pretty. The car is registered in Texas…so it’s called Texas! I am now the envy of my peers – the other two guys have a Focus (Wisconsin) and a Honda (Minnesota).We’re considering defacing eachothers cars and doing a tour of the southern States, just like in Top Gear. However, it’s perhaps a little too far to go, even if the “gas” is just around £1.50 a GALLON (that’s 4.5 litres to you and I). Not used to automatics yet…so I keep slamming on the brakes with my left foot. American roads seem fairly easy to drive. Some odd traffic rules mind, such as being able to turn right on a red light. And then there is the 4 way crossroads – not a roundabout, no traffic lights – just stop signs. You approach the crossroads, stop completely, and whoever is there first has priority. Not so bad when there are just a few cars but it could get hairy when it’s busy – which doesn’t really happen here so it’s all good.
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Tags: Rochester, USA
Posted by Chris on Oct 28, 2008 in
USA If you read my last post from the Dominican Republic, you may remember how I mentioned that the end of one trip meant the start of another. However, I didn’t mention just how soon! Not long before my holiday, my boss mentioned an opportunity to go and work in the USA for a month. It wasn’t definite, but if I was interested he was happy to nominate me. Anyway, of course I was interested and I was chosen, so I was understandably delighted about that. My flights and accommodation are all covered and I get a reasonable daily budget for food & drink. There was one slight drawback however; the day I needed to fly over to Minneapolis was the day I got back from the Dominican Republic. If that wasn’t bad enough, there was around a 3 hour margin of delay possible in order for me not to miss the flights.
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Tags: Rochester, USA
