5) Washington

The next morning (26.05.) we hopped on a bus from Philadelphia to Washington D.C., where we arrived at the massive Union Station. A cab brought us to our hotel near the Capitol. We started a little afternoon sightseeing tour at the Capitol and walked back to the Union Station for a closer look. From there we walked back to the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress. Then we walked along Pennsylvania Avenue, had dinner at Hawk and Dove (my dad didn't like the food though), and continued along the 8th Street to the Yards Park. There we enjoyed the river view and relaxed before we returned to our hotel.
I started early the next day (27.05.) hoping to get a ticket for the Washington Monument, but I was unlucky and the tickets were sold out about 20 people in front of me. So I met my parents near the Capitol and we walked along the Washington Mall to the White House. After taking some photos we cooled down in the White House Visitor Center. We continued to the World War II Memorial and Lincoln Memorial. My parents were quite exhausted at that point, but much remained to be seen :) My dad and I climbed the Lincoln Memorial for some good views. After a short break we visited the Korean War Memorial and the Martin Luther King Memorial. We continued around the Tidal Basin to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial and Thomas Jefferson Memorial. There we finished our tour, returned to our hotel where my parents took a break from the exhausting tour. For my dad's sake we had Japanese food for dinner^^.
On 28.05. we visited the Air and Space Musuem and the Museum of Natural History. Both are worth a full day visit, but we packed both into one day. Both museums were amazing, although I'm often no fan of visiting museums. In the evening I also visited the Library of Congress while my parents took a rest at the hotel.
The last day (29.05.), we visited the Pentagon and the Arlington Cemetary. The Pentagon was rather boring, but the Arlington Cemetary was impressive. Before entering the Cemetery, we saw the largest motorcycle parade ever. For Veterans Day, the Rolling Thunders riders parade took place with more than 100,000 bikes! In the evening we flew back home with a lot of impressions from the USA.

The Capitol

massive Union Station

My parents in front of the White House

Myself and the White House

My dad at the Lincoln Memorial

Washington Monument and the Capitol seen from Lincoln Memorial

Martin Luther King Memorial

Washington Monument seen from the Jefferson Memorial

Inside the Air and Space Museum

Inside the Museum of Natural Sciences

Inside the Library of Congress

Starting point of the Rolling Thunder Riders Parade near the Pentagon

The police presented their bikes too :)

Arlington Cemetery

Arlington Cemetery

4) Philadelphia

From Niagara Falls we returned to Buffalo airport, returned our rental car and hopped on a plane to Philadelphia. We were surprised, however, that our plane was a tiny propeller driven aircraft. Thus, it turned out to be quite an interesting flight with low height. The metro brought us from Philadelphia airport to downtown and we stayed at the Hampton Inn. During afternoon, we went for sightseeing through the city towards the pier (Penn's Landing) at . We passed Chinatown and the Independence Mall and Hall on our way. We were impressed by the huge bridges and massive battleships in the pier area. After getting some refreshments on the pier, we took a different way back and passed the Korean War Memorial and Elfreth's Alley. The latter was really cute harboring well-maintained houses from the time when the US was founded. Back in Chinatown we enjoyed dinner at a Chinese restaurant.
The next day (25.05.), we first headed to Philadelphia's impressive City Hall. From there we coninued along Benjamin-Franklin-Parkway to the Arts Museum. The day was very sunny and we had a break at Logan Square and put our feet into the Swann Memorial Foutain. We had another short stop at the shady gardens of Rodin Museum - which we found not worth visiting. At the Art Museum, we climbed the steps that are famous from Rocky Movies. We didn't fancy visiting the museum, instead we walked through the park behind the museum up to Loyd Hall, where we got some refreshments. We walked back along the Schuykill River and took several breaks in the shade and enjoyed the view along the river. From the Central Station we walked down to the City Hall and enjoyed its impressive sight again. We then went to see the Liberty Bell at the Independence Hall and we were lucky to see the bell just before its free museum was closed at 5 pm. During the beautiful sunset time, we walked through Washington Park to the historic Pennsylvania Hospital and came accross Philadelphia's beautiful Magic Garden - which was, however, already closed. We had dinner at the nearby Percy Stree BBQ before we called it a day and returned to our hotel.

The tiniest plane we ever had for a regular flight

Cute Elfreth's Alley

Luckily that didn't happen to our plane^^

Arch Street Church in front of Philadelphia's impressive City Hall

Swann Memorial Fountain and the City Hall in the back

Art Museum

View from the art museum along Benjamin-Franklin-Parkway to the City Hall

Liberty Bell :)

Garden's of Pennsylvania Hospital

My parents in front of Philadelphia's Magic Garden

3) Niagara Falls and Toronto

Getting the rental car from Buffalo airport and driving to Niagara Falls in Canada worked out very well. We arrived at our hotel at the evening. After check-in and unloading the car we went to see the Niagara Falls at night. My parents were already amazed. We had dinner at the Chinese restaurant New York. The next morning (22.05.) we went on a day trip to Toronto. We started with a visit to the CN Tower overlooking Toronto. The weather was great: sunny and cool air. From there we went to the City Hall where we enjoyed some ice cream. We took another break at St James Cathedral before passing St Lawrence Market and Union Station on our way to the harbor front. At the harbor front we watched a show and had a lunch break. On our way back, we wanted to go shopping at Burlington Mall. However, it was holiday in Canada and all shopping was closed :( So instead we visited Niagara on the Lake on our way back and enjoyed the scenic drive from there back to Niagara Falls.
The next morning (23.05.) we went on a Hornblower cruise to the falls, which became the part of the whole US trip my parents enjoyed the most. Experiencing the power of Niagara Falls is a true spectacle. Afterwards we walked along the promenade listening to the falls. In the afternoon we went shopping at Canada One Factory Outlets and on the way back we ate at Bravo Pizzeria. At the evening we were lucky to see large fireworks for the Canadian holiday.

