Amsterdam

What goes on tour stays on tour . . . . . .

 

Portions of this blog have been removed to achieve an M rating.

 

DAY ONE

Amsterdam was an interesting city to say the least, our minds have been changed forever.

We found our accommodation, a lovely house boat called Anna Maria II.  You could not swing a cat in our room, or even a kitten, they were tiny but were all we needed.

The view from Anna Maria II

 

The “NZers” about to embark on a night out in Amsterdam

Later that night we went and saw the “red light” district at night, what a eye opener – no words can describe what goes on there!

DAY TWO

We were given breakfast at the hostel, cereal, selection of breads and spreads.  Sprinkles (white and dark chocolate) were also a must try.  It was like a child’s dream, fairy bread for breakfast!

After breakfast we headed out to see Amsterdam by bike. . . . . .

   

Girls on tour (Shelley, Trace and Pip)

Anna Maria II – Our accommodation

 

The boys playing connected four – Mike won!

Trace and her cool green machine!

   This is said to be one of the most pictorist canals in Amsterdam

 

After spending greater part of the morning biking around Amsterdam it was time for a beer, and what more appropriate beer to have than a Heineken.  So off we went to the Heineken brewery for a tour and a pint or two.

Bottoms up boys!

After a couple of beers it was back on the bikes and off to Vondel Park for a look around and rest. Vondel Park – Amsterdam’s version of Central Park

 

Our last night in Amsterdam was spent exploring the city’s night life and eating the most amazing doughnuts!

London

 

DAY ONE

Right are you all ready for this, for those of you not sitting down I suggest you do so now for what I am about to tell you will have you laughing and if you are not sitting down you will fall over!

Rising at 4am in order to make it to the New York airport for our flight to London we were a bit tired.  We boarded the plane looking for to a nice relaxing flight to London, what we were in for nobody could have warned us.

One hour after eating Trace began to feel ill, after two hours she knew the quickest way to the toilet were she spent most of the last 3 hours on the flight.  Yes that’s right people, it’s not Eqypt nor is it Africa it is the flight from New York to London that Trace and soon to be Mike got not only squirty bum but squirty mouth too.

Making it off the plane and through customs was the most traumatic experience in Trace’s life.  We had to weave from one bathroom to the other. 

After arriving at Andrew and Claire’s place, Mike began to feel a little sick (sympathy for Trace he thought) but no this was not the case, one hour later he to was in the bathroom.  We spent majority of the night between the bed and the bathroom.  Today we have not done anything apart from make it down stairs to the couch. . . . . lets hope tomorrow is better.

DAY TWO

Today we are feeling better, although very tired, so no photos as we have not managed to venture out of the house yet, maybe tomorrow . . . . .

DAY THREE

Having gained a little more trust in our stomachs we decided to venture into London.  We did a boat cruise down the Thames and a bus tour around London (It felt like travelling around the monopoly board) it was all very easy!

We enjoyed the underground in comparison to New York as it seems better signposted and generally more modern. 

At 7:30pm we saw The Lion King which was amazing! It more a less follows the exact plot but they’re so clever in how they do it on stage! Trace particularly loved it as she seemingly knows all the words to every song!

Tower Bridge

This was interesting as we saw another one just like it in Central Park, New York.  Apparently there’s two others around the world.  One is in Cairo so we may well see that in a couple of months.

Clock tower with Big Ben inside.

Buckingham Palace

 The London Eye – Think we’ll book into this for September when we return to London

They seem to be really impressed with lions over here… They’re everywhere!

DAY FOUR

We made our way back into London and caught up with a few people over warm English ale… The next drink was a Fosters as it was labelled “super chilled”! Apparently they grow on you but I don’t think we’ll be giving them enough time for that.

 

We ended up in Canden markets at a pub over looking a lock which was really nice! Afterwards we made our way through the markets for dinner trying a variety of food (pretty brave as it was one of our first proper meals).

DAY FIVE

We’re both feeling pretty much 100% now but chose to have a relaxing day around the village.  We visited Andrews father Brain and had a little joy ride in the 1926 Austin! Very cool! Walked around the village a bit, had lunch in a cafe and tried some ice cream mars bars… They’re Good!

 

New York New York

DAY ONE

We arrived in New York at 4pm on Sunday afternoon after an impressive flight on American Airlines, $8 for a blanket, $2 for head phones, $8 for a sandwich . . .  We were surprised that they didn't charge for water!

After some trouble with the airport shuttle pick up we eventually got a ride to our accommodation at the Latham Hotel.  Stepping into our room for the first time was a little traumatic after such a nice room with a view in Vegas this was . . . . . well a matchbox with no view at all! In fact a white curtain covered the window and without the light on the room was pitch black.

We decided we should venture out that evening to pick up our “New York passes”, these passes gave us access to all the New York tourist attractions which we had arranged from New Zealand.  Picking these up involved a trip on the subway (while in New York do as they do in New York), and for two country bumpkins this was an experience.  Stepping down into the hot and smelling subway was something but then to decipher the map of the subway system and which way was which was quite something else.

