Hello Everyone!
I enjoyed my time in Boston, Massachusetts and even road tripped up to some of the other US States in the "New England" area including New Hampshire and Maine. I got to see the Bush (as in the George Snr. and George W.) family Summertime retreat in a beautiful seaside town called Kennebunkport. The people around there are super friendly.Not only did I get to drive for the first time on the 'right' side of the road, but managed to drive in three states and tackle Boston peak-hour traffic. I loved driving the Buick, thanks Longin! Of course as fate would have it, upon getting used to driving on the right side of the road, time to jet off to the UK where driving on the right side of the road is generally frowned upon.I checked out downtown Boston (thanks for the tour, Dave), packed and headed off to Boson Airport the next morning at 6:00am. Thanks for putting me up in your beautiful home and for looking after me so well, Arijana and Dave - it felt like home.
Six hours later I was at London Heathrow Airport. Rach, Stevo and their friend Emma met up with me at the airport and took me back to Rach and Stevo's house. I enjoyed the weekend, going to a few pubs and generally chilling out, taking in the London atmosphere.
Within the about first 24 hours in England, I even managed to see my first English pub fist fight. Ahh, the home country. England does feel a lot more familiar to me than America did - it really is to some extent the same culture as Australia. I like it. But I did convince Rach and Stevo to take me to a "Walkabout" (a chain of Aussie pubs) so I could have some Aussie beer (VB of course), listen to some Aussie music (in America Jet and The Veronicas were popular but other than that no Aussie music) and see some AFL.
Today I am seeing some recruitment agencies about temp paralegal work to earn some British pounds. The Aussie dollar doesn't go a long way here, especially after its recent slump. What are you guys back at home doing to my dollar? At this stage I have a flight booked for Prague on Friday, but I'm not sure whether I'll take that flight or move it back and stay in London longer.Thank you Melburnians for keeping me up to date on what Melbourne is/was like with the Commonwealth Games on. I managed to catch some of the coverage here in England but there was no coverage of the Games in the USA and I suspect many Americans wouldn't even know there's such a thing as the Commonwealth Games. Incidentally, as a final note and while on the topic of the Commonwealth, I got asked a couple of times by Americans whether we use British Pounds in Australia! No wonder our Aussie dollar is so weak compared to the American dollar, when they haven't even heard of it. Take care and let me know how you are going.
Cheers,
Daniel(in an Internet cafe on Commercial Street, a couple of blocks away from Liverpool Street Station - yes, the one in Monopoly)
Where in the World is DK?
27 March 2006
22 March 2006
NEW YORK NEW YORK
Hi Everyone
I spent my last day at Copper Mountain, Colorado (Thursday) skiing in the sunshine. Can't beat that!
That night I went to a nearby town called Dillon to have dinner with Ben, Mel and Copper Mountain Veteran Bryn. We went to a chain restaurant called "Ruby Tuesday's" which is really cool: good food and cheap drinks. The special was $3.50 Long Island Iced Teas that night, which was great. If I had any more than 2 it could have gotten messy (great drink, order one some time if you are unfamiliar with it. It was the first time I dared to try one and I was impressed).
Ben (my friend from Melbourne) and I then went to another nearby town called Frisco to rent a car. We had booked a small Ford but were upgraded to a brand new (about 200 miles on the clock) Chevrolet that
looked very similar to a PT Cruiser. We then drove this very American car to Denver to catch an overnight flight to New York City, departing at 1:00am Denver Time.
Four hours and little sleep later, we arrived in New York City (JFK Airport) at 7:00am (Friday) New York Time. It was a great day to arrive in New York city as it was St Patrick's Day. New York takes their St Patrick's Day very seriously and we enjoyed the parade for a few hours on the famous 5th Ave (a fashion
part of town).
We then followed up by going to numerous Irish bars (of which there are A LOT in Manhattan) and drinking beers. Unfortunately we were so tired that we went to bed at pathetic St Patrick's day 10:00pm.
We checked in to our Hostel which was conveniently located near the Corner of 55th and 8th, which if you know Manhattan is a really great spot, near Times Square/Broadway, and Central Park.
