So far this visit, the Empire State Building has been lit mainly white. Tonight it's a bright orange. At first I thought it might be related to Halloween (orange and black appear to be the standard colours). But I just checked online and they have a regular calendar of lighting and tonight it's in honour of a mentoring program called iMentor. The program's signature colour is orange.

By the way, there will be special Halloween lighting on the 31st.

Another early wake up, another decent looking day, but one very tired traveller. I figure I've been on the go for nearly 3 weeks and I think it's wearing me down a little. And even though the train journey across Canada was relaxing, I didn't get the sleep needed to refresh me each day. Anyway, boo-hoo, I'm on holiday in NYC, mustn't complain. I decided to lay around in bed for a while this morning. And even though I might not be able to get more sleep I could at least do some research and stuff.

One thing I definitely did need to do was reorganise my iPad. I'm using it as a back up device so that all my photos are on something other than the individual SD cards - just to be safe. It would be heart breaking to lose any of them. As the photo count nears 8,000 I am starting to have trouble importing more. So it was time to ditch more of the apps I don't need right now and start thinning the pictures I have imported. There are a good many that are rubbish. And while I don't want to be making decisions on what to keep or trash right now, I figure it was safe to choose those I could live with losing if a disaster were to occur. 

So for the time being I have more room. Later in the trip I might upgrade the wi-fi at the hotel to get a faster line that I might be able to use to upload some to the cloud. 

It was nearly midday before I finally dragged myself off the bed and out to see what the day would hold. I didn't have big plans other than coffee and food. Those two taken care of I decided to head to Grand Central Terminal. That would allow me to check out Park Avenue also. When I got there it was grand, but somehow not quite as grand as I had expected. Sometimes things get hyped out of all proportion. 

To the east of the station was the United Nations building so I headed that way. I see they have guided tours so I might check them out and see if they're likely to be interesting. 

While walking down Park Avenue I saw this building under construction. I liked how the floor plan appears to have only a tentative regard for conventional angles.

I walked back a little way down Madison Avenue. But I must say that neither Park Avenue nor Madison Avenue seemed all that special. Busy streets in a big busy city. Maybe I'm missing something? 

Also along the way today there have been some other interesting sights that might have been worthy of a picture, but I think I've got a bit of "photography fatigue". I'll have a go later in the week. Some of the Halloween decorations in particular are amusing.

A friend from Adelaide who is also in New York was coming to the high line to meet friends for drinks and I was going to join them at the end of the day. By the time I got back to the hotel though I desperately needed a nap. I would have been socially challenged without one - even more so than usual.  Unfortunately, time frames didn't align and I ended up missing them. Still plenty of time to catch up though. Technically, tonight is still only the halfway point of my stay in NYC!

I'm going to have a quiet night in. I need to remind myself that I am on holiday which means I don't have to feel guilty about resting or taking time out.

... all lit up you look so pretty!

Before leaving Australia I purchased two tickets for the Empire State Building with the express purpose of experiencing it in the day and at night. As the skies were still clear I decided tonight was an opportunity not to be missed.

Armed with some wise photography tips from my friend Steve, I headed off at dusk. Unfortunately I miscalculated how quickly the sun would set and consequently got there a little later than I think would have been optimal. But it was still just as breathtaking.

Once again my express ticket ushered me past snaking line after snaking line. I cannot emphasise this enough; if you ever go, spend the little extra for an express ticket. I must have passed many hundreds of people. I can't imagine how long they'd been waiting for. 

So this was my first attempt at serious night time photography with this camera and as you can imagine there are a number of parameters to play with. Unfortunately, the small the screen on the camera makes it hard to really tell which are working the best. I should have checked the histograms but I didn't think of it at the time. Now I've seen them on my iPad I feel I could fine tune and do better. But they're still the best night time shots I've ever been able to achieve. Thanks Steve! 

On the way back to the hotel I passed the pop-up food stalls in Greeley Square that I encountered on Saturday. I was feeling peckish so got myself some goats cheese and rosemary "mac & cheese". Very tasty.

As it was still 20 blocks to the hotel I decided to take the subway. Unfortunately I caught the wrong line, but luckily figured out my mistake before getting too far off track. Before long I'd made my way back to the right line and the 14th street station safe and sound. 

