THE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS - WARWICKSHIRE UK

Knitted for the cold by Nanny.  Family demonstration time - Christmas morning

 

Christmas is never the same without a hearty chorus of "Hark the Herald Angels Sing"

Carving the turkey for lunch - all hands to the pump!

Final preparations before take off - Christmas lunch with Sarah's family 

Sarah presented the family with a selection of Australian wines to enjoy over lunch. Much appreciated and completely consumed. Waste not want not.

Bread sauce a la "Liz" specially created by Gillian to be served with the turkey which was stuffed with sausage stuffing, roast potatoes, glazed pumpkin, Swedish red cabbage and everyone's favourite Brussel Sprouts (actually Sarah does like but only when grown in the UK)

Time to create some extra warmth (not that we needed it) by setting the pudding alight

Served with brandy butter (homemade by Heather) and cream.  Talk about that sinking feeling.  Absolutely delicious but with a nagging feeling that many weeks of exercise would need to be undertaken to eliminate its effects.

Lego activity post lunch for B&H

After a long day of excessive eating, present giving and opening and a 3 team event for the board game Articulate the younger members of the family started to flag

We all however put on our coats and went out for a long walk around the village to work off some of the copious quantities of calories that we had consumed throughout the day.  We then returned and were force fed chocolates.

CHRISTMAS GREETINGS

This is the official release of the family Christmas card for the Northern Hemisphere Christmas for the L2's

Designed by AM McC card's of UK/Oz 2013

Christmas greetings to you all from

The Travelling Band

Have a wonderful and happy Christmas

Enjoy, enjoy and keep safe

LONDON TO BIRMINGHAM - Saturday 21 December 2013

Time to leave London and head north to Warwickshire.  A quick workout in the gym to lug around our cases to the station and start using the BritRail pass.  Hayes & Harlington to Reading 40 minutes. Change trains at Reading and catch a train to Birmingham International Airport, 1 hr 45 mins.  Trolley service on trains, refreshments included in train ticketing.

Hamish going into warp speed with strange facial expression.  Is it something he ate for breakfast?

Arrival at Birmingham International Airport (BHR).  Just before Sarah dropped a bag of Christmas shopping and broke a jar of Cranberry and Onion Marmalade.  Ummm, bit of  a mess but at least it was in it's own bag so the next conveniently located bin was found.  It smelt nice.

UK London 18, 19, 20 December 2013

Paddington Station - On our way out to dinner with Hamish winding up

On the Bakerloo across to Lambeth North - Hamish with enigmatic look up against a bill advertising the new Eminem album.  Lambeth North you may ask, well off to visit Sarah's cousins for dinner

Hayes and Harlington - the station right near our apartment in London.  Sunny but cool day on our way out for some Christmas shopping

Oxford Street, lunch time.  All happening here.  After a quick bite of lunch in Mayfair, if you please we were into the swing and shopping

Oxford Street - Selfridges to the left and John Lewis to the right, it is pretty busy

Oxford Street - crowds, walking, shopping, B&H starting to tire of this ridiculous business

Oxford Street - Hamish could find a smile but have to say all very tiring constantly battling crowds.  However the decorations were fantastic up and down the street  

What have we been doing for 3 days you may ask as the abundance of photo's has tapered off slightly.  Well, domestic chores have called in the way of the laundry basket.  Thought that we would spare you pictures of our small's.

NEW YORK (NEW) TO LONDON (LHR) - Tuesday 17 December 2013

Wake up time 4.00am, got organised, zipped the cases up and out of the hotel for the shuttle bus to Newark Airport.  

 

Waiting, waiting, why don't we fill in time making a snowman.  The snow had started to fall again.

Checking in for our flight, Virgin Atlantic, VS018 NEW to LHR departure 0750.

Snow everywhere and falling.  Snow plough's up and down taxi ways, runways, paths.  The pilot announces that the plane will need to be de-iced which will take about 20 minutes.

