The day we left New York we decided to keep it low key. We spent the morning in Central Park and got late check out. When we got back to the hotel we showered and checked out. We then did our usual trick of heading to the cinema to keep cool and out of the sun and pass the time before our flight. We went to see Bad Teacher, which was really funny! We got our bags from the hotel and then the shuttle took us to the airport. It was a very strange feeling knowing we were going home after ten months away! I can remember feeling so excited, but also nervous in a funny kind of way! It had been so long since we had been home, and seen our families and friends, it felt so peculiar to know we would be there in a matter of hours!
The flight home was fine, and I managed to sleep a bit which was a good thing, as we knew we'd be awake all day when we got home!!! Mum and Dad were meeting us at Heathrow, which was so exciting! I remember sitting on the plane saying, "I wonder what Mum will say first" and I could just hear her voice saying "Hello darlin"!!! We got our bags in record time, and headed through the gates, I remember looking across and there were Mum and Dad, it was so good to see them! They even had a Welcome Home banner and everything! After lots of hugs and hellos we headed to the car for the trip home. We didn't stop talking all the way! We got back and went straight to Carol and Mike's to see them. Later on Mum, Dad and Grandma joined us there for a nice tea and more catching up. After a lovely afternoon / evening I got HOME and saw Rachel, Emma and Michael which was fantastic!
The great thing about the blog and the regular skype dates was that we didn't have to catch everyone up on ten months worth of travelling, they knew it all and had lived it with us! It was THE most amazing adventure, and I am so glad that we did it! It took me a while to finish writing this blog, as life kind of took over once we got back, as it inevitably does! However, here it is finished a mere 6 months (almost to the day!) after we got back! Life has returned to it's normal hectic crazy self, and often I wonder if we even really did it! But then I remember, look at amazing photos, and read the blog, and can relive every moment - what an amazing experience!
Posted by
Sarah O'Neill
,
05:47
We flew to New York on Saturday 9th July. This was our final stop on our world trip, and it was a strange feeling! I can totally remember the mix of emotions, sad that our trip was coming to an end, but soooo excited to see family and friends, and be back home and of course be at Emma and Tom's Big Day!!!!
We arrived at 9.30pm in NY, so went straight to the hotel, via a shuttle bus company we had pre-booked, and dumped our bags. After such a lovely room in Vegas, the NY hotel was not nearly as nice, and cost so much more for four nights than a whole week!!!! But it was fine for what we needed! We went out for some dinner and found a great NY gem where we got a burger (Ben of course!) and a huge slice of pizza for me!
On Sunday we had a massive lie in, which was lovely! Since we had already been to New York (Feb 2009) we knew what we wanted to see and fit in, and it was nice to have a more relaxed end to our trip than long long days on our feet exploring every inch of a new place! When we eventually got up we went to the Battery Park area and had a lovely walk around. It was a totally different experience than that last time we were there, as it was beautifully warm and sunny!!! We then decided to go to the Bodies Exhibition. It was by that weird man than did the autopsy on TV a while ago. It had actual human bodies preserved to look at. It was incredibly interesting, but also very strange!
For dinner we found a place called Shake Shack which had been recommended to us by Jo who we'd met in Fiji. Ben was rather excited in his quest to find the best burger, and he was not disappointed!!! He loved it! It was an amazing burger! We had a late night walking around Times Square and soaking up the atmosphere!
On Monday we got up early for the hotel breakfast which was fine and free. We had booked on a trip to the Satue of Liberty and to Ellis Island. The whole day was really fascinating, and totally worthwhile. We had done a boat trip past the Statue of Liberty last time we'd visited, but of course it was absolutely freezing! This time the weather was stunning! It was a beautifully hot day! We had an audio tour around the base of the Statue, and also an audio tour around the Ellis Island museum. It was really interesting, and full of emotional stories.
That afternoon we went to one of favourite places in New York, the Rockefeller Centre. The view from the top is amazing! It is way better than going up the Empire State Building, and the view includes the Empire State! We had a lovely walk through Central Park, and went for dinner that evening.
