Tam's Birthday 2007 and I am in Randolph, New York.

Shuffle off to Buffalo...

Henry Ford and Teddy Roosevelt, Harvey Firestone and Susan B. Anthony, literary and cultural icons, philosophy and William Glover...What do we all have in common I hear you ask? The answer lay until today in the Chautauqua Institution.

For all the years I have spent in Western New York, it was only a matter of time before I would beat a path to the Roycroft and further strengthen that Chautauqua link.

From 1895 until his death in the sinking of the S.S. Lusitania, Elbert Hubbard focused the attention of America and the wider civilised world on the town of East Aurora.

Hubbard, the one time sales partner at Buffalo's J.D. Larkin Soap Company, entered the world of publishing to "make a book like a William Morris book". As his fame grew so too did his Roycroft complex, modelled after William Morris' Kelmscott Press and Crafts complex in Hammersmith, which Hubbard had visited in 1894 in order to meet the great man.

By 1896 Hubbard's new print-shop was housed in a building that he modelled after the old chapel at Grasmere where Wordsworth is buried.

With the Roycrofters, East Aurora became a specialised centre not just for printing and bookbinding, but all manner of arts and crafts from mission-style furniture and leather goods to copperware and intellectual discourse.

Best known world-wide for the classic work A Message to Garcia which focused on the acceptance of responsibility and doing the "right job", Hubbard was the leading North American lecturer and literary figure of his day. His eminent circle ranged from Booker T. Washington to Andrew Carnegie and his Roycroft Inn and Campus became a cultural centre known for its unpretentious discourse and the industry of its employee-followers.

The Roycroft Campus continued as the leading American centre for the arts and crafts movement until 1938 and today beyond the Inn the movement is once again flourishing in former campus buildings.

In case you have not guessed, today I am in East Aurora to explore the Roycroft, to marvel at the beautiful crafted woods in the Inn, to dine whilst listening to Jazz played by Natural Elements and to visit Vidler's five and dime store and a Buffalo institution.

Thursday 31st May 2007. Randolph, New York.

Back to school and back to curriculum development.

Today I am at the Board of Cooperative Educational Services Teaching and Learning Center in Cuba, New York.

Cuba is world famous for its cheese and I could not resist a little shopping whilst I was here.

Tonight we dined at The Old Library Restaurant in Olean. Built in 1909 and opened in 1910 the building (like so many libraries in both the United States and the United Kingdom) became a reality with the injection of Carnegie money. This particular building continued in existence as a library until 1974 and as well as its pleasant central rotunda the art works include a marble frieze depicting Alexander's triumphal entry into Babylon. The longbar once stood in Chicago's Cattleman's Restaurant, famously frequented by the notorious figures of the 20's and 30's.

Wednesday 30th May 2007. Jamestown, New York.

Today I am busy with my chores. After putting out my washing I am off to Jamestown to do some work for my friend Marlene. Amongst the tasks, I carried out some chores for the Lucy Desi Museum and then in the afternoon I collected Elizabeth from school and we headed off to another Jamestown icon...Tastee Corners. With its booming rock 'n' roll music and neon signs this ice-cream shack is as American as apple pie.

BBQ was on the menu tonight whilst Marlene and I planted the summers pots and chatted with my neighbours on Pearl. After heading back over to Randolph there was a late evening tea party in the garden where Cathy (my only neighbour here on teacher alley that I hadn't seen since my return) and I were re-acquainted.

I do love being back in my American HOME after all my travels. In the seventeen months since I was last here so much has changed and it is great to feel that I am getting back into the swing of normal life again.

Tuesday 29th May 2007. Randolph. New York.

Today I am back at work and trying desperately to get the blog up to date. Thanks for all the e-mails, I am trying and you should be updated real soon.

Tonight I took Alice to the 'Y' in Jamestown and I spent a quality evening visiting with Michael before I dined on a Jamestown institution...Lena's Pizza with Alice, David and Donna.

Rockin' Rocky

For a few nights now a raccoon has been spotted at the Inn pestering patrons and frightening the cats.

Late Saturday evening as we returned to the family house on the property we discovered that the raccoon had been indoors and had both terrified the cats and consumed their food.

Not wishing the animal any harm we decided to trap it humanely and relocated it to a wooded area where it could live its days in its natural environment. Sunday came and we set the trap and sure enough Rocky was caught.

So we fed him and gave him water and he spent the night in his cage preparing for relocation the next day. On Monday we drove Rocky some sixty miles from home to a forest that covers thousands and thousands of acres and we set him free. Unusually for a raccoon he was reluctant both to leave the cage and then ultimately to leave us. It was only after the event that we realised that strictly speaking our actions may have seen us arrested for the illegal trapping and releasing of a wild animal.

This is when my thoughts turn to the difficulties of interpretation where the law is concerned. We may have been breaking the law by protecting an animal and caring for its needs and yet as we drove out through the woods today we saw a sign that read:

Turkey Hunters Beware, Identify your target!...I suppose it is a good idea that you don't shoot your dumb brother in the ass when all is said and done.

Memorial Day 2007. Orange, Virginia.

It was 400 years ago this year that 104 men and boys crossed the Atlantic aboard three ships to establish the first permanent settlement in the New World in the name of King James - Jamestown is where cultures came together and where modern America was shaped. From the original toehold of the Virginia Company of London came the notions of representative government, the rule of law, individual opportunity, free enterprise, a common North American language and celebration of diversity.


Well Rocky made his presence felt during the night moving his cage a full ten feet and eating his way through an electric cable...but today he is set for release.

After a lovely breakfast amongst the guests on the sun-washed terrace I am off into town to attend the Memorial Day Parade. The only non-American here and yet I am the only attendee heading out from amongst the guests to the parade.

My first port of call though is Ed's gallery where he and I have a very interesting conversation based around the true meaning of life and the struggles we all have to face in crafting our way in the world.

AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN THE MORNING WE should REMEMBER THEM!

As the bell tolled out from Trinity Methodist Church and the vet's saluted the passing flag with chests puffed out you could not fail to be swept up in the emotion of conflicts past and present. The justifications for wars can be debated until time immemorial but the reality is that it is only right that we honour the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms.

I can though understand why this appears to some to be a slice to far of Americana. After the preaching from the minister of Orange Baptist Church (and we had the only white minister out of the ten plus Baptists ministers in the area) we saluted the flag and sang the national anthem before we all recited the pledge of allegiance.

This is the South and this was an Anglo-Saxon celebration and yes this was propaganda wrapped in red, white and blue right down to the lady in front of me and her Heart of America crocheted cardigan. From sea to shining sea and across thy fruited plain America rightly celebrated the sacrifices that have been, and are still being made.

Upon leaving Orange our task was first to release Rocky and then to take Vince back to Washington D.C..

After saying our final farewells to Rich and Vince in Alexandria, Alice and I headed over to St Elmo for lunch before we hit the road back to New York. As usual we made the most of our trip stopping to enjoy the views and even stopping for ice-cream at one of the sadly declining number of roadside diners.

Sunday 27th May 2007. Orange, Virginia.

Today is a day at leisure when I work on the project and I even make a stab at the beginnings of the project book.

However we do head out both to Woodberry Forest School and to the Ed Jaffe Gallery where we get a private tour of works that I really enjoy.

Tonight we have a family Memorial Day BBQ (for which Ed joins us) and Rocky the Raccoon makes his starring appearance.

Saturday 26th May 2007. Virginia and it's Blue Ridge Mountains.

In 1762 the Secret Treaty of Fontainebleau saw France cede the Louisiana territory to Spain in order to prevent it falling into British hands…the French continued to meddle in North American affairs and they became the first real ally of the new independent United States of America…naturally for their own political ends.

