So, we left San Francisco on Friday on the Delta flight, and weren't expecting much, but it was much bettert than we thought it would be! We got free drinks, and with the bagels I took from the Green Tortoise, it was even better! We landed in JFK, New York at about 9:15pm, and got to the terminal at about 10pm. The bags came out quite slowly, but we managed to get a taxi to the hostel quite quickly. It cost $60!!! But it was much safer than getting the Metro at that time of night. We checked in and then went and got some food from the local McDonalds, where the staff weren't particularly friendly! They seemed to treat the customers like it was their favour to serve them, and it took ages, but we got our food in the end so we were happy! We got to bed at about 1am, so it wasn't too late.
On Saturday, we woke up at about 8am, as we had lots of sightseeing to do. We got the Metro to the World Trade Centre Site and had a look around. I never realised how big it was, but most of it was fenced off to the public, which no one seemed to understand why. We found a small cafe where we had some brunch, and we had time to look around it, at some of the things from 9/11. There were a few photos and other bits that showed what it was like, which was really sad to see. From there, we went towards the end of the island, and looked out towards the Stautue of Liberty. It was about a mile away, so it was too small to see it in detail, but at least we could cross it off our 'To-do' lists! We then went to the Empire State Building, but didn't go up as there was amassive queue! We walked to Times Square from there and that was where I said goodbye to Alex, as he was going to visit a friend in Conneticut. I felt so alone and afraid... lol only joking! I spent a bit more time in Times Square and then went to Central Park, where I chilled out for a bit, and then walked down 5th Avenue to some shops. I spent ages looking at trainers, and couldn't decide on which ones to get, but I eventually chose some. I thought I'd wait for Alex, as he had always been there when I looked for trainers, and just to annoy him as well! I didn't do much in thevening, apart from watch some rubbish TV, but thanks to that evening, I learnt how ice cream is made...
I got up at about 12 the next day, as Alex wasn't there to wake me up. I went the main area of New York (Times Square) and spent most of the afternoon there until Alex came back at about 4pm. We did some shopping after that and went and had a look around Macy's. I didn't think it was anything special - it was just huge! Most of the clothes were too expensive for us anyway, so we didn't buy anything (apart from a coffee at one of the many Starbucks!) We found a cool area that had discounted shirts for a bargain - $300!!!!! No idea why anyone would ever spend that amount on a single shirt... After shopping, we went to the cinema and watched a film called Get Smart. I thought it would be another boring slapstick comedy, but it was one of the best films I'd seen all year! It finished at about 1am, which is when we went back to the hostel and went to bed.
On our last full day of the Gap Year :'( We spent the last morning at the loacl Subway, where we had our last $5 Footlong, and then went on the hunt for my trainers. We ended up in going to 181st street to get them!!!! I hope they were happy! We then spent the rest of the day around the 5th Avenue area, where we were given free strawberries (just because Wimbledon started!!) and then Alex spent about $300 on clothes for his sisters in Abercrombie & Fitch. We took out goods back to the hostel, and then went to Times Square for out last dinner. We went to TGI Friday's as it is one of the most American restaurants around! We then went back and packed our bags for the last time. I couldn't get to sleep at all that night, but in the end I had about 2 hours.
We woke up at 3.30am, and had showers and then walked to the Metro station. The showers turned out to be pointless, by the time we got to the Metro, we were drenched in sweat. We got the train to the airport, and said goodbye to America for the last time. As Alex's uncle works for BA, he managed to get us an upgrade to Club Class(!!!!!!!) so we went straight to the lounge, and made the most of the amenities. We ate loads of food, had as many different cups of coffee as the machine could pour, and helped ourselves to the free bar. We boarded at about 8am, and we astounded by how much room we had. We were given champagne for take-off and then we both chose the mixed grill for breakfast. Every course we had was washed down with some more wine/beer/champagne, and we also had the 'Club Kitchen', which was a bar area that we could help ourselves to food and drinks from - what a life!!! We watched a few films, and then landed at about 8pm. It was strange getting back to England and to the normal reality of life. It was really nice to see the 'rents' again, after such a long time, but being back made the whole trip seem like a distant memory.
The whole trip went to quickly, but obviously there were times when it slowed down. Looking back on it, I realised that there wasn't one bit that I really didn't enjoy, even if it wasn't fun at the time. I've learnt so much without realising it, and I think one of the main things is that I can now use a washing machine!! I'd definitely recommend it to anyone that has the chance, as there is such a variety outside of England that people never realise exists.
Bring on Gap Year #2!!!!