I woke up this morning feeling exhausted. And that was after getting to bed at a very reasonable hour. You see, this is a funky hotel; cool rooms, restaurant, rooftop bar, cocktail bar/disco up top too. The downside of that is that it's popular and I've discovered the cocktail bar/disco upstairs 3-4 floors above me is a place to be Thu-Sun. Which is great ... if you're there. Not so great if you want to sleep through the dull duff-duff sounds cascading down. This isn't a complaint though; I knew what this hotel was like and you take it all as a package. But last night it just wasn't that easy getting to sleep. Earplugs didn't help. I had to put some calming music on the iPod player just loud enought to muffle the duff-duff but not so loud as to also keep me awake. So I didn't really sleep until the disco shut down. Luckily on Sunday that was around midnight.

Anyway, each morning I wake up I expect my good run of great weather to have come to an end so I can switch to indoor activities. But no. It was another superbly clear blue sky morning. Hmm. Dilemma. What to do? 

The Statue of Liberty was on my to do list so I investigated tickets. If I wanted to get to the pedestal viewing area I couldn't get a ticket until Thursday. Oh well, I thought. I really only want to see it and the ferry ride over would be just as good. So I bought a ticket just to visit the Island. Then it dawned on me. If I was happy with that, why not investigate cruises around Manhattan as some friends had suggested? So I did and there was one that would take you all the way around the Island. I know I could have done both but the weather today was so perfect I didn't want to squander it. So I ditched my Statue of Liberty ticket in favour of the cruise. Only a small $ loss but a big sightseeing gain.

I made my way to Pier 83 through a combination of subway and power walking, stopping for a bite to eat and a coffee on the way. I was worried that I might be out walked by the New Yorkers. But no. I think many of them would struggle to keep up with me. 

The ship was packed; over 600 people. And it was gently rocking even while docked. I did wonder for a moment wether it was going to get rough and how I might react. In the end, it was only the cold that was a problem. I sat down inside until they opened up the front, then spent the rest of the trip on the bow snapping frames from each side as we passed views. 

It was a great idea and a perfect way to really see the bigger picture of Manhattan and its incredible diversity. And the tour guide/announcer Chris was fantastic.

At the start of the journey they did warn us that it was a very high tide. That meant we might not make it under some of the smaller bridges (and there are many). Luckily we did; but with only a little room to spare.  

Afterwards, I made my way back to the hotel along the High Line. By now it was about 3:00. I wanted to regroup for a while. Tonight I plan to go back to the Empire State Building to try and take some evening photos. 

When I awoke the weather looked better than I had expected. I was feeling a bit shady but decided to drag myself up and make the most of it. I thought it would be good to get some views of Central Park in good light so started making my way uptown.

The High Line used to be an elevated freight rail line running along the west side of Manhattan. Now it's been converted to a wonderful walkway. It means you can walk from 14th to 34th without encountering a single car. 

Today there were some artists along the way and I bought a beautiful little print from a guy who makes them with a pinhole camera.

In some places the old rail lines have been retained.

Being above the road gave some great opportunities to photo the streets that I'd missed. 

After the High Line I made my way along 5th Avenue until I made it to the park. Along the way I grabbed this opportunity to photo one of the massive avenues.

The first part of the park was more natural and hilly than I'd expected. There was a geat little pond already full with boaters. 

For a while I assumed that was how all of the park was, but I kept on walking and came across the main reservoir and some more wide open spaces. 

The park is massive. At times you could forget you're in New York, but it's not long before you'll get a reminder. 

I'd walked a long way so I decided to take the subway back to the hotel. Unfortunately I got my uptown and downtown mixed up and ended up on the wrong platform. Luckily an attendant at the station helped me out and I ended up on the right train. It was a long way from 86th to 14th! 

After re-grouping for a while I headed to the east to catch the Brooklyn Bridge. I took the subway again to Chambers Street. By the time I made it to the bridge it was full of people. Very few were crossing; most were like me, just making it to the first viewing platform and then returning. 

Therewere a number of other highlights from yesterday.

I took my first subway ride! But first I needed a metro card. My research indicated that I could get an unlimited 7 day pass for $30 and that the vending machines would accept $50, which was the only note I had at the time. Trouble is, when I tried the machine it was only going to give me a maximum of $8 change. So, déjà vu, off to get some other notes. This time it was easier because a nearby ATM provided options for choosing denominations. Re-armed with the right money I got my card and got on my way. 5th underground around the world successfully navigated!

