Before I start this story I must tell you about our plans for going to Patterson etc. As I think I may have mentioned some time ago we had met a brother and sister outside Brooklyn Bethel. We arranged to call them for a tour. Anyway there is another brother in NY that our dear friend Don had put us in touch with. We spoke to him last night and he told us that he would be more than happy to take us up to Patterson if we wanted to go. We were so excited as Patterson is where we had always wanted to go. As we would not have time to go to both Patterson and Brooklyn we decided we would call our sister and tell her that we would be going out to Patterson instead and thanked her very much for her offer. It was all arranged that we go on Friday, yay! (Today is Wednesday)
So back to the story. We are walking to the subway station and on the way the footpath is ridiculous. Its uneven and I mean really uneven! The trees that line the roads are beautiful but they lift the concrete under every tree. In some places it has lifted so much there is a drop of just under a foot! No exaggeration! As you can imagine, what do I do, but fall off one of these huge drops and sprain my ankle very badly. I felt a ping in my ankle and yelled, politely of course. As some of you may know, I have damaged the tendons in my ankles a number of times dancing and as a result they are weaker than normal. I thought Oh no, Im going to get to test that travel insurance already! I stood there for a few moments gathering my breath and after a while I could walk again, but just slowly, so there was no major damage. I decided we should carry on into the city as we only had one day left to do so and we would just take it slowly.
We made it into the city this time without a stop in Harlem. We got off at High street which takes you right into Brooklyn where all the Societies Buildings are. We wandered around here, this time seeing it from quite a different angle. We went down to the promenade and saw Manhattan again, but this time in the daylight. They actually look like two different places, they are so different in the day to the way they look at night.
We walk the route we rode the other day and take in all the sights. We head toward the Brooklyn Bridge and head across to the city. On our way over it starts to rain, but not to heavy so we take shelter in the middle along with 50 other tourist.
The walk up the bridge is a site to see also, as you can really see the structure of it. Underneath where we are walking there is traffic whizzing by on both sides. In the middle is a train.
Upon reaching the other side we head around toward South St Sea Port and go inside to have lunch. We sit facing Brooklyn. What a wonderful view and way to spend you time.
Now we head down toward the Statue of Liberty. We realize we wont be able to go out and see her but that we should be able to get a good view from the very bottom of Manhattan Island. We go past Wall St and some other famous landmarks and reach the Staten Island Ferry port. These ferries are huge to say the least. We thought to ourselves how cool it would be to take a ride on one of these but thought it would be too expensive so didn’t bother. Later everyone would say to us " oh did you go on the Staten Island Ferry, its so beautiful. You get a great, up close view of the Statute of Liberty and go out to Staten Island and then you can just come straight back if you want to". We said, " well no we wanted to but didn’t have the money". They all then said and can you believe this, "oh the ferry is FREE!!!! You can ride it as often as you like and you don’t pay anything!!" WELL IT WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE TO KNOW THAT BEFORE WE WENT!! Ho hum again, never mind at least we will know for next time. For all those reading and intending to go to NY, go on the ferry to Staten Island ITS FREE!
Right at the bottom of Manhattan Island there are all these memorials. Many to fallen marines but many for immigrants that came through here trying to find a better life in the USA. Many had very sad experiences and never made it onto the mainland. There were some statues depicting the struggle they had. Quite a moving area. On our way here we also passed a fire station. Dave and I commented to each other that they were probably some of the first on the scene on 9/11 as it was so close to ground zero. Then we walked two more steps and there is a plague on the building with the names of their fallen comrades. Again, very moving.
Outside one of the many memorials we came across a funny sign. It was on a little fence that was being used to barricade an area off. The sign read " this is not a bike stand" we had a giggle about that one and took a photo just for the record. We thought Shane would appreciate that one.
Another funny thing happened down here. We were walking along totally looking like tourist with our map out etc. (quite safe to do so in this area as everyone is a tourist) Next thing we have a group of people walk past us and say " you look like you know where you are, which way to the Staten Island Ferry?" We laughed and pointed them in the right direction. There we were in a foreign country with a map looking lost and people are asking us for directions! I guess you just had to be there. Actually we got asked for directions quite often while in Manhattan and amazingly we could help every time.
From here we walked up 5th Ave. Man I wish I had remembered that this 5th ave was the famous 5th ave you hear about in movies etc. There was every major designer you can think of, Gucci, Fendi, Lacoste, Tiffanys, Pier Cardin, Cartier, just to name a few. The street was lined on both sides as far as you could see with them. By this time it was 5pm and they were all closing, stinkies, I would love to have gone inside and had a nosy. Yeah right, like they would let us ragamuffins in there! Dreams are free though.
We went back past the giant Brass, whatever, bull and then by the Municipal region. Here there are some very old courthouses, town halls, government buildings, monuments etc. The courthouse used in Law and Order is here. The whole area was so well looked after. The buildings were almost white they were so clean and across from them was a beautiful fountain and gardens. Quite surreal in among all the high rises, scrapping at the sky.
Onward through, China Town and Little Italy again. Quite different during the day. We would love to have spent more time in this area but we had to get back as the brother mentioned earlier was taking us out for dinner and we needed to get back home. Not only that but my foot, although, I had not told Dave was killing me and I really needed to get off it and put some ice on it. So home we went.
We meet up that night with a brother named Daleep. He is from Guyana. What a lovely man he is too. We also met two of his friends, Antony and Shilindra. They took us to a Peruvian place for dinner and it was delicious! Mmmmmmmm. Would love to go back there again. We then went and had NY cheesecake for pudding, much to Daves delight. He had now tried all the NY favorites, hotdogs, hamburgers and cheesecake. He is now a happier man!
While out with these brothers, we mentioned that I had fallen that day and that we weren’t sure if I would be able to walk in high heels, which were all I had brought for our tours through Bethel etc. I said that I would try them on when I got home and see if I could walk in them. I was also concerned that I still had not had a chance to put ice on it and that if I did more walking the next day, I may do some serious damage to it. This I did not want to do with only a week left before we go to Belize! I tried them on when I got home and could not put my foot in them as it had swollen and the angel of my foot was very uncomfortable. I had to decide if we would go or not as we had to let the brothers at Patterson know if we would be there for lunch or not. Very reluctantly I had to say no. I didn’t think it would be a good idea to go. As it turns out, it would not have mattered, even if I had a perfect foot, we would not have made it. We got a phone call from Daleep saying that his car had broken down and that we would not make the trip anyway.
Our trip to Patterson or to the Brooklyn Bethel was not to be this time. Even if we wanted to, there was not enough time to call and arrange a tour through Brooklyn and I wouldn’t have been able to walk for long, if at all anyway. Can you believe it? We travel all the way the NY where the world headquarters of Jehovahs Witnesses are and we only get to see one of the facilities and that’s from the street! Im sure Jehovah will forgive us! He he. That is what you call time and unforeseen occurrence that’s for sure!
Both Dave and I spent Friday resting up as we had had an action packed few days. We went to dinner again with the brothers and this time a couple of sisters to. It was a delightful way to spend our last night in NY.
Bags packed again, we get on the plane headed for Miami again. This makes flight number 4 in two weeks! NY is in a different time zone than LA was and that’s different from NZ, so that’s also three time zones in two weeks. Im sure that’s not good for ya!
