The Tour Continues

Chicago ended up being awesome without seeing any of the sites. I'd been before, and after we'd done Navy Pier, an architectural cruise in the aching heat and a bit of walking about, we headed for the outer suburbs where we checked out the shopping. Very cute city. Great vibe. Went and saw 'All About Eve' for free in the park. God I love that film.

From Chicago we headed to Memphis which was ACE. It's a great little city with awesome blues music, Sun Studios, Graceland (cue: enhanced Elvis crush, but obvioulsy this is a 50's early 60's Elvis crush) and the funniest hostel ever. You had to do chores. So obviously I regressed to a childlike state as soon as I realisedmy first chore was 'sweep and mop all the bathroom floors and the floor outside the bathroom' when someone else had 'dust the computer'. Not very proportional. However, it was located right near a church (????) and Cooper-Young Street which had heaps of cool restaurants and vintage stores. Checked out a poetry reading (poetry is so bad when it's not good) and a blues musician in a really cute cafe that sold clothes and books.

Beale street was weird - but the music was great. We had burgers at Dyer's which apparently were cooked in grease that may have particles form the original first 1912 batch in it. I could feel my heart valves seizing. Sat in a park and watched blues musicians for hours. It was pretty amazing - all this music spilliung into the street. And people drinking yard high drinks. I chose to focus on the music.

Headed down to New Orleans which I LOVED. The Mississippi is crazily big and it amazes me that anyone decided to build there in the first place. You drive along bridges constructed over the water for miles. Saw a plantation and all my Gone With the Wind fantasies were relived. I even sat on a porch. In a hat. Granted, it was my hat and Kangol made it so it wasn't exactly a large, wide brimmed southern lady's hat but it was still cool.

Headed to Coop's for dinner where I ate rabbit and sausage jambalaya and gumbo. Then to Frenchman's street where we hung out with some people from the hostel and watched some fantastic jazz at the Spotted Cat. Bourbon St is a nightmare.

I told a man I was trying to dissuade that I didn't dance because it 'led to sin'. He then decided I must have been very Christian which did not dissuade him AT ALL. Actually quite funny.

Now we are spending our night on the way to Austin. There's a hurricane in Texas and we're about 200 miles from the centre, but the weather is awful. It's raining like crazy.

Coney Island of the Mind

Guess what I did...

I went to Coney Island and ate a Nathan's hotdog, and watched beach volleyball and went on the Wonder Wheel.

I paid 99c to go to the Coney Island Museum and used the penny left over to watch a film Thomas Edison made about electrocuting an elephant.

We went to a freak show where a man hammered a nail into his head, a woman danced with a really large albino python and a woman who had tattooed almost her entire body and breathed fire. The tiniest girl in the world swallowed an exceptionally large sword.

We queued for pizza at what is meant to be one of the best pizzerias in Brooklyn, where you ended up eating off plastic plates and drinking from plastic cups, but whatever. I read an article about it in the NYT about 2 years ago. The pizza was ace. And you know, you meet interesting people when you're forced to line up for ages.

I went to the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue where we joined a queue we assumed was going to get us into the vuilding. Half an hour later we realised that it was the line for the new iPhone and there was, in fact, a much shorter line for entrance to the store and all its free internetty goodness.

I saw the UN building and then went to the Museum for Democracy where I looked at Presidential campaigning memorabilia and talked to a woman who seemed to be more active and interested in her retirement than I am now.

I saw an off-braodway production about a Christian Rock Band and went to the Comedy Club where Jerry Seinfeld filmed the beginning of each show.

So that was New York. I am in Chicago now, where it is less warm. Not entirely sure what I want to do yet! I'm sure something will come up.

And a Chronological Detour to include Washington DC

I thought Washington was great. Sarah almost killed me after about 2 hours when I wouldn't stop quoting the West Wing. It's amazing how much in real life can be linked to WW. Even more so when you are actually in DC. Amazing!

I managed to escape unscathed to link everything back to Josh, CJ and the gang. So this was DC:

Library of Congress
Very large building. Many books. Nice bible.

Capitol Hill
Leo: We've got separation of powers, checks and balances, and Margaret, vetoing things and sending them back to the Hill.

It was a very nice building with a big dome and considerably more impressive than Australia's Parliament House. May have taken a ridiculous amount of photos from many different angles, with all sorts of lighting. They (being security) confiscated my sunscreen going in, which meant I had to go back and dig it out of the bin when I had completed my tour. Because you can't waste thigns like that. Grrr....

