Last 2 days. Disneyland and California Adventure

On the downhill run - not much to report other than a lot of fun at both Disneyland and California Adventure. I'm pleased to report I went on every ride the kids did - even the Hollywood Tower Hotel - Twilight Zone Tower of Terror!! So much fun and the best laugh we'd had in ages. There was one ride called the Grizzly River Run - a white water run. We had to wait until the end of the day to get on it and as we saw person after person covered in water, and a sign that said, "You will get wet, you may get soaked", we were a little worried about going for a meal afterwards. Well the sign was right on both counts - we just laughed and laughed as each one of us was drenched. Damian and Joseph won the prize for being drenched.

We spent a day in each world and then today we decided which rides we wanted to go back on. We got on just about every ride we wanted - and some we got multiple times. 

Cars world -

Amazing reproduction of the set. 

A quick last post. We're at the airport and our flight has just been called. Can't wait to see you all at home! Hope you've enjoyed the blog!! Love Louise. 

Thursday 17th July

Happiest place on earth today - Disneyland!!
So much fun, though it was very crowded because today was Disneyland's birthday - 59 years old!! There were celebrations everywhere and possibly more people than ever - there are a lot of people very passionate about Disneyland (we've seen a number of people with shirts covered in badges and pins from every part of Disneyland).  It was very festive, and just so happy - so no complaints.

The rides are amazing, though a bit of a leap of faith - you can't really see a ride and decide if you like it - you just have to be brave enough to line up, see the warnings, ignore the part that says, "last chance to leave" and then go for it.  Nothing has been too terrifying and I'm proud to say I've kept up with the kids and gone on everything they have. This may change tomorrow when we go to California Adventure - the newest part of Disneyland - a separate park next door - we have access to both.  The lines for rides can be quite long too, but it doesn't really matter - it gives your stomach time to settle and it's a nice way of meeting people, or planning out which ride to do next.

Another interesting part of Disneyland is the crowd here. We have landed ourselves in the middle of  USA National dance competition!!  Apologies to Danzart and Miss Kimberley - despite years of ballet, jazz etc with my daughters, despite making a tutu and hand-sewing sequins over the years, I'm quite a failure as a stage mother.  To find ourselves  in the middle of the largest dance competition in the USA with fake hair, buns, glitter, costumes and the entire set of "Dance Moms" is both hilarious and terrifying all at once.  Every table we walk past in the evening has a 2 foot trophy on it and I'm beginning to think every child wins a prize.  Alice is desperate to watch the dancing but we don't know where it actually is - just that 100,000 girls must be in it!!

Apart from that, we had a good shopping day for Mickey Mouse Ears and Pluto Hats and we ticked off every ride we hoped for in Disneyland. Another big day tomorrow so off to bed!!

Finbarr driving in Autopia

The boys found a storm trooper!

 

Princesses and pirates and Peter Pan!! 

Wednesday 16th July - to the Happiest Place on Earth!

Today we reluctantly farewelled Boston (especially as it was another early start - at the airport by 6.15am!).  However, even our sleepiest were happy to get up today as we were heading to California - finally off to Disneyland.  It was a 6 hour flight, and we've gained 3 hours again so we are a bit confused about timing!

Disneyland proclaims to be the "Happiest Place on Earth" and it really tries to live up to this. From the minute we walked in we were smiling from ear to ear - whether watching the excitement of the kids, or just thoroughly enjoying it ourselves (and reliving past memories of earlier visits), we just had a wonderful afternoon and evening.  We got on quite a few rides, watched the grand parade, had dinner at "Big Thunder Ranch" and then watched the beautiful fireworks display from our hotel.

So much fun and it's only just begun! We can't wait to get back there tomorrow!

Tuesday 15th July - JFK Library

A new city and a new public transport system to navigate - today we made our way via two trains and a shuttle bus to the John F Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.  This housed an amazing collection of memorabilia and  documentation from his childhood, right through the beginning of his political career, his Presidential Campaign and leadership as President.  It also had rooms dedicated to his family life, both as a child and with Jackie and his children.  It was well worth the visit - surprisingly uncrowded and really interesting - another venue that's made me want to get home and study up on JFK's story as there's so much more I'd like to know.  As a reference to his love of sailing and the ocean, the museum was built beside the water with his sailing boat displayed outside during summer - a spectacular location viewed from a beautiful glass atrium.

