New York to Old York

The Twistleton Scar

Clockwise from top left: Fountains Abbey; A brief break in the rain; Fountains Abbey

Rain in the Dales

Clockwise from top left: Monique exploring Fountains Abbey; Daniel making the most of his gumboots; Enjoying the mud

 Snow in the Dales

 Views of the Dales

As a bit of a last blast we decided to do a weekend getaway up to the Yorkshire Dales. This had been on the agenda for some time, but it was only thanks to Monique watching the train fares like a hawk that we were able to get affordable tickets.

Exploring the English countryside proved to be a lovely way to round off our adventures before launching into a solid three weeks of packing up our lives in London and preparing to move home to Australia.

Oh, and celebrating Daniel’s 30^th birthday.

The weather was classically English…wet, windy, and generally fairly miserable. This provided a lovely setting for some leisurely rambles through the countryside, relaxing in tearooms and pubs, and exploring some beautiful National Trust properties. The dramatic ruins and sprawling gardens of the UNESCO- listed Fountains Abbey was definitely a highlight.

As for Daniel’s birthday, we couldn’t have asked for better weather, being lucky enough to have a snowstorm for most of the morning. This provided for some stunning views, and a few slippery moments as we attempted to cross across the top of the Dales in our hire car. It was a sensational day, and certainly the first time that we had experienced snow on Australia day. 

Concrete jungle...where dreams are made, and there's nothing you can't do...

Clockwise from top left: View of Manhattan from the Brooklyn Bridge; the Lady of Liberty; View of Central Park from Top of the Rock

Clockwise from top left: View from the Highline; The Manhattan Bridge as seen from DUMBO; The 9/11 memorial

Clockwise from top left: view from the Highline; Monique enjoying a classic slice of New York pizza; Apartment blocks in the Lower East Side 

The Guggenheim 

Clockwise from top left: View of Manhattan from the Brooklyn Bridge; the NBA; Times Square

We won’t bore you all with the everything we did while we were in New York – over the course of 11 days we ticked a lot of things off – but here are a few select highlights…

> Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge felt like walking to the beat of New York’s pulse. The view was spectacular, and the energetic mix of locals, tourists and angry cyclists doing their best to avoid running into people was electrifying

> Where most art galleries exist to facilitate the display of artwork, The Guggenheim was something quite different. The smooth lines and circular sloping galleries blurred the lines between the art and the space.

> What better way to get into the Christmas spirit than seeing the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Musical Hall? It was amazing to join in the tradition of seeing the Rockettes, who how have been New York icons since the 1930s

> They say that Melbourne is the sporting capital of the world, but New York must be a close second. Given that we were staying in Brooklyn, it was an amazing experience to travel to our ‘local’ stadium to support the Brooklyn Nets against the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA

> Seeing the classic Manhattan skyline in all its glory was spine tingling. 

> To avoid the epically long queues we got up at the crack of dawn and caught the first ferry of the day across to Liberty Island to get up close and personal with the Statue of Liberty. Being able to see her in beautiful and vibrant morning light was a real treat.

It couldn't have happened anywhere but in little old New York

DUMBO - Down Under the Manhatten and Brooklyn Bridge Overpass

Clockwise from top left: Movement in Times Square; Radio City Music Hall; A rainy day

Clockwise from top left: The Brooklyn Bridge; View of Manhattan from the Brooklyn Bridge; The Manhattan Bridge

The People

Without a doubt, New York was one of the most incredible cities that we have had the privilege of visiting.

In typical American style, everything was bigger than we had experienced before. The food, the lights, the shops, the buildings, the attractions, the bridges, the prices, the skyline, the queues…all big. And that’s not to mention the actual city. After 11 days of solid sightseeing, it felt as though we had just dipped our toes into Manhattan, never mind the surrounding neighborhoods. 

With that said though, we did feel as though we were there just long enough to scratch just below surface of the big exterior. It was amazing to experience the city changing pace and feel as we explored different areas. Amazing to connect with local New Yorkers who were always incredibly warm, friendly and hospitable. Amazing to experience the city in both rain and shine – the vibrancy of the yellow taxis and bright neon signs reflecting off the rain soaked ground and contrasting against the dark buildings was an absolute highlight. 

The other curious thing was that the city so often felt eerily familiar. Aside from having so many ubiquitous sights, it probably had something to do with the fact that more movies and television have been shot in New York than anywhere else. It was genuinely strange to walk through Central Park and feel like we’d been there before. 

Christmas in New York!

 

Merry Christmas!

Clockwise from top left: Team New York; Lost in the West side; Classic NY Pizza

When making the decision to stay in London for a second year, Daniel kept joking to Monique that it would be fun to do Christmas in New York.