Tuesday was our final day in New York, and the final day of our World Trip! It was a very strange feeling! We went for a lovely walk through Central Park, which is so huge you could stay there for hours! We then went to the National History Museum and bought tickets for the afternoon. We had a Shake Shack burger for lunch (Ben's new favourite!) and headed back to the museum. We had paid to visit four extra exhibitions within the museum, including the planetarium, which was really good.
We went back to the hotel for a bit of a relax before going out for dinner later at the Chicago Rock Cafe. After a lovely last meal we headed up the Rockefeller Centre for the view at night. It is absolutely breathtaking! We had a wonderful last evening.
We had an eventful trip to Vegas! We got to the bus station with plenty of time to catch our 8.30am bus, however, when we got there the scene that greeted us was not good! there were just tons and tons of people queueing, loads of them! People had clearly been there all night, and things were nuts! We found out quite quickly that the three previous buses to Vegas had not turned up, so there was a bit of a backlog of people wanting to get to Vegas!!! It was also Saturday 2nd July, so Independence day weekend!!! Ben got in the queue to pick up our tickets, and I got in the very long queue of people wanting to get to Vegas! While waiting, I saw a sign about priority boarding, where you can pay $5 each to guarantee your seat (a given you would think if you had booked a ticket, but not always!) and be the first to get on the bus. I got Ben to enquire about this, as it also meant you went to wait in a different less crowded area, which we did, and it all worked out well! I really don't know why more people didn't cotton on, but glad they didn't or we would have been in trouble! They were laying on more buses, to try and sort out the problem, and after hours of waiting, a few buses turned up, and we were some of the first to get on! After a rocky start, we were on our way! It is only about a four hour trip from LA to Vegas, which was nothing compared to what we'd been used to!
When we arrived we got off the bus and my eyes nearly dried right up! It was about 40 degrees! We got a taxi to our hotel, The Stratosphere! It is at one of the ends of The Strip, and is quite noticable, as it is tall and thin, and has rollercoasters on the roof! We went straight to our room, which was a beautiful, huge room with a huge bed! It was total luxury! We had a great first night, we stayed in our hotel casino and signed up to the loyalty card which gave you discounts for the buffet, and you got points every time you gamlbed. We also went to the Information Desk, but found out that in Vegas hotels the Info Desks are not places to get tourist advice, they are places to get signed up for Time Share talks! We managed to get ourselves signed up for one the next day! We had a very late night, and it's true what they say about you losing any sense of time in Vegas casinos! The drinks are free as long as you're gambling, so we had a few, and had a fun night!
The next morning we had a mahoosive lie in! We didn't get up until midday, which was such a luxury after so many days of sightseeing and making the most of our days, it was lovely to know we had 7 days here, so there was no immediate rush! We had the first of many buffets for lunch, which was yummy, and there was so much choice! We then got picke up for the Time Share presentation, which we were promised was only a two hour committment and some free food. We also got given free tickets to a hypnosis show, $100 to spend in our casino, and a free buffet, so for all the free stuff we were happy to go along to listen and then leave! But as with all these things, we got sucked in a bit, and ended up staying a LOT longer than we had planned. However, I still to this day think it was something we would have used, and although I am glad we didn't sign up to it, as we are saving for a house and it would be a monthly committment we could do without, I think it was actually a good idea! We evertually walked away, having wasted the whole afternoon! However, we were happy with our freebies, and we managed to make $100 of actual cash from our $100 voucher in the casino, so that was fab! That evening we walked up the strip, and took in some of the sights and sounds! It is funny how hot it still was even really late at night! We went to Planet Hollywood and had a look around and got some dinner. Back at our hotel casino we won on one of our favourite slot machines 'Deal or No Deal', we actually did pretty well and got nearly $50 out of it! My other favourite slot was the Dirty Dancing machine!!!! We had a great time gambling, which seems funny, but we set a limit and stuck to it, and the money usually lasted us all night, and we often walked away with more than we started with!