I woke up the next afternoon at 1:30pm wondering how I managed to sleep in that late, until I eventually figured out by talking to the room-mates in the Hostel that it was in fact 1:30am and that I had plenty more sleeping to do. I have come to realise that I act strangely when I am mega-tired and somewhat drunk (I acted equally stupid in LA after my 14 hour flight from Melbourne followed by a big night out).
That day (Saturday) we explored New York some more, including Central Park, Broadway, Wall Street, Soho, Battery Park and Ground Zero. After seeing Ground Zero, the rest of the New York trip was often spent reflecting on the events of "9/11" and how terrible it must have been that day to all that were in New York City. Walking around the busy city made me appreciate what absolute chaos it must have been that day in 2001.
On a lighter note, that night we went bar hopping in Greenwich Village with some cool French girls from our hostel and had a lot of fun. Overall a rather big night out, which is very easy to do in lively Manhattan.
The Next Day (Sunday) we slept in, did some shopping, and went to the Empire State Building. We followed up with another big night on the town, this time in Upper East Side.
On our last day in N.Y. (Monday) were woken up in our dorm room by tradesmen unexpectedly barging in and literally ripping the windows and window frames from the walls of the dorm and replacing them very loudly with new windows as we tried to sleep in the shivering cold they had just let in from outside (it was very very very cold in New York). Ah, the luxurious life of a backpacker. Later, we took a free ferry to Staten Island right past the Statue of Liberty. After exploring Staten Island briefly we headed back to Manhattan only to catch the subway away to Brooklyn so that we could walk back to Manhattan again along the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a really nice walk [thanks for the tip, Natacha and Carine].
Again we hit a few bars that night (after not managing to get any cheap tickets for Broadway shows for that night as was the plan) and followed in the footsteps of Harold and Kumar to try to find a White Castle hamburger store [we succeeded...those little burgers are nice] before going to bed nice and early (1:30am) as the next day we had to get up really early.
We were up at 5:00am today (Tuesday) and made our way to JFK Airport where Ben returned to Colorado and I flew up to Boston. Boston is my last stop in the USA before I head on to the UK.
I was greeted at the airport by a friend and welcomed in her beautiful home. It is a pleasant rest from the backpackers hostels that have been my home over the last few weeks (although they have been heaps of
fun!). I met up with some friends of my family from when I lived in Austria (1986) and it was great to catch up with them although my memory of them was rather poor (my mind must have been elsewhere when I was 5 years old). One of them took me to Harvard University today and I had fun getting photos taken at the Law School. It was a really nice campus and it had squirrels running around it! How cool! We should get some of those at Deakin Uni in Melbourne.
Boston is very nice and of all the American cities the closest I have come across to reminding me of Melbourne. The sights along the river remind me of the Yarra at home. Suburban Boston reminds me of what I imaged Salem to look like in the book/movie "The Crucible" in the witch hunting days (but without the witch hunting of course), but downtown appears to be quite contemporary...I'm yet to check it out.
On Friday morning I am flying from Boston to London, and I expect my next email will be from there.
I hope everyone travelling around is having a great time too and everyone at home is going well. In particular, I hope everyone in Melbourne has managed to survive the Commonwealth Games.
I spent my last day at Copper Mountain, Colorado (Thursday) skiing in the sunshine. Can't beat that!
That night I went to a nearby town called Dillon to have dinner with Ben, Mel and Copper Mountain Veteran Bryn. We went to a chain restaurant called "Ruby Tuesday's" which is really cool: good food and cheap drinks. The special was $3.50 Long Island Iced Teas that night, which was great. If I had any more than 2 it could have gotten messy (great drink, order one some time if you are unfamiliar with it. It was the first time I dared to try one and I was impressed).
Ben (my friend from Melbourne) and I then went to another nearby town called Frisco to rent a car. We had booked a small Ford but were upgraded to a brand new (about 200 miles on the clock) Chevrolet that
looked very similar to a PT Cruiser. We then drove this very American car to Denver to catch an overnight flight to New York City, departing at 1:00am Denver Time.
