tiistai 8. maaliskuuta 2016

Visiting the U.S. with Anne

We left home on Saturday 02/27 around 11 am. Kaj's parents came to our home to look after the kids. In the airport everything went smoothly thanks to Kaj's experience in travelling. Anne just tried to keep up. Fortunately their is some advantages with Kaj's travels, we were invited to Finnairs Premium Lounge to wait for the boarding which started at 1:30pm. Our flight took nine hours and we spent it mostly watching movies.


Picture from the Premium lounge


We arrived to JFK just before 4:00pm. Directly from the plane we rushed to immigration as three flights were arriving at the same time and we wanted to avoid long queues. Rushing did not help that much as we had to wait for our turn for over one hour. The actual immigration went smoothly and after getting our luggage we went to the arrivals hall to see if our pre-order hotel transportation was there waiting for us. After a short search we noticed that there was nobody expecting us, fortunately a lady from the information desk noticed us an gave us instructions to use the lobby phone to call the transportation office to inform them we had arrived. We were told that the car would arrive in seven minutes and they would have our name posted on the car. This was good news. We went out to wait for the car. The moment we got out we were offered shuttle services, taxis and other means of transportation to the center of New York. Roughly 7 minutes later Kaj noticed a black car arriving and the driver waiving a paper with KAJ written on it. This must be our car, we walked closer to the car and noticed that there was an elderly lady sitting in the back of the car. The driver got out and told us that the lady had jumped in the car and refused to get out as she was expecting a car from the same company. The driver went to look for the other car, meanwhile we had a short chat with the lady. She was 75 years old and going to 35th street and our hotel was on 40th street. The driver could have dropped her along the way. She said the only in New York a taxi could leave an elderly woman standing beside the road. The driver came after few minutes and told the lady that the car was just arriving. The driver showed us to the car and apparently lifted the lady's luggage into the other car. We felt bad about the situation as we were not sure what had happened, but it was too late to now. We got out of the airport and directly to the expressway with a lot of lanes, traffic jams. Driver continuously sighing, but not saying much.

It took us almost 1,5 hours to get to the hotel. We just briefly went to our room and immediately left the hotel to go see Manhattan in evening lighting. Just a short walk from the hotel we went to see The Empire State Building, The Chrysler Building, Rockefeller Center and Time Square.  We walked almost 10 blocks to get to Time Square and as obeying Finns we stopped on every block on a red light, but after a short while we noticed that non of the other pedestrians were stopping on red lights. Apparently in New York red light means that you are allowed to cross as long as you make sure there are no cars coming. It didn't take long for the jet lag to start affecting us, therefore we decided to go back to the hotel stopping along the way into a small grocery store to get some snacks for the room. We sat on the bed and watched some TV and after a few minutes we fell asleep. 3:00 am we both woke up and as we were not able to continue to sleep, Kaj started to watch basketball and I started to surf the internet. We dozed off few times, but gave up at 7:00am and got out of bed.

 Empire State Building

Chrysler Building 

Rockefeller Center 

Time Square

The hotel did not have a restaurant, so we went to the Starbucks beside the hotel for breakfast. Kaj was boring a chose a basic breakfast with orange juice, but I decided to be adventurous an chose green juice. At the table I started to read the label and it stated that the juice was made of celery, spinach, kale, parsley, lime and lemon. I have to say it was an experience that I will not try a second time. I told myself the taste does not matter, but how healthy it is. Well we got a good laugh about it and that is a good way to start the day.

I had agreed with my dear friend Niina that we would meet on Sunday in front of the Time Warner Center beside Central Park around 10:00am. We checked out from the hotel, left our luggage in the reception and started to walk 19 block walk towards Central Park. New York was giving us its best as the the sun was shining and it was 10 degrees, spring was coming. We met with Niina and her husband and son and went to the playground in Central Park. Where we enjoyed the weather, talked about the resent events in our lives and played with Niinas son. We decided to have lunch together and went to a Indian Restaurant in Upper West side. After a delicious and fun lunch we went our separate ways.

Central Park


Time Warner Center


We decided to go to the Hertz office on 34th street to ask if our car was already available few hours before our reserved time and to our surprise it was. Only after 5 minutes in the office we had our wheels and departed to the hotel to get our luggage and from there to Milford/Orange CT. The drive from Manhattan to Orange took 2 hours. Before we went to the hotel Kaj stopped in a Stop&Shop grocery store to get something to eat. I have to say the store was impressive, a big fruit and vegetable section, shelves full of different type of foods and other interesting stuff. Quickly we made our choices and head off to the hotel. We ate in the room and it did not take long for the jet lag to hit again. We thought it would be wise to go to bed, just to wake up at 4:00am again.

We stayed in bed and dozed off few times again, but 6:30 am we got up. The time difference to Finland is seven hours. It was difficult to explain our kids at home that if they would have something to inform us and they would call us at 12:00pm, it would be 5:00am in Milford. You can imagine what type of situation this caused. After breakfast Kaj went to the office and I stayed in our hotel room to read a book, watch some TV and wait for my "babysitter" to come pick me up. We had agreed with Mia that she would pick me up from the hotel just before lunch. Well before lunch time I went out to wait for Mia and decided to walk around the hotel, after my third lap I started to get suspicious looks from people outside, so I decided to sit beside the hotel entrance and enjoy the warmth of the sun. It didn't take long for Mia to arrive and we went sightseeing. We drove around Milford and Orange and after a while I was completely disorientated. One thing I learned was that PEZ and Subway were originally from Milford. We met our husbands for lunch and after work Kaj came to pick me up from Mia's and Mikko's home.We agreed to join Mikko and the girls for a walk along the West Haven shoreline so we briefly stopped at the hotel to change our clothes and we drove to West Haven. The girls were on their bikes and we tried to keep up with them. We said good night to Mikko and the girls and we returned to the hotel, where we went to the gym to continue with our exercise. 40 minutes later we were back in our room eating Sushi and fruits we bought the day before from Stop&Shop. At the same time we tried to watch the Oscars, but as the days before we started to get tired and went to bed. And as the days before we also woke up early.