An experience for us all as neither of us have been on a plane that has had to be de-iced before.  Obviously not much call for it in Australia but it's a standard practice in parts of the Northern Hemisphere.  The plane was sprayed with an orange liquid the consistency of washing up detergent.  You can just make out the cherry picker to the left of the photo where the operator used a fireman like hose to bathe the aircraft in the necessary liquid.

Picture time.  Nearly ready to go and a pre-flight check and photo for the Travelling Band.  The flight was good, the service good.  Flight time 5 hrs and 50 mins which was quicker than usual as there were some very strong winds blowing us east.

After we were greeted by UK Customs and allowed entry we gathered our bags and made our way to the Heathrow Express train for the quick trip to Hayes and Harlington where we have booked 4 nights accommodation.  Feeling pretty tired, it's been a long day and we have just lost 5 hours with the time change.

NEW YORK CITY (NYC) Monday 16 December 2013

Monday morning in the Big Apple.  Cold and windy.  -2C.  The snow is still melting, the sidewalks awash with water.  After preparations to layer up and post bagels for breakfast we venture out on another adventure.

Central Park - snow covered, cold.  Squirrels were running around looking for food.  A walk seemed like a nice thing but the paths were wet and icy and it was quite treacherous so we decided to skirt around the edges to take in the vista.

Central Park - yet more snow and no go.  Can you believe it gets into the 30C mark in summer in New York?

Horse drawn carriages.  A wonderful way to experience the beauty of Central Park.  The mayor of New York say's he is planning to ban the rides as he is concerned about the treatment of the horses.

Down in the Subway and enjoying the mosaic's at the Columbus station.

What a great shot with the Empire State building in the background.

Times Square

Thought we'd switch to black and white for a more artistic view.

View from our room at The Marriot Newark.  We returned to Newark in preparation for our flight to London the next day.  The sun glowing in the background nearing the end of daylight.  The time is 4.00pm and it will be dark in about 45 minutes.

Impressions of New York

Bold, brash, loud, great, noisy, busy, cold, slippery, it's a happening place ............

On our way out of the city we popped into one of the New York deli's and got ourselves a Reuben sandwich.  Pastrami on rye with cheese, pickle and coleslaw.  Toasted.  Delicious but a word of warning, portion sizes are huge so one sandwich between two people is sufficient.  After all we don't want to be supersized when we return home to Oz.

Time for song..........  written in 1976, New York State of Mind.  Can you name the artist and which album the song appeared on?  Go on have a Big Shot! 

NEW YORK CITY (NYC) - Saturday 14 December & Sunday 15 Sunday December 2013

We all decided to take a mini break from our hotel at Newark Airport and pack an overnight bag and catch a train into the city.  We found a cheap rate on a hotel in the city, so in effect we took a mini vacation inside the main vacation.  When we originally booked our New York accommodation the rates in the city started about AUD 400 per night.  The rate we picked up was AUD 110 at the Holiday Inn Express including breakfast.  It was a steal.

Waiting for a train at the Newark Liberty International Airport train station.  45 minutes journey time.

Arrival at Penn Station New York City.  A major intercity train station and a major commuter rail hub in NYC.  Very busy indeed, on multiple levels, mosaic's on walls around the station. A taste of busy to come.

Times Square - A major commercial intersection and a neighbourhood in Midtown Manhattan, NYC, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets.

If you're familiar with Marianne Faithfull's song - Times Square she sing's..........

In a tough part of the city
looking from some fast talk
Watch "Don't walk' to 'Walk'

Take a walk around Times Square
With a pistol in my suitcase
And my eyes on the TV

Suffice to say that we did take a walk around Times Square but our suitcases were packed with warm clothes.  The temperature for our visit was about -2C.  Wind chill factor about -1C.  It was very cold indeed and with the tall buildings and wind racing along the corridors it was quite an experience.

You might think that it is Christmas time.  Lovely decorations adorn the city everywhere you look.

