Friday, June 13, 2008

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Round Up

It’s been a long time coming but here is a wrap up of the last couple of weeks of my trip for those of you I haven't seen since my return. Check the Flickr link on the left after reading and you should hopefully find a selection of newly uploaded photos.


SEATTLE

Seattle was a very average city, nothing particularly bad about it but nothing that I could find to really recommend visiting for. They have a monorail (finally I can say I’ve been on one, if only for 2 minutes). They also have a tower, but it’s smaller than most. They have the usual array of shops downtown and the cool Public Market area has a selection of small shops and boutiques next to the food and flower market (where they throw the fish around). I walked around in most of the other areas of the city too (mainly record shopping) which were quite nice.

The only touristy thing I did there was visit The Music Experience, a kind of music museum. They had a good section on Jimmy Hendrix (he was from the area), a guitar hall of fame, a history of Latin American music and also a bunch of keyboards, drums and guitars for people to play/learn in the hands on section. The highlight of the museum for me though was to see the Roland TR-808 drum machine in the flesh (geek). It belonged to some local 80s hip-hop producer that I’d never heard of but it’s a beautiful thing!


CLICK TO SEE/HEAR IT IN ACTION

The ticket price also included admission to the Sci-Fi museum. I assumed this was going to be a small thing but it turned out to be really good. They had a variety of mainstream and obscure stuff, my favourites being the life size Donatello from the Turtles movie and the super shiny old school Cylon from Battlestar Galactica.

The hostel was not in the downtown area but the extra time on the bus was well worth it as it was the best hostel I stayed in for the whole trip, it even had views of the Olympic Mountains over the bay. The owners, staff and guests were all really friendly and there was a very homely vibe to the place. Most nights were spent in the lounge listening to some music and chatting or downstairs watching a film. I did head down to Studio! @ Havana Bar one night for some Disco action courtesy of TJ Gorton, whose American Athlete blog I enjoy reading. It was a little empty but the music was good.




VANCOUVER

I got the bus to Vancouver which was fine. It was super hot for the first couple of days I was there though. I did quite a bit of walking, and of course some record shopping, but the heat got the better of me and I went to bed quite early. I didn’t feel too good for the next couple of days so didn’t really do too much, just a walk around Stanley Park and along the shops. Vancouver Art Gallery had a good exhibition on Comics, Animation and Manga. There was also a Videogame section but it was tiny. There was lots to see and it took me most of the day to look at it all. They had a small cinema area with various animated films being shown and I got to see one of my favourite movies ‘Akira’ on the projector as well as Wallace & Gromit among others. The next day I walked to Chinatown and visited Dr. Sun Yat-Sen’s public park and classical Chinese garden. It was nice but the tour guide was kind of annoying. I wasted the last of my American coins in the arcade the night before I left on some old classics like Street Fighter!


VANCOUVER ISLAND

I’ll start the Vancouver Island section by explaining who people are. Mary is my Grandad’s cousin. She is married to Dick and her mum is Marge. Mary’s brother Jeff is married to Janet and they live up Island with their son Ben. Their other son Peter is currently travelling Europe, check his blog.

I got the coach to Victoria (including the nice ferry ride) and spent the first few days with Marge and her big fat cat Teah. We talked, played some cards, ate home made dinners and watched TV together. I had a walk around downtown, a poor selection in the record shops there! I went to the BC Museum, which hadn’t changed an awful lot since my last visit in 1997. Marge, Mary, Dick and me went to Chermanus at the weekend to meet Jeff, Janet and Ben for a picnic. It was another hot day and we had a walk around before I went back home to spend a couple of days with J&J in the Islands second biggest city, Nanaimo. We played some pitch and putt the first night and then went to bed early. We were up and out early the next day and after dropping Janet at work, me and Jeff had a walk in the woods at Cathedral Grove and also at Little Qualicum Falls which was nice. We went to Coombs where they are meant to have goats or sheep on the roofs of the buildings but all we saw was the grass. The weather wasn’t so good the next day but me and Jeff went a couple of places on the bus before I came back to Victoria to stay with Mary and Dick in their lovely Art Deco style home.