Archives - Declaration of Independance, Bill of Rights & the Constitution
More queues. Documents quite faded. Occurred to me that Australians may take their constitution more seriously if it was written in calligraphy and someone had bothered to make it a bit poetic.


4th of July Parade
You know what Americans have a lot of? Inflatable balloons. I could understand the reasoning behind the giant American eagle, the uncle Sam hat and even the Garfield dressed as a President. Do I know why there was a giant Hello Kitty balloon? I do not.

Additionally, I think Australia needs more marching bands. We really do. It's not a parade without 100s of kids sweating themselves to deaths in over-ornate band uniforms.

Nuseum
Josh: You're going to be reading a bit today about your secret plan to fight inflation.
Bartlet: I have a secret plan to fight inflation?
Josh: No.
Bartlet: Why am I going to be reading that I do?
Josh: It was suggested in the press room that you do.
Bartlet: By who?
Josh: By me.
Bartlet: You told the press I have a secret plan to fight inflation?
Josh: No, I did not. Let me be absolutely clear, I did not do that. Except, yes, I did that.

4th of July Fireworks
Fireworks around the Washington Monument. Cannon fire that made children cry. Jimmy Smits MCing the evening.

Crab Cakes at Eastern Market
BARTLET: "Toby, go with us to this radio thing."
TOBY: "Oh, god, really, sir?"
BARTLET: "There'll be crab puffs. New England crab puffs by the way. Made in New England."
SAM: "Actually, it's Alaskan crab."
TOBY: "Sam!"
BARTLET: "There's Alaskan crab in this White House?"
TOBY: "You would've have known the difference?"
BARTLET: "Have you tried them?"
SAM: "I... yes, reluctantly. I think it was clear in the way I ate the crab puffs that it was a gesture of protest."
BARTLET: "Were they good?"
SAM: "Extraordinarily good and they're going very fast."

Anyway, that's it. I liked Washington. If only Canberra was as cool as Washington.

I'll Always Love You New York

In New York. Think it is fabulous so far. Brief summary below. Will blog about Washington when I have more internet time.

Yankees v Red Socks
Oh yes, a baseball game at Yankee styadium where the Yankess clutched victory from the jaws of a draw at the bottom of the tenth with Gardner on 2 strikes. People threw crackerjacks through the air, light beer cost $8, people carried crates of hotdogs on their heads AND during the 7th inning stretch we got to sing 'Take Me Out To The Ballgame'. Americana at its best.

Did anyone know how much stuff BoA sponsors in the USA? I keep thinking that if I was still an employee there may be some kind of discount I would be eligible for.

Guggenheim
Louise Bourgeois exhibition was amazing. Loved it. Didn't matter that all the 'famous; paintings were unavailable to the public. Bourgeois is about to go down as one of my favourite artists of all time.

Broadway
Went and saw 'Young Frankenstein' which was hilarious, as well as blatantly being a Mel Brooks creation. He lvoes his hot blonde girls making out with slightly gormless men. He also loves his anatomy jokes. Set was amazing. Totally redeemed my last musicals experience which was 'Gone With The Wind'. I don't think anyone who saw that would be sorry that it had closed.

The Empire State Building

Queues. Americans love queues. They are good at queuing. You waited in line for security, then you waited in line for a ticket, then you waited in line for the first lot of elevators then you waited in line for the second lot of elevators.

I was publicly called out by a ticket man for rolling my eyes at the couple making out in front of me. I mean, seriously people, the 'romantic' bit is at the top of the tower, not when you're less than half way through the queuing experience.

Things I Like About the NY Subway
1. It is airconditioned (are you listening London?!??!).
2. The cars are massive.
3. It is cheap(ish)

Things I Do Not Like
1. Smelliness
2. Subway maps ar enot great and stations are not imaginatively named.

Ah, Paris

I think I might love France. Admittedly, I have just arrived in Paris and given that I am basically waiting for people to be rude to me, I am not expecting the mood to hold. Nonetheless, French people have been nice so far, so maybe it's all just a horrible cultural stereotype.

Want to know what isn't a cultural stereotype? French people going on strike. I suppose it isn't really a complete holiday until you have been in someway inconvenienced by striking French railway types, but I had vainly hoped to avoid it. Queue train strike the day I wanted to get from Nice to Lyon. Somehow I managed to get a seat on one of the few trains that were running that day but it involved queuing. Extensive queuing.

