New York outing part 2

Back in the warm car, we drove the short distance to Steve's Aunt's apartment. After parking the car we once again braved the cold to walk the few blocks to he apartment.

We were fascinated to see the name of the street near the apartment.

To reach the apartment we all squeezed into the smallest lift I had ever seen.

What a lovely time we had in the apartment. Steve's aunt is lovely and we enjoyed every moment in her company. She had decorated her apartment beautifully and to my surprise I saw a miniature version of the Nativity set Douglas had been given by his parents on their return from Mexico.

She had put out snacks for us to enjoy.

I loved walking from room to room looking at the lovely decorations.

After a Pizza lunch we had a photo shoot in front of the magnificent tree.

There were lovely hand made decorations on the tree. A tree filled with memories.

Our journey home was longer because of the build up of traffic but it was good to see the city lights.

We had a lovely day out. Thank you Fazio family.

New York outing Part 1

Yesterday the Fazio connection picked me up and took me to New York city. The drive was very comfortable in their Toyota 8 seater people carrier. We were warm enough to be able to loose our coats. The company was good and Steve was a safe driver and with Terri's help we managed to avoid and heavy traffic.

 The views en route were lovely. I even noticed that they had used left over construction materials to create attractive decorations for the sides of the road.

I was impressed by the space in the very built up city.

Our first task, after we had found parking, was to walk the three blocks to see the Christmas tree. Once out of the comfort of the vehicle we realized how very cold it was. Fortunately we had come prepared so with two gloves on my one hand and one finger free glove on my camera hand, my Qatar scarf wrapped around my neck and my UK warm hat covering my ears, I was warm enough. The brisk walk helped and even though I stopped to take pictures along the way and it started to snow, never the less, we all had fun and I even managed to keep up with the younger people who walked more quickly and were not distracted by their environment. The only problem was that my camera finger was frozen by the time we reached the tree.

After the short photo shoot we made our way back to the car stopping on the way to warm up in two different buildings.

 There were musicians everywhere all adding to the Christmas feeling.

 As usual in the cities there was always evidence of Police to ensure everyone behaved themselves.

 I was fascinated to see that New York was going green. The Yellow taxis was being replaced by a  Green taxis. We saw a few of them but of course the Yellow was still very prominent.

There was also a lovely display of action bears in the one building.

Also the ever popular Christmas tree. We saw so many everywhere.

Once we reached the car we set off to visit Steve's aunt and this was to be my first experience of a new York apartment.

Off to the USA to visit my sister

I found it very difficult to return to SA without Douglas and settling into a routine in SA even more difficult. After my shipment from the UK arrived and all was well I decided that it might be good to visit my sister before my USA visa expired and I got settled into a SA routine.

I had been checking flights as I waited for my shipment to arrive and knew what the prices were so you can imagine my joy when I eventually came to book my flight and buy my ticket only to discover that the price had dropped by R3000.00 since I last checked the night before. What a blessing. The same site provided means for the purchase of a travel insurance so it was all done and dusted at the same time.

I had about 3 weeks to get ready for my trip and managed that without a hassle. My new friends at Addington Methodist Church prayed for me and after the service I was told by all who spoke to me that they would be looking forward to seeing me again when I returned.

Evelyn and Sean took me to the Airport where I bumped into a friend from Mtubatuba who was shocked to hear that Douglas had passed away. I was taken aback that she did not know and have sent her an apology for breaking the news to her the way that I did. ("Give that special Douglas a big hug from me" she said after asking me if I had just arrived back in Durban to which I responded "Sorry he is dead.") I managed to check in my baggage through to Philadelphia so was happy to know I did not have to hassle with it in Johannesburg even though I would need to claim it at Atlanta in order to clear customs there.

My flight to Johannesburg was uneventful and after a long, long, walk to the International terminal I eventually joined the queue to board my flight to Atlanta. I was happy to stand in the long queue as I knew I would have 16 hours of sitting once I boarded the plane. Eventually my zone was called and then I was asked to produce my luggage stubs as SAA don't put the checked in baggage into the system. You guessed it, I could not find the stubs. They were kind and after much searching when I did find them, they had already found the numbers online so all was well.

I had an empty seat next to me so the 16 hour flight was not too bad as I was able to stretch out and the service was good so there was plenty of water to drink and food to eat. I had a book to read and my own TV screen so once I had found my coat and snuggled into the blanket provided I managed to have some shut eye after dinner had been served.

Atlanta was very organised and user friendly so passport checks and customs control went off without a hitch. Before I knew it they had grabbed my check in baggage for the next flight and I was on the little train to the domestic departure gate for my flight to Philadelphia. Once again I had an empty seat next to me and the 2 hour flight passed quickly. Another long walk to the baggage claim and there Terri was waiting for me.

It was lovely to catch up on the way to my sister's flat and once there I found a fridge full of food and a lovely comfortable room. My sister had even prepared a desk for me to work at so that I could be motivated to get back to blogging.

After a shower, a cup of tea and something to eat I unpacked and watched TV until I accidentally pushed the wrong button and killed the TV. I decided not to nap but did lie down to read until Viv returned from work.

We had a lovely time chatting and then Terri arrived with Jenni who had wanted to come to say "Hello". Eventually I decided it was time to sleep and even though my body clock was confused, I did manage a good night's rest.

Flying itself might be quicker than other means of transport but the time spent in the terminals is very long and exhausting. I much prefer train travel but that is not possible for overseas trips.

Windsor Castle

Douglas and I had planned to visit Windsor Castle in May but that was not to be so I was thrilled when Brendon and Wendy arranged for us to go to Windsor after we had been to Lego Land. This was to be my special treat as we had tried to visit the castle many years ago but because there had been a funeral in the chapel we had not managed to do so.

 We checked out of our hotel and caught a train to Windsor. Owen loves trains so he was thrilled that he had a chance to watch the "Jet Trains" while we waited for the Mommy and the Daddy.

In Windsor we discovered that the crowds that had been to Legoland the day before had decided to come to Windsor. There were many tour groups and at one time I thought that Japan had arrived.

 Windsor Castle is lovely and as the Queen was at Balmoral for her Summer holiday we were able to see most of the palace.

 The audio guides were a bonus and we learnt much about the History of the Castle. At one point Brendon overhead one of the officials say that they had run out of audio guides because there were so many visitors that day.

After a picnic lunch in the grounds we made our way back to the station.

 Wendy and Brendon took Erin to see the crooked house while Owen and I went to see the train at the station.

 Then we were on our way from Slough to London. The train was packed but Owen did not seem to mind sitting next to a stranger.

 We arrived at Paddington and then it was down to the underground once more.

 Erin had had enough so decided to have a sleep.

 Owen does not like the underground very much so kept checking to see if we had arrived at our station.

 Unfortunately our tube only went a far as Edgware Road so we had steps to climb with Erin asleep in the buggy and two huge cases. A stranger kindly helped me with the buggy while Brendon lugged the cases up the stairs and Wendy helped Owen.

Eventually we reached Kings Cross and did not have too long to wait for the train to Downham.

 Everyone was exhausted but books and technology kept us all entertained along the way.

At last we arrived at Downham. Owen had to say goodbye to our train and because another train arrived before we crossed the line he had to greet it as well.

 Eventually we managed to get across the line and then had a short wait for our taxi home.

Not sure how we were going to cope with the big move and church services as we seemed to have used up all our energy. Brendon was suffering from Jet lag as he had only arrived from Doha two days previously.