Minor Mishap # 12

They lost our luggage... again. Both the backpacks stayed in LAX on our way home, while we continued on to Brisbane. Of course it really did have to happen. The last flight of our entire world trip needed to be marked by something special.

Moral of the story: ALWAYS pick up your luggage and re-check when transferring through USA especially when traveling either to or from Canada.

l
R
x
and Judy

Checking out the Vancouver Scene

We had planned to spend some downtime in Vancouver before going home, so took it easy just doing one touristy thing a day.

Our first day was spent exploring the streets down to Canada Place (near the harbour), where we discovered a tourist information booth. After asking many questions we were thoroughly prepared for our sightseeing. We continued along, stopping for coffee at Starbucks and finally seeing the movie "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull".

The second day was a full day visit to The University of British Columbia (UBC). Here, we checked out the Chemistry building, which was the nicest one I've seen - heritage style and made of grey sandstone. After lunch we viewed the Museum of Earth and Ocean Sciences - which had a fantastic display of minerals, crystals and fossils, and a very interesting account of earthquakes and the way tsunamis are formed. Vancouver Island is moving towards the mainland as fast as fingernails grow! We moved on to walk down 390 steps to the beach, only stumbling upon a couple of nudists... In the evening we visited the Museum of Anthropology, where we had a tour and learned a bit about First Nations people. The totem (or rather "story") poles were exceptional.

The next day we took it fairly easy, visiting more of the harbour area around Canada Place and the Convention Centre. In the afternoon we decided to catch Kung Fu Panda - very worthwhile.

View to Stanley Park from the harbourfront

On the fourth day we took the seabus across to Lonsdale Quay/North Vancouver and then the bus (normal road-type) up to Lynn Canyon Park. We walked across the suspension bridge (48 m) and then explored the park. We spent some lazy-afternoon-time at the Twin Falls, letting the evaporating water cool us down from the 34 deg C day. Fortunately we didn't see any bears.

The next day was another easy one, spent reading and using the internet (free for anyone!) in the Public Library. The building was nicely Colosseum-esque.

Our final full day was spent roaming around Stanley Park - the park northwest of the city. It seemed to be a very popular place. There were beaches, a water park, an aquarium, tennis courts, artists corner and various picnic spots. It was fun, and a bit nerve-wracking, watching seaplanes take off in the harbour. We also saw some traditionally painted totem poles near Brockton Point. It was a lovely place to complete our Vancouver visit.

Brockton Point Lighthouse in Stanley Park

l
R
x
and Judy

New York - Old Favourite

We dropped off the car at JFK and took the train in to Penn Station. We could only afford to stay in a budget hotel, but were pleasantly surprised by the view - the best view in NY to date. We settled our luggage, then walked the one block required to get to Times Square. Decided to catch a show - and went to the box office to get tickets to Mary Poppins. It was produced by Disney, so set and costumes were absolutely fantastic.

The following day we walked through Central Park up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and spent the whole day frolicking in there. We had lunch/dinner in the usual lower floor cafeteria as a mid-excursion break. As usual we couldn't fit in the entire exhibition.

The next morning, after speaking to the Concierge at our hotel about directions for Balthazar and receiving "Oh, you'll never get in there. They have a 3 week waiting list." comments, we hopped on the Subway down to SoHo. It turned out there was only a 30 minute wait for walk-ins. We left our names and crossed the street to look in the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) shop to pass the time. We sat down to a delicious brunch of eggs benedict and hazelnut waffles with berry compote. More browsing of the MoMA shop followed lunch (there are just too many funky things in there!). We then made our way to 34th street to do a bit of window-shopping at Macy's. A quick rest back at our hotel had us ready for the Marriott Marquis - a rotating cocktail lounge with views over Times Square and the city.

Our last day was spent at Bloomingdales in order to go to the Forty Carrots Restaurant. The decor in the cafe had changed to a hip and slightly disturbing bright-white and neon-green, but they still made the same awesome vegetable soup and frozen yoghurt. We spent the last moments of our time in a previously unexplored part of Central Park, as rain gently drizzled on the nearby lake.

l
R
x
and Judy

Maryland Madness

Disclaimer: We can neither confirm nor deny that we went crazy in Maryland. We shirk all culpability in the events that transpired.

We picked the rental car up from JFK Airport and hopped on the New Jersey Turnpike and traveled down to the I95 to get to Glen Burnie, a little suburb south of Baltimore. The trip took 6 hours (we finally found a good radio station to sing along to in Baltimore County). We were very excited about re-visiting all the areas we frequented when Mum and Dad lived in Annapolis.