Four hours and little sleep later, we arrived in New York City (JFK Airport) at 7:00am (Friday) New York Time. It was a great day to arrive in New York city as it was St Patrick's Day. New York takes their St Patrick's Day very seriously and we enjoyed the parade for a few hours on the famous 5th Ave (a fashion
part of town).
We then followed up by going to numerous Irish bars (of which there are A LOT in Manhattan) and drinking beers. Unfortunately we were so tired that we went to bed at pathetic St Patrick's day 10:00pm.
We checked in to our Hostel which was conveniently located near the Corner of 55th and 8th, which if you know Manhattan is a really great spot, near Times Square/Broadway, and Central Park.
I woke up the next afternoon at 1:30pm wondering how I managed to sleep in that late, until I eventually figured out by talking to the room-mates in the Hostel that it was in fact 1:30am and that I had plenty more sleeping to do. I have come to realise that I act strangely when I am mega-tired and somewhat drunk (I acted equally stupid in LA after my 14 hour flight from Melbourne followed by a big night out).
That day (Saturday) we explored New York some more, including Central Park, Broadway, Wall Street, Soho, Battery Park and Ground Zero. After seeing Ground Zero, the rest of the New York trip was often spent reflecting on the events of "9/11" and how terrible it must have been that day to all that were in New York City. Walking around the busy city made me appreciate what absolute chaos it must have been that day in 2001.
On a lighter note, that night we went bar hopping in Greenwich Village with some cool French girls from our hostel and had a lot of fun. Overall a rather big night out, which is very easy to do in lively Manhattan.
The Next Day (Sunday) we slept in, did some shopping, and went to the Empire State Building. We followed up with another big night on the town, this time in Upper East Side.
On our last day in N.Y. (Monday) were woken up in our dorm room by tradesmen unexpectedly barging in and literally ripping the windows and window frames from the walls of the dorm and replacing them very loudly with new windows as we tried to sleep in the shivering cold they had just let in from outside (it was very very very cold in New York). Ah, the luxurious life of a backpacker. Later, we took a free ferry to Staten Island right past the Statue of Liberty. After exploring Staten Island briefly we headed back to Manhattan only to catch the subway away to Brooklyn so that we could walk back to Manhattan again along the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a really nice walk [thanks for the tip, Natacha and Carine].
Again we hit a few bars that night (after not managing to get any cheap tickets for Broadway shows for that night as was the plan) and followed in the footsteps of Harold and Kumar to try to find a White Castle hamburger store [we succeeded...those little burgers are nice] before going to bed nice and early (1:30am) as the next day we had to get up really early.
We were up at 5:00am today (Tuesday) and made our way to JFK Airport where Ben returned to Colorado and I flew up to Boston. Boston is my last stop in the USA before I head on to the UK.
I was greeted at the airport by a friend and welcomed in her beautiful home. It is a pleasant rest from the backpackers hostels that have been my home over the last few weeks (although they have been heaps of
fun!). I met up with some friends of my family from when I lived in Austria (1986) and it was great to catch up with them although my memory of them was rather poor (my mind must have been elsewhere when I was 5 years old). One of them took me to Harvard University today and I had fun getting photos taken at the Law School. It was a really nice campus and it had squirrels running around it! How cool! We should get some of those at Deakin Uni in Melbourne.
Boston is very nice and of all the American cities the closest I have come across to reminding me of Melbourne. The sights along the river remind me of the Yarra at home. Suburban Boston reminds me of what I imaged Salem to look like in the book/movie "The Crucible" in the witch hunting days (but without the witch hunting of course), but downtown appears to be quite contemporary...I'm yet to check it out.
On Friday morning I am flying from Boston to London, and I expect my next email will be from there.
I hope everyone travelling around is having a great time too and everyone at home is going well. In particular, I hope everyone in Melbourne has managed to survive the Commonwealth Games.
16 March 2006
IT'S SNOWING!
G'day to everyone in Australia and a special hello to my new English friends that I met in California
I have been enjoying the awesome snow here at Copper Mountain, a few hours drive West of Denver, Colorado. For the first 5 or so days I was not enjoying the altitude (about 12,000 feet I think) completely though, because my body was not coping with the lack of oxygen too well. I was finding it hard to ski down a run without feeling out of breath quickly, but hey, that's all a part of the fun.