Monday, 23 June 2008
Thursday, 19 June 2008
San Francisco
We stayed in the Crowne Plaza for 2 nights overall, and I spent the first night watching loads of TV, and finally managed to get to sleep at about 2am. We were woken up at 6:30am, but an automated wake-up call, as we had to be down by the bus for 7:30am(!!) We drove towards San Francisco, which took about 40 minutes, but I slept for most of it. We were dropped off in China Town (as you'd expect!) and were left there for an hour to get breakfast. It wasn't too far away from the Green Tortoise Hostel, that Mike was staying in, so we walked there to meet him. We managed to get a free breakfast from there, and also booked ourselves in for the last 4 nights in San Fran, but as it was a weekend, it was too busy for us. We found another hostel about 20 minutes walk away that had room, so we booked 3 nights there, and went off to meet the bus. It took us some cool sight in the city, which included Lombard Street - the crookedest road in the world, The Palace of Arts, which has a monument remembering people killed in the 1906 earthquake, and then to the big attraction... The Golden Gate Bridge! First we drove over it, and then got out at the other end to have a look. Alex and I got about 500m onto it, before we had to get back on the bus, so we didn't really cross it, but we stood on it! After that, we drove for about an hour, and got to the Napa Valley, where all the over 21s got to try some wine, but left us 'kids' outside. We did that, and left Mike not knowing where we were! He thought we'd just gone for a city tour! We got back into town at about 3pm, and went and got a Subway for lunch and then met him back at the hostel. We managed to get ourselves out of the afternoon's boat trip (at an extra cost), so we went to Market Street to have a look at the shops, and got back on the bus for 8pm. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped off at a place called Treasure Island, which gave us some really good chances to take some photos of San Francisco. We got back to the hotel at around 9pm, and I went and bought a burrito from the 7 Eleven. We watched loads of TV that night, like Family Guy, South Park, America's Funniest Home Videos and The Simpsons. I could have stayed there for years! We left the tour that night (a day early), and were confronted by the same thing as on the previous tour: they come round and force tips out of you! They tell you that its $6 a day, and you have to pay! The first guide got arsey about us paying $30 instead of $36! Its a stupid way to do it, as it says that they're voluntary! Oh well, the second guide deserved it more than the 1st one.
We got up at about 11am on Friday, after a much needed lie in, and only just managed to check-out in time, after showering, and watching some last minute TV. We spent the next hour on the free internet, as the hostel we were going to didn't have a computer. We got the BART (the train system) into the city centre, and checked in to our new hostel. It wasn't exactly the best we'd seen, but at least we had a bed for the night. We met Mike there, and then we went out to the cinema to enjoy his last night. He had always wanted to see Iron Man, so we watched that to make him happier. It was a good film, and much better than I thought it would be, as its yet another superhero film. We left the cinema at about 10pm, and then went on a massive walk to Fisherman's Wharf, remembering all of the things that we'd done over the past 4 months. We finished it off with a couple of slices of pizza (how could it be any better!?), and then went to bed at about 2am.
On Saturday, we got up at about 10am, and went to a sports bar to watch the football. It took us ages to find one, but the one we found was really good, so we got some lunch there, and spent the most of lunch time there. We went back to the hostel (via Macy's) for about 2pm, so Mike could catch his plane at 5pm. One thing I've noticed about San Francisco, is that there are so many homeless people around. Its really annoying, as they all pester you for money, and its especially bad where are hostel was! We dropped Mike off at the station and then walked down to Fisherman's Wharf so we could book our Alcatraz tour. On the way, we found a big street party, that made me miss being able to drink so much! But I think its only like that because I can't!!! We got to the Wharf at about 4pm, and found Wharf 33 for the tour. We originally wanted to go on Sunday, but the only space available was for 1:45pm on Monday. We spent the $24.50 on it and then went back to the hostel. One other thing that annoys me about America, is that they never add tax on to prices in the shops until just before you pay. So if something says 99cents, it would be just over a dollar after tax! It would be so much easier to do it before! When we got back, we went to bed (it was about 9pm by that time!) as we were really tired, and couldn't be bothered to do anything else.
On Sunday, Alex got up really early and left me with a text, saying that he was at the Virgin Megastore (again!!), so I went and met him there at about 11am. We looked around a bit more, and then went to some of the big shops on the other side of the city. They weren't too far away, but I at least expected some good things in the shops! I really needed to buy new trainers, but all of the ones in the shops were rubbish, so it was a wasted trip. We went back to the city centre at about 3pm, and went to the cinema to watch The Incredible Hulk, which was pretty good, but just another superhero movie! We stopped off for some food on the way back, and then spent the rest of the night in the hostel.
We got up at about 8am on Monday, and checked out as early as we could, so we could make the most of our time at the Green Tortoise Hostel. We walked all the way there, which was harder than it sounds, as San Fran has a lot of steep and pointless hills! We got there just in time to have some free breakfast, so we had a couple of bagels and then spent the rest of the morning playing pool, table football, and watching the Germany game. We got given a couple of beers by someone from Nutfield as well (George Green if you know him!) Which was a bit of a surprise, as I didn't even know he was travelling We left the hostel at about 1pm, and headed down to the wharf. It felt so much better to be in a hostel that had life! The other one was full of middle-aged depressed people that have strange ideas about everything in the world! We got to the wharf, and had our typical touristy, green-screen photo taken (you know, the one that makes it look as though your standing in front of Alcatraz, on a really sunny day, with no one around?) We got on the ferry that took us over, and then we were let loose on Alcatraz!!! We were allowed to wander around, looking inside the cells, and they had a really good audio tour, that gives you loads of info. on the island and it's history. It was so cold on the island, as the wind sweeps through the bay, and blows all of the warm weather away. The rest of San Fran is similar, which is annoying, as it means I've had to wear a hoodie again! After the tour, we walked back to the hostel, had showers, and then got our free dinner, so it was the first day I had spent nothing! We spent the rest of the evening talking to people and playing pool in the Ball Room, and we got to bed at around midnight.