I begin my day with a stroll through downtown Orange and a visit to the Farmers Market before I go to view the Re-Visions exhibition of works by J.M. Henry and Farida Hughes at the Arts Center. Breakfast is at Not the Same Old Grind before Alice and I head out of town to visit what I find to be the most pleasing of presidential homes.

Ash Lawn-Highland was the home of president James Monroe; the man who held more major offices than any other American President. A total of 11 major offices of state ranging from Minister to France, Minister to Spain, Minister to the Court of St James, Secretary of State and Secretary of War, Governor of Virginia and fifth President of the United States of America.

As Jefferson’s special envoy it was Monroe who negotiated the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and today his Monroe Doctrine would serve the current administration well as a cornerstone of foreign policy.

In Monroe’s time the house was known as Highland and as a protege of Jefferson it was to be the older man who both chose the site for the house and who would have his gardeners from neighbouring Monticello begin the orchards.

The first guests that the Monroe’s entertained here were their friends James and Dolley Madison and I love the fact that although this was a wealthy home, having more than one room, it did not stretch to the grand scales of many Virginia planters but rather remained a “cabin castle”.

Many of us think of the Eisenhower presidency as being the birth of America’s love affair with the car…and that is true. However, it was the Monroe presidency that began the birth of the love affair with the open road when Highway 40 became the first federally funded interstate roadway.

After a pleasant early afternoon in the sun-drench grounds of the Monroe home we head out to explore a local feat of engineering.

The Shenandoah Skyline Drive that follows the backbone of the Blue Ridge for 105 miles was built at a cost of $50,000 per mile and it remains one of the greatest Depression era projects. The work was completed between 1933 and 1939 by the men of the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) as one of the many projects aimed at bringing American out of its economic black hole.

We join the drive at Rockfish Gap and dine at Loft Mountain taking in scenic overlook after scenic overlook. This is not a drive to get you from A to B, but rather a time to stop and saver all the natural beauty that this world offers and that we are all too often too busy to enjoy.

So in the early evening Alice and I hike to see Dark Hollow Falls...And to crown our wonderful day we enjoy a fine meal at the Inn this evening with Nan and Rich.

Friday 25th May 2007. Orange, Virginia.

History of the times...In 1749 when George Washington was commissioned to survey the new county of Culpeper he was only 17 years old.
1760 saw the silk top hat was first introduced in Florence

AND John Brown's body helped ignite the Civil War with his bloody insurrection at Harpers Ferry.


After breakfast with Nan and Myrtle at the Greenock House Inn, Alice and I headed off for the day to Montpellier, the home of the United States fourth President and the Father of the Constitution James Madison.

Today this is a 2,650 acre estate that is home to both a flat track and a steeplechase course built by the last private owner Marion DuPont Scott. However the real history here pre-dates the DuPont era to the days when Montpelier was home to several generations of enslaved families who worked the plantation of Madison’s time.

The estate began life as Mount Pleasant with Madison’s grandfather Ambrose but it was James the gentleman farmer, who was to thrust the family into the limelight.

As father of the American Constitution and architect of the Bill of Rights (one wonders what Madison would think of the current erosion of civil liberty under the Bush administration?), he also served as Secretary of State for his friend, mentor and neighbour, Thomas Jefferson.

The Madison’s though were equally famous for the role played by Dolley, James’ wife and the only First Lady to serve a total of four full terms in office…(as Jefferson was a widow Dolley had fulfilled this role for the presidency that pre-dated her husbands).

Dolley was actually the first President’s wife to be given the title of First Lady and she is still considered to have been one of the most astute political hostesses of modern America.

It was Dolley who as First Lady refused to leave what we know today as the White House, until the portrait of George Washington had been secured, when the British burnt the city in 1814. The name White House only dates from around 1900 and the reason for the colouring of the building was a simple attempt to cover the burn marks stemming from the War of 1812.

I am lucky enough to be visiting this home at a time when it is being restored to the 1820’s era of James and Dolley.

The icon of the property remains The Temple which still shines out as a beacon of Madison’s notion of liberty and learning each leaning on the other for mutual support. His temple though is no folly. Madison was a practical man and whilst his temple reflected visually his dreams of an agrarian republic, it served practically as an ice-house.

The grounds of this property tell as many tales as the home and a stroll through the Landmark Forest gives you an idea of the resource base on which the new empire would be built.

A man of reason in an age of enlightenment, Madison saw the United States as taking its lead from the two great political experiments that were the Roman Republic and Ancient Greece. What may be telling for modern America is that both of these empires were brought down not by enemies from without, but from the enemy within.

The grounds also tell the social history of the time offering up a wealth of knowledge about the death ritual.

We have the family cemetery (the only resident non family member is one Frank Carson of Lislee, Ireland who owned the home in the mid-1800’s) and it is indistinguishable from any other European cemetery of the time; but we also have the slave cemetery with its markers at head and foot of the body and the rituals from night-time burial to the freeing of the spirit. Slave funerals were a celebrated blending of European and African tradition mixing both traditional beliefs and Christianity.

We headed on to round off our day with lunch at Mama’s in Gordonsville where Alice and I explore the town before heading back to Orange and evening supper with Nan and Drea.

Thursday 24th May 2007. New York to Virginia.

After school Alice and I headed off in the car to Virginia. Our route took us down through the Allegheny State Park in Pennsylvania before a stop in Ridgway to have ice-cream at Two Scoops. Dropping down into Virginia I took the back roads all the way to Orange where we were welcomed by Nan to the family Memorial Day weekend.

Tuesday 22nd May 2007/Wednesday 23rd May 2007. Randolph, New York.

I am now busy working on curriculum development with the partner educators in New York state.

Wednesday night...Tonight Alice, Marlene and I dined at Mariner's Pier out at Holiday Harbor before we went walking in Celoron (the childhood home of that local heroine Lucille Ball).

It was sad to see that even little old Celoron has not been left unaffected by the modern terror threat. At the Veteran's Memorial there is a special addition that was created in 2006 to mark the first loss of local life in the conflict in Iraq. Terror may seem a world away but we are reminded of its impact nearby with the memorial to Amy King the local girl killed as a flight attendant on board one of the two planes that hit the World Trade Center on the now infamous 9/11. From here we headed over to Lucy's childhood home that is currently being restored by a friend.

Monday 21st May 2007. Jamestown. New York.

I spent this morning on the telephone with the TSA enquiring as to how they expect me to return my property to Scotland with two suitcases that are now broken (one completely beyond repair). Dealing with any administrative organisation is never fun and from one telephonic abyss to another I journey.

Eventually after exhaustive discussion I am informed that whilst the damage is regrettable it is not the responsibility of the TSA (who caused it)…but they will send me a form to complete and mail in and they will look at the complaint from there.

So after school today Alice and I headed over to Chautauqua and Mayville to help inspire in me the feeling of being home and now safe from all the trials of this last year.

It is wonderful to be back on familiar stomping ground and it is amazing how much things change in a short space of time. In the seventeen months since I was last here the old Red Brick Farm where we headed for coffee has been completely re-vitalised into a gourmet dining and boutique shopping experience.

Just driving around gave me a sense of the on-going development that has altered the landscape with new housing, a new hotel and the closure of old favourites adding to the vitality that is the changing landscape of life.

Tonight however was wonderfully familiar as I sat down to dinner at the Lucas household. It seemed like I had never been away. They say familiarity breeds contempt and that is true, but after all I have seen this past year I also realize that familiarity infact breeds greater comfort and joy!

Sunday 20th May 2007. New York City to Western New York State.

Shannon, Alice and I had breakfast this morning at the Corner Bakery on 3rd Avenue. I am still feeling rather groggy but today I must journey from the city home to Randolph and the luxury of my own bed at long last.

Enroute Alice had a surprise destination in mind and so we found ourselves at the world’s largest kaleidoscope located in the Catskill Mountains. The Catskill Kaleidoscope at Emerson was a very interesting pit stop. Located so close to Woodstock, as I lay there on the floor watching the scenes change above me I could not help but feel a little closer to the hallucinogenic 60’s.

