The last day in New York

How much cream cheese can you fit in a bagel?

This was the question someone must have asked one day in New York City because the guys who made our breakfast knew exactly how much cream cheese they could put in a bagel, one drop shy of too much. It wasn't until after we ordered that the system of the bageler (bagelry?) became clear. We had missed the rows and rows of flavoured cream cheese. It was a rainbow of cream cheese. In the end I was glad to have plain cream cheese, I don't know how I would have chosen.

There wasn't time to choose. We had a boat to catch.

The view from the Hudson

The Circle Line gives tours of Manhattan from the water and at one stage provided assistance to a passenger jet which had made an emergency landing. The full tour is three hours and takes people the whole way around the island. We did the short tour - out to the Statue of Liberty and back.

It was about as cold as it looks

This was not something I would have listed on my 'must do' sights before I left but having done it I can only recommend it. The guide pointed out significant sights in a sonorous voice though didn't mention anything on the New Jersey side of the river.

Downtown from the water

The tour boat docks at 42nd street and we took a bus to 7th Avenue. Ali hadn't seen Central Park and we needed photos of that.

We got 'em

A full afternoon of shopping and we headed out for Greenwich Village where he had heard about a nice little bar with top notch food.

Mac and cheese with chili mixed through

And that was our last night in New York. We talked about it as we walked through the village and decided that everywhere we had been in the States we had a good time, but New York was the only place we were sad to be leaving. Not too sad; we'll just have to go back.

High sights and high lines

New York stayed cold and we found ways to stay indoors with a day at MoMA and a night at Matilda. The music was very Tim Minchin, with clever, broken lyrics and memorable tunes. The twist ending took us a little by surprise but on the whole it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

The next morning we breakfasted at the Doughnut Pub (exactly as good as it sounds) and booked our tickets for the Circle Line (more on that in a later post).

A bit of ice on the Hudson

It was cold but not as bad as the last couple of days so we headed up the Empire State Building.

The wind had died down and we got outside to take a few photos.

Looking up 5th

Chrysler building

Flatiron

All the way downtown

Afterward we headed to the Meatpacking District to source some food. We wound up at the Chelsea Market.

That's the High Line, more on that later.

Lunch was a plate of meat and cheese and some brilliant but very strong dark beer. We followed that up with a wander through the markets and some sweet treats.

This was the 'small' platter

Along Manhattan's west side is the High Line, an old elevated train line which has been turned into miles of parklands. We walked the High Line from the Meatpacking District all the way back to the Fashion District and our hotel.

Ali on the line

It gave some different views of the city and let us walk back uninterrupted which was quite a rarity in New York.

School bus!

We had to keep one eye on the time as we walked. We had a plan to meet Reuben for dinner and all three of us had tickets for the Knicks that night.

Walking New York as the sun sets.

We had dinner at the hotel and walked up to Madison Square Garden.

The game was supposed to be an easy win for the Miami Heat. The atmosphere was almost the opposite of the football game we attended, starting low and building as the lead seesawed through the first two quarters.

In the third quarter the Knicks pulled ahead and the crowd began to believe that they could pull off the win. When the buzzer went the Garden erupted.

Knicks win!

In both of the sporting events we attended on this trip the home team won, leading us to believe we are extremely good luck.

The rains of the Gulf Coast

We had some pretty good plans for our time in Louisiana. Our next stop was in Baton Rouge, a short drive from Lafayette, and there was an opportunity to see some of the surrounding sights. We started with a famed local cafe which was closed when we arrived.

With the rain coming down we chose a nearby burger shop and had some chili fries and got back on the road.

Pictured; wet things

We figured that if the rain didn't get any worse we would make a detour along the River Road and see some of the old plantation houses before looping back up to Baton Rouge for the night.

Pictured; very wet things

The driving was pretty intense. At no stage did the rain let up and we learned that Louisiana drivers will maintain their speed regardless of the conditions. The River Road was, we figured, a better bet. It would be off the highway and less hectic.

This was not correct. Across the Mississippi and away to the south, the roads were covered with water. Every corner had us planing through puddles. After just moments we turned around and made for Baton Rouge.

The bridge we used to cross the Mississippi

The town itself was charming. Our hotel had fresh cookies in the lobby and a restaurant around the corner had Creole-style tapas dinner. The Jambalaya balls were a bit of a highlight.

It rained all night.

Keep Austin weird.

On the off-chance that the weather cleared up we went to get some photos of Austin. Our car would be ready for pick-up at midday, so we used the morning to head north and catch some of the tourist must-sees.

Just a few blocks from where we were staying was the Texas capitol building. And, as it happened, a bit of blue sky.