We got up in time for breakfast on Tuesday, and piled up the plates with bagels and fruit. We watched the first half of the Italy-France game, and then we went out to meet one of my friends from home - Sam(antha) Reeve. She was on holiday for a couple of weeks, and was staying with a relative in San Fran. We met up for lunch, and went to the Hard Rock Cafe on Wharf 39, which was cool as we hadn't actually been to one in all of our time in America! We spent about an hour there, and then looked around the rest of the wharf, which was quite interesting, but full of boring boutiques and other restaurants, then we went into the town. I managed to go to the Fossil shop, where I had my watch fitted and I found out what all of the buttons did (the manual didn't make it clear!) and then Sam had to go. Alex and I went to Virgin Megastore again for a bit, and then went to the hostel to play some pool again. We spent the evening doing pretty much that, apart from going out to get some food halfway through.
On Sunday, Alex got up really early and left me with a text, saying that he was at the Virgin Megastore (again!!), so I went and met him there at about 11am. We looked around a bit more, and then went to some of the big shops on the other side of the city. They weren't too far away, but I at least expected some good things in the shops! I really needed to buy new trainers, but all of the ones in the shops were rubbish, so it was a wasted trip. We went back to the city centre at about 3pm, and went to the cinema to watch The Incredible Hulk, which was pretty good, but just another superhero movie! We stopped off for some food on the way back, and then spent the rest of the night in the hostel.
We got up at about 8am on Monday, and checked out as early as we could, so we could make the most of our time at the Green Tortoise Hostel. We walked all the way there, which was harder than it sounds, as San Fran has a lot of steep and pointless hills! We got there just in time to have some free breakfast, so we had a couple of bagels and then spent the rest of the morning playing pool, table football, and watching the Germany game. We got given a couple of beers by someone from Nutfield as well (George Green if you know him!) Which was a bit of a surprise, as I didn't even know he was travelling We left the hostel at about 1pm, and headed down to the wharf. It felt so much better to be in a hostel that had life! The other one was full of middle-aged depressed people that have strange ideas about everything in the world! We got to the wharf, and had our typical touristy, green-screen photo taken (you know, the one that makes it look as though your standing in front of Alcatraz, on a really sunny day, with no one around?) We got on the ferry that took us over, and then we were let loose on Alcatraz!!! We were allowed to wander around, looking inside the cells, and they had a really good audio tour, that gives you loads of info. on the island and it's history. It was so cold on the island, as the wind sweeps through the bay, and blows all of the warm weather away. The rest of San Fran is similar, which is annoying, as it means I've had to wear a hoodie again! After the tour, we walked back to the hostel, had showers, and then got our free dinner, so it was the first day I had spent nothing! We spent the rest of the evening talking to people and playing pool in the Ball Room, and we got to bed at around midnight.
We got up in time for breakfast on Tuesday, and piled up the plates with bagels and fruit. We watched the first half of the Italy-France game, and then we went out to meet one of my friends from home - Sam(antha) Reeve. She was on holiday for a couple of weeks, and was staying with a relative in San Fran. We met up for lunch, and went to the Hard Rock Cafe on Wharf 39, which was cool as we hadn't actually been to one in all of our time in America! We spent about an hour there, and then looked around the rest of the wharf, which was quite interesting, but full of boring boutiques and other restaurants, then we went into the town. I managed to go to the Fossil shop, where I had my watch fitted and I found out what all of the buttons did (the manual didn't make it clear!) and then Sam had to go. Alex and I went to Virgin Megastore again for a bit, and then went to the hostel to play some pool again. We spent the evening doing pretty much that, apart from going out to get some food halfway through.
We woke up at about half 9 on Wednesday, and went to get some free bagels for breakfast, but Alex almost missed them, as his bank had blocked his card (the Fraud people), so he was on the phone trying to sort it out. We stayed in playing table football until just after 11, which is when we left to go to the Virgin Megastore, so we could see the Fratellis (a Scottish band) perform. We got there way too early, as they had only just started setting up! We left the shop, got a smoothie, and then had a look in the nearby Footlocker, which doesn't have any shoes I like. We made it back to the store for about 12:30, and waited. They came out just after 1pm, and played 5 songs, before starting to sign the CD's. They were really good live, and it was even better that they played in front of about 80 people! Alex and I got our CD's signed, and asked if we could see them later that evening at their gig, but sadly he said the guest list was full, so he couldn't put us on it!!! They seem like really cool people, but they weren't there for too long, which wasn't so good, but at least we met them and got our CD's signed! After that, we walked to another shop, about 30 minutes away, as Alex wanted to buy a bigger back to accommodate all of the things he's going to buy in New York! We got back to the hostel just before 5pm, and helped cook our free dinner (you get to go first if you help), which was tortillas, guacamole, salsa, rice, refried beans etc (the rest of the Mexican stuff). It turned out to be really nice, and we had a few helpings before playing even more pool. We managed to get someone to buy us some beer as well, so we spent the even playing cards and pool, and got to bed just after midnight.
On Thursday (19th), we did our usual, and got up around 9am, went for breakfast and played pool. The first Quarter Final of Euro 2008 was on as well, so we watched that and had a few more games of pool. It was finally really hot outside, so at around 2pm we went to Market Street to get a smoothie each. It was by far the best weather we'd had in SF, so we stayed out until about 4pm, which is when we realised we needed to get back. We went out in the evening to Susan & Kevin's (family friends) house for dinner, which was really good. We watched the sunset from their balcony (overlooking Alcatraz & the Golden Gate Bridge) with a beer, and then had roast beef. It was such a cool evening, and we left at about 9:30pm to get back to the hostel. It was nice to see another side to San Fran, as all we had really seen so far was the Chinese part of it!
