Pap en Wors, biltong en sous…

Finally able to sleep in we made sure we got a little sleeping in before heading out to Brooklyn to eat at a restaurant I was very excited to visit…Madiba, which serves real South African cuisine. 

Feeling at home :)

I was really excited to have some “home cooked” meals but also to see Tyler’s reaction to our food. We started with a Safari Starter which had Biltong, mixed nuts, dried fruit and droe wors. Karabo ordered Pap en Wors, Tyler had steak and chips and I went with Oxtail soup with samp and beans…yummy!

Safari Starter

Pap en wors

Steak and Chips (try them with salt and vinegar)

Oxtail soup and samp and beans

After Madiba’s we headed to Central Park where we walked around and heard Freshly Ground (a South African band, who were performing there) until we had to head back to the hotel to collect our belongings before heading to the airport. Luckily with no flight delays we were at home on time and ready to sleep after a wonderful vacation!

Home time!

5am wakeup call…this is getting ridiculous…

So after a 5am wake-up call, we made sure we were all packed up and headed towards the bus, which was 1000 Islands bound.  The boat tour was fun, and it was interesting to see the small (and big) Islands as well as seeing the smallest bridge between two countries, a bridge that joins two Islands (one in Canada and one in the USA)

Boldt Castle on Heart Island, NY

Shortest bridge in between two countries (St. Lawrence River)

After the boast tour we headed to a restaurant which was described to us as an “international buffet” which basically meant Asian cuisine, Italian chicken and smiley fries.  That aside the food was great and I ate more than enough to satisfy the lack of a real breakfast.

Smiley fries...with a smiley face

Later we headed back to New York City and our next hotel. We planned to go to Times Square that night to show Tyler what is was all about as he had never been there before.

Fearsome threesome in Times Square

1 of the 7 wonders of the world…

After 20 or so stops we arrived in Buffalo, NY at the sight of Niagara Falls. I must tell you…it is beautiful! We headed straight for the Maid of the Mist tour, which takes you right past the Falls. We had a lot of fun snapping tons of pictures mainly in our stylish blue ponchos, and soaking wet!

Looking good in blue

Later we spent time at the viewing decks just taking in the sights and enjoying the time spent at this majestic world wonder. Then we headed to the food store where we were able to buy food from an array of different countries (non South African unfortunately) as well as view a million Niagara branded items. We each settled on a hoodie that would remind us of this wonderful adventure.

In our new hoodies :)

After the lights were turned on (which lights up the Falls beautifully) we were called back to the bus, which was heading towards our hotel in Buffalo. Once at the hotel Karabo, Tyler and I decided to head for the hotel bar to have one drink, which of course turned into a few more…

Niagara by day

Niagara by night

Joining Cindy’s family…

Beep! Beep! Beep! Ugh, 6am wake-up call and I already regretting the late night chats with Karabo.  But then I remembered we are about to start our Niagara adventure, and I started jumping around like a little kid. We had to meet our tour company at 7am and I had worked everything out to ensure we would arrive in time and not miss the tour, however I never factored in that our tour guide was Chinese (maybe Mandarin?) so all the instructions given were foreign, which almost lead us to miss our bus. Luckily we worked it all out and were seated on our bus, in time.

Time to...catch up some sleep

Our tour guide went on to tell us that for the next 2 days we would be a part of “Cindy family.” Then she briefly explained that we would make frequent stops to avoiding using the bathroom on board (which sits on the engine, heats up and “smell very bad after two day”) then she converted to Mandarin and translated what I assumed was the message she had just relayed to us to the other 20 or so passengers on the bus. And with that we were off…

Ready for our trip!

Just my luck…thanks Pres…

Straight after the show I headed back to my surrogate home in Murray Hill so collect my stuff and thank Heidi for her hospitality…and to give her house key back. So I no longer feel like I “own” a piece of NYC property, but that’s okay after a subway and a bus ride I ended up at La Guardia airport ready to meet Karabo and Tyler and since I had left my phone in Milwaukee I was going old school and hoping that everything would work out…of course it didn't!

The world sculpture,  NYC

Mr Obama was flying into New York that day which means that all flights into NYC are either delayed or cancelled; none of these options suit me! And of course I don’t know this so I’m walking around the airport looking for them wondering why they’re aren’t waiting for me at baggage claim, ‘til I eventually borrow someone’s smart phone check my Facebook and email and discover their new estimated arrival time is 3am … or a cancelled flight. I headed to the hotel in the hopes that my friends would be joining me very soon.

