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now, why am i in grand central? yes, it's gorgeous, but i was here for a very wonderful reason- my friend veca (김민영) was in the US for a first time visit. she spent a couple of days in seattle, then a week in NYC with a friend. i was picking her up from NYC for another few days outside the city. a whirlwind tour of parts of new england!
on a train, on our way out to my aunt and uncle's where i stashed my car. can't believe veca was there! aside from driving and chatting and getting to our first destination, we had a special meal composed of foods from different areas of eastern europe (not all of them were veca's new favorite). there were so many questions she had about the reality of the US versus her previous perception of it. . . i tried to fill in some blanks without running through an entire high school history class.
she became more impressed with how me and my expat friends survived in korea. she visited the US for about two weeks and was kind of homesick and missing korean flavors in that short time- it even surprised her. i did love that i could repay her a bit, for all the times she escorted me to doctors or vets, or wrote me notes in korean to take to stores. after spending over a week with one of her friends here (who was too nervous to try out her english), it was a nice break for her to have me around to read signs, order food, and make plans.
not bad eh? outside our hotel at howe caverns. (over the evening we watched a few fireflies move about. tried to catch one and pretty much killed it- accidentally.)
taken in the morning before we started off. outside our room people were playing frisbee in front of a fantastic backdrop. ahead of us: howe caverns, driving, shopping, a stop in a scenic town for a memorable lunch,
a bridge of flowers, rainy driving, and an 'american' chinese dinner.
the Howe Caverns were more impressive than i anticipated. it was also really nice to get out of the heat.
this stalagmite was nicknamed the leaning tower of pisa.
getting into our boat for a ride through the cave.
in the 'chapel' area a special spot with a little back light.
as lovely as the first two parts of the cave were, this was by far the best part. i felt like a giant walking through south west canyons!
what's a trip through the US without a little shopping? (although Veca had done a pretty good job filling her new suitcase already) we made a stop at a petco where i contemplated (didn't actually buy, yet) buying some star wars themed apparel for glitchy.
and why stop in shelburne falls? aside from it being a cute area, it had a nice area to walk around.
not a bad place for a pit stop.
crossing the bridge of flowers.
after walking around, using the toilets of a cute library, and eating, veca helped me locate (actually SHE located it) a geocache in the town.
so, our morning whale watched was pushed back into the afternoon. after a great breakfast at a friendly local diner, what are a couple of girls supposed to do? how about checking out a medieval inspired castle on the coast. filled with artwork and artifacts, the hammond castle didn't disappoint.
the plaque before entering.
an impressive grand hall.
a lovely room off the grand hall with a view of the water, a fireplace, and plenty of places to sit and relax.
one of his inventions- a sound system that controlled sound throughout the castle.
marveling in the coolest room.
a nice touch of color and light in my favorite room, a round library.
veca in the lovely covered courtyard.
the way artwork and architecture was cobbled together into this castle reminded me a lot of the isabella stewart gardner museum. something to see everywhere your eyes fell.
the medieval inspired bedroom.
this office has inspired me to own a standing valet- don't have it yet, but it will be part of my room!
veca overlooking the water outside the hammond castle.
the front with the draw bridge.
i was concentrating very hard, trying to get that moping grotesque to appear over my head in my picture.
with the Hammond grotesque.
we lucked out like crazy. our morning whale watch was cancelled, but they added us into the afternoon outing. (so it was a little crowded.) the day was beautiful and the company was calling nearby hotels to let them know that it would be a great day to go whale watching. according to our announcer, the day we went had more whales than they had seen the entire prior month. i can't remember which three we saw, other than humpbacks, but if we didn't have one up and close on the boat we could easily spot sea spray in nearly all directions. our announcer was possibly more excited than the entire boat, screaming about how amazing it all was the entire ride.
we have chin break! all the gulls decent to catch the food that the whale loses as they push out all the water from their mouths.
a little tale waggle. . .
for the last 15 minutes these two whales swam next to each other and to our boat. really cool.
wegmans are too far from where i live to make the trip often. luckily, there was one on our way to our next hotel. (also got to stop at a starbucks where veca collected another city themed bug.) outside boston we walked around this wegmans and filled take out containers for dinner. we sat right in the lovely store and ate. (veca had been commenting on how quiet and well behaved american children were. i explained it wasn't always true, but definitely different from how korean children are expected to behave. we sat near to a family with a young daughter. the girl was all over the place, demanding, and noisy. . . and korean. veca was humorously embarrassed.)
the view walking into our cottage. (i couldn't take the pictures at night, it was too dark and i needed the sea sun to fill the rooms with light.) we didn't get in till around 9pm. it bummed veca out a little. she fell in love with the place instantly and wished we had an entire day to spend there. we were met with a lovely welcome card, put our things down and promptly went for a couple of drinks at the bar. everyone was beyond friendly (tourist town) and the setting was wonderful, right along the water.
upstairs. since i had sprung for this nice place as a birthday present for veca, i also gave her the rule of the roost. she got the upstairs for the evening. this place more than impressed her. she had been looking at all the antique and refurbished furniture everywhere we went, and this place seemed to have the exact style she liked. i couldn't have planned it better.
i didn't know till the next morning that veca had stayed up till around 3am 'enjoying' the room. she moved from one chair to another, lounging and taking pictures to send to friends (possibly to insight envy).
i took the shot standing in front of the large flatscreen tv, which also had an ipod (complete with some music) plugged into a stereo system, and a wii set up. this cozy couch was an excellent bed for the evening.
and the bathroom of course. . . with some of the most charming toiletries. ordered some online when i got home.