Thursday, 12 June 2008
LA to Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon to Yosemite
Well, last Saturday, we checked out of the Vibe Hotel in Hollywood, and Alex and I went to hospital to get my foot looked at, as it was painful. It took about 4 hours for them to tell me nothing was wrong, and it cost me at least $100 for the x-rays and the ER fees (plus the doctor's fees, which will be sent home!), so it turned out to be an expensive day! We made it back to the hostel, where we left our bags (and Mike!!) for about 6pm, and then we rushed off to Hollywood/Highland to meet Steph, a girl that I met in Costa Rica. It was strange seeing her again, as the last time I'd seen her was in our hotel in Costa! But we all went and got some dinner at a place called Mel's Diner, and all was forgotten. It was a typical American diner, with jukeboxes all over the place, and the general theme of it being stuck in the 60's. We stayed there for about an hour, and then she gave us a lift to our hostel, and we said our goodbyes. It was really good to see her again, and was kind of her to take us out for a meal, but we all wish we could have seen her for longer! She found it funny (as many of you probably will!), that we thought Hollywood Bowl was an actual bowling alley, as opposed to the concert venue! When we got to the hostel, Alex & I had to go almost straight away, as we needed to check into our hotel that was included in our bus tour. We got on the bus, and it took about 2 hours to make it to Rosemead (which Steph said was one of the worst suburbs of LA!) and checked in by about 11:30pm. The first thoughts of it were that it was very nice - anywhere that we got a double bed each was amazing!
We got up at about 6:30am on Sunday morning, and went down to get our free breakfast - this is when we noticed that things weren't as we thought they would be. All of the people in the room were Chinese!!!!! We started to get a bit worried, and our thoughts were confirmed when all of them boarded the same bus as us. So, we had actually booked ourselves onto an Asian tour, and we had no idea when we saw it online! It wasn't too bad, but I was pretty annoyed during the first leg of the journey to the factory outlets. I bought some jeans from Old Navy, but nothing other than them. Alex, however, bought a Ralph Lauren polo shirt, which was nice, but out of my price range! We got back on the road again, and we could already feel the temperature increasing as we went along. We stopped off for some lunch in the middle of nowhere, and got to Vegas at around 3pm. We drove past all of the big hotels, and found ours was in Downtown, and was surprisingly nice! It had a big casino on the ground floor, and our room was on the 4th floor (of 19!). We watched a bit of TV, and went for a wander around Freemont Street, and then went to reception to go on an organised Hotel tour. Our first stop was Rio, where we watched a free show in the Casino, and then went to the Monte Carlo, where we watched a show about Atlantis (the myth). They had a really cool shopping mall, that had blue sky painted on the ceiling, which gave it feel that it was daylight. It was quite impressive, but I suppose it was Vegas! The next stop was the Bellagio, where we watched the water fountain display, and had a look around inside, before finishing it off with the Venetian. It had the same sort of ceiling as the Monte Carlo, but it was themed to be like Venice, so it had the boats giving people tours on man-made canals. We got back to the hostel at around 10:30pm, and got ready for our early start.
We got a wake-up call at 5am(!!!!), but we ignored it for half an hour, and then decided to get up. We got on the bus at 6am, and made our way to the Grand Canyon. I slept for a lot of the journey, but was awake to see the Hoover Dam, and to witness us crossing into Arizona (with a border check!). We stopped off for some brunch, which is where Alex & I bought a Subway Footlong for both breakfast and lunch. We stopped off a few miles from the Grand Canyon, where most of the bus watched an Imax film about it, but we wanted to save money, so we sat outside for a while. We got the the Canyon at about 1pm, and spent an hour taking photos, and it was stunning! It was so big, it was hard to imagine a river changing the shape of the landscape, but the proof was there! We got back on the bus, and started our long journey back to Vegas. We got back at about 6:30pm, and we went back for much needed showers. We went out onto Freemont Street at about 8pm, and we met up with Louise (the girl from home that I saw in Cairns) and also, one of my best friends sisters, who had won a holiday on the radio! It was cool seeing them, but it was strange seeing them in the middle of Las Vegas!!! We tried to tempt them with a $10 buffet at one of the hotels, but they had already made up their mind about going to Hooters. So we went to the buffet alone, and ate so much! We had numerous plates of food, which were washed down with a big bowl of chocoltae ice cream (!). We made it back to the hotel for about 10pm, after a short walk was made longer by the fact that it was painful for us to move too quickly! We watched some TV, and then went to bed.
On Tuesday, we got up at 8am (what a lie in!) and got some breakfast from the nearby 7 Eleven. We got on the bus at 9am, and went to the main strip to take some photos of the hotels. We saw the MGM Grand, New York New York, the Luxor and a few more. We left Vegas at about 10am, and started the long journey back to LA, but about 10 minutes out of the city, the driver pulled over, and went outside to fix something. We spent over an hour there, and it wasn't too nice in the heat! (when we got breakfast, it was already 35C!!). We stopped off at a factory outlet, where I bought a new watch, and by that time, it was 101F (a bit over 38C), which is the hottest weather I've ever been in. We watched Die Hard 4.0 for the rest of the journey and got to LA at about 6pm. We checked in to yet another hotel, and went to find somewhere to eat. We found a typical fast food restaurant called In-N-Out Burger, which does the huge burgers, with bucket sized drinks, so we got them and felt pretty full afterwards! We went to bed at about 1am, after watching numerous episodes of Family Guy and South Park!