After visiting the 9/11 memorial I took a number of pics of the new One World Trade Centre. Got to love a big shiny tower.

In the aftermath of the memorial emotion I stopped for some pizza. When I first saw the massive slice I didn't think there was any chance I'd finish it - but I did. Too good.

When I got to Battery Park I got my first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty in the distance.

All long the Hudson are the remnants of piers. Some in better condition than others. 

Then in the evening I went to a performance which was part of CMJ, a mini music festival happening at the moment. It was being held in the lobby of the Ace Hotel. The general idea was that a group of diverse musos would congregate and "play" variations based on A or E. The end result was more drone than music but quite hypnotic. And diverse was an understatement. Electric guitars, analog synths, harp, brass, violin, home made organ contraption, cell phone apps; they all added their own timbre to the overall sound. The piece went for an hour so I did little circuits of the lobby, checking in on the different instruments and hearing how the sound changed as I got nearer. And it was also bemusing to see the expressions on hotel patrons as they entered the lobby and wondered what kind of alternate reality they'd stumbled across. Gold! I loved the performance and was proud of making it out at night in NYC on my own. But I was back at the hotel by about 10:00 and ready for bed.

If you're interested, here's a video of last year's event.

So that's it. A day so big it needed three posts! 

Regardlessof your politics and despite the fact that thousands of other innocents die all around the world without recognition, 9/11 still represents a horrific event where nearly 3,000 people lost their lives and thousands more lost their loved ones. I knew I'd find it emotional to visit the site but I had no idea just how deeply it would tug at my heart. It's not that visiting the site was necessarily high on my to do list. But I did want to pay my respects at some stage and yesterday was the day.

The two fountains in the footprints of the towers are perfect. I can't think of a more fitting or appropriate memorial. The cascading water drops off into a void;  you can't see where it ends.

But the gut wrenchers are the names of the victims inscribed around the fountains. I slowly made my way around, pausing to take note of the names near by me. And each time tears erupted so suddenly and violently that it was impossible to hide them. Every now and then I just needed to find a quiet corner to recompose myself.

And in between those moments I paused to photograph; but it was an uneasy feeling. Trying to capture the spirit of the moment without reducing it to an attraction on a sightseeing tour. I tried to make sure I captured names in most of my pictures so that the memorial and the remembered would not be separated.

But it did bother me a little just how many people were crowding around for group photos in front of the fountains. Another tick on their "NYC must see" list? I know I shouldn't judge.

Yesterday was a perfectly clear day in NYC so I decided it was the day to use one of my Empire State Building tickets. The observation deck opens at 8:00 but by the time I'd finished fluffing around I didn't get there until about 9:00. But that didn't worry me because I'd purchased an express ticket online before leaving Australia. 

But to my disappointment, I still found myself at the end of the only queue once entering the building. This queue snaked around for a while and it took about 15 minutes to move through; I was starting to feel a bit ripped off about the express ticket. 

Then one of the attendants called out for express ticket holders and everything changed. I learnt to have my ticket with the express side showing and that made all the difference. One flash of that and I was ushered past countless subsequent queues and first into the lifts. I really didn't have to wait again. So my advice is pay the little extra; it is SO worth it.

As for the observation deck itself - it was crammed with people and freezing cold but utterly amazing. I've done quite a few towers over the last couple of years but this was the best by far. And being outdoors you had a really clear view as you can see below. I just kept slowly working my way around snapping and feeling totally in awe of this incredible city. It was a real "pinch me" moment. The only downside was that, because it was still early, the light was too low downtown to get good pictures. It ended up looking a bit hazy. But uptown had plenty of shadows and brightly illuminated buildings.

And all the time in my head was a line from "Moments of Pleasure" by Kate Bush - "the buildings of New York, just look like mountains through the snow"

I have another ticket and I plan to go back at night.

As I mentioned previously, one aspect of tipping I really like is leaving a tip and a note for house keeping. This morning I added some extra words to my note. When I got back to my room the note was still there ... plus smile! Nice.

I have had a truly amazing day today in New York. Possibly the best day of my holiday. The weather has been brilliant and I experienced a huge range of emotions. I want to write about each in detail. But for now, here's my "60 second summary" (Anna will get that reference).

I got up early to go to the Empire State Building observation tower. Amazing doesn't even begin to describe New York from up there. 