Also during our stay in NY we went to Conney Island and to the fairground there, but it was closed, we went to the beach that you cant really swim in due to the pollution and went through the Russian and Jewish quarters too. It was all quite interesting. All these little cities or communities within one huge city.
We had a wonderful time in NY and loved every second of it and there were a lot of seconds piled into that trip. There is so much more we would love to do and see. I guess that means we will have to go back.
During our stay here, we were again really well looked after by Jehovah and our dear brothers. They again would not let us pay for anything, this was their way of helping out and as a result we can use our money for furthering Kingdom interests where there is a real need. Thank you Jah. We have been blessed in so many ways and imagine there will be much more along the way. We have been so impressed that no matter where we go, although we have not known a single person, we have felt like we have been friends forever. Truly we have a united organization identified by love, where else would you experience that? I think nowhere.
Love to you all, and big hugs and kisses to our dear brothers and sisters in NY if your reading.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
TIMES SQUARE
Once we had been to the Rock we wandered off toward Times Square. We had been here earlier but it was during the day and we wanted to go back and see it at night.
You could tell where you were going without having to consult the map as there was a huge glow coming from that general direction.
We rounded the corner into 42nd st and there it was. The street were lined by literally thousands of people. I imagine that a huge percentage of them must have been tourists of some sort.
We wandered around with our eyes wide and our mouth wider. We came across one section where the road is blocked off to all traffic except foot traffic. In this area you can bring your deck chair and just sit and watch the world go by. There was stadium seating in one area where hundreds of people were sitting, eating drinking, taking photos, generally enjoying the scene. There are little tables and chairs everywhere for you to sit.
It is extremely hard to describe this place as it was really unlike anything I have seen before. You see it in the movies but its nothing like that in real life, its twice as big and twice as bright and in a strange way, twice as beautiful. There is music playing quietly in the background which you don’t really notice unless you stop and listen. So many places to eat and of course this is where the Broadway shows are.
Broadway runs right through this area. There is a board TKNS or something like that, where you go and see what shows are showing that day and if you get there at the right time, you can get tickets for up to 70% off! We really wanted to be able to see a show but as we had an extremely limited budget we opted to imagine one instead. I can only imagine it was as good as a real one, but maybe we will never know. Our funds will be better spent in Belize Im sure.
We bought some dinner here and sat among the throngs of people. Again we felt very safe and quite at home.
By this time it was nearly 12pm and we thought we had better head off home. As you may remember we had come in on the subway and that’s how we were getting home too. Don’t freak out though. Riding the subway at this time is really quite safe. There are still heaps of people awake and going about their business. Of course again, you have to be sensible and act like you live there. Of course it helps to have a 6 foot 2 husband that weighs a bit!
We got off at our stop and headed off home to Rudys. He was up and waiting for us. He wanted to hear all our stories, including of course our little trip to Harlem! I think he really wanted to make sure we still had all our limbs and that he didn’t need to send out a search party or anything. He is such a lovely man, gentle and very hospitable.
That ended our day in the big city and we decided we would go back again, this time to visit all the places we had seen at night, during the day. We love to do this as you get such a different perspective of the cities.
Our next installment will include our adventures by day. Stay posted and I will do the posting!
You could tell where you were going without having to consult the map as there was a huge glow coming from that general direction.
We rounded the corner into 42nd st and there it was. The street were lined by literally thousands of people. I imagine that a huge percentage of them must have been tourists of some sort.
We wandered around with our eyes wide and our mouth wider. We came across one section where the road is blocked off to all traffic except foot traffic. In this area you can bring your deck chair and just sit and watch the world go by. There was stadium seating in one area where hundreds of people were sitting, eating drinking, taking photos, generally enjoying the scene. There are little tables and chairs everywhere for you to sit.
It is extremely hard to describe this place as it was really unlike anything I have seen before. You see it in the movies but its nothing like that in real life, its twice as big and twice as bright and in a strange way, twice as beautiful. There is music playing quietly in the background which you don’t really notice unless you stop and listen. So many places to eat and of course this is where the Broadway shows are.
Broadway runs right through this area. There is a board TKNS or something like that, where you go and see what shows are showing that day and if you get there at the right time, you can get tickets for up to 70% off! We really wanted to be able to see a show but as we had an extremely limited budget we opted to imagine one instead. I can only imagine it was as good as a real one, but maybe we will never know. Our funds will be better spent in Belize Im sure.
We bought some dinner here and sat among the throngs of people. Again we felt very safe and quite at home.
By this time it was nearly 12pm and we thought we had better head off home. As you may remember we had come in on the subway and that’s how we were getting home too. Don’t freak out though. Riding the subway at this time is really quite safe. There are still heaps of people awake and going about their business. Of course again, you have to be sensible and act like you live there. Of course it helps to have a 6 foot 2 husband that weighs a bit!
We got off at our stop and headed off home to Rudys. He was up and waiting for us. He wanted to hear all our stories, including of course our little trip to Harlem! I think he really wanted to make sure we still had all our limbs and that he didn’t need to send out a search party or anything. He is such a lovely man, gentle and very hospitable.
That ended our day in the big city and we decided we would go back again, this time to visit all the places we had seen at night, during the day. We love to do this as you get such a different perspective of the cities.
Our next installment will include our adventures by day. Stay posted and I will do the posting!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
ROCKEFELLER CENTRE
Have you heard of the Rockefeller Centre?? Do you recall an old black and white picture that is taken high in the sky on a construction beam, with NYC in the background, there are a group of about 6 or 7 guys who have been working on the structure, sitting on the beam, some eating lunch, some just talking to each other. Well that’s the building we were heading to visit.
We had been told that there is a magnificent view of the city from on top of the Empire State Building and from the Rockefeller Centre (the "rock" for short). I had a look online which I highly recommend , to see what the prices were and which would be the best to go to. Reviews said that the Empire State had extremely long lines and you had to wait up to an hour to get to the top and that the staff were often rude. The Rock reviews said that the lines were not as long and staff were friendly. That you could get a view of both the Empire State building and Central Park which you don’t get from the Empire State. So The Rock it was.
After our hour upon hour adventure through Central Park we came out no far from the Rock. We started heading toward it and went past Radio City on the way. Once we got to The Rock we were given a voucher for $2 off each ticket which was great and very common, so if you’re going there, look out for the guys handing these out. We took our tickets and wandered toward the building. There was no line and we waltzed right on in. Inside is amazing. There is a gorgeous spiral staircase that leads you up to the elevators. In the centre of the staircase is a huge and I mean massive chandelier. Apparently when you turn the light upside down it is in the shape of The Rock! Very cool.
Once you get to the top of the stairs you have to put your bags and electronics though security, just in case you happen to have a bomb in your bag. Once done there you head off to the section that gives you all the history of the building and its designer and some history of the city itself. You can have your photo taken here with the same backdrop as those guys I mentioned at the outset. I will try and attach a photo so you can see what I mean. Once done here you’re through to the elevator.
We waited for one lot of people to go through before us and then it was our turn. In the elevator a movie starts to play on the ceiling of the elevator, it distracts you from the zoom to the top. I cant quite remember, but I think the top of the Rock where you get out and overlook the city was about the 70 somethingth floor.
