5 hrs to Toronto, 8.5 to Rome, and 90+ degrees! But we made it through day one, it is hot! Amazing buildings, everything looks old and cool! We walked on the same spot at Circus Maximus, where they used to do chariot racing long ago! Had great pizza in Travestere district, nice part of town!
Some photos of our fun trip in April, 2009!
See more in the Photo Album Grand Canyon 2009! Or click the link below:
Spectacular view!
Fun watching the Fountains of Bellagio from our room!
Had breakfast at Sarabeth's, went to see the Apple Store, walked a lot in Central Park, boys sailed the remote control boats, went on Nami-led tour of MOMA and Rockefeller Center, then on to Nintendo World, M&M World, and finished with a take-out corned beef sandwich from Stage Deli!
Now back on train to DC, and catch plane for SFO and home! What a wonderful trip!
Went to Lance's favorite donut shop from Tokyo called Doughnut Plant. This is their original store and headquarters so it was like a pilgrimage for Lance. Had a pasta lunch at Lil Frankie's, went to see the Statue of Liberty, walked through Wall Street and Chinatown, and had a nice dinner at Joe's Ginger with yummy sho-ron-poh! Nami and Lance ended up at M&M World, while Justin and I made it to Coney Island and rode the Cyclone roller coaster, something I always wanted to do!
We made it to New York!
After less than an hour in NY, asked J&L what were some differences between NY and DC: dirty, too many people, people are rude!
Our big event was the Yankees game, took the subway, saw the new stadium being built next door. Then a thunderstorm came, so we had $1.50 hot dogs and $1.00 Cokes, amazing, and it was just one vendor in the bleachers! But we couldn't last until the game... oh well.
After the Capitol, there was a great exhibit at the Botanical Gardens. A number of artists created sculptures of the earth, each with a green sustainability theme. Next the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to see how money is printed. Justin and Lance are next to $1 million in tens! Also made a stop at the Hirshorn Museum of Contemporary Art. After a thunderrstorm and a rest, we were back at Jaleo for more tapas and paella. We concluded our DC stay at the Lincoln Memorial, also the site of MLK's famous I have a dream speech, a great way to wind up our trip to the nation's capital!
We are now on an Amtrak train to New York! No Shinkansen....
We started at the small but well done memorial to the Japanese-American experience during WW II. They listed all of the camp names and number of internees. They also had all the names of those killed in action, and we were able to find Uncle Sat's name. Next stop was the Library of Congress, a beautiful building, and saw some of the sites from the movie National Treasure 2. Then came a tour of the Capitol Building, where we got lucky, and were able to sit in the House Chanbers and listen to a congressman talk about the country's energy problem.