Home Again..For How Long ?

A long lie in today, taking it easy, and doing my packing…

I did have a brief walk around…and lunch before I bade a fond farewell to the apartment building, jumped in a cab, and was whisked to Newark Airport for my flight home….unusually checking myself in….

I left late night, flying overnight,however couldn’t sleep, so watched a couple of films, including ‘Slumdog Millionaire before flying into Manchester around 6-45 a.m …. and home for just before 9 a.m…..phew, what a journey….ready to Relax, or will I ?

See you on my next adventure…!

On the Immigrants Trail

Joe went off to California around 5 a.m….whilst I snoozed, Nicola was also out early, followed by me to get down to Battery Park, and buy my tickets for a big day ahead on Liberty and Ellis Island’s , getting tickets was no problem, getting through security was - although I was there before 9, there was already a large queue, taking around an hour before I could board the ferry, and travel out to firstly Liberty Island,http://www.nps.gov/stli/index.htm  home to the iconic ‘Statue of Liberty’.

As I neared the island, I got to realise how big the statue is, and the tremendous sight so many people must have had when first seeing this statue, at the end of a crossing of the Ocean… once on the island, I joined a ‘walking tour’ of the island, given by a park ranger, with lots of informative and differing facts, before he got us into the queue to go around the museum and pedestal area of the statue, although unfortunately not able to go up to the crown, the tickets having about a ‘3 month waiting list’ !

The views from the pedestal area, both up at the statue, and across the water to New York and area, were tremendous - again it was a cold, but sunny day, so helicopters were buzzing over the water…I spent some time in this area, then as lunch was beckoning decided to grab something to eat, whilst I waited for the 1-30 p.m. ferry across to Ellis Island.

As the ferry crossed the short distance between Liberty and Ellis Islands, I wondered what the early immigrants felt, as they had a similar view, and wondering whether they would ‘pass the test’ for admission into The United States ? It must have been quite a time, so near, yet they could still be rejected and sent back to where they came from!

As I stepped off the ferry, and approached what was the Immigration building, I wondered of the sights to come - the entire island is now a living museum…and rightly so. Inside were stories of lots of immigrants, what they faced, what they were coming from, and what they were hoping for http://www.nps.gov/elis/index.htm I particularly liked the story that one immigrant sent home…. I thought American streets were paved with Gold…I came here and found they weren’t, in fact they weren’t paved at all, and I had to pave them !’’

People from all over the world have come through Ellis Island, and into United States, and for me the most interesting part…They weren’t ALL Irish !, in fact very few in comparison were, and yet the Irish influence in America (and anywhere they emigrated to..) is well known ,influential and extensive….

Eventually I caught one of the last ferry’s back to NYCity, and Battery Park, then walked along the sea front, past Statten Island Ferry Terminal, to Pier 83, where I was to take an evening cruise, seeing the lights of NYC, and area…

Firstly as I got to the pier area, saw some great old sailing ships, moored alongside, with lots of differing facts and history about them.

Then it was into the Pier 83 shopping centre, for a quick look round…and some food, and at 7-30 p.m. went down to the Pier for my cruise http://www.circleline42.com/new-york-cruises.aspx , there were not many on, but that didn’t deter the DJ ! Who had a ‘rap’ composed to pick out the sights as we went along, and keep us amused - brilliant sights , and good fun. As we stopped near Liberty Island he even took pictures for everyone, on your own cameras, and produced a glass of ‘bubbly’ for us all… back to the pier for 9p.m…. the night was not yet finished..!

Then it was back along the sea front, and Subway to Times Square, for a real night time sample of the lights, and busyness…then it was back home for about 10-30 p.m. and collapse !

A Great,long day..

Nearing the End…

Today, a far easier day… Joe and Nicola went off to work early leaving me to relax a little, and snooze, although being New York, I was still up for 9 a.m.