When you step out of the elevator you are faced with the most incredible view. In one direction you can see Central Park and right into the distance beyond it and in the other you can see the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings. All around these stand building after building, sky scrapper after sky scrapper. It really has to be seen to be believed. I took so many photos up there its crazy but you kinda go mad with the awe of the place and don’t want to miss a single thing.
We arrived at the Rock at about 7pm as planned. We went at this time so we could see the city in daylight, but then be able to watch the city start to light up and then to see it at night with all the lights on. This plan worked perfectly. Again, if you’re planning on going here, you have to go at this time of day it really is the best. We got to see the city from every angle and every perspective with the lights changing constantly. Once the daylight had gone completely, when you looked over where Central Park is, there was a great big black void amongst the lights. Its quite strange to see.
You can see all the bridges lit up and even right across to the Societies buildings.
At one point we counted 12 planes in the air. There are three main airports in NYC and they were all lined up for landing at various ones.
I didn’t want to leave this place as it was quite awe inspiring and certainly a magnificent sight to see by day and by night. This we would highly recommend!
Eventually we had to leave and headed back down to Times Square.
Times Square would blow anyone’s mind. Its just like you see in the movies only bigger and better. The lights are so bright that even during the night, it looks like day time. There was every type of billboard, advertising products as well as Broadway musicals. Thousands of people around but you feel quite safe here. There are a lot of police around making sure that everyone is behaving and that we are all safe. Many many more photos were taken here too.
That was our trip to The Top of The Rock. More fantastic memories were made and we look forward to sharing them with you all when we get home.
See ya.
We had been told that there is a magnificent view of the city from on top of the Empire State Building and from the Rockefeller Centre (the "rock" for short). I had a look online which I highly recommend , to see what the prices were and which would be the best to go to. Reviews said that the Empire State had extremely long lines and you had to wait up to an hour to get to the top and that the staff were often rude. The Rock reviews said that the lines were not as long and staff were friendly. That you could get a view of both the Empire State building and Central Park which you don’t get from the Empire State. So The Rock it was.
After our hour upon hour adventure through Central Park we came out no far from the Rock. We started heading toward it and went past Radio City on the way. Once we got to The Rock we were given a voucher for $2 off each ticket which was great and very common, so if you’re going there, look out for the guys handing these out. We took our tickets and wandered toward the building. There was no line and we waltzed right on in. Inside is amazing. There is a gorgeous spiral staircase that leads you up to the elevators. In the centre of the staircase is a huge and I mean massive chandelier. Apparently when you turn the light upside down it is in the shape of The Rock! Very cool.
Once you get to the top of the stairs you have to put your bags and electronics though security, just in case you happen to have a bomb in your bag. Once done there you head off to the section that gives you all the history of the building and its designer and some history of the city itself. You can have your photo taken here with the same backdrop as those guys I mentioned at the outset. I will try and attach a photo so you can see what I mean. Once done here you’re through to the elevator.
We waited for one lot of people to go through before us and then it was our turn. In the elevator a movie starts to play on the ceiling of the elevator, it distracts you from the zoom to the top. I cant quite remember, but I think the top of the Rock where you get out and overlook the city was about the 70 somethingth floor.
When you step out of the elevator you are faced with the most incredible view. In one direction you can see Central Park and right into the distance beyond it and in the other you can see the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings. All around these stand building after building, sky scrapper after sky scrapper. It really has to be seen to be believed. I took so many photos up there its crazy but you kinda go mad with the awe of the place and don’t want to miss a single thing.
We arrived at the Rock at about 7pm as planned. We went at this time so we could see the city in daylight, but then be able to watch the city start to light up and then to see it at night with all the lights on. This plan worked perfectly. Again, if you’re planning on going here, you have to go at this time of day it really is the best. We got to see the city from every angle and every perspective with the lights changing constantly. Once the daylight had gone completely, when you looked over where Central Park is, there was a great big black void amongst the lights. Its quite strange to see.
You can see all the bridges lit up and even right across to the Societies buildings.
At one point we counted 12 planes in the air. There are three main airports in NYC and they were all lined up for landing at various ones.
I didn’t want to leave this place as it was quite awe inspiring and certainly a magnificent sight to see by day and by night. This we would highly recommend!
Eventually we had to leave and headed back down to Times Square.
Times Square would blow anyone’s mind. Its just like you see in the movies only bigger and better. The lights are so bright that even during the night, it looks like day time. There was every type of billboard, advertising products as well as Broadway musicals. Thousands of people around but you feel quite safe here. There are a lot of police around making sure that everyone is behaving and that we are all safe. Many many more photos were taken here too.
That was our trip to The Top of The Rock. More fantastic memories were made and we look forward to sharing them with you all when we get home.
See ya.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
ANOTHER DAY IN NEW YORK (June 1st 2009)
We had our first meeting in NY yesterday and got to meet more brothers and sisters. There are so many different races in the congregations over here its wonderful but can be quite hard to understand some of the answers in the Watchtower because of the accents.
Our big plan for today was to take the subway from Queens into Manhattan, get off at Central Park, take a walk through Central Park then go to the Rockerfeller Centre and watch the day turn into night from the top of the building. This adventure started with the subway, well there in lies the first story!
We asked Rudy which subway to take and where to get off, bla bla bla. He gave us a subway map and told us get on the "A" train from Queens and get off at any of these stops here, pointing to the stops along Central Park. Sweet As we though to ourselves looks easy. Well it was, that’s the boring bit. The funny bit was this: We got up to the platform and bought our tickets no worries, we got on the right train, no worries we are riding the train mentally checking which stops had passed and how many there were to go until we had to get off. Pro’s we thought, no problems. Looking at the map we thought we should be able to get off at either the 86th or 96th street stop and we would come out right about half way up Central Park, giving us a nice walk through the park. Weeeeeeeeeeellllll yes and no. The train is whizzing past the stops and we look and see that we need to get off at the next stop, but then the train just goes straight past and doesn’t stop. We thought, okay, that was weird, but its okay we’ll just get off at the next one, 96th street. The train whizzes off again and this time, does not stop again! Now we’re thinking, this aint right. So trying not to look like kidnapped or should I say train napped tourists we quietly said to each other, we will just get off wherever the train stops next and walk back to Central Park. This we did, no problem at all. The next stop was 126th street. We got off here and walked purposefully through the streets in the general direction of Central Park. As we are walking we see some pretty rough house and some seedy looking people and think, hmm this is a pretty rough part of the city, but its not too bad. We keep walking and after about 4 blocks we find the entrance to Central Park. Yay, we made it! Whats funny???? Well, we’re walking through CP (Central Park) and find a sign/map which says "you are here" we’re looking at it, seeing where we should go next. While looking at this map we notice the area we got off the train in. Can you guess where our accidental subway stop was???????? It starts with an H and ends with an M and has an ARLE in the middle. What does that spell? HARLEM baby!!! Yes, we got of the subway on the depths of Harlem New York City!!!!!! Oh and lived to tell the tale! It was quite funny when we think back, as we got a couple of really strange looks from a couple of people and it was kinda a rough there and if I think about it there were only two white people in the whole neighborhood, ohhhhh that was us!! So funny. At one point we had to ring Rudy to tell him what time to expect us home and we told him we got out in Harlem and he yelled "WHAAAAAT, NOOOOOOOOO" into the phone, he he he. So. hmm, yes, that was our trip to Harlem!
