Linden Motor Inn Brooklyn

... will forget the view of the night sky we glimpsed after turning off our villa’s lights at the Banyan Tree. Lying in the pool, crashing waves in the distance, and looking up, we could clearly see what must of have been tens of thousands of stars and even the faint whitish band of the Milky Way galaxy cutting across the sky.

As far as human ingenuity, we saw plenty. The 30 miles of walls surrounding the city of Xi’an would have felt more impressive ...

... and one on the Canadian. To top it off we had to leave the same time as the weekend firework show were on, talk about bad timing! Back from Niagara at six o clock in the morning, after a generous total of four hours kip; beginning the cycle of 'find internet, search for accommodation, fail, keep trying, fail, get fed up, go eat, start again' - not exactly appealing at that hour!  However, we were not keen on getting an uber-expensive hotel, so we tried a different ...

... after three'), but also a menu! After this we walked around the park for a little bit. We went down to The Pond (this city is not very imaginative; there are street's 1, 2, 3 etc... avenues 1, 2, 3 etc... there is a park in the middle called 'Central Park' which had a reservoir called 'The Reservoir', a lake called 'The Lake', a pond called 'The Pond', a big lawn called 'The Great Lawn'.... You can see where I am going with this, did I mention the really long island called.....). There ...

... Ok... That's not her real name, but she allows me to call her that. She is an absolute doll- really adorable and super sweet! I took them to Tom's Dinner in Prospect Heights (its been around since the 1930s) for brunch, there is always a line and the food was delicious! I really enjoyed their business practices as well. They made sure to perpetually feed the waiting patrons with cookies, oranges, sausages, and coffee so they wouldn't get tempted to leave- genius ...

... we went to drop a few coins into the bucket we found that the bucket was nearly filled to the brim with dollar bills. We spent some time exploring the many different areas of the park, took a few photos at the water fountain that was made famous by the TV show Friends, we watched some baseball being played on one of the many green spaces the park has to offer and lazed in the sun a bit before taking a walk back into central Manhattan on route witnessing some break ...

... me on that trip and just had a daughter!!! Congratulations Dan and Laurie, as well as Gavin and Lucas the proud big brothers. Looking forward to a weekend of catching up with friends and of course the Superbowl, where my beloved boys in blue take on the hated Patriots (though I am happy for my Mom as she can watch Tom Brady unabashed as my Dad thinks she is rooting for the Giants..but after 40 something years together, I think he knows she is really in it for the butt ...

... adjust again. Still it will be great to see everyone. Vicky has a few short weeks to recuperate before getting back into the work pattern. I on the other hand must start looking for a job so that we can pay for this 6 months of travel. The last few days have felt strange, we are ready to go home but seeing friends and relatives plus staying in New York for several days has kept the holiday spirit high. We've both got mixed feelings about coming home. I ...

... I have a ridiculous obsession with Boy Meets World. Can any show ever be any better? I think not. But enough about me, on with the rest of the cast... Debbie and Ray, AKA my parents. Now I have to tell you, I never went through that "my parents suck and I'm way too cool to hang out with my family" phase. Neither did my brother. I guess my mom and dad must have done something right! I love hanging out with my family and they mean ...

... a horse drawn carriage ride thru Central Park at night. The most romantic and beautiful experience. It felt like we owned the city (I guess we did, since he gave me the key when we arrived). Imagine a city of over 8,000,000 people but all I could hear was the clopping of horse hooves as we strolled thru the park. I was spoiled like a princess and for no reason at all. When we left our horse and driver we walked thru the city to Rockefeller Center. There were guys ...

... knew we had to go up to see them!  We watched the band rehearse and they actually sounded really good.  Afterward we got right in to meet them, and while I'm not a big fan of their music, they were one of the nicest bands we've met yet.  They were very personable and down to earth, although a lot shorter than I had expected, haha!