Home again, home again jiggity jig.

We are home. My feet are on Australian soil once again.

We woke up at 6:40AM in the Freedom Traveller Hostel in Italy. We checked out, lugged our bags downstairs, and made our way to Roma Termini train station. We caught a train to Leonardo Da Vinci/Fiumincino Airport, and spent the last of our euros on a couple of muffins and powerades(because hydration is important).

The trip from Rome to Singapore was 12 hours long, but didn't seem too bad. I watched three movies. The Wrestler (which was pretty awesome, but sad in the end), Valkyrie (which was pretty awesome, but predictably sad in the end), and Bride Wars (which Cara and I watched simultaneously, and was lame at the end). That killed about 5 hours, and I read some magazines, listened to my iPod and ate, which killed the other 7. I also had a Singapore Sling onboard Singapore Airlines (it seemed appropriate).

Last time in Singapore we got Burger King, and Cara raved about the Rendang Burger. So this time through I got it too. It was really great, and stopped me feeling sick. Then it was time to go through security (for the last time this trip) and prepare for our 5 hour trip home to Perth.

The flight was uneventful, except that I slept for about one and a half hours on the plane. And I didn't feel terrible afterwards!

Mum, Dad and Nicola met us at the airport, and we had a coffee and debriefed. It didn't take too long to get through customs, and the new "thermal scanner technology" which is supposed to protect Australia from the swine flu seemed to be an ordinary video camera set to infra red mode.

I will probably post a few more pictures of our journey (along with accompanying stories) in the coming days.

Cheers,

Cameron

P.S. I forgot to thank Julie, Peter, Katie, Lin and Duncan for being great on the holiday too!

Italia

Cara and I just got in from our last day in Rome (and the last day of our holiday before we start the long process of flying home). Man, our feet are tired.

This morning we got up at 8 and headed to the train station to organise our train to the airport tomorrow. We had discussed at length what time we would need to leave, and were thusly slightly disappointed when he told us our ticket would allow us to go on whenever we wanted. We then walked back to the hostel to dump off the ticket.

Then it was time to head across to the Vatican City - a tiny country inside of Rome filled with Nuns and art. We had already seen Saint Peters Basilica, the tombs (including those of the Stewarts from Scotland), and the view from the dome. Now it was time for the Vatican Cathedral, and the world-famous Sistine Chapel. They had it set-up so that we had to walk through a bit of modern religious art to get there, and a lot of that was very interesting (although not super modern in my view; a lot of it was from the 50's).

Then we entered a series of rooms which were painted and designed by Raphael. They were quite incredible, and very inspiring in their own right. One room, loosely translated as the Signature Room I think, contained my favourite piece. It covered an entire wall, depicting the School of Athens. Every major philosopher, mathematician and astronomer of Ancient Greece was pictured. Geniuses all. And cheeky Raphael slipped a little self portrait of himself in there too.

Then we saw the Sistine Chapel. It was really impressive, although it gave me a bit of a crick in my neck. There were curtains painted at ground level, with big frames of bible stories further up. That was followed by painted architecture and Rams Heads which separated images of God, The Heavenly Host and Adam & Eve. On one wall was a giant painting of Jesus and all the saints. Really cool place.

Then we explored some more and found other exhibits including the Carriage Pavillion which included a history of the evolution of the Pope-Mobile.

We left the Vatican after that and considered our options. Our feet and knees were sore, and we had packing to do, so heading back to the hostel seemed like a good idea. However we had not yet seen the River Tiber, Tempio Adriano, the Pantheon, the cool castle, or Piazza Navona. We decided we can rest on the plane and headed off. The river was green and gross, but we had a seat by its bank and watched birds and rowers float by in the afternoon sun. The sun has been a welcome surprise. While the weather earlier on our trip was occasionally inclement, Europe has been fantastically warm and Sunny. It will be strange to return to wintery Australia. The Pantheon was closing, but we managed to get into it to look at the tombs of Vittorio Emmanuel II (the first king of Italy), Umberto (The second king of Italy), and Margherita (the 2nd kings wife, who loved Pizza so much that a pizza is still named after her to this day.) Then we were thrown out, and we explored. We had more gelati near the fountains in Piazza Navona, and then headed home.

Later we headed out for dinner, and now we rest in the common room of our hostel, dreading packing everything upstairs. I think I may have lost my LA Clippers hat.

And now some random highlights:

As part of our bus tour we went to Pisa. It was really interesting, and our tour guide (Riccardo) was fantastic. The Cathedral is immense, and the Baptistry is incredible. It resonates and amplifies sound. I didn't like the leaning tower so much, so I decided to push it over:


But Cara liked it, so she put it back up:


We also went to Venice. It was one of the highlights of the trip. We went on a Gondola ride with Musicians and Lambrusco, and a lovely couple from South Australia called Karen and Alan. It was so great. Here we are on a Gondola:

And here we are on a bridge just before we left:

Also, the world famous Giro D'Italia (just the second most prestigious race in cycling behind the Tour De France) was starting in Venice one day after we left. However they did have the team introductions when we were there. It was supposed to start at 3PM, but didn't start until around 4, and with them introducing 9 riders per team for something like 15 teams it took a big chunk out of our free time. I was starting to feel bad about keeping Cara rom exploring the city when I asked a pom standing next to me if he knew if Lance Armstrong was riding this race. He said that he was a journalist who had just met Lance backstage, and that he was. Then the Astana team came out and Lance said a few words. He was basically excited about getting back on the bike, and tried to raise some more awareness about cancer. He's the leftmost lycra clad one.


