Connie's catch up.

Boston …

I’ve complained about the cold temperatures throughout our holiday, well, Boston’s icy winds have given a new meaning to the word ‘numb’. Boston sits right on the east coast of the US, approximately 350kms north east of New York city.

Boston is ‘London-like’ in it’s architectural design, quite beautiful with stone facades and iron external balustrading around snow-covered courtyards. Everything is very well maintained and I have a feeling Bostonians are proud of their city. I think also, this city is filled with old money and well-to-doers!

Boston seems very relaxed and if it weren’t for the extremely cold weather (no such thing as global warming here!) it’s a very pretty place with parks, ice rinks and a lot of open spaces.


Rochester, Upstate New York …

We had lots of fun in Spencerport, a subdivision (suburb) of Rochester. The city of Rochester itself is now (unfortunately) a run down, lawless and deliquent city.

Here we met up with my half-cousins (we share a grandfather) and we all hit it off big time. By the time we left, we felt we’d known these wonderful Americans our whole lives. They treated us like long-lost friends, spending every waking moment together. They treated us to typical American cuisine (not for the faint hearted), ribs, pancakes, bagels, hotdogs, and plenty more.

During our short stay (we could have easily stayed longer), we spent a lot of time catching up on family history, politics and religion. Dave, an ex NYC cop entertained us with wild stories from past working days (now retired and only in his fifties, lucky bastard). Oh, and parents were also a regular topic discussion.

Angie and Stefan, Rosie and David, and their great kids top the list of memorable moments of our holidays. They’ve promised to visit Australia some time soon.

Rochester

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls was a short drive north from Rochester, right on the Canadian border. In fact, you’re able to view the falls from either side, but were told, it’s a must from the Canadian side.

I suspect this place would be spectacular during the summer, however, during this winter period, the place had this eerie and mysterious feel about it. The falls themselves were misty (like dry-ice misty) with cascading falls, littered with great big chunks of ice. At the base of the falls, approximately thirty metres from the base, massive ice/snow slas covered the river from bank to bank.

Niagra and Westaland

Bye for now from Connie.