Hello
as contrast to the impressions from NY (Part 1, Part 2) a compilation if some pictures from New England and Washington D.C.
Together with a friend, I spent a few days with my brother, then we started on a tour of New England by car. We went up to coast to Acadia National Park in Maine (when you ever get up there, you have to visit Acadia - it is awesome).
Mt. Washington Cog Railway
The tour took us to the White Mountains in New Hampshire. In the White Mountain you will find the sport with the worst weather in the US: Mt. Washington
In the 19th century the Mt. Washington Cog Railway (The Cog) was built to run trains to the summit. Legend has it the constructor got the idea to build the railway when he was caught in a storm on the mountain and almost died. He wanted to rescue other tourist from this fate
.
The Cog has (bio) diesel and Steam engines in its fleet. A steam engine is getting ready for run up to the summit:
We did not ride the train, but hiked up to the summit. It took us about 4 hours to get there. A day before we did a little hiking (some kind of warm up). Another hiker we met, told us that the hike to Mt. Washtington is the most difficult hike they got. I quite agree, it was strenuous hike, but the vista was worthwhile. (Our trip was in September, on the summit there was till some snow left from last the last Winter):
The summit is is covered in the clouds most time of the year.
A diesel powered train going down the mountain:
I had seen a TV documentary about this railway about 15 years back. I was quite happy, when during our trip planning, it became clear that I might see it in real life.
Seashore Trolley Museum
An now for something completely different: The Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, ME has quite remarkable collection of trams and buses.
Several old trams are running on a museum line and allow you to dive into the golden age of trams:
A quick look into the shop, gives an idea you much effort is necessary to get an old tram running again.
The collection does include newer rolling stock too. For instance, this train of the Green Line in Boston (The green line is a tram that runs under ground in downtown Boston.).
This concept train was built a case study what future rolling stock could be like
Apart from trains the museum houses a large collection of buses from different decades.
Boston
As I do not a lot train pictures from Boston, I will focus on the city.
A view from Cambrige/MIT to Boston gives an impression about the weather we had to deal with during our Boston stay (But as these 2 days of rain, were the only rainy days during our 5 week trip, I will not complain about it).
The tower is the Prudential Tower. We wanted to follow a recommendation from my brother to go up there, have a drink and enjoy the view. We canceled it due to the weather.
Public transportation in Boston consist of buses and the subway: The T. The T is underground in downtown and above ground in the out skirts.
Charles/MGH station on the Red Line
A red line train crosses the Charles River between Charles/MGH and Kendall/MIT stations
Massachusetts State House, the seat of the parliament of the state Massachusetts (officially: the Commonwealth of Massachusetts).
I took a tour of the building, which gave a lot of insights into its architecture and a look behind the scenes of American state level politics,
Boston is great for a visit. The city's architecture is great mixture of old and modern buildings. The park Boston Common is a green island in the city to enjoy and relax from sight sightseeing.
On the first day (which had the least amount of rain) we walked a long Freedom Trail. It is clearly marked and takes you all around downtown:
Washington D.C.
As it was only about 3 hours by train away from NY, I went to Washington D.C. for a few days. At first I planned on using the Acela Express, but the tickets were about 200 USD one-way. So I ended up using the Northeast Regional which take about 30 minutes longer than the Acela and costs a lot less (I paid 49 USD + 79 USD).
While waiting for my train in Newark Penn Station I got a chance to see an Acela up close, because it departed a few minutes prior to my train from the opposite platform.
In Washington I did a lot of sightseeing and walked up and down the National Mall from the Capitol to the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial and the White House.
Along the National Mall the Smithsonian Institution has several museums on a wide range of subjects: History, Art, Air&Space, ... The admission is free! The only negative point: Each museum had a check point with metal detectors and x-ray machines at the entrance. Sometimes it felt like at the airport. But nevertheless: The museums are worth a visit.
The Capitol in day light and at sunset
In the morning young marines were jogging around pool. As in military movies, they were singing. But in contrast to the movies like "Full Metal Jacket", the lyrics were G-rated.
A look into the garden of Mr. Obama (my brother joked, that if I peed there, I would not need a hotel - but I did long for trip to Cuba either).
Apart from walking I used the subway a lot. The first segments of Washington's Metro system (Metro) were build in the 1970s. So it is a lot younger than the NY subway which dates back over 100 years. The system has some key transfer stations, so that usually one transfer is enough to get everywhere.
A Blue Line train leaving the station at Arlington Cemetary.
I have seen these burial grounds in movies like a million times:
In the middle: The tomb of president John F. Kennedy. The view towards downtown shows the Washington Monument and the Capitol
Trivia
A Star Wars mailbox at Yale Campus in New Haven, CT
A church in Boston remembered the soldier killed in "War against terror" with these racks of dog tags:
Thats it for D.C. and New England.
