City planners

If you could clone one element from another city you've visited - a building, a cultural institution, a common street food, etc. - and bring it back to you own hometown, what would it be? - The Daily Prompt

I would import something I've seen in a few cities. And I would want to bring it to all cities and towns. An outdoor skating rink. They have one in Oslo, they have one in New York, they even had one on Bondi Beach in Sydney! I haven't been skating since I went to school, but if I knew there was always one there in winter, maybe even a free one, I think maybe I would get some skates and go more often.

Spikersuppa, Oslo, Norway

Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia

Rockefeller centre, New York, USA

Another thing I think would be really nice to clone is the street art culture in Melbourne, Australia. I wouldn't want it on the old historical buildings of course, but in alleys between newer buildings it can really liven it up, make it seem less scary.

Downtown Disney

When Anne and I woke up on Friday snow had settled on the ground in New York so we were careful when driving. Anne was kind enough to drive me to the airport for my flight down to Orlando, it was really sad to say goodbye, but at the same time I was glad to finally be going to the heat and sunshine, I just wish Anne could have come with me.

After I got settled in at my hotel I headed to Downtown Disney, I just wandered around window shopping and looking for a birthday gift for my dad's wife, which I finally managed to find.

I liked all the different stores they had, although I think it's a bit annoying that they don't have a normal grocery store so you can buy some proper food. You have to either bring your own or live on junk food while you're there. I guess it's easier if you have your own car though, that way you can just drive to a grocery store. Anne had offered to give me the rest of the food we had in New York, but I didn't take it as I figured they must have some proper food.... Nope!

Since it was late by the time I arrived I didn't spend too long in Downtown Disney. It was mostly just souvenir stores and restaurants there and I guess it's the only place to go out for a few drinks in the evening if you want to do that. They have an all year Christmas store there that kind of made me wish I had gone closer to Christmas so I could do some shopping there.

Broadway Hotel & Hostel

With a name like Broadway I though it would be pricey, but that is where Anne and I stayed while we explored New York and Washington DC and it was quite cheap.

Broadway Hotel & Hostel is located really close to Central park, as well as a subway station, so it was nice and easy to get places. Anne said that they advertise free parking on their page, but you basically just have to be lucky enough to find an available spot outside, they don't have anything reserved for their guests or anything.

On their web page, and when we arrived, they said that the WiFi is only available in the hotel lobby, we were lucky though and got a room on the second floor right above the lobby so we managed to connect from out room.

We had to go out into the hallway to use the bathroom as it was a shared one, but it was a proper bathroom, not those stalls you get in most hostels, and there seemed to be several down the hallway so we didn't get loads of people knocking on the door trying to get in while we were in there. They could have gotten some pegs and maybe a shelf to put stuff on in the bathroom though, as it was I had to put everything on the toilet seat while I was having a shower. I also think the shower was on a timer as the water would go cold after a while. Good think I don't spend a long time in the shower anyway.

The room was quite cold, it felt like the window was open even when it was closed, luckily the beds had nice thick duvets as well as blankets so I didn't wake up at night because I was cold.


There was a sink and mirror in the room, but because of the placement you couldn't really get enough light to use the mirror to put make-up on or anything.

Some famous sights and a Broadway show!

Anne and I started Wednesday with a harbour cruise. We thought we would be there in plenty of time but once we got off the Subway we noticed that the park was closed so we couldn't go straight through it they way it said on our instructions. As for the rest of the instructions: "Terminal is located behind so-and-so castle"... - we are both tourists! How are we supposed to know what so-and-so castle looks like or where it is? It didn't say anything about it on the map I had. We did find the terminal in the end though, we were cutting it close so we ran the last hundred meters or so, which is fine, we probably needed the little run after all the holiday food.

The cruise was good. The weather wasn't so good though, it was really cold, I wish I had brought my fleece jacket with me from Norway. I wanted to just sit inside the boat as it was nice and warm there, but to see as much as possible and to get the best pictures, I had to stand outside. On the cruise we saw the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island (unfortunately both were closed), Brooklyn Bridge and of course we also got a wonderful view of New York City.