On Thursday, we started the second part of our tour, and got on another bus full of Chinese people. On this bus, they weren't asking us why we'd decided to go on an Asian tour, and some were actually talking to us! We found another Subway, and bought a Footlong for breakfast and lunch, and got on our way again. We stopped off for lunch in the middle of nowhere. It was a small town that seemed to sell things for cars, and Mexican food. We got into Yosemite National Park at around 3pm, and took lots of photos. We saw El Capitain, and a really big waterfall, which is where we went on a small walk to the base of it. Sadly we didn't see any bears, but we did see loads of.... Squirrels! What a taste from home! We left the park at about 6pm, and drove towards San Francisco, stopping along the way to get some food from a town with a population of about 3,000, but about 10 different fast food restaurants! We went to a different place called Del Taco, which is another chain to add to our ever growing list of fast food restaurants! We got to the outskirts of San Fran. at about 10pm tonight, and checked into a rather posh hotel, which is where we'll be staying for the nst 2 nights! Look out for the next post soon!
We got up at about 6:30am on Sunday morning, and went down to get our free breakfast - this is when we noticed that things weren't as we thought they would be. All of the people in the room were Chinese!!!!! We started to get a bit worried, and our thoughts were confirmed when all of them boarded the same bus as us. So, we had actually booked ourselves onto an Asian tour, and we had no idea when we saw it online! It wasn't too bad, but I was pretty annoyed during the first leg of the journey to the factory outlets. I bought some jeans from Old Navy, but nothing other than them. Alex, however, bought a Ralph Lauren polo shirt, which was nice, but out of my price range! We got back on the road again, and we could already feel the temperature increasing as we went along. We stopped off for some lunch in the middle of nowhere, and got to Vegas at around 3pm. We drove past all of the big hotels, and found ours was in Downtown, and was surprisingly nice! It had a big casino on the ground floor, and our room was on the 4th floor (of 19!). We watched a bit of TV, and went for a wander around Freemont Street, and then went to reception to go on an organised Hotel tour. Our first stop was Rio, where we watched a free show in the Casino, and then went to the Monte Carlo, where we watched a show about Atlantis (the myth). They had a really cool shopping mall, that had blue sky painted on the ceiling, which gave it feel that it was daylight. It was quite impressive, but I suppose it was Vegas! The next stop was the Bellagio, where we watched the water fountain display, and had a look around inside, before finishing it off with the Venetian. It had the same sort of ceiling as the Monte Carlo, but it was themed to be like Venice, so it had the boats giving people tours on man-made canals. We got back to the hostel at around 10:30pm, and got ready for our early start.
We got a wake-up call at 5am(!!!!), but we ignored it for half an hour, and then decided to get up. We got on the bus at 6am, and made our way to the Grand Canyon. I slept for a lot of the journey, but was awake to see the Hoover Dam, and to witness us crossing into Arizona (with a border check!). We stopped off for some brunch, which is where Alex & I bought a Subway Footlong for both breakfast and lunch. We stopped off a few miles from the Grand Canyon, where most of the bus watched an Imax film about it, but we wanted to save money, so we sat outside for a while. We got the the Canyon at about 1pm, and spent an hour taking photos, and it was stunning! It was so big, it was hard to imagine a river changing the shape of the landscape, but the proof was there! We got back on the bus, and started our long journey back to Vegas. We got back at about 6:30pm, and we went back for much needed showers. We went out onto Freemont Street at about 8pm, and we met up with Louise (the girl from home that I saw in Cairns) and also, one of my best friends sisters, who had won a holiday on the radio! It was cool seeing them, but it was strange seeing them in the middle of Las Vegas!!! We tried to tempt them with a $10 buffet at one of the hotels, but they had already made up their mind about going to Hooters. So we went to the buffet alone, and ate so much! We had numerous plates of food, which were washed down with a big bowl of chocoltae ice cream (!). We made it back to the hotel for about 10pm, after a short walk was made longer by the fact that it was painful for us to move too quickly! We watched some TV, and then went to bed.
On Tuesday, we got up at 8am (what a lie in!) and got some breakfast from the nearby 7 Eleven. We got on the bus at 9am, and went to the main strip to take some photos of the hotels. We saw the MGM Grand, New York New York, the Luxor and a few more. We left Vegas at about 10am, and started the long journey back to LA, but about 10 minutes out of the city, the driver pulled over, and went outside to fix something. We spent over an hour there, and it wasn't too nice in the heat! (when we got breakfast, it was already 35C!!). We stopped off at a factory outlet, where I bought a new watch, and by that time, it was 101F (a bit over 38C), which is the hottest weather I've ever been in. We watched Die Hard 4.0 for the rest of the journey and got to LA at about 6pm. We checked in to yet another hotel, and went to find somewhere to eat. We found a typical fast food restaurant called In-N-Out Burger, which does the huge burgers, with bucket sized drinks, so we got them and felt pretty full afterwards! We went to bed at about 1am, after watching numerous episodes of Family Guy and South Park!