Afterwards we ate in one of those wonderful local roadside bakery’s that characterise the picture postcard view of the North Eastern United States. And Pineview Bakery on Route 28 certainly had its standardized locals, its long counter top, its large grill and its waitress ready with the coffee pot…Oh, yeh; and a few tourists too.

But with me this year there always seems to be a crisis and our trip to see the kaleidoscope got us ticketed by a state trooper. So with fine in hand we resumed our journey home.

Saturday 19th May 2007. The Big Apple.

Today I really feel under the weather. This bug has all my bones rather sore and I seem to have no energy.

Determined not to waste my time though I decide to head out anyway and see how I get on.

We begin our morning exploring the Lower East Side taking a wander through the streets of one of the few areas of this city I have never previously explored. Then it was time for a pit-stop to have breakfast at what Time Out claim is the best brunch in the city.

It all looked lovely, but I hardly touched my food at the Clinton Street Baking Company before I was back on the subway and back to the apartment and to bed.

I resumed my day this evening by joining Shannon, Charlie and Alice for the dinner they had planned for me at the Atlantic Grill on Third Avenue, a very upscale experience where I ate as much as I could but did not do the food justice.

Friday 18th May 2007. New York State of Mind...

Proud of my soldier ashamed of my President.
Support our troops not our President...It is refreshing to see that there are alternative political opinions in this country. Irrespective of whether you agree with such views or not it is good to see that the broader worlds' opinion of America the right wing extremist is not necessarily a reflection of the truth.

This morning I am off to the National Museum of the American Indian housed in the former US Custom House which stands on the ground where Fort Amsterdam was erected by the Dutch in 1626 to secure control of trade in the harbour. Indeed, nearby Wall Street is so named for a wall that was erected on that site by the Dutch in 1653 to keep out northern Indians.

George Gustav Heye founded the museum in 1916 and remained its director until 1956. He began his collections in 1896 with the purchase of an Apache Deerskin shirt and went on to accumulate the largest private collection of native American objects in the world.

Native American history and the relationship between people and a sense of place, historically and metaphysically, has been researched extensively both by the literary and the visual arts.

We often site the relationship between native peoples and "the land" as the root of tribal identities. Like the Aboriginal and Maori peoples encountered in this project, the Native American draws their origin stories and their understanding of the world around them from the geographical features of their landscape. Tribal identities are inextricably linked to the natural environment of their homelands.

The natural world is an identifier both literally and conceptually of tribal identity and the struggle between Native and non-Indian settlers over the use of land epitomises the central role that "the land" plays in native cultures. These disputes range from the use of land to farm commercially to the exploitation of natural resources and the Off The Map exhibition reflects the landscape as a place not just of history, but of expectation and ultimately of loss.

I particularly enjoyed the work of the self-taught James Lavadour who equates walking over the hills and mountains of his home community on the Umatilla Indian Reservation with the movement of his hand across the surface of his paintings. His Blanket (2005) and Wall {'Skiing to Hell' as Alice named it} (2006) were stunning.

What has interested me in visiting Aboriginal, Maori and Native American museums is the debate that rages over the souvenir...

Whilst many people argue that souvenirs made by native peoples are inauthentic, I argue that there are many issues we need to consider. Art needs to adapt to the changing social and physical circumstances in which we live. It has to adapt to new ideals and new materials. Traditions are vital to this ability to adapt to change because they allow us to maintain our values. Adaptability after all allows for survival physically, emotionally and culturally and we need to remember that for many peoples the making of souvenirs is a viable option for survival.

Souvenirs are art and the purist must recognise that the market is simply different, there are still buyers and sellers and people still exchange.

This building is a work of art in itself. 100 years old this year, the building is home to stunning rotunda murals that are the work of Reginald Marsh.

In 1937 under the WPA (Work Progress Administration) programme, Marsh was commissioned to decorate the panels of the Custom House rotunda in what is one of the finest examples of beaux arts architecture in the city. Beaux Arts with its monumentality, accurate symmetry and elaborate ornamentation unites both the classical Greek and Roman schools.

From here we head to Alice's Teacup at 64th and Lexington for afternoon tea, before we head into Central Park to see the statue of Alice in Wonderland and to watch the turtles messing about in the Turtle Pond.

On a day of art I must mention Cleopatra's Needle...I know all the world's major cities seem to have one but this obelisk dating from 1600bc made its way here courtesy of Vanderbilt money and that links us back to The Getty and the fortunes like Mr Deering's that whilst removing art works actually helped preserve them.

On our way home we stopped for coffee at Dean and Deluca.

Tonight we are off to see a show like no other I have ever seen in New York City. Shannon and Charlie are taking us to the HIRO Ballroom in Chelsea to see Meow Meow, a drag artist who performs as a poor copy that mixes elements of Patsy and Edina…unfortunately Meow Meow is not absolutely fabulous.

The venue is filled to bursting with the ultra-cool. This is the place to see and be seen tonight if you are a trendy New Yorker. Here the upwardly mobile of the metropolis are feeling very intelligent and superior, and dare I say it, a little risky. They are applauding loudly at behaviour you would scold a child for and laughing whimsically at humour that would fail to impress in an undergraduate theatre studies class.

What cannot be denied is that this is an excellent piece of marketing. Taking these so establishment customers and letting them taste the risk that is involved in the cross-dressing fanciful world of others…but all for a price.

Anyway I round the night off with that New York staple, Pizza…and boy was it good.

Thursday 17th May 2007. Finally in New York City...

Here I go with my diatribe...The Americans notion of service is a joke. From the country that claims to have invented good customer service they really don't know the first thing about what customer relations mean.

Let's begin at the beginning...When I get to Miami International Airport, Continental Airlines are insistent that check-in is via machine. Only when the machine refuses to read my passport or booking does a person finally agree to check me in. The ladies behind the counter are more concerned with their job descriptions and working to rule than they are with serving customers.

In the United States they now have this idiotic public show of re-screening bags that are locked. The idea, I presume is to make us all feel safer in the air, and not to intrude on the individuals personal liberty under the guise of security?

When I flew from Los Angeles a few weeks ago I took my bags for re-screening by the TSA (Transport Security Administration).

I asked about this in Miami and I am told that my bags are OK to travel. Well when I get to LA (where I have to collect my bags because Continental refuse to check them through to New York City because the last leg is an American Airlines flight) I discover that the TSA has burst open the locks on my new bag and wrapped the bag in cling film...What gives them the right?

If they had wanted to search my bags again then they could have paged me at the airport.

So I trundle off still with a painful shoulder, hand and neck over two terminals to check-in for my NYC flight. Again American Airlines are requiring check-in by machine and again it does not work and I am eventually served by a very arrogant woman who effectively tells me I am an idiot. She condescends to tell me that I will not understand the difference between a ticket and a reservation...and here is the saga.

When I arrived in the USA I contacted Qantas to confirm the next leg of my journey and I was told two things. One, that I must fly back from Miami to Los Angeles to validate the next portion of my round-the-world ticket and two, that I needed to contact American Airlines to book the cross USA section.

I did this and American Airlines gave me a flight reservation which I reconfirmed. Now the agent can see the reservation but she insists I must travel to yet another terminal to see the Qantas agents for them to release the ticket. So carrying all my luggage, in my neck brace I head over to Qantas to get them to release the ticket; even though the ticket is in the system.

Qantas tell me I have a ticket and send me back to the American Airlines terminal telling me that American must let me board. Back again at American Airlines and again they refuse to let me board my flight unless I want to buy a one-way first class seat for $5000. I refuse and point out that I have gone fully through the system and that the problem is with them.

At last it is all over and I am off to security to get to my gate...Lucky I had a five hour lay-over as it has taken three and a half hours just to argue my way into my own seat.