Me and Mary climbed Mount Finlayson one day. We thought there would be more of a trail but it was basically clambering up the rocks on a loosely labelled pathway. It was good fun though and there were some great views from the top. The next day we drove out west towards the Juan de Fuca coast and walked down through the woods to Mystic Beach which was nice. On the way out we stopped at the Salvation Army thrift store and I bought a bigger suitcase for $3.50 to take all my extra crap home in. Marge came over for dinner in the evenings and we played cards or a board game afterwards. Me and Dick usually stayed up later than Mary and watched TV.

It was a long journey home, starting with the bus from Victoria, across the ferry and to Vancouver airport. The flight was good, BA treat you very well. This time I had some nice beef for dinner and a croissant for breakfast on the way into London. I got into Heathrow at 2pm (17 hours after I left Mary & Dick). It was a bit of an ordeal to carry my heavy bags on the tube to Waterloo. I left them there for a few hours while I went to visit Paul (who I flew to NYC with). We had a chat and some Chinese food then I grabbed the records I’d sent home with him and headed back to Waterloo for the train home. Mum & Del took me back to Grans where we talked over tea and biscuits before I eventually headed to bed around midnight for a nice long sleep.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

The Big Photo Update!

I finally have free access to the internet and some spare time, so enjoy a selection of my favourite photos from Niagara Falls, Montreal, Boston and San Francisco! Unfortunately, this computer lacks the software needed to rotate photos so you'll have to strain your neck a little, sorry!

Another Long Empty Highway.


Another Long Empty Highway., originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

Lots of Snow!


Lots of Snow!, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

Crater Lake


Crater Lake , originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

The road to Crater Lake


The road to Crater Lake, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

Views of Oregon


Views of Oregon, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

Drive-thru Tree!


Drive-thru Tree!, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

HUge Trees


HUge Trees, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

My "Compact"


My "Compact", originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

Chevrolet Cobalt.

Lombard St. San Francisco


Lombard St. San Francisco, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

Alcatraz - The Garden


Alcatraz - The Garden, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

The other side of the recreation ground walls.

Alcatraz - Main Cell Block


Alcatraz - Main Cell Block, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

Taken from the end of the recreation ground.

Sea-lions!


Sea-lions!, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

What'chu Looking At?!


What'chu Looking At?!, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

Japanese Garden


Japanese Garden, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

This was in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.

Church Reflection, Boston


Church Reflection, Boston, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

I forget the name of the church and the building next to it but basically, the guy who designed the modern building said he couldn't think of anything to match the beauty of the church and so he designed a building to reflects its beauty in.

The Reflecting Pool, Boston


The Reflecting Pool, Boston, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

Boston Skyline


Boston Skyline, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

Mount Royal Park, Montreal


Mount Royal Park, Montreal, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

Graffiti in Montreal


Grafitti in Montreal, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

There was loads of good graffiti in Montreal, as well as most cities to be honest.

Rainbow at NIagara


Rainbow at NIagara, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

The American Falls


THe American Falls, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Seattle

Well, the drive was awesome. I had a "compact" Chevrolet Cobalt. Compact over just means it's not a 4x4 or a SUV though I think. It was a fairly average sized 3 door saloon; automatic, with cruise control - driving it was a doddle. I headed out of SF Wednesday over the Golden Gate bridge and drove to Cloverdale to pick up Highway 128, where there were a lot of big trees and not a lot else. This took me across to the coast and Highway 1, which twists and turns through forests and over bridges and cliffs and stuff. All very pleasing on the eye, although you daren't take your eye off the road for long. I stopped overnight in Garberville, which was a pretty small town, staying in Sherwood Forest motel. It was fine, but the motels I stayed in since made it seem kinda seedy (it was the most expensive one too!).