In the afternoon I took the subway to visit the 9/11 Memorial. I'm glad I wear glasses most of the time these days because they helped cover up the tears that kept seeping out each time I glanced at the names inscribed around the two waterfalls.

Then I made my way to Battery Park and back to the hotel along the Hudson River. Just gorgeous.

I'll write more about the first two, with pictures, tomorrow.

I'm going to get ready to go out for a little while tonight. There's an "avant garde" performance happening in the lobby of a hotel as part of a music festival that I want to catch.

As usual, I woke up before the sun. So I had to wait around a bit before I could get a shot of the city in the early morning light.

It was overcast and a little cool. I got my act together and headed out, quickly pausing to take a shot of the hotel I'm staying in.

The plan today, if you can call it that, was to acclimatise; see how easy it was to get around and how long it took to walk various distances. I headed North after making my way East to 5th Avenue. At this stage I was loosely looking for the Flatiron building; an icon and one of the first (if not the first) sky scrapers. I reached the spot where I thought it should be, but nothing. Until I realised it was behind me. Doh!

With that mission accomplished it was on to Times Square. It's exactly as manic as you expect it to be with coloured neon signage in every direction. Quite honestly, I don't see why advertisers should want to use the space because I didn't see anyone taking notice of the actual signs - just the cacophony of visual stimuli. Unless of course "CHICAGO" it's designed to work "MOTOWN" subliminally "SOLO2".

On my way back to the hotel I came across a square, partly covered with floorboards and edged with food vendors offering a great selection of alternative delicacies.

I grabbed something to eat while watching the world (and 1 or 2 colourful characters) go by.

When I made it back to the Flatiron building I noticed this building. Unusually slim, standing solitary.

On my way down 6th avenue I was wondering where the Muji stores might be in NYC. Muji is a geat Japanese design store Emily and I first discovered on our visit to London in 2010. We both love the style of their products, particularly their stationery. I assumed they would have at least one store here. And before long there was a sign on the side of a phone box directing me to the nearest one!

 (I can't tell you what happened next because I know Emily will be reading this.)

As I walked down and past streets I saw so many examples of the stereotypical buildings and streetscapes we have become to expect in New York. The exterior fire escapes, the tree lined streets of brownstones.

After regrouping at the hotel I decided to make my way to Washington Square Park. I've seen this on a few TV shows so I decided to see it in real life.

When I got there it was packed with people; some sitting reading, others sitting people watching and buskers providing things to watch. I took a few photos, trying not to get individuals, but the scene. One guy in particular took notice of me. Eventually he came up to me and asked if I was taking photos as a hobby or commercially. I replied "hobby" and he was very polite, just explained that he needed to ask. So from that, I assume he might have had an issue had I replied differently.

F*ck me! I'm getting sick of this. I think people are assuming, because I have a decent looking camera, that I'm somehow out to invade their privacy or take advantage of them. I had a number of looks today, despite my best efforts to be courteous and inconspicuous. Trying not to let it get to me, because I know I'm not doing anything wrong.

As I made my way South I began to get a good view of One World Trade Centre (Freedom Tower). Last time I checked, there aren't yet facilities for an observation deck in that building, so I won't be going up. But I'll get closer pictures at some stage for sure. 

Soon I was tired and decided to turn around and return to the hotel. I overshot my mark and stumbled across Union Square where there was an open air market. What a fortunate accident. I bought a small painting from an artist at one stall. That means my memorabilia from both Canada and the US have been small works of art purchased directly from the artist. Very happy with that. 

I also purchased a delicious white bean and collard turnover (wholemeal), also from a (baker) artist.

Throughout my walks today I've seen faded advertisements painted on the exposed sides of buildings. I hope someone has been documenting them. I think they're beautiful.

I made my way back to the hotel. I could go out tonight. One little voice inside me tells me I should. But the louder voice tells me to get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow it should be sunny; use the opportunity. 

So what has the title of the post got to do with all of this? Well, if I realised anything today it was that New York is just a city. Granted, it's a rich, exciting, vibrant metropolis unlike any other I've ever visited. But I guess I've had a slightly mythical view of the city in the past. I think I see it a little more realistically now.

So, one last look out of the window while the light lasts. 

My plan this morning was to get up early, pack, check-out and make my way to one of the art galleries along The Mall before my train to New York at 2pm. I'd run out of time to visit these on Tuesday and I was a little intrigued by a sign for one of the exhibits. Everything went according to plan until I discovered that, unlike most of the other museums, the art galleries don't open until 11:30; I think it's because they stay open until later. Bum! 