After idling my time catching up on emails and that, I went out for a walk, intending to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but as I wandered through Central Park, getting lost several times, although I like to call it ‘meandering’ in the very hot sunshine- although it was still cold in the shade, and having a very pleasant stroll I decided to stay in the park, watching the world go by…and listening to various buskers playing their very different music - especially a group of 3 South Americans, sat on the wall of a dry fountain, playing great music (even coaxing a $ out of me !), the time slipped away, and I later wandered back to the Apartment, ready for a great evening to come…

Joseph and Nicola burst through the door (with seconds to spare, as usual) in time for us all to walk down to the Dovetail restaurant nearby, this was to be our final meal in New York together, as Joseph was off to California in the morning, and I had a long sight seeing day planned…

So, as we entered the Michelin starred restaurant, http://www.dovetailnyc.com/ we couldn’t believe how busy it was, must be good food then…and so it was… what a great meal we had, ultimately deciding to have the tasting menu, accompanied by tasting drinks…phew, took some eating and drinking - although expensive, it was well worth it, even the waitress taking our picture at the table, and a sample menu to take home !

Dad - You can’t miss these !

Up at 8-30 a.m. for mass at the Church of the Holy Trinity, round the corner, and then ready for the ‘grand tour’ of everywhere I’d not yet made- and Joe insisted I ‘did’ before I returned home later in the week!

Joseph, Nicola and I started at Brooklyn, where we had brunch of steak and eggs at the Heights café http://www.heightscafeny.com/ - great, then a walk along Brooklyn heights promenade, looking across the Hudson River towards Manhattan island.The helicopters were buzzing around, obviously the beautiful day was bringing out lots of people-us included!  We then walked over the Brooklyn Bridge, looking towards the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.We kept on walking continuing into the financial and city district - City Hall, Supreme Justice Building, then along Wall Street, new york stock exchange, eventually ending up at a highlight…the Irish famine memorial garden in Battery Park http://www.newyorkcitywalk.com/html/images_IrishFamine.html…very moving, ’Slacks cottage’ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Hunger_Memorial  was taken stone by stone from Ireland, at the end of my Mums home lane at Carradoogan…which I had last visited with Susan in 2007 ago .. I also had the pleasure of telling some people around what the significance of it was - they were really pleased that I had been able to come …

After many pictures, we then continued along through the West Side village, Meatpacking district and onto the highline park, an old railway line, which has been transformed into a beautiful linear footway, with sunbeds, seats, views, wonderful…then the ’tour’ at an end, it was back home for a short rest !

Later in the evening it was ‘what do you fancy to eat Dad ?’….Mexican says I …’perfect, there’s a great one not far away’….and even though we couldn’t book a table, off we went (in the obligatory taxi) to Rosa Mexicana… http://www.rosamexicano.com/ where after a very short wait we were seated, in a separate booth, with all the glitterati around us !

Pomegranate Margarita’s, followed by watching the waiter mix a special Guacamole in front of us, which we all shared before great Mexican food…

Good choice Dad ! Then …home to bed, rather tired

Back to the City…and cold football

Again we were up before 6 a.m., car packed, and on the road by 0700 !

As we set off back towards NYCity we came into…another blizzard, which made driving difficult for a while, but once through the snowy mountains, the sun burst through, and we had a really pleasant drive back to New York, arriving back around 2 pm. - well done Joseph !

We had time to get cleaned up, and then were out again to ‘Shakeshack’ http://www.shakeshack.com/ for brilliant beef burgers and chips ( but upmarket!) , then it was off to Penn Station, where we met Marie and Brett, and out to New Meadowlands stadium to watch USA V Argentina football match, in a freezing cold stadium!- where even the beer got colder as the night wore on !

It was quite a different experience, with a large Argentinain presence, and vociferous home fans…the game ended 1-1

...and we rushed home for a warm, still not getting back until almost 10-30 p.m…and straight to bed !

Worst Weather in the World !