Next day I drove the Avenue of the Giants, where some of the biggest trees in America are. It was a nice sunny day again and the drive was great. I stopped off a few times and took a walk in the woods and took lots of pictures. I didn't really cover that much distance what with all the stops, and so it was relatively late (small town time) when I got to Grants Pass. The Redwood motel was really nice and the woman told me to head to 'G' street for some food. There wasn't a whole lot open gone 8pm though so I ended up eating leftovers in a Chinese buffet restaurant!

Friday I headed out to Crater Lake. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect there, but the name sounded cool and the map said it was a scenic area so I took my chances and just followed the GPS. I'd moved from California into Oregon at this point and I have to say it's a lovely state. Very green, with forests and mountains and farmland everywhere. As I got nearer to Crater Lake, there was snow still on the ground among the trees. The higher up the climb to the peak I got, the more snow was around. It ended up being piled up about 10ft high either side of the road. When I finally got there, there was snow everywhere. I'm not sure when it last snowed but they didn't think it would all be clear until July. They have a very short Summer apparently. Turns out Crater Lake is awesome though - a lake in an old volcano, made purely from rain and snow water, no rivers. It's the deepest lake in America and is perfectly reflective. I'll try and get some photos up soon. From here I headed to Eugene and then Springfield, where I stayed overnight (no, I didn't see the Simpsons). I did see Harold & Kumar 2 though, which was as stupid and funny as the first one!

Today was a fairly boring drive up the Interstate 5 highway to Seattle, Washington. I arrived about 3.30, the hostel crew were all at the beach (it wasn't sunny) for a birthday party so I popped along and said hello, then returned the car downtown and had a walk around. The hostel is really nice, I'll try and get some photos of that too. Hope everybody is ok back home. Not long til I'm back now. I'm almost looking forward to it!

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

On the Road

Today I set off up the coast in a rented car. The cheapest cars are 'compacts' but it didn't exactly look like a Smart car. I think it will be a small saloon. I have the car until Saturday night, so 4 days driving with 3 nights stop off along the way in motels or similar. I'm equally nervous and excited, I think the driving will be fine once I'm out of the city - the highways are very straight forward in comparison. I get the feeling this is going to be one of the best parts of the trip!

Other things I've done here in San Francisco include a visit to Chinatown, where I had a nice meal. I found the seedy part of town on Broadway, North Beach. Saw the crookedest street on Lombard St. - lots of walking/steps to get there though! Also lots of ups and downs to get to Coit Tower for some views of the city. I rode the cable car back downtown. I've been to Pier 39, which is super-commercial - full of shops, restaurants etc. There was a nice photographers gallery there though and also a bunch of Seals and Sea-lions which were amusing to watch. Yesterday I went to Alcatraz, which was really good. It was a lovely clear day as well so the photos came out really nice (as usual though I've not uploaded them). The audio tour of the cells was cool and the rest of the island was real nice to walk around. Watched 'Seven' while I did my laundry last night then took an early night. Next update from Seattle!

Monday, May 05, 2008

Boston Round Up and San Francisco

Boston was strange in that the tallest building was only 54 stories high and everything was quite spaced out. The hostel was fine and I met some cool people there, probably the friendliest place I've stayed since New York. A round up of the things I did there:

Went on a duck tour - a duck is a land/water vehicle built for WWII. The guy drove us around town, giving loads of details on Boston's history and points of interest etc. The we headed into the Charles river, where I had a go at steering the thing!

Went to the Science Museum and saw a cool lightning show (remember those friction machines from school that made your hair stand on end? They had a huge one of those that fired of bolts of lightning, oh and tesla coils. It was pretty awesome! There was also a fairly decent Planetarium presentation on the domed IMAX screen. Apart from a nice photo gallery, the rest of the museum was pretty average.