...but then. I am selected for the full pat-down (which is fine in this security conscious age) but my two carry on bags are also selected for full screening. What I object to is the way in which this is carried out. Everything is dumped out without thought or consideration and all my little notes fly across the floor. When the girl finishes she simply walks off leaving the mess for me to clear up saying "have a good one now".

These people are still public servants answerable I would hope to the taxpayer and yet they act in an arrogant and superior manner that reflects their social and cultural ignorance.

It was all I could do not to land one on the TSA pat-down guy who thought he was a comedian by mimicking my accent for the amusement of his friends. If we did not live in such an age of over sensitive security I would have complained, but there seemed no point creating a drama and I don't want to miss this flight as it is one step closer to blighty.

In all my years of coming to America the last few have really limited my view of the country. I was at one time the most pro-American educator you could meet, but as time has gone on I have become more and more aware of the arrogance and ignorance that causes the hatred for this great country exhibited by the rest of the world. For the first time ever I am of the view that it would not bother me if I never returned here.

The final sting in the saga comes when I get to the gate and they tell me they have no seat for me although I do get onboard and make the journey eventually.

You have to accept that these people are only implementing the rules when all is said and done, yet it annoys me that we cannot question 'why'. Questioning is not the accepted practice. The agents are here to implement the rules even if they do not understand them and please do not ask them to interpret what the rules actually mean, we all must simply follow like helpless sheep.

I do enjoy the fact that on this 5hr+ flight you can watch the "free" movie if you buy a headsset and you can have water if you buy a bottle and you can eat if you buy a snack...so this is service? It is embarassing that the countries flag-carrier offers such poor service in the world's leading nation.

Not even a peanut, just a very small coke as my comlimentary drink and I ponder just what this full service carrier is actually offering. It makes you wonder why they need all these inflight staff? For an airline that claims to pride itself on customer service, you cannot talk to a service representative but you can talk to the airline through the anonymity of their website.

The talk around me on this flight is of jobs and position and salaries. This is a hideously obsessed nation when it comes to money and the garbage I have just heard spoken in the name of commerce is astoundingly, though sadly not, unbelievable.

To crown this journey when I get my luggage at JFK Airport the indestructible coffin has also been burst open...only in America!

Travel may broaden the mind but it also can break the soul. It makes you aware that we do not live in one world but infact in a world horribly divided between the "have's" and the "have not's" and that within these groupings dangerous cracks appear.

,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.


Well after all the saga, I am finally at Shannon and Charlie's with my now destroyed luggage and not being positively disposed towards the United States.

I am off this morning to a UNICEF briefing at the United Nations building. The speaker is a UN official who has managed UNICEF activities in a variety of arenas around the world and who I am to discover is politically a member of the Christian right.

She came to her present role through the World Council of Churches. This raises for me the question, should people in such high positions within UNICEF be religiously biased or does this indeed equip them better i.e. spiritually, to deal with the rights of children?

In the modern world, as throughout the ages, the people most likely to be disenfranchised are children. Indeed, today in many developing countries, such as those in the Aids ridden continent of Africa, we often find half the population under the age of fifteen years.

The United Nations was founded on the principal of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and whilst UN development agencies are apolitical, this does not necessarily mean that the wider world does not percieve western dominance in these agencies.

A question that I have often Headquarpondered is why is such an economic money spinner as the International ters of the United Nations located here in the First World; indeed in the world's wealthiest nation? Should such an economic giant not be located in a developing nation? Would this not help bring prosperity and stability to a countrty in sub-Saharan Africa? But then again, do they have the necessary social, cultural and diplomatic as well as practical infrastructure needed? If such infrastructure does not exist, should we not lead by example?

The needs of the populous differ with age i.e.health issues for children differ greatly from those of adults.

UNICEF works with social workers, educators and health professionals in offering support. However when I heard of their key role in teacher training and counselling the image was one of your standard politically correct group talking about issues but doing nothing practical.

That said UNICEF as an organisation works at governmental level through creating protocol's such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which only two countries have refused to sign. One of these is Somalia (which has not had an effective government for the last fifteen years) and the other is the United States of America.

UNICEF is constrained by working through the United Nations notion that we have to work through governments if we wish to bring massive change, and it is true that you do need the legislative to work in harmony with the grassroots. However we must note that governemnts making decisions in the United Nations on their own will not stop phenomena on the ground.

And this is not to say that UNICEF does not do a great deal of work in vaccines funding and training of health workers in particular as grassroots activities. UNICEF also tries to get to the grassroots by working with non-governmental organisations.

UNICEF has been a pioneer in collecting data for advocacy work , but how productive is this? It has a strategic planning role, but people want fed today.

It is the people at the margins who need intervention the most and many of the most marginalised people don't want to be brought in.

It was interesting that at one point the speaker got her UN and her US policy mixed up. A freudian slip maybe, but when she talked of ending the powers of tribal chiefs and educating them in the ways of democracy there appeared to be a 'Bush agenda' going on. Are we certain that creating democracy along US lines brings civilisation, or does it kill a civilisation in the name of progress?

We have to remember in politics as in any struggle, that people get stuck with a label and a lack of hope and they end up on a downward spiral. They see that there is so much involved in seeing someway out that they don't even bother...What international organisations must do is offer some hope!

After a heavy political morning we head over to Houstons on 54th and 3rd to have lunch before our meeting at the education department of the Central Park Conservancy.

Wednesday 16th May 2007...The Epic Journey.

Today I will make a somewhat idiotic journey to get to New York City.

Because of the way airlines ticket flights and because I must take the next section of my economy round-the-world ticket from Los Angeles;

I am flying from Miami to Houston to connect to Los Angeles...just to then fly to New York City. A journey that will take me from leaving Wendy's at 9am to arriving at Shannon and Charlie's at hopefully 8am tomorrow!...Such madness cannot be environmentally friendly when New York City is a two and a half hour direct flight from Miami?

Tuesday 15th May 2007. Miami, Florida.

Florida factoid...The Florida Keys' are home to the legend that is the Overseas Highway, that 113 mile drive on US Highway 1 from mainland Florida to Key West. A marvel of engineering the concrete expanse stretches over huge areas of water with the Atlantic to the left and the Gulf to the right. These waters teem with fish and a coral life that lies just below the teal coloured waters that are dotted with islands.

This morning I started my breakfast with fresh-pressed organic sugarcane juice (very healthy, but not very tasty)...But I needed it. I got word today that a letter had arrived in Scotland regarding my car accident saying that the other party are denying negligence and so I will need to pay the hospital bills and then sue for damages if I wish to proceed...what a saga. America is so litigious and every drama seems to become a crisis.

Today I aim to visit a Miami-Dade Police Station for the photo opportunity, my dad is a huge CSI fan...but as Wendy said...only if we are visiting and not as part of one of my calamities!

Lunch is on Lincoln Road at Pasha's where I have the classic yani before I head off to enjoy Britto Central.

The Pasha concept developed out of a Harvard Business School project that aimed to make healthy Mediterranean cuisine easily available to customers in various formats, from quick service to delivery and catering. The menu is inspired by the cuisine of Levant.

Romero Britto's Gallery is an explosion of colour from the Absolut Vodka bottles, to china and sculptures to my favourite, Winter, an acrylic and oil pen on canvas.

Also on display you will find the Alexandra Scott Butterfly Award, given each year to an exceptional child hero who helps others in need, as part of the Volvo for life Awards; this piece is a collaboration of Romero and Tiffany & Co.

His vivid colours, joyful themes and bold compositions make him the premiere pop artist of our time, merging expressionist colours with the compositional elements of cubism to present playful and youthful themes that are optimistic and joyful.

My next stop is the Miami Beach Garden Center a botanical garden that although small is a wonder of vibrant tropical colour.

