Hello England!

Well it feels kinda nice to be back in the country of my origins! Its great to be with family as they have very kindly taken me under their wing! Besides spending lots of time looking for some short term work i have managed to get out and about and even get back to my roots!!! Below is a map of the Hampshire area, southern England which is where i come from. I am currently staying in Stubbington, Fareham but my immediate family is more from the Chandlers Ford area which is close to Eastleigh. London would be North East of Winchester - about an hour by train. Southampton is the biggest port in Northern Europe and this is where the Titanic left from on that fateful day. When we moved to South Africa we came by a ship named the Windsor Castle (http://www.oceanlinermuseum.co.uk/Windsor%20Castle.html) from Southampton, luckily we made it!

Hampshire map

So, whats been happening:

Out and about in Portsmouth: http://picasaweb.google.com/sbramhall/Portsmouth#

Carnival in Titchfield which is a gorgeous village 10 mins away from Stubbington, Fareham:

http://picasaweb.google.com/sbramhall/Titchfield#

Stubbington
From left to right: The family home in Stubbington, Fareham. Stubbington - Church of England, Stubbington Chippy on a Friday night, pretty houses in Stubbington.

Last days in New York City!

Unfortunately this day Ant was sick in bed with the flu, my opportunity for a little adventure. So i went off to Harlem, not Ant's first choice. I wasn't sure what to expect and even kind of expected trouble, but it was totally fine. Obviously a lot more African people but they were cool and obviously i stayed in the main areas, you are advised not to go off the main track.

I did however walk from here up to St Johns Cathedral, which is claimed to be the largest Cathedral and Anglican church and fourth largest Christian church in the world. It was very built up in the area so the pictures don't do it justice unfortunately, the cathedral takes up an entire block. Just across the road i came across a lovely building which is the National Memorial to the civil war, had a quick look around before i jumped on bus to the Cloisters. The Cloisters is the branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art dedicated to the art and architecture of the European Middle ages. The Cloisters was a very special place as you will see from the pictures - i spent a good few hours here and thoroughly enjoyed it. Heading back to the metro i walked through the lovely gardens and looked over the Hudson river and met a sweet little friend!

See more pics here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/
sbramhall/NewYorkDay11#

Our last main site in New York was the Metropolitan Museum of art and what an absolute gem. Unbeknown to me there was a special exhibition of Vermeer one of my favorite artists! What a treat! We weren't allowed to take pics of the special exhibit on but most of the others we could.

See whats in the gallery here: http://picasaweb.google.com/
sbramhall/NewYorkDay12#

And so its goodbye to New York, and hello to England!

Washington Day 3

Our last day today before heading back to New York. Our hop on hop off tickets are valid for two days, so we are off to Georgetown and the 6th largest cathedral in the world, Washington National cathedral. The cathedral and surrounds are gorgeous and enclosed by lovely countryside, you could be in England. After spending some time at the Cathedral and grounds we went into Georgetown, which is a lovely village like town about 10 mins out of Washington and it was like again being in England totally different to Washington. We also went past all the embassies and South Africa was there! Back in Washington we went to the White house both back and front, lots happening here plenty of people both in and outside the grounds and the marquee is still in the front garden. After viewing abit more of the lovely Washington architecture we headed back to the hostel to get our bags, and we are back on our way to New York city!

See more pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/sbramhall/
WashingtonDay10#

Washington Day 2

There is so much to see in Washington so we decided to do a Hop on Hop off tour due to time constraints! Washington is so very different from NY and exactly as you imagine and see it in the movies. Its very spread out and everything is huge!

See pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/sbramhall
/WashingtonDay9#

Later in the day we went to the Natural History museum which is huge and you could spend days in there, but we zipped through seeing what we wanted to, mainly the dinosaurs. Ant went off to the Air and Space museum and i went to the National Gallery of art - we met up there and did the main artists together. Wow i have never seen so many famous artists in one place, and luckily we were allowed to take pics!!!

