Today we visited the NY State Capitol Building. A splendid edifice built by British stone masons using granite from Scotland, leather from Spain and so on. It has two magnificent stairways - one, the Evolution, has carvings showing all the phases in the evolution of life from amoebas to man - guess which is at the foot of the stairs. The second is known as the "million dollar stairway" because that's what it cost back in 1890. The building houses the New York State Governor, its Senate and its Assembly. It is therefore the engine of the State legislature. Significantly the building is still not finished and it would now be impractical to attempt to complete it using the original materials. The design of the existing building was prepared by at least three different architects so it's an eclectic mix of styles from "Spanish Alhambra" to "British Empire Gothic" with various in betweens. Our Guide was excellent and tactfully dealt with the "British Question" while making sure we knew who won the War of Independence.
To our surprise the hour long tour cost not a cent - but the available on street parking nearby certainly did! Meters eat quarters in Albany just like they eat 20p's in UK.
After this cultural experience we spent some time looking, successfully, for BBC DVDs - "Blue Planet" and "Prehistoric Planet" in one of the large book stores. (The latter is a great hit with the Boy who rates it "Cool".)
We returned home to find my [i.e. Grandma's] "left-behind-in-England" driving licence had arrived by registered mail after taking 20 days to make the journey!
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