Rich and Carrie in New York
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Rigattoni, or sumfing
Last night we went to the Opera. Honest. Our first one indeed, and a free one, but still the New York Metropolitan. As part of their free Opera in the Park series they performed La Traviata on Tuesday and Rigoletto by Verdi last night, on the Great Lawn in Central Park. I've never been the greatest fan of Opera, but I am a huge fan of picnics. So, we went along armed with a couple of friends, many bottles of wine, and some cheese [naturally]. It was great fun. We weren't very close, so I couldn't tell which was Pavarotti and which was Flamingo, but the PA system they had was excellent. The sound was very impressive. And all for free! The pics didn't come out very well due to Carrie not rocking-up until dusk, but you can get the idea.
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¶ 11:43 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Roz in New York City
After spending 2 months out in the sticks Roz ventured to the big city to visit us on her way back to the UK. We had an action packed few days covering most of the city and its famous sights by foot. Visits included the empire state building, shopping, a tour of the UN, shopping, dragon boat racing in queens, shopping, a trip to govenor's Island and more shopping. In fact Roz did so much shopping while in the US she came with one suitcase and left with three. Despite the worry over flights due to recent security troubles, we think she had a good, if not exhausting time.
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¶ 10:04 PM 0 comments
Friday, August 11, 2006
Corny Cornell
Last weekend we too a trip up to Ithaca to visit Carrie's sister Roz, who is studying at Cornell over the summer. What a nice weekend! It's a lovely place, in an area called the Finger Lakes which are just south of Lake Ontario. They're called fingers
because they're formed in the base of a valley resulting in five very
long and thin lakes all parallel with each other. Ithaca is a bit like an American version of Cambridge but not so old obviously. Cornell University is enormous and envelops most of the area. The actual campus I'd say is at least ten times the size of Leeds University. Rosalind was staying in Zeta Psi Fraternity House (as it's
the summer the Frat boys are away and they rent out the digs to
visitors). I'd only ever seen these places on films! It was a sprawling
old wood-paneled house with enough room for about 35 frat boys (we know
because they had pictures of all the generations of Fraternity since
1967 on the walls). Rosalind thought the place was dirty and disgusting
but it appealed to my sense of adventure.
We went to a nice waterfall on Saturday morning in a State Park and then
spent the rest of the day touring the many wineries which perch on the
hillsides surrounding the Finger Lakes. Some were top notch, some were
awful, naturally we came home with a nice boot (sorry, trunk) full of wine. Saturday was a touch comedic because we all had various aliments along the way. I'd had a back back since Friday so I was hobbling around like and old man. Carrie and Roz had a tuna sandwich for lunch which brought them both simultaeously out in a blotchy red rash all over their bodies! It went after a few more glasses of wine. Roz trumped us all in the end by wheeling out the big guns and getting a migraine in the late afternoon. By that time we'd decided it was best to head back. We made up for it by having one of the nicest curries I've had in a long time in Ithaca on Saturday night. Sunday we visited another waterfall and had a nice long walk up a gorge. Then we spent the rest of the day mooching around
Ithaca itself. We went to a Farmers Market for lunch. I found a good
record shop so I bought the place out, which pleased me no end.
Jolly nice it was too. Best be off.
The photos are on here if you want a peek.
¶ 2:26 AM 0 comments
because they're formed in the base of a valley resulting in five very
long and thin lakes all parallel with each other. Ithaca is a bit like an American version of Cambridge but not so old obviously. Cornell University is enormous and envelops most of the area. The actual campus I'd say is at least ten times the size of Leeds University. Rosalind was staying in Zeta Psi Fraternity House (as it's
the summer the Frat boys are away and they rent out the digs to
visitors). I'd only ever seen these places on films! It was a sprawling
old wood-paneled house with enough room for about 35 frat boys (we know
because they had pictures of all the generations of Fraternity since
1967 on the walls). Rosalind thought the place was dirty and disgusting
but it appealed to my sense of adventure.
We went to a nice waterfall on Saturday morning in a State Park and then
spent the rest of the day touring the many wineries which perch on the
hillsides surrounding the Finger Lakes. Some were top notch, some were
awful, naturally we came home with a nice boot (sorry, trunk) full of wine. Saturday was a touch comedic because we all had various aliments along the way. I'd had a back back since Friday so I was hobbling around like and old man. Carrie and Roz had a tuna sandwich for lunch which brought them both simultaeously out in a blotchy red rash all over their bodies! It went after a few more glasses of wine. Roz trumped us all in the end by wheeling out the big guns and getting a migraine in the late afternoon. By that time we'd decided it was best to head back. We made up for it by having one of the nicest curries I've had in a long time in Ithaca on Saturday night. Sunday we visited another waterfall and had a nice long walk up a gorge. Then we spent the rest of the day mooching around
Ithaca itself. We went to a Farmers Market for lunch. I found a good
record shop so I bought the place out, which pleased me no end.
Jolly nice it was too. Best be off.
The photos are on here if you want a peek.
¶ 2:26 AM 0 comments
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Florida
This was our long awaited first proper vacation since finishing our PhDs. So the plan was to meet up with Ben and Jo (diving friend from London), hire a big car and sample as many of the different dive areas as possible.
