Del's blog

In Prague and it's grey and rainy all round. I suppose that's Europe getting to winter weather. Or telling us it is...

Anyway quick post as there is only one computer in this hostel for everyone and it is kind of very slow...

Maybe even the last post till I return.... I figure easyHotels don't have easy internet access... not at 15 euro a night...

Very short post as I have 7 minutes of internet left (as expected, no free wifi access). Last day in Munich today, flying to Prague tomorrow. Quite a nice city, easy to walk around and lots of people ride their bikes everywhere. Is quite pretty as is fall right now and all the leaves have turned orange/red here whereas in the U.S. they hadn´t yet.

May post once from Prague and Budapest otherwise will do a rundown post once home on Sunday week.

So this morning headed back to the Rockefeller for a little ice skating. Slightly pricey but fun nonetheless. Morning session was actually 3 hours but only stayed 1 - there's only so much circling of ice that one can do. I'd imagine in real winter when the other bigger rinks are open it would be even cooler.

Then it was some subway riding to downtown to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. Stacks of people walking one way or the other. Another GG reference spotted the park where they played touch football(I think?) at the Christmas time episode in Season 1.

Then it was a stroll through the New York uni area and back to the hotel for a rest. All the walking and early wake ups is starting to take it's toll.

Tomorrow early evening it's onwards to Europe. Not sure whether I will be posting much from there but should be in Munich till mid week then Prague for 4 days then on to Budapest then home.

So last night was spent at the theatre watching The Lion King. Had tickets in the 3rd front row smack in the middle. The theatre wasn't really that big (which was a surprise) so the seats were pretty awesome and gave us a view of everything. Really enjoyed the show as whilst it was a musical there was also some dialogue as well. And the animals/costumes were pretty awesome.

Today was up the Empire State. It is a nice view, but not as nice as the top of the Rockefeller. The Empire State is very crowded and the observation decks are very narrow whereas at Top of the Rock it's not and there are 3 decks.

After that it was downtown to catch the free Staten Island Ferry to view the Statue of Liberty. Which isn't very large at all. Then back to head past Wall St and to where Ground Zero is. Walking past Wall St was quite interesting given the financial situation. News trucks pretty much everywhere and very crowded/busy. On that *OMG* at the AUD which now only buys $0.63 USD! It dropped like 5 cents overnight! An every day is a new cycle where panic seems to drop every market lower. In the lift up the Empire State it had one of those TV screen things, and it said the Dow dropped 500 points in the first 5 minutes of it opening!

Then it was a walk to Chinatown where some 1 <3 NY shirts were bought. And a snack or two. Confusing moment when I was trying to order a drink but they didn't speak English and I don't speak Mandarin.

On to Union Square and a look at another Apple Store then back to the hotel. The Rockefeller Ice Rink is open from today so swung by that this evening to take photos and will go tomorrow morning for a skate. It's somewhat odd because it's outdoors but it isn't really cold yet here.

Anyways that's it for now...

Spotted on the steps of the Met... Deline happy that she is still on holidays. Little does she know that there is just only over 2 weeks left before the return home.

Okay that probably doesn't make much sense to many readers, but Em and Trish you probably will get it. They had construction on the steps though. I think there was a reference to that in the first ep of this season - will have to re-watch when I get home...

Anyways, am in NYC now. For the rundown of the flight across read scroll down to below the -----. For a insight into it, it was written during a 5 hour wait at the airport... an hour of which consisted of sitting on the plane!.

Arriving a little later than expected once the bags were dropped it was off out and about. Being somewhat addicted to GG a walk past the 'Palace' was required, and since it was pretty much almost round the corner the first stop (not really in the Upper East Side). After that a hot dog on the way to the Rockefeller Center to go to Top of the Rock which is an observation deck at the top. There are 3 levels and it gives you views out over all of Manhatten. Was pretty cool to look out at night.

Next was the Apple Store at 5th avenue then on to Times Square... Times Square had lots of flashy signs. Not sure if Vegas copied Times Square or Times Square copied Vegas. Unfortunately no Naked Cowboy was present. Then a stroll back to the hotel.

This morning was going to head up the Empire State but it was too hazy/foggy so decided to try tomorrow for a better view. So headed up towards Central Park for a walk around which was quite nice then checked out shops on 5th avenue.

Back at the hotel now for a bit of a rest but heading back out to Broadway/Times Square in the evening as watching the Lion King tonight.

