West Coast Part Two - Vegas

We checked out of our motel around 11 and set off on our 6 hour journey to Vegas. The road was long and fairly boring for most of the journey. It wasn't until we got to within an hour of Vegas where it got a little more exciting, especially as we passed the Hoover dam, although didn't quite get to see it. 

We arrived at our hotel around 4ish and relaxed a little after the long journey. We then headed out for our first experience of the strip. It was all pretty overwhelming with the bright lights and street performers. After a very good dinner at the Cheesecake Factory we went back to the strip through a variety of casinos, like Caesars Palace. We headed towards the Bellagio where we watched a couple of the infamous fountain shows which were very impressive. We then went back to the hotel using the monorail as it was quite far and we couldn't be bothered to walk. 

The next day we got up in time for a buffet breakfast at our hotel and headed back out onto the strip. It was still very busy in the daytime with just as many tourists, street performers and gamblers probably wandering around after the night before. We had a look at the indoor Venice at the Vennetian and also went to planet rock and New York New York. The biggest was the MGM Grand where we also went looking for the lions, although we later found out that they had been taken away in 2012. We did however agree to watch a pilot for a new tv show and do a survey in exchange for some vouchers, although the majority of these were for meat related restaurants so were pretty useless. Afterwards we headed back to our hotel for a bit of a relax and to get ready to go out for a few drinks. We weren't really sure where to go as there's a ridiculous choice, but we stated at a cool bar called margaritaville where they do loads of cocktails. After we decided to try our luck in a casino. E didn't fancy one of the serious games so we stuck to the poker machines. We came away quite big winners in the end ($3.25) so we can say that we beat Vegas. Afterwards we went back to margaritaville for more drinks and to watch a live band who were playing. They were very good. Once that had finished we returned to the hotel. 

We spent the majority of the next day in the hotel, chilling out in and around the rooftop swimming pool, it was pretty hot as we were in the dessert. We did venture out again in the evening for food. Another tasty dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. We also stopped at the Bellagio again and saw another few fountain shows, one of which was quite patriotic so even more impressive. We then headed back to the hotel to sort things for leaving the next day. 

On our way out if Vegas we decided to stop at the famous sign as it wasn't too far away. This turned into a massive effort after originally missing the car park, as we weren't expecting it to be in between the two lanes of traffic. So after a little around the block detour, a stop in Walmart and finally reaching the sign for some photos, we left Vegas three hours later than planned. The drive was fairly dull again, at least until we got to Death Valley. It was still early so we thought we drive through that evening as apparently it's ridiculously hot in the day. Considering its a dessert, the views were pretty stunning, and the road was much more interesting to drive, winding up, around and down on the side of mountains. I took it carefully, obviously. One we reached the other side, we stopped in a little town called Lone Pine where we found a little hotel, had some food, and slept before carrying on our journey towards Yosemite. 

West coast part 1...

We landed in LA at 3ish and headed to the car rental place. Like most rental companies they tried to sell us a bigger car as the "roads aren't like they are in England". However we were firm and stuck with our little chevrolet which is alternately called Sharon and seamus, depending who gets the last say!

We were given the keys and we were out on the road trying to get out of LA. It took three hours. This included going wrong once and a stop in Walmart. Once we were out on the open road we were finally enjoying the drive. A few hours and we were at our first stop,  Barstow. This would be our overnight stop as the town near the Grand Canyon was another six hours away and we were both sleep with being another three hours behind. A quick dinner in Dennys and bed.

The next day we made our way to Flagstaff, a town near the Grand Canyon. By the time we checked in and chilled out for a bit we were ready for dinner. We went to a restaurant called The Cracker Barrel which was very good. We were pretty excited about the next day.

We left early as it was a good hours drive to the Grand Canyon. We spent the day wandering around the rim. You couldn't stare at it for long enough. It's very hard to imagine how massive it is even when you're there. The canyon goes a mile down. We had a bagel sandwich lunch and a squirrel, Sid, decided to join us and try and share our lunch. He didn't succeed.

We stayed till sunset which was amazing and the canyon looked so beautiful. We had dinner in a Mexican on the way back to the motel. By the time we got back it was late so we went to bed ready for the drive tomorrow to Vegas!