A special thanks to Mel who has been fantastic in accommodating me here at Copper. I know it hasn't been easy to fit me in her tiny room and to all of a sudden include me in her established social life here at Copper every day and night but I really appreciate it. It has been great fun seeing what life is like living on the Mountain. Ben has also been great, amongst other things lending me all his ski gear and hooking me up with ski hire. I really appreciate the free lift passes from both of you, too! You have saved me a lot of money. Thanks also to Andrew for picking us up at Denver International Airport.
In my last email I forgot to mention the very best part of our stay in Las Vegas. It was when Mel and I took a helicopter flight from Las Vegas into the Grand Canyon via the Hoover Dam. It was a fantastic experience. The flight was very scenic and exciting, and landing right inside the Grand Canyon and having lunch there felt really special. I would recommend that flight to anyone who happens to visit Las Vegas. I would also recommend the visiting the Stratosphere Tower and doing the thrill rides at the top; 109 storeys above street level. That was so much fun! Though Mel gave me a very hard time for being so obviously scared sh!tless.
It is my last day here at Copper. It is a beatiful sunny day so I am going to spend the middle of the day skiing with Ben, then Ben and I are driving to Denver tonight. We have an overnight flight to New York City tonight, so that should be interesting! We are looking forward to having St Patrick's Day in New York City... I wonder if we will manage to find an Irish pub? :)
I have attached some photos from Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego. I have plenty more from San Diego, Tijuana, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon and Summit County (where Copper Mountain is) but I have not had a chance to transfer them from my camera yet. Unfortunately my digital camera packed it in yesterday and stopped working, so I will have to figure something out to keep the photos coming. No way I'm going to the top of the Empire State building without a camera!
Adios!
Daniel
I have been enjoying the awesome snow here at Copper Mountain, a few hours drive West of Denver, Colorado. For the first 5 or so days I was not enjoying the altitude (about 12,000 feet I think) completely though, because my body was not coping with the lack of oxygen too well. I was finding it hard to ski down a run without feeling out of breath quickly, but hey, that's all a part of the fun.
A special thanks to Mel who has been fantastic in accommodating me here at Copper. I know it hasn't been easy to fit me in her tiny room and to all of a sudden include me in her established social life here at Copper every day and night but I really appreciate it. It has been great fun seeing what life is like living on the Mountain. Ben has also been great, amongst other things lending me all his ski gear and hooking me up with ski hire. I really appreciate the free lift passes from both of you, too! You have saved me a lot of money. Thanks also to Andrew for picking us up at Denver International Airport.
In my last email I forgot to mention the very best part of our stay in Las Vegas. It was when Mel and I took a helicopter flight from Las Vegas into the Grand Canyon via the Hoover Dam. It was a fantastic experience. The flight was very scenic and exciting, and landing right inside the Grand Canyon and having lunch there felt really special. I would recommend that flight to anyone who happens to visit Las Vegas. I would also recommend the visiting the Stratosphere Tower and doing the thrill rides at the top; 109 storeys above street level. That was so much fun! Though Mel gave me a very hard time for being so obviously scared sh!tless.
It is my last day here at Copper. It is a beatiful sunny day so I am going to spend the middle of the day skiing with Ben, then Ben and I are driving to Denver tonight. We have an overnight flight to New York City tonight, so that should be interesting! We are looking forward to having St Patrick's Day in New York City... I wonder if we will manage to find an Irish pub? :)
I have attached some photos from Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego. I have plenty more from San Diego, Tijuana, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon and Summit County (where Copper Mountain is) but I have not had a chance to transfer them from my camera yet. Unfortunately my digital camera packed it in yesterday and stopped working, so I will have to figure something out to keep the photos coming. No way I'm going to the top of the Empire State building without a camera!
Adios!
Daniel
09 March 2006
CALIFORNIA, COLORADO and MEXICO
Hi Everyone
I hope all is well down under.
