Another day in the Big Apple

New York is only 45 minutes away (when we're in Greenwich) so here's a few pics from another day Dave and I spent in the big City.

Denna gång gick vi av tåget vid Harlem-stationen och började vandra "neråt". Oops! A bit tired there. That's when I change to Swedish. We got off the train at the Harlem station this time, and started walking towards downtown.

The big water reservoir in Central Park. This is where every New Yorker's drinking water comes from.

It was hot (!) even this day in NYC.

The famous Guggenheim Museum next to Central Park.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Lunch in Little Italy (yes, we had pizza and Insalata Caprese, very italian).

In Greenwich Village we found a couple of cool shops, places and ...

... that secret garden where Miranda and Steve got married (in Sex and the city for you who didn't know).

Alex thought this was more than a little cool and made Dave pretend he stepped in gum (just like Steve did).

In the afternoon, it cooled down a little bit (phew) and we enjoyed the breeze up on the fantastic High Line.

The High Line is an old, elevated railroad track that runs from the Meatpacking district to 34th Street on Manhattan's West side. It was opened in 2009, added on to in june 2011 and is an outstanding example on how you can transform something old and no longer in use into a lush refuge that's accessible for eveyone. The landscapers have done a fantastic job, which tourists and New Yorkers can appreciate every day, either by just using it to get from one block to another, by bringing a book and lie on the sunbeds or maybe go for a run.

These girls run in those bouncy rollerblades without wheels...

View from the High Line.

Before we took the train back to Connecticut, we stopped at the Pony for a cold beer.

Bye, bye Chrysler Building.

Will we go to New York once more before we leave the States? Hm, I don't know. It's hard having to choose between NYC and a day at the beach in Old Greenwich... We'll just have to wait and see. :-)

/Alex

Awesome Atlanta

I liked Atlanta straight away. Just driving through the city seeing the different neighbourhoods mixing with the highrises downtown gave a good vibe. When Ailis and Tim (Dave's cousin and her fiancé) took us to Six Feet Under - a hip restaurant overlooking a graveyard, I liked it even more. As the sun was setting over Atlanta we enjoyed a great dinner on the rooftop terrass, which was steaming with good food, people & cool ambiance.

Alex, Dave, Lee, Tim & Ailis

Ailis & Auntie Bridie with the graveyard in the background

Lovely man in a lovely sunset in midtown Atlanta

When we came back to Atlanta a couple of days after that night at the restaurant, we stayed in Ailis & Tim's house (with their absolute adorable Westie called Charlie). We found out then that Atlanta had even more aces up its sleeve. Midtown, where we stayed, is a green and lush area with small houses and cottages surrounded by lots of trees. Apparently you' re not allowed to take down a tree in Atlanta if it's not dead or sick. So almost every house has a huge tree in their garden with branches that stretch over the roof and provide the "yard" and back terrass with nice shade. Ailis and Tim had just bought their house little over a month ago and it was a very cute little wooden cottage, built in the 1920's.

Dave on the front porch.

Tim & Ailis' house and Lee's pickup.

It's hard to believe this is in the middle of Atlanta

One night we had Bridie & Lee over for a cheese & wine tasting

 Atlanta, the city that raised Usher, Julia Roberts, Outkast and of course Margaret Mitchell (who wrote Gone with the wind) has a lot to offer. There's a mountain nearby where one could go hiking or biking, the biggest park with its public swimming pool and botanical gardens is just 5 mins away from the house, there are several local breweries that offers guided tours and tastings, or one could visit the main tourist attractions such as the World of Coca-Cola (Coke's headquarters are here in Atlanta) and Georgia Aquarium. We chose the latter.

Piedmont Park near Tim & Ailis' house

The botanical gardens

Alex in front of Margaret Mitchell's old house

The aquarium is the world's biggest and has amazing species like whalesharks, tigersharks, stingrays, all sorts of frogs and a lot of other big fish that I don't know the name of. Dave and I had a good time there and I couldn't resist in buying a fluffy, little dolphin dressed in a pink hoodie (he later got the name Fin).

Ailis & Tim are getting married next year (just like we are, yeahj!) in the botanical gardens of Atlanta. Maybe and hopefully, we'll get the chance to come back to this cool (but hot) city then...

Having lunch one Saturday in another nice neighbourhood of Atlanta called Virginia Highlands

Thank you Atlanta, hope to see you again!
/Alex

Savannah, baby!

The son in our house in Connecticut, Gil, has a friend called Paula. She works at Arcadia Café where Gil (and Alex these days) buys his iced coffee. When Paula heard that Dave and I were going to Georgia, she said straight away: "You have to go to Savannah!". So we did.

Ailis' car had an appropriate plate...

Dave's cousin Ailis had been sweet enough to lend us her car so one Monday we drove the 20-something miles to discover Savannah ourselves. On the way, we just had to stop in Dublin. Dublin, Georgia that is.

"It's not what you..." expect? want? need?

We stayed at a B&B we had found and booked online before we left. The house was very impressive and a typical southern, georgian mansion type of place. It was run by "Lady Colleen", a 75 year old and very neat woman who wanted to share all her life stories with us. Luckily, we only got to hear four or five before we had to leave the house to hit town.

The white manor is Lady Colleen's home :-)

Savannah was simply beautiful. Our B&B was facing Forsyth Park, the city's main green with a massive fountain and a lot of fun activities. The old houses in historical town were to die for (if you're into houses and architecture) and the spanish moss that hung from every tree gave it all a mystical & whimsical feel. Every neighbourhood had its own small pub and restaurants, but there was also "nice" stores like Marc Jacobs etc. The steamboats down by the quays were also as if taken from a typical southern-set film.

Spanish moss - I love it!

Dave walking alond Forsyth Park. Somewhere near is the place where Forrest Gump sits on a bench and talks about a box of chocolates.

Check out the number/letters on this door!

Dave and I had dinner and a couple of beers in the City Market, a place with cobbled streets, market stands and loads of restaurants and bars. A man was playing country music in the street and we had a great night.

City Market in Savannah.

The day after, the other couple staying in the B&B had taken over the task of listening to Lady Colleen's stories. She had joined them at the breakfast table so when we arrived she only had 6 stories left to share. They were very amusing though, so it wasn't all that bad. The couple was nice and friendly, came from Tennessee and advised us to drive to Tybee Island. "You're gonna love it there." So we did. But before we left, we had another walk down to the quays of Savannah.

The old cotton exchange (By the way, Alex had the song "Cottonfields" on her mind the entire trip...)

Gothenburg? No, Savannah.

And we loved it! The scenery was fantastic driving across the bridges to Tybee Island. Marshland following small creeks, boats in mudbeds and funny seafood shacks. Tybee Island Beach was a long streched, lovely beach with piers, lifeguard towers and perfect waves. And I have never in my life felt a warmer water! (Except for in the shower.) It must have been 26-28 degrees in the water, if not more. We had a lovely, relaxed time on the beach before we drove back to Griffin.

Oh, and we decided to get married in Savannah instead of waiting for next year and Ireland.

No, we didn't. Just kidding. :-)
/Alex