Anyway, we walked for possibly two or more hours through CP and it was beautiful! From within the park you would have no idea you were in one of the biggest cities in the world unless you knew it. In most parts of the park you cannot see the skyscrapers at, occasionally they pop their heads out above the trees but not very often. The park is full in lakes, walkways in all directions, horses and carts to take you around if walking becomes too much for you. There are specially designed bike and runner paths for all those fit freaks and man they were busy. It was like a little highway just for them. If you wanted to cross the road at one of these areas you had to be very carful you weren’t run down! Within the park itself there are Museums, Zoos (the animals that escaped the zoo in Madagascar the movie, came from CP) circuses, playgrounds for kids, tennis courts, softball pitches and the list really does go on and on. The park is massive to say the least but absolutely stunning. It is really well looked after and a tribute to the city. Some parts of it you could tell must be where a number of homeless spend their nights as it would stink of urine, but for the most part it was great. Very safe, clean and tidy. Now that we are homeless too, you notice these things, I would sleep there for sure!
Finally, after hours of walking we made it to the end of CP. We had walked from 126th street all the way down to 42nd street by the end of the day, you figure out how many blocks that is! Tooooooo many I say! At one end of CP is Columbus Circle. It is awesome here. There are street performers, horses with their carriages, hundreds of people, stalls selling everything from water to T-shirts and souvenirs. From here we headed off toward the Rockerfeller Centre where we intended to spend money on a "sight". Man was that money well spent! That will be the next story for ya all, so stay tuned!
Ciao for now.
Our big plan for today was to take the subway from Queens into Manhattan, get off at Central Park, take a walk through Central Park then go to the Rockerfeller Centre and watch the day turn into night from the top of the building. This adventure started with the subway, well there in lies the first story!
We asked Rudy which subway to take and where to get off, bla bla bla. He gave us a subway map and told us get on the "A" train from Queens and get off at any of these stops here, pointing to the stops along Central Park. Sweet As we though to ourselves looks easy. Well it was, that’s the boring bit. The funny bit was this: We got up to the platform and bought our tickets no worries, we got on the right train, no worries we are riding the train mentally checking which stops had passed and how many there were to go until we had to get off. Pro’s we thought, no problems. Looking at the map we thought we should be able to get off at either the 86th or 96th street stop and we would come out right about half way up Central Park, giving us a nice walk through the park. Weeeeeeeeeeellllll yes and no. The train is whizzing past the stops and we look and see that we need to get off at the next stop, but then the train just goes straight past and doesn’t stop. We thought, okay, that was weird, but its okay we’ll just get off at the next one, 96th street. The train whizzes off again and this time, does not stop again! Now we’re thinking, this aint right. So trying not to look like kidnapped or should I say train napped tourists we quietly said to each other, we will just get off wherever the train stops next and walk back to Central Park. This we did, no problem at all. The next stop was 126th street. We got off here and walked purposefully through the streets in the general direction of Central Park. As we are walking we see some pretty rough house and some seedy looking people and think, hmm this is a pretty rough part of the city, but its not too bad. We keep walking and after about 4 blocks we find the entrance to Central Park. Yay, we made it! Whats funny???? Well, we’re walking through CP (Central Park) and find a sign/map which says "you are here" we’re looking at it, seeing where we should go next. While looking at this map we notice the area we got off the train in. Can you guess where our accidental subway stop was???????? It starts with an H and ends with an M and has an ARLE in the middle. What does that spell? HARLEM baby!!! Yes, we got of the subway on the depths of Harlem New York City!!!!!! Oh and lived to tell the tale! It was quite funny when we think back, as we got a couple of really strange looks from a couple of people and it was kinda a rough there and if I think about it there were only two white people in the whole neighborhood, ohhhhh that was us!! So funny. At one point we had to ring Rudy to tell him what time to expect us home and we told him we got out in Harlem and he yelled "WHAAAAAT, NOOOOOOOOO" into the phone, he he he. So. hmm, yes, that was our trip to Harlem!
Anyway, we walked for possibly two or more hours through CP and it was beautiful! From within the park you would have no idea you were in one of the biggest cities in the world unless you knew it. In most parts of the park you cannot see the skyscrapers at, occasionally they pop their heads out above the trees but not very often. The park is full in lakes, walkways in all directions, horses and carts to take you around if walking becomes too much for you. There are specially designed bike and runner paths for all those fit freaks and man they were busy. It was like a little highway just for them. If you wanted to cross the road at one of these areas you had to be very carful you weren’t run down! Within the park itself there are Museums, Zoos (the animals that escaped the zoo in Madagascar the movie, came from CP) circuses, playgrounds for kids, tennis courts, softball pitches and the list really does go on and on. The park is massive to say the least but absolutely stunning. It is really well looked after and a tribute to the city. Some parts of it you could tell must be where a number of homeless spend their nights as it would stink of urine, but for the most part it was great. Very safe, clean and tidy. Now that we are homeless too, you notice these things, I would sleep there for sure!
Finally, after hours of walking we made it to the end of CP. We had walked from 126th street all the way down to 42nd street by the end of the day, you figure out how many blocks that is! Tooooooo many I say! At one end of CP is Columbus Circle. It is awesome here. There are street performers, horses with their carriages, hundreds of people, stalls selling everything from water to T-shirts and souvenirs. From here we headed off toward the Rockerfeller Centre where we intended to spend money on a "sight". Man was that money well spent! That will be the next story for ya all, so stay tuned!
Ciao for now.
BMW BIKE TOURS
It was about 6:00pm the night we arrived in NY and we threw three mountain bikes into the back of Rudys truck and drove towards Manhattan. We weren’t really sure where we were going or how close to Manhattan we would be. Soon though, we saw Manhattan rising on the horizon again and this time we were heading straight toward it. The buildings looked huge, one towering above the other. I wondered to myself, "what would they look like up close?" Not thinking in a million years I would see them tonight!
We drove the truck right up and under the skywalks between the Societies buildings in Brooklyn and parked. We unloaded the bikes and began a "little" bike ride. Rudy took us up past the main entrance to Brooklyn Bethel where we meet some brothers and sisters who were just on their way home from the Convention. We talked and they invited us to come and have a tour of the Branch and the facilities and to have lunch with them one day. We said yes, that would be great, so we exchanged phone numbers and said we would call them in a couple of days to arrange a tour time.
Off we went again, this time winding up onto a bridge. As it turns out the bridge was in fact the Manhattan Bridge! It was still reasonably light and we had a beautiful view of Manhattan itself as we rode toward it. Again, this was the last thing I thought we would be doing, riding into Manhattan on a push bike! What are we crazy, we would be killed by all the crazy NY drivers, surely! Onward we went. Stopping every five seconds to take photos. Once on the other side of the bridge we rode through China Town and then into Little Italy. While in Little Italy, there was a parade being held for one of the many "saints". The roads were all closed and there were literally so many people it was hard to keep riding the bikes. The restaurants were so full they had people sitting on the roadway eating. The loud chatter of Italian voices was quite a sound to experience.
Once we left Little Italy we headed off again, each time we did this we had no idea where we were going at all. This time we ended up riding down a road that was lined with high rise buildings. They were so high that you could nearly not see any sky at all, and that is no exaggeration! It was actually really pretty. The natural light was fading and the electric lights were coming on. The air was still and cooling. It was just perfect!