I said goodbye to beautiful San Francisco and headed over the bay (well actually technically under the bay in the underground rapid transport system) to a city called Oakland. From there I was to fly down the Californian coast to San Diego on a bargain airfare that I thought I booked a few days prior. But the Southwest Airlines check-in staff couldn't find my reservation. It turns out I booked a flight on the 23rd March instead of the 23rd February. Oops! They were going to sell me a significantly more expensive fare, but luckilly due to "technical difficulties", they had trouble selling me a fare there and then so they just gave me a boarding pass anyway. Lucky!!
San Diego was nice. It was certainly a nice climate there. The place actually reminded me our very own Gold Coast, but with a hispanic influence. I checked out the world famous San Diego Zoo, which was nice but I am pleased to say that our Melbourne zoo is not too far behind.
I took a trip over the border to Tijuana, Mexico, where we (it was a group from the Hostel I was staying at) drank lots of beer and tequila (that seemed to be the main attraction in TJ).
At lunch I had some beautiful chicken fajitas, 2 margaritas, 2 coronas and a tequila shot, and it cost me a mere US $10.70. I'm sure it would have been cheaper in Mexico proper rather than the tourist border town.
Unfortunately I had to leave San Diego 2 days before the Mardi Gras (2nd biggest in the USA after New Orleans apparently) celebration which was to happen right in the Gaslamp Quarter where I was staying. The section was to be blocked off and everyone staying at the Hostel would get free admission to the party. But Vegas was calling.
Luckilly my flight to Vegas was booked correctly, so I arrived without any problems. I gambled a little bit but failed to double my holiday budget as planned. I met up with Mel and we had a great time drinking 75c margaritas, eating buffets, going to shows and checking out all of the ritsy casinos that we couldn't afford.
The other day Mel and I arrived here at Copper Mountain in Colorado, where Mel and Ben are working the US winter season. I think the skiing is great, even though apparently by Copper Mountian standards it is quite poor. By my Australian standards, it is fantastic!
I am staying in Employee housing where Ben and Mel are living. It is a great atmosphere here. I'll be here for a while, and after that I head to NY City with Ben.
I hope all is well down under.
I said goodbye to beautiful San Francisco and headed over the bay (well actually technically under the bay in the underground rapid transport system) to a city called Oakland. From there I was to fly down the Californian coast to San Diego on a bargain airfare that I thought I booked a few days prior. But the Southwest Airlines check-in staff couldn't find my reservation. It turns out I booked a flight on the 23rd March instead of the 23rd February. Oops! They were going to sell me a significantly more expensive fare, but luckilly due to "technical difficulties", they had trouble selling me a fare there and then so they just gave me a boarding pass anyway. Lucky!!
San Diego was nice. It was certainly a nice climate there. The place actually reminded me our very own Gold Coast, but with a hispanic influence. I checked out the world famous San Diego Zoo, which was nice but I am pleased to say that our Melbourne zoo is not too far behind.
I took a trip over the border to Tijuana, Mexico, where we (it was a group from the Hostel I was staying at) drank lots of beer and tequila (that seemed to be the main attraction in TJ).
At lunch I had some beautiful chicken fajitas, 2 margaritas, 2 coronas and a tequila shot, and it cost me a mere US $10.70. I'm sure it would have been cheaper in Mexico proper rather than the tourist border town.
Unfortunately I had to leave San Diego 2 days before the Mardi Gras (2nd biggest in the USA after New Orleans apparently) celebration which was to happen right in the Gaslamp Quarter where I was staying. The section was to be blocked off and everyone staying at the Hostel would get free admission to the party. But Vegas was calling.
Luckilly my flight to Vegas was booked correctly, so I arrived without any problems. I gambled a little bit but failed to double my holiday budget as planned. I met up with Mel and we had a great time drinking 75c margaritas, eating buffets, going to shows and checking out all of the ritsy casinos that we couldn't afford.
The other day Mel and I arrived here at Copper Mountain in Colorado, where Mel and Ben are working the US winter season. I think the skiing is great, even though apparently by Copper Mountian standards it is quite poor. By my Australian standards, it is fantastic!
I am staying in Employee housing where Ben and Mel are living. It is a great atmosphere here. I'll be here for a while, and after that I head to NY City with Ben.
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