Stephen!

Its the end of Janurary! Ive been away almost a month now, and things have been going pretty well so far I think - seen loads of cool things and had some excellent adventures. Despite this, theres a few things that are starting to be missed from Blighty*, and I thought Id share them with you:

Greggs
We all know I love pies, sausage rolls and meat/pastry combinations in general. While the food in America has been both varied and tasty, Im still missing the greggs lunch. Theres something about getting Ribena, a pasty and a sandwich (for under a fiver) that always gets me excited, but there just isnt a market for such goodness over here... International Pi day is the 14th March - it may be my only chance to spread the love of REAL pies.

Adam and Joe
After a hard weeks working and a hard nights drinking, there is nothing I loved more on a saturday morning than turning on the radio and listening to the Adam and Joe show. This one may technically not count as the shows on a break for most of the year, but its my list and I get to choose.

From the joy of being awake early enough for the black squadron command right through to Boggins (Im pro btw), the show was actually one of the highlights of my week. Adam and Joe finished up for a while to concentrate on bigger things (Joes co-writing one of the new tintin films), but I love them and I miss them.

The BBC not having adverts
Because BBC America is a commercial, and not a public service, broadcaster, they are allowed to have adverts in the U.S. Now I havent really watched the channel too much but I suspect that wont be a bother, however, My internet homepage is the bbs news site. Its just confusing! I keep seeing things I think are articles only to be offered something at a reasonable price.

The Daily Mail
Ok mabey I dont miss this one, but Im in America - this counts as news here!

* Please note, that my girlfriend, family and friends are CLEARLY more missed than anything on this list, but for some reason dont seem nearly as interesting to write about on a blog read by them.

More than a feeling

Boston is very different to the other cities Ive been to. This became apparent as soon as I arrived and got on the subway system and saw people walking across the tracks where the trains go. It summed up a laid back approach that Id find out through the rest of the week from the subway to the breweries.

Boston has loads of buildings and memorials dedicated to revolutionaries and famous townfolk, however I feel Ive covered the historic side of the city with my last post and instead Im going to talk to you about beer. The Harpoon brewery based in the city offer a free tasting session every Thursday. They do this mostly for publicity because they just started out, and also because they make European style ales instead of American 'beer'. The session was really fun: they were making oyster beer while we were there, talking about different crazy drinks they made and gave away a lot of free samples.


While we're on the subject, Boston also has a famous bar where everybody knows your name. The show used a real bar for the exterior shots, and thats been maintained since the show - unfortunately neither that bar or the 'tribute' bar a few blocks away look like the real bar. Still, it was very exciting to see the corner from the show, if only Cliff was there...

After a few days seeing the city I decided to head out and see the New England countryside. There's loads of small towns in the area, with colourful wooden houses and each of them has a heritage trail showing you the history of the place.


Salem is famous for burning a load of witches a few hundred years ago. Unfortunately Janurary really is not the time to go - most places were closed, and there were massive snowdrifts on the pavement making it really difficuly to walk the streets without annoying traffic. The same thing happened on a daytrip to Gloucester - an old whaling town, except with added rain and me getting lost for a few hours. Im going to brush over the whole 'getting lost' thing (it was pretty funny) and conclude that the countryside up here is beautiful and well worth a visit, but make sure you come in summer.

The Boston Tea Party

One of the iconic moments of the American revolution came after the British Government tried to impose taxes on tea. In protest the people of Boston refused to return three shiploads of taxed tea and dumped it in the harbour, and this became known as the Boston Tea Party. Since I'm in Boston, I thought to myself what better way would there to be celebrate this historic event than, well, having a tea party!!


Unfortunately the Tea party got off to a bad start. When I went to tourist information and asked where the site of the Tea Party was, the information officer replied 'it isnt there any more - it was struck by lightning and destroyed'. Bad omen? No. He was talking about the plaque not the actual site. The picture there was taken where I was assured the dunking of the tea took place, and as you can see, it was a fun-filled, joyous party of tea and happiness. Id also like to point out that unlike the American's Boston Tea Party, mine involved drinking the tea - as you're supposed to.