We also went to Florence, and it was a pretty cool city. The highlight however was seeing Michaelangelo's David, or as Cara and I were calling him "Naked Dave". We saw a lot of art on this trip; in museums, churches, and galleries. Naked Dave was the most incredible piece of art I have ever seen. It was impressively large, impressively perfect, impressively detailed and carved out of one of the highest quality marble stones ever quarried from the face of Planet Earth. The picture doesn't do him justice, but here he is:


Part of the reason this trip was so good was the company. Cara has been great. Many thanks to Hourann, Kristian and Adriana for putting up with us and putting us up. It was great spending time with new people like our San Franciscan friends who we met in Barcelona - Omar and Zac - and the South Australians we met in Italy - Karen and Alan. And thankyou to everyone (except for the french) for being so understanding when we mangled your language.

So, tonight we pack. Tomorrow we fly. And when we get back I may post a few more pictures and stories, but suffice to say I am tired - and happy - and this has been two of the best months of my life.

Ciao, Arrivederci, Au Revoir, Adios, Hasta Luego, Seeya and Cheers.

Cameron Out.

Bologna

We are in Bologna right now, in the middle of our Bus tour. The internet has been sporadic, so we have struggled to keep in contact.

New stuff:
- The northern part of Italy is beautiful.
- Buffets are great.
- Italian coffee is good.
- We saw the pope.
- So many cathedrals.
- I miss my friends, family, guitar, job, basketbal and Aussie food.
- And apprently there is some drama involving my tenants leaving my house in a bit of a mess.

Talk to you all soon, we are back next week.

Ciao.

Roma

Hi guys,

we are in Rome, and are still having a good time. We have seen the Colliseum, Circus Maximus, the Palatine hill, St Peters Basilica, the tombs of the Popes (and the Scottish Kings), and we have had Gelato. We have been run off of our feet. We are very much looking forward to our bus trip.

Ciao.

P.S. Hey Dad, we were just wondering whether you were planning on picking us up from the airport when we return? It would allow me to pick up my car and have it for the next day. Otherwise we will take a taxi and I will pick up my car at a later date. Just wanted to check. Cheers.

Mediterranean Coast

We are in Nice. Do I dare to say it is nice? I do.

The scenery on the train from Barcelona was incredible. Mountains, fields, cute villages, sea-side, power stations, cliffs, castles, Cannes, Antibes and little churches on the top of coast-side peaks. This would be a good coast on which to own a holiday home.

We had a great time in Barcelona. Yesterday morning we took the metro to the Olympic Park on the top of Montjuic. It is basically on top of a mountain. We were tired after reaching the top, but we got to see the Olympic Stadium. It was built in the 30's for an Olympics that they didn't get to have until 1992. The main stadium was shockingly small. A lot smaller than either of us expected. Our lunch there was a huge rip-off, but we got to feel Olympic.

We then headed over to the Museu d'Olimpic, and it was closed on Mondays. Louvre flashback. This was really annoying, partly because we had looked up the opening hours that morning (and it should have been open), and partly because we had just climbed a mountain.

We then headed to the Beach. Thanks to my awesome navigation skills we got off at the wrong station and walked through the Marina district to get to the Beach. It was very pretty, but we were tired. We eventually collapsed on a grassy knoll to watch the beach bums.

Then it was off to El Corte De Ingles to experience shopping in Spain (and practise a bit of our Spanish). Unfortunately because everyone around Barcelona speaks Catalan, a lot of things are not labeled in English or Spanish. So a lot of our learning was not able to be put into practice.

We then had a salad buffet for dinner and had an early night, because today we were travelling on the train for about 12 hours or so.

Tomorrow in Nice we plan to go to the Beach. And swim in the Med.

Here is some stuff I forgot to include on earlier blog posts:
- We went to the Louvre. It is HUGE! We went straight for the Mona Lisa. Here it is:

They had set up a D barrier, and given that it is only about A4 in size, it was even less impressive than I expected. We liked the paintings by a guy called Guido Reni. They were all religious, and there was one with an Angel and Mother Mary that had great lighting. Then we left the feeding frenzy that was the Italian Masters of painting to go and check out Ancient Greek, Roman and Egyptian artifacts and sculpture (including the Venus de Milo - which was assembled from two halves). We then looked at the ancient foundations of the Louvre (when it used to be a castle), and finished up in Mesopotamia, Ancient Sumeria and Persia (which was abandoned compared to the rest of it).
- Here is our view from our Paris hotel:

I am not sure I mentioned it, but Paris is the land of the midgets. Everything was tiny and I was constantly stubbing my toe, or hitting my head or shin. I think it was all built for Napoleon.
- In New York we were on TV. There was a sports show doing a bit on baseball, and we could stand behind the hosts and be visible through the glass. Everyone else was just waving, but then I started jumping up and down as high as I could, and we started a little moshpit which was clearly visible on the screen.
- Also in New York we randomly wandered into the Magnolia Bakery and got some of the best cupcakes ever. They are world famous, and the icing was in-cred-ible.