Next thing we knew, we were in Wall street, the "financial district." In this area the buildings were even taller if thats possible. We went to "Ground Zero" where the Twin Towers once stood, towering above the cities skyline. Now there is a huge hole in the ground and fences all around. There are police officers everywhere! That was a strange experience. We had never known what it looked like in real life before the towers fell so it was hard to imagine them standing there safe and sound, when all we could see was what now looks like a construction site. More photos were taken but its hard to portray something like that in a photo, you really need to be there in person.
Not sure if you have see in the movies a great big brass (I think) bull that sits in the financial district of NY, well we went there too. Dave had his photo taken with the bull but light was fading fast at this point as they haven’t come out to good. That bull is huge!
The South St Sea Port was our next stop. This was stunning at the time of day we were there. The night light had set in and the whole area was alight with all the colors of the rainbow. Playing loud and proud was Latin music which people in the street were dancing too. You could smell good food and feel the atmosphere. We walked through this part as you are not allowed to ride bikes here. This area overlooks Brooklyn so when we stopped at the waters edge we could see all the Societies buildings lit up, very cool. There were ferries coming and going doing night tours of the city by water. From where we stood you could see bridge after bridge spanning the East River or was it the Hudson, hmm not sure. Each bridge was lit up with different lights so you could tell them apart at night. In the distance you could see the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building too. Each night the Empire State Building has different lights on it just to make in more interesting. The lights were bright blue this night. We stood there for ages soaking in the atmosphere, it was a wonderful thing to experience.
Now back up onto another bridge, this time the Brooklyn Bridge. This took us back across the river toward the Societies buildings. This time was meandered through Brooklyn Heights on our bikes. Here the very rich live, with their massive houses and glamorous views. We went down to the Promenard where you are directly across from Manhattan Island. The skyline is breath taking lit up at night, again, you have to be here to believe the beauty, photos just don’t do it any justice.
Rudy took us past all the residence buildings for the brothers and sisters working in the Branch, past a number of Kingdom Halls and buildings that were once owned by the Society but have now been sold. You could tell by the way some were dressed that they were our brothers, it was very cool.
We then after biking for nearly four hours went back to the car and drove home again. As you can imagine we were quite exhausted, but enthralled all at the same time. We had taken so many photos it was crazy. It was one of the most amazing things I think I have ever done. It was so unexpected and so mind blowing it is hard to explain. Two little kiwis from the other side of the world biking through Manhattan at night and we did not get hit by a single car!
In fact I have never felt safer than when we were to doing this tour. I think I had in mind that NY was going to be very dangerous and that we would have to very careful of everything we did there. It is true that you should be careful but really its more about using your brain and not going into to places you shouldn’t and not flashing money around, as long as you don’t do that then you should be just fine.
Why on earth did we ride around downtown Manhattan when we could have been hit by a car you might ask? Well that’s a very good question. I would have said "are you crazy, Im not doing that!" In reality though as a pedestrian or cyclist in NY you have all the rights. If someone hits you even if you are riding on the wrong side of the road, you can sue the person for hitting you! So all the drivers are very careful when they see cyclists or people walking the streets, and believe me there were hundreds of us. Heaps of people were riding bikes around and even more walking. The cars just give way to you, let you go first, etc. We rode against traffic, went in front of cars, rode on the foot paths everything you could think of and not a single person tooted at us!! Hard to believe I know, but its true! We would have been in more danger in a car I think.
Why was this called the BMW Bike Tour? The three main bridges into Manhattan are the Brooklyn, the Manhattan and the Williamson Bridges thus the BMW. Its a good way to remember the order of them.
Well that was just one evening in NY and we still had 5 more to go! Will keep ya posted!
We drove the truck right up and under the skywalks between the Societies buildings in Brooklyn and parked. We unloaded the bikes and began a "little" bike ride. Rudy took us up past the main entrance to Brooklyn Bethel where we meet some brothers and sisters who were just on their way home from the Convention. We talked and they invited us to come and have a tour of the Branch and the facilities and to have lunch with them one day. We said yes, that would be great, so we exchanged phone numbers and said we would call them in a couple of days to arrange a tour time.
Off we went again, this time winding up onto a bridge. As it turns out the bridge was in fact the Manhattan Bridge! It was still reasonably light and we had a beautiful view of Manhattan itself as we rode toward it. Again, this was the last thing I thought we would be doing, riding into Manhattan on a push bike! What are we crazy, we would be killed by all the crazy NY drivers, surely! Onward we went. Stopping every five seconds to take photos. Once on the other side of the bridge we rode through China Town and then into Little Italy. While in Little Italy, there was a parade being held for one of the many "saints". The roads were all closed and there were literally so many people it was hard to keep riding the bikes. The restaurants were so full they had people sitting on the roadway eating. The loud chatter of Italian voices was quite a sound to experience.
Once we left Little Italy we headed off again, each time we did this we had no idea where we were going at all. This time we ended up riding down a road that was lined with high rise buildings. They were so high that you could nearly not see any sky at all, and that is no exaggeration! It was actually really pretty. The natural light was fading and the electric lights were coming on. The air was still and cooling. It was just perfect!
Next thing we knew, we were in Wall street, the "financial district." In this area the buildings were even taller if thats possible. We went to "Ground Zero" where the Twin Towers once stood, towering above the cities skyline. Now there is a huge hole in the ground and fences all around. There are police officers everywhere! That was a strange experience. We had never known what it looked like in real life before the towers fell so it was hard to imagine them standing there safe and sound, when all we could see was what now looks like a construction site. More photos were taken but its hard to portray something like that in a photo, you really need to be there in person.
Not sure if you have see in the movies a great big brass (I think) bull that sits in the financial district of NY, well we went there too. Dave had his photo taken with the bull but light was fading fast at this point as they haven’t come out to good. That bull is huge!
The South St Sea Port was our next stop. This was stunning at the time of day we were there. The night light had set in and the whole area was alight with all the colors of the rainbow. Playing loud and proud was Latin music which people in the street were dancing too. You could smell good food and feel the atmosphere. We walked through this part as you are not allowed to ride bikes here. This area overlooks Brooklyn so when we stopped at the waters edge we could see all the Societies buildings lit up, very cool. There were ferries coming and going doing night tours of the city by water. From where we stood you could see bridge after bridge spanning the East River or was it the Hudson, hmm not sure. Each bridge was lit up with different lights so you could tell them apart at night. In the distance you could see the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building too. Each night the Empire State Building has different lights on it just to make in more interesting. The lights were bright blue this night. We stood there for ages soaking in the atmosphere, it was a wonderful thing to experience.
Now back up onto another bridge, this time the Brooklyn Bridge. This took us back across the river toward the Societies buildings. This time was meandered through Brooklyn Heights on our bikes. Here the very rich live, with their massive houses and glamorous views. We went down to the Promenard where you are directly across from Manhattan Island. The skyline is breath taking lit up at night, again, you have to be here to believe the beauty, photos just don’t do it any justice.
Rudy took us past all the residence buildings for the brothers and sisters working in the Branch, past a number of Kingdom Halls and buildings that were once owned by the Society but have now been sold. You could tell by the way some were dressed that they were our brothers, it was very cool.
We then after biking for nearly four hours went back to the car and drove home again. As you can imagine we were quite exhausted, but enthralled all at the same time. We had taken so many photos it was crazy. It was one of the most amazing things I think I have ever done. It was so unexpected and so mind blowing it is hard to explain. Two little kiwis from the other side of the world biking through Manhattan at night and we did not get hit by a single car!