See them here: http://picasaweb.google.com/sbramhall/
WashingtonArtGallery#

Washington - Day 1

After an early start leaving New York at 7.30am we arrived in Washington round 11.30am. A short work to the hostel to drop off our luggage and we are off again. This afternoon we are going on abit of a mission to get to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_F._Udvar-Hazy_Center) - which is the Air and Space museum out at the airport, it has to be there as it is huge and houses some exciting stuff. To get there we had to walk, catch the tube, a bus and then another bus!!! It was definitely worth it, we saw the space shuttle Enterprise the Enola Gay and the Black bird stealth bomber to name but a few of the main ones. Retracing our steps back to the hostel it was interesting, Ant had never been in a hostel and i had never been in a mixed dorm, it really wasn't bad at all and we even got breakfast thrown in!! We did share with a couple of snorers though!See more pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/sbramhall/WashingtonDay8#

Manhattan, New York - Day 6 & 7

Day 6

Today we started off at South street Seaport, pretty port area with plenty of tall ships some of which are museums. Some reasonable shops here set up abit like the V & A waterfront in Cape town but nowhere near as nice. Great views over Brooklyn and the famous Brooklyn Bridge.






Our next stop was China town, i was abit disappointed it was all clean and organised not like the China towns i had seen in Canada but it was nice and sort of rolled into Little Italy. Its incredible really, walking round New York and then feeling like you are in China and Italy.


We then caught the Metro up to 34th street which is the New York you often see on telly, tons of people and loads of cool shops. We went to see the Empire State building which is pretty impressive but daunting when standing right below it. Of course we had to pop into Macy's which is huge as well, but fun!












Back in Chelsea we stumbled upon the filming of a Law and Order episode, of course i had my camera out but they told me to put it away, how rude! I took what i could, a fun day had by all!!!

See more pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/sbramhall/ManhattenDay6#

Day 7



We are having a chill day we are knackered from sightseeing 8hours a day, who said holidays are fun :) So we thought we would explore Chelsea abit which is rather historic itself, it is the gay area of New York and the men are simply gorgeous such a waste! We went to the Chelsea market and then walked around on the elevated walkway which is being upgraded with the old railway lines its really nice. Back home to pack for Washington!

See more pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/sbramhall/ManhattenDay7#

Manhattan, New York - Day 5

What a day! Unbeknowns to me, 30000 people visit the Statue of Liberty daily, i think on this day, 300000 people were visiting. So firstly we had to go through security before getting on the boat then squashed on the boat like sardines, we made our over to the SOL! Its fantastic i have to say but smaller than i had imagined. You then queue to get off the boat and then another queue to go through yet another security check before you are allowed into the actual statue building. Before you even go through security you have to queue to put your bag in a locker, man i was all queued out! It was worth it in the end though and we totally enjoyed it!

Of course we then had to queue to get back on the boat, which then stops at Ellis island - but we couldnt bear to stand in another queue, so we gave it a miss. Back on land we walked through Battery Park where there is a memorial to 9/11, this globe used to stand in the Twin Towers and you can see how it got damaged on the fatal day.

From Battery park we walked up to see the Wall street or Charging bull and then onto Wall Street. Wall street and Trinity church are really interesting and it was nice to see the New York stock exchange.

Our next stop was the 9/11 World trade centre site which at the moment its really just a building site where a new tower is underway called the Freedom tower.

Just next to the building site is the firestation which is closed and hosts a wall of memory to the fireman lost in 9/11. Being here and thinking back to that fateful day really brings it home, its sad no doubt!

See more pics here:http://picasaweb.google.com/sbramhall/ManhattanDay5#

Manhattan, New York - Day 4

Today we started on the West side of Central park at Columbus circle, which is dominated by the Time Warner twin towers. We went into have a look around the shops and also at one of the Time Warner studios, we even saw Ben10!

Strawberry fields forever..... this section of the park is dedicated to John Lennon by Joko Ono and is called Strawberry fields as well as a plaque with Imagine on it. Walking through the park to the East side, we went to the Frick Collection, which had some magnificent old masters but unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures. From the Frick collection we caught a taxi to the Guggenheim museum, the taxi ride was quite an experience, as our driver started having a shouting match with the guy in the next car, it was like being in the movies, luckily it didn't get to fisty cuffs! Ant and i sat there in stony silence just taking it all in.

The Guggenheim was like a mad house and so after looking at the building which is actually part of the attraction we bailed out of there, glad we did to as since then we have seen some fantastic art, so we didn't miss much.