More pictures to come!

Cameron Out!

Barcelona!

Barcelona has been fun! However there is no wireless here, so I have to type this up on a common room computer.

We are starting to get to that point of the holiday where we need a little break from it all. Maybe 6 weeks is long enough. Instead of 8 weeks away, next time I will do 6 weeks away, and then 2 weeks in front of the TV watching Oprah and Dr Phil back at home.

Today we went and saw a bunch of Gaudi stuff. The Casa Batllo, and the Sagrada Familia. Really cool buildings designed by a really cool man. I liked the mushroom room the best. But the audio guide was a little pompous.

I had a Spanish Omelette for lunch today which was incredible, and last night we went out with a couple of American dudes and had some drinks at a little bar. Quisiera Un Jarre San Miguel y Un Vodka Y Fanta Naranja, Por Favor. I think I still speak broken Spanglish, but at least I can order drinks, with enough pointing.

Buenas Noches.

Quick One: For the fans

We have spent the last two days in Bordeaux. We head to Barcelona today. We will be on the train for 7.5 hours. Luckily we have comics, books, magazines, iPods, DS's, and a laptop (which can play our Always Sunny In Philadelphia and X-Men DVD's) to distract us.

This morning we met Ziggy Marley. I think.

Au Revoir.

Belgium and France

We took a train from The Netherlands to Belgium. I read my book, listened to my iPod, played Advance Wars on my DS and just chilled while looking at the scenery. I am really enjoying this train thing. Cara slept a little, and kept an eye out for interesting things.

We were a little nervous about Belgium. We had heard that half the people speak Dutch, and half the people speak French. We decided that it was time to practise some French. So I pored over the phrase book on the train. Je ne parl pas Francais. Bonjour. Parlez Vouz Anglais? .

When we got to the train station, I asked the guy selling bus tickets Parlez vouz Anglais?, and he replied, in perfect English (and with a quizzical look on his face), "Yes I speak English". I think he was wondering why I didn't ask him in English. Meanwhile I was just chuffed that I was understood.

We got to our Youth Hostel, after being dropped off a stop or two too early by our helpful bus driver, and it was great. The guy there gave us a map of things to do in Bruges by Day, or by Night. He gave us a bruges card (which got us discounts), and a voucher for a free sampler of three beers at their restaurant that night. Cara and I went to our room, and tried to use the internet, which was intermittent at best. We then went and had dinner.

Cara had Beef Stew "Flemish Style", which was basically stewed with a dark Leffe Ale, and I had a ham and mustard dish, where the boiled ham was served on the leg bone. It had some crazy Belgian name, and was delicious. The three beers we got were very reminiscent of the Belgian Beer Cafe: Hoegaarden, BelleVue Kriek (cheery) Bier, and LEffe Dark Ale. Cara tried all of them and ended up drinking all of the Cherry beer and some of the Hoegaarden, and I finished of hers and mine. We then explored the town and went on an impromptu pub crawl. We especially enjoyed a student bar that had vinyl on the walls and record covers on the ceiling. I had some Jupiler and Brugse Zot beer. We also were caught up in a fevered crowd watching their home team Cercle Brugge take a victory. It was a good night.


The next day in Bruges we:
- climbed the famous brick spire of the old Belfry in the main town square. It is 400 steps, each of which gets progressively steeper and narrower. We were knackered once we finished. We barely made it in before it closed too, as we had been too busy doing other things earlier in the day.

- went to the Tintin store. It was cool, and Belgian, and I nearly bought a Tintin tin, but it was exorbitantly priced.
- went to the Frites museum. This was really interesting, with a history of the potato and the "French Fry". We got to eat some chips afterwards too, and they were good. The tips they gave us for cooking the perfect frites were to use Cow Fat with some Horse Fat mixed in. Cook the chips for around 4 minutes at 137 degrees, then remove them from the fat and let the oil drain away a little. Then cook them for a further two minutes (or so) at 167 degrees. I am writing these instructions a few days later, so who knows if I have remembered them exactly, but that was the gist.

- We also ate and drank a lot of very Belgian things. Belgian chocolates, Belgian Waffles, Belgian Frites and Belgian Beer. It was awesome.

On our final day in Bruges we got up early and took the bus to the train station. We booked our train from Brussels to Paris (the Bruges to Brussels part was free), and it was going to cost 52 Euros each in booking fee to travel first class, or 26 Euros each if we travelled second class. And this is on top of our expensive rail passes that cst us an arm and a leg. We went with the second class option. At the station we saw some CaraPils:


As we entered Paris we knew that we were not in such an English speaking place anymore. Less of the signs are in English, and when I say Bonjour, Parlez vouz Anglais? the most common response is a wiggle of the hand along with the words, "a little". But it has been fun.