In fact I have never felt safer than when we were to doing this tour. I think I had in mind that NY was going to be very dangerous and that we would have to very careful of everything we did there. It is true that you should be careful but really its more about using your brain and not going into to places you shouldn’t and not flashing money around, as long as you don’t do that then you should be just fine.
Why on earth did we ride around downtown Manhattan when we could have been hit by a car you might ask? Well that’s a very good question. I would have said "are you crazy, Im not doing that!" In reality though as a pedestrian or cyclist in NY you have all the rights. If someone hits you even if you are riding on the wrong side of the road, you can sue the person for hitting you! So all the drivers are very careful when they see cyclists or people walking the streets, and believe me there were hundreds of us. Heaps of people were riding bikes around and even more walking. The cars just give way to you, let you go first, etc. We rode against traffic, went in front of cars, rode on the foot paths everything you could think of and not a single person tooted at us!! Hard to believe I know, but its true! We would have been in more danger in a car I think.
Why was this called the BMW Bike Tour? The three main bridges into Manhattan are the Brooklyn, the Manhattan and the Williamson Bridges thus the BMW. Its a good way to remember the order of them.
Well that was just one evening in NY and we still had 5 more to go! Will keep ya posted!
NEW YORK, NEW YORK May 30th 2009
Sorry for the delay in postings guys, we have not had very good internet access where we have been and this is the first chance to get something done! So here goes.
We arrived in New York on the morning of the 30th May after another extremely early morning (Im not enjoying that part!). We were meet a lovely brother named Rudy at the JFK airport. Flying into NY city was amazing. It was a clear day and you could see for miles. Suddenly on the horizon Manhattan City began to arise. It got bigger and bigger as we drew closer although we were still literally miles away from it.
On the way to Rudys house we went to Cosco which is a type of wholesale store where you can buy anything you can think of. There were big screen TVs there were clothes and then there was a huge food area. That was where we were heading. The place is very similar to Gilmours in NZ but with more variety and its much, much bigger. We wandered around with our tiny sheltered NZ eyes wide open, our mouths even wider. On every bend there was a person offering free samples, to which we availed ourselves, no need for lunch that day! We filled our trolley with food to keep us going for the week so we wouldn’t need to buy too much in the city as it is very expensive in NY. Then home to Rudys we went.
Driving in NY and this was not right in the city it was in Queens, was an experience to say the least. People were tooting and weaving all over the road, dodging in and out of the traffic with not a care in the world for themselves or those around them, another eye opener. The roads in NY are terrible to drive on. Due to the snow in winter they have to use salt to melt the snow away, but a byproduct of doing this, is the salt eats the asphalt and the roads become full of pot holes and bumps making for a very uncomfortable drive as you try to avoid driving into a hole big enough to swallow the car, whilst trying not to drive in the other lane and hit someone, whilst trying to avoid the other cars doing the same! Hmmm, I was quite pleased we did not rent a car here! We did however make it home safe, phew!
The housing in Queens was also quite different to what we had experienced in NZ and in LA. Rather than each house having some space around it, they were so close you could stand with one arm out to your side and hit the house next door. Some of them did have backyards but they were not very big at all and rarely had grass, most people had covered them in concrete. Driving down the average street in this part of town, all the house are exactly the same design, only different colors. The streets are usually lined with trees which is quite nice and breaks the concrete jungle up a little. We didn’t really feel to safe pulling out our video camera and filming the houses as we didn’t want to run the risk someone would take offence and chase us up the road with a gun. We did get some footage but not that much, unfortunately. Apparently if you drive 30 mins from where we were staying you would see houses with huge yards and grass, etc, but it was really quite hard to believe when all you could see around you was house after house after house and then concrete, concrete, concrete.
Rudy lives in the house he grew up in, which was cool. He bought it from his mother, so its nice that its still in the family. The houses in this area are all three stories. They have a basement that is under ground, this had two bedrooms and a bathroom in it, then upstairs on the second floor, (from the street this is the ground floor) this had the kitchen, dinning and living room in it with a ranch slider leading out into the back yard. The top story of the house is rented out to a brother so we didn’t get to see that.
We had dinner with Rudy and his sister. Dave got to have his very first American hotdog and hamburger, he was a very happy boy! After eating dinner, Rudy asked us if we would like to go for a bike ride. We said yes, that sounds great. He said that we would drive into Brooklyn and leave the car there, then bike around a little. In my head, I thought that meant that there must be a park or something that you could ride around in, well that was not what happened at all!!!! A little something for you to wonder about. Our bike tour will be in the next edition, stay tuned!
We arrived in New York on the morning of the 30th May after another extremely early morning (Im not enjoying that part!). We were meet a lovely brother named Rudy at the JFK airport. Flying into NY city was amazing. It was a clear day and you could see for miles. Suddenly on the horizon Manhattan City began to arise. It got bigger and bigger as we drew closer although we were still literally miles away from it.
On the way to Rudys house we went to Cosco which is a type of wholesale store where you can buy anything you can think of. There were big screen TVs there were clothes and then there was a huge food area. That was where we were heading. The place is very similar to Gilmours in NZ but with more variety and its much, much bigger. We wandered around with our tiny sheltered NZ eyes wide open, our mouths even wider. On every bend there was a person offering free samples, to which we availed ourselves, no need for lunch that day! We filled our trolley with food to keep us going for the week so we wouldn’t need to buy too much in the city as it is very expensive in NY. Then home to Rudys we went.
Driving in NY and this was not right in the city it was in Queens, was an experience to say the least. People were tooting and weaving all over the road, dodging in and out of the traffic with not a care in the world for themselves or those around them, another eye opener. The roads in NY are terrible to drive on. Due to the snow in winter they have to use salt to melt the snow away, but a byproduct of doing this, is the salt eats the asphalt and the roads become full of pot holes and bumps making for a very uncomfortable drive as you try to avoid driving into a hole big enough to swallow the car, whilst trying not to drive in the other lane and hit someone, whilst trying to avoid the other cars doing the same! Hmmm, I was quite pleased we did not rent a car here! We did however make it home safe, phew!
The housing in Queens was also quite different to what we had experienced in NZ and in LA. Rather than each house having some space around it, they were so close you could stand with one arm out to your side and hit the house next door. Some of them did have backyards but they were not very big at all and rarely had grass, most people had covered them in concrete. Driving down the average street in this part of town, all the house are exactly the same design, only different colors. The streets are usually lined with trees which is quite nice and breaks the concrete jungle up a little. We didn’t really feel to safe pulling out our video camera and filming the houses as we didn’t want to run the risk someone would take offence and chase us up the road with a gun. We did get some footage but not that much, unfortunately. Apparently if you drive 30 mins from where we were staying you would see houses with huge yards and grass, etc, but it was really quite hard to believe when all you could see around you was house after house after house and then concrete, concrete, concrete.
Rudy lives in the house he grew up in, which was cool. He bought it from his mother, so its nice that its still in the family. The houses in this area are all three stories. They have a basement that is under ground, this had two bedrooms and a bathroom in it, then upstairs on the second floor, (from the street this is the ground floor) this had the kitchen, dinning and living room in it with a ranch slider leading out into the back yard. The top story of the house is rented out to a brother so we didn’t get to see that.