The rest of the afternoon was dedicated to finishing shopping, packing and then enjoying a night out for dinner.  Damian and I had our last USA date night. I've been following a show for a long time now called "Top Chef" - a US show a bit like Masterchef, but competition is between professional chefs. One of the regular guests and judges on the show, Chef Barbara Lynch, has 6 restaurants in Boston, and I was very keen to try one.  We got into "Menton" and had a spectucular meal - 4 course taster menu (each course gave you 4 choices), and each was superb.  After the meal we were invited to the back of house for a kitchen tour.  We were really impressed with that - we met Scott Jones (head chef of Menton) who gave us a great insight into what they do.  It was an enormous kitchen, but even more impressive was the whole floor below being dedicated to a food preparation area for that restaurant and it's neighbouring one.  The service was amazing - even down to them calling us this morning to see if we'd enjoyed our evening - nice touch! 

"Spectacularly good lobster" - quote from Damian Power. 

Kitchen tour! 

Nice story from the concierge

We are staying at a really lovely old hotel in Back Bay, Boston called the Lenox Hotel - it's so lovely and everyone is really friendly.  Today the guy on concierge showed us a display cabinet of memorabilia from the hotel and one thing was an original receipt from a couple who'd stayed at the hotel for their honeymoon in 1954.  Their son had found the receipt while helping them move home and sent it to the hotel, explaining he thought they might like it's historical significance - the couple's wedding night cost $4.40 at the time.  When the hotel manger enquired and found out the couple were alive and well and happily together, he invited them to spend their 60th wedding anniversary at the hotel, and they charged them $4.40 for their stay.  They made a big deal of them and gave the real VIP treatment.  The funny thing is, when the car pulled up with the couple in, the old man got out and  said, "What is this place?? We've never been here have we?!!" Very cute!!

The real reason we came to America...

Em had some paperwork to fill out...

Lobster craving fulfilled.

Harvard University

Monday 14th July - The Freedom Trail

Today we did a self-guided walking tour of the Boston Freedom Trail. It was a great way to explore the historically significant sites of Boston where we learnt about important events in the American colonists' efforts to gain independence from Great Britain.  We saw graveyards, churches, a historic navy frigate, Bunker Hill, Faneuil Hall, Paul Revere's house, and a memorial to the Irish famine and settlement in Boston, amongst other things.  It was an easy and very interesting walk - about 4km altogether (though it was really hot and humid) and I have to say I was left with the impression that the early Bostonians were a feisty lot.  They weren't prepared to take taxes and rules imposed by the Brits and they certainly shaped what the USA of today is.  Damian is now committed to saying, "Give me liberty or give me death".

We finished the day with a trip to Harvard, so now I can say I went to Harvard (and I'm sticking to that story).  A storm hit us this afternoon so we didn't get to explore much but we did find the law school and some great t-shirts taking the mickey out of the Boston accent eg. I went to Harvahrd to make me Smartah.  

We're really enjoying a Boston - such a different place from New York - much smaller, much friendlier, and just so lovely to walk around.  It really is a very pretty place.  

Tonight we had dinner at Altantic Fish Co where Damian got his fix of Lobster. Sadly he wasn't able to have the much anticipated clam chowder (not gluten free) but he was very happy with his food. The kids had fish and chips and Em and I had salmon - all delicious.  

Paul Revere's house

If I ever move to Boston, this is my home...

All I need is a different climate, a green thumb and a fair bit of Gold lotto. 

Sunday 13th July - Boston here we come!!

We were up and at Penn Station with over an hour to spare to catch our train and nearly had a disaster. Despite the very helpful lady at the Amtrak station telling me that our electronic tickets were all we needed (and what got us to NYC from Washington on the same service), with 10 minutes left to go we were trying to get thought the crowd to the platform and were refused entrance because we didn't have a printed version!! I desperately ran to the ticket window to have a lovely but very
S-L-O-W man print the tickets one by one. I then had to bolt back to the family, throw the tickets at the lady, fly down the escalator with our luggage and run along the platform to be the very last people on the train. It also took us about 10km before we made our way though the train with all of our luggage to find a spot where we could actually sit.  A nice relaxing start to our day - not!!!