We decided to book our trains to get to Bordeaux and Barcelona first thing in PAris, and the guy who helped us got us First class seats for three different trains for both of us for only 30 Euros. This seemed so cheap compared that one Brussels to Paris train, and so we were ecstatic.

When we got into our hotel we found a lift on the bottom floor, and pressed the button to call it. Once it opened we realised it was probably actually a service elevator for baggage or room service purposes. A dumb-waiter if you will. The guy at the desk gave us a room on the top floor (7th), and we asked where the elevator was. He pointed at the tiny one and did not seem to understand our problem with its tininess. We had to go up one at a time with our luggage, because we could not fit more than that. How can I best describe it? It is smaller than most wardrobes. But the long wait for the lift was definitely worth it, because we have a view of the Tour Eiffel from our hotel room.


We walked there the first night, saw it during the day and at dusk. The top level is closed so we decided to not climb it. Lets leave that for another trip. We explored and found a relatively cheap cruise on the river Seine, and so we did that as the sun went down. We saw Notre Dame, the Louvre and lots of other stuff from the river. And then we wandered back to our hotel room.

And it sparkles at 10PM (maybe at every other hour too, we're not sure)


Yesterday we went to the Louvre with the plan of viewing that museums great works. But apprently it is closed on a tuesday! So we walked from the Louvre, through the Tuileries Gardens, past the Place de la Concorde, and up the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triumph. It was an incredible walk. The gardens were so beautiful. The obelisk in the Place de la Concorde was so incredible, and it had etchings on its base describing how the frenchies stole it from Egypt. And I think the Arc de Triumph was bigger then I expected. We also checked out the Virgin Music Megastore in Paris, and Cara bought me a Croissant halfway up the Champs Elysees. We then headed to the Hotel des Invalides, and explored one the first large military Hospitals in Paris.

We had a great dinner at a place not too far from our hotel, and we talked about World History (and other things we learned about in high school Social Studies, and movies). My desert was a "Cafe Gourmand", which was basically a very small black espresso with a belgian chocolate, a macaroon, a coconut slice, a tiramisu and a creme caramel. It was possibly the best desert of the holiday so far, and the coffee kept me up and enabled me to write to you all last night while Cara slept.

Today we saw the Louvre, and relaxed a bit more, and tonight we head to the Moulin Rouge. I will give you a more detailed update for today at a later date.

Au Revoir.

Filling in the Gaps

OK, we have been so busy that I feel that I have been letting down an important group of people - YOU - my adoring public.

So, I plan on trying to fill some of the gaps in our stories, as I have not really told you guys much detail about our time in New York, London, Amsterdam, Bruges, or Paris.


****


I will start with NY. We had heard that if you go into Time Square and queue up at the red TKTS booth (under the red stairs), then you can get half price Broadway tickets to all the great shows. We headed there on our first day in New York, with the plan of buying half price Lion King, Chicago or Guys and Dolls tickets. When we got there at around 5:30PM all that was left were shows that we had never even heard of, although one had Angela Lansbury and Rupert Everett, but we thought we could do better and planned to do a show a few days later (when we next had a free night with no sporting events planned). Me in Times Square:


So, a few days pass, and Cara and I return to Times Square, this time just before the 2PM opening time for the TKTS booth. And there is a huge queue. I mean, really huge. We had been told that the line looks long but will move fast and so we joined it. It took one and a half hours before we got our tickets. In that time promising shows such as Chicago and Guys and Dolls (featuring Oliver Platt and the chick from Gilmore Girls) had sold out and so we bought tickets to a show called The Fantasticks. It was apparently a delightful musical. We went and checked out the outside of the Letterman Theatre and then got dinner.


It turned out that the show was in the Jerry Orbach Memorial Theatre (dedicated to the main police officer actor from the original Law and Order series). It had some cool photo of him on the wall. We then went inside, and while the show was OK, it seemed a tad amateurish. But one of the guys playing the father had a bit-part in No Country For Old Men, so we figured it was at least somewhat legit. And it was on Broadway! We got a milkshake on the way home, and were excited about our fun night.

While in London I got to see my Cousins Julie and Peter, which was great. It would have been nice to be able to spend more time with them, but after being delayed in the US, we suddenly didn't have too much spare time in the schedule. Cara and I got to say hello to Katie and all of the kids, and spend an afternoon relaxing and playing video games with Daniel. Then it was off into the countryside to meet up with Cara's Mum's cousin Lin. She and her husband Duncan were great fun, and we had a quick look at the English countryside before having a great meal at a pub originally built by King Henry VIII.

Other things we did in London included:
- Visiting the Science Museum and exploring. We saw lots of medical history and some steam engines.
- Going into the National gallery and enjoying all of the great free art there. We saw Van Gogh, Monet, Manet and a bunch others that I can barely remember.
- I took Cara to see London Bridge, Tower Bridge, The Egg, The Gherkin, The Thames and The Tower Of London. Here she is, looking great in front of the Tower Bridge.