After the drinking, of course, came the symbolic dunking of the Tea in the old Boston harbour (now a canal). On the left Im displaying the anger of America at the poor taxation polcies of the British. I think an appropriate subtitle would be 'Taxation without representation? I do not think so!'.

After this came the actual putting of the tea into the harbour - Id like to point out here only one teabag, nothing plastic or bad. On the right is the shot of the conclusion of this historic re-enactment of the event.



With the ceremonies over, Im proud to have taken part in my own Boston Tea Party. I feel my version was better for several reasons, which I am now going to list.

1. The tea was drank - why waste good tea?
2. Only one teabag was put in the water, so my party was better for the environment.
3. In my party a British man was celebrating an American event - celebrating the coming together of cultures rather than a seperation.
4. My party has photographic evidence of occuring, the original party doesnt even have a plaque.
5. People were happy at my party, there was no anger at all.
6. My party was much cheaper, and arguably had the same cultural impact, which therefore makes it much more cost-effective.

Commemerative T-shirts are not yet available, but feel free to put in a request.

Out of many tourist attractions, One capital city.

My lonely planet book describes Washington as 'three M's: Monuments, Memorials and Museums, surrounding a fourth, the Mall.' This is exactly what I discovered. In practice this meant busy daytimes trying to see everything (more on that later...) and quiet nighttimes - because outside of the "M's" there really isnt anything to do! Not that it bothered me, I was so tired out from all the walking I was quite happy to sit down and play some serious board game action.

Of the stuff to see some of it is really spectacular. The Washington monument (pictured to the left after an unfortunate drinking session led to me trying to steal it) is a prime example. The whole thing has no frame - its just bricks and gravity holding that thing together. Its also hollow, meaning you can go up inside it, for free, and get an amazing view of Washington. As if that wasnt enough, it was followed up the next day by the Lincoln memorial. The picture really cant do this justice. From the Monument you walk past the reflecting pool up to a massive temple. On the day I was there the pool was frozen over, and featured several attempts to smash the ice in the form of large rocks on top of the ice... When you arrive at the temple you walk up the steps, and inside is the picture here.


Lincoln was a pretty inspiring character, and the memorial for me was the best thing I saw in Washington. The White house, Capitol hill, the Jefferson Memorial and the various war memorials were all impressive but I dont think anything else was quite as special.

Also at the mall are the Smithsonian museums, which as I was constantly reminded inside them are featured in Night at the Museum 2. These are a whole series of buildings, each a museum of some field. Arguably the coolest was the National Air and Space museum, which featured a whole load of Aircraft, Spaceships and science experiments. It even had vacuum frozen food for sale! One small problem I had there was that there is so much to see, by the end of each day I was really knackered from all the walking. This is something Im entirely blaming on the Smithsonian - I only managed to visit 3 of them, out of around 7, and each of them took between 4 and 5 hours to go through.

And then there were the board games... I'd never learned to play risk before I went to Washington, but I leave undefeated.

Hostile Stereotyping

So far I'm in the third hostel of the trip. Despite this Ive already noticed a definite trend of people who always seem to be in hostels. Here are a few examples...

The old guy

For some inexplicable reason (or the recession) there seems to be at least one old guy who is staying at the hostel on a business trip. Although friendly, they have an aversion to noise and a tendency to spew out dodgy advice. Case in point: The guy on the bunk above me in New York. He gave me what seemed like fantastic advice on the first day regarding Ice skating. He told me that there was a large ice rink away from central park that was half the price of the main one and had a much better atmosphere. Now, alarm bells did start ringing when he claimed to have been in charge of the design of the ice rink, but I did at least expect the Ice rink to be there...

On the noise point the same guy did have a (rather hilarious) go at the manager of the hostel for making too much noise one night. The thing that amused me most was that I was in bed and wasn't being disturbed at all. Maybe he had his ear horn in?

The Aussie

Its a well known and proven fact that in any given hostel in any given city in the world there is an Australian backpacker. Despite a tendency to call me a pom these guys are usually good fun - and also love to drink! As yet I'm still waiting to meet one who likes cricket so I can talk about/rub in that we won the ashes (probably a good thing after this this).