Back to NYC

We arrived back in New York around 4ish and made our way to our next hostel, which was in Brooklyn this time. The hostel was ok as we had our own room, however it was a bit of a shoe box and had no ceiling so you could hear everything from all the other rooms. The metro also ran right by the hostel so we had the sound of trains every few minutes. And although the kitchen was very clean and modern, there was not one fork to be found, which was also a bit of a negative.

Our first day back in the big apple was spent walking around our new surroundings of Williamsburg, Brooklyn as we had been told its quite a hip neighbourhood. It was very different from manhattan, not as busy and hectic. It was nice though. We ate at a little Italian and then went back to the hostel. Later we had a salad and relaxed. 

The next day we caught the train to Manhattan. We got food from a nice vegan fast food place and ate it in union square. The weather wasn't too good so afterwards we spent the day walking around shops like Barnes & Noble, which was massive, and the Lego shop (again), as well as some clothes shops. That evening we ate at the hostel again and watched some tv before bed. 

On our last full day in New York we decided to go to the Brooklyn bridge, so we started walking in the general direction of the crossing. It soon became clear that it was a lot further than we had anticipated, but luckily we came across a ferry port which conveniently stopped at Brooklyn bridge park. Therefore we waited for the next boat, shortening our walking time and giving us an opportunity to head out onto the Hudson for some pictures. Once at our stop, we disembarked the ferry and had a walk around the park. The weather was much better and it was pretty hot. We then headed towards the bridge. Crossing the bridge was an experience, it was stupidly busy and the walkway was split between pedestrians and cyclists, so it was a bit of a mission bumbling across the entire span whilst avoiding tourists swinging their cameras as well as angry bikers. It was worth it though. Afterwards we had one last stop at Smac, the amazing macaroni n cheese restaurant, and walked back up Fifth Avenue past the Empire State towards Central Park. We had a look in some more shops before returning to our hostel. Later that evening we ventured back to Manhattan to the chip shop for one last New York meal, or portion of chips with amazing sauces, before going back and packing ready for our flight the next morning. 

We eventually arrived at JFK airport with around 90 minutes to spare, spent a ridiculous amount on some food for the flight (food was expensive, not because we bought loads) and boarded the plane. The flight was good, despite taking off 45 minutes late due to maintenance, there were plenty of movies and we flew over seven national parks, although the fun police were clearly on board as everyone had their shutters down. However after 6 hours we landed in Los Angeles excited about our road trip. 

DC part two

On our third day in Washington we walked down to the mall, which isn't actually a shopping centre sadly. We walked around a bit but it was so hot we decided to head back to the hostel. We had dinner out that night at a Mexican where they made the guacamole in front of us and they had quite odd but tasty food such as chips with chocolate and chilli sauce.

Our last day we spent wandering round the museums such as air and space museum and the portrait gallery, both of which are free. It was an extremely hot day again so we tried to stay inside as much as possible. At the air and space museum they had the shuttle and suit that Felix used (the guy who jumped out of a shuttle in space and landed on earth). The portrait gallery had famous paintings of celebrities,  politicians and sports icons which was very good. My favourite bit was a massive outline of the US full of tv in all sizes. It was split into the different states and the tvs in each state played clips relevant to the state such as Kansas showed clips from the wizard of Oz, california showed the beaches and texas showed cowboys. We has pasta for dinner and had an early night as we had to catch the bus back to new york in the morning. Washington was alot better than I thought it would be, especially the museums and the city itself. It's also quieter and cleaner than new york which was quite nice.

Washington D.C.

Our bus arrived in the capital around 4:15 and after finding our way out of the station, we decided to walk to our hostel. It was a lot hotter than we were expecting there, which made the walk a little more difficult. We eventually made it though, checked in and went for a walk to find some food. It was a lot calmer than New York and our first impressions were good. We found a good english restaurant/pub where I was able to have fish and chips and emily had a veggie burger. We then strolled back to the hostel to sleep. 