- We went on the London Eye (although it was a little bit hazy), and it was more fun than I thought it would be. Followed by walking around all the things we had seen from the sky; Big Ben, The Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square.
- We had some pub meals and some beer. I programmed Belle and Sebastian "White Collar Boy", The Fratellis "Look Out Sunshine", and Muse "Starlight" into the video jukebox on our last night in town, me and Cara grooved a little. Ok, maybe a lot.
- We took the tube. A lot.
- Go to Harrods and explore. It is basically like a big Myers, but way bigger and with a lot more variety. We saw a crystal and precious stone inlaid foosball table selling for 80,000 pounds. That is ridiculous. But ferg would love it:



When we left London we had to fly out of Gatwick at 7AM. The last train from London Victoria Station to Gatwick leaves at 3:30AM. So we went to bed at 10PM and tried to sleep. Woke up at 2:15AM, caught a bus to London Victoria Station and got to the airport, we then had some serious time to kill, so we had breakfast. Good thing too, because the "legendary" British Airways breakfast was a festy looking ham and cheese roll with congealed buttercheese and stale bread. We got into Amsterdam and attempted to check into our hotel, however they had not yet finished building it, so we were ferried from our planned accomodation to a different hotel in the same chain. They are called Citizen M, and are a modular hotel chain. Each room arrives in a shipping container and is connected together like Lego. They also have giant beds, weird circular showers and toilets, and a "MoodPod" which controls everything in the room from the temperature to the blinds and the colour of the lights. Here is a picture of our ultra-modern room:


Amsterdam was so pretty, with its canals and cobblestones, and I was a little shocked about it. I was a little afraid that Bruges would not be able to live up to how picturesque Amsterdam had turned out to be. Cara and I ate at an Argentinean steak-house and had a few drinks at a bar before wandering around the cafe strip and a little of the red-light district. It is quite an eye-opener. Then it was back to CitizenM to sleep.

The next day we rode the train to Bruges, and it was great! Way more room than on a plane, and it takes longer so you have more time to relax, read, eat, sleep and listen to music. We spotted Windmills and Tulips, and everything you expect to see, except for the milkmaids with the upside-down, blonde, plaits and clogs on. A field of tulips (as seen from the train):


I think I will continue my story with Bruges tomorrow, but first I will give you a quick update on our current status; we are in Paris, Cara is asleep right now and it is late, we go to the Moulin Rouge and the Louvre tomorrow. And I need some sleep.

Au revoir.

P.S. And we can see the Eiffel Tower from our hotel room(I'll upload the photo next time).

Tired and short on time, but loving it

In the last 4 days, Cara and I have had two almost sleepless nights. One when traveling to the UK, and one when traveling to The Netherlands. We are now in Europe, however and enjoying it a lot. Amsterdam is such a pretty city! If we haven't been updating you all on our adventures it is just because we have been catching up on valuable sleep.

Today we ride the train to Bruges in Belgium! Yay!

Delays!

Damned American airlines! And by that I mean United Airlines (and American, and US Airways). It seems pre-ordained that all internal American flights will be delayed.

Today we were taking a 45 minute fight from Newark in New Jersey to Washington DC. We were then going to wait a little more than an hour and fly from Washington DC to London where we would be met by my family. However our plane was delayed. At first it was delayed to leave at 8:25PM instead of 6:59PM, and it looked like we might make it. Then it was delayed until 9:00, then 9:55 and finally 10:30PM. We finally got into Washington Dulles Airport at around quarter to midnight. Our international flight to London had already left 2 hours before that. So we have now been booked into the 9:45 PM flight tomorrow, thus stranding us in DC for 24 hours. Right now we are in the Sheraton near the airport, and it is nearly 2AM.

Goodnight.

P.S. Here are a couple of photos:

Cara at a Hockey Game (Pittsburgh vs Florida, in Florida).

Me and Cara at Staten Island attempting to get a shot of us with the NY skyline and statue of liberty in the background but failing because the sun was too bright and the weather was too good. How can you possibly cancel and delay flights due to weather like this.

Me and some kind of Ankylosaurus.

Hopefully we don't get delayed too much tomorrow.

Celebrities

Last time I was in America I went to two NBA games in Miami, and I saw Enrique Iglesias, Anna Kournikova and Tara Reid at the games. Since we were going to 3 NBA games and 3 NHL games I felt sure that we would spot a ton of celebrities. Especially at the two games in New York.

At Oakland I saw no celebrities.
At San Jose I saw no celebrities.
At Orlando and Fort Lauderdale I saw no celebrities.

At the New York Knicks game I expected to see director Spike Lee, as he is famed for having courtside Knicks tickets and going to every game. He wasn't there. Who was? They flashed up a New York Rangers player in the crowd (Henrik Lundqvist I think), and then a couple of NY Giants players (Sean O'Hara and some other guy). Not exactly star studded. Later in the game they showed Chaz Palminteri! Woo! Biggest star we had seen at a game yet. I think he might have been the cop in The Usual Suspects.


