Niagara, where America and Canada collide

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20 October 2015

Commamdo was, understandably, a little nervous about driving seventy two miles on Canadian roads. After all, that’s like driving from our house to London, which in England would be counted as a pretty long drive. Of course, in Canada it’s considered just down the road and we couldn’t come all this way without seeing one of the wonders of the natural world. Not wishing to get caught up in the morning rush hour, we had a leisurely breakfast and then took a slow wander down to the car park. The worst part turned out to be getting out of the city. Once we got onto the Gardiner Expressway the traffic eased a little. Now all we had to do was follow the sat nav, keep looking at the road signs and try to be in the right lane at the right time. Simple? Probably not but Commando managed it. Continue reading Niagara, where America and Canada collide

America, the same language, a very different world

From Wikimedia Commons © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons
From Wikimedia Commons © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons

Before I went to America I read an amusing list of differences between our two countries written by an American in the UK. This made me think it would be fun to turn this around and look at the ways America was different to England. Of course we only spent a couple of days in a very small part of this massive country so the differences we noticed might be specific to New York rather than the whole of the United States. Rather then one hundred differences I’ve chosen just fifty, the next fifty will be about Canada.

Continue reading America, the same language, a very different world

Welcome to America

Breakfast at Heathrow
Breakfast at Heathrow

10 October 2015

My nightmare about the check in at Heathrow turned out to be something of an omen for what was to come although not in quite the way I expected. Suffice to say, my welcome to America was not at all welcoming and most certainly not an experience I’ll be rushing to repeat. The following is a tale of woe that certainly doesn’t reflect on all my lovely American friends. It says more about the lack of organisation and common courtesy of the staff employed by American border control at JFK.  Continue reading Welcome to America