 

We were all up early at 0600, quickly breakfasted and got our gear together, on a fine, although cold morning, and drove to Pinkham Notch Visitor Centre,at  620 metres high.Where we got our gear on, it was cold, snowy, and a heavy sky, and looked like there had been a fair bit of snow overnight…a day of good prospects lay ahead…we set off at 7-30 a.m. to climb Mt Washington, http://www.mountwashington.org/ at 1917 metres high, and reputably the Worlds worst weather conditions !!

We initially climbed for about 1 ½ hours, up an unrelenting snow track, used by the Snowcat which services the observatory at the top of the mountain, and although hard packed snow underfoot , it was still a hard track to follow,and overcome !

We did have a nice diversion on the way, watching a woodpecker at work on an old tree trunk! We then picked up a fire road which broke off to the right, and after a short time found the track we intended to follow to the top - Lions Head Winter Route ! http://www.newhampshireclimbing.com/climbing-course.asp?ID=68  A tricky climb lay ahead, immediately obvious as the track worked its way up through the forest, deep snow and ice below the steep track forced us all to put our crampons on almost immediately, as we climbed up a very steep gully - a fierce introduction for Joseph and Nicola to winter climbing !

The snow started falling as we climbed higher, visibility was very poor, but as we squirmed our way upwards through the forest, we were helped by  blue markers on the trees.

Eventually breaking through the tree line, and out onto the exposed top/ridge, the wind was very fierce, and straight into our faces, quickly freezing whatever was exposed - although the trail did become less steep, and we were able to follow it up to the top of Lions Head -meeting a man (with a patch over one eye !) coming down from the top-who informed us there was heavy snow higher up (although we didn’t ask where he’d come from – did he exist at all ?!).  As we climbed above the Lions Head, we quickly lost the trail, which appeared to have been submerged in the heavy snow which had recently come down, and blown over all the area, almost immediately obliterating our tracks!

The only option we had was to follow a compass bearing, and blitz straight up the mountain, using a snow gully which was there…as we got higher, the snow got deeper, almost up to waist height - without the severe cold, it could have been very avalanche prone, but OK to continue !

We continued to struggle up through the snow, ever higher, with more snow coming down, along with thick mist, so we relied on compass bearings, and altimeter readings(still climbing ! )not able to stop to rest due to the wind and cold.

Eventually we reached a slight track, and as we followed it we saw the summit buildings ahead of us, and, as we got nearer a figure appeared out of the mist around the summit buildings -turning out to be Kevin , the assistant chef from the weather station, who greeted us with the words ‘ are you French ?’ wondering we asked why - he replied’ there’s only the French mad enough to climb in these conditions !’…We had got to the top in 5 hours ,a brilliant time, and the length of time it normally takes in summer, never mind the depths of winter !…..

Kevin delightedly  showed us to the shelter at the side of the observatory, where we had a pleasant chat for a while, and then ,amazingly, he offered us a cup of hot coffee !

Which we readily accepted , and eat some food, and put warm clothing on whilst he was away. The winds were gusting around 40 - 50 mph, and temperature around -27 below, and even though we were sheltered from the wind, we soon became cold… however the Kevin re-appeared with the Austrian chef Ernst, carrying a tray of mugs, coffee and home made biscuits !! Brilliant, and set us up nicely. We then took some hasty pictures at the summit signpost, and started our descent into the fierce snowy winds, we had spent 45 minutes on the top of The Worlds Worst Weather summit !!

It was still misty, and driving snow, and as we descended we started to meet people who had been following our tracks up! The nearest being a group we met after 10/15 minutes, struggling against the wind, which by now had swung behind us, so we were having quite a pleasant descent, seeing other peoples struggling.

We were able to follow the track down the ridge, and onto Lions Head, again meeting I suppose in total 10 differing people, struggling up to the summit - I don’t think they would get coffee !!

Once across the summit of Lions Head, and across the plain below, we were pretty sure of our route down, meeting a lot more people, who wouldn’t be able to summit today !

The snow continued, but we weren’t bothered…until we got down into the forest, onto the very steep trail down the gully - which was far worse going down…but we all managed it back to the safety of the fire road, and Snowcat track all the way down to Pinkham notch, in very thick snow - arriving back around 4 p.m.- a very creditable 8 ½ hour round trip - up and down the highest Mountain in North Eastern  USA, with the reputation of the worst weather on the Planet !

