The epic trip to America

We are back from our 2 week holiday in America, apart from the first hiccup of not being able to leave on the Saturday morning due to a snow storm in New York and having to spend a night at Glasgow airport (paid for by the airline) we finally made it to New York a day and a half late. I couldn't believe the snow when we got there! Piles of it on the sidewalks and was freezing cold.

Simon at the hotel room in Glasgow Airport

Waiting to board our plane on the Sunday - day later than expected


So we got to New York and found our hotel, we stayed at a place called The Gershwin, it was ok, very close to the Empire States Building. So first day in NY we spent the afternoon walking to Times Square and just looking around. We ended up having to rush the NY part as we only had 2 full days there. We went to the Guggenheim, which much to Simon's dismay was all covered in scaffolding. We went to MOMA as well which was great. We got tickets to Avenue Q on Broadway so went to a show the Monday night, it was really funny.

We took a trip out to Liberty Island and went the the Museum of Natural History. All this was done in 2 days as well as shopping!

Squirrel in Central Park

Flat Iron Building

Lady Liberty

View from Liberty Island

View from the Empire States Building


We then took the train to Boston and had 2 days there. The snow was still thick on the ground and it was still cold but we felt we could relax a bit more into the holiday. We went out to Harvard and wandered around Boston which is a very pretty city.
Church in Old Boston

Us in Harvard

Boston at night from the Prudential Centre.


After 2 days in Boston we took the train further north into Vermont and met Simon's friends Alison, Brian and their little girl Stella. We had a great weekend with them, went sugaring - to see how maple syrup is made - helped Brian's mother move house, went to see a band play and generally caught up with them and relaxed with them. Was a great time. Simon and I also borrowed their car for an afternoon and went to Hanover in New Hampshire where Dartmouth College is and practised driving on the wrong side of the road!!

Alison and Brians House


Darmouth College

Frozen Connetticut River

Frozen Bradford Falls

Beautiful Stella Rose

Fifields Sugar House


We picked up our hire car on the Monday and decided to just drive, bit of a bad idea as we ended up in Montreal with no map, no Canadian money and not knowing how to speak French at all!! The weather was pretty bad and it was still really cold. We spent 1 night in Montreal.
Old Montreal

Old Montreal


We left Montreal and decided to go back into the States, driving in Canada was pretty hard especially as we were in Quebec and everything was in French. We missed an exit for the highway we wanted so ended up coming back into the States via Upsate New York, the completely opposite place from where we wanted to be! We drove down through New York State, the weather was still pretty miserable. It was still very cold and drizzly and foggy. We drove through the Adriondiacks and saw frozen lake after frozen lake. We were amazed each time. We stopped the night at Lake George, it was a huge lake, Frozen, and would have been lovely in the summertime. As it was still winter it was very bleak and very empty. We then drove back through to Vermont and New Hampshire and ended up back at Alison and Brians. We took a day trip to Conway through the White Mountains and it was a nice drive. Then we got the train on the Friday and headed back to New York for our last night.
Frozen Lake Placid

Lakes that had started thawing out

Classic New England Church in Brattleboro

View from Upstate New York

Arriving back in New York by Train


So we had one more night and day in New York before we flew back home. We went up the Empire States Building again in the dark and had a walk through Central Park. It was amazing the transformation of the city in a week. When we left there was still snow lying on the ground and it was still really cold and when we got back a week and a half later it was really warm, the snow was all gone and the daffidols were blooming. We wandered around Times Square again and just basically had a last look at the city. It's definitely somewhere I would like to come back to, especially as New York got cut so short and there are still so many things we didn't get to see. Maybe next time!!

5th Ave

Chrysler Building

NY from the Empire States Building

Times Square

Classic NY Taxis