Tonight Wendy and I dine at Sawaddee on Bay Drive...and a last Miami fact, this Normandy Isle area was named by the property developer Henri Levy in the early twentieth century after his native France.

Monday 14th May 2007. Enough Already Its' Miami, Florida.

Today I am moving from the Hispanic theme of yesterday to the other major culture here in Miami, Judaism.

I am visiting the Miami Beach Holocaust Memorial 'A sculpture of love and anguish' bearing a message that we must never forget.

Though their bodies have perished, their souls and their spirit will forever remain immortal.

The sculpture is a dramatic tribute to the six million Jewish victims of Nazi terrorism during the second world war. The holocaust was the premeditated and systematic murder of millions of people during the planned destruction of European Jewry.

In the worst human catastrophe in modern history an entire people and their age-long culture was destined to become extinct.

In a powerful display of pain and suffering, at the centre of the memorial stands a bronze arm and hand stretched toward the sky. Struggling to climb it are life-sized sculptures depicting the horrified victims.

Remember that as a by-product of the Zyklon B fuelled gas chambers, human bones were crushed for fertiliser, hair was made into military blankets and soap was crafted from human fat.

Surrounding the monument a photographic history of some of the darkest years of human existence are etched into black granite where the walls chronicle the images of the infamous death camps.

The work of Kenneth Treister the memorial is a construction of Jerusalem stone and marble. The sculpture itself stands as part of a lily-filled reflection pool where I take time to sit awhile and ponder on the many questions we all face in our lives.

**********

This is a vital memory that cannot be forgotten and this is a good piece of work, but it is not excellent. The most famous resistance to this horror came in the shape of The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of April 19th 1943 which held the Germans at bay for some 27 days (the whole of France fell in only 14 days).

We owe it to this memory to get all our facts correct. There are some questionable facts here and with such a powerful statement everything must be accurate or else you are opening up the flood gates of bias. It would also have paid to have employed a good English teacher before etching this somewhat grammatically, and at times chronologically, challenged work.

I for one find that the statement

While The World Watched....
While The World Listened....
And Remained Silent..........

to be an interpretation rather than a historically accurate description of this story. 'The World' made mistakes but it fought a bloody conflict during the days of the holocaust to bring freedom and liberty.

Opened in February 1990, the greatest reflection on this work comes from Sabina Frydman a survivour of Bergen-Belsen, Dachau and the "March of the Dead"...

"This memorial is very dear to me. It is like our cemetery, where our names are inscribed...When school children visit the Memorial, their response is unbelievable. Some get very sad and some cry. We speak out against all prejudice...we want the children to know this".

Tonight Wendy and I dine on the Cuban delicacy of Pollo Tropical and black beans, it was lovely.

Sunday 13th May 2007...Mothers' Day, South Beach. Miami

Miami Factoid...Biscayne Bay is named after a Spanish explorer who took shelter here in hurricanes.


Today is my first day of leisure in I don't know how long and I will spend it exploring the art deco and spanish mission of South Beach.

But first, a call to my Mum in Scotland to wish her a Happy American Mothers' Day.

Wendy, Mark and I are heading out in Miami Beach and it strikes me again just how much my life veers from the sublime to the ridiculous. Here I am driving through condo land in luxury vehicles with the beautiful people...luxury cars, trendy homes, the silver spoon and then some...and yet I don't feel out of place. It is a world that for some reason I have belonged too for some years. This is what my life was like in the UK and here I am driving through the Beach in a turbo model (of which this is the only car in the whole state); I am experiencing the Miami mindset firsthand. This is a city where you need a named brand for everything from clothes to cars just to be; infact, just to survive.

Our destination is the exclusivity of the Delano where we dine by the pool and where I am drinking lemon-drop martini. It is so stylish the way Wendy and Mark communicate with each other on opposite sides of the pool by telephone. To give you an idea, this establishment has plasma televisions and works of art in the cabanas.

After my walk on the beach I find myself eating kobe beef which originates from the ancient province of Tajima in Japan, of which Kobe is the capital.

The going price for this beef is in excess of £100.00 per pound and in the USA, kobe style beef is produced using a crossbreed of Wagyu and American Angus cattle.

Food is on the agenda all day today and after our leisurely afternoon Wendy and I walk the streets of South Beach before heading over to dine with Miriam and Blythe at Tapas & Tintos on Española Way.

La Tapa originated when the Spanish king Alfonso X, the wise, was prescribed by his doctor to take small amounts of food with some wine between meals in order to prevent an upset stomach.

The wise king saw the benefits and ordered that all the inns of Castilla could only serve wine if it was accompanied by something to eat. As a result, in all taverns the glass or carafe of wine was served covered with either a slice of ham or cheese to avoid the impurities that could fall into the carafe and also the food would soak up the alcohol.

This royal providence avoided the alcoholic disturbances in the body that the poor peasants suffered as they were traditionally unable to afford a full meal and thus had tended just to drink wine.

Tapas is a fine representation of the wonders of Spanish cuisine that originate partly as a result of the Moorish occupation of the South and also because of the rich cultural and geographic diversity of the country.

Saturday 12th May 2007. Miami, Florida.

All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows...Pablo Picasso.

After breakfast at Einstein Bros I spent the morning at an education fair.

This afternoon Wendy and I headed over to Vizcaya, the winter home of International Harvester vice president James Deering.

The company manufactured farming equipment worldwide, and...there was money in threshing machines...He already had a Chicago mansion, a Paris townhouse and an apartment in New York City.

The lifestyle that was lived out in this home has all but vanished in America. Here we are returning to the glory days of the billionaire American industrialists who despite all their wealth and modern day success longed for the cultural highs of European sophistication.

For example the Adam-style library, with its dominant fireplace, was based on the work of George III's architect, Robert Adam. Another resplendent representation here comes in the form of the Empire period...remember, with Europe at war, the Empire Period was reflected by the darker art that harked to the days of ancient Rome, Greece and Egypt. This is in contrast to the equally historically accurate Rococo period rooms.

Built between 1914 and 1916, Vizcaya (the house was named after a Basque province off the coast of Spain) was designed in the style of the European estates that Deering had visited. The design though was adapted to suit the sub-tropical climate of South Florida.

The estate originally consisted of 180 acres and included an area designed to resemble a Northern Italian village with a dairy, poultry house, stable, greenhouse, machine shop, paint and carpentry workshops and staff quarters...Working for Mr Deering though could not have been easy, he rarely entertained in the evening and he insisted that all staff were in bed by 10pm.

The house and garden are the creation of three separate architects. F. Burrall Hoffman designed the buildings, Diego Suarez laid out the gardens and Paul Chalfin supervised the artistic detailing on every aspect of the project.

Between them they created an estate that looked as if a family had lived here for 400 years with every generation adding its own period furnishings. This was achieved in great part with the furnishings, light fixtures, doors and fireplaces that were purchased by Deering on his shopping expeditions through Europe.

As a result the house contains one of the finest collections of 16th through 19th century decorative European arts, yet it remains comfortable in scale. The house was indeed built with all the modern conveniences of the early 2oth century including central heating, an automatic electric telephone switchboard, two elevators, refrigeration, a central vacuuming system and a fire control system; amasing when you think that so much of South Florida was still natural swamp in this period.

After Deering's death in 1925 a minimal staff maintained the house. The hurricane of 1926, which devastated much of Miami, severely damaged the house its surrounding grounds and formal gardens.

In 1952 Miami-Dade County purchased Vizcaya and opened it as a historic house museum. Extensive restoration has brought the villa and the remaining acres of gardens back to the way they appeared in Deering's day; once again home to the finest Italian Renaissance garden (i.e. consisting of rock, greenery and water...no flowers) in the United States.

The bayfront estate with its Venetian waterfront that includes a barge which you would pole over too by gondola, was chosen as the meeting place for the historic Summit of the Americas in 1994 where the 34 leaders of the Western Hemisphere met with President Clinton. It was also the setting for the 1987 meeting of President Reagan and Pope John Paul II and the visit in 1991 of HM The Queen.