Pretty.

Over the hill - actually a quick deviation, despite everything being bigger in Texas, the hills are not. They are wide, but not tall or steep. Anyway.

Over the hill was the University of Texas. We had a stroll to/through the campus. It is dominated by the stadium, home of the Texas Longhorns.

Team colour - baby-pooh brown.

Another $1 each and we were heading out to the airport to get our car. It came with a GPS unit and we plugged in a street in South Congress and she decided to take us into the back streets of Austin down a series of dirt roads in the opposite direction to where we wanted to be.

A few more false starts and we were on our way to SoCo where we wanted to find lunch. The first thing which took our fancy was Guero's Taco Bar and, five minutes later, they had a table for us and, ten minutes after that, some tamales and some tacos.

We had a pretty good time.

We did not feel like we had eaten a lot of food but it hit the stomach like a rock. With this weight of Mexican food lying inside we had to go for a walk along South Congress. A day before, the gentleman at the tourist center had told us that SoCo was the what people referred to when they said 'keep Austin weird.' It was an entertaining walk.

I have a lot more photos of signs.

Before we set out we made an agreement; if we walked the whole of South Congress, we got a cupcake from the trailer we passed on our way down.

You would stop too.

We got six. They sold a sampler pack with a miniature version of every type of cupcake. 'Great for indecisive people,' the cupcake guy told us.

With our tiny cupcakes in hand we dropped our car back at the hotel for the night.

We would soon learn that in Texas, this was a very small car.

There was still plenty of time left in the afternoon. We went running along the Colorado (in the opposite direction to the previous day) in the hope there would be some nice photo opportunities. It stayed overcast but otherwise it was perfect weather for running. And there were a lot of bridges to cross (and take photos from).

Even in the middle of the day the water was so still.

The path along the river was great for running - flat and straight, wide enough to let people pass so everyone could go at their own pace. We crossed to run on both sides.

Back toward downtown.

The run served another purpose; we wanted to have dinner on sixth before we left. Running had added an edge to our appetite and we set off for the hotel to get ready.

'Twinkle twinkle lonestar.' Ah, corporate art.

The "Gotham Building," as Ali called it, had been a feature of our trip and we needed a photo before we went.

Every city has one.

Dinner was at the Chupacabra Cantina where we had great jalapeño poppers (stuffed with pulled pork!) and the best beer I have had this trip.

Yeah they were fried.

Outside we took our last walk through down-town in Austin. A cool town, easy to chill out, a great way to relax for a few days. We packed before we went to bed so we could get away early and take our time driving to Louisiana.

Lights along the street

Everything's bigger.

The flight from San Francisco to Austin was scenic; we saw California drop away and raise up to Nevada, flow into the salt flats and standing stones of Utah. We were sitting on the wrong side of the plane to see the Grand Canyon, but did watch the Arizona mountains roll away to the north. The terrain flattened and smoothed until we could see clear to the horizon with nothing but the patchwork of fields on the landscape.

The landing in Texas was another difference. In San Francisco, the plane passed the bay bridge and the airport, turned a hard 180 and dropped like a stone to touch down.

The way into Austin was long and slow as the terrain, and it seemed we were inches from the ground a long time before rubber touched tarmac.

With a few airport transfers under our belt, we can rate Austin as one of the best. The bus from the airport to downtown cost us $1 each and dropped us a block from the hotel. It also exposed us to the people of Austin who were loud, energetic, and friendly.

Around the corner from the hotel was a well recommended spot for dinner called Moonshine. It was cold out so we declined the offer to sit on the patio.

Our server, Jess, let us know we had arrived just at the end of happy hour, which meant cheap drinks but best of all, half-price appetisers. Ali picked the warmed brie, which was the only item which wasn't deep-fried.

We thought.

What did we do to deserve this?

That was, we decided, a sign. The mains were offered as 'platters,' and we thought that seemed like enough for two people.

Jess concurred.

So our first night in Texas we got a steak. With red wine sauce and blue-cheese butter. And sides. Everything was good.

Ali realises every meal can come with mac and cheese.

Christmas eve brought a new issue; we had almost run out of socks. The hotel's laundry was out of order and there were no laundromats within walking distance. We spent the morning looking for a shopping complex in downtown Austin and there simply was not one.

Defeated, we took to sixth street to find some lunch and heard some cool music coming from the Jackalope. They had good beers and a deal on pizzas. We got a pizza to share.

Thank goodness we only got one.

Yup. That happened.

So formed our plan for a quiet Christmas Eve in Austin. We built a dinner of leftover pizza, salad, and bottled beer and hung out in our hotel room.

