Summary from Jonathan
During our Holiday, there were 5 really good things that we managed to do, These things being Disney World Parks - I really enjoyed all of the parks because they are so different and fun at the same time.
Kennedy Space center - It was a really good educational place, featuring a mind blowing IMAX film and some other brain benders - robots in outer space, the vehicles that launched Gemini, Mercury, and Apollo Spacecraft.
Flying in the Airbus A380 - It was a really luxurious ride, the TV screens were good - the selection of movies, games (yes pong included), and a "Sky cam" (a camera built into the tail of the A380 allowing you to view the aircraft, atmosphere and airport around you).
The Washington Monument and Reflection pool area - a great place full of information on Abraham Lincoln, The Civil War and World War 2. The Washington Monument provided an excellent view of Washington DC and in turn provided lots of History on George Washington and the Monument itself.
DC by Foot tours - These walking tours were a great way of learning yet more history on Washington DC, the monuments and dedications. We took 2 tours, one being The Washington Tour which was all about the memorials around the DC area, the second tour being the tour of The assassination of Abraham Lincoln. This tour was tracing the steps of Abraham and his family, and the Important figures of the assassination right up until the final moment - a really good tour - an absolute must do.
Summary from Nick
A very full on holiday however when you travel all that distance there is no sense sitting in a hotel because you feel tired. The whole holiday was great however some things stood out for different reasons.
The immense size of the Mt Rushmore project was one standout. How the sculptor was able to create the fantastic portraits in the montain side with a team of people working with jackhammers is beyond understanding. The whole area was interesting with various Mountainous Structures such as the Devil's Tower and the Needles Highway being very unusual.
In Florida, NASA for me is just so interesting. While Disney World cannot be dismissed as it just fabulous, the lure of the Roller Coasters is not there as it is for Jonathan.
Washington just has so many great Museums and Monuments steeped in history. I learnt so many new things on this trip even having visited some of the same landmarks before. A small fact was Lincoln.s hands on the chair may show happy and solemn. Just so intersting all of it.
I think the whole holiday was a great break and combined fun for Jonathan and education.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Day 23
Sydney - Gold Coast
Once again, a good nights' sleep then we were up to have showers and head off again to Sydney International
Airport for our flight between Sydney and Brisbane. Ye, we were on an international flight bound for Manila, Philippines with a stopover in Brisbane. we were pleased that we were on an international leg as it allowed for us to go the international Qantas Club (which is much better than the domestic Qantas Club) where we had a yummy breakfast of egg and bacon panninis, champers and oj, apple turnovers, croissants and cappucino's.
Had "nana nap" on the flight and arrived refreshed in Brisbane. But alas, our trip was about to end and we
had another "mishap". Whilst going through Sydney security, I was selected for a random search and was pulled away from Nick and Jonathan for a "pat down" body search (shouldn't have worn a jacket!!) and whilst I was being searched Nick and Jonathan placed all our belongings on a couple of chairs. When we met up again, none of us realised that Jonathan did not have his "man bag" with him and we didn't realise until we were getting off the plane in Brisbane. Long story short - security have located the bag for us and now we just have to make arrangements to retrieve it!
We caught the train from Brisbane airport to Varsity Lakes train station at the bottom of our street and caught a taxi home. Everything looked lovely and green as we apparently received a lot of rain whilst we were away.
It was good to be home, Simon and Verity had looked after our house and Scooter extremely well and they were now on their way to Tuscany for their 6 month + home stay in Italy. Lucky ducks!
Once again, a good nights' sleep then we were up to have showers and head off again to Sydney International
Airport for our flight between Sydney and Brisbane. Ye, we were on an international flight bound for Manila, Philippines with a stopover in Brisbane. we were pleased that we were on an international leg as it allowed for us to go the international Qantas Club (which is much better than the domestic Qantas Club) where we had a yummy breakfast of egg and bacon panninis, champers and oj, apple turnovers, croissants and cappucino's.
Had "nana nap" on the flight and arrived refreshed in Brisbane. But alas, our trip was about to end and we
had another "mishap". Whilst going through Sydney security, I was selected for a random search and was pulled away from Nick and Jonathan for a "pat down" body search (shouldn't have worn a jacket!!) and whilst I was being searched Nick and Jonathan placed all our belongings on a couple of chairs. When we met up again, none of us realised that Jonathan did not have his "man bag" with him and we didn't realise until we were getting off the plane in Brisbane. Long story short - security have located the bag for us and now we just have to make arrangements to retrieve it!