It seems impossible to believe today, but one tenth of the population of Miami were involved in the building of this house during its two year construction along with the European artists and artisans who were brought over to ensure the highest quality finish.

And...it would be remiss not to mention the use in the buildings construction of local fossilised coral rock on which South Florida is built.

Our next stop is Monty's in Coconut Grove for fish and cocktails before we head on to the Raw food Market.

From fabulous wealth to the ghetto...Like so many places Coconut Grove is an area of contrasts. Wendy and I visit Charles Ave, just a block or two away from the high-end shopping district and sitting in the middle of fabulous homes on either side. This street was home to the first black community on the South Florida mainland which began here in the late 1880's when blacks, primarily from the Bahamas came via Key West to work here at the Peacock Inn.

Their first hand experience with tropical plants and building materials proved invaluable to the building of Coconut Grove. Besides private homes, the early buildings included the Odd Fellows Hall which served as a community centre and library. In 1895 they built the Macedonia Baptist Church which is the home of the oldest black congregation in the area and then came the A.M.E. Methodist Church which housed the community's first school...

BUT away from all this wonderful history I face the issue that this remains a black area and an area of poverty whilst all around it the area has grown into one of fabulous wealth???

The Organic Raw Food market proves to be one of trendy people paying inflated prices for food.

From the Art Design district to cracktown to Wynwood...

Tonight Wendy, Miriam and I head out to the Design District for an art walk around the galleries. We have a wonderful time yet it seems ridiculous that here I am relatively broke at this point in my life and yet shopping for original art works...yet as Wendy put it, what I do have is a greater understanding of the art, its interpretation and the technicalities that most of the others here swigging the free booze.

It was so Miami Vice as we drove down the back streets enroute to Wynwood amongst the crack-houses and their populous. It is great having a guide like Miriam who knows these streets like the back of her hand...and I am sure we must look like dealers with our Hispanic driver in the expensive SUV.

I don't think Wendy or Miriam could believe it when I headed off down an alley to photograph a crack ho dancing completely spaced out in the middle of this industrial street to the thumping vibe of a nearby warehouse club. it took quite a few attempts but she did not seem to mind...and that was sad, just seeing people so removed from the world because of drugs.

The Wynwood Art District is an association of art institutions, museums, galleries, collections, studios and alternative art spaces. Tonight I enjoy the Gallery Walk that happens here on the second Saturday of every month.

We spend a great deal of time at designcrib where the objective of the artists is to design and build a "lifestyle experience" through the collaboration of diverse creative disciplines.

The Lifestyle experience is born through the creation of defined spaces within the gallery that are true representations of a unique way in which artists are inspired to merge their creations to compliment each others work in each environment. The 3000 square feet are divided up in to 5 uniquely defined spaces where each area is a creative display and combination of visual art, fashion, furniture and design.

Its a very young art scene in Miami and its certainly all about the vibe, the party, the image and oh...the art. What was refreshing about the designcrib was that it was innovative and it had genuinely creative and well produced pieces that were about the art as much as everything else.

Miriam bought a beautiful piece from deluz dezign where I modelled a few pieces for the girls and...maybe one day I'll be back. This collaboration of cousins Jillian Renee Riley and Kaley Sturko brings a fresh face to the world of fashion with hand crafted originals. www.deluzdezign.com

We round off the night with dinner...it is now 1am...with Johnny (who has just closed his restaurant for the night), Miriam, Wendy and I dining at Hiro's Yakko-San in North Miami.

Friday 11th May 2007. Miami, Florida.

Today is really the first time I have noticed the blanket of cloud that currently sits over the city, the result of the various wild fires burning throughout Florida.


After breakfast Wendy and I head downstairs to the gym where Wendy works out and from where I begin my explorations of the King Cole.

Built on the site of the former King Cole Northshore Hotel, which had been a popular holiday spot for the Jewish populations of Chicago and New York City, the current high-rise building dates from 1961/1962 and at the time of construction it was one of the nation's largest high rise apartment marinas.

Originally an apartment hotel you can trace the social history of Miami in publications such as the rules and regulations of the building. By the time of conversion into condominiums in 1974, the regulations had to be published not only in English but also in Spanish marking the growing importance of the Hispanic population in the city.

The King Cole was for many years one of the most prestigious buildings on Miami Beach (and its not too bad today either), set here with its superb waterfront location with sweeping views of the Intracoastal. Designed by the original developers Robert L. Blum [who attended Loyola University in New Orleans where I was the other day] and Robert A. Rautbord with resort style amenities, the investment in its development was some $7,000,000 dollars in 1961.

The design sought to resemble life aboard a luxury liner with the building nicknamed the SS King Cole. The facilities were exceptional: a putting green, olympic-size swimming pool, sun-deck, exercise room, steam room, solarium, billiard room, card room, library, cocktail lounge, coffee shop, teen rooms, social hall, public gardens and a private marina...this was living for the elite...Wendy's grandmother was one of the first tenants.

The eleven story luxury landmark at 900 Bay Drive, Normandy Isle was home to Miami Beach's largest marina at the time of the development. The entrance lobby bore a chandelier in the shape of King Cole's Gold Crown and the original tenants were all issued with keep-sake golden keys to their apartments and for King Cole lessees planning a trip out of town or arriving in Miami there was use of the King Cole limousine.

When the complex opened in October 1962 there were some 241 apartments and 108 hotel rooms along with 172 parking spaces (just see how our love affair with the car has continued to develop...even the wealthy at this time tended only to have one car).
The original plan had called for some 450 apartments but a decision was taken to offer larger apartments with more space and plans were cut to 259 units.

As an apartment hotel the tenants were offered all the facilities of a hotel with maid service, air conditioning and electricity included in the rent. There was also an option to take apartments unfurnished or fully furnished (where at the end of the specified period the furnishings belonged to the tenant).

The apartment hotel retained the services of the same basic staff from the old hotel. Keeping experienced, responsible and familiar personnel was a major attraction for lessees from New York and Chicago who had vacationed frequently at the old hotel. One of the most important being Anthony (Frenchie) Francia the Mixologist (cocktail waiter) of 12 years standing.

There are some wonderful stories about the buildings history such as that published in the King Cole Herald Volume 1, Number 1 of February 1962...Yes, the building had its own newspaper.

"Mr Blum and Mr Rautbord received a long distance telephone call [my how technology has changed] from Detroit recently asking if 24 year old Mary Margaret Revell could do an attempted around Miami Beach swim starting from the King Cole Yacht Basin".

Curving gracefully between Biscayne Bay and Indian Creek the cocktail lounge at the King Cole became the refuge of stars like Frank Sinatra who would take a water taxi here to avoid the paparazzi after performing at the Fontainbleau or the Eden Roc. I have even heard stories of John Wayne in the cocktail lounge.

And the building was the location of many firsts...

here we saw "strange looking contraptions. These are actually "walkie talkies" to keep in constant touch with every element of construction...to have instant communication with the sales office and model apartments...a continued speed-up of your new home[s construction]" being used on an American commercial building site for the first time.

A new type of crane was imported from Germany and was used for the first time in the United States in this construction. Moving on a set of tracks and curving with the King Cole building it was used "to expedite the placement of concrete, steel and men as
the construction moves from place to place and floor to floor".

The apartments were the first luxury block in the area to feature a twenty-four hour switchboard and answering service providing a complete intercom system throughout the building. And the kitchens were hi-tech all electric Hotpoint models.

The architects for the construction were Fridstein and Fitch of Chicago and Melvin Grossman of Miami. The three and a half acre site was in effect a city within a city, and all of this for an opening yearly rental ranging from $2300 to $6500 including utilities and daily maid service.