And back to the cabin for hot baths, blazing fires…and an early night (as well as packing for an early departure!)

Whizz,Whoosh….Crash !

After a leisurely start to the day, we went out to a nearby Snowmobile rental office in Bartlett http://www.ablsnowmobilerentals.com/directions.htm, and eventually settled on a 2 hour guided  tour, me on a single snowmobile, and Joe and Nicola on a double taking turns to drive and be passenger. We were led by a tour guide who was pretty keen to let us do whatever we wanted (within reason)..

After some initial instruction in the office, and a car park at the foot of Bear Notch Road…we were off, fairly gingerly at first - guide, Nicola,me…and within a short space of time we were whizzing along Bear Notch Road, quickly passing the point we had walked to a couple of days before.

Once the guide was satisfied we turned onto Forest trails,twisting and turning ,flying through the trees, getting up to around 35 mph ! After about 45 minutes it was time to change around, and Joseph and Nicola swopped, leaving me with a sore thumb (the control point) and to carry on alone…. Well, as you may guess, Joseph wasn’t slow learning how to use the machine, and we were quickly up to 50 mph, along the road, and then whizzing into the forest again, regularly getting up to 40mph + ! Hair raising… we continued until time for the next change, Nicola deciding she was having more fun on the back, so the guide said we would ’speed up’ ! he wasn’t joking…we were soon at 65mph along Bear Notch Road..flying through the hard rutted snow, but, they couldn’t lose me! Soon we were back onto the Forest roads again, twisting ,turning and accelerating…as I clung on for dear life !

Eventually we were back at where we started, and the end of a great 2hour tour - the guide said we were ’better than excellent’ and had done a trip which most people wouldn’t have done in 3 hours !…and we could go alone next time !! Snowmobile licences passed all round !!

Then it was back to the outdoor shops, for more stuff, Joe getting a new fleece, and Nicola a new pair of crampons…I also joined in getting… a kitchen sink (for Wally!),and some new Walking Poles, and hiring an axe for Joe…

We were to spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing, however as we returned to our cabin, and were turning left onto Rolling Bridge Road, we were smashed into by another driver…Whooops! She immediately got out, checked we were OK, and apologised, explaining that she had ‘momentarily looked down’ and when she looked up -there we were, and she couldn’t stop ! At least she was honest, and no one appeared injured, although we were all shaken. Her car was extensively damaged at the front, whereas our Jeep only had some dents in the rear boot lid and bumper… after exchanging details we drove back to the cabin, only to find that the accident ‘should’ have been reported to the Police, and so Joseph spent some time doing that, at risk of arrest and charge for leaving the scene of an accident ! But the officer who attended was very pleasant, took details and left us to enjoy a night out at the White Mountain  Cider House, In Bartlett http://whitemountaincider.com/… a really good, although apparently expensive meal, and having eaten early we were back to the cabin for an early night, before the epic to come…Mt Washington !

Which way is it Up ?

We had an early start and were all up at 0600, breakfasted, and out to Pinkham Notch visitor centre, for our intended climb up Boott Spur (1660 mts) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boott_Spur, which is immediately next to Mt Washington, and only 70 metres higher !

We followed the trail up past the visitor centre, and seemed to be making good progress in cold, crisp snow. As we travelled along we saw ski tracks, however, thinking we were on the right track just continued, ever upward, making good progress, considering the track at times became quite steep, and unrelenting.