Nice was great. Beautiful weather. Having a picnic on a beach wall with Lauren, who I met in Munich, then La Spezia and the Cinque Terra, her friend Jen and two random American guys who had come all the way to Europe to see Radiohead. Twice. One was a lawyer who supported Hillary Clinton. I think I had to pick my jaw up off the ground. A young MAN who supported HC? It defied belief.

I liked Lyon, though I wasn't precisely sure what I was supposed to be looking at while I was there. So I kind've wandered aimlessly. It's a beautiful city. The weather was good. I was staying in a one star hotel with no windows to my room, which was excellent as it enabled me to sleep in. Not so excellent the way there was nothing to open to let the smoke stench out.

Now I am going ot report something that will make my mother despair of me. Cue Wednesday morning when I wanted to leave my one star hotel room. I couldn't find my keys. The door was locked. I tried unlocking it, and at that point I realised that I had left the keys in the lock ALL NIGHT. And it's not like I was in some secluded room. My room was right at the top of the first flight of stairs, which meant that EVERYONE in the hotel had to pass by my door to get back to their rooms. Worse, someone had turned it and locked it so I couldn't get the door open. I sliced my hand open playing (screaming at and aggressively turning) with the lock and banging on the door loudly. No one came to help. After about 20 minutes of this I managed to jiggle the lock just so and it came undone.

What made it worse was that I left the lock in the door that night as well, but only for about an hour before I realised that I may actually have premature altzeimers. Be assured, I am not normally this daft. Mainly because most hostels don't give me keys.

So far in Paris I like the canals and the way they give you a small baguette when you buy salad. I also think it is weird that you can get beer with a McDonalds meal. I think French people are beautiful. It's raining on and off.

Anyway, this hostel runs on a swipe card system and is truly the poshest hostel I have ever seen. There are little curtains that close on each bunk and you have your own reading light and power plugs within your little enclosed area. It is perched on a canal near where Amelie was filmed. Paris is such a cliche. As soon as I finsih this I am going to buy pastry.

And I am supposed to do what then?

So, you know how I said it has stopped raining? That was my overly optimistic side coming out. Queue thunder and lightning within milliseconds of each other last night. And

So I am in Cinque Terra, where you go to hike, with bad weather, a 'broken' foot (any med students want to do an over the internet diagnosis? It's been painful for week now), the easy walking trails shut, no ferry and I left my rail pass at the hostel. I am spending a lot of time on the internet at the moment.

However! I think we have had a break through - there may be one path we can do and the sun may be peeking out. There are more tourists in these towns than people who actually live here. It would drive me nuts.

BUT - it's still beautiful and I am still enjoying myself, even though I am not particulalry inclined to love French hostel owners at the moment. Don't get me started. Grrrr....

Should be heading to Nice tomorrow where I hope the weather will improve. I am beginning to feel jinxed!

Rome! By all means, Rome.

I almost didn't go to Rome. Every second person you meet says it's dirty, Italians are rude, it's expensive (granted) and some people have even told me that they wouldn't go back there if you paid them.

All due respect, they are wrong. It's beautiful. I loved it. I love how you can't walk 100m without falling over a piece of history or a store selling overpriced pizza by the slice. I love how things light up during the evenign and you can just wander around and feel like you're part of the city. I love that it was warm.

I didn't go to the Papl audience on Wednesday, using it as an excuse to get into the Vatican Museums wihtout having to queue. As an agnostic, I don't feel that it's really right to exploit something that is meaningful to someone's religion as a tourist event. Looking at art and architecture is one thing, actively participating in something that is not part of your faith is another. This was not clearly understood by the American tour guide trying to get me to go on his tour and go to the blessing. NOT BEING CATHOLIC IS A COMPLETE JUSTIFICATION FOR NOT GOING. Additionally, if you wanted me to list reasons why I am particualrly not a fan of this Pope...anyway. The museums were nice. The Sistine Chapel was smaller than I thought it would, as was the picture of the creation.

I loved the Colesseum. It looksed like an Asterix comic! Also smaller than I thought it would be.

Trevi Fountain was nice but it would be incredibly hard to imitiate La Dolce Vita without getting arrested or having 1000 other tourists in your photo.

I almost got killed by a Vespa only twice. I think that is pretty good. I am not entirely sure WHY they bother to paint zebra crossings in Rome. I think it's just to indicate to Vespas where they need to dodge tourists. Getting across the road is more weight in numbers to stop cars moving.

Currently in La Spezia and it has FINALLY stopped raining!