New York City Birthday Weekend

My birthday (the last one beginning with 2..eek) was on a Monday this year so we headed down to NYC for the weekend. We took the train on Saturday morning which was quick and easy and nice and comfortable. The day started by dropping our bag at the hotel and heading out for a walk around Murray Hill and a lunch stop at a delicious burger place.

My real birthday present was a trip to Broadway to watch Mary Poppins (my favourite film ever)! The theatre was beautiful and the show was excellent. Very cleverly done - elements of the movie but not an exact copy.

Inside the New Amsterdam Theatre

After the show (it was a matinee) we wondered southwards to China town and little Italy for a walk and to see all the different neighborhoods. Anyone a fan of food network?

Are you a sweet genius??

Dinner was in the East Village at a tiny little Mexican/Latin food place. The food was okay, I was expecting better, and we were squashed in so close to the other tables it was hard to have a conversation as you could hear every word everyone around you was saying. Dinner was followed by a walk around the village and a beer at a cool (and cheap) bar!

Oddities anyone?

We stopped by Times Square on the way back from the Subway to the hotel - I guess it had to be done. Perhaps it's more surprising that I'm wearing wedges and a dress!

Yep, we did some touristy things!

On Sunday we started the day with a walk to the West side of Manhattan, stopping for a bagel for me and a breakfast hot dog outside the Empire State building for Matt!

Morning hot dog!

 We spent most of the morning and early afternoon walking along the High Line Park - an old raised train track that has been converted into a park. It was a nice morning so there was quite a lot of people but it was a great place to get a good view of a few different neighborhoods and various city sights. I really enjoyed it.

Taking it easy at High Line

Cool building art

View from the High Line Park (which you can see on the left)

The park ends around Chelsea so we took a walk through Chelsea market, enjoying all the little food shops and getting some truffle salt. Lunch was at a small Italian restaurant where we shared a delicious pizza outside and watched the world go by.

Chelsea Market

After negotiating all the weekend closures with the subway, we finally made it up to Central Park for the afternoon. We walked all around the southern part and generally enjoyed the great weather. Dinner was in Korean town where we had what was probably my favourite meal of the whole weekend. Matt had grilled eel (which was really good) and I had seafood bibimbab which was equally good. Not to mention all the great side dishes. Really delicious and highly recommended. We got back to Albany pretty late but it was a great weekend and we will be back soon I am sure!

Me and Matt in Central Park

I'm catching up the blog as fast as I can... only a few weeks behind the times now!!

Camping in the Adirondacks

A few weekends after camping in the Catskills we camped in the Adirondacks by Indian Lake. We managed to get a really cool campsite right on the edge of the lake with a great view.

Not a bad camping spot!

 We spent the day swimming in the Lake out to one of the little islands and hiking around the campsite. The weather was great (apart from one little thunderstorm) and it was pretty quiet even though the campsite was busy.

Matt taking a swim

These stone towers were everywhere. We made our own on on one of the islands

On the Sunday we drove along Indian Lake up to Blue Mountain and hiked up to the top. It was cloudy but dry when we started and the higher we got the closer the rain got. It was pretty steep near the top but it was a really nice hike through the woods. Just as we got to the clearing at the top of the mountain the rain really started. Not just a bit of drizzle, but completely soaked in 30 seconds type of rain! It meant we didn't have a view from the top (which was supposed to be amazing) but maybe we'll do it again sometime. The rain also made hiking back down the steep rocks a little more interesting, but I managed to stay on my feet somehow. By the time we got back to the car it had stopped raining (of course). We stopped at a cool little restaurant on the way home (where it rained again) and all in all, in was a good weekend. Really do enjoy the Adirondacks!

View at the top of Blue Mountain in the rain!

Camping in the Catskills

The Catskills are a little south of Albany and after I got back from France we spent the weekend around Kaaterskill Falls in the northern part of the Catskills. Matt had been there a few weeks before with his family and wanted to go back to camp so we did.

Words of caution: If you want to camp in Catskill park at one of the state campgrounds during summer then reserve a site in advance! The campground was huge and they didn't even have room for us with our little tent. We ended up at a private campground just outside the park, which was fine and we had a lot more space and privacy!

Anyway, we walked up the trail to the Falls kind of early so we didn't see too many people and there weren't many people at the Falls themselves (just a group of people getting a guided tour) and the water levels were low. This meant we were able to hang out at the bottom of the lower falls, take lots of pictures and get right into the water.