We had dinner with Rudy and his sister. Dave got to have his very first American hotdog and hamburger, he was a very happy boy! After eating dinner, Rudy asked us if we would like to go for a bike ride. We said yes, that sounds great. He said that we would drive into Brooklyn and leave the car there, then bike around a little. In my head, I thought that meant that there must be a park or something that you could ride around in, well that was not what happened at all!!!! A little something for you to wonder about. Our bike tour will be in the next edition, stay tuned!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Leaving LA behind. May 29th 2009
Well today started with us getting up at hmmmmm 5AM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Leaving LA behind to head off on the next stage of our adventure today. Our flight leaves LAX at 7:40am for Miami.
We will be staying in Miami for just the night and then head off for New York Saturday morning.
The flight was just under 5hrs and on arrival we had to find the public phones to call the Hotel we are staying at. This we did only to call the wrong hotel. Apparently there are heaps and heaps of Marriott hotels in Miami and we had called the wrong one. They were very helpful though and told us where to go and what our shuttle would look like. We found it no problem at all.
We were whisked off to our hotel on a very balmy morning by a chatter box of an American.
On the horizon to our left we could only see huge black skies looming. To our right the sky was blue. Our driver told us that with in two hours the entire city would be covered by those huge black clouds and that a storm would hit. We were kind of excited about that, but then he said that they must be due for a massive hurricane as they havent had one for a few years!!! Hmmm, now, not so excited! Well no storm hit at all and there was nothing to worry about after all.
Oh yeah, we just heard that a massive earthquake hit just off the coast of Belize and Hondurus, measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale. Aftershocks of between 3 and 4 are being felt across Central America. We spoke with our brothers there, and they are all fine. No major damage but everyone is very shaken up, literally! The brother I spoke to said "it was huge, we felt it BIG TIME". So we are pleased that they are all in one piece and are well! Lets hope that, thats all over by the time we get there.
Anyway, we get to our Hotel and have a seamless check in. We go up to our room and it is beautiful.
Now for the tale of how we got this Hotel room. While in NZ, we were making plans for our stay in the US. We were given the contact details of a brother who loves to help arrange travel plans for the brothers from around the world. We still have not met this brother, but are extremely thankful for all his help. Anyway, he had a friend who knew a friend in Miami who emailed us in NZ (we also have never met this sister). She tried to find us somewhere to stay but due to deaths in her family and in the congregation it became difficult for her. What she did do for us though, is worth a million dollars to us. We had told her that we would be in Miami for one night before flying to NY and that we were concerned about having to take 6 suitcases into NYC and standing out like the tourists we are. This is not a wise idea in NY! Out of the blue we received and email from our dear sister saying that she had arranged for us to stay at the Marriott Hotel at no cost to us! She wanted to thank us for our efforts going to serve where the need is greater and she wanted us to enjoy a good nights sleep! We were blown away and literally did not know what to say. Not only that but she then added that she had arranged for a pioneer brother and his wife to meet us at the Hotel, they would take the bulk of our suitcases so we wouldnt have to worry about taking them to NY!!!! Well by this point we were both speechless, I know its hard to believe, but its true! I think I cried! What an incredible example of Jehovah providing again! We are soooooooo thankful to Fay (our sister) for all her kindness!
We got up to our room and rang Manny and his wife who came straight away and picked up our big bags so we only had carry on bags to take to NY. (Lets hope they really are brothers and sisters or we might never see those bags again!) What a delight they were. You could feel the love even though we were meeting them for only the first time. Again we cannot believe how much Jehovah has done for us!
We are truly blessed to be part of Jehovahs organisation, where else would you rather be! So far we have had a seamless trip, no delays with flight, no problems with bags going missing, meeting our rides at the airports with no hiccups. Awesome!!
We have made so many wonderful friends so far and we have only been in the country for a week! I dont really know what I was expecting, but this far anything I could have imagined!
I hope someday, everyone gets to feel the unity and love on the scale we have.
Our stay at the Marriott was great and we wll leave tomorrow morning for NY. Get this. we have to get up at 4AM this time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
See ya.
Leaving LA behind to head off on the next stage of our adventure today. Our flight leaves LAX at 7:40am for Miami.
We will be staying in Miami for just the night and then head off for New York Saturday morning.
The flight was just under 5hrs and on arrival we had to find the public phones to call the Hotel we are staying at. This we did only to call the wrong hotel. Apparently there are heaps and heaps of Marriott hotels in Miami and we had called the wrong one. They were very helpful though and told us where to go and what our shuttle would look like. We found it no problem at all.
We were whisked off to our hotel on a very balmy morning by a chatter box of an American.
On the horizon to our left we could only see huge black skies looming. To our right the sky was blue. Our driver told us that with in two hours the entire city would be covered by those huge black clouds and that a storm would hit. We were kind of excited about that, but then he said that they must be due for a massive hurricane as they havent had one for a few years!!! Hmmm, now, not so excited! Well no storm hit at all and there was nothing to worry about after all.
Oh yeah, we just heard that a massive earthquake hit just off the coast of Belize and Hondurus, measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale. Aftershocks of between 3 and 4 are being felt across Central America. We spoke with our brothers there, and they are all fine. No major damage but everyone is very shaken up, literally! The brother I spoke to said "it was huge, we felt it BIG TIME". So we are pleased that they are all in one piece and are well! Lets hope that, thats all over by the time we get there.
Anyway, we get to our Hotel and have a seamless check in. We go up to our room and it is beautiful.
Now for the tale of how we got this Hotel room. While in NZ, we were making plans for our stay in the US. We were given the contact details of a brother who loves to help arrange travel plans for the brothers from around the world. We still have not met this brother, but are extremely thankful for all his help. Anyway, he had a friend who knew a friend in Miami who emailed us in NZ (we also have never met this sister). She tried to find us somewhere to stay but due to deaths in her family and in the congregation it became difficult for her. What she did do for us though, is worth a million dollars to us. We had told her that we would be in Miami for one night before flying to NY and that we were concerned about having to take 6 suitcases into NYC and standing out like the tourists we are. This is not a wise idea in NY! Out of the blue we received and email from our dear sister saying that she had arranged for us to stay at the Marriott Hotel at no cost to us! She wanted to thank us for our efforts going to serve where the need is greater and she wanted us to enjoy a good nights sleep! We were blown away and literally did not know what to say. Not only that but she then added that she had arranged for a pioneer brother and his wife to meet us at the Hotel, they would take the bulk of our suitcases so we wouldnt have to worry about taking them to NY!!!! Well by this point we were both speechless, I know its hard to believe, but its true! I think I cried! What an incredible example of Jehovah providing again! We are soooooooo thankful to Fay (our sister) for all her kindness!
We got up to our room and rang Manny and his wife who came straight away and picked up our big bags so we only had carry on bags to take to NY. (Lets hope they really are brothers and sisters or we might never see those bags again!) What a delight they were. You could feel the love even though we were meeting them for only the first time. Again we cannot believe how much Jehovah has done for us!
We are truly blessed to be part of Jehovahs organisation, where else would you rather be! So far we have had a seamless trip, no delays with flight, no problems with bags going missing, meeting our rides at the airports with no hiccups. Awesome!!
