... and the land of the free - 20 July 2012

When young Emma Lazarus penned her sonnet containing the now immortal words, "Give me ... your huddled masses" I don't imagine she was thinking about the masses of tourists huddled under umbrellas and ponchos in the middle of summer as they were today. We had booked our tickets for the Statue of Liberty visit today based on the long-range foarecast which promised Friday was the best day of our stay in New York. However the reality turned out quite different with drizzle all day and occasional heavy showers.

 As it happened it was not a bad day to visit as the tour also takes in Ellis Island and that is several hours of indoor activity when it would have been a shame to be inside had it been a glorious day. So, all we missed out on was blue skies behind the statue and the Manhattan skyline for our photos.

The subway to Battery Park is right outside the hotel door and then there is only a short walk at the far end to get across Battery Park to Castle Clinton where the ferries depart. Naturally there was the full, shoes-off, belts-off, even watches-off, security hoo-haa before getting on the ferry for the short ride to Liberty Island. The statue is really very impressive, close-up and it is amazing to think that when completed it was the tallest structure in the eastern US.

There was a short intermission in the rain which enabled us to take a second walk around the island without umbrellas getting in the road when snapping pictures. Because the statue is under renovation there is no access to the interior or even the pedestal so it was time to make the short hop to Ellis Island.

Renovated in the late 80s after falling into disrepair following its closure in 1954, the facility is now a stunning tribute to the 12 million immigrants who poured through these rooms between 1898 and 1924 at the rate of about 5000 per day. The exhibitions are really well done and are very moving, as well as educational (10% of the population of Sweden emmigrated to the US) and cover the immigration to the US from the times of the early colonists up to modern times, including the 12 million Afrcans who were forcibly "immigrated".

 At the end of all this, the question is posed, but not really answered, "What makes an American?"

Money, money, money - 19 July 2012

Although London seems to be the financial capital of the world, New York is inextricably linked with high finance so we started the day on Wall St which is just a short walk from our hotel. The area is protected to keep traffic out and is crawling with NYPD officers and you cannot even sit on a bollard without being moved on. The official reason was that I might fall off and injure myself but I suspect that I had sat just a few moments too long outside the Federal Reserve surfing the web on a smart phone. 

After wandering Wall St end-to-end and seeing the NY Stock Exchange we found an ATM on Wall St to cement the link between Wall St and money then wandered off for a look at Chinatown and on out the other side and into Little Italy. On the far side we deided it was time to ride the Metro and headed for Grand Central Station. Grand Central is a fantastic space, so typicial of the era and so different from the typical untilitarian functionality of many modern transport facilities.

At the station we discovered that there was a very convenient cross-town shuttle to Times Square so that was our next "money" stop as the centre of the entertainment spending for New York. To soak up the atmosphere we sat in the square and sampled the best hot dogs in New York as part of the NY experience. We knew that they were the best hot-dogs in NY because it said so on the side of the food cart that was selling them and they would not lie, surely?

After checking out all the incredible video billboards and the Times Square New-Year's-Eve ball we wandered back to 6th Ave to catch a bus up to 70th St to visit the Frick collection, put together by a monied titan of industry to satisfy his love of the finer things in life. The collection is housed in what was his home but which was built and furnished more as a museum to display the collection which he always intended to leave as a gift for all to enjoy. The collection has many fantastic paintings with most of the great names represented and, of course, the last of the Sevres pot-pourri ships.

Our next money stop was "5th Ave". As we left the Frick we were on 5th Ave and 5th Ave runs for many miles but when anyone says "5th Ave" it is the luxury shopping section that comes to mind. We avoided the cash registers and wandered down as far as 34th St to head over to the largest shop in the world, Macy's.

New York, New York - 18 July 2012

The Big Apple!  What can you say? How many books have we read based in New York? How many movies have we seen set in New York? And now we are here.

Because our body clocks are in some other time zone, we woke very early and as the TV weather reports suggested temperatures above 90F followed by thunderstorms, we decided to get ahead of the game so were off early to walk the Brooklyn Bridge, well half the bridge anyway.  Repair work is underway and high walls blocked the views except from the piers and the mid-point, so we walked as far as the middle for our views of the New York skyline.

Back on shore we headed for the 9/11 Memorial only to find a line for tickets. However we got in on the next available timed entry slot and headed off for the entrance which is a few blocks from the ticket office and very informative visitor centre.  Finally arriving, the security was as totally over-the-top as we expected it would be with at least 4 people checking our tickets along the walk to ground zero and a full airport, belts-off etc security check.