We caught the train from Brisbane airport to Varsity Lakes train station at the bottom of our street and caught a taxi home. Everything looked lovely and green as we apparently received a lot of rain whilst we were away.
It was good to be home, Simon and Verity had looked after our house and Scooter extremely well and they were now on their way to Tuscany for their 6 month + home stay in Italy. Lucky ducks!
Day 22
London to Sydney
Well, we had a three hour lay-over in London, just enough time to enjoy breakfast of fresh fruits, croissants,
chocolate croissants etc in the BA/Qantas combined club lounge. We really enjoyed freshening up by having
lengthy showers and then having a couple of cappucinos before boarding our Qantas A380 flight to Sydney. We have all been waiting for the day to fly in an A380 so we are quite excited about our pending flight!
First impressions of the A380 is that it is BIG! I think because there is a lot of room to the ceiling that
it creates a feeling of being plenty of space in this aircraft. I found the seats are better than other economy seats no matter whether it may be Qantas, Singapore etc. There is a fair amount of legroom and it certainly helps to have the foot rest. The incline of the seat is also much better than other economy seats - it was easier to fall off to sleep (and this leg we only had one seat each!). On-board food was just fab - we were given plenty of meals and snacks and they seemed better than other economy airline food. Also, they have a "snack area" at the rear of the plane and you can help yourself to drinks and snack food at any time during your flight. I found the A380 flight to be much better than other economy flights and would definitely try to fly on an A380 rather than a 747 or any of the other airbuses.
We had a quick stop-over in Singapore - just under an hour and just enough time to once again visit the Qantas Club. Back on-board for the final leg of the A380 flight into Sydney. Can't believe how quiet this
aircraft is especially on descent (almost feels like you are gliding!).
Another wee sleep between Singapore and Sydney and we were amazed that we were not over-tired. I guess that will come over the next days! Upon arriving in Sydney, Jonathan was invited by one of the Qantas crew to join the Captain and First Officer up on the Flight Deck. He jumped at the chance - he has been on many
flight decks on other aircraft but never thought he would see inside the flight deck on the A380! Luckily,
they took pity on Nick and myself and they allowed us to view Jonathan in the captain seat and to take some
photos. The flight deck was amazing - so many dials for the pilots to view! We also saw the captains'
sleeping quarters and where they had their meals etc - what luxury!
A slight mishap with one of our bags upon arrival which we reported to Qantas baggage services and then we
took the hotel shuttle bus to the Ibis Airport Hotel and settled down quickly for 10 hours sleep.
Well, we had a three hour lay-over in London, just enough time to enjoy breakfast of fresh fruits, croissants,
chocolate croissants etc in the BA/Qantas combined club lounge. We really enjoyed freshening up by having
lengthy showers and then having a couple of cappucinos before boarding our Qantas A380 flight to Sydney. We have all been waiting for the day to fly in an A380 so we are quite excited about our pending flight!
First impressions of the A380 is that it is BIG! I think because there is a lot of room to the ceiling that
it creates a feeling of being plenty of space in this aircraft. I found the seats are better than other economy seats no matter whether it may be Qantas, Singapore etc. There is a fair amount of legroom and it certainly helps to have the foot rest. The incline of the seat is also much better than other economy seats - it was easier to fall off to sleep (and this leg we only had one seat each!). On-board food was just fab - we were given plenty of meals and snacks and they seemed better than other economy airline food. Also, they have a "snack area" at the rear of the plane and you can help yourself to drinks and snack food at any time during your flight. I found the A380 flight to be much better than other economy flights and would definitely try to fly on an A380 rather than a 747 or any of the other airbuses.
We had a quick stop-over in Singapore - just under an hour and just enough time to once again visit the Qantas Club. Back on-board for the final leg of the A380 flight into Sydney. Can't believe how quiet this
aircraft is especially on descent (almost feels like you are gliding!).
Another wee sleep between Singapore and Sydney and we were amazed that we were not over-tired. I guess that will come over the next days! Upon arriving in Sydney, Jonathan was invited by one of the Qantas crew to join the Captain and First Officer up on the Flight Deck. He jumped at the chance - he has been on many
flight decks on other aircraft but never thought he would see inside the flight deck on the A380! Luckily,
they took pity on Nick and myself and they allowed us to view Jonathan in the captain seat and to take some
photos. The flight deck was amazing - so many dials for the pilots to view! We also saw the captains'
sleeping quarters and where they had their meals etc - what luxury!