By around 11 a.m. ,4 hours after starting, we were climbing a gully, along the tree/snow line up across some snow fields, as a skier came down the trail towards us, stopping, and then informing us we were on the ski trail (which we’d ruined) and were about a mile away from Boott Spur trail, which, because we’d come out of the trees by then, we could then see,on a ridge some distance away…Ooops !  We continued to climb upwards, but the snow became a lot looser, with hard ice underneath, and with only 2 axes between us, we decided to turn around, at 1420 metres ! We were after all on a trail called the gulf of slides !http://www.thesnowway.com/category/trip-reports/reports-by-area/new-hampshire/nh-mount-washington/gulf-of-slides (as we know knew)

We retraced our steps, getting some ‘pleasant’ words from skiers climbing behind us, on the spoiled trail - we all make mistakes -as I told them !

We returned to the car, closely checking the area where we ‘d obviously gone wrong, but couldn’t find any other trail, even though there was one there somewhere !

Ah well, early finish on a glorious day, with the resolve to return for Mt Washington on Friday !

After resting at the cabin we went out for some great steaks at the ‘Red Parka’ in Glen http://www.redparkapub.com/ - lovely and filling, and back for an early night !

In amongst the White Stuff

We had a reasonable start to the day after yesterdays long trip,looking out onto snow clad lakes and hills. The snow had stopped during the night, leaving deep snow everywhere.

    After breakfast we  firstly drove into North Conway,to Easter Mountain Sports (again) where we sorted out new boots for Nicola.

We then drove up to  to Pinkham Notch visitor centre http://www.outdoors.org/lodging/whitemountains/pinkham/pnvc-pnvc.cfm,  our intended start point for a couple of climbs, then it was  back to Glen, where we had a brief visit to Mt Washington weather observation centre,http://www.mountwashington.org/education/center/directions.php  where we found out quite a bit of the way in which  weather gets formed.

Then it was off up to Bear Notch Road,a completely snow covered road through the hills, parking just short of the closed snow gates. We then started a gentle walk/climb along the road, whilst several snowmobiles went whizzing past us…eventually we turned off the road, intending to follow the trail up to table mountain, where we should get a view onto the ski areas of Attatash 

The snow on the trail,-which was barely discernible was quite deep, and the higher we went the worse it got, eventually we lost the trail completely , and ended up in deeper snow, with no chance of getting up to the top.

So, we then headed back for an afternoon snack…and rest…preparing our kit for the following day.

Off to the Snow Clad Mountains..

Another very early start, this time to set off for Bartlett, in New Hampshire http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartlett,_New_Hampshire , for a few days climbing.

It was heavy rain in NYC, as we set off at 0715 in Joes hired ’Jeep ’through the busy rush hour traffic.

As we travelled further North, the rain eased,passing through Manchester (yes, another one !)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester,_New_Hampshire  and Springfield, home of ??http://www.chron.com/entertainment/photogallery/simpsonspremiere.html  then turned to heavy snow !, as we wound our way around the White Mountains http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Mountains_(New_Hampshire) the road was distinctly ‘tricky’, but eventually we found our great house on a lake in Bartlett, the snow engulfing everything !

After a quick shopping trip for provisions, and the first of our many trips this week to East Coast Mountain Sports in North Conway http://www.ems.com/shop/index.jsp?kw=storeDetail&f=161 .

Then it was back to the cabin, before more snow arrived…

Should we go out to sample the food all around ? – No we settled for Nicolas Spag Bol –great !

There was so much snow around, that the snow plough was still coming around outside the cabin at Midnight !

Running for Diana…!

I was up for 5-30 a.m.! (although awoke much earlier) Joseph and Nicola were to be in the NY ½ marathon http://www.nyrr.org/races/2011/nychalf/index.asp, which started at 7-30 a.m. on the other side of Central Pk.  After a quick breakfast we all set off about 6-15 a.m. and walked across Central Park, and to the start area…along with 15,000+ others !

I had been tasked with photographing them at various places around the course - start, across central park,Times square and finish !

- I achieved all but Joe in Times square ! and watched both of them at their various points, filming and photographing their great achievement !