Despite blatant prejudice on my part (as seen previously on the blog) having the aussie in the hostel means theres someone who you can instantly get chatting to. Its good to have someone else who finds the traffic lights and the tax system disorienting.

The Lazy Traveller

The lazy traveller is someone who has come from however far away to see the world. Only to spend 90% of their time in the hostel. I get up in the morning, have a nice chat with them and head out for the day. I come in after Ive done whatever for the day and they are sitting at the computer on facebook. I ask them what they did, and they reply 'nothing yet! Just been chilling out a bit'

Now admittedly Ive not met anyone that bad yet, but some people do spend a large amount of time (and days) not seeming to do anything. I appreciate people move at different speeds but it does seem a bit pointless to go all the way across the world just to sleep your way through the trip. There's a girl where I am now (Washington) who I'm pretty sure hasn't seen any of the sites/memorials in 3 days, and that's the reason she's here!

Baltimore, or, how I learned to stop worrying and love the Bunk.

Lets get one thing straight - Baltimore is a wierd city. Ive never been anywhere in my life where you can see strip clubs from city hall (have you?). As you can see from the picture, I also discovered the National Great Blacks in wax museum! Think if Madame Tussards did Civil Rights. It also featured a large section on the slave ships from Africa to America, some of the most disturbing stuff Ive ever seen. Even in wax the sights of force feeding, overcrowding and rape are pretty disturbing, and that section of it proved rather more profound than I was expecting. Still, as the lady at the desk put it: 'Watch out cause theres 4 steps out of the slave ship to Obama' a metaphor? no. But it did provide some joy after the slave ships...

As many people will know, Baltimore was a place I went to mainly because of the Wire. I feel I should show you a little bit before continuing with the days story. To fill you in, the lawyer is working for one of the biggest drug dealers in the city:



I wanted to see some of the places it was filmed, and also get a feel for the city. My trip to the museum was partly because the 'hamsterdam' scenes are shot in the alleyway behind it. I got a few photos of the area, like the one below. It was really cool to see the areas that inspired the show, but at the same time I couldnt help but feel guilty for going in to photo areas as a tourist that people live in. Thats something that Ill need to take on board for future trips I guess.



After I got back I went to the city centre, the city hall and courts are fantastic buildings, and the world trade center is certainly unique (its the worlds tallest pentagonal building). Baltimore definitely has something for everyone.

New York, New York. A hell of a town?

So my time in the Empire state is almost at a close. Ive managed to visit 4 of the 5 boroughs (although Staten Island was visited for approximately 2 minutes before I hopped straight back on the ferry...) with Queens being the only place left unexplored - such a shame.

Being such a big city theres been some brilliant sights, none of them taller than myself. The definitive proof of this is in the picture to the left - see! Despite being shorter than myself, Lady Liberty was a very lovely sight. The island doesnt take long to get to and the crown is open for exploration (if you get there before 3.30PM, which I did not).

Another highlight for the week was the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), which is free to get into on fridays after 4pm (top tip). They had an amazing Tim Burton exhibition, which had all the characters from the nightmare before christmas there for you to see, and loads of production and set pieces from various films, including Batmans mask. Unfortunately that section banned cameras, so Im going to put up a picture from the other highlight of the museum - some Picasso! Cubism is a type of art I can actually get, so I got really excited at all the crazy pictures, but this was my favourite.

Ive been staying in Harlem (as previously mentioned). The area has a bad rep for obvious reasons, but right now its going through a lot of regeneration, and Ive felt really at home here. The people in general have been really friendly, and on occasion have even stopped to help me if Ive been looking particularly lost. One thing Ive really enjoyed when at stores or out and about is that if you say 'thank you' people just say 'your welcome'. Seems obvious but in Britain if you say that to someone you can guarentee they'll say the exact same thing back to you.

One more area Ive really enjoyed is Central Park. I only made it there today for the first time, but its HUGE. It has a lake, a 'woods' area, baseball fields, an Ice skating rink, a boathouse, a giant obelisk, and loads of little paths. I think if I come here in the summer it could be the place of choice for hanging out!

Culture Shock!

Before I came to America I was given numerous warnings about things that are done differently over here. Most of these have still come as a surprise though - if only because the differences are so subtle! Here's a few things Ive been struggling with.