First night view of the Niagara Falls

Overview of Toronto from the CN Tower

Statue next to the CN Tower

*I like* :)

My parents at Nathan Philips Square (near the City Hall)

Reflection of St James Cathedral in a sky scraper

CN Tower seen from the harbourfront 

See who joined the picture^^

During the Hornblower cruise, we all got a little wet :)

My parents in front of the mighty Niagara Falls

2) Cold Spring Harbor and my parents in New York

The next morning (17.05.) we left Boston by bus. I quietly said goodbye to Boston while driving down I-95. In New York we entered close to rush hour, but still didn't have a large delay. I booked a room for my parents at Econo Lodge Times Square. Yet, when we arrived at the hotel, they were overbooked and sent us to the new Courtyard Marriott Hotel in Queens. It was a new hotel with 3 instead of 2 stars, but it was in Queens instead of being near the Times Square. It took us two hours until everything was settled. I explained my parents how to use the metro system and gave them a to do list for the next day. Meanwhile, I took the train to Syosset where I was picked up to attend a conference at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories. At the conference I met my German colleagues Kurt and Gerd. The next day (18.05.) my parents visited the Times Square, Central Park, 5th Avenue, Central Station and the Chrysler Building. At the same time, I enjoyed good talks at the conference as well as a wine&cheese party. I saw that the next day (19.05.) didn't cover topics of my interest, so I joined my parents for sightseeing. We met at their hotel room and hopped on the metro at Queensboro Station. We started the sightseeing trip at Wall Street, walked down to the ferry terminal and Battery Park. We continued to the 9/11 memorial and One World Trade Center. We bought tickets for the latter so my parents could visit the observation deck around sunset time. My parents started to be exhausted, so we ate bagels for lunch before passing the Brooklyn Bridge and walking along Main Street Park and Brooklyn Bridge Park. As my parents were quite exhausted, we took the ferry back to Manhatten instead of walking across Brooklyn Bridge again. I sent my parents on the Staten Island ferry to get a free look of the New York Bay area while not walking^^ In the meantime, I returned to Cold Spring Harbor. In the evening my parents visited the One World Trade Center observation deck. The next day (20.05.) they went sightseeing down the broadway passing the Empire State Building and Madison Square Garden. Meanwhile, the conference finished with a piano concert, which was when I saw Roger Watson who won the Nobel Price for discovering DNA, and the concert was followed by a lobster banquet. The next morning (21.05.) I picked up my parents from their hotel, we visited the Times Square together and did some shopping. In the afternoon we caught our plane to Buffalo airport where we got into our rental car and drove to Niagara Falls.

Wine&Cheese party at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories (Gerd, Seth, Fred, Kurt, Larisa, Christina and I)

My parents @ Battery Park

My parents @ 9/11 memorial and OWTC

My parents in front of the Manhattan Bridge 

My parents and I in front of the Brooklyn Bridge

The Brooklyn Bridge seen from the Main Street Park

My mom in front of the OWTC

New York bay view from OWTC observation deck

My parents @ Times Square

unique interpretation of the Statue of Liberty

1) My parents visit Boston

My parents arrived in Boston Sunday (15.5.), and I picked them up from the airport. We used the Silver Line and Lyft to get to our hotel, and my parents were fascinated because it was their first time using a service such as Lyft/Uber. I had already checked in earlier, so we dropped their bags, refreshed and went to Prudential Center to visit the Observation Deck during sun set. The view was great and it was my first time up there. The sun set was ok, but the night view was best. For dinner, I showed them Fire & Ice and they enjoyed the buffet.

The next morning (16.5.), my jet-lagged parents woke up early, which was convenient as a long day was ahead of us. We started the sightseeing trip at Public Garden and walked through Boston Common to the Massachusetts State House. We continued the Freedom Trail to Quincy Market and North End. From North End, we walked through Paul Revere Park up to Bunker Hill, and then down to the Navy Yard. A Lyft brought us to Harvard Square, where I showed my parents the main Harvard Campus, and they rubbed the foot of the three-lies-statue. From Harvard Bridge they enjoyed the view across Charles River, although they started being exhausted. A Lyft brought us to Havard Medical Campus and I showed them where I worked. We had late lunch at the Beth Israel Hospital canteen, where my parents tried Boston’s famous clam chowder. The green line brought us to Public Garden again and we had some ice cream there before walking along the Esplanade. It was quite cold and windy at the Esplanade, but I showed my parents where I proposed to Franzi. Then I took my parents to the Yardhouse, where we met with Patrick, Jens, Christian, Frederick, Tim and Adam for dinner and beer – my parents didn’t really enjoy the pub food though^^

View on Boston from the Observation Deck on Prudential Tower

My parents early morning at Public Garden

A bold squirrel at Boston Common

My parents in front of Downtown seen from North End

My dad and I in front of the Harvard Medical School main building

Feeding a sparrow at Public Garden with leftovers from an ice cream cone

a family of Canadian Geese at the Esplanade