The Statue of Liberty, NYC

Thank goodness they managed to make it to New York very early that next morning, and with a 6am wakeup call we realized we had less than 3 hours to sleep before heading to Niagara. Instead of using this time to power nap, we used it to catch up (probably a move we will regret tomorrow!)

Sunnyside of New York, NYC

Something a little positive…

It seems hard to be positive after an emotional experience like that but I was after all to see my boyfriend and a really good friend tonight so I didn’t want to be a Debbie downer, to combat this I decided to book myself tickets to see of show! None of the Broadway shows I was interested in were showing that night but I found tickets for the STOMP! show. If you ever get a chance this is a show you definitely should go see! (http://www.stomponline.com/)It is amazing, it’s basically people making music out of just about anything! And I got to meet some of the cast after the show, but that was awesome!

Meeting the cast of STOMP!

While waiting for the subway I started to watch a movie Karabo had downloaded onto her itouch for me to watch (Remember me) which by the way is not the best movie to watch while standing in a subway, as the opening scene shows a lady randomly being shot while in the subway…thanks Karabo!

Beautiful Sunset, NYC

A moment of silence, please…

Later I went to the WTC ground zero site and went through the memorial museum. It brings back chills when I see images of the planes, the smoke or the destruction caused by 9/11. I remember being at home that day after school and my mom calling me from work telling me to turn on the news and watch. I turned on the news and watched an image of the second plane hitting into the second Trade Center Tower, as 14^th year old I had no idea what was happening or what the repercussions would be. It felt like I was watching a movie on tv, like it wasn’t real…so to go through the museum to see the images and artifacts, to read the stories of fallen heroes and to once again see the complete devastation caused by terrorism was numbing.  I think the excerpt that hit me the hardest was these one…

Pictures in the 9/11 Memorial Museum, NYC

“Hey Jules, this is Brian. Ah, listen…I’m on an airplane that has been hijacked…if things don’t go well, and they’re not looking good, I want you to know that I absolutely love you. I want you to do good, have good times, same with my parents. I’ll see you when I get here. I want you to know that I totally love you. Bye, babe. I hope I will call you.”

9/11 Destruction, NYC

New York from Water…

Boat tour of New York’s beautiful and famous skyline as well as bridges…heck yes! (By the way the tours I did were all through City Sighting Seeing NY http://www.citysightsny.com/) The weather wasn’t as perfect as I had hoped but it was still pleasant enough to be able to enjoy the tour. Armed with my new Australian friends I had met on the tour as well as my camera of course I was ready to see it all. We got to see the Statue of Liberty again (I mean it’s kind of a big statue so it’s pretty easy to spot) but closer than before so that was great!

New York by water, NYC

Next I did a tour of Harlem and Uptown New York, this is where the Met, (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) the Guggenheim and Central park are all located. Each of these has a special quality that draws many tourists in each day, and I can see why! It’s not only the fact that they are famous landmarks used in many films, shows and shoots but each has a majestic quality about it that you can’t help but admire.

Outside the MET, NYC

Outside the Guggenheim, NYC

Brooklyn Bounce…

Today I walked to Grand Central Station and caught the purple 7 subway heading to Times Square, I it sounds like I know what I’m talking about and where I’m going, truth is I have been helped out by many friendly New Yorkers! From Times Square I caught the sightseeing bus and headed for the Brooklyn tour. This tour wasn't a hop on hop off tour so I got to sit and take in the sight a little instead of remembering where my next stop and pre-planning my “plan of action.”

Grand Central Station, NYC

While on the tour I heard a lady behind me mention something about the “bar-th-room” (yes, I am trying to type it the way I assume it sounds to other people, to me it just sounded like I was about to meet a lovely South African family on vacation! They were really sweet and friendly and it was great chatting to them for a little while.

Part of the Brooklyn Tour, NYC

I’m not going to list everything I saw on the tour although I am going to make mention of the polar opposite reactions we experienced while driving through Brooklyn. We had some people that shouted at the bus questioning why we would ever want to take a tour a Brooklyn, we had people shouting at the bus because they weren’t so happy to have tourist “take over their town” and then we had a few group of people shouting things like “welcome to Brooklyn” “hope you have a great tour” and things of the positive nature…

On my way to Staten Island, NY

Today is also the day I headed out to see Lady Liberty clad in all her glory, via the Staten Island ferry (which by the way is totally free.) You don’t go to Ellis Island or to the actual Statue of Liberty but you get really close, so it’s a great picture taking opportunity. Once you get to Staten Island you have to get off the ferry and re-board even if you are doing a quick round trip, which most people do, which seems like a waste of time but I can see the logic behind it. A quick trip back to Times Square, then Grand Central and I was ready for my night adventure!

