25th July 1991 Day 5

The diary entry "Early morning train to Albany just to avoid having to wait at Buffalo until 4 in the morning to catch the train to Cleveland. 

Listened to a little old lady in the tourist info centre wittering on about the Royal Family and the "old" buildings in Albany. Had a good time in the Museum of New York and then shared a humongous pizza. Then it was time to rock out with Gary US Bonds at a free concert. Phew rock n roll. 

Late night train to Cleveland and a very interesting chat with a physics teacher called Ken. Not the most relaxing way to travel."

2011 - Gary US Bonds is in his 70s and still going. Playing Albany again in October. I can't name a single song he's done. 


I remember the little old lady and I'm sure Oz trumped her 200 year buildings by remarking that his village in The Cotswolds has houses that are 1000 years old. I don't remember the pizza.


It must be pointed out that our odd itinerary had a lot to do with the fact that we had an Amtrak rail pass and we were at the mercy of the sparse Amtrak routes and odd timetables.

24th July 1991 Day 4

The diary entry "Having been told by the Visitor Information Centre that we couldn't "do The Falls" in a day we set out to prove them wrong. It was easy. Walked all around the American Falls, 

rode on the Maid of the Mist (complete with blue cagoules), strolled into Canada, walked around the tacky 'Seaton Carew' area of town, marvelled at the 675,000 gallons per second of the Horseshoe Falls, 

looked at some awful souvenirs, did a quick bit of sunbathing, walked back to America, smuggled in some 35mm film, looked at the Museum of the American Indian Turtle-type thing, had lunch and a few beers, watched a bit of baseball and then had to think of something to do in the evening. The wild downtown was about as wild as something not very wild so we went back to our original bar and supped a pitcher of ice cold beer. Decided to look at the lit-up Falls at night. Unfortunately you can't see much from the American side but I did manage to get drenched trying. Highlight of the day - the new visa stamp in the passport. Only joking!"













2011 - not much to say really, The Falls are still there, baseball is still crap and the Maid of the Mist is still doing its thing. To see what it's like more recently take a look here.

23rd July 1991 Day 3

The diary entry "Tea on the terrace of the 23rd floor and then a journey to and up the Empire State Building. 

Visibility was a poor 2 miles which meant the World Trade Center was just about in sight.

Met King Kong, who was smaller than I'd imagined. In fact about 5 foot 9. The Japanese loved him, probably because he appeared tall to them. Had a strained conversation with a Japanese businessman who wanted to know which part of Engrand (sic) we were from. Went up to the 102nd floor observatory which was no better than the 86th but at least it was higher than King Kong managed to get today. 


Caught the train to Niagara from Penn Station underneath Madison Square Garden the third. Arrived about 9pm and the station appeared to be in the middle of nowhere. Asked directions at a gas station and hiked into town. Stumbled across the local YMCA which offered to put us up on mats on the floor for 10 bucks. A bargain we couldn't refuse. Met an 18 year old blonde Italian who seemed to have learnt his English by studying the lyrics to The Wall."


 2011 - Typically we spent little time hanging around anywhere. New York City done in 2 days all by foot. It's a good job I've been back many times since. 
Political correctness - I stand by my Japanese joke 20 years later. Japanese speakers can't distinguish r and l sounds due to the way their own language works. See here for more evidence - Engrish.

22nd July 1991 Day 2

The diary entry "New York, New York so good we walked round it twice. Up to Central Park, across to the East Side and down to the United Nations.

 On the way we met a hot dog seller who claimed to have been there when Lennon was shot and a Norwegian in the UN who never paused for breath while giving us a guided tour. We didn't get to ask him if Kurt Waldheim was a Nazi. Walked on down to Battery Park and took the Staten Island Ferry past the Statue of Liberty and back. 

The clouds came in so we decided not to go up the World Trade Center. Spent the evening in the Greenwich Village area, missed CBGBs by going the wrong way up Bleecker Street. Visited a comic shop, missed the Led Zeppelin tribute and passed through an Italian church fund raising fair. Didn't stop to win a teddy bear. Ate and drank in the White Horse Tavern with it's friendly waitress service - "give us a tip or else". Back at the hostel the room was full - two girls from Oz, a lad from Manchester and a girl from Hong Kong. Guess what - the lad wanted to know the test scores. Extremely knackered by the end of the day and slept like a log."


2011 - I've just tried to work out how far we walked that day using Google maps. I reckon it was somewhere between 25 and 30kms. Not a bad effort but representative of our determination to stay within budget. Public transport - pah, an extravagance. We did take the Staten Island Ferry but this was to save us the cost of going to Liberty Island.


Didn't go up the World Trade Center this time but did return with Christy in 1993 and made it to the roof. I don't think it's there anymore.


Have returned to the White Horse Tavern several times - with Christy and Rob Hay and volcano hot Buffalo Wings in 1993 and also with Paul "Howie" Howarth in the late 90s.

21st July 1991 Day 1

The diary entry "Breakfast and dinner at All Saints Ave. Not a single mention of a cagoule all day. Waved Beth goodbye several times while queuing to get in the departure lounge (at Heathrow - ed). Got through all the checks just in time to get on the plane. A long 7hr+ flight was only broken up by one of the most magnificent films ever made. Well, a slight exaggeration. Ok, so the only person on the plane to laugh was Oz at the "just the seven of us" joke. King Ralph is one of the crappiest films ever made. 


Arrived at JFK, shared a dodgy cab with another English lad, who spends his summers working in The Big Apple, and an American who was scared of Paris. Talked about cricket and eventually arrived at the Penthouse Hostel in a sweltering 80-90deg F. Had a quick walk around the Times Square area, downed a pint of Bass in Dave's Bar and then headed for bed."


2011 - Note the King Ralph reference. This was in the days before personal seat back entertainment. Everyone on the plane was watching the same movie. Oz was the only person to laugh at a particular "joke".


The Penthouse Hostel doesn't seem to exist anymore (at least on-line) but you can see its prime location between Times Square and the 42nd St Port Authority Bus Terminal from the map. Here's our view:

The cagoule reference will become apparent later but it seemed to be an obsession with the (Beth) Ebenezer family at the time.