lloydnalex's blog - a new life in Peru

Sunday, September 07, 2014

USA 3. A GLIMPSE OF DOWN TOWN NEW YORK ARCHITECTURE.

Wednesday September 3, 2014

After our day down at Coney Island we couldn't resist the urge to head into Manhattan to see our old friend, New York architecture...

Every other building is photo worthy. So here are some random shots that we took.

Speaking of "random", take a look at this guy...

Generally speaking, where New York fashion goes, the rest of the world eagerly follows, but will this new fashion in men's autumn scarves catch on? We will just have to wait and see. I suspect this would-be fashionista will end up getting crushed to death and swallowed whole as is so often the case in the New York fashion jungle...

The Manhattan Municipal Building, at 1 Centre Street in New York City, is a 40-story building built to accommodate increased governmental space demands after the 1898 consolidation of the city's five boroughs. Construction began in 1907 and ended in 1914, marking the end of the City Beautiful movement in New York.

8 Spruce Street is a 76-story skyscraper designed by Frank Gehry. It one of the tallest residential towers in the world, and the tallest residential tower in the Western Hemisphere at the time of completion in February 2011.

We have blogged about this one before (http://lloydandalex.blogspot.com/2012/12/1-new-york-new-york.html) The 60 storey Woolworth Building is an early US skyscraper finished in 1913. It was designed in the neo-Gothic style by the architect Cass Gilbert.

The new One Workd Trade Centre tower or "Freedom Tower" is now complete.

Don't know who or what but we liked it...

Same.

And back home to Brooklyn Heights. That's the Brooklyn bridge in the background.

Lloydnalex

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USA 2. CONEY ISLAND - A CURE FOR JET-LAG.

Wednesday September 3, 2014

There is a host of remedies for curing jet-lag ranging from resting well before your trip (yeah right!), not watching too many inflight movies, not drinking alcohol on the airplane, not eating the airline food, massage various pressure points, resist the temptation to go to sleep when you arrive until it is night time, pop a few melatonin when you do go to bed. These are just a few of the recommendations. Well we have another one that guarantee will work.

A trip to Coney Island in the bright sun light.

Here is our great friend Chris from Washington who came to spend the day with us. Sorry Greg couldn't make it for our big day out.

45 minutes by train from Bethel to southwestern Brooklyn, Long Island, New York City.

The name "Coney" derived from a Dutch word for rabbit since the island was once over run with rabbits.

Famous for its historic Coney Island amusement parks that had their hey day during the first half of the 20th century, it's a little like stepping back in time.

The Parachute Jump was originally built as the Life Savers Parachute Jump at the 1939 New York World's Fair, this was the first ride of its kind. People were hoisted 190 ft (58 m) in the air before being allowed to drop using guy-wired parachutes. Although the ride has been closed since 1968, it remains a Coney Island landmark, and is sometimes referred to as Brooklyn's Eiffel Tower.

The Pat Auletta Steeplechase Pier. Just rebuilt following the 2012 hurricane Sandy.

Our sisters, out in the midday sun with a witnessing cart.

The position of the beach and lack of obstructions means virtually the entire beach is in sunlight all day. Native Americans called it the land without shadows.

They say if you didn't go to Nathan's, you didn't go to Coney Island... So, to Nathan's for lunch it is.

Nathan's Famous original hot dog stand opened on Coney Island in 1916 and quickly became a landmark.

The board walk

Now, even if you ate at Nathan's, could you really say you had been to Coney Island if you didn't go on at least one amusement ride? I think not. But which one could I convince alexandra to go on???

Definitely not the The new 90 degree drop on the Thunderbolt roller coaster!!!

Wonder Wheel – opened in 1920, this steel Ferris wheel has both stationary cars and rocking cars that slide along a track. Possibly???

Nah, I don't think so... It's way higher than we want to go on a piece of strong.

What about this thing?

No!

What about the famous Cyclone roller coaster? What could possibly go wrong?

Looks safe to me...

Built in 1927, it is one of the United States's oldest wooden roller-coasters still in operation has a 26 m high sixty degree drop.

So we rode... Bone rattling good fun.

And now for another Americana treat... Just across the road from Nathan's , hot dogs n deep fried shrimp is Rita's...

Custard ice... Perfect for a 30 degree day.

Thank you Chris for a great day out in the sun. You were a lot of fun and so generous as always. It was even better than we expected!

Don't know If I could say it 100% cured our jet lag but all that vitamin D certainly helped to recalibrate our brains to a new time zone.

Lloydnalex

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Saturday, September 06, 2014

USA 1. BACK IN THE US of A

Tuesday September 2, 2014

When we first went to United States back in 2009 we "NEVER" expected to have the opportunity to go again... so we stayed for a 2 month vacation.

Then in 2012 we were priveleged to go again for a work assignment. http://lloydandalex.blogspot.com/2012_11_01_archive.html

So what special reason would call us back to New York?

Back in October 2013 we made a lot of new friends at the Japan branch, but we became especially close to this couple, Aki and Hajime. (http://lloydandalex.blogspot.com/2013/12/12-part-2-large-circle-of-friends.html)

They later visited us in Australia shortly before they went to Gilead School. Well, a few months ago they Skyped us and invited us to attend their graduation in Patterson upstate New York. We were blown away. What a special priveleged. How could we possibly say no. So we smashed the piggy bank and bought tickets to the USA.