Lady Liberty, NYC

I decided to venture up the Empire State building, as when I arrived in the USA (2 years ago) went did a tour of New York which included a trip up the Rockefeller Center. So when faced with the possibility of nostalgia or new memories I opted to make like King Kong and do the Empire State. (This comment better not lead to any monkey, hair or weight jokes!) The Empire state is a beautiful building with an amazing view! But I’ll let the pictures do the talking on that one…

The view from the Empire State Building, NYC

The Empire State, NYC

New York City…oh yeah!

I arrived in NYC, really close to Times Square, so that was my first stop. I boarded the sightseeing bus I had pre-booked...I know this sounds easy but getting from 7th and something  to 45th and Broadway takes a subway, patience and a lot of walking!

New York City

The tour was fun I got to see a whole bunch of pretty things downtown such as Rockefeller Center, the Wall Street Bull, The Empire State Building and the Brooklyn Bridge. Then I headed towards Murray Hill where I am staying with Heidi, one of Amanda’s friends.

Wall Street Bull, Wall Street, NYC

Tonight was spent taking pictures of the Chrysler Building (probably my favourite) and walking to a little convenience store close by to stock up with snacks for tomorrow. 

The Chrysler, NYC

Dc sightseeing…

I did a lot of walking today and saw a great deal of things...I started at Union station and made my way to the White House, yeah I totally got to hang out with Obama, just kidding. I also walked to Jefferson Memorial, Washington Monument and the Pentagon along with the Pentagon Memorial. This was a really pretty memorial right next to the pentagon building. There are the names of all those affected by the attack. One in particular stood out to me, it was a husbands name, and below was the names of his children and wife that he left behind...and next to it was another other one with the mother's name and below it, the children her and her  husband left behind.

Pentagon Memorial, VA (it's in Virginia)

I also went to the Arlington Cemetery (where J.F Kennedy and Jackie O are buried.) It's kind of scary to see the rows and rows of head stones, that you know represent death, tragedy and sadness. Knowing that you will one day be reduced to that...kind of sucks.

JFK and Jackie O's burial sight

I visited the Holocaust museum which takes you around Germany through the eyes of a young Jewish boy called Daniel with the help of my diary he penned while in the ghetto and in a concentration camp. It was a familiar story told in such a unique way as the museum is molded around what Daniel survived through.

Holocaust Museum, DC

After a lovely day and dinner I headed back to the hostel ready to get some sleep, but my roommates had other ideas so 2am was my bedtime, luckily I was catching a 5 hour bus ride the next day, so I was planning on catching up my sleep then, unfortunately my bus mates had other ideas...ugh! Is anyone seeing a pattern?! I have now decided that if you ringtone or your voice is seriously annoying you are ban from sitting in a 10 chair radius of me. The guy in front of me spoke for a solid 5 hours! Surely your battery should die at some stage?

Outside Arlington Cemetery, VA 

Getting lost…is not uncommon…

Finally in Dc I do what I always do in a new city...find tourist maps. Then I manage to negotiate the Metro system (which can be tricky for first time users.) Only to arrive at Union Station, great :) So I ask information looking guy for directions to H street and 5th Street as I thought this may be faster than welding my way around the map, I'm in luck as he knows what I am talking about! Until I realize he doesn't but only after walking 1 mile in the wrong direction (with my TSA friendly luggage) which means 1 mile back to where I started when I realized H street has a NE and NW part of it and each has its own 5th Street :/ DC, I consider that an epic fail by the way!

Union Station, DC

Heading the right direction I find myself signing the A,B,C's to try work out how many blacks from D to H...and yes, I had to start and A every time! I managed to find the hostel 2 hours after leaving the airport. I made a pretty quick turn around and headed out armed with a new and improved map (Russ the manager of the hostel pink Hi-lighted everything I needed to know in order to make it back alive. Which I did, thankfully.

