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...I'm leaving today. I want to be a part of it New York New York!!

I leave for New York today and I am very excited. Boston has been fabulous. I went to the JFK Museum yesterday and have decided to vote for him at the next election. They were screening some of his speeches and they were brilliant!! This was a definite highlight of the trip followed by visiting Harvard (which I have decided to attend for a semester...is that hard to do?) and dinner at the Cheers restaurant which was a burger and Sam Adams beer followed by pecan pie. Anyway, I should go because I have a limited time frame to sing New York New York before I actually leave on the train or get arrested (hopefully it is the former). I'll write more from New York!

Hello America - well the east coast

I have finally arrived in America! It took me long enough - two delayed flights - but finally I am here and really enjoying it. I spent the first few days in a lovely town Fairhaven which is south of Boston and the home of my cousin and her husband (Hi Mike and Jenny!) and it was idyllic. Fall in New England is impossible to describe but as I have no photos to post I will have to try. The colours are amazing. The trees are different shades of red, yellow and gold with a few splashes of green to remind you of what they normally look like. I took advantage of being down south to visit Martha's Vineyard. This is an island where anyone who is anyone has a house for the summer. It is not summer so the celebrities weren't there and neither were the crowds. This was a good thing but many shops shut for the winter as well so it was hard to find things that were open. It is good I was only there for the day but it was really nice to explore.
I am now in Boston for a few days and it is a great city. I went on the Freedom Trail which is a red line around the city (this is serious!!) that takes the walker to key historical sights. I opted for having a tour guide rather than self guided and it was worth it but I ended up spending most of the day following this red line. I didn't know much of the history of the War of Independence and so it was a great introduction to the city. I also went to the Science Museum which is aimed at children but was heaps of fun. I am only here for a few more days before I leave for New York. America is great. The people here are very friendly and they like Australians so once they here me talk they are always so helpful. The accent is very strange to get used to. Boston is 'Bawston' and coffee is 'cawfee' it is quite distinctive but nice.
Tomorrow I hope to see both the Museum of Modern Art and the Isabella Gardner Gallery before going to Harvard...too much? Hopefully not because I still want to see the JFK Library! So much to see and so little time!
I should say something about the election. In Europe there was barely any news about the election but for obvious reasons it is everywhere here. Almost every t.v. station has some sort of coverage of the issues or speeches and there are signs everywhere telling people to vote. It is hard to not get caught up in the whole thing and I might find that I visit a polling booth on election day and vote just for fun...or is that not allowed?

A quick update before I leave for America...

I know I have only updated my blog to tell you more about Jordan but before I go I want to tell you about my little side trip up north. I decided to delay my flight to the US again because everyone on the Jordan tour said that London is not England and I must do some more exploring. Being the very obedient person that I am I changed my flight and headed up to Sheffield to visit Liz who I met on the tour. On the first day I visited York and it was definitely worth the visit. The Minster (main church) was really nice. I think this gothic design is my favourite and I spent quite a while wandering around and even went on a free guided tour. The next day I decided to stay away from towns and visited Chatsworth House. This is a very famous house which is still in the family who lived there when Mary Queen of Scots was held prisoner there. The gardens (photo below) were stunning and there were lots of modern sculptures dotted around including a giant white baby. In a strange way the sculpture actually worked quite well and it was fun to explore. The next day was Saturday so Liz (photo below!) and I went for a really long walk around Derbyshire. The weather was sunny but cold and windy. When we got to the top of Mam Tor it felt like we could get blown off but the views were great and the walking kept us warm. The walk was a little longer than expected because of bad signposting (I like to think it wasn't our map reading ability or lack of!) but it didn't matter and we rewarded ourselves by having a delicious meal in a pub nearby.

There are so many photos I am not including in this blog and I would love to publish more but I am trying to restrain myself. The countryside in England is really beautiful and seeing it in Autumn is such a treat. I have been very fortunate with the weather which has made it easy to explore. I really only got one properly wet London day yesterday. Nic and I got absolutely sodden walking around London but it didn't matter that much and I was in a warm theatre that night so it wasn't too bad. I am not sure if I have told you much about the theatre here but it is fabulous. I better go - I have to leave before 6.00 tomorrow to catch my flight! I'll write from America!

