I am glad to be home in Brisbane today after a long flight from Los Angeles last night.
I was very relieved to find our plants looking very healthy after much rain over the last week or so.
It is always a great feeling coming home to Australia after being overseas. Not that overseas isn’t awesome, but we are truly lucky to live here. This afternoon in Brisbane was no exception, the sun came through the clouds over Mount Coot-tha and put on a spectacular show.
We’re currently flying from New York City (JFK) to Los Angeles (LAX). Yes, that’s right, I am writing this at 35,000 feet in the sky, thanks to Virgin America’s inflight wifi internet which is unreal.
I thought I would take this opportunity to post photos of some of my favourite parts of NYC. After a week there NYC is immediately is in my all time favourite cities list, it’s just such an amazing place: architecture, food, art, culture, style… everything. We felt very safe the whole time we were there, didn’t feel threatened once, unlike San Francisco.
Not sure if we can visit NYC again in the near future (it’s a loooong way from Australia) but the memories should last a lifetime (oh, that sounds so cheesy).
Chelsea and the Meatpacking District in NYC are home to some awesome street art.
I caught a 49 Muni bus out to the Golden Gate Bridge and walked across it. It’s really cool, up there with the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
The bridge is the most popular place to commit suicide in the USA, and it is apparent by the signage. The proposed suicide nets haven’t been installed yet though, due to cost and public response.
We caught the ferry across to Alcatraz Island yesterday. It was really good, especially because it was such a nice day and the island offers great views of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. We did an audio tour of the actual jail house which was very interesting as it told the stories of those who tried to, and did, escape.
Kitty was also impressed but she didn’t think the prison was as eery as others she’s toured where executions have taken place, Alcatraz wasn’t a place of execution.
The architecture and gardens were a highlight. What I found interesting was the island is true to its name and originally just a rock, no soil. Soil was bought across to create gardens when the prison was built.
We’ve had a great couple of days so far in San Francisco. The weather is crap, but we have managed to enjoy ourselves anyhow.
We’re definitely trying to go to Alcatraz tomorrow and hopefully we’ll walk the Golden Gate Bridge sometime soon.
Photos, as usual, by Kitty.
I fell in love with this plumeria pudica that I saw recently at a nursery. It is commonly called the ‘hammerhead frangipani’ as it has long, hammerhead like, evergreen leaves. It apparently flowers year round in warm climates so I guess we’ll see how it goes in Brisbane!