Taxes

Each state is allowed to add a sales tax whilst your are at the counter. Although it varies between states it can be up to 15% - which I'm currently experiencing. Because this gets added on at the counter it means that you always pay more than the listed price. I was aware of this before I came over but I do keep getting caught out by it.

To me the system seems ripe for abuse. Ive spotted some shops that reserve the right to raise the price listed at their discretion. One of these tried to charge a guy from the hostel $180 for a $40 controller for the Wii here! It all means you have to be a little more careful while about, especially when combined with...

Tipping

Its well known that American waiting staff get paid below minimum wage. The tipping culture here makes up for that. Ive been told that tipping 'is like the grade system', 15% is a C, and so you never tip below that, but a good meal can be up to 30% of the bill or more. Im not complaining about this, I think its great that society has adopted a method of supporting underpaid workers, but it still confuses the hell out of me. Which food venues do I tip? McDonalds? Street Vendors? Cafes? I havent a clue..

Also when combined with taxes it means you end up paying a lot more for food that you initially think, which is tricky to budget for.

Jay Walking

Back home crossing the road is easy. You cross when you can and if you get hit you go to hospital. However in some states Jay walking is an offence. Sadly no-one can tell me which states have done this. It means whilst walking with people they will gladly cross the road through a red light then laugh at me standing there for the green man.

Ive been assured that only bored traffic cops would dare arrest someone for Jay walking. But that means it does still happen, and so until Im home Im refusing to cross the road on a red light.

Theres a magical place...

See that poorly taken photo? Thats inside Toys'R'Us in Time Square. Yes thats right - there is a ferris wheel INSIDE THE BUILDING!

Im settling in quite well here. My hostel is in Harlem, which is a really cool neighbourhood - the people on the street are helpful and friendly, theres loads of convenience stores and some brilliant murals on the sides of buildings. The hostel itself is small but clean, and the atmosphere is really friendly, everyone talks and gets along really well. Im also getting used to the time zone issues, which means Im not waking up at 5 in the morning. Hurray!

Yesterday being the first day I thought Id do something really iconic and positive, so I went to see the statue of liberty. Except the tickets were sold out for the day. So I took it as a sign and instead visited ground zero. No good pictures to display Im afraid as my camera wasnt set up at the time, but aside from a mural and a long stretch of a walkway from which to view the construction site there isnt a lot there. I guess the city is moving on now which can only be a good thing, and the signs indicated theres some kind of permanent memorial in the works too.

After that I went to time square as mentioned above. It was epic. The lights were everywhere. The most impressive thing was the scale/complexity of some adverts though, from the huge picture of Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter to the full video preview of the new series of 24 ('New York is about to get Jacked'). Its on a scale Ive never seen or even thought of before, which is exactly what I wanted.

Anyways Im going to leave you and try again down for the statue, but before I go I need to tell you of an australian girl at the hostel. Last night she came over to me and said "I know your a Pom but arent the yanks loud arseholes?'. Everytime she talks I think of this moment:

Transatlantic Dreams

There's a recurring dream Ive had mabey three times in the last year, if three counts as recurring. In each of these Ive been on a flight across the atlantic only for the plane to split and for me to see the plane falling slowly slowly to the ground. I mention this because it came back 2 weeks ago - just as I was working out what to do in my trip...

As can be deduced from me writing this, the trip was fine (although it did feature a bizzare transit train under the tarmac where you board the plane). I was hoping to get this blog started before I left as well, but weather and car accidents (minor) and a general lack of organisation did the trick, but here we are!

Over the next 87 days im going to use this to put up photo's, tell any stories, share thoughts and let everyone know Im doing ok! Please feel free to leave comments of support/abuse as neccessary, right now though the Time Delay is catching up and Im going to bed...


One Final Thing.

Ive been asked by a few people to put up a list of where Im going. This list is subject to change but so far I have New York, Baltimore, Washington, Boston, Toronto, Chigago, Utah, Portland, Seattle, Vegas, San Diago, San Francisco, LA, an unplanned venture to Mexico and finally Austin. After that its time for the flight back home. Hopefully without mid flight engine failure.