Once we had spoken with a local we were on our way and never looked back, well we did board a couple of the wrong trains and ended up going ways we didn’t really want to go – all part of the fun!  After making it up to Times Square (this place was amazing, lots of lights and a buzzing atmosphere) and getting our passes we tackled the subway again and headed back to our Hotel room.

A local Pizza place we walked passed, such an appropriate name for Mike

Times Square  

Grand Central                  

DAY TWO

Today started with a trip to the top of the Empire State Building, this is were we got our first taste of the realisation of how the Twin Tower Terrorist attack really affected New York. 

View from the Empire State Building

After visiting the Empire State Building we moved onto the Intrepid Museum, this had a retired aircraft carrier, retired submarine and the Concorde all of which you could go inside and walk around, it was a pretty amazing museum. 

Next we lined up for “the Beast”, this was like taking a wet and wild roller coaster ride out to the State of Liberty and back.  We ended up getting extremely wet – no one on the boat came back dry!

Statue of Liberty

We took a visit to B&H photo (this is the biggest camera, computer and electronic store in New York and one of the cheapest in the world).  To shop in this store was an experience.  We went up to the counter and asked if we could buy a couple of new lenses for our camera.  (Mike had already done the research and knew his wish list off by heart).

Once we had ordered the lenses and other bits and pieces the sales consultant sent the order out the back were it was put together and then travel via a conveyer to our counter.  Once we had checked this it was then sent down to the payment desk.  It was a bit like being in Santa’s workshop.

Once the sun had set we headed up to the Top of the Rock (Rockafeller Centre), this is the view of New York from the top.

Seen as this was our last night in New York we decided to head back to Time Square for one last look.  Here we also went and saw the Madam Tussons, its amazing how real these wax statues can look, we had to double take on more than one occasion.

DAY THREE

We rose early on day three in New York and headed to Central Park.  We signed ourselves up for a biking tour around the park, oh what a mistake this was!  We ended up with a tour leader who was what we would describe as the geek of the class, he knew all dates, history and movies of the park in far to much detail and every stop point we had a “presentation” which involved huge amounts of detail.

After a long two hours we were eventually freed!

 

We caught the subway downtown to China town, where it decided to piss down with rain.  The streets flooded instantly and the price of umbrellas went up exponentially.

We walked up Brooklyn Bridge, this is such a cool bridge!

Then we headed to over the Twin Towers memorial site, it was crazy how huge they were.

We headed back to the hotel for an early night, all ready for a 4am start!

Las Vegas

Vegas baby here we come!

DAY 1

After a long hard day out on the road driving through Death Valley we finally arrived in lively Vegas, the city that never sleeps.  We found the Excalibar Hotel (just like a castle) where we were to spend our next 3 nights.

The hotel was great and the bed was amazing… We had a 46 inch plasma we didn’t even use and the room was so cheap! We spent some time walking around and checking out the nearby hotels and casinos.

This really did blow our minds, it is like stepping into another world in Vegas, casinos taking up whole blocks, you have no idea what the time of day it is, and there are so many slot machines it is crazy.

DAY 2

We got completely suckered, along with every other tourist into “checking out a new development” they provided free lunch and a free show ticket each.  Turns out they wanted to sell us a time share… I think we’re both over educated in the science of timeshare apartments now! It was pretty interesting in itself but took half the morning.  It was also amazing how much the price dropped each time we said NO!

We got our free show tickets so it wasn’t all bad.  We also managed to barter ourselves some extra tickets at a low price while we were there!

We hit the pool/bar in the afternoon. You can buy small yardies full of various cocktails and then refill them for half the price! The crushed ice ones go down pretty well when you’re in 40C heat and in a swimming pool! 

CANYON TIME!

Great recommendation Glen and Emma! The helicopter tour was a definite highlight so far… It was great being able to walk around inside the canyon too! Although the pilots warning about snakes made Mike a bit paranoid about walking close to bushes.

Hoover Dam

 

Entering the Grand Canyon

Picnic & Champagne in the Canyon

Sun setting on the way back to Vegas

 

Looking North at the Vegas Strip from the Helicopter

As we got back from our Helicopter ride quite late we were limited in the shows we had available to us… Unfortunately… Very unfortunately… (Mike wrote this) We went along to “Fantasy”  - a topless strip/dance show.  After the show the dancers insisted on having a photo with Mike. See below :)

DAY THREE

Checked out the top of the stratosphere, it’s pretty much a tower like the skytower except it has a bunch of rides on the top deck which over hang the edge – Mike did all the rides (Trace was too chicken). 

  Trace insisted on checking out a wedding chapel… No comments necessary!

 

We went to another show “The Tournament of Kings” which had a meal with it, no cutlery though… First time we’d been served a whole chicken each!! Not a big one but still a whole chicken.  Trace fell in love with the horses in the show.

Then after the show we just walked / mono railed around the strip occasionally gambling (Trace rates herself at deal or no deal as she came out in positives from that one).

The Mirage volcano eruption show

 

This was an inside water way where you could pay to catch a gondola.

The Bellagio water fountain display

 

We both really enjoyed Vegas, it was like being in another world . . . . a place we will return to one day.