So, after grabbing a coffee and something to eat, I made my way to another museum instead. I decided on the American History Museum. I think I have a fair handle on American history in general but thought it might be interesting all the same. And it was. As with all of the Smithsonian museums, it's extremely well laid out and presented. I spent a few hours wandering before it was time to make my way back to the hotel, pick up my bags and get to the train station. 

As you may have guessed, train travel is my preferred mode of transport and the Acela Express is a relatively high speed train that takes a couple of hours to get from Washington to NYC. My ticket gave me access to the lounge so I could sit somewhere comfortable and await my train.

The train journey was good. The train was comfortable, great service and some nice scenery. I didn't take any pictures though: a) I was feeling a bit camera-ed out and b) the other passengers mainly appeared to be businessmen wheeling and dealing on their cell phones and I didn't really want to blow my cover as a "tourist".

Anyway, we got to NYC on time. I eventually found my way out of the station and to the taxi queue - that kept getting longer and longer and longer as I made my way around the corner. It was 5:00pm, after all. And it was freezing, much colder than the sunny DC I had left. Oh well, what can you do? I waited patiently in line with everyone else and about 1/2 hour later my taxi arrived. He got me to the hotel quickly while I thawed out in the back seat. 

Fortunately, the hotel is pretty much as I had expected. This is my view out of one window. 

This is my view out of the other.

And I can see both from the comfort of my bed!

This will be home for the next 12 nights and I'm pretty happy with that!

New York was the reason for this trip. It's the only place in North America I've always wanted to visit. Sure, I've discovered some fantastic places along the way. But this is what I came for. Can't wait to get out there tomorrow. 

But tonight I'm going to chill out here. The beauty of being here for more than a week is that I don't have to rush myself. New York nightlife can wait. 

As part of yesterday's journey to the Air and Space Museum I took the Metro which is Washington's underground. It looks quite new and I quite like the appearance of the stations. I really wanted to get a picture but I wasn't sure if that was a wise thing to do or not. Being infrastructure, I kept my eyes open for any signage that might indicate a ban on photography. There was none that I could see. So when I got off at the end of my journey I paused to briefly take a couple of pictures.

A man walking past almost immediately cautioned me against taking pictures, saying something like "you'll get yourself arrested if you do that". I immediately put my camera away. The man was polite and he was only trying to be helpful. We spoke a bit and he recommended I should limit my photography to things that were of an obvious tourist nature. At the time I wasn't sure if his advice was general opinion, urban myth or based on official guidelines. But it was enough to shake me up a bit so I just kept my head down and got out of the station as quickly as I could.

That night I did some research. If the internet is to be believed, it would seem that there is no law against photographing any public space, including trains and stations. However, the underlying message was, if you take photos of certain places be prepared to explain yourself. The thought of being interrogated by security is rather uncomfortable, so I will definitely choose my subjects very carefully.

It was worthwhile research to also find out if there were any differences in law here around photographing people in public. It seems that it's the same as in Australia. That eased my mind. I'll still be very careful about people walking into my shots but at least I know that legally, I have every right to take the picture if people are in a public place.

The conversation at the station, followed by news of the terrible events in Ottawa have given me a case of the jitters. On edge a little bit and watching my step very carefully. 

It started raining shortly after I returned to the hotel last night. It continued all night and through most of the day. Luckily, today my plan was for an indoor activity. I just had to brave the rain to get to that activity.

The Udar-Hazy Centre is part of the Air and Space Museum. It's located at the edge of the Washington Dulles International Airport. That's the airport I arrived at on Monday and it's a fair way out of downtown Washington. 

So the first challenge was to find out how to get there. Luckily they provided that information at the museum I visited yesterday. It would involve a train trip and a connecting bus. After assessing the options I decided to get a SmartTrip card which is like Oyster in London or the new MetroCard in Adelaide. It would just make the trip simpler. 

The metro station was only a couple of blocks away but it was raining constantly. When I got there I found a machine to dispense SmartTrip cards but it didn't accept $20 notes which were all I had. For some reason it wouldn't accept my MasterCard or Travel Card either. Oh well, I was craving a coffee so I left the station to find some coffee and break the $20. Silver lining moment? I returned to the station a bit later armed with two $5 notes and, after some user error moments, I soon had my card. The rest of the trip went smoothly, but it did take nearly 2 hours.