The rest of the week passed with late nights and lie ins, lots of time lazing by the hotel pool, and having a really good time! We managed to visit all the big casinos, like Ceasers Palace, the Venetian and New York, New York where we rode the famous Yellow Taxi ride! We ended up going to one more time share (mainly for the free stuff!), and went to see The Blue Man Group show, which was a fun, but very odd experience!!! We also went to a live hypnosis show, which was absolutely hilarious!!! We even went back another night as it was so funny! Ben and I had made a pact to go up on stage (as he invites anyone who wants to, to go up at the beginning) if we came again, but Ben chickened out!!!! I still went up! He does a few things to all the people on stage, and then begins to whittle it down, and send people back to their seats, I was one of the last to be sent back, and had been merrily playing my violin until that point! It was a weird sensation almost like being so relaxed, like when you are snoozing when you're alarm has gone off but you don't actually have to get up!
We had decided to visit the Grand Canyon while we were so near it, but couldn't decide how to see it! We nearly booked a helicopter ride, which was way expensive, but much less time, but you land in the canyon, not on the edge of it, which we weren't sure we wanted to do. The other option was a coach trip, but the whole days was something 19 hours, with a mega early start, long bus ride, time at the Canyon, and then a long bus ride back! It was cheaper, and also we decided we wanted to see the Canyon from the top, rather than from inside it, so we booked the coach trip. It was a long day! However, it was great! We stopped on route 66 on the way, and went in a few gimiky shops and heard the story of Angel, the man who saved route 66 from extinction! We also stopped at the Hoover Damn on the way to have a look at that feat of engineering! The Grand Canyon was AMAZING! it was truely breathtaking, and totally worth the trip! We were lucky enough to spend a couple of hours walking around in the sunshine, and then we headed back to the entrance area to get an ice cream before heading back. We were sooo lucky, as while we were inside getting our ice cream the heavens opened and it rained soooo hard!!!! Some people were half an hours walk from the entrance, and there is no cover whatsoever, they were drenched to the bone! We all had to get on the bus as the rain let up, and many people had a rather soggy journey home!
Our other favourite thing in Vegas was the Freemont Experience! It's basically a way to get people back to Old Vegas, where it all began, and away from The Strip, and the whole area has this really fun vibe. It's where there is a huge overhead light show in the street, and it is sooo cool! The light show starts every 15 minutes, and is usually themed, the first one we saw was Queen themed. Everyone stops in the street and watches it, the music blares out, and it is brilliant! We had a fab evening, a great seafood buffet at one of the casinos, and played on the slots, which are known for being 'looser' than the strip ones! The Freemont Experience certainly was a highlight.
All in all we had an absolutely fantastic week in Vegas!!!!!
Posted by
Sarah O'Neill
,
10:13
We arrived in LA on Tuesday 28th June, quite late, so we just got in a taxi and headed straight for our accommodation. We had spent a long time researching where to stay in LA, and one place stood out for it's value and the fact it looked really nice. It was called 'Stay On Beverly', and was billed as a hostel for adults. There was no reception desk or anything like that, a few days before we arrived the guy emailed us a code to let us through the front door. We also had a code to get into our bedroom. The bathrooms were communal, but very nice, and really modern and clean. We arrived fine, got in the door and found our room, which was a plain, decent sized room, with a very comfy bed and IPod dock and a flat screen TV on the wall, perfect! Unfortunately the internet was not working, which was a real problem as we had planned to find our way around using the wonderful world wide web once we had arrived! We had no idea how to get anywhere, and as it wasn't really a hotel kinda place there were no brochures etc!!! So, I text the owner guy even though it was late, in the hope that he could sort it by morning. Second later there was a knock at the door, and we were in luck, the owner was there, and he was able to sort it right away but turning it off and on again (that old trick!) and showed us where the switch was if it happened again! So, we had the internet up and running, a cup of tea from the little breakfast station in the corridor, and began to form our plans!