A slight mishap with one of our bags upon arrival which we reported to Qantas baggage services and then we
took the hotel shuttle bus to the Ibis Airport Hotel and settled down quickly for 10 hours sleep.
Day 21
Washington-London
Our last day in Washington found us all very weary and we unanimously decided not to sightsee again today but to rest around the hotel, do a bit of laundry and do some last minute shopping at the shopping centres across the road from our hotel. I think it was a wise choice as we were all fairly "flat" from all the walking we have done in Washington over the last week. We received a late check-out at our hotel which was extremely
handy, went shopping but didn't purchase anything and then set out by Metro train and bus to Dulles Airport.
We had an uneventful and speedy trip to the airport together with speedy security checks etc. We can now say with certainty that LA Airport is the only airport that we have experienced lengthy and inexperienced security "hold-ups" as everywhere that we have travelled during this trip we have not experienced any problems or delays with checking in or with security. I think in future you may even try to fly into San Francisco just to avoid the security delays in LA!
We had a lovely visit to the British Airways "Club" in Washington as we were flying with BA to London. BA Clubs are always fantastically stocked with wonderful food unlike Qantas and American Airlines who seem to serve more processed food rather than freshly made sandwiches etc. We really pigged out on the food and then boarded our flight. Luckily had 6 seats between us to share so we were able to spread out and settle in
for a good sleep! All in all, a very good flight, we arrived 5 minutes early even though we had circled London for nearly 20 minutes. Only complaint was a bumpy landing but everything else wonderful!
Our last day in Washington found us all very weary and we unanimously decided not to sightsee again today but to rest around the hotel, do a bit of laundry and do some last minute shopping at the shopping centres across the road from our hotel. I think it was a wise choice as we were all fairly "flat" from all the walking we have done in Washington over the last week. We received a late check-out at our hotel which was extremely
handy, went shopping but didn't purchase anything and then set out by Metro train and bus to Dulles Airport.
We had an uneventful and speedy trip to the airport together with speedy security checks etc. We can now say with certainty that LA Airport is the only airport that we have experienced lengthy and inexperienced security "hold-ups" as everywhere that we have travelled during this trip we have not experienced any problems or delays with checking in or with security. I think in future you may even try to fly into San Francisco just to avoid the security delays in LA!
We had a lovely visit to the British Airways "Club" in Washington as we were flying with BA to London. BA Clubs are always fantastically stocked with wonderful food unlike Qantas and American Airlines who seem to serve more processed food rather than freshly made sandwiches etc. We really pigged out on the food and then boarded our flight. Luckily had 6 seats between us to share so we were able to spread out and settle in
for a good sleep! All in all, a very good flight, we arrived 5 minutes early even though we had circled London for nearly 20 minutes. Only complaint was a bumpy landing but everything else wonderful!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Day 20
Crime and Punishment Museum
We had a bit of a sleep in this morning as it is very tiring all this sightseeing! We had a fantastic day at the Crime and Punishment Museum starting with the crimes and punishments set back in the middle ages and continuing to modern times. They even shoot the show "America's Most Wanted" in this building and we looked in at their studio but there was no taping going on.
We did a quick trip after that to the Air and Space Smithsonian and Jonathan just loved all the planes that you never get to see. It really is magnificient.
After that an early night, with a huge meal at the Cheesecake factory and off to bed. Tomorrow we start the trip home via London which sounds like the long way but we get on the A380.
We had a bit of a sleep in this morning as it is very tiring all this sightseeing! We had a fantastic day at the Crime and Punishment Museum starting with the crimes and punishments set back in the middle ages and continuing to modern times. They even shoot the show "America's Most Wanted" in this building and we looked in at their studio but there was no taping going on.
We did a quick trip after that to the Air and Space Smithsonian and Jonathan just loved all the planes that you never get to see. It really is magnificient.
After that an early night, with a huge meal at the Cheesecake factory and off to bed. Tomorrow we start the trip home via London which sounds like the long way but we get on the A380.
Day 19
Forde's Theatre
Off as early as we could to catch a tour of Forde's Theatre. We got jammed up on the Metro and arrived a bit late for the tour. Not to worry, they kindly fitted us in on the next our and as they were about to close the theatre we went straight there.
