taking a break from the vacation

An early start today, but not because of vacation plans. I have an office meeting which has sneaked into my holiday.

I normally look at other people intent on blackberries, business cellular calls and laptops whilst on their holiday and think they should take the break and be 'in the moment' instead of chained to their commerce, so it's difficult when it happens to me.

Originally the meeting was booked at 07:30 my time, but now it has moved three hours later which makes it 10:30. I only found that out last night along with another message that it was important that I attended the call.

I will, of course, although it puts a dent into today's plans because I'll need to be somewhere suitable for a one hour call mid-morning.

Hopefully, the other people I see in these circumstances are similar to me and it is a 'one off' during their time away. Some how I suspect not.

in which it all begins to look alpine

Luckily my plan to visit the ice cream place was overturned. The better plan was to walk a trail in the first part of the day although there was fairly conflicting weather advice - rain vs sunshine. I carried a modest backpack and as we set off the indoor impression was of a cold and grey day.

As we got outside we realised the scale of the heat pinning us to the ground. It must have been the decor and the aircon that had lulled us into thinking it would be cool. True, some of the weather channels had been warning of the hottest day of 2009, but we were in the mountains of Northern Vermont, so thought this wouldn't affect us.

It just got hotter and hotter. At one point mid morning I spotted a wall thermometer on the side of a shed. It said 95 degrees. I don't really do Farenheit, but I know that 95 is pretty warm. So did my tee-shirt. Now we are not talking Joshua Tree or Death Valley heat here, but it was enough to catch us out and we changed our route and plans.

Ben and Jerry's would never have been first on the itinerary but now it became the Plan B option to head across to somewhere cooler for at least the peak part of the day. But ohmygoshthecrowdsthere. It was far too busy and an almost improbable jarring compared to the relative ease with which we'd moved about up to this point.

We decided to go for Plan C. That's the 'no plan' plan. And it worked a whole lot better. I'd already commented that Vermont was more like New Switzerland or New Austria rather then being bundled with New England and then, lo and behold, just past the sign for Inky Dinky Oink Ink, was another for the von Trapp residence.

We decided to take a look, and sure enough, these hills were still very much alive with the sound of music. It turns out that Maria and the gang had moved to Vermont and established a miniature version of Austria very close to where we'd been staying. Brilliantly located, well maintained, thriving as a hotel nowadays but also touching because of the little memorial ground where Maria and her siblings are buried.

Then further onward across the mountain peaks before deciding to head for the nearby lake, which also reminded me of the edges of Lake Lausanne in Switzerland.

Across the other side we could see the shoreline of upstate New York and our good fortune was to be able to sit with a Magic Hat #9 and a snack by the water's edge to watch the sun set before heading back to our current base at the Inn.

the one with the inn in vermont

This is my first time in Vermont, and I can't help thinking of all the movies and sitcoms where people from New York head up to Vermont for the weekend/to go ski-ing/to someone they know's borrowed cottage.

It reminded me of TV series Friends where Vermont was used to signify escape from Manhattan. And then, today, to my surprise, Pheobe from Friends appeared on the breakfast show promoting a new movie.

Meantime, the area seems kind of homely and cosy, with decor more suited to a winter environment than the heat we are currently experiencing. Whilst the coast was all lobster and seafood, around here its all dairy and home baked bread.

We're backpack-ready for a day out on the trails, cautiously with waterproofs as well as tee-shirts.

screamin' across the mountains

Sometimes the strangest things can excite.

We decided to head from the White Mountains in New Hampshire to the Green Mountains in Vermont.

As we cut across to tonight's stopoff, I can't help thinking that our really near neighbor* is Ben and Jerry's, the ice cream company.

We passed them shortly before we arrived at this Inn and I'm trying to think of an excuse to go back tomorrow for a quick look around.

*American spelling because they are American neighbors.

bretton woods

We are out into the proper mountains today. The Northern Appalachians and the White Mountains in particular. More of that when I have a chance to load some pictures.

Right now we are dancing the night away in Bretton Woods, which is the place where Keynes and a large bunch of diplomats and economists planned the economic reform and pegging of currencies which led to the IMF and the end of the gold standard.

The place is awash with finery and despite the passing of time, its not that difficult to visualise the setup for the creation of the dollar peg rate to gold.
Keynes' idealistic approach to the creation of a new index was outmanoeuvered by the United States, which wanted all the currencies to be pegged via the dollar, which effectively supplanted gold as the reserve currency of global economics.

