My introduction to America

The streets of New York with the High Line in the distance
and one of the ubiquitous delicatessens on the corner

I am just back from my first ever trip across the Atlantic ocean to North America. I will try to describe my experiences. We had to put our clocks back gradually, an hour at a time as we 'steamed' on Arcadia towards the East Coast of America. Those cruise ships offer every luxury to make our trip enjoyable and memorable. We enjoyed good food, first class shows in the Palladium Theatre and occasional bopping to Charlie's 50s and 60s selection in Electra. We frequently finished our evenings with the 'syndicate' quiz meeting up with new friends in the 'Crow's Nest' and making sure one of them had plenty of room to pop into place with a wheel chair, expertly driven into place. A trip on those cruise ships I can only describe as a series of treats, one after the other with the excitement of visiting somewhere new. For me it was a chance to see New York for the first time. I had expected to go in 1977 and never imagined I would do so in 2012, so many places I had seen in favourite films... Broadway Danny Rose, Manhattan, The Devil Wears Prada, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Apartment... I'm sure there are more! Well I got there and to Newport, Boston, where I traced the other end of my "Winthrop Trail" walk I conduct from Boxford to Groton in Suffolk. Also to Portland where it rained and we found a little railway and Longfellow's house. I bought a hat in St John, New Brunswick Canada. Halifax was wonderfully sunny and I twisted my ankle quite painfully there. Quebec is just amazing "Bonjour Madame" they said in a shop we wandered into... but then I was wearing a hat. And we went to Green Gables. Really, the house Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote about in "Anne of Green Gables". If you interested in any of these experiences/places read on!