Radio City Music Hall - is an entertainment venue located in Rockefeller Centre in NYC.  Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city. Address 1260 Avenue of the Americas, NY 10020

The Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Centre.  Huge complex of 19 commercial buildings covering 22 acres between 48th and 51st streets in NYC.  If you move towards the Christmas tree and look down you will see the ice rink.  It's known at The Rink at Rockefeller Centre.

Gravitating towards the snow, YET AGAIN.  You'd think they've never seen snow.  By this stage the snow had turned to ice and it was getting very slippery.  The streets were awash with water as the ice was melting and the slip factor was starting to get up there.

Bryant Park - a 9,603 acre privately managed public park in the borough of Manhattan. Located between Fifth and Sixth Avenues and between 40th and 42nd Streets in Midtown Manhattan.  The slim light coloured building in the background is the Empire State Building.  As we walked past one of the entrances we saw someone wearing shorts.  They must have come direct from Siberia or Alaska!

On Broadway and West 35th Street.  Empire State in the background.  Broadway is a street, avenue and boulevade.  Broadway is known worldwide as the heart of the American theatre industry.  Quiz time - name the longest running show on Broadway................... The Phantom of the Opera - 10,767 performances.

Time for another song........

On Broadway - George Benson.............

They say the neon lights are bright on broadway
They say there's always magic in the air

Macy's - originally RH Macy & co, mid-range to upscale chain of department stores.  Competes with Bloomingdales.  Absolutely busy to unbelievable inside with people milling around like ants doing their Christmas shopping

Snow !!!!

This is New York and this is Snow !!!!!!

This is the left view from the room window and terminal A in the background and the trees.

The picture from our room window in the background is terminal B and all the flags. This is the right view of the flags trees and terminal B.

Mum also having fun in the snow chucking snow balls and making snow men or women.

Bryn and Hamish playing in the snow in New York at the Mariott hotel opposite terminal B very cold  we had only just checked in and they went out to play in the snow.

Arrival in Newark airport New York Saturday December the 14th 2013

glorious snow cant wait to play with it already excited we flew united to New York from Boston.

Boston Massachusetts (MA)

Arrived Wednesday 11 December 2013 and welcomed with -2C, dusk at 1614

Quincy Market is an historic building near Faneuil Hall in downtown Boston MA.  Constructed in 1824-1826 and named in honor of Mayor Joshiah Quincy.  Inside there are market stalls, a tourist centre and lots of food stalls serving super sizes and best of all it is very warm.

Sitting with Larry Bird.  Born 7 December 1956, played for the Boston Celtics 1979 to 1992. 6'9", 100kg's, played in the forward position, career total 21,971 points

Bryn's right foot up against Larry Bird's basketball boots size 17 (that's about 32cm long).  Can you imagine his Mum or (Mom) as they say here buying him shoes as he grew up!

Just another Christmas tree.  They are everywhere and they all look gorgeous.

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority map - The system is known as "The T"

Maverick station on "The T".  Quite a few of the stations have sloping platforms.  Odd sensation walking up them especially when you are still jet lagged. 

"The T" Harvard  station with a rugged up Hamish.  The temperature has slipped to -5C.

Harvard University

A private Ivy League research university in Cambridge MA, whose history, influence and wealth have made it one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Established in 1636.  209 acres of faculties across the Boston metro area.

Statue of John Harvard, the original benefactor of the university.  The proud Stars and Stripes flying above.

Massachusetts House is the oldest surviving building at Harvard.

One of the entrance gates into the main buildings of Harvard

A florist shop display of Christmas decorations on the sidewalk

What a novelty, for two young men who have never seen snow before.  This however was snow which fell some 5 days before and has just turned to ice.

The Cambridge side Galleria.  We shopped in Sears and Old Navy.  The lake is frozen.  Hamish threw a lump of ice onto the lake and it just slid off into the distance.

A local number plate on a Dodge

The snow is on the way for Boston, forecast for Saturday 14 December mid to late afternoon.  We are due to fly to New York at 1600 and it would have been snowing in New York since early morning.