On Thursday, we started the second part of our tour, and got on another bus full of Chinese people. On this bus, they weren't asking us why we'd decided to go on an Asian tour, and some were actually talking to us! We found another Subway, and bought a Footlong for breakfast and lunch, and got on our way again. We stopped off for lunch in the middle of nowhere. It was a small town that seemed to sell things for cars, and Mexican food. We got into Yosemite National Park at around 3pm, and took lots of photos. We saw El Capitain, and a really big waterfall, which is where we went on a small walk to the base of it. Sadly we didn't see any bears, but we did see loads of.... Squirrels! What a taste from home! We left the park at about 6pm, and drove towards San Francisco, stopping along the way to get some food from a town with a population of about 3,000, but about 10 different fast food restaurants! We went to a different place called Del Taco, which is another chain to add to our ever growing list of fast food restaurants! We got to the outskirts of San Fran. at about 10pm tonight, and checked into a rather posh hotel, which is where we'll be staying for the nst 2 nights! Look out for the next post soon!
Friday, 6 June 2008
LA to Santa Barbara back to LA
On Wednesday, we got up early and checked out, as we were going to Santa Barbara for a night. We met up with Chessy & Becky (friends we met in Aus) and went and got some lunch with them. We found a nice cafe, where we had a smoothie each and then said our goodbyes. The bus to Santa Barbara took about 2 hours, so it was still daylight when we got there. We found one of our choices of accommodation, but it was fully booked, so we went to our backup place. Luckily it had 1 room left, but it was really expensive. It turned out to be a chalet type house, with only one bed that was a double! Alex and Mike decided that they'd share it, so I slept on the floor with the duvet. We went out for some dinner at about 7pm, and found a bar called Sharkeez, which was another Mexican! We got free help-yourself nachos, so we pigged out on them and went back for showers, but they weren't very successful, as there was no hot water! The reason we went to Santa Barbara was to go and see a band called the RX Bandits, so we went to the bar that they were playing at and went in - it was sooo small! They really over sold the tickets, so we found it hard to move. It was the first time I'd heard them properly, and I found them really good, even though Mike said it wasn't their best gig! We found a shop that had free refil drinks for $2 after the band, so we spent about half an hour drinking loads of Coke! We got back at about 1am, and went to bed straight away. I was surprised that we fell asleep so quickly, as there was a big group of Irish people outside who had been drinking for at least 5 hours!
We got up just after 9am on Thursday, and went to get our free breakfast and check out. The place we were staying at was a 15 minute walk away from the reception, so we only just made it for 10am, but we had lots of free toast to make up for it. We then went to the pier and chilled out there, so I could call home (it was my Bro's Birthday!). We saw a couple of seals off the end of the pier as well, which took us back to the times in New Zealand, but the weather was a bit hotter in California! We only just made it to the Greyhound station, as we were too busy in the shops, but we got on the bus, and made it back to Hollywood for 3pm. We checked in to our usual hostel (The Vibe) and went to find Chessy & Becky. We didn't have any plans for the evening, so we wandered around for a while and then went to the cinema to see "What Happens In Vegas". It was a typical trashy American film about a couple that argue a lot, but end up getting together. It was quite funny, but it was made even better by the fact that we watched it in Mann's Chinese Theatre. We got out at about midnight, and said our goodbyes to the girls, and went back to the hostel.
We got up today at about 10:30am, got our free breakfast, and then Alex and I went on our LA Sightseeing tour. It was a really good day, which took us Santa Monica, various celebrities houses, Rodeo Drive (the road with all the expensive shops), Sunset Strip (where various famous people own clubs), Hollywood Blvd and then the Hollywood Sign. It was a good day, but we'd seen a lot of the things before, so we wished we did it earlier on in the week. We saw loads of nices houses and cars though, especially in Rodeo Drive. The whole of LA is full of them! The other day I saw an Audi R8, a Bugatti Veyron(!!!), various Ferrari's and Lambo's (for all the people that care!) We got back at about 6pm, and watched a couple of episodes of Family Guy, before Mike came back - he'd been skating at Venice Beach for most of the day, which sounded really good, and well worth a visit. We went out for dinner tonight as well, to a restaurant called Sizzler - all I can say, is that we ate SO MUCH! It cost $15 for a main meal, help-yourself salad bar, free drink refills and dessert! We all came out groaning, and made a visit to the supermarket, which made us all feel sick! Since then, we've watched 'Knocked Up', and we're currently watching Gladiator! Tomorrow, Alex & I start our tour, which begins with a night in an LA hotel, and then onto Las Vegas!!! I'll let you know how it all goes, when I next reach a computer!
We got up just after 9am on Thursday, and went to get our free breakfast and check out. The place we were staying at was a 15 minute walk away from the reception, so we only just made it for 10am, but we had lots of free toast to make up for it. We then went to the pier and chilled out there, so I could call home (it was my Bro's Birthday!). We saw a couple of seals off the end of the pier as well, which took us back to the times in New Zealand, but the weather was a bit hotter in California! We only just made it to the Greyhound station, as we were too busy in the shops, but we got on the bus, and made it back to Hollywood for 3pm. We checked in to our usual hostel (The Vibe) and went to find Chessy & Becky. We didn't have any plans for the evening, so we wandered around for a while and then went to the cinema to see "What Happens In Vegas". It was a typical trashy American film about a couple that argue a lot, but end up getting together. It was quite funny, but it was made even better by the fact that we watched it in Mann's Chinese Theatre. We got out at about midnight, and said our goodbyes to the girls, and went back to the hostel.