And...in 1974 another first. Arlen's (by then the owners of the building) began the process of selling the units as condominiums. Taken to court by the local authority for violation of planning regulations the resulting court case produced a historic decision handed down by Judge Rhea Grossman in what became a landmark case for Miami Beach apartment and hotel owners who wished to covert their properties to condo's in the future. The decision based on Florida State statute 711.21 allowed Arlen's to go ahead with the conversion.

After a day of research we head out to Bal Harbour via the stunning North Beach Band Shell (reminded me of The Soundshell in Napier) outdoor performance area.

We dined at Panini Cafe Bar in Bal Harbour Shops and after hitting Books & Books Wendy tried on a great deal of jewellery at Tiffany (and I looked like their regular customer...I don't think!).

It was Tiffany & Co that introduced the world to the engagement ring as we know it today. The six-pronged Tiffany setting lifted the diamond above its setting and into the light. By 1848 New York City newspapers had dubbed Charles Lewis Tiffany "The King of Diamonds" for the exemplary quality of his work.

In the spring of 1887 Tiffany shocked the world by purchasing the French Crown Jewels and soon Tiffany designers were creating a brilliance all of their own. Their designs were gracing all the famous families of the day...Astors, Vanderbilts etc and celebrities from sport, theatre and Hollywood were fans. Soon European Royalty could be added to the list. From Art Nouveau to Art Deco, Tiffany designs grace the world's museums but the world famous 128.54 carat Tiffany Diamond remains on permanent display in the company's flagship New York store.

My journey then takes me to Oleta River State Park before we take in some MIMO (Miami Modern) apartments.

Oleta River State Park consists of some 1,043 acres and is the largest urban park in the state. Located on Biscayne Bay the river is the most prominent natural feature of the park. As early as 500BC the river was home to the Tequesta Indians with the estuary providing a rich and varied diet.

When the Spaniards first arrived here they encountered deer, bear, panthers, bobcats, wolves, alligators and manatees. In 1841 the river was named Big Snake Creek as part of the route used by federal troops in the Second Seminole War travelling south to Loxahatchee.

In 1881 Captain William Hawkins Fulford explored the river and settled further inland in what is now North Miami Beach. By the 1890's with other settlers had come pineapple and vegetable farms and the town of Ojus.

As the river linked the Everglades with Biscayne Bay an Indian trading post was established at Greynolds Park and the river was re-named in 1922. Today the river no longer flows into the Everglades but it is home to many water-birds who feed along its mangrove-lined shores and it is a refuge for the endangered West Indian Manatee.

The West Indian Manatee matures at approximately five years of age and has a gestation period lasting approximately thirteen months with a cow nursing her calf for up to two years.

These gentle slow-moving creatures surface to breathe every three to four minutes and whilst they are shy and reclusive and harmless to no one and nothing they face many threats. The most commom 'problems' come from collisions with boats and barges; from being crushed or drowned in flood gates and canal locks; from the ingestion of fish hooks and monofilament line; from entanglement in crab trap lines and fishing trawl nets; from pollution as well as from cold-related illnesses and habitat loss

Living in a habitat of shallow slow moving rivers, estuaries, salt water bays, canals and coastal areas (particularly where seagrass beds flourish) with no system of defence makes the Manatee vulnerable.

In the winter they concentrate in natural warm water springs or the outfalls of industrial/power plants and in the summer they can be found more widely throughout their habitat, swimming offshore to graze sometimes as far as the Lower Carolinas on the East Coast and Louisiana on the Gulf Coast.

The Manatee eats aquatic plants that are submerged such as hydrilla, emergent such as spartina and floating such as water-hyacinths.

Tonight we chillout at Miriam's before we dine at Steve's Pizza in North Miami.

Thursday 10th May 2007. Miami, Florida.

Well I am back on the Intracoastal in Florida.(If my memory serves me right the last time I was here was on New Years Eve 1999 when I began my epic flight back from Ft Lauderdale to Scotland in time to bring in the New Millennium).

This time I am in Miami and living in the iconic King Cole building with its Rat Pack history.

This morning Wendy and I head out on a drive amongst the quite amasing homes here in South Florida's swing city. My drive takes me around the mansions of Miami Beach, including the Disney-like castle at 4462 North Bay Road.

Our main purpose today though is to try and find the computer and we leave no stone unturned. We hit the airport taxi stand, the driver's off-duty rank, the airport lost and found, the Miami-Dade police...the search is exhaustive...but with no success.

In the late afternoon it is time for lunch in the trendy Lincoln Road district where we eat at the Cafe of Books and Books in the art deco Sterling Building.

The architecture of this area owes a great deal to Morris Lapidus who was born in 1902 in Odessa, Russia and who emigrated with his family to the lower east side of New York City.

In 1927 he graduated from Columbia University with a degree in architecture with his early enthusiasm being for theatrical set design. This evolved into a stellar career in retail store design before he moved to Miami Beach in the late 1940's where his focused shifted to the design of major hotel interiors.

He designed the Fontainebleau Hotel (1953) where Sinatra etc performed, on the site of the Harvey Firestone estate and in 1959 he redesigned six blocks of Lincoln Road removing all automobiles and transforming it into a pedestrian mall. His architecture makes great use of sweeping curves and joyful motifs and as he said "I designed Lincoln Road for people, a car never bought anything!".

My tour of the Lincoln Road district with Wendy and Mark takes in such highlights as the Lincoln Theater and the Colony Theater as well as a visit to the Banana Republic store housed in a former bank where the vault is now used as the changing rooms.

From this area with its mix of art deco and spanish mission style architecture to a tour of the deco style garden apartments that were built initially for the snow-birds...I loved my tour of the city's buildings and enjoyed details such as the fresco on the Hotel Clinton on Washington Avenue.

Art deco touches are everywhere and every building from the Colony Hotel to the Waldorf Towers on Ocean Drive is a treasure. From the clean lines of the Victor to the Clevelander Hotel revamp (a project with which Wendy is associated)...even the colonial style of the Betsy Ross somehow seems fitting...but the highlight is seeing the Versace home where Gianni met his end.

Then there are the less famous gems on Collins which also has the Delano and the Shore Club.

We also headed out to see spanish mission Española Way where we aim to eat Sunday night.

From little apartment block to little apartment block from deco to mission and the canals...this city is an architectural treasure with buildings like the Cadillac that would be stars elsewhere, but here they are just another of the plethora of gems.

I have noticed in Miami already that everybody has a "thang goin on". It is storyville and the official sport is people watching; from the body beautiful to the maids, I enjoy interpreting everyones lives.

We head back home for early evening cocktails on the terrace to watch the sunset with Wendy and Miriam before we are off out to Specchio on Harding Avenue to dine with the girls and Debbie and Johnny.

The food was excellent and the service exceptional. This restaurant is well worth the visit if you are in town. Popular with locals and educated tourists this is a must-eat if you are in Miami.

After dinner its back home with the crowd for a late night political debate.

A good day all round!

Wednesday 9th May 2007. New Orleans to Miami. USA.

Breakfast was sunnyside up before Joanne and I headed out to the airport.

My trip to Miami took me via Houston and upon arrival I spent the rest of the day in the airport waiting to meet my friend Wendy who was flying back from a business trip to D.C.. Her flight was naturally a good hour-and-a-half late.

So we get in the taxi and head home to Miami Beach and we are so busy chatting and catching up that we leave her computer in the cab.

This is a major problem as not only is this the latest in hi-tech equipment but Wendy (who has had a very successful career as a power-broker on the hill) was returning from her consultancy work, and there is vital data on the machine...and
more importantly...the computer contains a great deal of personal information, photographs and recordings of her Dad, who passed away last summer...We need to find this machine.

Tuesday 8th May 2007. The Big Easy...

Fire, Flood and FEMA...the three 'F's' that got New Orleans...two historic and one solely incompetent, a little like the city's mayor!

