The magestic Niagara Falls

We spent a couple of days in Niagara Falls, about 30 min drive from Buffalo International Airport.

Niagara Falls is a small town, the main attraction being the Falls. The Falls is along the NY and Ontario Canada border. The Rainbow Bridge connects the two countries. From our hotel room we could see Canada, which is much more built up, there are many hotels, casinos, amusements parks, etc. visible on the Canadian side, it is all lit up, looks a bit like a mini Las Vegas. Canada does have a better view of both the American and Horsechoe Falls however on the NY side you get to 'feel' the falls more because you can stand near to the rapids before they fall off the edge. The Maid of the Mist boat operates from both the NY and Canadian sides, and the boat takes you right infront both falls - amazing! you can feel the mist and hear the roar of the waters crashing down. They supply plastic blue rain ponchos because you do get wet.

The town is rather down, there aren't much big name restaurants only small owner run restaurants. Many restaurants were closed, and this was peak summer vacation. There was a casino which was quite busy, Seneca Niagara. We suspected that the restaurants at the casino were stealing business from the struggling small restuarants elsewhere.

It is a popular wedding and honeymoon spot, there are lots of things to do like helicopter rides, cave of the winds (allows you to walk close to the falls), walking behind the falls, IMAX show about the falls, museums, etc.

At night the falls are illuminated which is quite beautiful. In summer, there are firework displays every Friday and Sunday night at 10pm - a spectacular display over the falls. Surprisingly, the fireworks as well as entrance to the state parks were free - not sure how they make their money.

An amazing and fun trip to Niagara falls!

The Big Apple

We went to NYC for a couple of days, even though Athol and I were sick we still had a great time.

New York is the name of the city (i.e. New York City which is made up of 5 boroughs including Manhattan and Brookline) as well as the name of the state New York, hence New York, New York.

Manhattan is where everything happens, we see it on TV and in movies - Central Park, the Empire State Building, Madison Square Garden, Wall Street, etc. It is a city filled with people, lights, shops, restaurants, high-rise buildings and tourists :) In Times Square, there are so many lights and advertisements.

Central Park is huge, amazing how amidst all the dense buildings is a beautiful large open park.

We visited Strawberry Fields which is a landscaped area dedicated to the late John Lennon, there is a mosaic with the words 'Imagine' in the centre. Just opposite the park is Dakota Hotel, this is where John Lennon had lived and was shot in 1980.

We went on a 90 min boat cruise around lower Manhattan, really amazing views of the city. The open roof bus tour was also great. And of course, the Statue of Liberty, which is being renovated so entrance inside is restricted until next year.

Quite amazing been at Ground Zero where it all happened - September the 11th - a day non of us will ever forget. They are busy building two waterfalls where the twin towers stood with the names of those who died on plaques around them. They are also building two new tall buildings.

Food portions were large, the pizza slices are huge! one slice is enough for me :)

There are yellow NY taxi's, apparently 13,200 of them in Manhattan alone.

There are so many shops. The Garment District is filled with fabric shops. Macy's, a departmental store, took up a whole block and had 6 floors filled with clothes. A paradise for shoppers.

The day after we had left, there was a shooting near the Empire State building, close to where we stayed. A man shot his ex-boss/colleague, the police then shot him. Many bystanders were injured. To think that we could have been there when this happened.

Only spent 4 nights in NYC but we had so much fun, a great trip! It is very busy and there's a lot going on, great for a holiday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two months

I can't believe that it has been already 2 months that we've been living here in Cambridge. I guess that time does fly by when you are having fun.

I really like it here in Boston, it has been great experiencing life here.

The summer has been hot and extremely humid with occassional thunder showers. The humidity has been a killer expecially without aircon, we have two fans permanently blowing. The only problem is that you have to take the fan into whichever room that you are in plus the fan blows all your papers around :) I however am not complaining about the heat because I am dreadding the ice cold winters! There was a day or two in the summer when my feet were freezing. Need to go do all my winter clothing shopping soon - rain boots, hats, gloves, scarves, coats and thermal wear. Hopefully it will be a mild winter, apparently last winter was one of the mildest in years.

Security, like I've mentioned in my previous posts, is not an issue here and I really enjoy living without fear.

I've noticed that there are a lot of free things and places are very open. If I was a beggar and I could choose anywhere in the world to live, it would have be in the USA. There are always events with free food and drinks. Shops at Harvard Square are always giving away free chocloates, drinks, etc. Most places including the universities (Harvard and MIT) are very open, you don't need a student card to get into the grounds, there aren't even walls around the institutions. Anyone can walk into the university and sit under one of the lovely trees, most buildings are unlocked. There is free entertainment - free movies/live music at the Esplanade, benches everywhere along the Charles River or at the parks, musicians at Harvard Square, etc. Freed hand sanitizer at most institutions and shops. Free unwanted furniture or household goods are left outside houses by people. There is free wi-fi at some spots. You could join a public library for free and get passes to go to various museums. There are free newspapers. There are so many parks with pools, jungle gyms, basketball courts, etc. Education is free (except for the private schools). Free firework displays on holidays like 4th of July.

