The Finn Brothers

Sharon and I went and saw the Finn brothers perform at Massey Hall last night. They really are classic Kiwi tunesmiths (is that a word). Funny, Sharon overheard someone say as we were leaving, “100 times better than Sting”. They really have fun up on stage and do not fit the mold of the typical 40-something jaded musos trying to keep the dream alive. I know their music can be a bit slow at times, but you can’t argue that they have written some decent songs over the past 25 years. Hats off to them.

New York and Washington

A couple of weeks ago Sharon and I spent a week in D.C. and NYC. We had a great time.

Washington is basically a large version of Canberra. Lots of monuments, embassies, memorials and government buildings. We did all the usual tourist things: Smithsonians, the White House (under the watchful eye of Secret Service agents), the Lincoln Memorial and the Capitol. We also went for a 40 mile bicycle ride (yes, that is not a typo) from downtown Washington to the top of Mount Vernon. For a couple of people that don’t ride bikes very often, this was quite an achievement (it took us 7 hours all up).

After a few days in Washington, we caught the Amtrak up to New York, where we spent the next 5 days. What can I say about New York that hasn’t already been said. It is an amazing city. It didn’t matter where we went at any time of the day, it was always busy with lots of cars and people. Some of the highlights were: cycling around central park, visiting the Guggenheim and the Met museums, going to the top of the Empire State Building and walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. Oh, and not to forget the continual eating and shopping that went on the rest of the time!

We also visited the WTC site. Not much to see at the moment except a rather big hole in the ground. Must have been very scary when that was all happening. People are still talking about 9/11 a lot in NYC.

With empty wallets we retreated back to sleepy Totonto and started immediately thinking of when we would be leaving to go somewhere else on another holiday. Well, the plans are to spend 2 weeks in Alberta in August which we are really looking forward to. Washington and New York photos will be posted soon.