4 hours later we found ourselves in Boston, Massachusetts, and it's love at first site.  What a pretty, pretty place to be, and after the crowds and dirt and heat of NYC, it's just so peaceful and lovely.  We found our way to our hotel - a quick walk from the Back Bay train station -  dropped our bags and had a walk through the Commonwealth Avenue Mall, Public Gardens, and Boston Common. Finbarr had a play in the playground there and we wandered around Beacon Hill to look at the very inexpensive real estate - gorgeous homes and tree lined avenues.  We also made our way to the Back Bay to see it, then headed home for some dinner at a casual spot in the bustling Newbury Street. First impressions of Boston are great!!

Beautiful Boston 

Times Square at Night

I loved this sign in a shop - worked for me!!

Saturday 12th July - last day in NYC - boo hoo!

I don't wish to sound ungrateful because we've been so very lucky, but there's so much more we could do here! When we woke up this morning it was a matter of deciding what we could live without seeing to decide what we should do,  so we went to check out the Highline - an elevated park and walkway on the West side which is a historic railway freight line that's been transformed into a public space and 1 mile long park. I can imagine it would be quite bleak in winter but it was wonderful in summer - flowers everywhere, lovely shady trees, great views (into people's expensive real estate), and a busy crowd of people enjoying the beautiful day.

After walking the Highline we explored Chelsea Markets - a whole ground floor of eateries and shops underneath office spaces for YouTube and Google - very cool!  We found our first and only real NY coffee here - an espresso!! We had delicious savoury crepes for the grown ups and meat pies for the kids (declared not as good as the "Rock 'n Roll Market" pies)!!

A bit of shopping for Damian, Em and I - though separately - Emily and I headed to the upper east side to find the flagship stores for Kate Spade and Ralph Lauren. To say the sales staff at Ralph were snooty would be a massive understatement.  It was as if they had the bottom floor of a building to try to intimidate people into not coming into the store by checking them out and pulling a face as though a smell had just walked in.  It was quite fun to walk past with a bag - they truly could not hide their surprise at us buying something - but they had a big sale after all.  They were however happy to hang off the customers who had the obvious big money.  Kate Spade store was just pretty and beautiful and people were nice there!
Finally we headed to Sunday Mass at the Cathedral where they presented for the first time in USA the relics of Pope John Paul II - very special- and out for our last dinner in New York at a place on Central Park South called SaraBeth's.  After dinner Emily was keen to go to the flagship Apple Store on 5th Avenue - where around 900 staff work!! They have a special room at the back where they give access to celebrity's who are shopping and need some privacy!! Not quite like that at the Carindale store!!
A last wander around Times Square to see the night lights and off to bed to make sure we'd be up and ready for for our train to Boston in the morning.

Views of the Highline

Night time...

Cool mural in Little Italy

Times Square from the Empire State Building. 

Friday night in NYC.

We had a great recommendation for an Italian restaurant in Little Italy for Friday night. They did the best gluten free pizza we ever thought could be possible and the kids had an absolute feast (they are going to be SO disappointed with meal portion sizes when we get home, if they don't roll off the plane).  We wandered around Little Italy to find a good gelato for all before we made our way to the  Empire State Building - we saw Rockerfeller by day so wanted to see the view at night. We picked a great night - full moon, cloudless sky and lovely breeze after another hot New York day.  I just loved the Empire State Building - one of those moments when you pinch yourself and think "I've always wanted to come here", and the beautiful structure and gorgeous lines of the 1920/1930s architecture and design just didn't disappointed.  Unfortunately it was way after midnight when we got home so another slow start the next day!!

Hope everyone's hungry!! 

Friday 11th July - getting a bit behind!!

I have to play catch up - too much going on and too many late nights so I haven't been keeping up.

First stop on Friday was back to the 9-11 Museum. It's really captured the interest of the children - particularly as they were mostly too young to remember what happened (or weren't born) and we've met a number of people who've recounted their experiences of the day.  On the way downtown on the subway a man next to Finbarr and I started chatting. He is a retired police officer with over 20 years service now working in security in Wall Street. When I last came to the USA we toured the stock exchange and were able to see the brokers in action on the floor.  It is now completely closed to the public and streets surrounding Wall Street are almost vaulted closed - no access even for suppliers without major security clearance.
He was a really interesting man - was on scene during 9-11 and had the terrible task of sorting "parts" and cataloguing for identification (I'll spare the details).  Counsellors had recommended no officer was to work more than 3 weeks at a time on the task, with 2 days break minimum each week, but he worked for 7 days a week with no break for 5 weeks before having the chance to take a day off.  Traumatic and awful but he said no one would tear themselves away because of the importance of the job. He was thrilled we were going to the museum.

