Chrysler building and Tudor City

After Grand Central we walked to the Chrysler and Chanin buildings - two art deco skyscrapers and then down 42nd Street, past Pfizer headquarters to Tudor city, a 3000 apartment complex built in tudor style in 1928. We then caught a cab back to the Affinia.

Metropolitan Museum of Art

It continues to rain so we decided a visit to the Met was in order. So did many thousands of others!!

Caitlin and Nydia the blind flower girl of Pompeii

The lady in the white coat is trying to overhear a secret whispered between friends

NYC Monday 29 March

Bella and Ken stayed in while Debra and Caitlin hit Saks 5th Avenue! These views from our apartment show that only "hardened shoppers" would go out on a day like this!

New York Sunday 28 March

This morning we got up early.

Empire State Building

It was pretty chilly but the view was worth it

Washington Square

While Debra and Isabella hit Macy's for some retail therapy Ken and Caitlin took the subway to Soho and walked to Greenwich Village. On the way we passed through Washington Square after picking up s cupcake at the Magnolia Bakery and a coffee at Joe's.

New York

This morning we walked from our apartment at Affinia Manhattan to meet our friend Karen for brunch at Cookshop. Then we walked along the highline which is an old elevated railway which has been converted into a city walkway. Isabella took this photo of Karen,Debra Ken and Caitlin with the Hudson River and New Jersey in the background.

New York Friday 26 March

To get our bearing we took a NY See it All Tour which we would highly recommend

Family reunion

Today Debra Isabella and Ken drove from Charleston in South Carolina to Raleigh Durham Airport - about 4 hours - for a 2 hour flight to New York, Meanwhile Caitlin was flying from London. We arrived at 8pm and waited until midnight for Caitlin.

Middleton plantation

About 30 minutes drive from Charleston are a number of grand plantations. We visited Middelton and Magnolia

Middleton plantation gardens

The gardens at Middleton were extensive and very gracious. We had lunch at a lovely restaurant in the gardens and strolled around for a couple of hours.

Isabella and friend

There were lots of turtles in the lakes at Middleton

Early spring flowers at Middleton

Magnolia plantation

We also visited Magnolia - the garden was not as elegant as Middleton but had some interesting water features

Magnolia alligator

Including this alligator over Isabella's left shoulder!

Magnolia gardens

One of the many bridges across lakes in the gardens

Meeting Street Inn

We saw this beautiful old house during our carriage tour the day before and noticed a vacancy sign. We decided to stay an extra night in Charleston and booked in. We got back from our plantation tour just in time for afternoon tea on the verandah

Afternoon tea at Two Meeting Street Inn in Charleston

Bella took this photo of us relaxing and enjoying ourselves at this very grand old historic home where we stayed our last night.

Charleston carriage tour

Bella after our great carriage tour of Charleston through the historic district and French quarter

Charleston ghost tour

That night we went on a ghost tour which included a walk through a graveyard with the oldest tomb in Charleston - the brick tomb dates from the 1600's and the remains of several generations are entombed here.

Debra and Bella in the graveyard

It was SPOOKY but we survived

Savannah - Andrew Lowe House

This historic house was just across Lafayette Square from our apartment. It is famous as the site of the establishment of the girl guide movement.

Carriage Tour

 
At the Market Square in the middle of Savannah, horse drawn carriage tours of the old part of the city leave each 30 minutes. Isabella met the horses before we climbed up for the tour, which passed through most of the squares which each had a very interesting history.

The Gryphon Tea Rooms

 
Coffee and tea taken in this delightful cafe and the girls are ready to hit Savannah!

Layfayette Square

The square across from our apartment. The weather ws unseasonably hot for the 1st day of Spring...how lucky were we!

Disney World to beautiful Savannah

Hi All,

We have just arrived in beautiful Savannah. Our apartment is in an old house in the historic part of town. It is just what I was looking for and is lovely...sure beats staying in hotels! We are drectly across from Lafayette Square. Bella is loving looking out of the sash windows to watch the squirrels playing in the square and seeing the horse drawn carriages ambling past.
D x

Kennedy Space Centre

Isabella tries out a Mercury capsule like the one in which Alan Shepard became the first American in space in 1961. Three weeks later, with 15 minutes of space experience, President Kennedy announced that the US would land a man on the moon within the decade.

March 18 Cape Canaveral - Kennedy Space Centre

We were disappointed that our plan to see a space shuttle take off didn't come off due to a postponement of the launch but we took a tour anyway. Queues were again the order of the day.

Disney World

After the 4 hour drive from Miami we checked in at Disney All Star Music Resort and the next morning headed to Epcot. We discovered that all the school kids who weren't on the beach in Miami had decided to visit Disney World. Here we are queueing for "Mission to Mars" - only about 45 minutes. Our record was 150 minutes to get a ride on "Soarin". We agreed later that the wait was worth it!! Amazing technology created a realistic sense of flying through beautiful landscapes

March 17 Disney World

Later in the day Isabella met Belle from "Beauty and the Beast"

Miami Beach

Our only full day in Miami and we started with breakfast back on Ocean Avenue - we discovered that irrespective of your order it is important to say "no fries with that!"

Miami Beach

Before we left for Disney World we checked out the beach. We had learned that it was "spring break" and lots of students were at the beach.

Miami USA

After flying from Quito - about 4 hours - we checked into the Claridge Hotel at 3600 Collins Avenue Miami Beach and the did some stepping out on Ocean Boulevarde. After 3 weeks in exotic South America - Argentina, Uruguay, Peru and Ecuador - this was a bit overpowering!!

Back in Quito

We had arrived early at the Airport in the Galapagos and were able to get on an earlier flight back to Quito. This gave us enough time to catch a cab to the "middle of the Earth". Here is Isabella with one half in the northern hemisphere and one half in the southern!

Last day in the Galapagos

After a night in a hotel in Puerto Ayora we took a taxi for the 1 hour trip to the airport. As we passed through the highlands we stopped at this extinct volcanic crater

March 12 Puerto Ayora

We were up early to visit the Darwin Research Centre - we saw these lava gulls on the way, There are only an estimated 800 making it the rarest gull and one of the rarest birds in the world.

March 12 Darwin Research Centre

These are around two years old. The centre has a focus on the Galapagos Giant Tortoise.

March 12

The Darwin Centre researches other species such as the Galapagos Land Iguana

March 12

"Up close and personal"