The first day we performed some reconnaissance at Arundel Mills (outlet shopping) in order to determine the path of least resistance (for later in the week). We also saw The Dark Knight at the Egyptian Temple-esque theatre.

The following day we caught up with long-time friend Helen Mary, at Columbia Mall. The Apple Store here was not as nice as the one in Toronto.

The third day we went to the Baltimore Harbour and took a water taxi out to Fells Point. We also visited the Maryland Science Museum to see Body Worlds 2 - a display of plasticised bodies and organs showing various anatomy. At some points I felt a great need to intently read the posters (as opposed to looking at the displays). Mum was having a great time - which was suprising seeing as she doesn't like horror movies.

Annapolis Harbour was a must the next day in order to go to the best sushi place in the world. I am not understating it. We spent a good hour indulging at Yin Yankee. Everything was just as delicious as we remembered. Then off to Westfield Annapolis - which has doubled in size in the last 3 years! After a brief bout of shopping at the mall we stopped off at Best Buy - the only place to get electrical equipment (found a good replacement for my pink-photo taking camera). We finished off the day having a lovely home cooked meal with Helen Mary (baked chicken and fresh vegies yum!) followed by brownies (grahlaglagl).

Woohoo!

The final day before we left was the epitomy of mall madness. We spent 6 hours shopping at Arundel Mills. We refueled in the middle with half an hour for lunch. The day was completed by seeing Hancock at the cinemas. We climbed into bed sated and euphoric.

Mwhuhahahaha!

l
R
x
and Judy

Toronto

The first couple of days were a bit of a headache trying to get over the cold while trying to get someone at American Airlines to find Mum's bag (see Minor Mishap #11).

We however cheered up by doing some shopping at the Eaton centre - the largest indoor shopping centre in the world- two blocks and close to 300 shops. The Apple store is just incredible. I want to live there.

We also ventured up to Casa Loma - a castle built by a local millionaire, but never completed due to financial difficulties (caused by government intervention). Now, it has been completed for tourists and the gardens have been restored. The same day we took the subway down to the CN Tower and after some contemplation decided to have dinner at the top (free ride up). The food and view were phenomenal and after a brief walk down to the other floors after dinner we were happy with our decision - we definitely had the best and most relaxed view of Toronto.

View from CN Tower

We took a full day tour out to Niagra Falls - which was totally different to what we had both expected. Much smaller and more commercial, but still enjoyable. We took the Maid of the Mist (ferry ride) right up to the foot of the falls. We were saved from being drenched by our sexy raincoats.

On the Maid of the Mist

l
R
x
and Judy

Minor Mishap #11

We had flown in from Lima to Toronto via Miami and were starting to feel the effects of the cold Dad had left us with. As a little bit of history, the last time Mum flew with Amercan Airlines, to Montreal... they lost her bags for 4 days. Thus, when we arrived at Miami we checked with 3 attendants that our bags had made it on to the plane to Toronto. We were thoroughly assured they had (I'm sure you can tell where this is going).

On arrival at Toronto airport (11.50pm), we waited in trepidation at the turnstile while Mum's bag failed to show up. Apparently, the wayward bag had decided that San Jose in Costa Rica was a much more acceptable destination. It convinced a whole pallet of bags to jump planes in Miami. We went to the hotel with my sensible bag to wait for Mum's bag.

It took 5 days for them to get Mum's bag to us. At least they got it to us before we left the next day... (I won't bore you with the found-not found saga.)

Moral of the story: Don't fly to Canada with American Airlines. Perhaps the Canadian government has a conspiracy with AA to make you spend money in Canada?!

l
R
x
and Judy

P.S. Do you know the way to San Jose?... apparently Mum's bag does!

Lima

The first thing we noticed about Lima was the smog. The emissions from road vehicles was phenomenally high, which made going for a nice walk actually rather unpleasant. As large cities go, Lima was somewhat underwhelming. They have tried to pretty the place up with a green strip in the middle, but the leaves have been covered with brown dust from the smog.

We went for a walk down to the harbour area on our sightseeing day and walked along some nearby craft markets. The air was a bit clearer near the ocean and the paragliders put on a nailbiting show. While at the hostel, we met a guy from America - Rodney - who was going to teach English in Arequipa. He was preparing himself for the culture shock.

Dad was happy about the Hagendaaz Chocolate Chocolate Chip ice cream we found at the local supermarket.

l
R
x
and Judy
+ the Δ