Tronno

Leaving New York yesterday morning felt a little soon - it's a place you could spend months—nay—years getting to know, so we really didn't get to do as much as we liked—but hey - there'll be other chances - maybe even at the end of this big trip!?! Even still - we fitted in a trip to Staten Island on the big orange ferry, had hamburgers in a slightly surreal 70s styled burger joint hidden away in the lobby of a posh hotel, went to see the Guggenheim (sadly covered in scaffolding and not exactly beaming in its Frank Lloyd Wright spiralness). I bought a hat in Barneys (yes—no apostrophe), bimbled in the new Apple Store on 5th Ave and drank Cosmopolitans in Sex & The City bar 'Scout' and had cupcakes in the East Village on a fun tour of the show's locations.

Good things about NYC:
Proliferation of cabs and reasonable prices for long journeys - yay!
Central Park - we walked pretty much the length and width of it on our last day and it's lovely
Iced water delivered instantly upon arrival at any restaurant
Fresh produce!

Yesterday we spent just over 12 hours on the Amtrak "Maple Leaf" Train 61 to Toronto leaving the hotel at something like 6am to get to Pennsylvania Station in time for the 7:15 off. Twelve hours may seem a long time but the train is a big comfy wide air-conditioned affair with enough legroom for the average basketball player. I seem to have a never-ending ability to be perfectly content watching the countless bridges, factories, rivers, crossings and towns pass by for hours on end, which I suppose is a good thing for when the scenery gets really big. I've bought some new pencils and a cartridge pad with a view to maybe drawing the odd thing but haven't felt a calling quite yet. The carriage also had mains electricity so we were able to watch the Lost Season Two finales (Downloaded in NY - some answers but even more questions naturally) and Jo was able to sit and write with no worries about the battery dying. Oh, and there was proper tea to be had in the Buffet car. Yay!

So I'm typing this in Ceara's splendid apartment to the east of Toronto Downtown. Great views too. And aircon. Met her at the station and headed out for cocktails (I recommend an Amaretto Sour) and a nice light bite on the front by the lake. Great to catch up a bit. It's two years since we last caught up - the time it does a fly. Big night out tonight and a proper day in the city tomorrow; we might head out in a bit to have a little mooch in the shops but it's verr hot and we're verr lame in the heat so it'll be a while yet I think.