The California Zephyr: Chicago to San Francisco

My first long distance train ride in the US was a 12-hour trip to the East Coast with the Gorgeous H that I wrote about in an earlier blog post. During my recent visit with family, my train-loving sister talked me into yet another train ride this time to California. 

Our journey started in Cleveland, the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where my sister and her long-suffering husband, the Doctor A lives, an overnight in Chicago and finally the Can-I-survive-two-days-in-a-minuscule-cabin-with-my-energizer-bunny-of-a-sister-train-trip. Yup! You read it right. It was going to be a much longer train ride across some of North America's scenic countryside. 

The City That Never Sleeps: New York City!

For the next few days the gorgeous H and I will be exploring some of New York City's famous landmarks and attractions. Not to mention completely forgetting our diets as we eat our way through some of the Big Apple's much raved about eats.  

First things first though, we needed our caffeine fix. One of the things my sister and I have in common is that we have to have coffee first thing in the morning.  Wait! Let me rephrase that. My sister and I are walking zombies before our first cup. Good thing we didn't have far to go to get that cup o'java as the hotel provided free coffee (and breakfast). Surprisingly, the coffee wasn't the watered down variety but was really quite good. Just enough caffeine to wake us up in the mornings.

And off we go!

New York! New York!

It was a little over thirty years ago at the height of winter when I first arrived in New York City. My family and I arrived from a red eye flight from London where we lived for a year. It was a brief stopover on our way to the West Coast.

I don't recall much of New York City since it was a very short visit plus I was just a little kid back then. That trip was also my first time in the US of A. Since then I have been traveling to the states every so often but never had the chance to go back to New York until recently. 

I had just retired from the corporate world and decided to take a trip visiting with friends and family particularly my siblings who are now living in the US. Too bad the big K couldn't come with me since he had to do extra work to support me now *wink*. Kidding aside, we were going on a trip to Europe later in the year so his vacation days were all tied up for that trip.

View of Central Park from the view deck of the Rockefeller Center also known as the Top of the Rock. 

The Biggest Airshow on Earth: EAA Airventure Oshkosh

What is the world's busiest airport control tower come summer time? If you answered Chicago O'Hare, London Heathrow or Beijing International, guess again. The title is owned  by the Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin or simply called Oshkosh.

See, it says so, right on the tower.

West Side Market in Cleveland, Ohio

One market the big K and I enjoy going to every time we go visit my lovely sister in the north east United States is the West Side Market in Cleveland.

The West Side Market is the oldest publicly owned market in Cleveland. It started out as an open air market in the 1800s. Today, it is a big market house with over 100 vendors selling all kinds of foodstuff. 

What's great about this place is not so much the food that are sold here but the people who sell them. You have vendors who baked the breads, made the sausages or grew the fruits and vegetables themselves. You can definitely feel the pride they have in the stuff they sell.  

The main arcade of the market was recently renovated to include heating. This picture was taken from the balcony where one can have a picnic while watching the hustle and bustle below.