A seed was sown.

A year or so later after much saving, planning, and a fair amount of cajoling to convince five friends to join us, we were on our way.

We set off with a rare sense of excitement and anticipation. On the one hand, New York promised to be a jewel in our traveling crown - an amazing way to finish off our adventures before heading home in a few months time. On the other, spending 11 days with some of our nearest and dearest friends would see memories created that would last a lifetime, and be balm for our souls after spending almost 2.5 years living away from home.

Needless to say, we were pretty excited.

Thankfully we can now report that not only were our lofty expectations met, they were comfortably exceeded in every imaginable way. 

Shivering in Stockholm

Some sleek Swedish design

Clockwise from top left: View of the Old Town; The Town Hall; The charming streets of the Old Town

We were very fortunate to reunite with Andrew and Rachel for a long weekend in Stockholm. We had the trip booked in for some time, and Andrew and Rachel were having so much fun on their travels that they decided to nip up to Sweden and join us. It was a win win all round.

We had a fairly low key and chilled out (pun intended) few days of…
> Exploring the beautiful old town and browsing through the classically Swedish shops

> Sipping mulled wine at the Christmas market

> Strolling through the Skansen Open Air museum. Skansen is basically a recreated town that illustrates the different social conditions in which people lived in Sweden between the 16th century and the first half of the 20th century.

> Touring the City Hall – the site of the Nobel Prize banquet and after party

> Checking out the Royal Palace – Europe’s largest with over 600 rooms

Throughout all of this, there were two recurring themes that ran through the whole weekend…

1) It was flipping cold…sight seeing in 0 degrees Celsius is pretty hard work. There were many times that the cumulative warmth of beanies, scalves, thermal tops, long sleeve shirts, hoodies, heavy winter jackets, thermal bottoms, thick jeans, thick socks and gloves just didn’t cut it.

2) It was flipping expensive…we were well prepared and forewarned of this fact, but it is still a shock to see that a meal out is literally twice the price of eating in London (which in itself isn’t cheap). Not to worry....pancakes cooked at the hostel using ingredients found in the kitchen were a good way around this!

Tripple treat...The food, the people and the company

 The people

The company 

The food

Without a doubt, Turkey was one of our funnest adventures yet. Aside from being a really beautiful country full of amazing sights and experiences, three other key variables all fell into place to make it a truly sensational 10 days…

The food…

If we were lacking in protein before this trip, we are now overflowing with the stuff. We may have set a new world record for the number of kebabs consumed in a 10 day period. The food really was a highlight…always fresh, always tasty, and always cheap. The kebabs, the salads, the koftas, and the mezze were a sensation…and the authentic Turkish Delight was revelation

The People

Our experience of Turkey was undoubtedly enhanced by the people. The Turkish were always friendly, welcoming, incredibly good humored, and loved having a chat. It was so refreshing to be able to walk through a town or a market and have a chat or a laugh without being pressured in anyway to make a purchase.   

The Company

It was a real Turkish delight (did you see what we did there?) to share in the experience with Andrew and Rachel. They were wonderful travel buddies, and it was a special opportunity to create memories that we will share for a lifetime. 

Experiencing Paul's Ephesus

Clockwise from top left: The Library of Celsus; Another view of the Library; The Baths

Clockwise from top left: The Amphitheatre where Paul preached; A sculpture outside the Library; Daniel and Monique

Clockwise from top left: Preparing to feast in Sirince; The view of Sirince; A market stall; The beach near Selcuk

The last stop on our Turkey adventure was Selçuk, better known as the town adjoining Ephesus.

We were all feeling a tad worse for wear as we arrived in Selçuk having set a cracking and exhausting pace up until this point. Rather than getting up early and launching into another full day of exploring Ephesus in the baking sun, we decided to take it easy and sample wine and feast at nearby Sirince, have a snooze on the beach, and get an authentic Turkish hammam.

The hammam in particular was quite an experience, featuring full body scrub, bathing and massage in a room full of men, performed solely by hairy and mustachioed Turkish men wearing nothing but a towel. Monique and Rachel may never be the same again.

It was just was just what the doctor ordered and left us feeling fresh and rejuvenated to smash Ephesus and our last day in Turkey.

Exploring Ephesus was remarkable. It was basically just another ancient ruined Roman city, which in and of itself is quite incredible – the theatre, library, shop fronts, streets, amphitheatre, temple and churches were all incredible ancient sights.

But what really sets Ephesus apart is the fact that you are literally walking through streets that Paul would have walked through, seeing houses he would have lived in and visited, stood in the amphitheatre where he preached, and saw a prison where he was held.

Intellectually, spiritually, and visually, it was truly and incredible experience and a real high point on which to finish our Turkish adventure.