We needed to warm up after the harbour cruise so we went inside the National Museum of the American Indian. There was so much to see there, beautiful clothes and art. After we had warmed up in the museum we headed over to the Empire State building. Some guy outside it, wearing an orange jumper tried to trick us into buying tickets for over $40, luckily Anne knew that we only had to pay $25 to get up, the over $40 was to get to an ever higher floor (102nd), but we were both happy with the lookout on the 86th floor. I bet the view is great on a clear day, but I though the view was pretty great even though it was cloudy.

You can even see the statue of liberty if you look closely!

The next, and last, stop before heading to Broadway was Flat iron building, it was really cool to see it with my own eyes, I've seen it a lot on pictures and TV but it's a whole other thing to stand in front of it and see it yourself!

Before heading to Broadway we went back to the hotel and got prettied up, then we took the Subway to Times Square to hunt down a place to have dinner before our show. We ended up at a place right across the Majestic called Jekyll and Hyde, both Anne and I had never heard of it before but I wish we had! If we had know what it was all about we would have gotten there earlier to enjoy it more! It was so funny, it was kind of a show in  a scary Gothic setting, it was just loads of fun really! I will have to go there again if I go back to New York! 

The show we went to see at the Majestic, after a rather stressed dinner, was Phantom of the Opera. I saw the movie several years ago and remember I loved it, and I love the music from it. The show was absolutely amazing! We got cheap tickets so we were sat in the back, which was fine, the only annoying thing about it was the people sat in front of me, they kept moving and blocking my view. It would be nice to treat myself to better seats if I go again, but they are SO expensive!

All in all a very successful visit to NYC. It was short but I got to see everything I really wanted to see, it would have been nice to have a day extra to do some window shopping and actual shopping but at least this way we saved money. I shouldn't be shopping too much anyway since I have to pack even more for when I move back to the UK!

Have you been to a Broadway Show? Which one and what did you think?

New York, New York!

On Tuesday Anne and I headed to South Street Diner in Boston for breakfast before we drove to New York City. Trying to find parking in Boston is so hard that I think both of us entertained the idea of just skipping it and driving straight down to New York, in the end we just had to pay to park in a parking garage, which was ridiculously expensive! I'm really glad we went to the diner though as I've wanted to go to a proper old fashion Diner for a long time, it's just so typical american! The food was really nice as well.

After breakfast we drove to New York, the drive there was nice, it seemed a lot shorter than it was as we just kept talking the whole time. When we got to New York we got lucky and found a spot right outside the hotel, so at least we didn't have to spend hours searching for a spot there as well.

The hotel we stayed at is really close to Central Park, so after we had taken up our suitcases we decided to walk to and through Central Park. The park is beautiful! It's kind of nice now in the winter that you can see the city through the empty branches and I can imagine it's really nice in the summer when the city disappears behind all the leaves, and it's probably beautiful in the autumn when the leaves are all orange, red and yellow.

There is a castle in the middle of the park, I think it's called Belvedere Castle, it's just a lookout and a weather station, I think it's really nice that someone built this really pretty building instead of just a plain platform.

At the bandshell there was a street artist blowing huge bubbles! It was quite exciting to watch how big the bubbles would get before they burst. The Central Park Zoo was closed by the time we got there, I don't think I would have gone in it anyway, but we did see a cool sea lion posing for everyone that walked by the Zoo.

When we got out of the Zoo we continued walking east down 60th Street until we got to 3rd avenue, the goal was Dylan's Candy Bar. 2 floors of sweets and one extra floor which is an actual bar and also ice cream place. I don't know how long we spent in there, but I think we both wanted to spend much more money there than what we did. Definitely a place to visit if you're in New York.