And then they flashed up Kim Kardashian, who became famous for being in a sex tape, and then became a reality TV star.


We had some celebrities, but they weren't exactly A-List. I mean, Jack Nicholson always sits courtside at Lakers games. It doesn't matter that the Knicks suck, surely Al Pacino shoulda been there.

(The Knicks game, by the way was a massive blow-out and was not very entertaining at all. They were down by 25 within the first 7 minutes or so, and they ended up losing by about 30. It was cool to be at MSG though.)

Then at the ice hockey, the Rangers game at Madison Square Gardens we finally got someone who is somewhat famous. Someone who you could bill as the star of a film and not have it bomb (maybe). It was Gerard Butler, star of such films as 300. Yay!


Also, did I mention that I spotted the guy from Psych in Vegas sporting a beard and a cap?


(And the Rangers game was incredibly good. They were in eigth place, but needed this win to cement their position in the playoffs. They were playing Philadelphia, a team a few spots higher than them. And it was a super close game all-game. The crowd really got into it, and so did Me and Cara, chanting "Lets Go Rangers", and "Flyers Suck!", and "Hen-Rik", and "Goal!". It was fun to be part of a dumb mob. Probably the most fun sports experience of the trip.)

New York

We have been very busy here in New York. I will list our activities as I can't be bothered with detail. Sleep beckons:
- New York Knicks Game (at Madison Square Gardens)
- New York Rangers Game (at Madison Square Gardens)
- Greenwich Village
- Washington Square Park
- Staten Island Ferry (goes right past The Statue of Liberty)
- We went up to "The Top of The Rock" at the Rockefeller Center (it gives a better view than the Empire State Building, because you can see the Empire State Building.).
- We went to the American Museum of Natural History (I saw dinosaurs).
- We went to the NBA Store, the NHL store, the Nintendo Store, and a bunch of others.
- Times Square
- World Trade Center Ground Zero.
- Wall St. (we just randomly explored and happened to find it!)

We still need to do:
- Central Park
- Madison Square Garden Tour
- Broadway Show
- Letterman Theatre
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, New York Annex

I tried to get Stand-by tickets to a taping of Letterman and they are on Hiatus for the week that we are here. This sucks cause free comedian/band/famous people would have been sweet.

Philadelphia Airport

The plan today was to get up at 3AM, head to Fort Lauderdale Airport, catch a 3 hour flight to Philly, wait for 3 hours, and then fly for half an hour and get to New York at 1PM. This would have given us a lazy afternoon to acclimatise ourselves with the city before going out for dinner.

Instead we got into Philly almost an hour early at 8:10AM. We were ahead of schedule! But then the pilot told us that they were experiencing delays at Philly airport and we had to wait on the tarmac for about half an hour. Then we got into the airport, and after waiting for about 3 hours we saw that our flight was delayed. After a few more hours we saw that our flight was canceled. We managed to get to transferred to another flight, which was leaving at 4:45PM, and we were flying in a tiny propeller plane! We finally made it to our hotel at around 7:30PM. Suffice to say we explored Philadelphia Terminal pretty well in that time.

We also started watching It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia on DVD while in Philly. It was pre-ordained!

Now I am pretty tired! Tomorrow we explore New York!

Firsts!

Yesterday Cara and I drove down to the Florida Keys. Man that takes longer than I remember!

- I had my first lobster. It was delicious.
- I swam at a northern hemisphere beach for the first time (it may have been the Atlantic, Caribbean or Gulf of Mexico.
- I ate at a Pirate themed restaurant (in the heart of old-school pirate territory) for the first time.
- Cara went into a Walmart for the first time.

It was a big day!

Lovely Morning

Miami has been relaxing and great, especially every morning. Me and Cara wake up at Kristian's house in Miami and we have lazily had breakfast and relaxed.

Yesterday we left the house at about 1PM, and went to the Everglades Safari Park. We saw a ton of Gators, took an airboat ride, saw a gator show and saw some alligator exhibits. Cara held a baby alligator called Snappy, I did not as I value my fingers:


Then we headed to a Mall where I bought Knicks tickts and a Kevin Durant Jersey, and Cara got a Jaromir Jagr Jersey. We then played Boom Blox with Kristian and Adriana before heading to South Beach for Dinner. We ate at a pasta place, and it was quite tasty! We then sampled the nightlife at a club called Mangos where we tried to dance until the wee hours (but there wasn't a lot of room to dance).

Our Disney adventure was also amazing. I finally got to go to the EPCOT center at Disney, which was always one of my dreams as a little kid. Here is me close to EPCOT (standing underneath):

And here is me farther away:

Me and Rafiki:

We went and saw a pre-season baseball game between the Atlanta Braves and the Boston Red Sox at Disney. Here is our view:


We really enjoyed Disney a lot, but we were glad when it was finally done, because it meant that we would not be walking quite so much for a while. We picked up our rental car from the Doubletree resort at Disney (after a 45 minute wait for service), and then we drove our little Ford Focus to the Kennedy Space Center! However I had only written directions on how to get to the Sapce Center from the major highways, and not how to get to the major highways from Disney, so we spent a little bit of time "exploring" Orlando.