Went to Wally's Jazz Cafe and saw a band play some cool blues and funk. It was Boston Jazz Week while I was there and the legendary (we were told) drummer Bernard 'Pretty' Purdie popped in for a drink and got roped into playing a couple of tunes. Turns out he is the worlds most recorded drummer, he played on albums for James Brown and Steely Dan to name just a few!

Walked around Harvard university, went to a good stand-up comedy night, went to a jazz lecture in the public library (part of jazz week), went to the open night at Boston University's Astronomy Observatory (I saw Saturn, Mars and some Galaxy I forget the name of) and of course I did more record shopping!

I flew over to San Francisco via Philadelphia, which went smoothly. The new hostel is alright, nothing special though and not such friendly people staying here. The free breakfast is great though (loads of different types of bagels, croissants, bread and TETLEY tea! :D There is also a crazy fat ginger woman with a hat fetish who cooks dinner each night that's only $5 - I had Fajita's one night and some breaded chicken and soup another. San Francisco has the most bums and general weirdo's of all the cities I've been to so far!

I've done quite a lot of walking already, exploring the main shopping district and the piers along the coast. Also some greener areas like Fort Mason and Golden Gate Park (where there was a nice Japanese Tea Garden). There is also a cool street called 'Haight' where the cool little shops are (including record shops, of course). Gonna try and do some more organised things in the next couple of days, like a trip to Alcatraz and also to Muir Woods, over the Golden Gate bridge just outside the city.
Friday night I was to 'Elbo Room' where a couple of Dj's span some nice disco music and then 'Woolfy' played a live set, which was pretty funky indie-disco type stuff. Here is the flyer, check out some music on his myspace if you can



http://www.myspace.com/woolfys

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Boston

Boston is quite nice, quiter and smaller than the other cities I've visited so far. The weather is crap at the moment though, been raining all day and more to come in the week. I've booked my flight to San Fran now, I arrive May 1st. Not using the net much cos it's so damn expensive in these hostels - $1 for 10 mins is a rip off! I've made sure to book hostels now with free internet. Met some nice guys here in Boston (from various countries) so have been out and about with them most days/nights. We found a weird tea shop and had a nice pot of posh tea. We also found awesome pizza and pastry's in little Italy. Bye for now

Friday, April 25, 2008

Montreal

Not much to write here cos the computers aren't that good. Had a cool time here though, even if it is a bit too french for my liking! Some cool guys staying here from new York (Canada is where kids under 21 come to get drunk!) so hung out with them a little bit. The hockey team won the night we got here and there were riots and stuff inthe street, it was pretty crazy. Not taken many photos and still not uploaded any from Toronto, sorry. Been to the Planetarium, did some more shopping and walked around the Mount Royal park which was nice. There was still huge areas of snow/ice that haven't yet melted. Got some good views from up there. There have been some really annoying other guests in the hostel though, so not had as much sleep as I might have liked. Anyways I am off to Boston on the bus tomorrow, it takes about 8 hours. Only cost me $70 too! Should be nice. Just off out for some drinks now so I'll leave it there. Hope you're all having fun without me there! Take care.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Leaving Toronto

I'm leaving for Montreal today but Toronto has been quite nice, although it seems to lack a little soul. Niagara Falls was spectacular, even though it was smaller than I'd imagined, but it's hard to believe just how much water is constantly rushing over the edge (and there will be even more come summer time). The Maid of the Mist boat tour was not running as the water still contained lots of ice so instead I did all the other attractions: the caves behind the falls, the walk beside the rapids and the cable car over the whirlpools. I took lots of photos but haven't had chance to upload them yet.

On Saturday I went to the Royal Ontario Museum, at first I thought it was going to be kinda boring like the Shoe Museum but it ended up being really good and I spent all afternoon walking around. There was lots of cool Art Deco furniture, some nice paintings, huge amounts of dinosaur and other animals bones, fossils etc plus lots of historic items from around the world. There was also a big exhibition on Darwin which was interesting, I've bought one of his books to read on my travels as I've nearly finished Blade Runner. I visited some free galleries yesterday and went back to an arcade I'd found earlier in the week with the aim of completing one of the games. It was nice to play a few videogames and I spent about an hour playing Sengoku 3, an old Neo Geo side-scrolling Beat Em Up. It was only 25c a go, which is like 10p!