It was clever thinking at the time, because the US needed to have an ongoing economic engine after World War II and getting all of Europe's currencies linked to the dollar and everyone using it as part of commerce was a way to keep the export engine running and access to all markets.

It worked for a while, but the dollar based scheme created some interesting disparities. The US could effectively trade at huge profits with developing nations and then send some of the profits to Europe as post-war grants. The US became capitalist in chief of the world.

Pax Americana.

Until in the late 60s when the Europeans bonded, Japan regained some economic strength and a war in Vietnam created new US challenges and a massive US balance of trade deterioration.

The USD to gold rate of $35 per ounce was ending and with it the fixed nature of a Bretton Woods global currency peg.

Fascinating to turn up at the location where these events played out and amusing to see that the various delegates would have been rather well catered for, judging by the locale and its rather opulent amenities.

Yes, I did also find the Bretton Woods speakeasy cave for a different type of music.

cadillac mountain

We started today at sea level and only climbed around 1500 feet to the top of what is called a mountain around here.

Doesn't sound impressive? It was.

We're in one of the East Coast glacial areas and the highest point of the pink weathered granite has spectacular views across the bay, across the Atlantic and across to Canada.

All of this with a relative lack of people in the area. We'd dabbled feet in the salty sea and then stomped in the same sand covered boots to a superb vista.

I gather in Maine the top pursuit is 'doing nothing'.

I think it fits well at the top of one of these views.

universal language of sport

Dmitry was from Volgograd. "That was Stalingrad, wasn't it?" I asked. "Very good", he said, "most people think of Leningrad".

"St Petersburg", I thought, "I've nearly been there."

"There's the big statue in Volgograd", he continued, "It's the one of the Motherland".

"THAT big statue", I thought, "It's spectacular". We chatted about the battle of Stalingrad in the second World War, the way his Russian cities had been renamed and then how he wound up in this part of America. Dmitry had learned his English from books. "Oxford books", he added, "So I would learn proper English. I can tell the difference between an American and a British accent immediately, although Scotland and Glasgow can be difficult".

"You must like soccer?", he asked, "We have some great Russian players in your teams now, in Tottenham and Chelsea." I nodded, "Many of the players in the major English teams are from overseas nowadays, and the coaches and managers. The team names are more of a brand."

He could sense I was out of my depth trying to talk soccer. "Go over that causeway", he pointed, "There are some great views".

separated by a common language

I havn't been back in the USA for over a year, whereas in some years I'd be here pretty much every month. The gap is long enough to re-examine some little day-to-day differences, which initially stick out like a Hopper lighthouse guarding the shoreline, but soon assimilate into the way things are around here.

Remember I work with quite a few Americans and we all get along just fine, but here's a few observations from the last couple of days

• ordering a coffee provokes a response of "awesome". Not quite sure why, but its certainly very friendly


• getting commments about "not being from this town" in many places on account of my accent


• remembering that television comes in ten minute bursts interrupted with commercials on most of the 60-100 channels provided in hotels.


• knowing that all tablets and health remedies have a page of disclaimers and that special people are paid to recite these characteristics very fast in adverts.


• being reassured that objects are still closer than they may appear


• flicking around the radio dial and being surprised at just how many country music stations there are


• needing to be especially careful when ordering anything with multiple options on account that I could be misunderstood with entirely unpredictable consequences


• being pleased now that most electronic devices are multi voltage so I can take one plug adapter and a UK powerstrip instead of lots of plugs.


• being surprised at the fragility of some US domestically produced items. Thin metal designed for short MTBF.


• remembering that food comes in industrial quantities in many restaurants. Moderation required.


• being able to do calculations of tips for all manner of services. Everyone gets paid, etc.


• remembering that the temperatures indoors are no guide whatsoever to the temperatures outdoors


• the sheer number of American flags on display everywhere


• hating that after landing if I don't use my usual car hire company then there's an undignified argument about extras, insurance, upgrades and why the car I've been allocated looks as if its a repo thats been in a car chase.


• noticing that, charmingly, just about everyone has a story (Just finished chatting to Dmitry about his exploits since he left Russia)


• hearing debates about Dubya and Barack and how Republicans are trying to make all of what Obama says sound like spin.


• needing to drive at American speeds, which are both different and slower than Europe and in some states within a good 5 mph safety limit of the prevailing speed limit


• being still amazed that gas is only $2.59 per gallon.