Once they’d both finished in record times, we made our way back to the apt, for them to rest …Whilst I went to 1230 mass at Holy Trinity, sung by an impressive choir , and after an afternoon snooze…We all went out for the ‘main event’ Diana Ross http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_Ross at St George’s Theatre, Statten Island. http://www.stgeorgetheatre.com/

Firstly a great trip over to the island on the ferry, watching the lovely late evening sun and then to the quite picturesque theatre, where Diana Ross came on virtually on time at 7 p.m…. and what a mover for a 66 years old (almost 67 –on the 26^th !), the audience was packed tight, and she performed some of her old favourites, along with contemporary ones… all too briefly it was over ….but great memories remain, along with photos and film of it !

Then it was back on the ferry and to the lights of Manhattan and NYC.

Meeting the Cousins

Up bright and early for me and Joe to go out into Central Park, for a ‘recce’of the ½ marathon course (which was to take place the following day), and photo opportunities…then back to apt to watch  Manchester  United V Bolton (1-0) match on Sky, followed by Ireland v England Rugby, and watched England get hammered by the Irish !

Then it was changed and showered again, and a trip over to Long Island, to Bernadette and Jim’s  house, where I met Aunt Nora ,again, and loads of cousins, partners and children…too numerous to mention, but lovely to see so many that I’d never seen before, and have a eal and chat with them.

We left early ,having been given a NY Rangers cap and t shirt by Jim,with promises to see them in the UK, and home for an early night …the youngsters needed a rest !

Spring has Sprung in NYC ?

A gentle lie in today, not that one was needed really… and after lazing around for a while watching Joseph working (at home) and a lunch of soup and ½ sandwich from ‘Hail and Hearty’ nearby.. I set off for a walk in the balmy NYC temperatures, it almost felt like summer.

Initially I walked up the Hudson River (uptown!), watching the world go by, as I sat on various benches next to the River, I then moved inland, ending up in Central Park, where the world seemed to be ! As well as lots of people, there was even a Jazz trio, which was impressive to say the least, I watched for a while, eventually making my way back to the apt, passed the ‘Diana Ross Playground’…and time to fix the puncture n the loaned bike (new tube) and then get changed before going with Joe to Madison Square Garden again, where we met Jim and Bernadette, along with another son I’d not met Mike…and we all went in along with Nicola.

Me and Bernadette stayed in their own seats, which were just in front of the press box, amidst the crowds, lower than the box where Jim ,Joe, Nicola, Mike and others were… ……The NY Rangers were playing the ‘Montreal Canadiens’…what a great match, starting with a scrap just after the ‘face off’..and it continued like that all evening…once again the Rangers won    6-3  (Jim said I was the lucky mascot!), and we got dropped off by Jims driver..and I was presented with the ‘press pack’ by Sal an old attendant, who all the family seemed to know!

 

The end of another busy, and different day in NYC

A Famous St Patrick’s Day Parade

We were Up reasonably early,for a big day ahead – St Patrick’s Day, in NYC- wondering whether the expectations would be matched by the reality ?

With Joe, we went out to a local restaurant for their famous eggs Benedict (although I had Irish smoked salmon) to start the day off well. Then it was on the metro, down to Times Square, where every shade of green was apparent ..!

Having negotiated the crowds, and appeared on the ’big screen’ in ’Forever 21’ (Can you se us ?)in Times square we made our way around to near St Patricks Cathedral,where we got a great position very near the marchers as they approached the Cathedral, and passed for their ’review’…

We stayed there for around 1 ½ hours, until the contingent from the ’Mayo’ association passed through, and then we moved. We went through St Patricks Cathedral, just as mass was about to start, and so stayed to celebrate the feast day.

We then got the Metro to 86^th street, had a pint of the ‘black stuff’ in a convenient bar, collecting some Shamrock necklaces as we went, and then around to near the end of the Parade route, at 79^th and 5^th ..a great location, where all the bands and marchers made their final demos and exit….

Eventually we left the area by 4-30 p.m. (should have finished by 4 p.m.) and had a few more pints before heading back to the area of Joe’s apt….

And an early night !

And…was it worth it, did it live up to expectations – definitely, and I’ve never been in so many bars absolutely overflowing with people, and celebrating a great feast day.