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December 31, 2004
Georgetown
A little quaint shopping village called Georgetown is just a short stones' throw from DC. It's the original town before the civil war and much has been kept that way. Tiny stores line the two main streets and Victorian houses are the only houses in the surrounding streets
I'm currently sipping a coffee in one of the cafés on Pennsylvania which runs down to the White House and then Capitol.
Posted by Simon at 01:47 PM | Comments (2)
December 30, 2004
Dear Mr President,
Updated 4pm PST...
Lincoln memorial, Washington D.C.
A candid shot using the automatic timer, I got distracted by the constant helicopters overhead.
The view across the Potomac, from Arlington.
Washington has a deep, but very nice subway system. Here is a nice picture of the accent, up the escalators back to street level.
Guess who lives here...
Mental note: The secret service don't like posing for pictures.
The Capitol, from the old post office clock tower observation deck.
The less impressive, but more picqureesque rear of the Smithsonian
The Iwo Jima Statue near Arlington Cemetery and from the Air and Space museum the Apollo 17 control capsule, re-entry burn marks and all...
Posted by Simon at 08:55 AM | Comments (1)
December 27, 2004
Start spreading the news...
Start spreading the news, I'm leaving today. New York, New York.
To sight-see in Manhattan, you really need to keep looking up, there are brilliant shots, every-time there is a gap between the buildings. This unforntualty is only when there is construction around. That's what I don't like about NYC. Despite the beautiful architecture, the size and clashing styles seem to drown the city.
Above is the winter wonderland that is Central Park, this time of year. This view is looking up the Mall. Below, the view across Jacqueline Onassis Kennedy Reserve back towards Central Park West. The "twin towers" you see is a famous hotel, but I forget the name. I caught these pics as I walked from the upper west side, where I was staying, to the "Museum Mile" to see the Met, and Jewish Museum.
Macy's Christmas windows are only one of many department stores that compete for your attention... Sax on 5th and another really upmarket store near the Library were also impressive, but didn't photograph as well.
Below is a sculpture now at battery park, that was in the world trade centre complex and was recovered from ground zero. I think this says more about the events than what I saw at ground zero itself. Beside the world trade centre was the world finance centre which mostly survived, although the winter garden sustained heavy damage.
Posted by Simon at 08:40 AM | Comments (0)
December 26, 2004
Grand tour of Manhattan
Absolute Brooklyn!
Yesterday I received a free 17 hour walking tour of Manhattan. Yes, no kidding! A full walking tour in the freezing thick of winter, on Christmas day. "Jerry" is a fit 70 something year old New Yorker, who has much more energy than I do... he kept us going from 8:30 in the morning until early this morning (somewhere around 1 am). I think I have seen so much of this city in the first day alone. The streets were not deserted yesterday, but were not as chaotic as I would imagine them to be during a normal week. I was truly lucky to have this knowledgeable guide, and to receive such a great value tour! These pictures are just a small subset of what I saw yesterday, but if you can name a sight in New York chances are I have already seen it!
Empire State from Chinatown/Little Italy, looking uptown. On the right, the canyons of lower Manhattan.
Grand Central Station
Woolworth Building, in Christmas illumination.
Posted by Simon at 12:39 PM | Comments (0)
December 24, 2004
NYC
Christmas eve in NYC... Like a good Jewish boy, instead of going to shule one I arrived in NYC I went to Rockefeller centre to see the ice skaters.
Posted by Simon at 11:30 PM | Comments (0)
Boston - Freedom trail
So I tried to find this "Soul of America" that they talk about...
These are the cobblestone streets of America, here in ol' Boston.
Last night I went to see the Blue Man Group, who are right at home here in Boston. It was an interesting experience mixing music, art and food fights.
Posted by Simon at 08:02 AM | Comments (0)
December 22, 2004
Boston
The first stop on my east coast adventure is Boston. Home of notable institutions like Harvard, MIT and Herrell's Ice Cream.
What? That's an institution... right?
For the complete experience I enjoyed my ice cream in their old bank vault. Met some interesting folks there who suggested that this was the only way to enjoy a Harvard Square Herrell's ice cream.
Here is Arvadyard...
Posted by Simon at 08:54 AM | Comments (0)
December 20, 2004
Road Trip Video
I have posted a small (10.7MB) version of my road trip video, the link is on the right archive bar. There is also a 65MB version.
Posted by Simon at 09:47 AM | Comments (0)
December 19, 2004
Kayaking in Cruz
I have been meaning to take a kayak out onto Monterey Bay for a long time. I hired I kayak today and with Ayla headed out of Santa Cruz Harbour, past the heads and lighthouse towards the wharf. The round trip took us the best part of two hours. The great thing is that the waters were very calm and you would never guess that it was the middle of winter here. Sorry, my digi-cam isn't water proof.
Posted by Simon at 08:47 AM | Comments (0)
December 16, 2004
Newport Beach
Continuing south, we met up with Sarah Fisk and her "mom", who were nice enough to put us up for the night. In the morning, we hit the road again from Long Beach down to Huntington ending our road trip's most southern point of Newport beach. (yes, you soap opera nerds, it's in the OC).
Posted by Simon at 09:53 AM | Comments (1)
December 15, 2004
SO CAL
Venice beach. A nation at war...
Sharon, a local "So-Cal-ian"(?) and Stevenson-ite, showed me around Venice beach
UCLA and The Grove, Hollywood.
Chanukah at The Grove.
Posted by Simon at 11:19 AM | Comments (0)
December 14, 2004
Some day I'll make it to Hollywood
Yesterday, I made it!
I'll be back, as Governiator.
Posted by Simon at 09:22 AM | Comments (0)
December 13, 2004
Santa Monica
It's the last day of Chanukah and here in Santa Monica, you won't miss out on seeing the lights every night... they are on every major intersection or shopping strip. Off check to out Hollywood now...
Posted by Simon at 01:02 PM | Comments (0)
December 12, 2004
HWY1
Daddy, can I have a pony for Chanukah?....
Here is a nice video that Alessandro shot while I was behind the wheel. View Movie
Okay, so daddy never bought me a pony. But I did get one of these Ford Mustangs for the week. Alessandro and I have decided to hit the highway, and explore California. What better way, then from behind the wheel of an American icon?
Here I am, when we took a short scenic break... and below the Californian sunset.
40 years of legend to be precise...
Posted by Simon at 05:43 PM | Comments (0)
December 04, 2004
Chanukah @ UCSC
Last night was the UCSC Chanukah shabbat. Unfortunately Chanukah falls in the middle of finals week... speaking of which I gotta go hit the books.
Stace and dredel
Mega deredel!
The essentials in life @ Noah's bagels
Richard, the most colourful downtown inhabitant. Commonly referred to as "The Umbrella Guy" by students and locals. Richard, has been walking up and down Pacific really slowly since I first go to Santa Cruz in July. The clothes are the same, as is the umbrella.
Posted by Simon at 03:49 PM | Comments (0)