Hudson Valley, NY

Given that we had a public holiday on Monday (for President's Day), this weekend we took a tour of the Hudson Valley region of New York. We spent Sunday driving slowly up to our accommodation in Rhinebeck (yes, the very town that Chelsea Clinton was married in); stopping at various towns and historical sites in Hyde Park, including Franklin D. Roosevelt's home and the "modest" mansion of Frederick Vanderbilt.

Yesterday we spent another slow drive detouring through other historical sites such as Montgomery Place and Olana (my favourite for its out-of-place yet amazing Middle Eastern design), to the town of Hudson where we stopped for lunch before continuing back to the city in the afternoon. It is such a pretty place, and we are already planning a trip back to see many of the things we missed out on due to the off-season. I also want to go back in Spring and Autumn to see how much the landscape changes. In Spring everything looks green and the gardens are full of colour, and in Autumn you have the amazing reds, oranges and yellows of the fall foliage.

While the weather was clear and sunny the entire time, don't be fooled, it was freezing. The crisp country air made me appreciate that we haven't really had much of a winter this year (and that the city is kept much warmer thanks to the underground steam system). While winter isn't over yet I can not imagine that there will be any more snow other than the small amount we've already had. At least I hope not!