We all flew into Orlando and after a little trouble at the car hire desk, we were eventually on our way to Ginnie Springs. The north of Florida is covered in hundreds of underground freshwater spring and cave systems, and with the constant stream flowing through them they allow for some of the worlds clearest diving. Ginnie Springs has three main dive sites and is accessible to the non-cave diver certified - Brilliant.
The next day we headed south west to Crystal River in search of their famous manatees. Unfortunately there had been a rather big storm a few days before so the water visibility was a bit like pea soup. But after some persistence by Captain Bob we found a manatee and her calf. Although there are really strict rules against manatee molestation we were allowed to get really close and spent almost an hour with them.
The next day we hit the road again and headed to the east coast to do three days diving in West Palm Beach. The diving included some of the fasted drifts we'd ever experienced and tonnes and tonnes of giant turtles. There were also rumours that a few sharks were spotted, but as usual Rich and I failed to see them.
After WPB we headed south for the Florida Keys. The diving her is tropical and very like the Caribbean. It also houses some of the best wrecks in north America. While we were there we got to do one of the local favourites the Spiegel Grove, a huge wreck which was lying on it side until it was righted by a hurricane a few years ago. The sea life down south was much more plentiful and colourful, a point proved when even Rich managed to see two sharks on the very last dive.
Whilst in the Keys we also drove the 100 miles down to Americas most southern 'city' Key west. Although it was a bit list Western Super Mere in the height of the school holidays we still had fun driving down the 7 mile bridge, visiting Ernest Hemmingway's house and 6 toed cats, and taking in the Keys famous sunset.
After a nice relaxing time in the keys we drove back to Orlando (via WPB where we had managed to leave our wetsuits on the dive boat). We rounded up our week long trip with a great visit to Gatorland.
¶ 1:54 PM 0 comments
We all flew into Orlando and after a little trouble at the car hire desk, we were eventually on our way to Ginnie Springs. The north of Florida is covered in hundreds of underground freshwater spring and cave systems, and with the constant stream flowing through them they allow for some of the worlds clearest diving. Ginnie Springs has three main dive sites and is accessible to the non-cave diver certified - Brilliant.
The next day we headed south west to Crystal River in search of their famous manatees. Unfortunately there had been a rather big storm a few days before so the water visibility was a bit like pea soup. But after some persistence by Captain Bob we found a manatee and her calf. Although there are really strict rules against manatee molestation we were allowed to get really close and spent almost an hour with them.
The next day we hit the road again and headed to the east coast to do three days diving in West Palm Beach. The diving included some of the fasted drifts we'd ever experienced and tonnes and tonnes of giant turtles. There were also rumours that a few sharks were spotted, but as usual Rich and I failed to see them.
After WPB we headed south for the Florida Keys. The diving her is tropical and very like the Caribbean. It also houses some of the best wrecks in north America. While we were there we got to do one of the local favourites the Spiegel Grove, a huge wreck which was lying on it side until it was righted by a hurricane a few years ago. The sea life down south was much more plentiful and colourful, a point proved when even Rich managed to see two sharks on the very last dive.
Whilst in the Keys we also drove the 100 miles down to Americas most southern 'city' Key west. Although it was a bit list Western Super Mere in the height of the school holidays we still had fun driving down the 7 mile bridge, visiting Ernest Hemmingway's house and 6 toed cats, and taking in the Keys famous sunset.
After a nice relaxing time in the keys we drove back to Orlando (via WPB where we had managed to leave our wetsuits on the dive boat). We rounded up our week long trip with a great visit to Gatorland.
¶ 1:54 PM 0 comments
Monday, July 03, 2006
Kandy and Aaron at large in New York!
Karen and Andy (diving buddies) came over to visit at the beginning of June. This gave us another oportunity to do loads of cheesy touristy stuff. This included a ride around central park in a horse drawn carriage, a chance to sample lots of fine American cuisine and a trip to watch the Yankees play. The game was great fun, even if none of us knew what was going on - we didn't even realise that it had finished (and that they'd won) until the standium started to empty out! We also took a 'cruise' around New York at sunset which gave us some good pictures. The highlight of their visit though was a day trip to Coney Island, which is a very tacky sea side fun fair park built back in the 1920s. It is also home to the invention of the hot dog and one of the worlds oldest roller coasters and highest big wheel. Although Karen, being 6 months pregnant, could go on many of the rides she came in very handy holding the bags for the rest of us. We did as many rides as our nerves could take (the most frightning part being the age of the rides rather than the speed or height) and then visited the near by aquarium.
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Miami in May
The Day after returning from San Diego, Carrie was off to Miami for a work-related conference. This wasn't quite a dull as it first sounds as the conference was held in a five star hotel right on south beach with its own private beach and pool - best of all every this was free.
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¶ 8:33 PM 0 comments
Memorial Weekend in San Diego
With a long weekend ahead we decided to take another trip to see the Hughes' in San Diego. This time Henry had just celebrated his first birthday and we had an action packed time. It was also Sarah's birthday that weekend so we celebrated with lunch at a fancy restaurant over looking the harbour (which included free champagne) followed by a BBQ and pool party at a friend's house. We also managed to squeeze in some wine tasting and a trip to the beach.
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¶ 7:57 PM 0 comments