Jordan (part 2)

I should put some more Jordan photos! I am behind in my blog because I want to tell you about my adventures in the north of England since coming back but that will just have to wait until i have finished telling you about Jordan. I have to say that the best part of the trip was the first part (Petra and Wadi-Rum) but that is not to say that the rest of the trip wasn't fun. We visited the Red Sea and Israel was on the shore opposite. In the photo below I am actually pointing to Isreal and you just have to believe me that Israel was actually quite close. I really want to go to Israel but that will have to wait and I will go on my next trip (it is sad that I am already planning the next trip!).

We visited the city of Jerash. It was as impressive as Ephesus and I really enjoyed walking around. It is quite easy to picture what it would have been like in Roman times. We also saw a show there of gladiators, chariot riders and soldiers. I thought it would be a little tacky but it was actually quite fun and interesting to learn about the fighting techniques of the Roman soldiers.

A trip to Jordan must involve a visit to the Dead Sea. I know that everyone says this but it is something that has to be experienced to be believed. You can sit upright in the water! Some people also cover themselves with the mud. I am not sure why but when in Rome so a few of us covered ourselves with the mud. I still am not quite sure of the benefits but I can say I have done it! The salty water does get a bit much after a while and before too long I felt like the little soggy chip at the bottom of the fish and chips and had to get out. I included a photo of the sign from the Dead Sea because it looked like the 'Scream' on holiday.

One of the lovely things about tours is that you meet great people. I met some lovely people in Turkey who I want to keep in touch with and I also met some really nice people in Jordan. I was the only Australian on the tour but being a novelty can be fun as well. One of them (Liz in the blue jumper below - hi Liz!) invited me to stay with her in the north of England which I did but I will tell you about that in my next blog.

The tour finished in Amman. Amman is a very busy city and I am not sure that I really liked it but I found it intriguing to explore. We were able to explore on our own for the day so a small group of us wandered around (see photo below!) and it was enough for me to get an idea of the place. I am really pleased I went to Jordan but I am not sure I will go back. I will hopefully publish another post to tell you about the north of England before I go to the US but I leave early tomorrow so you will have to wait and see!

And hello Jordan (part 1)

I am really not sure how to describe Jordan so I might describe the tour chronologically - this means you get to hear the best bits first because my two favourite places (Petra and Wadi-Rum) were in the first couple of days. I liked Jordan from the beginning and it was fun to visit Mount Nebo on the first day (where Moses saw the promised land) but Jordan can also be quite overwhelming with the crowds. By the time we got to Petra (day 2) it was much easier to negotiate.

Petra was amazing but I didn't expect anything less. Unfortunately there was a last minute itinerary change (the Royal Family booked out Petra!!) so we didn't stay as long as originally intended but the second day we got up early to make the most of the time we had. The Treasury is the most popular in Petra but I think I liked the monastery best (see photo!). It is a bit hard to see the scale of it from the photo but to give you an idea of how big this is - the ledge beneath the door at the front is taller than me!!

After Petra we drove to the desert (Wadi-Rum) to camp overnight. This involved taking a 4WD which was so much fun! I have never been to a proper desert and it was absolutely breathtaking. We camped under the stars and the next day went on a camel ride. I was allowed to ride the camel solo (not led by a guide). I am not quite sure why they let me do this but it was such fun. I named my camel Percival and I think it relished the dignity of such a name and was very easy to manage.

I could have easily stayed on in both Petra and Wadi-Rum. They were both so incredible and I highly recommend them to anyone thinking of going to Jordan.

This is only the first part of the Jordan posts. I am going up to the north of England this morning so I don't have time to write more but I don't want to forget to tell you about the delicious caradamom coffee!

Sorry I can't write more but I will write again soon.

Leaving London

This is a very quick update to let you know that I am leaving for Jordan today. It has been great to spend the extra time in London - there is so much to see! I will be back in London after the tour but only for a few days before flying to Boston. Hopefully I will have time to fit in another play before I leave London and visit another gallery!
I am very excited that a place on the Jordan tour was available. Some friends I stayed with went on this particular tour and said it was better than Turkey and that every day was a highlight. I am desperately trying to keep my expectations down and failing miserably. It will also be nice to have some warmer weather. London weather has turned cold this last week so going to warm Jordan will be a nice relief. I have to pack now. Bye!