I start my morning with a leisurely breakfast, sunny side up.

Today Joanne is taking me on a tour of St Charles Avenue, the grandest boulevard of mansions in the south. The avenue follows the gentle curvature of this natural levee and it exudes the air of gentility we all imagine as stereotypical of the deep south.

Our first major point of interest is the Van Benthuysen House (built 1868-69) with its extensive side garden and columned pavilion it served both as the German Consulate before World War II and as the venue for Christine and Joe's wedding.

As many of you know I am a disciple of Frank Lloyd Wright and my must see is the Unity Temple with its circular forms announcing clearly that it was designed by a Lloyd Wright student, Leonard R. Spangenberg. Home to the New Orleans Unity Society of Practical Christianity its planters and lines are clearly Lloyd Wright. Although this 1961 building was not open I went in and asked to have a viewing...the lady allowed me to look around and she gave me a postcard!

The circular staircase (which evoked memories of the Xanadu Gallery in San Francisco)is meant as a symbol that God is eternal and in the sanctuary the circular design is meant to symbolise unity and make you feel that God's arms are wrapped around you.

Our next major stop was the Columns Hotel which began life as the home of wealthy cigar manufacturer Simon Hernsheim. Designed by Thomas Sully in 1883 if you stripped off the later addition Doric columns (added to make this property more Southern) then you see the original Italianate-style house. This was the setting for the Hollywood film Pretty Baby based on the life of local photographer Ernest J. Bellocq.

Its back to Frank Lloyd Wright at 4101 with a double house made to look like a single residence and evocative of the Robie House in Chicago. Designed in 1963 by the New Orleans architect Victor Bruno it borders Palm Terrace which is a small street laid out in the 1920's and lined with small, low budget Hollywood Hills style stucco houses which really don't fit here...but I liked them!

Next stop is the Touro Synagogue (1909) home to the oldest Jewish congregation in the Mississippi valley. Named in honour of Judah Touro, a New Orleans merchant born the son of a rabbi in Newport, Rhode Island; who it is claimed never left New Orleans except for a visit to the battlefield at Chalmette. As a philanthropist he liberally supported Jewish, Protestant, Catholic and nonsectarian charities; he founded a public library, the Touro Infirmary and the Shakespeare-Touro Home for the Aged.

The building that bears his name is built in the Byzantine Revival style from a greyish-yellow brick with terracotta ornamentation to the design of Emile Weil. The 1989 addition, the Norman Synagogue House is considered the best contemporary addition to any building in the city and it is the work of Lyons & Hudson.

Think the great 'public schools' of New England with their architecture evoking the Old Country and you get a sense of the Academy of the Sacred Heart home to the school of the Les Mesdames des Sacré-Coeur, the elite teaching order founded in 1800 in France by St Madeline Sophie Barat.

This order traces the social fashions of the city. On arrival in 1818 they opened their convent and girls' school in the French Quarter before moving with the fashion here to the uptown district. On this site originally stood a mansion house from 1847 and after thirteen years in the old building the Mesdames engaged the firm of Diboll and Owen to design this colonnaded masterpiece. Further expansion led to a third story on the school building.

Whilst St Charles Avenue with its large and historic homes is symbolic of the south there are many architectural styles represented here such as the Brown Mansion (the largest house on the avenue) with its Richardsonian Romanesque style to the design of Favrot and Livaudais. Completed in 1905 this limestone building represents the style and continuing wealth of the city post the Civil War with the story going that cotton broker William Perry Brown offered Margueritte Braughn the "finest residence on the avenue" if she married him...she did.

There are great stories here. The Orléans Club for example is housed in an 1868 mansion that was built for Colonel William Lewis Wynne as a wedding gift for his daughter Mrs. George C. Garner and even today as a woman's social and cultural club it is a favoured venue for debutante teas.

The only grand house open to the public is the Milton H. Latter Memorial Public Library which is housed in a 1907 mansion that played host to the silent movie star Marguerite Clark who is pictured posing on the strong staircase in 1918 at the height of her Hollywood career. She was married to Henry Williams the well-known local aviator and heir and stayed here with her husbands' family, the second owners of the mansion.

In 1948 this became the uptown branch of the New Orleans Public Library and this baronial building in Indiana limestone is a treasure. Stretching over a complete city block and built for Mark Isaacs, owner of a Canal Street department store, it is another Favrot and Livaudais work set high on an earthen berm to dominate it surroundings. In the front two rooms I found original French ceilings that once graced a French Quarter mansion and in a back office I saw the delph style work of local artist John Geiser. In the grounds you can find one of the city's earliest free standing and purpose-built automobile garages...it would make a substantial cottage in its own right.

The property was given by real estate magnate Harry Latter and his wife as a memorial to their only son, killed at Okinawa in World War II.

Today sadly this treasure needs work but in a city with so much devastation and so little tax dollars coming in arthouse projects like this restoration would need a specific donation from someone genuinely interested in restoring this architectural treasure.

And no tour would be complete without Tara, a large white-painted brick house from 1941 designed by Andrew M. Lockett on a lot at 5705, to imitate Margaret Mitchell's iconic Gone with the Wind property.

We went all the way up to the lovely grounds of Loyola and Tulane university's.

On now to the Garden District and its historic homes...After the Civil War, New Orleans stood as the only intact city in the south and after Katrina, historic New Orleans stands intact!!!

The trees, the grounds, the impossibly huge homes...it is beautiful! My two highlights here were 1331 Third Street, the Michel Musson House that was home to Edgar Degas uncle. An Italianate house built for the Postmaster of New Orleans and President of the New Orleans Cotton Exchange, Degas immortalised his uncle in his 1873 work The Cotton Factor's Office.

The neighbouring and mammoth 1415 is reputed to have been the first house in the city with indoor plumbing.

The more I journey the more wonderful cast-iron work I see and that leads me to the Italianate villa built for Kentucky born merchant Col Robert Henry Short in 1859. The house is the work of Henry Howard but it is over-shadowed by the cornstalk fence made in Philadelphia by the Wood & Perot foundry. New Orleans' famed cast-iron was a statement of wealth and unlike its partner in the French Quarter, this cornstalk extends fully around the property.

Our final stop on this architectural tour is the City of Lafayette Cemetery No 1 dating from 1833. I couldn't come to the home of the jazz funeral and not visit a cemetery!

Indicative of the centrality of death in the creole culture of New Orleans, the city placed a cemetery and not a public park at its heart. The work of Benjamin Buisson it has wide avenues and above ground tombs designed to accommodate large funeral processions. A fascinating place to study the immigrant history of the city, this multi-cultural resting place also serves as a timely reminder of the mortality in us all. The Society for the Relief of Destitute Orphan Boys plot from 1894 caused me to draw parallels with the paupers' graves that were common in Britain until after the second world war.

I also loved the local colour with the cemetery keeper and his website...can't help thinking its a little strange e-mailing the dead???

From the Jazz funeral to the importance of November 1st, All Saints Day, New Orleanians are bright enough to see death as central to life...a lesson we all should note!

Ladies who lunch...

But then there is Commander's Palace. Erected in 1880 for Emile Commander who operated her restaurant on the first floor and lived upstairs, by 1920 a speakeasy was in full swing here. Since 1974 it has been the flagship in the local Brennan family restaurant empire. The culinary and the social summit of life in the Big Easy, Commander's Palace holds a well-deserved national and international reputation.

Well I had my Mint Julep with Joanne, Patsy and DiAnn and I had a wonderful creole lunch that included the legendery Turtle Soup and the famed Bread Pudding...and to round off my time in the city I enjoyed a wonderful homemade gumbo tonight with Joanne.

I cannot leave New Orleans without publically stating my thanks to Miss Joanne for all she has done to make my stay more comfortable and the project more interesting for all its participants...A real Southern Belle!!