The museum itself was amazing - they have done an excellent job of respectfully putting together information, significant pieces, photos and recordings of events.  You could spend days there and not see everything. So very sad, so moving and such a wonderful tribute to those who lost their lives.

After the seriousness of 9-11 Museum things got a lot lighter when we went right back uptown to visit the huge toy store, FAO Schwartz. For anyone who's seen the movie, "Big" with Tom Hanks, this is the scene of the place he played on the giant piano.  A million and one toys, it was the US version of Hamleys in London - and it had something for everyone.  The toys and displays were fantastic and all of the kids came away happy.

Katz's Deli

Thursday 10th July

The 9-11 memorial was on our list today. We set off via subway (we're getting pretty good at them now) and found our way there. Unfortunately we hadn't per booked tickets for the museum so think we'll go back tomorrow as the line was at least 1-2 hours worth.  We still viewed the memorial fountains and saw the local fire station, and also the new building being constructed for the world trade centre.  It's going to be the tallest building in America, and I have to say while it looks amazing, I would feel very reluctant to work in or visit the building.  Some New Yorkers we've spoken to feel the same way.  The site was very moving and just so sad - hard to believe it was 13 years ago when it's so fresh in everyone's memories.

On a much lighter note, we went for lunch at the famous Katz Deli - operating since 1888 (maybe with some of the same staff?!) and famous for its pastrami and rye sandwich,  and it's slogan of "Send a salami to your boy in the army". It was also the location of the best-known scene of "When Harry Met Sally" - they even have a sign pointing over the table where they sat for the scene.

This evening Damian and I got tickets for "Book of Mormon" - a musical off Broadway.  Completely irreverent, particularly rude, silly and absolutely hilarious is how I'd describe it.  I wouldn't recommend it for everyone but certainly for a lot of people!! There were some children in the audience tonight - so completely inappropriate, and I'd love to hear the conversations in their households when they got home!!  A great laugh anyway and lots of fun!

We're starting to panic a bit at only 2 days and nights left in NYC - we've been so lucky to see so much,  but we're still hoping to squeeze in some more!!

Wednesday 9th July 2014

Today was a bit of a quieter start - we actually tried for a sleep in (after getting home at 1.30am from dinner because the only reservation we could get was for 9pm!)

We split up into boys and girls and had a shop - girls heading to Saks and shops down 5th Ave and the boys going to The Gap and Lego Land.

We had agreed to meet up at 1.30 because we had bought tickets to see Matilda the Musical - an adaptation of Roald Dahl's book made into a musical by Australian Tim Minchin. What a brilliant show!  We just can't get over the talent of the little girl who played Matilda - she was extraordinary.  When it gets to Australia, buy tickets - it is an absolute must!! It was thoroughly enjoyed by all of us.

Tonight Em and I had a girls night and headed to Soho for shopping and dinner.  Lots of fun and we ended up in a great restaurant called Mercer Kitchen.  Damian met up with Christine Burke again and  found a rooftop bar near Bryant Park.

There is just so much to this city - I can understand why people keep coming back to this city now!!

Fireplace

On reflection, I think our fireplace could be a little more decorative - I might go for something like this Vanderbilt design found in the Met.

Dinner at Eleven Madison Park

The last part of our day was having dinner just for Damian and I at a restaurant we'd booked called Eleven Madison Park. We'd been wanting to go here for quite some time thanks to the great referrals (and jealousy-inducing stories) from Jan and Charles Sullivan. It was brilliant - such an amazing meal with lots of references to American tradition and iconic eating places (such as Katz's Deli and their famous pastrami and rye). You may also know we had a lot of fun celebrity spotting as the table next door  to us had Sir Paul McCartney and his wife, Jimmy Fallon, some other people we don't know and Lucy Liu. I was a very good stalker and pretended to photograph Damian so I could get shots of them - no one would ever know!! I didn't feel too bad taking photos as they got sillier as the night went on and spent half their evening taking selfies together! (Lucy and Jimmy did - Paul was much more sensible - notice we're on first name basis with them now?).  Damian was quite proud of himself - he went to the bathroom at the same time as Jimmy (ok, so he followed him in there) and got there in time to hear a young guy ask if he could have a photo with him. Damian said, "Don't you want to have a photo with me?" and Jimmy had a great big laugh.