Me at the Falls

Matt at the Falls

We also got to scramble up a non trail to get to the upper basin/bottom of the upper Falls. It was a giant horseshoe basin (with hardly any water due to the lack of rain). Some people were at the top and had a rope set up for abseiling (or repelling in American) but we never got to see any of them actually do it. I wanted to go up and do it!! You can see the scale a little in this picture as Matt went adventuring in the basin.

The upper basin (with Matt in red)

After a late-ish lunch at a little pub in town and trying to find a campsite we chilled out in the campsite pool and played games (bananagrams, trivial pursuit, cards) by our tent. After building the best fire ever, we had a delicious dinner of swordfish, red beans and rice cooked on the campfire. It was so good! The next day we went for another little hike and looked out over the Hudson Valley. A nice relaxing weekend in the Catskills.

Us at the bottom of the Falls

Toulouse

The first week of July I went to the AMMA conference in Toulouse, France. The flight wasn't too bad in either direction, but I was annoyed they couldn't find a different flight for me on the way there.  They needed 10+ people to volunteer to get off and they were giving out $1000 but despite searching they couldn't find a different flight. Oh well, maybe next time.

The conference was very useful for me and I think my talk went well. I'm not going to talk about that much though, just show you lots of pictures of Toulouse! The conference was held at Meteo France, and I managed to sneak a pic of the main lecture theatre where I gave my talk and co-chaired a couple of sessions. And yes, the podium does have a giant satellite image on it!

Where I gave my talk at Meteo France

The conference ended with a banquet (as so many do), but let me tell you, this was no ordinary conference banquet. It was in this beautiful old building by the river and had the best food and wine ever. What other conferences serve foie gras and veal (of course I didn't have that but my salmon was great). There were about 6 course, including cheese and the most delicious macaroon ever. Yum!

Just to prove I was really there - me and my vegetarian sign!

I managed to find a little bit of free time a couple of afternoons to explore the city. I can't quite remember the names of all of the places I visited (although I could try harder to look them up if I really wanted to). Anyway, Toulouse is a beautiful city (known as the red city) and we had great weather for most of the week - warm and sunny makes for great pictures. Here are a selection.

Random street in Toulouse

Bridge over the river in Toulouse. I love the reflection!

The Capitole by day

The Capitole by night

Church downtown

Scrap metal dragon in a pond at a park

Inside of one of the several churches I visited. I think this was on the Rue du Taur (hence the bulls in the painting)

Sadly, I was a few week early for the Tour de France visiting the outskirts of Toulouse but on my last night they had a 3km and 10km run through downtown. If only I had my running stuff I would have joined in! I watched the start and finish of the 3 km and pretended I was at the Tour anyway!

Not the Tour de France

For those that find themselves in the Midi-Pyrenees I recommend Toulouse! I even remembered some of my high school French :-)

Lake Placid

So way back in June me and my parents went up to the high peaks region of the Adirondack's and stayed in Lake Placid. The trip was slightly delayed (and I was still feeling a little under the weather) due to a stomach virus making its nasty way around our apartment but we made it up there eventually!

Lake Placid is about a 3 hour drive north of Albany, and it's a very pretty drive too. We spent the first afternoon walking around the downtown area and Mirror Lake (we barely saw Lake Placid itself as it's hidden behind various hotels and houses).

Mirror Lake

The Lake Placid ironman triathlon was a few weeks after we were there so there were a lot of people out on bikes, running and swimming. Certainly not a bad place for outdoor activities. After an early dinner and a compulsory game of mini golf at Pirates Cove (which I won with multiple holes in one despite the tummy aches) it was back to the hotel. We didn't have a view of either lake from our hotel room, but the room itself was huge - at least twice the size of "typical" hotel rooms!

We headed out to the Olympic ski jumps bright and early the next morning so there was only a couple of others visiting when we were there. After seeing the jumps, I honestly have no idea how people can do it!

Olympic ski jumps at Lake Placid

We went up the ski lift to the base of the jumps (which you can see in the picture on the right hand side) and then in a elevator to the top of the 120 m jump. I am not a big fan of heights when it comes to tall buildings but I even managed to go out onto the adjustable platform the the jumpers start from. The view from the top was great though and when the next winter Olympics comes around I will have a whole new level of respect for those ski jumpers (I don't think the pictures quite do it justice though)!

My parents on the jumping platform. It was scary.

Not a bad view but I will never be a ski jumper!

After going up the jumps we headed back down and watched some of the athletes at the Olympic training centre doing practice freestyle jumps into the swimming pool. It was fun watching them and it looked like fun doing it. Although swimming to the edge of the pool while wearing skis and carrying poles was maybe a little less fun. Anyway, I took a couple of videos and some action shots.