We got up today at about 10:30am, got our free breakfast, and then Alex and I went on our LA Sightseeing tour. It was a really good day, which took us Santa Monica, various celebrities houses, Rodeo Drive (the road with all the expensive shops), Sunset Strip (where various famous people own clubs), Hollywood Blvd and then the Hollywood Sign. It was a good day, but we'd seen a lot of the things before, so we wished we did it earlier on in the week. We saw loads of nices houses and cars though, especially in Rodeo Drive. The whole of LA is full of them! The other day I saw an Audi R8, a Bugatti Veyron(!!!), various Ferrari's and Lambo's (for all the people that care!) We got back at about 6pm, and watched a couple of episodes of Family Guy, before Mike came back - he'd been skating at Venice Beach for most of the day, which sounded really good, and well worth a visit. We went out for dinner tonight as well, to a restaurant called Sizzler - all I can say, is that we ate SO MUCH! It cost $15 for a main meal, help-yourself salad bar, free drink refills and dessert! We all came out groaning, and made a visit to the supermarket, which made us all feel sick! Since then, we've watched 'Knocked Up', and we're currently watching Gladiator! Tomorrow, Alex & I start our tour, which begins with a night in an LA hotel, and then onto Las Vegas!!! I'll let you know how it all goes, when I next reach a computer!
Monday, 2 June 2008
LA to Tijuana back to LA
We got up at about 9am on Saturday, and had our free breakfast, and then got the Metro to Downtown LA, so we could catch the bus down to Mexico. It took about 3 hours to get to San Ysidro, where we had to get off the bus, and go over the border. We expected our bags to be scanned and our Passports checked, but all we did was walk through a big turnstile gate, and we were in Mexico! We were bombarded by thousands of taxi drivers, stall holders and shop owners, trying to usher us in their directions, but we ignored them all, and walked to Downtown Tijuana from there. It took about 10 minutes, and we found a nice hotel, which was only $20 each, but we still checked out our originally planned hostel. However, the one we hoped to stay in was closed, so we had to go to the posher, nicer hotel on the main road (sigh!). We checked in and went out straight away, so we could get some lunch. We found a nice bar called El Torito, which had Corona's for $1.50! We had a massive lunch, and a few drinks (my first was a Margarita, and my second was a Corona!) and then played pool on their free table. There was a man there with a bottle of tequila and a whistle, who kept on coming round and pouring it in our mouths. He said it was free, but your always obliged to give him a tip. We got back to the hostel at around 8pm, and had showers and then went out. We went back to El Torito again, and spent most of the night there paying pool, going on their mechanical bul, and also playing table football. It got to about midnight, and we wanted a change of scenery, so we went to a bar called Animale, but they ripped us off big time, by giving us 'free' shots, and making us pay stupid prices. We left soon after that and went back to El Torito so we could end the night there. We went back to the hostel at about 2am, but stopped off along the way for a early morning Burrito, and then went to bed.
We got up at about 11:30am on Sunday, and checked out just in time for the 12 o'clock check-out. We went out into the town hoping to buy some souvenirs, but all of the shops sell the same rubbishy things that would never be ay use in the real world! So in the end we bought a shot glass each, and then went to our usual bar for some lunch. The tequila man came round again, but we politely refused, as we were happy with our Corona's! We played a few more games of pool, and decided it was time to go to the border. It was as I had expected the first side to be - loads of security, bag scanners, passport control etc. but we got through in time for us bus, and were sad to leave Mexico. It was so cheap, but I think we spent just as much money on tips, so it wasn't so cheap after all! Everyone says its nothing like the real Mexico, which has given us another reason to go back! The way of life there is so different to America, and it was a lot like Thailand. Whenever you walk past a shop, the owners shout at you, telling you what offers they have, and its all a massive rivalry. It was really fun to experience that again, as its not realy like that in Redhill! We got on our bus back to LA, which seemed to take a lot less time, but we were back in Downtown by 6pm, and we went for a walk around the streets. We hadn't walked very far, before we saw a film crew, who were filming something called "Hotel for Dogs'. It sounds awful, but it was cool to see them filming it. We left Alex outside a theatre, as he wanted tickets to see 'Flight of the Cochords' live. He actually got in, but Mike and I didn't find that out until we got a lot later in the evening. We went back to Hollywood, and went to the cinema to see Indian Jones and the Crystal Skull with a random Irish girl that we met at our hostel. It was an alright film, but it had aliens in, so it was even harder to believe! We got back at about 1am, and found Alex on the computer.
We got up at about 9am, but quite reluctantly. We got our free breakfast, and then got on the bus to Universal Studios! It cost $63 for a transfer and the entrance, which is much cheaper than the $100 some people pay for Disney. We walked up to the gates and there were so many TV cameras about, and quite a few helicopters flying around, which was because of the fire that burned some of the sets down. We got in and went on quite a few of the rides before lunch, which included The Mummy (a roller coaster), Terminator 2 - 3D, Shrek 4D, The Simpsons and Jurassic Park. Some of the rides were really similar to the ones in Florida, but not too much that it spoiled it. We had a really good day, and left at about 6.30pm. We got back to the hostel at just before 7pm, which is when went to the 7/11 to get some food. We got back and wasted the evening, until Mike went in for the Open Mike night. It went really well, but not too many people entered it. We went back out at about 10pm, and got some food from a Mexican Cafe, further down Hollywood Boulevard. We got back and spent the rest of the evening on the internet, but the computers here are rubbish, so it was a failed attempt!