The Kennedy Space Center was just as amazing as I remembered it from my last visit, but they had now added an International Space Station experience that I didn't see last time. Here is me with a Saturn V rocket (the kind they used for the Apollo missions):

And Cara:

And here is a Space Shuttle sitting at launch platform 39A, all ready to be launched:


After enjoying the space center we sped down Florida's Turnpike towards Miami where we were greeted by Kristian and Adriana. They have been very gracious hosts.

Today Cara and I had planned to head down to the Florida Keys, but we slept in a little too much, and so instead we went to the Miami Seaquarium and South Beach. At the Seaquarium we saw Turtles, Sharks, Iguanas, Macaws, Octopi, Fish, Plesiosaur fossils, Seals and Sea-lions. There were also a couple of shows with animal trainers, dolphins and a Killer Whale. That was awesome. Lolita the Whale made some big splashes, and it was cool.


Tomorrow we will get up early and head to the Keys, followed by Fort Lauderdale and New York! Tonight we are staying in and Adriana is cooking us a traditional Peruvian meal! Woo!

Disney!

My feet are so sore!

This is a result of 4 days of traipsing around the many parks of Disney. They are all very scenic, and there are cool free shows (we saw an awesome Lion King show!), but a lot of the rides are more designed for kids. It is still tons of fun. Tomorrow we have our last day at Disney, and the next day we head to Cape Canaveral.

Here is a wicked video of me and Cara that we made at EPCOT:
The Future!

Universal, Cam the NBA Star, and Magic!

Yesterday we went to Universal Theme Park in Orlando. Last time I came here we just went to the Islands of Adventure half of the park (which has the bigger and newer rides), but this time me and Cara got a pass for the whole place, including the far more Old School Universal Studios. At Islands of Adventure we rode The Hulk Coaster, The Dueling Dragons, The Spider-man Ride, Doctor Doom's Fear Tower, and three water rides; Popeye's Lazy River, Dudley Do-Right's River Ride and The Jurrasic Park Log Ride. We did most of these wet rides earlier in the day, and we got soaked. There was not one part of us that was left dry. Luckily there was some Orlando sun out, and we dried relatively quickly(2 or 3 hours). We were able to get around the park pretty easily because I had been there before, so we sped through it.

We then went to Universal Studios, which was exciting for me, because I had not been there before. The Revenge of The Mummy Ride was sweet, basically an underground, pitch black roller-coaster, pretty scary! The streets were designed as a 1950's America, with old school cars and buildings. I tried to high five an evil egyptian Pharoah on Stilts, but he shunned me! We then did the Disaster Movie Experience, and Cara was chosen as a member of the movies cast as a "Young Athletic person with closed toed shoes on". Cara's role was to scream as she was washed down a river. The disaster was happening on a mock-up of San Francisco's BART subway system. WE can't leave that place, or its overly complicated public transport system! After this we went on the Jaws ride (which was in a boat, and we were afraid of getting wet again), the ET Ride, the MiB Ride and the Simpson's Ride. It was a lot of fun. We then had linner at some cafe in Universal, and it was terrible. Then it was time to take a bus for 1.5 hours into the city center of Orlando to watch our game!

It was a match-up between the 2nd place Boston Celtics, and the 3rd place Orlando Magic. I am a fan of both teams, who are both awesomely good, however when we went to the merch desk I saw that they had a $10 Orlando Magic t-shirt. So Cheap! So I got that along with a headband. I put both items on.

Before the game they chose "big Orlando Magic Fans" from the stands to come out on court and pass, dribble, lay-in and shoot the basketball. They chose me because of my Orlando Magic fan disguise. So I got to step on an NBA court! I was so excited! There was a guy in a Magic jersey on stilts, and he gave me a high five! At last! Then it was me and a bunch of tiny kids dribbling and passing. They set-up a lay-up line and I did a reverse lay-up which the courtside commentator commented on. Then we shot a free throw, a 3-pointer and a pull-up jumper and I misssed them all. 18,000 people watching you shoot kinda makes you rush your shot a little, and my form wasn't too good. Those are my excuses anyway.

The game was awesome! The Magic were winning by around 10 points, and up to 13 at one point. But by the end of the game the Celtics had come back and there were only 2 points between them. Paul Pierce of the Celtics got the ball with 1.6 seconds left and lofted a three pointer. It flew, it flew, and it missed. Magic won! Magic won! And as a result they overtook the Celtics as the 2 seed in the East by 6 1000's of a percent.

Today we go to Disney! We may not have free internet there, so the updates may be less frequent for a week or so. Woo!

We're in Orlando!

We have made it to Orlando! Woo!

We had an awesome dinner tonight, I had Babyback ribs, and Cara had a Rattlesnake Pasta. I washed it down with some coke and an icecream choc brownie sundae. Oh Yeah!

Tomorrow we go to Universal Studios and watch an Orlando Magic game! Yeehaw!