This looks like more fun

We then headed out towards Essex, NY and took a ferry across Lake Champlain to Vermont. We drove through Vermont to Waterbury and took a tour of the Ben and Jerry's factory. If only my stomach had been feeling better I would have enjoyed my free sample a little more (of course I still managed it all though). The tour was good for an ice cream loving family!! After Ben and Jerry's we stopped by somewhere to taste lots of cheese (my stomach enjoyed the cheese) and buy some real Vermont maple syrup for me, my parents and as a gift for my brother (I hope the maple syrup thieves are caught)!

A night in Rutland, VT and a trip to the outlets in Manchester, VT (no sales tax and a few super cheap bargains) on the way home completed the tour. I don't have any pictures of Vermont sadly as the camera battery died and I didn't realise I had the charger until it was too late.

Hopefully we can go camp in Vermont and the high peaks sometime!

I see Canada!

At the beginning of June Matt, his parents and I drove the 5 hours for Albany to Niagara Falls, NY. We had a quick stop near the start of the Erie Canal in Lockport just outside Buffalo. Originally there was a series of 5 locks there but now is just one giant lock (was bigger than any in the UK that I have ever seen)!

The original Erie Canal lock system (without the actual locks it's just waterfalls)

Me and Matt at the locks

After Lockport we drove the rest of the was to Niagara Falls and found a hotel right by the rainbow bridge (i.e. the main crossing over to Canada). My mum and I went to Niagara Falls way back in 2000 (I think, or was it 2001) and the hotel we stayed at was in Canada almost exactly opposite this hotel in America.

We spent the day walking around the parks on the American side, including a trip down to the base of the American Falls that involved more seagulls and seagull chicks than I've ever seen, a delightful yellow poncho and a nice pair of souvenir sandals. I took my turn on the hurricane deck and yes, I got very very wet. I'm glad I was wearing shorts!

Fashion statement

We then headed along the park towards the horseshoe falls. The view of both falls isn't quite as good from the American side but due to various passport related issues there would be no Canada on this trip! For anyone else paying Niagara a visit I recommend the Canadian side :-)

Horseshoe Falls

View downriver from the Horseshoe Falls. You can see the Rainbow Bridge and the American Falls on the right

We (well, Matt) drove all the way back to Albany the next day. A long trip for one night but we doesn't enjoy a giant waterfall?!

Here's us!

Boston Part II and III

Okay so maybe you remember my "last" blog post about our trip to Boston over Memorial Day weekend (see it here). Well, we had another day and a half in Boston and here is my very brief summary and pictures of what we did.

On the Sunday we took a boat trip to one of the harbor island (Spectacle Island). It was a really hot day and we both ended up getting some color (the red kind sadly) but the views of downtown Boston were great and it was a nice little island to walk around and sit on the "beach".

View of downtown Boston from Spectacle Island

I also figured out how to use the panoramic setting on Matt's camera so expect a lot more pictures like this!

Panorama of Boston from Spectacle Island

After lunch on the island we headed back on the boat and went back to our hotel via the Science museum which was right by our hotel. We didn't have a lot of time there as it closed earlier on Sundays but we still got to see the lightning show (yes I am a nerd) and explore a lot of the exhibits which were really good (especially for science geeks like us)!

Science in action - don't try this at home!

For dinner on Sunday we went to the North End of downtown Boston, which is basically the Italian part of downtown. The streets were absolutely packed with people visiting all the Italian restaurants and bakeries. It was easy to identify the two "famous" canoli places - they had huge queues of people waiting to get a delicious treat. Even the restaurants had hour + waits for tables and well, we just don't have the patience for that. We ended up walking down a little side street, got a canoli from a little bakery and got seated at a restaurant in about 20 minutes. It was delicious!! Some gelato on the way home was great to.

On the Monday morning we stopped by Harvard to walk through the campus. There must have been a big 25th reunion that weekend as they were in the process of clearing away a lot of banners, tents etc. We didn't know where we should go so just walked around. It was quite different to Yale (here) and I can absolutely see why people would want to go to school there.

Harvard

The faculty club at Harvard

Of course a trip to Harvard wouldn't be complete without a stop by the law school...

Legally brunette?

It was a great weekend, and I will certainly go back to Boston again. I know there is still a lot of things to see and do that we weren't able to. I recommend Boston to those who haven't been - especially those who like Italian food and American history!

Boston and us