Friday, April 18, 2008

DSC00376


DSC00376, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

My hostel is on the right of the green, view from CN Tower.

Metropolis


DSC00379, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

Toronto Islands from the CN Tower


DSC00382, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

View of the city from Toronto Islands


DSC00413, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

DSC00422


DSC00422, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

Toronto Islands

DSC00434


DSC00434, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

Toronto Islands

DSC00466


DSC00466, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

Toronto Islands

The pin for disc golf


DSC00467, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

Toronto so far...

The weather here has been super nice - warm and sunny with blue skies and a few fluffy clouds. Yesterday I caught the sun a little bit when I went over to the Toronto islands on the ferry. There are no cars there, just beaches, forests, rivers and a few houses. They also had 'disc golf course' which is kinda like real golf but instead of clubs, balls and holes you have a frisbee and pole. I didn't have my frisbee so couldn't tell you what it was like though. It was a nice place to walk around but I had to come back a bit sooner than I might have as none of the shops were open as summer season still hasn't officially started yet and I was hungry and thirsty. I found a nice place for dinner called Fran's diner and had good old shepherds pie with veg. I've never tucked into green vegetables so keenly, it's suprising what you miss!! The bus girl emailed me to say she wasn't going to the bluegrass gig so instead I went to club Rex to see a live jazz band. There were a lot of beards, slacks and roll-neck sweaters around, but the music was quite good and there was a younger crowd in too.

Today I went to Bata Shoe Museum. It was a bit dissapointing really, lots of ancient sandals, moccasins and other 'historic' footwear but a real lack of anything modern, cool or sexy. Afterwards I wandered around a different section of shops, found a few more records. After staying slap bang in the middle of Broadway in NYC and not seeing a show, who would have thought that I'd have gone to see a musical in Toronto? Well I did tonight and Evil Dead: The Musical was very good. Yes, you did read that right, some crazy Canadians have taken bits from the films and made a stage show out of it. The songs were quite good (kinda Rocky Horror/Grease style Rock n Roll), there were plenty of laughs, the girls were hot and they even had loads of fake blood squirting out into the audience! Hopefully it will make it's way to the UK at some point.

Tomorrow I plan on going to Niagara Falls and at the weekend a museum or two. On Monday I go to Montreal by train. Just spending a few nights there and then on to Boston for a week. Hostels are already booked, as is the train. I'm just uploading some pics from the CN Tower and the Islands. I'll add more another time.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Toronto

I have safely arrived in Toronto. I took the Greyhound bus, which left New York at 10am and I got to the hostel here about 10pm - it was a pretty long day but the drive was quite nice. It was weird to have to walk so far to find a shop open here when I arrived, New York never sleeps! The hostel is really nice, award winning infact. Check out the website for an idea of how posh it is:

http://www.clarencecastle.com/

I had a nice long sleep (in a nice comfy bed) last night and today was a real nice day. First thing I did was to go up the CN Tower and take some photos. Then I walked along the waterfront and through some shops. Most of the afternoon was lost in a record shop! I was chatting to a woman on the bus who lives here in Toronto, she emailed me today to see if I wanted to go to a Bluegrass evening this week. I'm pretty sure that's country music though!! :-/

I'm just trying to upload my photos now so if I post a few after this messgae, be sure to check the flickr link on the left for the full set.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Some more photos

The last few days here have been pretty chilled. I've been walking around the areas I've not been to and they are nice and relaxed compared to thehustle and bustle of the times square area. East Village and Grenwich Village in particular are full of nice buildings and cool little shops. There are now 3 other guys from the uk sharing the room with me, one of which, Nick, has been out and about with me a few times. We went to Coney Island, New Yorks seaside resort the other day. By the time we got there though there was this thick fog/mist so the photos were all spooky looking. Talking of photos, Paul has uploaded a bunch of his for you to see.