The next morning we got up and caught the bus to the underground station, the bus stop was just a one minute walk from our hostel. We assumed we could buy tickets on the bus, but they expected us to have pre-paid tickets, when we asked where we could get one, the man looked at us, and then waved us on and said don't worry, which was great! The short bus ride took us to the underground station where we could get all day passes. Ben is always fab to have around when negotiating underground systems, so I just follow him! We got straight to Hollywood Boulevard! You come up escalators onto a bustling street, with the famous stars in the pavement! We had a walk around, found the Chinese Theatre where the original handprints in the concrete are, and lots of people dressed as famous celebs mill around for photos and tips. We had a good walk along Hollywood Boulevard, the weather was really hot, and we soaked up the atmosphere! We went to the best place to see the Hollywood sign, which is kind of in a bit mall type area, with three levels of very open walkways that give you a good view and perfect photo opp. It is a lot further away than you imagine, and doesn't actually come out that well in photos, but it is the only spot for a photo, unless you venture off the beaten track and try to get closer, but it was far too hot to bother! We were hanging around the Chinese Theatre area as we had heard that they give out free tickets to see live tapings of comedy shows sometimes, but we hadn't seen anyone that looked like they were doing that! So we gave up and booked a tour to 'See the Star's Homes' instead. Nearly as soon as we had done that, a man approached us and offered us tickets to a live taping of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson that afternoon!!! So, we took the tickets, and were luckily able to rearrange our Star Homes tour for the next day! We had a quick lunch, and had to get a bus to the CBS studios. We had a bit of time queueing, where we saw people ready to go and be the audience in The Price is Right, as they all had names and numbers, which would have been really fun to see, and possibly be in! As we were waiting, a comedian came to get the crowd going so they would make a good audience, so that was quite fun! We eventually got into the studio, and the comedian guy was on hand to keep the atmosphere buzzing inbetween breaks and stuff. The show was very funny, and the guy Craig Ferguson (a Scot) was great. The music was Eliza Doolittle, and that was fab, but that was going to aired on a different show, not that night. The other guests were not that memorable, a fat comedian that we didn't know, and Mary Louise Parker, who stars in the show Weeds, but she was a little funny and didn't make Craig's job easy!!!! It was so fun to be there anyway, and to have been in a live studio! The show was on that night, but we only caught the beginning as it was on Late Late, and we were tired after our first day in Hollywood!
The next day we had our Tour of the Stars Homes! It was us and a bunch of others, about 16 altogether in a large open top mini van type thing, with a fun guide! We got taken all around the Hollywood hills, and shown mostly hedge rows and gates, and were told who lived behind them! I was excited to see Angela Lansbury's house (star of Murder She Wrote!) and Michael Jackson's old home where he died. After the tour, we got a ticket for an Open top Bus ride, with a 2 day pass, so we could use it to get around. We headed for Rodeo Drive, and had some good commentary on the way. Enjoyed walking up Rodeo Drive, but was extremely expensive!!!!!! We got the bus back to Hollywood Boulevard, and on the way we stopped at The Grove a famers market area, which we thought we could have tea at. It was a brilliant place, with a shopping area, and also a huge farmers market, open until late. It was hard to choose what to have for dinner, but we both went for the Gumbo! It was good! We got the bus back to Hollywood, then the underground and bus back to our hostel, which took quite a while, but we could sit down and relax after a long day exploring!
On our last day we used our open top bus ticket to get to the beach. This was not infact the best way to get there, and was quite a long way, but enjoyed the commentary on the way! We went to Venice Beach, which has a huge pier, and you can walk for miles along all the different area, including Muscle Beach, where all the men work out, and along the walkway where you often see rollerbladers in the movies! We walked a long way, and saw lots, and then turned back to walk back to where we started! We had lunch at Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co, which is straight out of Forest Gump! it was delish! We then lazed on the beach for a while, before catching our bus back to Hollywood, and then the underground and bus back to the hostel to pack for our early morning bus to Vegas!!!!!