After we had bought more sweets than we should, but less than we wanted, we headed back to 5th avenue and continued south past all the super expensive stores until we found the Rockefeller Centre. We took a few pictures at the Rockefeller Centre before heading to Times Square where we got out faces on the big screen and then we took the subway back to the hotel.

At least all the walking we did burned some of the sweets from Dylan's off...

Exploring Salem

Anne picked up the rental car we will use to get to New York and DC today and we headed up to Salem in it for the day. Nathan couldn't come as he was working, but suddenly we got a text saying he managed to finish early and he'd meet us in Salem. It was really cold today, but in a way I think Salem is one of those places it's nice to go in the winter, just because the bare trees adds a little to the charm, makes it look a little more "creepy", unfortunately a lot of the places doesn't open until April!

Before Nathan showed up Anne and I took a tour of the House of the Seven Gables. I actually didn't realize it is a book as well, I will have to try and read it now. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside. It was kind of like the Newport Mansions, but in a much smaller scale, and without all the marble. Inside the house we actually got to go up a very narrow secret staircase! I've wanted to go up a secret staircase for years so I can now tick that off my list of things to do, although I guess it isn't really secret  when everybody knows about it. It was fun to walk inside the house as you could tell it was old because the floor wasn't flat any more. I would definitely recommend taking a tour of the house if you're ever in Salem.

After the house we met up with Nathan and ate some lunch that Anne had packed, before we saw the "Friendship of Salem", which is an old ship, we didn't get to go aboard though as it was closed. We then went to the Salem Witch Museum, pictures inside there also wasn't allowed. It was basically a story about how the Salem Witch trials started and then a small guided tour about the different types of witches and the story behind them.

I'm not really sure what I expected when I went to Salem, especially as I try not to have expectations, but it didn't quite look the way I though, but that's probably just because we didn't go to the places that have been on TV and stuff though. I still really liked it! Before we had dinner and headed back to Boston we checked out the Bewitched statue.

I am a little sad to be leaving Boston, but I am also looking forward to exploring New York in the coming days!

First few hours in the USA

So I am currently on US soil! Arrived yesterday.

The plane over was fine. I flew with SAS. One thing I didn't like though was that I couldn't choose when to start a movie on the screen in the seat back in front of me, I had to just hope to be lucky and get the start of a movie if I wanted to watch, which is a shame because there was a lot of movies that I would have wanted to see! But I just read a book instead, and finished it. Apparently you only need about 7 hours to read "The Lucky One" by Nicolas Sparks. Good book.

We had to stop in Newark to go through customs and immigration. I only had about 2 and a half hours there so I was really nervous that I wouldn't make my next flight, there was no clock on the wall and you weren't allowed to turn your cellphone on, which  I think was a bit silly... I mean, if you have to stand in line for an hour and a half you should at least be allowed to turn your cellphone on so that you can tell people you might be late, or play games on it to make time pass.... I did see the New York skyline from the queue though, which was amazing!

When I finally made it through the immigration line I had to get my suitcase out and check it back in, which no one had told me about but there wasn't really any other choice at that terminal and it was quick and easy. Then I had to change terminals, walk through security again and then find my gate. Luckily everything after immigration was quick and easy, and I made my flight with like maybe 15 minutes to spare, I had time to nip to the toilet before I got on. But I didn't like having to stress so much, I was only just starting to relax as we were landing in Boston.

My suggestion if you have a lay-by, or whatever it's called, in America when coming from a different country, make sure you have at least 3 hours just so you don't have to stress!

When I landed in Boston I had to go to a different terminal than the one I landed in to get some dollars, it wasn't too bad though as the next terminal was within walking distance of the one I landed in.

I hopped in a taxi, had to pay $7.50 for tolls plus the regular fare but it was fine, and arrived at my hotel.

Yellow school bus!!!

I had some time to freshen up before meeting with my friend Anne which was really nice as I felt all yucky from the plane.

