So here you have it. A carefully selected sample of holiday snaps (making sure to remove all incriminating evidence! lol).
We started in Chicago for the work conference. Not too bad having a full week's travel, accommodation, food and drinks covered. We stayed in the very beautiful Palmer Hilton (pictured).
Chicago was a very impressive city. Amazing architecture with the stark contrast of modern skyscrapers against gothic cathedrals and buildings.
Speaking of food, there was plenty to be had in the USA. We had a couple of great burgers and fries meals in nice cafes, but overall I would have to say the takaway meals are crap. Having said that, there are some beautiful fine dining restaurants where the food was great!! We also had the recommended famous Chicago pizza which was delicious! My colleagues insisted that I order cocktails with every dinner, which means I had a cocktail every night for the first week. In Australia I would be lucky to have a drink once a month! No wonder I felt a bit hazy.... lol
Times Square was just two streets away from our hotel (the Warwick, in which Cary Grant apparently used to live and the Beatles and Elvis used to stay). Times Square was where it ALL happpened. Lights, lights, and MORE lights! Crazy busy all the time, but quite an interesting cultural experience. 
The Empire State Building was a bit of a fizzler. A nice building, and view OK, but we waited in line two hours from 10pm until Midnight to get to the top and then just went.... "Ok, this is a nice view, do you want to go down now?" lol
Central Park (pictured above) was an oasis amidst a concrete jungle. We took a horse and carraige ride through the park which was soooo lovely on a perfect day. Would love to have spent more time there to explore the many facets as what we did see looked amazing!
We also would consider visiting ground zero another highlight of our trip. This is the view of the demolition site from the tour bus. We then got off and went to the museum where we saw photos of the missing people and personal items from the site. Was quite emotional and a bit surreal.
We then flew another 6 hours from New York to Los Angeles. Only spent two nights there so was a bit of a rush, but we managed to hire a car with my colleagues flight attendant brotherinlaw and his friend and drove around LA. We were intending to see the stars on the footpath when we noticed all the papparatzi around for a movie premier for VICE, so we hovered and watched hollywood do its stuff.
We then drove to Universal Studios, and NO, this isnt a picture of the plane we flew with after it crashed, it is from a movie scene... now if I could only remember which one?... lol The other photo speaks for itself! lol
Overall was a great trip, and of course this is only a summary. We were blessed to have our friend be the flight attendant on both flights to and from Australia so were spoilt all the way with extra gifts and seats with extra leg room. Probably wont travel to America again as this was my third trip, but it was a great experience. Surprisingly my friend and I didn't drive each other insane, but having lived out of a suitcase for two weeks, by the end of week two, I knew it was time to come home.
We started in Chicago for the work conference. Not too bad having a full week's travel, accommodation, food and drinks covered. We stayed in the very beautiful Palmer Hilton (pictured).
Chicago was a very impressive city. Amazing architecture with the stark contrast of modern skyscrapers against gothic cathedrals and buildings.
Speaking of food, there was plenty to be had in the USA. We had a couple of great burgers and fries meals in nice cafes, but overall I would have to say the takaway meals are crap. Having said that, there are some beautiful fine dining restaurants where the food was great!! We also had the recommended famous Chicago pizza which was delicious! My colleagues insisted that I order cocktails with every dinner, which means I had a cocktail every night for the first week. In Australia I would be lucky to have a drink once a month! No wonder I felt a bit hazy.... lol
Times Square was just two streets away from our hotel (the Warwick, in which Cary Grant apparently used to live and the Beatles and Elvis used to stay). Times Square was where it ALL happpened. Lights, lights, and MORE lights! Crazy busy all the time, but quite an interesting cultural experience. The Empire State Building was a bit of a fizzler. A nice building, and view OK, but we waited in line two hours from 10pm until Midnight to get to the top and then just went.... "Ok, this is a nice view, do you want to go down now?" lol Central Park (pictured above) was an oasis amidst a concrete jungle. We took a horse and carraige ride through the park which was soooo lovely on a perfect day. Would love to have spent more time there to explore the many facets as what we did see looked amazing!We also would consider visiting ground zero another highlight of our trip. This is the view of the demolition site from the tour bus. We then got off and went to the museum where we saw photos of the missing people and personal items from the site. Was quite emotional and a bit surreal.
In stark contrast, I have to say there were some things in the USA which made me just shake my head. Where else but America might you see a fashion parade dedicated to Barbie and a life size Batman made out of lego selling for $27,000! lol
We then flew another 6 hours from New York to Los Angeles. Only spent two nights there so was a bit of a rush, but we managed to hire a car with my colleagues flight attendant brotherinlaw and his friend and drove around LA. We were intending to see the stars on the footpath when we noticed all the papparatzi around for a movie premier for VICE, so we hovered and watched hollywood do its stuff. We then drove to Universal Studios, and NO, this isnt a picture of the plane we flew with after it crashed, it is from a movie scene... now if I could only remember which one?... lol The other photo speaks for itself! lol
Overall was a great trip, and of course this is only a summary. We were blessed to have our friend be the flight attendant on both flights to and from Australia so were spoilt all the way with extra gifts and seats with extra leg room. Probably wont travel to America again as this was my third trip, but it was a great experience. Surprisingly my friend and I didn't drive each other insane, but having lived out of a suitcase for two weeks, by the end of week two, I knew it was time to come home. Ciao from the weary traveller....
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