I knew what the draw cards of the museum were for me were. This museum was my reason for visiting Washington in the first place. I THOUGHT I knew what to expect. But when I walked in to this view (which is only part of the museum) I nearly wet myself with excitement! 

I spent hours wandering around the various exhibits. There was too much to describe here in detail but I'd like to share some highlights. And they're highlights for a variety of reasons.

In the space section was the space shuttle Discovery! Amazing! I still remember being glued to my TV as a kid when the very first shuttle lifted off. Now I was seeing one "in the flesh" .

I had to get a close up of some of the tiles on the underside. You can see how they're individually numbered.

Another highlight was seeing a Concorde.

And a more sobering, but still significant highlight was seeing this plane - the Enola Gay. This was the actual plane that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. It was chilling listening to the guide speak about it. But he also spoke about the B-29 itself: some of the stories behind its development and innovations that we now take for granted in our planes. There wasn't a discussion about the morality behind the use of the atomic bomb, just an account of what happened.

Then this plane got my attention. Although this particular one was only a prototype for the 707, the moment was still significant because my family flew in a 707 when we emigrated from the UK in 1969. I can remember many things about the plane and the trip, including getting to visit the cockpit at the same time as we were being escorted by US fighter jets somewhere near Vietnam. 

There was a Gemini space capsule that made me realise just how cramped the interior was, and just how scary it must have been to fly through space in that tiny tin can.

Speaking of cramped, this is another way to fly. But you'll never get me in one!

And for something completely different there was the actual model of the mother ship used in filming Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

The last part was a visit to an observation desk where you could see Washingron Dulles airport, the runways and flights landing.

Then the reverse trip home. A great day. And a great trip. I wish I had another full day in Washington DC. But I do still have tomorrow morning, so I'm hopefully going to get a chance to visit one of the art galleries before my train trip to NYC. 

The hotel has a light hearted approach to much of their signage and literature. A bit hip. Anyway, the bath robe is equally light hearted.

Look at me ... grrrrr! 

I awoke early. I tried my best to stay in bed as long as possible but by 6:30 I had to get up. I was excited to get out and about and it was nice to feel that again; I'd lost it a bit over the last couple of days.

A quick peek around the curtain revealed a clear sunny day. I double checked the weather report and it looked as if I'd have good weather for most of the day.

When I looked out my hotel window on arrival yesterday the streetscape looked orderly and ordinary. That's a bit how I'd expected DC to be. A quick look down one of the cross streets reinforced this view.

I headed towards The Mall where many of the monuments and museums are. Before long I noticed the sun on the buildings. I hurriedly finished the coffee and pumpkin bread I'd grabbed on the way so I had both hands free to take advantage of the great light.

And it wasn't long before I started to notice a grandeur in the architecture that I hadn't expected; columns and neo-classical architecture everywhere.

As well as the neo-classical I could see, what felt like, a definite European influence.

Most of the monumental buildings appear to be made from sandstone or similar, so the vivid red brick of this building really grabbed my attention.

Soon followed by this amazing detail on the Hotel Washington.

Within 15 minutes I was at the northern entrance to the White House. That was the less familiar side but it was THE place for people taking pictures and organised groups of school children; probably because of the wide avenue. I later made it to the other, more quiet side where I took this shot.

Along from the White House I'd strolled into another area which didn't appear to be restricted. I was in the midst of taking this shot when security men on bikes made it very clear that we needed to move on; and I wasn't going to argue with them!

As I strolled towards The Mall, it was beautiful to walk through the neat rows of trees.

Commanding the most attention is the Washington Memorial. When you see photos you don't really get the scale of this monolith. It's only when you see the tiny people dotted around the base that you realise.

It's impressive, and the centrepiece for The Mall.

By now I was starting to get a little déjà vu. I'll explain more later. A quick turn around revealed another majestic building.

Right by the Washington Memorial is the World War II Memorial. It was beautiful but it didn't really move me. That would come later.

One monument I definitely wanted to visit was the Lincoln Memorial, so I headed that way along the reflection pool; the pool lives up to its name.

The use of the word "temple" in the inscription resonated with me because, so far, that's how many of these grand monuments and buildings had felt. Temples in the Greek or Roman traditions.

I paused to look back at the pool.