Now, my friend Anne.... We've known each other for about 10 years but we'd never met until last night! It was really weird to meet her face to face. One thing was that even though I've never really imagined what I thought she sounds like it was really strange to finally hear her voice!! After a short while though it was as if we were just having a catch-up and that it was completely normal for us to meet up. I'm looking forward to hanging out with her even more. Although we talked so much my throat is sore!

We went to this restaurant called FiRE+iCE, you just choose the food (pasta, veggies and meat) that you want and they cook it right in front of you! It was really tasty! Only minus is that the music was so loud we had to constantly shout to hear each other. I can understand why the music would be loud downstairs in the bar area, but upstairs in the dining are I think they should have turned it down a little bit.

Because it was quite late once we finished dinner (especially when I'd been flying for so long just following the sun) we just arranged where to meet later today before I headed back to the hotel and went to bed.

I'm looking forward to exploring more of Boston now in the daylight!

The shortest month of the year will seem like the longest.

Only 1 month left until my American Adventure!! I am so excited!

I bet I will be dead tired when I land in Boston, but I will do the same as I did when I went to Australia and stay awake until night-time. I didn't get jet-lagged then so I hope it works this time as well, at least the flight isn't as long! It will be strange to fly "back in time" though, I've only done that when flying to the UK but that's only 1 hour difference so it's not really noticeable.

I will be starting my adventure in Boston, where I am meeting my friend Anne and maybe my friend Jan. We will spend a few days exploring Boston, Salem and Maine before heading down to New York. I am really looking forward to it all, especially Salem as I have been wanting to visit the town since I learned about it's history with all the witch trials.

New York will be amazing as well, we're spending a day and a half there. I have seen it on TV plenty of times, but when it comes to imagining myself actually being there I draw a blank. There is so much I want to see, and we're even going to a Broadway show! I'm excited to find out what I feel about the city, I'm not one for big busy cities so it will be interesting to see if I find it too busy or not. Maybe I'll love it and want to go back? I am anyway really looking forward to seeing it.

The day before I fly down to Orlando the plan is to go to Washington DC, I love the thought of going to the capitol of the United States, just like I did in Australia. I've not really thought a lot about what I want to see in DC other than the White House and the Washington Monument, but it looks like a pretty city from what I've seen on TV.

Orlando... I'm just so excited! My friend Mat was in Oslo for a couple of days this week and I mentioned that it would be really cool if she was going with me, and now she's actually going to look into coming! It would be amazing if she could come but I think it will be magical on my own as well. I've also got a friend who works at the Hilton down there that I haven't seen in a few years so it would be really cool if I could meet up with her.

I arrive late afternoon/early evening to Orlando but apparently the Downtown Disney Area and Disney BoardWalk is open quite late, so I think I might explore those the day I arrive as the other days I'll be busy walking around the parks.

There'll be plenty of walking on my holiday so I think the main thing to remember to pack is some good shoes!

Has anyone been to any of the places I'm going? What did you think? Any suggestions as to what I should see/do?

One step taken...

I just booked my return flights to the US and my ticket to Orlando!!! It's quite scary! I'll need to transfer some of my saving into my account before I can book anything more though like a place to stay in Boston and tickets from NYC to Orlando. Anybody know the cheapest way to get there by the way? Plane?

I'm so excited!!

I was going to have a meeting with the store manager today but he pushed it back until tomorrow, about what I don't know, but I will tell him that I'll be resigning soon at the meeting. I'm both dreading and looking forward to telling him when I'll be resigning. My work hasn't been the best lately, that's what I think anyway. I think it's because all I can think of is getting back to the UK. And visiting the US of course.

Right before I booked my tickets I also made some enquiries about a place to stay in the UK. I sent a message to my friend if his offer to let me one of the rooms in his house was still standing, and if not if he knew anyone else that was letting rooms. So hopefully it won't take to long before he replies. I know from last time I moved to England how difficult it is to find a place to live and a job while I'm still in Norway. Before I became an au pair I was trying to just get a "normal" job, but it proved too difficult when I was still in Norway. However, I didn't know anyone in the UK back then, except for my friend who was studying in Wales, so it might be easier now.