Things can be a bit pricey, especially if you are like me and convert the UD dollars in SA rands. Rent is expensive, eating out is relatively pricey (waiters/taxi drivers expect at least a 15% tip), theatre shows, concerts and sports games are expensive, clothing is fairly expensive unless you get it on sale or at a factory/discount outlet, furniture is fairly cheap and electronics and cars are very cheap.

Public transport (subway and bus) is very good. They have Zip Cars. A bus trip from Boston to NY can cost $13! The driving on the right hand side is still very strange to me, don't think I'll try it.

People are reasonably friendly however Cambridge has a lot of foreigners who are studying here.

I've completed my Level 1 in Mandarin at the Boston Language Institute so I can speak, read and write the basics. Am enjoying it, the writing is very tough. Will do Level 2 in September.

So overall I am loving the experience. Almost everything is somewhat different! Different brands, types of cars, lighting, mattreses, shops, etc.

Boston is a beautiful city. Been to the Quincy market, Fanueil Hall, Cambridgeside Galleria, JFK Park, Boston Common, Public Garden, Downtown, Prudential Skywalk Observatory, Red Sox game at Fenway Park, JFK Museum, Bruce Springsteen concert at Fenway Park, sunset harbour cruise on the Boston harbour, saw the 'Soup Nazi' from Seinfeld, walked around Harvard and MIT, had picnics along the Charles river, tried clam chowder, lobster, steak tips, pulled pork, buffalo tenders, Drakes coffee cakes, ....  to name a few of the great memories I have so far :)

So blessed to have this great adventure and to share it with my wonderful husband. Sometimes, it seems a bit surreal. I look forward to the next 10 months!

Fear of a different kind

We've been living in Cambridge for almost 2 months now. Although the crime here is vitually non-existent there has been some petty theft and the occational freak mass killing! So there is fear here, fear of a different kind.

There has been a lot of petty theft like bike and bag theft at the university as well as at residences. Three of Athol's classmates' bicycles were stolen in 2 days! as well as someone's backpack. These bicycles were locked up and the backpack was taken during a class break. One classmate had left her expensive mattress in the lobby (with a sign not to remove) for an hour while waiting for the delivery company to arrive, when she came back the mattress was gone. There is a fine line to all of this, today bicycles/bags/mattresses... tomorrow your car or jewellery. Apparently a lady was raped at Harvard yesterday! Not so safe as I thought.

A couple of weeks ago at the Batman screening in Colorado there was a mass killing where at least 12 people (including an infant) were killed and many injured. Innocent people just going to watch a movie and some crazy person goes on a shooting spree - really sad.

Last week, there was another shootout at a Sihk temple in Milwaukee, at least 6 people were killed. Again, innocent people just going to pray.

Sadly, this seems to be a common occurence here in the US - crazy gunmen going on a shooting spree killing many innocent people. And these killers appear to be ordinary people like you and I. The Colorado killer was a student.

So what causes people to do this?

To me, it seems that there is a lot of anger and unhappiness amongst the youth. Not only in the US but also in places like London (remember the youth riots last Aug) and even Norway (remember the student who also went on a killing spree last year). Clearly, there is something mentally wrong with these people. It is society's responsibility to identify these individuals who require help. I really think that tv/computer games with guns and killing should be banned, surely if children are playing these games eventually it will become normal for them. The world would be a better place without violence, guns, bombs and weapons of mass destruction. Also, people need to stop labelling themselves (by religion, country, race, school, profession), we are ALL humans! Here is a great poem by a great poet AE Ballakisten called 'World Peace' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7My-TtjEN5U

Sometimes life seems a bit random....

We could be the most cautious people just living our lives and then we just happen to be in the wrong place the wrong time. Sometimes things just seem so random and so unfair.

Here in the US, you could die of heat exhaustion, you could be at work and planes smash into the buildings, you could be going to pray or watch a movie and get shot or you be killed in a flood or a tonado....

In SA, you could be knocked down and killed by a truck walking to the shops or killed by your own car which rolled in your steep driveway or killed by a falling rock off a mountain in Cape Town while you are cycling or killed by a bolt of lightning while mountain climbing. This sadly has happened before.

So the moral of the story is to enjoy life, live it to the fullest! Here are some inspirational words by an inspirational poet :) One Finite Life  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwYlBktN_q0