West Haven shoreline 

Our hotel

At 4:00am we woke up to the anoying sound of a phone vibrating on the table. I got up to see who was calling. Unknown number, has to be a phone salesperson. After few F words later I tried to continue sleeping, but it was already too late. I tried several times to improve the softness of my pillow before I decided to get up. I chose to use my additional time to be vain and put some make-up and have my hair done. I have to say this is something I have rarely time for at home. I had decided to  be on my own in the morning as Mia had also other duties than be my "babysitter". Therefore I asked Kaj to drop me at Stop&Shop. I would have walked to the store, but the Marsh Hill road beside our hotel was a 4 lane road without a pedestrian way. Walking beside the road would have caused some suspicions and most likely a visit from the local police and I did not want that kind of attention. Therefore a lift from Kaj was a safer choice. When I got to the store the lights we not on, but the doors were open so I went in. I wondered back and forth between the shelves studying the contents and food supplies. The selection was huge and in the end I realized that it is up to our own choices.  I spent a fantastic two hours in the store and the only thing I bought was a facial cream. Next stop Connecticut Post mall, where I walked through the parking lots and over the roads. I got to the entrance just to realize the mall was massive. Stores and shops in two/three floors and corridors to every direction. As there was no map available I just wondered around the corridors and did some window shopping. Kaj called me and we agreed to meet for lunch in the mall food court. As I did not have a map I started my search. I also started to wonder how many kilometers I had walked during the day. Eventually I found Kaj, Mikko and Mia and we had some lunch. Kaj and Mikko went back to work and us girls we went to an outlet store 10 minutes away from Milford. In the mall I got a feeling that I will come familiar with  Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, Gap and other known brands when living in the U.S. I was able to find some souvenirs for the kids from the outlet. Unfortunately we had to leave early as we had a 4:00pm appointment with the Grand Reserve leasing consultant with Kaj. The consultant introduced us the public areas, general living room, gym, swimming pool, barbecues and a 3 bedroom apartment which was available. We took some measurements of the rooms and visualized which furniture would fit in the apartment. The thanked the consultant for the tour and returned to the hotel and went to the Australian themed Outback restaurant beside our hotel. After a "lite" supper we decided to visit the gym once again and for some reason we did not have to wait for a long time before the sandman came to visit us.
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Grand Reserve

The swimming pool at Grand Reserve 


It seemed that we  had not traveled all the way to the U.S. to sleep as we woke up way before the alarm clock went off. I stayed at the hotel to read a book and watch the TV while Kaj went to work. I was picked up from lunch and after lunch Kaj took me back to the mall. Which was a mistake. I went directly to Victorias Secret and I spent a while there. The salesperson took my measurements and after that she brought me continuously different model to try on. As soon as I found the correct ones we started to look for the correct color and for other necessities. I paid for my shopping and realized time flies when you are having fun, so I rushed to seek for the remaining souvenirs for the kids. I found some type of game store, which had also clothing and I was able to find souvenirs for Kasmir and Jade. Kaj came to pick me up at 2:15pm as we had to go and visit Avalon Communities in Stratford. The same type of tour was given as in Grand Reserve and we could visualize us living there as well.  As we had some time before we had agreed to meet with Mia we decided to stop once more at the mall. Mistake again. We visited a sports store where Kaj found some souvenirs for himself and of course something for the kids. From the mall we went to Grand Reserve to meet up with Mia as we had agreed to go for dinner at a Hamburger restaurant called Plan B. I have to say they had one of the best burgers I have ever tasted. Once we got back to the hotel we did not have the energy even to go to the gym so shortly planned the next day and went to bed.

Healthy Breakfast 

Avalon Stratford 

Avalon Stratford

Thursday morning. Departure day. Kaj went to work for the morning and I stayed at the hotel to pack. I had all the souvenirs to be fitted in on luggage. Kaj picked me up a 11:30am and we made a brief stop at Teknoware Inc. to say good bye to Mia. Mikko joined us for lunch before we took off to JFK. The drive along Merritt Parkway went rather well. There were some traffic jams along the way, but we got to the airport more than 2 hours before our boarding which was at 5:15pm. So we went to the Admirals lounge to have something to drink and to eat some snacks. Our flight back to Finland took 7,5 hours and we spent it mostly watching movies, I think I fell asleep for few hours as well. We landed at Helsinki airport at 8:40am on Friday 03/04. The only thing remaining was a 1 hour drive home to see our eagerly waiting kids, so that we could give them the souvenirs and hear how their week with the grandparents had gone.

Merritt Pkwy 15 

Traffic jam on Merritt. They were cutting trees beside the road. 

Manhattan from Whitestone Bridge

Traffic jam at Van Wyck Expy

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