It's a bit scary to think about all the things I still have to do both for my holiday and my move, I kind of just want someone else to do it so I don't have to deal with it, but at the same time it's quite exciting.

I can't wait for my new adventures this year!

The wheels are in motion...

2013 has started and I want to start living the life I want.

I have been looking at tickets to America and Disney World, there is a big sale on at one of the airlines in Norway so I can get cheap flight tickets. There is also a sale on at Disney World, it's still expensive but I think I know the dates I want to go. There is a big chance I'll book it all when I get paid tomorrow.

I still really want to do the road-trip with my friend but after looking at the prices a bit more I will have to save up for so much longer, and I'm just not able to wait any longer. After my boss told me I don't have to worry about staying on for a whole year I can't stop thinking about the US and the UK.

I am going to hand in my resignation in not too long and when I'm finished at work I'll take a flight to Boston where I will stay for a few days and hopefully see my friend, while I'm there I also want to visit Salem. New York is next on the list for a few days just to see the sights, maybe my friend will be able to take a few days off work and we can do that together.

After New York I will fly to Orlando and stay there for a few days. I have a friend there as well that just got engaged so I'm hoping to visit her, as I haven't seen her in a few years and after Orlando I'm going home.

I won't see as much as the US as I first planned, but I will be able to spend a longer time at each place to explore and make it a bit more relaxing. I will just have to go back later to see more of it. I would love to experience some of the major holidays in America, everything is so big over there! But it will have to be another time.

When I get back I'll give myself a week or so pack and sort my things out and then hopefully move straight to England. I just hope my mate still has an available room I can rent and that it won't take too long before I find a job. Of course I hope I still have enough cash left after America to be able to do this. I did think I could just take a holiday at work to go to America and then wait a month or two before I move to England, but I just can't wait any more!

It's scary, I have no idea what I want to work with, and I really would like to start on a career, but I guess I will just have to take whatever I can get in the beginning and then see what happens.

Paris - Day 4. The Statue of Liberty

On Sunday I had an afternoon flight back home and I didn't need to check out of the hostel before noon. J had caught an early train to Switzerland. To kill some time I went for a little walk around Paris. I also wanted to check if they had stocked up the stamp machine at the Eiffel tower so that I could send some postcards, but no such luck.

I would love to come back to Paris. It's such a beautiful city and there is so much left to see and do. Like Rome it has loads of old buildings, but unlike Rome the streets are really wide and open. Except for Montmartre and at the big tourist attractions I didn't feel like the streets were crowded with tourists at all. Paris is a great city to walk everywhere in, there is so much to look at, but the public transpot system is great as well. Even when one line of the metro was closed I could always get where I wanted just by hopping on another one.

When I was on the Metro to get back to the hostel to get my luggage and check out, I saw the Statue of Liberty while the Metro was on a bridge over the Seine!! I had totally forgot that France of course had it's own statue of Liberty. It's much much smaller than the one in New York, but it's the first one I've seen with my own eyes. I just had to get off the Metro and see it up close.

The statue is on a cute narrow man-made pedestrian island in the middle of the Seine, Île aux Cygnes. Unfortunately I had to rush to the other end of it to see the statue, but I wish I had had some time to just leisurely stroll down it, it was lovely and there was hardly any people there. I think the few people that were walking were locals, nobody looked like a typical tourist anyway.

The very end where the statue was standing was closed off, it looked like there was some work going on there, so it will probably be possible to walk there in the future, but I still managed to get quite close to it. It was really cool to see it up close, it was almost more special because it's not the one everybody talks about, but it's also not the original one that apparently stands in the Jardin du Luxembourg. The one I saw is from 1889, and it's been used in the movie National treasure; Book of Secrets (isn't Google great?! Apparently there is heaps of Replicas of the Statue all over the world).

I am really looking forward to seeing the big one in New York next year though!