Our first full day began with pancakes, as our hostel were kind enough to supply us with breakfast, and after getting sorted we made our way towards the White House. It looks a lot bigger on tv and you aren't allowed very close to it, which is understandable. But we took a few pictures and walked around some of the other nearby important looking buildings when it started to rain. We therefore went to the visitors centre and watched a short video about the house, which was quite interesting as we didn't really know much about it. Afterwards the rain had eased off so we walked towards the centre of town to look for food, which is something we seem to spend a lot of time doing. We stopped at a Mexican and had a burrito (again) which was very good. We decided to spend the afternoon in the spy museum as the weather still wasn't that great, so after getting our tickets and entering the lift we were told to pick a new identity which we would be using throughout our visit. We weren't really sure what to expect but they seemed to be making it fun and interactive. The museum itself was cool with lots of real life spy equipment and gadgets, as well as stories from World War II and FBI agents. There was plenty of stuff to keep us busy with the odd test involving questions about our 'new identity'. There was also a James Bond exhibit focusing on the different villains from all the films and had props such as the famous Aston Martin and jaws' teeth. It was very cool. We spent the rest of the day chilling at the hostel, and probably eating. 

The next day was a lot better weather wise. It was probably a little too hot. But after more pancakes we ventured out into the sunshine. Our destination was the city Mall which is where the Washington monument is, as well as the reflecting pool and Lincoln memorial. It was a lot more touristy in these places, as can be expected, although Washington itself was still pretty calm and fairly peaceful. After seeing the monument we walked towards the Lincoln memorial. On the way, at the other end of the reflecting pool, is the World War II memorial which consisted of a pretty impressive fountain and statues. The Lincoln memorial wasn't as big as I was expecting, still good to see though. On our way back up the Mall we came across the Vietnam war memorial, which were two large walls, displaying all the names of the Americans who died during the conflict. After finding more food, we decided to head inside, to get out of the heat this time, so we went to the Natural History Museum. All of the smithsonian museums in Washington are free, which is a bonus. The museum was very interesting with sections on animals and evolution etc. sadly the dinosaur section was closed which we were a little disappointed about. After returning to our hostel we found out it was BBQ night, and even more important, it was free. We had planned to go out for food, as it was our one year anniversary :-) But we thought we'd check out the BBQ and go the next day. So after eating, chatting with a Canadian and Australians, and after everyone had disappeared to watch game of thrones (a hostel tradition apparently, something we haven't watched or particularly understand) we went to bed. 

New York days 3 & 4

Our third day in New York began with a gentle stroll through the top end of Central Park. It is so peaceful in some places it's hard to believe you're in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the world. We walked around the massive reservoir, through woods and past various sports fields. We soon diverted back onto the streets to find something to eat. We found a little deli which did pretty good sandwiches and bagels. After food we walked back across the park and decided to pay a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art which is on the edge of Central Park along fifth avenue. The museum itself was massive, and free, although they like you to make a donation which we did. I'm not much of an art lover as I don't really get it, but there's some pretty impressive, interesting and weird stuff in there. We saw paintings by Monet amongst others, as well as Greek statues and a nice little roof garden. 

After the museum we hopped onto the metro downtown to find more food. We settled for a place which does amazing Mexican food, had a burrito each and made our way back to the hostel. 

That evening we had tickets for a comedy show at the Broadway Comedy Club. We had arrived at the club in good time and waited to be seated. We were told by our ticket seller that we would have a choice of where to sit, which appealed to us as no one really wants to sit at the front at a comedy gig. However this was not the case. When we were shown into the room, we were pointed to two seats at the front and told they seat everyone front to back. We reluctantly took our seats. As there was an 'at least 2 alcoholic drinks per person' rule, we were told drinks were reasonably priced. This was also not true. The ticket seller had done well so far. Despite all this the comedy was mostly good. We saw 7 acts in total with a host who's been on MTV. Some of them really funny, some not so much. Overall it was a pretty good show. Afterwards we walked back to the metro through Times Square. It is ridiculously bright at night and still pretty busy. 

On our fourth day in the city we left the hostel around lunchtime. We went back downtown again and found some food. We spent the rest of the day just bumbling around. We went to Macy's, the huge department store, looked at Maddison square garden, although not a particularly pretty building, and had another walk along fifth avenue, stopping in the Lego shop for the third time that week. We went back to the hostel to relax after more walking and popped in to town later that evening for some 'mac n cheese' which was very good. We saw the Empire State Building lit up in various colours and then headed back to the hostel. 

The next morning we were up at 7:30 as we had a bus to catch. We made our way to Times Square once again, this time with all our bags, which is not easy on the metro at that time, and had an all you can eat breakfast. We then walked about 10 blocks to where we would be catching our bus to the capital, Washington, D.C. 

New york!

