Our first glimpse of the Manhattan skyline was from the plane as we landed at Newark airport. The most memorable part of the journey was the two and a quarter hours we waited in line for passport control! After that we took a bus and the subway and arrived at our apartment just minutes before Joanna who had made her way from La Guardia – a journey of 26 hours from Sydney … all so exciting!
We are staying at the San Fermin Apartments in Harlem, just north of Central Park and we were welcomed by Bernardo who showed us up 3 floors to our lovely two bedroom apartment complete with a kitchenette for breakfast.
Later we headed to the nearest place to eat, a tapas bar called Peque where it was warm enough to sit outside as we caught up over sangria and beer and a selection of little nibbles which hit the spot perfectly then picked up a few groceries on the way back before an early night.
There is always a history spot, so here is a little bedtime reading if you are interested.
Giovanni da Verrazano was the first European to discover New York Harbor in 1524, but it wasn’t until Henry Hudson, sailed up the Hudson River in 1609 exploring on behalf of the Dutch East India Company, that the The Dutch started the first permanent trading post in 1624. They bought the island of Manhattan from the Native Americans for goods worth 60 guilders, often said to be worth US$24 and the name Manhattan comes from Manna Hata meaning Island of the Hills. The Dutch built a town called New Amsterdam which flourished and in 1664 the English renamed it New York after the Duke of York.
Around a century of British rule was brought to an end by the War of Independence and the inauguration of George Washington as America’s first president took place in 1789. Business and trade increased in New York and immigrants followed, first Irish and German, then Italian, Chinese and East European. The city sided with the Union of the north against the Confederates of the south in the Civil War which ended in 1865 and afterwards, New York became the wealthiest and most influential city in the country, expanding to include Brooklyn, Staten Island, Queens and The Bronx as well as Manhattan.
The turn of the century saw expansion, the population reached 3 million and the first cast iron buildings heralded in a skyline of skyscrapers and the Jazz Age. Many changes followed with The Wall Street Crash, the Great Depression, WWII and postwar years of social and economic challenges followed by reduction in crime and urban regeneration. In 2001 the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center killed almost 3000 people, but in the wake of the disaster, the city remained a major financial and cultural capital with over 40 million tourists visiting the city each year.
We stopped in Salt Lake City and headed to Temple Square, the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints or Mormons for a quick look. At the centre is the huge Salt Lake Temple begun in 1853 and built over 40 years by pioneers, which we found out more about in the visitor centre as we weren’t allowed in. There were also assembly buildings, a huge office block, a centre for family genealogy and a tabernacle where we heard an organ recital.
Originally, our plan was to return to Salt Lake City have a look round, and celebrate our wedding anniversary with a boat trip on the Great Salt Lake. Our wedding reception was held on a boat on the Thames and we have celebrated on the water ever since … no craft too small! We then found out that water levels in the lake have been very low, especially at the end of the season so decided to come to Provo and booked a sunset cruise on a sailboat on Utah Lake instead. Just before we came away, we found out that Utah Lake was closed due to an algal bloom causing health risks … Hopefully all is not lost … read on …
Heading north, we passed a sign that said Mystic River Zipline – 10 miles. After a while, I asked Chris what he thought about having a go, and he said it was 7 miles further! We stopped and were rigged out with harnesses and taken up the trail to the first tower with a 800ft line … it was great, really whizzy, and you twist round and see all the lovely autumn colour on the trees covering the hillside! The second tower had a pair of lines so we could race … although I think it was a dead heat … great fun!
We drove a couple of hours to Springdale, pretty much three years and a week after our last visit, when we found out our planned Utah Trail was not going to go to plan! However it’s a great opportunity to return to Under the Eaves B&B and enjoy the warm Southwestern hospitality of our hosts Mark and Joe.
Moving on, we drove a couple of hours north to Page. On our first trip, we had planned to visit the Grand Canyon and Page but when we rescheduled, we missed these places off with the canyon being closed and went further south to Phoenix and Sedona.
Leaving Cortez, we deliberately picked Highway 163 so we could drive through the stunning Monument Valley once more.
Our drive also took us from Ute tribal lands, passed Hopi lands and across the Navejo Nation and into our sixth and final state – Arizona. We stopped for coffee at the Blue Coffee Pot and were surprised to be told ‘we were alright’ when we came to pay. Confused, we hovered, and a girl came over and said the coffee was on the house. Feeling surprised but a little uncomfortable we left money in the tip pot!
The focus of the next few days is to find out about the Ancestral Pueblo people who started hunting and gathering in the south west 10,000 years ago, and later began to farm the area. Most of the surviving buildings in the area were built in the C13, and then everyone left.
We crossed a wide plain and reached Moab in the afternoon, one of the destinations from our original trail. We are returning to the Inca Inn, where we stayed last visit as it was one of the nicest motels we stayed in and found our room enhanced by a disco shower!
Off Travelling Together 