Last Friday we headed up the coast of Maine to a little place called Castine because a parent had very kindly offered me use of a family cottage called 'Little Blue'. When we arrived, we fell in love with the place instantly. Right on the coast, it had amazing views and was the loveliest place imaginable. We were told that, very sadly, fog had caused the fourth of July fireworks to be postponed until that evening. 'Oh such a pity!' we cried and headed into the village for front row positions. It was a spectacular display and not upstaged by nature this time!Back at the cottage, we saw the most incredible display of fireflies and enjoyed sitting on the porch in the darkness watching them and the lights over the bay, then, once we were in bed, the sound of waves lapping at the shore lulled us to sleep. As you can imagine, it was just terrible.
Even more awful was having to get up and make blueberry pancakes for breakfast with freshly picked Maine blueberries. Mmmmmmm!
Did I feel bad about leaving Frida alone? I didn't have to. She was given an invitation to a church bean supper and was treated like a queen. They all wanted the Swedish girl to try EVERYTHING!
When we both got back to Castine, we were treated to a visit from a seal. We watched the sun go down with Nathan, my pupil whose grandparents own 'Little Blue', then had a fire on the beach and were taught to make proper smores (a cracker sandwich made with chocolate and a toasted marshmallow). As you can imagine, I didn't like it at all!
Very sadly (and this is meant sincerely!), we had to tear ourselves away from the cottage the next day (after another helping of Maine blueberry pancakes - it would have been rude not to) and made our way to the town again to explore and find the lighthouse. We liked Castine a lot. One day we'll return!
However, no time to linger. Our bus to Boston left very early Monday morning for another full on day of sight seeing. First stop, Fanueil Hall to do the history and have a ranger tell us all about how the British were overthrown. Then on to Mike's bakery for a little treat to eat in a shady spot. Again, pure torture. On we walked to Boston Common where the temptation of the children's paddling pool was too much. By this time it was scorching, so it was a welcome relief.
Finally, we managed to put our shoes back on and I remembered my way back to the Cheers bar - all the tourist highlights for Frida! After a walk through the lovely neighbourhood of Beacon Hill we found ourselves at the Charles River. Once more, we were baking so off came the shoes and in went the feet. Bliss! We decided it wouldn't be a hardship to live in Boston. What about New York? Well we decided that it wouldn't be too bad to live in some of its neighbourhoods either. We explored Manhattan fairly thoroughly, walking round and through what felt like most of them (some of them multiple times not necessarily intentionally).
We started our trip by visiting the 9/11 memorial. It was very moving to see pictures of the World's response and then walk round the two water falls which fall into an abyss where each tower stood. The outside of each fall is engraved with all the names of those who died and with the names of the groups who came to the rescue in the aftermath. Next to the site, the new World Trade Center is already well on the road to completion.
From the World Trade Center site, it was a hop, skip and a jump to Battery Park to catch the ferry to
the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Again we were baking in the sun, so were grateful of a range guided tour of the outside of the statue, stuicking to all the shady spots as he told us about it's history. This probably makes me very dim, but I hadn't realised it is green because it is made of copper.
On to Ellis Island to learn of its historical role in granting entry to so many of the ancestors of people who now make up modern America. It was fascinating to hear about how people were checked over for medical conditions and were marked with chalk if they were suspected to be unfit in some way. They would then be subjected to further testing. If their medical condition was treatable, they were given treatment and then they could try to gain access again. If it was incurable, they would be sent back even if the rest of their family had been granted permission to stay. Women, who were without a husband or a man to guarantee their 'safety', would not be given permission to enter thus marriages had to happen before immigration on the island. On one occasion, there were 100 or so picture brides on one ship. They had only exchanged pictures with their husbands-to-be by mail. Apparently, all these arranged mariages went ahead except for 3...those women had fallen in love with someone else on the voyage!
No rest for us, it was onwards to Little Italy for a delicious pizza and a hike to the Rockerfeller Center for a well-timed visit to 'top of the rock'. Wonderful views of the city as the sun went down, perfect!
Day 2. A walk through Times Square (hideously busy) then on to MOMA to enjoy the many wonderful works of art before lunch in Central Park. Lovely! We walked down to one of the lakes and I nearly died of shock when I saw this strange thing in the pond - couldn't be a fish, too wide. Not a duck...closer inspection revealed that it was in fact a turtle and there were a lot of them!
Feeling refreshed, it was time for some popular culture in Greenwich village. An earlier visit to a completely useless tourist office had furnished us with details (gained by hijacking the computer) of the important information...the location of the Friend's apartment building and Carrie's apartment in Sex and the City. We paid homage and met some other crazy obsessed people. We ran in to them again when they were hopping with excitement about having seen Alec Baldwin and his new wife by this fountain. Who? We had no clue yet felt compelled to look for this man who was apparently wearing a blue shirt. We didn't actually find him as we were distracted by being able to dip our throbbing feet into cold water and then engage in some serious people watching. This included a crazy guy in shiny green underwear who was dancing, riding his cardboard horse and then a traveling round the place on a borrowed skateboard. All very odd!
Day 3. An exploration of New York's Upper East Side was very pleasant followed by a free Broadway concert in Bryant park at lunch time. We saw performances from Phantom of the Opera, Stomp, Spiderman the musical and Porgy and Bess. Very nice it was too! Then it was a walk through new territory again and over the Brooklyn Bridge where we saw that there was a free film in the park beginning at 6pm. Ohhh just in time we thought and dashed to claim a spot. 6:30pm and still nothing was happening and there were several rugs out but as yet unoccupied. Yep, turned out it started at sunset, there was music from 6pm. Doh! Oh well, there are worst spots to spend a couple of hours. Frida held down our little section of grass and I went to find a picnic. When I got back, I couldn't believe the sea of people. It was another fantastic people watching opportunity and then, as the sun set over the Hudson and the Statue of Liberty, 'To kill a mockingbird began'. A perfect way to spend the last night of our trip together. Another piece of luck to be in the right place at the right time.
Sadly, I had to say goodbye to Frida, but not before we had done yet more walking in the ridiculous heat and laughed a lot more. We were like two red fireballs walking through the city, however, we stumbled on another gem: the Skyline Park (is not having a guide book ridiculous or liberating?!). The park is on the site of an old railway line that used to run above the city. It has now been turned in to a wonderful walkway, surrounded by gorgeous plants with heaps of places to sit and enjoy the city. Perfect!
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