Beyond the Lincoln Memorial I came across this sight and that's when the déjà vu made sense. Paris! These grand boulevards, the monuments, the pool, these golden statues at the end of the bridge; they all reminded me of Paris.

When I got back to the hotel I did some research and it appears that a Frenchman did design Washington and that it does have some deliberate similarities.

Anyway, I love a good bridge so I eventually made my way to a vantage point to take some pictures. 

After that I wandered for a little, grabbed some lunch, doubled back and looked around. That brought me to the Korean War Memorial.

Now, this one moved me! It's an incredible piece of sculpture and placement. This picture only shows part of it, but I found the sight of these soldiers making their way through the garden "field" quite harrowing.

Beside it was another small water feature and this inscription. It made me stop and think. I felt really disturbed; I don't know that I can bring myself to agree.

After those moments of deep thought, this chap popped up out of a bin to lighten the mood.

I made my way along The Mall. Along each side are the various Smithsonian museums, most of which are further examples of classical architecture. But there were a couple of modern ones too.

When I made it to the Air and Space Museum I went inside, only intending to get information on how to get to the other part of the museum further out from Washington that I really wanted to see and planned to visit tomorrow. In fact, that part of the museum was the original reason for my visit to Washington. Well, needless to say, 10 seconds after walking in I was hooked and couldn't drag myself away. I saw lots of real gear such as space capsules, satellites, rockets, planes and ballistic missiles. This picture is just one small part. As you can see it's jam packed.

With my "big kid" moment now satisfied and my feet feeling increasingly sore I decided to start making my way back to the hotel; past more grand buildings and more grand monuments.

Out the front of one of those grand buildings this light pole amused me. Not only did it ruin the aesthetic of the building behind it but, with all those different signs, how on earth are you meant to work out what you're allowed to do anyway?

Shortly before reaching my hotel I noticed these pigeons sitting on the head of the poor eagle. How indignant he looked.

So today has really surprised me. I guess I wasn't expecting anything on this scale. And what surprised me most was the sense of grandeur, the epic, almost imperial. The centre of Washington is more than a city; it's a deliberate statement. And it reminded me of another city besides Paris. As we drove in last night past some massive buildings set apart and lit up, it occurred to me how it may have felt to enter Rome in its day. Today reinforced that association.

Now to rest my aching feet. It's been a fantastic day! And I made it back just before the rain started. 

It's hard to write this without sounding mean or ungrateful to Canada, so bear with me. Canada was wonderful, beautiful, friendly and polite (though honestly Toronto didn't really do that much for me). But landing in the US I felt that travel buzz that has kind of eluded me so far this trip. It's not that I think the US is better than anywhere else. Maybe I think the opposite and that's what makes being here all the more strange and exciting. After all, I've always thought of Canada as a kind of cold northern version of Australia anyway (or vice versa), so I did feel quite at home there. But the United States, that feels foreign.

So the flight was fine. It was only a smallish plane and a 1 hour flight with some bumps on the way up and down. All the customs and security happened at the Toronto end so once we landed in Washington it was all open doors.

The hotel is quite central. It's dark outside but the streetscape I can see looks very orderly. Obviously there will be pictures tomorrow. For now, here's a couple of snaps of my sexy looking room., complete with circular walk in shower.

If the weather report is to believed I plan to take in the memorials and local museums tomorrow and then head a little further afield to the aerospace museum Wednesday.

It's hard to believe I've been in Canada for 11 days already. It's been fun but now it's time to move on to the USA. And in only a couple of days it will be the halfway point of the entire holiday. 

I slept really well last night. The bed in the apartment was really comfortable. Since check out time was 11:00 I decided to leave packing and cleaning up until the morning. 

I was awake early and snuck out onto the freezing balcony to snap the start of the morning traffic.

My flight to Washington, D.C. was originally for 7:30 pm. Yesterday I thought I'd see if I could change it to an earlier flight. I went through Expedia, the site I'd used to book the flight but the costs would have been more than double the original cost of the ticket! So I resigned myself to a day at the airport. The apartment block didn't have luggage storage facilities so spending time in town wasn't really an option.

Anyway, this morning I decided to check-in online and as part of the check-in process on the airline's site I was given the option of changing my flight for only $75. Yes! Managed to get a 4:30 pm flight which is much more convenient and gets me to Washington at a much better time.