We had a brilliant experience on the AMTRAK, it was a long journey, but very confortable! We had plenty of room, plug sockets for the laptop and plenty to watch! The views were really picturesque, and it was an amazing way to see the country! At ten ish the lights were turned down, pillows and blankets given out, and our chairs reclined so we could sleep! We had quite a good night's sleep, and arrived in San Francisco at about 9am.
We got a taxi to our hotel, and found out it was the big Gay Pride Parade that day. Luckily we had arrived just before all the roads were shut off, so we could get to the hotel. We were able to check in early which was great, so we dumped our bags, had a quick shower, and then headed out to see what was going on! It was a beautiful day, and the parade atmosphere was great! There were absolutely loads of people lining the streets, so many that you couldn't really see the parade, but we caught glimpses, and saw lots of 'colourful' people around, even a few naked ones! We had an explore of the city, rode a trolley, and did a LOT of walking!!!!
The next day we went on an open top bus tour in the morning, which would get us to the right place to go and visit 'The Rock', aka Alcztraz! We had pre-booked our tickets a few weeks before to make sure we got to go, as it's one of Ben's favourite films! That day was MUCH colder than the previous!!!! But by time I had realised this, it was too late to go back and get more clothes, so spent the time on the open top bus freezing (and whinging)! We saw all the sights, including the Golden Gate Bridge, although by the time we got there the famous fog had descended! But it looked picturesque anyway! I have a great picture of me next to it, looking very cold!!!
We got to the coastal area called Fisherman's wharf, where we would catch the ferry to The Rock, and had some lunch and wondered around. I also bought a San Francisco touristy fleece to warm me up, and keep me warm on the ferry! This seemed to make the sun come out!!!
After a nice lunch, we headed to the right pier to catch our ferry. We had to queue for a while, and then had a very touristy photo taken with a fake backdrop of The Rock, and then we got on th short ferry ride accross. We were greeted by a park ranger guy who gave us a quick talk and idea of what we could see. We went straight to watch a video about the island, which apart from being famous for being a prison, was also inhabited by Native American Indian Protestors, which there was evidence of throughout. We went through to the old shower room, where we were given our audio tour headphones, and began the audio tour. The tour was excellent! It captured the place really weel, with a guide's commentary but also sounds from the prison, tales from old prisoners, and stories of what happened. We went through the whole place, and heard many interesting tales. After a great afternoon we headed back to the bus to get back to our hotel to meet up with some friends we had made travelling. When we had been in Fiji, staying on Barefoot Island (the most remote island we stayed on), with only four other guests at one point, we met Michele and Casey who were from San Francisco! It got weirder when we talked about which hotel we had booked, when Michele said she worked in the bar at that very hotel!!!! So, we had got in touch with them and arranged to meet up! We got back just in time, and had a great time with them. We had a few drinks and some nibbles, and it was so good to see them again. We made sure they promised to visit us if they ever came to England!!!
On Tuesday we packed up our stuff and headed out for breakfast at an all American diner! Then we headed back to the hotel, grabbed our bags and got a taxi to the AMTRAK station. We got on a train to Los Angeles!!!!
Posted by
Sarah O'Neill
,
10:14
So, it is now February half term, and I am finding the time to write the end of the blog again! It has been months since we got back, and seems like a lifetime ago that we were away adventuring, as we have now settled right back into 'normal' life again! Ben and I have escaped to a lovely cottage in the Peak District for a week away, and I finally have some time to sit and finish what I started!
So, we had an eventful trip to the Libby's on the Greyhound. We thought we'd be smart and get the overnight bus to save a night's accommodation, however, this turned out to be a bad plan! The bus was to Seattle, then a couple of hours waiting around in the Seattle Greyhound bus station at midnight, which is a cold and yucky hovel! Then a few hours to Portland, and more waiting around, until we finally got on teh bus to Salem! But it was totally worth it!!!! David came to pick us up at half seven in the morning, and bought Hope along for the ride! It was so great to see him and Hopem but she was really shy at first!