We also formed our plan for Christmas dinner when we discovered the Alamo. Dinner and a movie (at the same time) seemed to be a great option for our holiday away from home. There was only one movie showing, so we got tickets to The Hobbit sequel.

On Christmas we took the opportunity to go walking along the Colorado river.

It's winter so the trees are bare.

The overcast weather made for a comfortable wander. Whole families passed us, walking off their lunch to make room for their dinner.

Some dude and the Colorado River

The experience of dinner at the Alamo was fantastic. The movie didn't do much for us, but we loved being able to go in for a couple of drinks (all their drafts were local beers - there's a lot of great beer in Texas) and food while a movie was on. The more laid-back environment and the zero-tolerance attitude toward talking/texting suited as well.  Five stars. Would do again.

More things taken by Germans

In Berlin I visited the Pergamon Museum. The primary attraction of the museum are a pile of statues taken from the Temple of Zeus (and the stairs, pillars and altar) from Pergamon in Asia Minor. I never gave much consideration as to whether I would see the place from whence they came.

The view from Pergamon

The same day we went to Troy we took the long, winding road up to Pergamon, high above the countryside. Pergamon was built as a center of religion and culture, rather than commerce. It's position made it difficult to get to, but it had rich patrons and attracted the elite of Asia Minor.

The view of no river

Like the other ancient cities we visited, Pergamon suffered a number of earthquakes. These, combined with the silting of the Caicus and the growth of Ephesus, led to its demise.

Pergamon was the first place I have seen a proper Acropolis. Though the altar was taken by the Germans, the layout of the Acropolis is still clear today. I was interested in the way the marble structures were built; the foundations of the building were of heavy stone, with a marble facade, and not of solid marble slabs.

Once I saw this, it seemed obvious. Who would build foundations out of marble?

Acropolis: Note the change in colour of the stones

But the decorative sections, the pillars and carvings, were all done in marble.

It took us, in our bus, a long time to wind back and forth across the mountain to reach the city; I can only imagine what a hassle it would have been in ancient times. Nevertheless, the view from the top was stunning. If the day had been less hazy, we might have seen to the sea.

Pillars and the marble facade

It was an eight hour day, with a lot of time spent in the sun and the heat, and we were all exhausted when we reached Kuşadası. The most impressive ancient city, Ephesus, had to wait for the morning.

Some things I saw while running in Trondheim

The river Nidelva

The Nidaros Cathedral across the river

I followed the river, as there are paths most of the way along both sides

Munkholmen; where I'm going now

A change of scenery

"This will be my first night train," I said to Bjorn, who was sharing my cabin.
"That's strange," he said. "Why?"
"We don't have them in Australia."
"Oh, I see. I've been making this trip now maybe thirty, maybe forty times. It has become very boring. Where are you going?"
"Trondheim."
He whistled. "Long trip. Been to Norway before?"
"No,"
"You will like it, I think."

Sweden from the train window. Very pretty.

We reached his stop a little after five in the morning. I spent the rest of the trip to Storlien snoozing and taking photos from the window of the train. The landscape did not change much as we travelled; nice houses on the edge of lakes and rivers, all very flat.

Lots of trees, also

Storlien itself was deserted; a ski town closed for the summer. The train to Trondheim took us to the border. The change was stunning.

Norway: not so flat

My supervisor had told me that the trip down the fjord into Trondheim was one of the best train journeys he had ever taken. It was easy to see why. The train followed a fast-flowing stream all the way down to the fjord. Mountains rose and fell away on either side. Small communities were built into the pockets of flat land against the slopes, between the water and the stone.

I hadn't slept well on the train and crashed a little when I reached the city. But the sun stayed up a long time, so there was still opportunity to explore.

This photo was taken just after 9pm

I found a lovely spot for dinner and tried a local specialty; fish soup.

It tasted exactly as good as it looks.

High tide at Mowbray Park

This is where I used to catch ferries.

 The tide's up, time to see how bad the damage is.  No word yet on whether this will be the highest things get today, but tomorrow's meant to be worse again.

A crowd has gathered at Mowbray Park to watch the pontoons race down the river.  There were a few barbecues going.  A lot of cameras. I hope a lot of reflection on how lucky we are.

The water has pushed giant slabs of concrete to the banks, the driftwood of giants, smashed the ferry terminals and drowned the jetties.  Today is the first day I have thought of the Brisbane River as 'dangerous.'

The ACGS boathouse.

Work has just texted to say nobody's going in until at least Monday.  Water's supposed to start going down on Saturday.

Please stay safe, but if you can get a look at this you should.