Also I forgot to mention it, but I saw the main guy from TV show Psych at the MGM Grand when we were in Vegas. I didn't say hello because it looked like it had taken him ages to grow out his beard to use as a disguise.

San Francisco Addendum

Today me and Cara went to Alcatraz while Hourann went to work. We also got a prepaid phone so that we can call cabs and the like when we need it. And we bought Hourann a wicked San Jose Sharks T-Shirt to thank him for hosting us so awesomely.

Tonight we have relaxed and planned the Orlando leg of the trip somewhat. While doing laundry, eating ice-cream, watching cable Tv and drinking wine. So civilised.

What I had forgotten to mention:
- Hourann was very welcoming, in fact he must have said "Welcome to San Francisco" at least 55 times. We appreciated it.
- We are being stalked by Britney Spears. As part of her comeback series of concerts she is performing at the MGM Grand in Vegas (where we stayed), and the HP Pavillion in San Jose (where we saw the hockey). Will we escape her in Florida? Who knows?

Nighty night.

San Fran with Hourann

After returning successfully from our Vegas trip, it was time for us to explore San Fran with Hourann (see how that rhymes).

On Friday night (after returning from Vegas), we met Hourann in the airport. He asked us if we would like to go out with him that night, but we were tired from our travels, and declined. We made it home to Palo Alto, all chipped in and cooked a stir fry, before chatting with one of Hourann's housemates. His name was Brian and he works on electric cars at a company called Tesla. So cool.

All the housemates seem to be people who are either currently doing, or have recently completed, pHD's at Stanford. They talk about traveling to Africa to basically save ghuman lives and do ground-breaking research. Very interesting, but a little difficult to relate to? But they are all super friendly and fun to converse with.

On Saturday we went into San Jose (Do you know the way to San Jose? I've been away so long, I may go wrong and lose my way.) to watch an ice hockey game between the San Jose Sharks and the visiting Dallas Stars. We were going for the Sharks. The beginning of the game was very exciting with shark shaped Zambonies, and a shark shaped entrance archway for the players. Dallas scored the first goal, which put us on edge, but San Jose scored the net couple of goals to take the lead. In the final period the sharks were up 4-2 with a few minutes to go, and the Stars pulled their goalie to put an extra player on the ice (to increase their chances of catching up). This of course led to San Jose scoring an easy goal, and they we ended up winning 5 goals to 2. It was definitely a highlight of the trip.



We were accompanied to the game by Hourann and his workmate Brad, who drove us to the game and gave us a short driving tour of San Jose. He was pretty funny, but pulled fun at the buildings and stuff in San Jose as they are a little underwhelming. He then dropped us off in a park (which may have been called Alamo Square?). This park is the park that the Full House cast run around in during the opening credits of the show! And we could see the Full House house just across the street. Me and Cara got a photo outside of it.


Then we went on a bus to see the golden gate bridge. We took touristy photos of us in front of it, and we walked up to the first tower before turning back. It is quite an awesome sight to behold.


Following our bridge experience we walked some of the steeper streets of San Francisco, saw a statue of Yoda at a LucasFilm workplace, explored a swanky suburb, explored The Mission (Hourann's favourite nightlife spot), had Mexican food while being quite close to Mexico(relatively), and had a drink at a trendy bar called Elbow Room. We then took the train back to Palo Alto, where we walked in the rain for 15 minutes back to Hourann's place. We were pretty soaked.


Today we woke up and traveled into the city again. We attempted to go on a boat to Alcatraz (but it was booked out until tomorrow, and so we booked it in for tomorrow), we explored Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 (where there were a bunch of Sea-Lions, just hanging out), and I got In-n-Out Burger. It was delicious. We then had some appetizers at the hard rock cafe for lunch and rocked out to the cool music videos. We explored Golden Gate Park and Haight-Ashbury (the old 60's hippy district). We rode on the trams and the cable cars (which broke down), before heading home to have some Chinese food in Palo Alto and sit on the internet for a few minutes.

And that is you basically all caught up.

VEGAS BABY!

As I expected, I have been doing so much stuff that I haven't had a lot of time to blog about it. But rest assured that Cara and myself are still happy, safe and having a wonderful time.

I may go light on the details here, cause a lot has happened, and I wanna have some stories to tell you when I return.

Since you last left us we have spent a day exploring San Francisco, getting confused by the public transit system, and marveling at the bay. We took a train to Oakland and watched the Golden State Warriors take on the LA Clippers. The Warriors won, and it was good to be part of a home winning crowd. We flew to Vegas and checked in at the MGM Grand on the strip. We went and saw Penn & Teller's magic show on the first night, I played in a poker tournament this morning, and we saw two Cirque Du Soleil shows today.

Now, some pictures:
The view from our hotel room:


The lion enclosure(you heard right!) at our hotel:


Me and Cara with Teller:


Cara and I with Penn:


Cara and Julius Caesar:


Cara and I at The Bellagio:


The Fountains at The Bellagio:


I have enjoyed Vegas sooo much!