Top of the Rock

Times Square

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So this is being typed from SF airport to be posted later. We're having a TAR moment... it's just on 8am have been at the airport since 4 something and the flight was meant to leave at 7:20am. If not for a faulty air conditioning part. And there was no definite answer for like more than an hour... instead something like 'We don't know if it is cancelled or is just delayed yet. There is a part at LA or maybe another plane but no decision.'. Which isn't actually helpful. So after a bit of waiting jumped in the customer service line as well as trying to phone United. Except the line was long and the phone service was all automated and didn't like me.

In the meantime there's 'a plane has arrived from LA, we have to check if the part is on it...' Hmmm how hard is it to know if they packed the part or not? Anyway, eventually it was confirmed, they were fixing it, and we're now leaving at 9:15am. Ironically everyone tried to book onto the next JFK flight which is full and it is leaving pretty much at the same time as us now.

Yay to flight delays... meh and they don't serve food domestically here in the US even when the flight is just short of 6 hours.

So this is probably the last post from San Francisco. Heading to a hotel near the airport tomorrow afternoon/evening because of the early flight to NYC the next morning and it has no free WiFi.

Today was pretty much a casual day around. Got a cable car down towards Fisherman's Wharf in the morning. Surprisingly at 8:30am in the morning there was already a queue! Hate to think what it is like on a weekend. Down at Fisherman's Wharf again, I decided to get a numberplate... just for randomness of the driving through 4 states.

After that onwards to the Golden Gate Bridge and then to Golden Gate Park. A bus ride back towards Civic Center went through a couple of suburbs that looked rather hippie-ish and then it was time for laundry washing. Which in this case required waiting for it to finish given the somewhat dodgyness of this area... the part of SF with high population of homeless and substance addicted peoples.

Other than that was quite shocked at how much the dollar has dropped overnight - 1 Australian dollar = 0.7152 U.S. dollars! And that means the actual cash conversion rate is probably under 70 cents! So on that a little bit glad that there is approx a week left in the States.... at 70 cents USD to 1 AUD things start getting a little bit pricey.

Next post maybe from NYC if the free WiFi in the hotel lobby works... After that no idea what the net access is like... Must say Australia is very behind in this free WiFi thing...

Have to ask that question considering how steep some of the streets were. With the exception of the hills, San Francisco is a very easy city to walk around as things aren't that far away. Headed to Alcatraz this morning then walked to Coit Tower/Telegraph Hill then onwards to Lombard St which has a section that supposedly is "the crookedest street in world".

After that it was onwards to Fisherman's Wharf. It's pretty much catered for the tourist - seafood/fish and chip joints, souvenir stores and what not. Oh and what I reckon were giant seagulls. I swear they were like at least double the size of the Australian sea gull. Oh and the sea lions at one of the piers...

Then onwards to Chinatown to get some cake for afternoon tea and a stroll back to the hostel as the bus stops were way too crowded.

Tomorrow it's time for the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park and whatever else happens. Was going to hire a bike, but from the boat to Alcatraz it looks quite far to ride over to the other side of the bridge, so that idea is scrapped.

Anyways to give a perception of how steep some streets are... on the "crookedest street" there has to be a series switchbacks so the cars can actually get down the hill.

So made it to McCarran Airport checked in and all. Got to security screening and yay I'm marked SSSS. Which meant I had to get the special screening. Body pat down, bag searched (even though x-rayed), shoes checked and swabbed for stuff (I'm guessing explosives?). Will be interesting to see if I get checked over to NY. If so it probably means my name s similar to one on the watch list. Or I just have an really odd name to the Americans.

Today was a road trip to Flagstaff and Sedona for the day. Nice relaxing road trip. Not much of a post today as have to pack.

Probably next blog from San Francisco, or maybe the airport... we'll see...

Moved on from Page to the Grand Canyon and Williams today. The Grand Canyon is pretty impressive due to its size and the fact it was created from the Colorado River. That said, I think I still enjoyed Zion much more. Whilst the Grand Canyon is indeed grand, I think there is not as much to do. Partly probably due to it being the top of a canyon so any recreation activities like walks etc are aimed for serious hikers and can't really be done in a day. Still it was very nice and pics will come soon... (now added, 1 only 'cos tired)

So the GC was pretty much covered in a day, when 2 were planned. So tomorrow are first heading back to the GC for sunrise then deviating from the trip a bit. Road trip to Flagstaff and Sedona is now on the cards...

Anyways short post tonight, as early start tomorrow for the sunrise... Will probably blog tomorrow, then not sure as back in Vegas for a night before San Francisco.