The actual memorial pools are very impressive, with their 1 acre sized holes in the ground where the tower foundations were and the final waterfall drop cunningly arranged so that you cannot see the bottom. Having walked around the two pools we located the survivor tree, the only tree on site which is not a swamp white oak.  It is a Callery pear tree which was originally on site and survived the destruction as a stump in the debris.  Nursed back to health, it has been returned as the "Survivor Tree".

The temperature was rising so we road the Metro to 72nd St and set off across Central Park heading in the vague direction of either the Metropolitan Museum of Art or the Frick Collection, both of which are on our 'must visit' list.  We decided on the Metropolitan as a pleasant place to avoid the heat and any possible thunderstorms. 

Even with about 4 hours to spend and moving at a fairly brisk pace, there is only so much that you can see in this amazing collection.  There was one piece in particular that was on our list and we found it without too much hassle.  The Sevres porcelain factory made pot-pourri holders in the shape of styilised ships with delicate rigging. Because they were particularly hard to make, only 12 survived the firing process and, reportedly, only 10 survive today, usually in a set with two matching vases; we have seen the three at Waddesdon Manor; one at Buckingham Palace; one in the Wallace Collection; one in the Louvre; one in LA in the J Paul Getty collection; the one today and one yet to find in the Frick Collection.  We cannot find any information of the location of the tenth.

We found the collection of re-created interiors from different periods most interesting and the early American folk art fascinating along with and introduction to many American artists that we had not previously encountered.

As predicted the thunder arrived and the heavens opened and the we watched the rain cascading down the glass roof of the atrium, smug in the fact that we were inside and dry.  However, when it came time to leave, the rain was still bucketing down and our umbrella and coats were several miles away in downtown NY.  The foyer was packed with people waiting for a break as the supplies of plastic ponchos had sold out and even at $35 each there had been quite a run on umbrellas.

There was a slight lessening in intensity of the rain and we decided to make a dash for a bus, jumping on to the first one available.It was a fortuitous choice as it terminated at Penn St station where we could get a C line Metro to within a hundred yards of our hotel.Very slightly damp but not drenched like several other bus passengers we return tired but satisfied with a day well lived.

Farewell to London - 12 July 2012

We took the opportunity of the first sunny morning, to check out the Emirates Air Line, London's newest attraction, opened in time for the Olympic Games. It proved to be quite prophetic, with the captions on the New York and New Zealand gondolas.

Weekend Walks - 1 July 2012

There are plenty of options for country walks from our front door. Today we set out across the Common, to a small town called Sarratt on the far side of the Chess Valley.

This proved to be a delightful town built around a long village green, complete with village pond. After an excellent, leisurely lunch at The Cricketers, facing the green, we stopped at the Holy Cross Church Sarratt (in Church End), to admire their excellent Jubilee Flower Festival.

Weekend Walks - 30 June 2012

We were without transport for the weekend - no cars and no trains into London. On Saturday we walked to Rickmansworth and along the Grand Junction Canal to Watford.

The canal was authorised in 1793, and fully opened in 1805, the same year as the Battle of Trafalgar. It reduced the transport route to London for goods from 100 to 40 miles, a huge savings in transport costs.

We were planning to return by train from Watford, that part of the line was supposedly working, but when we arrived at the station, there was a problem with the line and we were returned to Rickmansworth by taxi. A very relaxed end to our walk!

Literary Oxford – 24 June 2012

Following on our very enjoyable day out yesterday, we decided to have another literary day out, and revisit our “neighbouring” town, of Oxford.

To get there, we headed across the Chilterns to a coffee break at Abingdon. From here, on to Harcourt Stanton, where the village church had a very colourful jubilee floral festival.

Then it was on to Oxford. First off, we visited Magdalen College, where CS Lewis was a tutor for 29 years. The beautiful, timeless buildings and Chapel are a real treat.

Then a pub lunch at Eagle and Child, where Lewis, Tolkien and his literary friends met in the Rabbit Room. The Rabbit Room was full of people waiting to order, so we enjoyed our meal in a quiet room off this.

Down the road is the recently remodelled Ashmolean Museum, where we spent some time looking at the excellent displays.

Nearby (everything is nearby in Oxford!) is Bailliol College, one of the oldest – established 1263, so for £1, we couldn't resist wandering another college.

More wandering, took us to a Dickens exhibition at the Bodium Library. Even though he did not attend Oxford, the display was more about London, And very interesting.

Finally it was time to stop wandering back streets, and we headed home across the leafy Chilterns to Chorleywood.