We got up at about 11am this morning, as we needed the sleep, but we had to sacrifice our free breakfast for it. We tried to sort out our new tour, but spent ages doing it, so we missed to booking time. We were supposed to go on the Green Tortoise up to San Francisco, via Las Vegas and Yosemite, but they had to cancel the Yosemite part due to lack of guests, so we didn't want to waste our time with it. We should be getting a full refund though, which will cover the new trip we have found. After doing that, we went to the supermarket, Subway (and bought a footlong for $5!!!), and then Alex & I got our hair cut. I did call home as well, but only because Halifax suspended my online account, so I needed to ask for some emergency money, but I will pay it back!! This evening we walked along Hollywood Blvd, and saw The Pussycat Dolls filming their new video! It involved them climbing scaffolding, which was funny to watch. I walked right past one of them, before we knew what it was they were filming for. We thought it was another scene from the Dog Hotel film!! We walked about halfway towards the Trougodour (a music venue), but chose to get the bus instead. We went there to see Newton Faulkner - a musician from Reigate, who is really talented. I thought the gig was one of the best I'd ever been to! He really got the crowd going, and seemed as though he enjoyed it. After that, we got some food from yet another fast food chain, and then made it back to the hostel.
We got up at about 11:30am on Sunday, and checked out just in time for the 12 o'clock check-out. We went out into the town hoping to buy some souvenirs, but all of the shops sell the same rubbishy things that would never be ay use in the real world! So in the end we bought a shot glass each, and then went to our usual bar for some lunch. The tequila man came round again, but we politely refused, as we were happy with our Corona's! We played a few more games of pool, and decided it was time to go to the border. It was as I had expected the first side to be - loads of security, bag scanners, passport control etc. but we got through in time for us bus, and were sad to leave Mexico. It was so cheap, but I think we spent just as much money on tips, so it wasn't so cheap after all! Everyone says its nothing like the real Mexico, which has given us another reason to go back! The way of life there is so different to America, and it was a lot like Thailand. Whenever you walk past a shop, the owners shout at you, telling you what offers they have, and its all a massive rivalry. It was really fun to experience that again, as its not realy like that in Redhill! We got on our bus back to LA, which seemed to take a lot less time, but we were back in Downtown by 6pm, and we went for a walk around the streets. We hadn't walked very far, before we saw a film crew, who were filming something called "Hotel for Dogs'. It sounds awful, but it was cool to see them filming it. We left Alex outside a theatre, as he wanted tickets to see 'Flight of the Cochords' live. He actually got in, but Mike and I didn't find that out until we got a lot later in the evening. We went back to Hollywood, and went to the cinema to see Indian Jones and the Crystal Skull with a random Irish girl that we met at our hostel. It was an alright film, but it had aliens in, so it was even harder to believe! We got back at about 1am, and found Alex on the computer.
We got up at about 9am, but quite reluctantly. We got our free breakfast, and then got on the bus to Universal Studios! It cost $63 for a transfer and the entrance, which is much cheaper than the $100 some people pay for Disney. We walked up to the gates and there were so many TV cameras about, and quite a few helicopters flying around, which was because of the fire that burned some of the sets down. We got in and went on quite a few of the rides before lunch, which included The Mummy (a roller coaster), Terminator 2 - 3D, Shrek 4D, The Simpsons and Jurassic Park. Some of the rides were really similar to the ones in Florida, but not too much that it spoiled it. We had a really good day, and left at about 6.30pm. We got back to the hostel at just before 7pm, which is when went to the 7/11 to get some food. We got back and wasted the evening, until Mike went in for the Open Mike night. It went really well, but not too many people entered it. We went back out at about 10pm, and got some food from a Mexican Cafe, further down Hollywood Boulevard. We got back and spent the rest of the evening on the internet, but the computers here are rubbish, so it was a failed attempt!
We got up at about 11am this morning, as we needed the sleep, but we had to sacrifice our free breakfast for it. We tried to sort out our new tour, but spent ages doing it, so we missed to booking time. We were supposed to go on the Green Tortoise up to San Francisco, via Las Vegas and Yosemite, but they had to cancel the Yosemite part due to lack of guests, so we didn't want to waste our time with it. We should be getting a full refund though, which will cover the new trip we have found. After doing that, we went to the supermarket, Subway (and bought a footlong for $5!!!), and then Alex & I got our hair cut. I did call home as well, but only because Halifax suspended my online account, so I needed to ask for some emergency money, but I will pay it back!! This evening we walked along Hollywood Blvd, and saw The Pussycat Dolls filming their new video! It involved them climbing scaffolding, which was funny to watch. I walked right past one of them, before we knew what it was they were filming for. We thought it was another scene from the Dog Hotel film!! We walked about halfway towards the Trougodour (a music venue), but chose to get the bus instead. We went there to see Newton Faulkner - a musician from Reigate, who is really talented. I thought the gig was one of the best I'd ever been to! He really got the crowd going, and seemed as though he enjoyed it. After that, we got some food from yet another fast food chain, and then made it back to the hostel.
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