See more pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/sbramhall/ManhattenDay4#

Manhattan, New York - Central Park and surrounds

Today we started off at the bottom of Central Park, its huge! Central park is 341 hectares and is right in the heart of Manhattan.






Our first stop is coffee in Central Park and then the famous zoo which isn't really big but they have done a great job and do have some unusual species here.


After walking across the park past Bethesda fountain we went up 5th Avenue to 77th and down Madison ave, one of the most elaborate shopping areas in New York, every expensive brand shop is here. We then went for coffee at Trump towers which is a gorgeous building and the front is actually where the candidates from the Apprentice leave from when they get fired!!! Looked around for Trump himself, thought he might pop up and say hi, but i think he had other appointments today. Then onto Bloomingdale's - its so huge it takes up the whole block, of course we ventured inside and had a look round and there are just so many people shopping, where the recession is i don't know.

Our last stops were the Apple store which was heaving with people, this brand is so big here and the Sony Technology lab musuem which has alot of cool futuristic stuff but it was abit overrated and full of little bleeders, but interesting never the less and spidy was there!

See more pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/sbramhall/ManhattenDay3#

Manhattan, New York - Day 2

Today we did the entire Times Square area, its such a fun place with amazing energy! We also went into the M & M store, i don't even like them that much but the branding is incredible.

Then Planet Hollywood where we encountered a few stars and on our way to Madame Tussuad's we stopped in at Toys R Us - wow such fun, besides Hamley's in London this has got to be the next biggest toy store i have been in and it definitely brings out your inner child and in my case, just myself!

Madame Tussuad's, great fun, again went to the one in London years ago but this is set up more like going to a Hollywood party and its really cool, check the pics! We spent quite abit of time here.

Byrant park, which is a patch of green with table seating provided in the city surrounded by sky scrapers - where people come to eat their lunch, work, chat etc and at the time we were there, a dance troupe was practising. Also the New York public library attached to Byrant Park is a lovely building alot of which is marble.

Last but not least Chrysler building quite spectacular and Grand Central Station!

Another long day, but fun and we saw tons of stuff!

See more pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/sbramhall/ManhattenDay2#

From Long Island to the Big Apple!!!!!

What a lovely 10 days spent on Long island and we finished off with a nice evening out at Legends pub just down the road on the water, very quaint!



I dont think i have ever seen so many tv screens in one place, ever!











After a few ales, burgers and a nice chat it was time to return home, off to bed as tomorrow is a big day!




Off to the Big Apple!

Up early and am on the bus to Manhatten where i will be meeting Ant, a little nervous as he should have already landed and departed from Atlanta, really hope he is not holed up in customs!!!!


Well Ant was unfortunately delayed in Atlanta and missed his connecting flight but all is well and he arrived round 4pm - yay, happy days, so cool to see my best friend!!










New York is fantastic I dont think i have ever been in such a huge, dynamic, bustling, people ridden city - its gorgeous and the people are great to! We have been sight seeing about 8 hours a day, there is just so much, and our itinerary is packed full and we wont even get close to seeing everything!

So far we have conquered in the first day:

Times square

New York - Movie location tour (great fun)

Real american diner

Rockafeller centre and top of the rock - spectacular views of the city

St Patricks Cathedral

See more pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/sbramhall/ManhattenDay1#

North Fork - Long Island, New York

Its tough out here, i am under alot of pressure. I have to eat good food, drink good wine and sleep in a king size bed. Oh of course i am working as well, always like to pay my way!!! Today i went along the North Fork almost to the end, first stop though was the Horton Point Lighthouse, it was really gusty today and reminded me soooo much of Cape Town, very pretty! Driving further i experienced little villages, gorgeously architectured houses, plenty of wine farms and fruit stores, idyllic!

Orient point is almost at the end of the island but the Orient beach State Park is a finger of land which is kept for conservation and you can see Ospreys as well as many other birds here. There is a really long beach abit stoney, nice though.

Also here are the offices for Plum Island(animal disease centre), all fenced off - abit clandestine, you can just imagine what goes on here - read more : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plum_Island_Animal_Disease_Center

Well my country life is just about to end as i hit the big apple on Saturday, woohoo, watch this space for a million snaps!

See more pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/sbramhall/NorthForkLongIslandNewYork#