So I'm sitting in the airport waiting to leave after navigating my way through the check-in kiosk, bag drop, customs and security. The process was sufficiently different to be a little daunting. But I got here. Phew!

In no particular order ...

People here are generally really friendly and really polite. Noticeably so!

Traffic lights often flash green. Haven't worked that one out yet. 

The other day in Vancouver I saw a squirrel run across a main road. He survived.  

They've started some Halloween decorations already. Some supermarkets have massive crates of equally massive pumpkins on the sidewalk for sale.

It's doing my head in working out whether to look to the left or right before crossing a road. So I just look everywhere. Twice! At least!

I read it's customary to tip housekeeping when staying in a hotel. One article suggested leaving it with a note. So each day I write "Thank You" on a piece of paper and put my tip on it. A lot about tipping doesn't really gel with me, but this I like. It makes it feel more personal. 

I only realised the other day that their 5 cent coin is bigger than their 10 cent coin. No wonder I was getting confused.  

To me, the pedestrian crossing noise here sounds like bird chirping. There appears to be more than one sound. Is it just my imagination?

I was surprised how many French speakers I overheard in Vancouver. I assumed they were mainly over in the east. 

In Canada, a drug store is more than a chemist. It's often more like a mini-mart.  

I realised on the train for the first time that others sometimes have trouble understanding MY accent. I always thought it was just the other way around. So stupid of me. 

All the buildings in downtown Vancouver have exactly the same colour glass. You notice it when you go to another city. It makes Vancouver feel very homogenous, but in a good way.  

I awoke with a bit more energy this morning after the first solid sleep in a few days. I had intended to take my time this morning but the weather looked a little ominous so I decided to get up and take advantage of the light while it lasted. Of course, I needn't have bothered as the weather improved as the day progressed.

When I stepped onto the balcony to take an early morning photo I noticed thousands of people streaming along one of the roadways. I was later to discover it was a marathon. Unfortunately that meant that a lot of the city was blocked off to traffic and I suspect many things were closed as a result. 

I wasn't sure what I felt like doing so I set off first in search of autumn colours. There are parks along the foreshore and I felt certain I'd see something there. I came across these bushes I noticed on the approach to Toronto. I'm not sure if they're this colour all the year, but they're very striking.

And I did manage to find a few red trees also.

These chairs were dotted in a small park; functional and sculptural at the same time.

From there I basically decided to do a loop of the city. I came to a park by the design collage. The architecture got my attention first. Then this little fella did.

I soon realised there were squirrels running all over the park. This one stopped to face me each time I pointed my camera; almost as if he was posing.

The architecture that had grabbed my attention was this building. I'd noticed it from the CN Tower. 

In one small way, Toronto reminds me of Berlin, because it seems like every time you turn around you get a glimpse of the tower.

Toronto has streetcars. On one street the stops featured different metal artwork on poles.

I wandered around in a generally clockwise direction. Towards the east of the city, as the glass skyscrapers began to come to an end I noticed rows of older buildings wedged in between the modern.

And this solitary establishment that had somehow survived the demolition of its peers.

On another street I came across this curious fascade. I assume the buildings that necessitated the blocking up of the windows are no more, but it looked odd all the same.

As I was taking some photos of another building an old gentleman spoke to me. He was interested to know why I was taking photos. He was an amateur photographer too and showed me his more compact but still serious camera. We got to talking and walked a few blocks together. He's had major problems with the health system in Canada and didn't paint a very positive picture of they way he felt the old or disabled were being treated. We parted ways at what looked like a shelter.

Slightly dismayed by that sobering chat I continued my walking. I noticed this building with an ingenious fascade that was more than just painted. The trees are lovely but it's a pity they obscure this little masterpiece.

Before long I was back among the glass towers. While I was taking a picture of one with golden glass and steel a bird swooped past. Total fluke, but I really like it.

Looking up I was surrounded.

Then down the end of the street I noticed a tower from another era. I think it is the old town hall.

At the start of the day I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. And at a couple of times I seriously thought of just returning to the apartment to veg out. For some reason nothing was exciting me today (hence the post title). But as I looked through my pictures and put these words together I realise I had quite a decent day - despite myself!

By the end of the afternoon most of the cloud had dispersed so I decided to get another shot across the harbour to Toronto Islands. I had considered taking a ferry over there but ran out of time. 

Tomorrow I leave Canada and head to Washington DC. I have a late flight but will see if I can change it to an earlier one at the airport.