Cincinnati

Countdown is over!

At work in the Christmas raffle this year I won a free stay at a hotel in Cincinnati and now that it is May and there has seen some substantial improvement in the weather Amanda and me thought it was time to take advantage! Ohio is said to be a almost perfect mini representation of America - with the industry in the North, the great plains in the Middle and the south of the state being very similar in terms of lifestyle and culture to the Southern USA . You can certainly see this while driving across the state, (it is over 300 miles from Cleveland to Cincinnati) at one point during the journey the landscape was so flat it would make East Anglia look like Mount Everest... I could see for miles and managed to count about 11 seperate farms out the window with nothing, not even a tree between them. I also got to see some staggeringly bad driving, a blue car in front of us seemed to be driving quite erratically and on closer inspection the reason for this seemed to be the fact the driver was eating breakfast with a bowl and spoon, occasionally lunging forward to put one hand on the wheel to adjust the course of the vehicle. As a word of advice if the driver happens to read this article, next time can I suggest you eat breakfast at home and do your makeup in the car, at least then you can keep one hand on the wheel! When you combine this with the man who decided to load the entire garden furniture selection of Homebase (or home Depot for Americans) into the back of his pickup truck with a broken tailgate tied together with a piece of completely inadequate red rope it is a miracle we made it to Cincinnati and back in one piece! In fact if anyone needs some nice garden chairs or perhaps some pillows or a barbeque there are plenty of them strewn across I71 Northbound just past Akron, along with a lot of dented cars, angry drivers and a seemingly abandoned pickup truck with a broken tailgate and a couple more garden chairs in the back.

Mt Adams

Once we had arrived safely we had a lot  of fun!!!! we started off by parking downtown and then heading up Mt Adams to the art gallery. Things went a little awry here and there was some discontent in the camp, it was very hot and humid with storm clouds forming  overhead with the rather pathetic looking Mt Adams transforming itself into Mt McKinley before our very eyes! it was a horrific climb made worse by our wrong turns to a abandoned swimming pool and our less than pleasant diversion through the car park of the local cinema.

Mt Adams after an hours grueling climb

Abandoned swimming pool

Had we followed Amanda's suggestion instead of mine it is entirely possible that we would have enjoyed a 10  minute stroll up the hill while enjoying views out over the city and the Ohio river instead of the hour long Hot and Horrible hike which we... erm... decided to take. Once at the art galllery our mood improved after we found out entry was free and even more pleased when we discovered this delightful little courtyard where you could sit undercover (as the threatening storm had now arrived, Thank god it started after we had arrived at the gallery!!) and watch the raindrops fall into a nice garden while enjoying a cup of tea or a coffee for just £1!

The art gallery was great fun, Amanda loved the total look exhibition all about the collaboration between fashion designer Rudi Gernreich and the model Peggy Moffitt, he was the first American fashion designer who showed the knees!! I enjoyed the section of Pete Rose (a Cincinnati Reds baseball player) paintings by Andy Warhol.

A nice little house in Mt Adams

Me getting very wet in Cincinnati

After the art gallery we enjoyed a nice 10 minute stroll in the rain back down Mt Everest oops I mean Adams to  the Cincinnati institution that is Arnolds, it is the oldest tavern in the city dating back to the 1850s and I know what you British are thinking, well don't scoff for America this is very very old indeed! They had the classic barfood menu including a greek pasta dish which has apparently been on the menu since the 30's, I opted for this and thank goodness it seems the ingredients didn't date from the 30's as well, it was delicous, especially when washed down with some local pre prohibition lager! yummy! We followed dinner with some pudding from another great local institution - Graeters ice cream! I had the Buckeye ice cream - chunks of peanut butter in a deep chocolate ice cream and it was gorgeous! here I am eating it in the rain in front of the countdown to the baseball All Star  Game which shall be happening in the city in  a couple of months!

Arnold's Tavern

Me enjoying my Graeter's ice  cream!

After Ice cream we went to watch the ballgame which coincidentally happened to be going that night between the Cincinnati Reds and the World, yes I did say World (this is because there is a Canadian team that also plays in the American baseball league) Champion San Francisco Giants. Although the use of the world world may be questionable what is unquestionable is that San Francisco are indeed the Major League Basebal champions and they played like it, destroying Cincinnati 11-2 in the rain :(

The Bench brothers battling with an umbrellla

After enjoying our free nights stay at the hotel we had a delicious complementary breakfast added on courtesy of the rude and inept Reservations manager Basil Fawtly who took 2 months to respond to my simple and numerous requests to book a room and then had the cheek to say "because you say you have called seven times I shall include a free breakfast". He never apologised but we gladly ate the breakfast. After refueling with  scrambled eggs it was time for us to hit the road and head for the Zoo, which is easier than it sounds when using Amanda's 'smart' or as it shall now be known 'Stupid' phone which insisted on sending us to the Zoo exit and not the entrance which was over a mile away. 'Stupid' seemed to have real trouble in Cincinnati, on another occasion the sat nav wanted us to enter the highway, cross 20 lanes of traffic and then exit the highway all in about 10 yards and then when we failed to achieve  this impossible direction informed us to "travel southwest and then turn left"..... what? Next time we shall buy a old school yet reliable map of Cincinnati, if they still make them!

There is a snow Leopard in this picture, can you find it?

Can you spot the Gorilla? luckily he decided no to throw anything at us :)

The zoo turned out to be excellent, even the now daily rainstorm which is such an integral part of summer in the American Midwest could not dampen our spirits! They had such an excellent array of animals to see all in wonderful natural exhibits including peacocks that just roam free! I thought it was funny how this one decided to show its back as soon as Amanda went to take the picture of me but turned back around immediately as I took a picture of Amanda! 

All in all we had a great weekend in Cincinnati, It seems smaller than Cleveland but is a much more bustling place with lots of energy. Mt Adams reminded me of San Francisco with all the winding lanes and steep hills with the glimpses of the skyline and all the bridges over the Ohio River in the background. If you ever happen to find yourself in Southern Ohio I highly recommend it for a visit :)

Countdown set for our next adventure!!