After a good look around the theatre and the exact place where Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth, (this section is not usually available to the public so we took plenty of photos),we went downstairs to the basement which had been turned into a magnificient museum. There were many absolutely amazing coincidences with Abe's and JFK's assassination and we bought a plaque stating the similarities. We also were able to see the tiny gun that Booth used to kill Lincoln and a blood stained pillow that was placed under
Lincoln's head whilst he was unconscious and dying.
We then walked across the road to Peterson's Boarding House which was where Lincoln was moved to after being shot. We saw the room and the bed that he actually died in! Again, we were extremely lucky as we were the last visitors to be allowed into the Peterson Boarding House as it was closing for renovations!
Later in the afternoon we took a walk to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial - and once again we were amazed with the opulence of such a beautiful memorial building.
That night we had our "Lincoln Assassination" tour with DC by Foot and Chris was our tour guide. Between
Jonathan and Chris I don't think that we missed out on any information regarding Lincoln's assassination! Chris was very kind to us after the tour and took us Aussies to behind Ford's Theatre to show us the exit door that Booth had used and showed us his escape route by horse that fateful night. It was a thoroughly enjoyable tour.
Off as early as we could to catch a tour of Forde's Theatre. We got jammed up on the Metro and arrived a bit late for the tour. Not to worry, they kindly fitted us in on the next our and as they were about to close the theatre we went straight there.
After a good look around the theatre and the exact place where Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth, (this section is not usually available to the public so we took plenty of photos),we went downstairs to the basement which had been turned into a magnificient museum. There were many absolutely amazing coincidences with Abe's and JFK's assassination and we bought a plaque stating the similarities. We also were able to see the tiny gun that Booth used to kill Lincoln and a blood stained pillow that was placed under
We then walked across the road to Peterson's Boarding House which was where Lincoln was moved to after being shot. We saw the room and the bed that he actually died in! Again, we were extremely lucky as we were the last visitors to be allowed into the Peterson Boarding House as it was closing for renovations!
Later in the afternoon we took a walk to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial - and once again we were amazed with the opulence of such a beautiful memorial building.
That night we had our "Lincoln Assassination" tour with DC by Foot and Chris was our tour guide. Between
Jonathan and Chris I don't think that we missed out on any information regarding Lincoln's assassination! Chris was very kind to us after the tour and took us Aussies to behind Ford's Theatre to show us the exit door that Booth had used and showed us his escape route by horse that fateful night. It was a thoroughly enjoyable tour.
Day 18
Mt Vernon
We were up at 7am to be ready to head out at 8.30am for our trip out to Mt Vernon - the estate home of George Washington, America's first President.
We firstly watched two short films about George Washington's life and his achievemnts. Next we walked around his vast estate which comprised of five farms. When he first married his wife Martha her only had 50 slaves but amassed over 360 slaves at the time of his dath. Washington was Commander of the American Army before becoming President and he was also an extremely successful gentleman farmer and he loved new technology.
We also did the "National Treaure 2" tour and we had a fabulous guide named Lori who showed us many places throughout the estate which we "out of bounds" to the general public and also showed us the many "flaws" with the National Treasure 2" movie which had been shot mainly at the estate. It was a great tour and Lori made it extremely memorable for us.
We went on the Potomac River cruise whilst at Mt Vernon but we ran out of time to visit the Gristmill which is a milland and distillery (we were informed that ther were no free alcholic samples!). We were back late to the hotel, we were all really tired and feeling the effects of all the sightseeing that this wonderful city has to offer.
We were up at 7am to be ready to head out at 8.30am for our trip out to Mt Vernon - the estate home of George Washington, America's first President.
We firstly watched two short films about George Washington's life and his achievemnts. Next we walked around his vast estate which comprised of five farms. When he first married his wife Martha her only had 50 slaves but amassed over 360 slaves at the time of his dath. Washington was Commander of the American Army before becoming President and he was also an extremely successful gentleman farmer and he loved new technology.
We also did the "National Treaure 2" tour and we had a fabulous guide named Lori who showed us many places throughout the estate which we "out of bounds" to the general public and also showed us the many "flaws" with the National Treasure 2" movie which had been shot mainly at the estate. It was a great tour and Lori made it extremely memorable for us.
We went on the Potomac River cruise whilst at Mt Vernon but we ran out of time to visit the Gristmill which is a milland and distillery (we were informed that ther were no free alcholic samples!). We were back late to the hotel, we were all really tired and feeling the effects of all the sightseeing that this wonderful city has to offer.
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