Even though like an idiot I had left my cell phone in Milwaukee and was armed with an itouch (or as I fondly refer to it as *the itouchy thing*) with no internet which makes it essentially an ipod, video player or an expensive paper weight, but thank goodness for Mc Donalds and their free wi-fi I got to let everyone know I was safe, as well as arrange a dinner date at Nando's with Amy (a former Milwaukee au pair who re-matched to Maryland)

Amy and I outside Nando's, DC

*Hi-lighted words are explained in the glossary page

Getting to know the TSA officers…well…

Waking up early is not my strong point...I think we have firmly established that by now, so we are not going to beat a dead horse on that one. However my lack of directions may need to be revisited...once I finally get to DC.

The White House

So early flight, bags are packed, security should be easy until...I get pulled over cos

A. not all my liquids are in one clear plastic bag but rather in two

B. my sweater was on top of 'my' (actually my friend Nina's) laptop, which makes the image fuzzy and

C. cos my bag caused the machine to go off

These three things mean that I …

A. get to watch a TSA officer go through my luggage *underwear included*

B. get to try re-pack said luggage while listening to safety rules

C. discover that my make-up bag set off the machine *so now it needs to be swabbed* and

D. get a friendly pat down (up, down, sideways, down) from a friendly TSA officer...

Jefferson Memorial

Robyn Wiggill is…in a relationship…

Yip, that is my new Facebook relationship status and all my friends are now doing the *booty dance* (that’s very similar to the happy dance.) Tyler asked me out tonight and that means this adventure is about to get even more exciting! Starting with DC, tomorrow…

Yup, that's us

Warming NOT burning…

Tyler has now moved in with his best friend Andy and the guys decided to have a house warming celebration. The night started off well with Karabo, Nina, Tyler, Andy, Brittney (Andy’s girlfriend), Dan (aka Schaefer) and Nate gathered over drinks and snacks. Later on one of Brittney’s acquaintances joined the party…she was slightly strange to say the least. After drinking way to much we decided to set her up with a couch to sleep on so she could ‘sleep it off’. Luckily Brittney lives in the apartment above, so we had some space for her.

Celebrating with the girls

The party quietened down at about 2am, and everyone found some bed, couch or floor to inhabit. Karabo and Jeremy ventured outside when they were meet by an elderly lady who informed them there was smoke coming from the 3rd floor. After much confusion and a little panic we realized apartment 28 on the 3^rd floor was Brittney’s house! So Karabo, Brittney and I ran up to her place, barged through the door and were met by a smoke filled room (yes, we were silly enough to just open the door without knowing what was behind it.) My first reaction is to find the drunk girl, so I’m calling orders of open the windows, doors, stay low and cover your mouth! It is amazing what you remember and what you forget in situations like these. After searching the apartment we realized she had disappeared, left her shoes and made a very stupid mistake! She had tried to cook noodles in a hot pot (which is electric) which she put on the stove, without any water and the cord had caught fire! And for some strange reason there were Cheerios on the floor…

This made me laugh (google image)

Whodunnit?!

My next post is about a Murder Mystery evening…well two of them actually. Tyler and I attended a small gathering that his cousin had put together. I become “Numbers” the shy accountant while Tyler became the second man to the mafia don. After a ‘murder’ and a night of detective work we came to the conclusion that we had NO IDEA who had killed the mafia don, but it was eventually revealed that Tyler was the murder *shock and horror!* The messed up thing is since it was arranged by Tyler’s cousin, some of the people there were related, so the full story line is Tyler killed his cousin because he was jealous of him, and he had also been having an affair with his girlfriend (who happened to be his sister). Hmmm…

Tyler and I at the Murder Mystery Dinner

The second murder mystery dinner was significantly less intimate as there were big tables of 8 people and there was only one character per table so we had a more relaxed dinner experience. I felt more like a spectator then a participant. This story line was centered around a wedding where the best man is murdered. Turns out the bride and best man were having an affair…and the groom was the murderer.

At the second Murder Mystery Dinner

My opinion counts…

I was recently asked to attend a pizza tasting…free food, heck yes! It was at the same place where I did the pizza tour (Palermo’s.) I love their pizza and the tasting was really fun too. We got to sample 4 pieces of pizza, comparing two and two. We had a paper that looked like a multiple choice quiz…comparing cheese amount, colour and taste as well as the pizza base’s crispiness, colour and thickness and lastly toppings. It was a fun evening and it made me realize how much thought goes into the process and how much is involved in developing and manufacturing “box meals.”

Pizza Place