We have made so many wonderful friends so far and we have only been in the country for a week! I dont really know what I was expecting, but this far anything I could have imagined!
I hope someday, everyone gets to feel the unity and love on the scale we have.
Our stay at the Marriott was great and we wll leave tomorrow morning for NY. Get this. we have to get up at 4AM this time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
See ya.
Redondo Beach 28th May 2009
Today we went down to Redondo Beach with some of Pattianns family.
It was funny to see the little life saving huts like they have on Baywatch and then as we were sitting on the beach who should wander past???? A baywatch chick on patrol!!!! They look exactly like thay do on TV only without the huge plastic boobs and the slow motion running! It was quite funny, I couldnt help but get a photo.
There were guys down there surfing although the waves the day we were there werent very big.
The beach is lined in both direction with houses and condos that are worth no less than $10million usd and they go as far as you can see.
Patti told us today that if you surf or go swimming at the beach and get water in your mouth, which you inevitably will, you will have diarrhea the next day!!! How gross is that! I felt sorry for the little seal we saw.
At each of the beaches here there is a Pier. At the end of Redondo Beach pier there is an aquarium. It was little, but very interesting. Quite cool to see some of the marine life.
Today was a lazy day, just chilling out in the sun and relaxing, ahhhhhhhhh life is good!
It was funny to see the little life saving huts like they have on Baywatch and then as we were sitting on the beach who should wander past???? A baywatch chick on patrol!!!! They look exactly like thay do on TV only without the huge plastic boobs and the slow motion running! It was quite funny, I couldnt help but get a photo.
There were guys down there surfing although the waves the day we were there werent very big.
The beach is lined in both direction with houses and condos that are worth no less than $10million usd and they go as far as you can see.
Patti told us today that if you surf or go swimming at the beach and get water in your mouth, which you inevitably will, you will have diarrhea the next day!!! How gross is that! I felt sorry for the little seal we saw.
At each of the beaches here there is a Pier. At the end of Redondo Beach pier there is an aquarium. It was little, but very interesting. Quite cool to see some of the marine life.
Today was a lazy day, just chilling out in the sun and relaxing, ahhhhhhhhh life is good!
Seasoned Metro Riders! May 27th 2009
We are now seasoned Metro riders. Throughout LA the is a Mertrolink that will pretty much take you any where in the city. Well we got on it today and went back to see everything we had seen a couple of night before with Jeff. It was great to see the city during the day time.
When you talk to people in LA they will tell you that they dont have a very good public transport system and that there is no underground section. We thought that was strange as we had looked online before leaving for LA and had seen which trains we needed to catch and where to get off etc. So we thought we would go and check it out anyway. The truth of the matter is there is a great public transport system, but no one wants to use it, they would rather drive everywhere.
We walked just down the road and found the Green Line Metro and bought our first ticket. The train arrived about 2mins later and runs every 10mins. On the Green Line from Redondo Beach there were not very many people aboard (I think thats because its a more affluent area), from there we travel along next to the freeway, beating everyone stuck in traffic, he he he. We get off the Green line and get onto the Blue line which runs in to the city. This line went through some of the roughest parts of LA and man that was an eye opener. Houses that in NZ would have been condemned are lived in by heaps of people. On this line there are heaps more people getting on and off but we still felt quite safe. No problem getting a seat or anything.
While riding the Metro I would recommend looking out the window (while holding your bag tight) and listening to the sounds around you. People from every nationality chatting away, often at the top of their voices. Its quite funny listening to what they are saying. Some were preaching, some discussing how the Lakers would get to the play offs, others talking in languages we could not understand, others were begging. It was very cool.
You have to keep an ear out for the stations so you dont miss your stop. That in itself can be quite challenging especially if the person mumbles their words and you can hardly understand them! We managed to make it to all our destinations in one piece, well educated, but in one piece.
We went everywhere in the city. From Union Station, which was beautiful and huge, to Sunset Blvd, Hollywood Blvd, the Walk of Fame, Downtown LA and so much more.
Seeing the city during the day was a completely different experience. I would definitely recommend seeing it both during the day and then again at night if you ever get the chance.
Oh yeah, if you need to pee in downtown LA, be ready to pay 0.25c usd to get in the door! Or you could just use the sidewalk like some.
As mentioned in the first blog we went to a hotel called Bonaventure. We took photos of that during the day which are in our picassa album. I cant figure out how to give you all a link to that yet, so thats something to look forward to. That was the building which had the revolving restaurant on the roof.
Some more interesting facts:
You have to pay to use the toilets in downtown LA due to vandalism.
You can turn right at a red light as long as its safe.
You have to tip if you want a photo with the "stars" on Hollywood Blvd. (We found that out AFTER our first photo!)
So yeah that was our day time adventure to the city, I guess so much more happened, but its hard to remember it all. I had it all written up but the computer had a brain fart and now I cant find any of it! Never mind. Life goes on.
Love to you all, chat again soon.
When you talk to people in LA they will tell you that they dont have a very good public transport system and that there is no underground section. We thought that was strange as we had looked online before leaving for LA and had seen which trains we needed to catch and where to get off etc. So we thought we would go and check it out anyway. The truth of the matter is there is a great public transport system, but no one wants to use it, they would rather drive everywhere.
We walked just down the road and found the Green Line Metro and bought our first ticket. The train arrived about 2mins later and runs every 10mins. On the Green Line from Redondo Beach there were not very many people aboard (I think thats because its a more affluent area), from there we travel along next to the freeway, beating everyone stuck in traffic, he he he. We get off the Green line and get onto the Blue line which runs in to the city. This line went through some of the roughest parts of LA and man that was an eye opener. Houses that in NZ would have been condemned are lived in by heaps of people. On this line there are heaps more people getting on and off but we still felt quite safe. No problem getting a seat or anything.
While riding the Metro I would recommend looking out the window (while holding your bag tight) and listening to the sounds around you. People from every nationality chatting away, often at the top of their voices. Its quite funny listening to what they are saying. Some were preaching, some discussing how the Lakers would get to the play offs, others talking in languages we could not understand, others were begging. It was very cool.
You have to keep an ear out for the stations so you dont miss your stop. That in itself can be quite challenging especially if the person mumbles their words and you can hardly understand them! We managed to make it to all our destinations in one piece, well educated, but in one piece.
We went everywhere in the city. From Union Station, which was beautiful and huge, to Sunset Blvd, Hollywood Blvd, the Walk of Fame, Downtown LA and so much more.
Seeing the city during the day was a completely different experience. I would definitely recommend seeing it both during the day and then again at night if you ever get the chance.
Oh yeah, if you need to pee in downtown LA, be ready to pay 0.25c usd to get in the door! Or you could just use the sidewalk like some.
As mentioned in the first blog we went to a hotel called Bonaventure. We took photos of that during the day which are in our picassa album. I cant figure out how to give you all a link to that yet, so thats something to look forward to. That was the building which had the revolving restaurant on the roof.
Some more interesting facts:
You have to pay to use the toilets in downtown LA due to vandalism.
You can turn right at a red light as long as its safe.
You have to tip if you want a photo with the "stars" on Hollywood Blvd. (We found that out AFTER our first photo!)
So yeah that was our day time adventure to the city, I guess so much more happened, but its hard to remember it all. I had it all written up but the computer had a brain fart and now I cant find any of it! Never mind. Life goes on.
Love to you all, chat again soon.
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