CLICK HERE

Tonight I'm off to club APT for some funk and then on to Shelter for some House. Tomorrow I shall sleep in preparation for the 12 hour bus ride to Toronto on Monday. Bye for now!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

More New York

Just a quick one today as I'm in the Apple store using the internet on a display iMac. Monday night we went to Deep Space New York which was a cool club night in the posh part of town. Luckily it was free to get in before 11pm, as the drinks were $11 each! Paul has gone home now so I'm on my todd. After he left on Tuesday evening I did a few boring things like washing, looking up some things to do this week on the net and also looking into travel to and accomodation in Toronto, which is where I'm heading next. I can't get a room in Boston next week as they have a marathon going on. I will head there after Toronto and Niagara. I'm trying the Greyhound Bus for the trip, it takes 12 hours and costs $90. The train was the same price and duration but it left at 7am instead of 10am! I leave on Monday, staying until Sunday.

Yesterday I hit the record shops, it was a nice day and I bought loads of good stuff. Will need to find the post office before I leave to send a package back home - if you're reading this mum, can you please text me grandma's postcode as I'll send them there incase you move! Last night it rained so I didn't go far, just to a bar we went to last week to see some baseball. Today is really sunny so I'm gonna stroll about central park and the upper eastside, probably ending up at the Guggenheim art museum. Maybe more record shopping tomorrow and then some clubbing at the weekend.

There are a few photos on Flickr now, but it's hard to get (free) internet time and they take a while to upload so I'm not sure when I'll get the rest up. I'll try and get Paul to upload his NYC pics somewhere public now he is home. Bye for now!!

Monday, April 07, 2008

New York part 3

It was a long que for the ferry to Liberty and Ellis Island. It was a nce day again though and we got some good pics of the statue of liberty. Ellis Island is the immigration museum, it was a bit dull really. There were some photos from how it looked in the 80s when it was deralict, the restoration they have done has left it looking very cold and sterile. Got chattingwith Matt and Sandy our Australian roomates, nice guys so we headed back to the bar we went to last night with them. Got a bit drunk - I don't reccommend a Long Island Ice Tea after you've already had plenty of vodka! Definately don't have a second one!! Sunday was spent sleeping off the hangover. We had a walk over the huge Brooklyn Bridge in the evenin, which was cool but very cold and windy. Later we went to the cinema and saw Vantage Point - it was alright 6/10. Nice comfy seats in the theatre though.

Today we went to Macy's - dunno what the fuss is all about - it's just a glorified Debenhams!! Had a nice long walk around some other parts of town - found a cool bargain basement record store and got 5 LP's for $10 - will be gong back there later when Paul isn't mocking my Disco selections! Gonna go to Deep Space New York tonight which is a clubnight run by legendary NY DJ Francois K. Paul flies home tomorrow so I'll be doing more record shopping and clubbing for the rest of the week. I'm booked in at Boston for the 14th, arriving by train.

Saturday, April 05, 2008

New York part 2

Hey guys, nice to read some of your comments, hope you're all keeping well :)

Thursday we met one of Pauls old friends called Micky and his wife Sarah. They came into town to pick us up and took us out to the Army base that they live on (Sarah is inthe Band for the army). It was a nice drive through some great scenary, especially Bear Mountain and its bridge. We had a nice relaxing day away from the busy city. Went for a drive into Cornwall, which is a small traditional looking town/village on the Hudson river. The views were great, small mountains, lots of trees and the huge river. The longest train ever went past us too, nmust have had over 100 carriages of cargo. We also had the biggest pizza ever for dinner! Sarah taught us how baseball works, its on TV all the time and we didn't really understand it 100% - it seems like a pretty good sport even if half the players are fatties.

