STATUE OF LIBERTY

The trip to the island was something I missed out on last time I was here, so it was something I had to cross off the list. It’s what you expect, but since 911, you have to reserve passes to go to top of the statue at least 2 weeks prior, so obviously since we were unaware, we missed out.

TIMES SQUARE

Everytime we left our hotel, and on return, we ventured past this total suspension of reality.

NYC

This time round, we decided to meet in New York …. occasion …my birthday.
I booked a hotel in the centre of NYC, Times Square, and Pamela flew in Friday night, giving us all day Saturday and Sunday to explore Manhattan and the regular touristy spots (the line up for Empire State Building was too long, so we did the Top of the Rocks, Rockerfella Center where the view was just as spectacular .... but without a wait).
The weather was great (we both got sun burned), which is a change for Pamela …. The sun hasn’t come out in London since last summer! … and then on Monday, it changed with a continual downpour … so we got very lucky to have a fantastic weekend.
We booked a 48hour double-decked bus tour tickets … and used this as our major transport …. So we saw a lot of NYC, with the Night Tour being our favourite.
The bottom photo is us posing with new sunglasses … we bought each other some new sunnies … very glamorous.

SAD NEWS

It is with sadness that I announce .... the Nugget has been sold!
Last week we decided that there was no point keeping the car in storage for another year, and that we should try to sell it.... my parents probably will not be back in Europe next year, and I would like to see more of western Europe (Spain, Portugal, France, etc), so Im not planning on returning to Poland in 2008 either ... (by the time I've done all the trips this year, I will have spent nearly a month in Poland) .... so the Nugget would just sit there gathering rust.

It was my suggestion to put some fliers on it, and park it near the market, and try to see the respose over next month, while mum and dad are still there.
We figured that if there was no interest, we would scrap it (which would cost us approx PLN 400), a very common practice in Poland .... remember, there are nearly 2million cars imported into Poland (from the west) every year, so as far as 10-year-plus cars go, you cant even sell them to dealers .... there is such a surplus.

What surprised us was the response .... 12 phone calls the first day, with a hand shake to seal the deal.....Maybe we sold it too cheap (PLN 1350, approx A$600), but the alternative would be to pay for scrapping it, or keep it another year with all admin costs, repairs, and storage (approx PLN 1500 per year).
Jurek could not believe how quickly it went (nor can I), and thought it was a good price (remember we paid PLN 2,500 a year ago) .... and considering that we used the car for 20,000km over past 12months, I think we did well.

HOLOCAUST MUSEUM

When I was here in 2003, this was under construction, and I have heard a lot of interesting points of view about this much controversial memorial, which is actually called “Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe”.
Even its location, few hundred meters from Brandenburg Gate, and Hitler’s last bunker, is a talking point amongst Germans.
With all due respect to grim reminder of the past, we went down there to take some photos, knowing we could create very interesting shots the 2000plus unique stone blocks.

BERLIN

This time when Pamela came down, we decided to go to Berlin for the weekend.
When I visited Berlin 4 years ago, one of the first things I did was a bike tour, which was a great way to see the touristy things, as well as get the historical info from the guides….. so we did it again, which Pamela thoroughly enjoyed ….. I also enjoy Berlin … its one of those cities that has a vibe, as well as being full of history and culture.
We stayed near Potsdamer Platz, which is an area rebuilt after the fall of The Wall, and the architecture is pretty amazing, at night lit up with changing colour displays.
The other major attraction is the Reichstag, (German Parliament House), whith its glass dome, allowing visitors to look down on parliament, even when in session.

BACK IN POZNAN ..... AGAIN

Hey ... That’s me arriving at airport, for another week in Poland (after 16 hours in transit originating in Keene the day before).
I consider myself quite lucky to be able to spend 10 days at a time with the oldies.
With my job, I have return flights to London paid for by the USA customer, and because of the summer season, its actually cheaper for me to fly to Poznan, than back home to London (with Lufthansa, from Boston, with an hour changeover in Munich), which the customer is happy to pay.
From London, return flights to Poznan are quite cheap, but it is a whole lot of stuffing around getting to these remote airports (like Stanstead, or Luton), and in reality, you waste 6-7 hours, so it’s a whole day affair, and if I did it that way, I would lose another 2 days travelling. …. (Its what Pamela has to go through when she comes down to visit me in Poznan)

Also, this time back, I worked the week off-site … .which means that I bought some work back with me to complete while in Poland … mainly documentation for what we worked on last 2 months …… which is pretty autonomous work without need to be on-site.
So I’m also lucky that my work allows me to do this…. As far as the customer is concerned, when I’m offsite, they don’t care where I’m based as long as I regularly check my emails, and put in enough hours.

AROUND POLAND IN THE NUGGET

While I went back to work, mum and dad took the Nugget (our little Ford from last year’s travels), and travelled around Poland during that time, covering approx 3000km.
Around different regions of Poland, they caught up with friends, some of whom they have not seen in 30 years.
The photo of my mum on the phone, is when I rang from the USA, just to say Hi … something I do every 3-4 days (also when they are in Australia) …. And mum has confided that because I ring so often, she doesn’t feel as separated form me, as would otherwise be the case.