Howdy do and greetings from Denver, Colorado right in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. We are 7 hours behind GMT so you are all fast asleep as we write this. We are just watching the Buffalo Sabres vs. Ottawa Senators in the Stanley Cup playoffs (ice hockey for you uneducated Brits). We have tons to tell you and our diary has been packed full of STUFF. Sorry if our last journal was pretty long, for anyone who has written journals we all start out eager. In fact James' Dad joked that he needed to take a day to read it. Cool, here we go.
The last time we wrote we were in New York city at the Continental Hostel just off Broadway about a block from Central Park where we watched Racoons come out at dusk one night. It was a room, with a bed and a TV that's all $85 per night gets you in NYC. Anyway it was home for a few nights, clean and safe that's all that matters. Well on the Friday we woke at about 10:30am and went for a walk through Central Park and stopped for a snooze by the Reservoir and then headed downtown to Soho and Little Italy. We passed Ground Zero and saw the beginnings of the construction of Freedom Tower. We checked out some art galleries and saw some incredible art. We then dropped into an eccentric shop where they sold skulls and skeletons of different animals living and extinct... and humans!
After this we headed to meet a friend, Stacie, who lives in Brooklyn with her husband Brandon. We had lunch in Union Square and Stacie headed back to work. We in turn then headed back up town to our hostel for a change and a rest. Walking NYC tires you, you know! Later that evening we headed over the waters to Brooklyn with Stacie and Brandon for Thai. It was great to experience Brooklyn at night, very cosmo with no attitude. Buzzing nightlife, bars and restaurants.
The next morning we woke at 4:30am in order to make our way to La Guardia airport. We had our bags so decided to walk ten blocks north to catch the M60 bus to the airport. We caught our 7:50am flight to Buffalo. Still in New York state but about an hour flight West. Buffalo is close to Niagara Falls and (Pause: The Sabres just won 3-2. Resume.) and also where James lived for the best part of a year in '99-00. We were collected by James' old bachelor buddy, Mike Gerardi and his wife Tracy (can't forget Buddy the dog also, half Poodle, half Yorkshire Terrier). We headed back to the town of Cheektowaga and then for lunch at Smokey Bones for a stripped pork sandwich. After lunch we headed East about 2hrs to Letchworth State Park. For us a close rival to Niagara but not quite the magnificence. The drive gave us good chance to catch up with our hosts after 7 years.
On Sunday we went to church with Mike and Tracy which was cool, we had Starbucks and chocolate brownies in church! After this we headed home and met up with Brad and Robin Ringer and went to Cinquo De Mayo (5th of May although we went on the 6th) a Mexican restaurant.
Then the highlight of the week was a trip to Niagara Falls where we walked all over both the American Falls and crossed the bridge into Canada. This is the full view of the horseshoe falls that we are all used to seeing. The Canadian side is a lot more built up and caters for the tourist. It was also cool to withdraw some Canadian money and see our beloved Queen Lizzie II on the money. We took a 'Walk Behind the Falls' where you head about 150 feet down inside of the rock and guess what? You walk behind the falls. You get real wet and the sound of the water is incredible.
Tuesday we took an easy day and recovered from our walking with more walking around Beaver Island, a nice easy stroll with Mike. The hardest bit of that day though was our dinner in the evening, authentic Buffalo Wings with Blue Cheese and Pizza. Mike being a Sicilian we had to have Sicilian Pizza of course, mmmm yummy. We then went to the IMAX and saw Spidey 3. Cool movie and awesome on the big screen. Definitely go and see at the IMAX if you can.
Wednesday we went to the Buffalo Zoo, which although pretty small in comparison to most was really cool. They had Polar bears, a Kodiak and Grizzly bear amongst other really well kept animals, it was a nice day just for a walk around. Buddy the dog got a shave because of the heat and we went to Chilli's for a burger and salad. Oh yeah! Thursday we went to our favourite restaurant in the world, The Cheesecake Factory where we met with our friend Katie Tarquin. And later that evening we all went for coffee with another friend Abbey. I know what you are thinking right now, tough life. Indeed, it's hard all this chilling out, drinking coffee and visiting Wonders of the World?!?!? Oh to be back at the office.... mmmmm maybe not.
We couldn't visit any city without a trip to the local art gallery, so went to the Albright Knoxx Art Museum in downtown Buffalo. Again this was a really cool place and we took a few hours to walk the halls and caught a Francis Bacon exhibition which had mainly been loaned by Sir and Lady Sainsbury. We also very nearly cashed our shares in for an original Andy Warhol for $6k although not sure how popular Wayne Gretzky the ice hockey legend would be in the UK. But, how cool, to own an Andy Warhol, as if you can buy one. Anyway who needs Andy Warhol when you have Amy Middleton (plug for Creation Art Gallery in Dickens Heath which houses Amy's paintings right now). We closed the day with a walk around Williamsville and a Chinese buffet.
On Saturday we said farewell to the Gerardi's (thanks guys we had a great time with you, twas real fun, we will never forget where we saw Star Wars kid first and of course Trogdor) and headed off for a day in Lockport with the Jones family. We had what looked like Rhino steaks on the grill, I mean huge, followed by homemade cookies and milk. We got to walk through the forest and got a bit muddy, but saw a white tail deer, native to the area. That was real fun. From there we arrived with the Miller family at their early 1800's brick home in Clarence. We watched the first game of the Sabres (who lost) playoff games and then hung out.
Sunday was Mothers Day here in the USA so we went to Laura's parents for lunch. A tiny, I mean tiny (anybody seen the movie The Village) farming community about an hour and a half from Buffalo. We went to a little Wesleyan church in a town called Higgins. We met the family and had a traditional Sunday roast, glazed pork, potatoes and veggie's. Just like our mom's make. So, Happy American Mothers day to our Mom's. We then went with Dave, Laura, Josh and Matt to an awesome Italian called Carabba's. It was real good and we recommend it to anyone in the Western New York area that hasn't eaten there.
Monday was an easy day so we went out for lunch with Dave and Laura for some catch up time and had the largest scoop of ice cream, ever, I mean ever!!! Anybody that knows us knows that our weakness is pizza and ice cream, but we ended up throwing half away. Actually how cool is this, we ate it whilst watching dynamite blowing up the roads for a sewerage system. How cool, the buzzer goes off then boom the earth shakes. Anyway another sorry loss to the Sabres but another great steak on the grill. James played some street hockey with Matt followed by some NHL07 on the PS2, so lots of hockey. Thanks Miller's.
Tuesday morning another early start and a flight from Buffalo to New York and a connection into Denver, Mile High city. So, here we are. We arrived and checked out the scenery. Caught a glimpse of the Rockies and met our hosts the Hoffmeisters from Amy's native South Africa. Beverley took us to our 'home' which we have all to ourselves in the very scenic suburb of Centenial, Denver. We couldn't believe it when we arrived, a beautiful house, cupboards stocked with food, how cool. Thought that was good, we turned up at the car rental to pick up our compact car and was upgraded complimentary to a people carrier with built in DVD player. Oh yeah baby. So, today (Wednesday) we had breakfast with the Hoffmeisters family, and oh how good to drink Rooibos tea again and talk South Africa!
So this is where the journal ends until the next entry. We will be visiting downtown Denver, Boulder, The Rockies, Aspen, Colorado Springs and of course we will be seeing our great friend William Wagner who flies in on the 22nd from SA.