Maine (July 2016)

My husband Aquinas and I flew to the US together for his brother’s wedding in Maine. We stopped overnight in Beijing on the way there and the way back to avoid the utter misery of traveling for more than twenty-four hours in a row. The weather for the wedding was amazing, and I enjoyed meeting and talking with the new in-laws of my in-laws. While in the US, Aquinas and I also visited some friends in New York, had a couple of nice dinners in Portland, and walked part of the Freedom Trail in Boston.

See below for a selection of 100 photos from the trip, including snapshots of NYC skyscrapers, empty Maine landscapes, and a spectacular sunset.

Dear air traffic control: Can we please go to Beijing now? That would be great. Thanks!
The check-in lines at Air China in Beijing were a mess, but I smiled when I noticed that someone had added a letter s to the end of “Restaurant” on this sign.
This restaurant, which is decorated with the image of Bruce Lee, is called “Kung Fu”. Imagine the possible taglines.
The Air China safety video was mostly full of cartoon people. And a cartoon panda. I think real people would have been better. Even if the real people resemble cardboard people.
It is a long way to New York.
Like, almost 12 hours. More if they make us go in circles in some random place in the middle!
The first of many glimpses of the Chrysler Building greets us as we enter Manhattan.
And now we have one tower where there used to be two.
I can almost forgive New York for being crowded, noisy, dirty, and expensive because there’s so much interesting architecture. Almost.
This is me in New York.
Toto, I don’t think we’re in Singapore anymore. (This does NOT look like the MRT!)
We visited friends who live in this historic Brooklyn building.
I used to think the Chrysler Building was the Empire State Building because one has the most iconic shape and the other has the most iconic name.
Chrysler again.
Another cool building.
One of two NYC buildings we passed that has Trump’s name on it.
See? Trump Tower.
Old and new.
Carnegie Hall.
According to the plaque on the side, this building is the Alwyn Court Apartments, a designated NYC landmark.
Built in 1907.
The terra cotta was done in the style of Francis I and includes his personal symbol, a crowned salamander. According to the plaque.
Old and new again.
Strange use of the word ‘Siamese’, I thought. I guess it means there are two pipes stuck together like Siamese twins.
Rocks in Central Park.
More architecture. Gothic!
Right next door to Gothic we have Art Deco.
This is the second Church of Christ Scientist. (Later we saw the first one.)
This bus says ‘Starcraft’ on the front!
Did I mention cool buildings?
There are some awesome minerals at the Museum of Natural History.
The Waldorf Astoria.
They don’t make them like this anymore.
Cool, right?
This church is even more Gothic than that other one!
Another cool building.
555 Fifth Avenue and a sandwich shop with a clever name.
Okay, so new buildings are sometimes really cool too. This one disappears into the sky.
Cars, taxis, buses, streets, traffic lights, shops, signs and buildings everywhere. Overwhelming.
The French Building.
The New York Public Library. (Stay tuned for a photo of one of the famous Lions.)
Chrysler again.
The sun is going down.
Now the lights are coming on!
Everest Scaffolding.
That super Gothic church again.
“Criticism comes easier than craftsmanship.” —Zeuxis, ancient Greek painter
Fifth Church of Christ Scientist. Seemingly wrapped in another taller building.
There’s the lion!
Chrysler again. Looks different every time the light changes.
Historic TWA terminal at JFK.
Here you can see how much JFK has out grown that old terminal.
There are no movie theatres like this in Singapore.
Okay. So we are definitely no longer in Manhattan. (As you may have guessed, this is Maine.)
No tall buildings here.
Actually, no buildings at all.
Ah, here’s one. My husband’s aunt’s house.
This is where we stayed.
Husband’s aunt’s property.
Husband’s aunt’s barn.
Lily.
Okay, I’m not that great at flower names. Pansy?
I’m going to guess lavender because the flowers are purple, but this is probably not actually lavender.
Geranium?
Tent rented for wedding.
Awesome weather for a wedding!
Not cold, not hot.
The barn but with more sunshine this time!
Very peaceful here.
A far cry from NYC traffic.
Yup, this wedding is happening out in nature.
Just. So. Empty.
Blue sky.
Clouds.
My husband’s brother and his fiancee, exchanging vows.
Great place for wedding photos!
Red, green, blue, white.
The very pretty ending of a very pretty day.
Clouds at sundown.
It’s a rotten photo of the sunset, but a good photo of us.
Oh, the colors.
They just keep getting nicer.
And nicer.
[Speechless.]
Right. So we’ve been to Portland and now we’re in Boston.
Lots of tame wildlife in the park here.
Canada goose!
Promenading.
Okay so this fancy thing is the FIRST Church of Christ Scientist.
Some brutalist architecture here.
Goodbye, Boston!
Sun on the water.
We used to get the Internet in the mail on AOL CDs. Now we get it on planes! Truly, we are living in the future.
Case in point: Payphones are so yesterday. Those yellow stickers blocking the coin slots say “Phone Service Discontinued” because everyone has a phone in his or her pocket nowadays.
You need a big plane for those twelve-hour flights.
A good day for cloud hunting.
Got one.
Here are some more.
Who needs internet when you have clouds and imagination?