Charly
as contrast to the impressions from NY (Part 1, Part 2) a compilation if some pictures from New England and Washington D.C.
Together with a friend, I spent a few days with my brother, then we started on a tour of New England by car. We went up to coast to Acadia National Park in Maine (when you ever get up there, you have to visit Acadia - it is awesome).
Mt. Washington Cog Railway
The tour took us to the White Mountains in New Hampshire. In the White Mountain you will find the sport with the worst weather in the US: Mt. Washington
In the 19th century the Mt. Washington Cog Railway (The Cog) was built to run trains to the summit. Legend has it the constructor got the idea to build the railway when he was caught in a storm on the mountain and almost died. He wanted to rescue other tourist from this fate
.The Cog has (bio) diesel and Steam engines in its fleet. A steam engine is getting ready for run up to the summit:
We did not ride the train, but hiked up to the summit. It took us about 4 hours to get there. A day before we did a little hiking (some kind of warm up). Another hiker we met, told us that the hike to Mt. Washtington is the most difficult hike they got. I quite agree, it was strenuous hike, but the vista was worthwhile. (Our trip was in September, on the summit there was till some snow left from last the last Winter):
The summit is is covered in the clouds most time of the year.
A diesel powered train going down the mountain:
I had seen a TV documentary about this railway about 15 years back. I was quite happy, when during our trip planning, it became clear that I might see it in real life.
Seashore Trolley Museum
An now for something completely different: The Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, ME has quite remarkable collection of trams and buses.
Several old trams are running on a museum line and allow you to dive into the golden age of trams:
A quick look into the shop, gives an idea you much effort is necessary to get an old tram running again.
The collection does include newer rolling stock too. For instance, this train of the Green Line in Boston (The green line is a tram that runs under ground in downtown Boston.).
This concept train was built a case study what future rolling stock could be like
Apart from trains the museum houses a large collection of buses from different decades.
Boston
As I do not a lot train pictures from Boston, I will focus on the city.
A view from Cambrige/MIT to Boston gives an impression about the weather we had to deal with during our Boston stay (But as these 2 days of rain, were the only rainy days during our 5 week trip, I will not complain about it
).The tower is the Prudential Tower. We wanted to follow a recommendation from my brother to go up there, have a drink and enjoy the view. We canceled it due to the weather.
Public transportation in Boston consist of buses and the subway: The T. The T is underground in downtown and above ground in the out skirts.
Charles/MGH station on the Red Line
A red line train crosses the Charles River between Charles/MGH and Kendall/MIT stations
Massachusetts State House, the seat of the parliament of the state Massachusetts (officially: the Commonwealth of Massachusetts).
I took a tour of the building, which gave a lot of insights into its architecture and a look behind the scenes of American state level politics,
Boston is great for a visit. The city's architecture is great mixture of old and modern buildings. The park Boston Common is a green island in the city to enjoy and relax from sight sightseeing.
On the first day (which had the least amount of rain) we walked a long Freedom Trail. It is clearly marked and takes you all around downtown:
Washington D.C.
As it was only about 3 hours by train away from NY, I went to Washington D.C. for a few days. At first I planned on using the Acela Express, but the tickets were about 200 USD one-way. So I ended up using the Northeast Regional which take about 30 minutes longer than the Acela and costs a lot less (I paid 49 USD + 79 USD).
While waiting for my train in Newark Penn Station I got a chance to see an Acela up close, because it departed a few minutes prior to my train from the opposite platform.
In Washington I did a lot of sightseeing and walked up and down the National Mall from the Capitol to the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial and the White House.
Along the National Mall the Smithsonian Institution has several museums on a wide range of subjects: History, Art, Air&Space, ... The admission is free! The only negative point: Each museum had a check point with metal detectors and x-ray machines at the entrance. Sometimes it felt like at the airport. But nevertheless: The museums are worth a visit.
The Capitol in day light and at sunset
In the morning young marines were jogging around pool. As in military movies, they were singing. But in contrast to the movies like "Full Metal Jacket", the lyrics were G-rated
.A look into the garden of Mr. Obama (my brother joked, that if I peed there, I would not need a hotel - but I did long for trip to Cuba either).
Apart from walking I used the subway a lot. The first segments of Washington's Metro system (Metro) were build in the 1970s. So it is a lot younger than the NY subway which dates back over 100 years. The system has some key transfer stations, so that usually one transfer is enough to get everywhere.
A Blue Line train leaving the station at Arlington Cemetary.
I have seen these burial grounds in movies like a million times:
In the middle: The tomb of president John F. Kennedy. The view towards downtown shows the Washington Monument and the Capitol
Trivia
A Star Wars mailbox at Yale Campus in New Haven, CT
A church in Boston remembered the soldier killed in "War against terror" with these racks of dog tags:
Thats it for D.C. and New England.
Charly