We arrived at JFK airport at around 7pm but by the time we went through security which is very thorough (they take all your fingerprints and a photo) it was around 8 ish. We got on the air train to manhattan and took the metro up to our hostel. After a while looking we found it and managed to check in and get a pizza for dinner.
The following day we decided to walk through manhattan as we had plenty of time. We started at the top to central park and walked down 5th avenue towards midtown where the empire state building and the public library is and all the shops. We stopped for breakfast/lunch at a little diner and a had a rest. We walked until we reached battery park where we could see the statue of liberty. The walk was about 8 miles.
After another sit down and some photos we checked out the new world trade centre which is so tall! We took the metro to times square where we were hustled by a man selling comedy tickets and for a good price, we bought some. He also recommend us some good places to eat, one of them being the meatball shop which we ate at that night, it was very good and somewhere we would never of found by ourselves. After a tiring day we went back to our hostel for a good sleep!

New york day 2

IOur second day was very busy with an early morning visit to the ground zero memorial site. I didnt know alot about it, but jay wanted to visit. The tickets were free but they asked for a donation and so the queues were pretty long. They had airport style security too. The memorial was very impressive with two big water features with everyone's names around the edge. They put a white rose on people's names when it's their birthday which was nice to see.
After a yummy burrito for lunch we headed to the empire state building which was the tallest building in manhattan before they build the new world trade centre. We had tickets to the 80th floor and the observation deck. The 80th floor was massively crowded but the views were amazing, you can really appreciate how big manhattan is. The observation deck was quieter and the views were even better.
We walked back up to our hostel through central park which is so pretty. You wouldn't even know you were in new york it was so peaceful.
We spent the evening catching up with some friends we met in Peru.  We went to the oldest bar in new york called mcsorleys which was very cool. After we went and had chips at an amazing little place where they have very interesting sauces. Our favourite was vietnamese pineapple. Very strange but so good!  Another great day in new york.

The Golden Circle

The afternoon tour of the Golden Circle was pretty much the only tour that seemed worthwhile that we could afford. It started with a 12:00 pick up at our hostel and, after picking up the rest of the people on our tour, we were on our way out of Reykjavik. 

Our first stop was a national park, and also unesco world heritage site (I think), which I can't remember the name of or could even attempt to spell. It was where the two tectonic plates of North America and Europe meet, or come apart as the landscape consisted of massive cracks in the surface. It was also the place where law and order was established in Iceland.  The landscape is completely different to any other place we've been. It was quite green, yet very rugged also with mountains and volcanos in the background. After a brief walk around and description we were back on the bus moving further into the countryside. 

Our second stop was the Golden Falls. These were a sort of two tier waterfalls and were quite impressive, and very cold. We had a walk down to the platform next to the falls as well as up to a walkway over looking it and then we were on our way again. 

Our next stop was one of the biggest geysers in Iceland. It erupts once every 4-8 minutes so we were guaranteed at least a couple of viewings. And we weren't disappointed. The hardest thing was waiting and anticipating the eruption to allow for a good photo. We tried, and between us I think we succeeded.

On our way back to the city we had a couple more stops. One at a smaller waterfalls, and the next and a fairly large crater which had been formed due to a lava pocket under the earths surface apparently. And so after a 6 hour round trip we were back in Reykjavik. 

Our last full day in Reykjavik the weather wasn't especially good. After breakfast at a local bakery and a little walk around the town, we decided to visit a local swimming pool with hot springs, which was rather relaxing. Our last evening was spent looking for somewhere to eat which had something suitable for vegetarians and was suitably priced. This proved quite difficult, although we succeeded in the end. 

Our last morning was spent packing, ready for our afternoon flight. We arrived at the airport with plenty of time, eventually made it through check in and bag drop, and boarded our flight. The destination was one we had been looking forward to for a while...New York City. 

To iceland!

We're now on the second leg of our travels starting in Iceland!  We were supposed to go straight to new york but we had a stopover anyway so now we're here!
Despite it being pretty chilly and having a very interesting menu consisting of minky whale, puffin and rotten shark, iceland capital is a lovely place to be. There's colourful houses and it looks very European, exactly how I imagined Poland and Finland to look like. As it's summer at the moment the sun rises in the early hours of the morning and sets at 11 o clock at night which makes sleeping a little tricky.
We spent today wandering round the centre and tomorrow were off to see the golden circle which is geysers and waterfalls I think!