• pleased that GSM and 3G coverage is finally pervasive after years of irritaingly poor coverage

I know these are all trivial points, but they are things that pop up in the first couple of days and make me smile. By tomorrow I'll be taking it all for granted.

hold your breath 'till the sun goes down

We've left the upscale tranquil splendour of our harbourside suite in Boston and headed North.

Quite a contrast between the sedate couples strolling the waterfront in our well-heeled part of Boston and the late night noisy swirl right outside our doorstep in the new place.

"You might want to come back to the bar at about eleven", explained the grinning lady at the check-in. "There'll generally be singing by that time." We headed off to our room across the road overlooking the landing where the lobster boats come in.

On the way here we did stop off at Salem although the cutesy candy coloured toy witches and occasional Wiccan symbols didn't really give a sense of the witch trials. In fairness there was also a museum but my own impression from the town gave mixed messages.

The original Salem events near the time of the new settlements lacked legislative balance with Puritans creating a claustophobic, oppressive and hysterical environment. A sub-text was that land could be reclaimed upon the death of widowed women.

So the rumour mill and use of pseudo spiritual accusations meant anyone slightly nonconformist could be accused as a witch with potentially material gains.

Around 150 were accused and nineteen received capital punishment before the use of spectral evidence such as the 'touch test' was abolished. The touch test was a way for an accuser to devine whether the person they accused was guilty based upon the lifting of pain following the touch. Hocus Pocus? The Salem trials were in 1692, only 10 years after the last witch executions in England.

Anyways, the lady at our waterfront stop was right. The local tap beer in the noisy lobster joint is great.

north under protection of sunlight

We are moving on today, further along the coast to somewhere with adjacent beaches.

Boston is a fascinating city and continues to undergo huge transformation. Not so many years ago, there was a complex, mystifying and rather ugly overground road system, which has now been replaced by streamlined tunnels. The wharves and harbour areas have also received significant makeovers and we are taking full advantage with our vista across from Battery Wharf.

In the centre of town, the once landmark Filene's store is now an empty shell with simply the facade left whilst a new mall, condominiums and office blocks are to rise from within its site.

But we're mixing some urban with some country and so its off to the homely delights of Salem famous for the witches and the adjacent coastal locations Stephen King seems so fond of in his novels. I have plenty of garlic.

no lions or unicorns here

Faneuil Hall is one of the spots from which Sam Adams caused the ruckus that eventually led to Independence for the Americans. Some call Faneuil the cradle of democracy but when I googled, it disappointingly presented itself as a shopping mall.

Boston's Freedom Trail laces the city with the varied sites of rebellion. Around 200 metres away from Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market is the Old State House site of the Boston Massacre. Riled British redcoats killed five protesting settlers who were part of a crowd angry at the British taxation of New England.

Years earlier, the English had rewarded the Italian explorer 'John Cabot' with a pension of £20 per year after he claimed the land in the name of Henry VII. After settlement it became a source of taxation without representation.

Sam Adams and Paul Revere were amongst those who campaigned to remove the British hold especially when George III kept increasing taxes and sending more militia to maintain order.

After the massacre a grudging peace ensued until Sam Adams and John Hancock threw a protest party, heaving hundreds of tea chests into Boston's harbour and further promoting the cause for independence.

A colonial congress, progressive arming of the locals and the famously thwarted attempt of the British to seize the arms, when Paul Revere and William Dawes rode through the night with a warning.

Soon afterwards came creation of the American Declaration of Independence read from the Boston State House and then a further six years of fighting for the establishment of the new nation.

talking italian

Our hotel is on the edge of the Italian district in North End.

A couple of streets away the roads have been closed and there is a big celebration in progress. There's a number of guys in white sports shirts with little italian flag flashes on them who seem to be in control of the street's proceedings.

The Boston Police barricades at either end of the street are also manned by more of the same guys and at one end theres a stage and someone singing Frank Sinatra songs.

In the middle is the church and the shrine with money attached.

Everywhere is busy and bustling with Italians and tourists. There's the locals standing on street corners chatting. Determined tourists follow the Freedom Trail maybe missing the main action in order to stay on the big red line on the sidewalk showing a route that links early American patriotic sites together.

Melancholy strains of a saxaphone waft from an alley. I recognise the tune. It's the theme from The Godfather. The restaurants all show pictures of famous visitors - film stars - singers - sportsmen - as well as family pictures from the old country. Everyone who owns a restaurant seems to have met Tony Soprano.

We take a left into the square by Paul Revere's house and spot Mamma Maria's. That will be our evening destination.