Paul left his phone at their place so yesterday he got the train to meet them. I took this oppurtunity to visit the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). It was cool, really nicely laid out building and a nice selection of works to look at. I grabbed a quick hotdog for lunch and then made my way to the American Natural History Museum, which like our own, was pretty boring. The huge planetarium they have there though was well worth the admission price. In the evening we got the subway to downtown and walked around a few shops in Soho and Greenwich village. I got a couple more records and a cool t-shirt, then we came back uptown for dinner. After dinner we found a cool bar, nice music, pretty people and a good basketball match on tv.

Now it's today and we are heading out for more sightseeing as the weather is good. The plan is to do the ferry ride to Ellis Island (the immigrant museum) stopping at the statue of liberty on the way. Maybe go up the Empire State building too. No photos today, maybe later!

Also, happy birthday to DARRYL!! Have a beer for me dude ;-)

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Rockafella


DSCF1839, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

Me and the Empire State building

DSCF1808


DSCF1808, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

Time Square - the Swatch shop in on the croner of our street fro the hostel.

DSCF1893


DSCF1893, originally uploaded by acidbearboy.

Central Park

New York

The flight with BA was great, complementary drinks, loads of food, movies, games and all that Jazz. Arrived at Newark airport Tuesday evening to hot and humid weather. Grabbed a bus into town and found the hostel no problem. It's basic but fine- nice hot showers, free internet and literally 2 mins walk from Time Square. Had a walk about once we had checked in (had to buy a towell from K-Mart, only $3!) and then grabbed a couple of drinks in a bar while watching the Yankee's play baseball. Got caught in a freak rainstorm on the way back!!

Got up pretty early Wednesday and grabbed breakfast at some coffee shop - the tea was alright!! Weather was still bright and sunny but it was a lot colder than yesterday - a bitter wind. Walked a few blocks and visited the Rockafella Plaza, including fantastic views from the observatory "on top of the rock". Visited Trump Tower (posh) and Apple Store. Saw a breakdance crew pooping some moves on the street corner - really good. Had a nice long walk around Central Park, which is huge. We walked up to the Resevoir and back - it's lovely and quiet and a massive contrast to the hustle and bustle just a few blocks away. Squirrells everywhere too!

Had a nice pasta meal in a bar at Columbus Corner while watching the UEFA cup on tv. Then got the subway to Bryant Park and walked a couple of blocks to Grand Central station. The place is as huge as it is beautiful. Wandered around a few more shops in Midtown, got some Reeses peanut butter cupcakes from the Hershes store. Bought my first record of the trip at Virgin MEgastore - the 45:33 LP by LCD Soundsystem. Got a couple of cheap tickets for a comedy club for the evening. It was pretty quiet in there but some of the comediens were pretty funny still. A couple of drinks in the Irish Pub near thehostel on the way home and then another good nights sleep.

Heading out of town today to meet a friend of Pauls who lives in West Point. Will do more sightseeing on Friday when we go downtown. Will try and upload a few photos soon.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Introduction

Firstly, some bad news. I'm not actually travelling the world in a panda suit - the picture just makes me smile, ok! I am going away very soon though and this will be the place to catch up on my activities abroad, so Favourite or Bookmark it (the geeks among you may like to set your RSS feeds) and keep up to date. Check the Flickr link on the left, which should hopefully be updated with a steady stream of photos. I've also added Myspace and Facebook links, just incase you need them. Probably best to email me if you really need to get in touch while I'm away though.

TRIP OUTLINE:
Fly out on April 1st from London Heathrow to Newark Intl, New York City.
Spend 2 weeks in NYC.
Spend 2 weeks covering Boston, Niagara Falls & Toronto.
Internal flight from Toronto to San Francisco.
Spend 2 weeks covering San Francisco & Seattle, including the drive between them.
Spend 1 week on Vancouver Island, visiting the family in Victoria.
Spend 1 week in Vancouver.
Fly home on June 1st from Vancouver Airport to London Heathrow.