It was only a short ride to the house, and it was so good to see Rachel, Elijah and Lily and to meet Sunday!!!! We had a lovely day settling in, and it was just like old times! Rachel and I had a wonderful time catching up and just being together again! It was great to be there with Ben for once, as when I usually visit it is just me. He spent time getting to know the kids, and enjoyed playing Mario with Elijah! The next day David had a day off work, so we all went to the coast for the day. We had a great day at the Outlet shops, and went to Mo's for lunch for clam chowder. We had a great afternoon at the beach, and then strolling along the seafront and looking at the sea lions!
We had a fab time spending 10 days with the Libby's! Rachel and I got to hang out lots, and Ben babysat the kids on several occassions so we could go out together for coffee or to get our nails done! We introduced Ben to the wonderful world of French Press coffee drive through which became a nearly daily ocurance, and we are looking forward to a Jay Brulee when we go back at Easter to visit this year! Ben also enjoyed sampling all the many foods he had heard about! We enjoyed some home cooking from Rachel which is always awesome! He also got to sample the pop and dog for $1.50 at Costco, and took Elijah all around to take all the free samples!
On one of the days Ben spent a whole morning filling up water balloons and setting up a water fight for the kids, which was brilliant fun! We all had water pistols and got in our cossies, and just let loose with all the water! It was a brilliant afternoon!
Ben and I also got to hang out with Tom a few times which was fab! Since Ben had introduced Tom to the delights of English Cider, Tom was keen to reciprocate, and bought round a medley of different ciders for Ben to try! He took us to where he spent time when he was younger, by the river, and showed us some of the sights! He also took Ben on his search for the best burger, which was fun! Tom also took Ben out a few other times, which was great for them, and for Rachel and I to have girly nights! Rachel and I went out one day for a nice haircut, which was my first in 10 months, and was totally needed! Then she helped dye my hair one night too!
We were lucky enough to be there for Lily's fourth birthday, which was a great day! We bought all the kids presents as we had missed their birthdays, so had great fun watching them all open them! Lily had a birthday party in the park, with all her friends, and it was fab to be there!
We had such a wonderful time at the Libby's, and it was so good to be a part of their family again, and for Ben to be there too! We had a lovely last day at Silver Creek Falls with Tom and Rachel Stevenson too!
We had a tearful goodbye on Saturday 25th June, and although Rachel was going to drive us to the train station, it ended up being Tom as Rachel had locked her keys in the car!!!! So, after tears on the driveway, Tom drove us to get the AMTRAK, another new experience! After a small issue when Ben panicked and couldn't find the tickets when the train pulled into the station, and a few choice expletives from me, we waved goodbye to Tom, and were on our way to San Francisco!
On Sunday 12th June we crossed the border and headed into Canada. We had booked our hotel in Vancouver, and had read a lot of reviews! We knew it wasn't in the best area, but most people had commented that it was fine and they felt safe, so we plumped for it as the price was right! When we got there we decided to go straight out for a walk to explore. It was like nothing I have ever seen! The area we were in is called East Hastings, and is renowned to be a dodgy area, with lots of homeless people, however, this does not paint the right picture. Imagine walking down the street, and finding it hard to make your way through the crowds, nut the crowds are the homeless people. Lying on the street or pushing shopping trolleys up and down, there are l
iterally hundreds of them along this street. I also saw someone using a crack pipe for the first time, and in my naivity had to ask Ben what it was! This became a very common sight while we were there. We also saw women propositioning men frequently, and lots more drug abuse. It was very sad, and such an eye opener, as it is so in your face. Vancouver is one of the mildest places in Canada, and has a lot of social support for the homeless etc, which is why there is such a huge population, and East Hastings seems to be the place they congragate, as when you turn off this street, things return to 'normality'. Vancouver is a very beautiful city and when you get near the water it is even nicer. There was a lovely old part of town, Gastown, which had some old buildings and a steam powered clock! We wondered around and explored, and also booked a Whale watching tour for the next day.
The whale watching tour was a good day out, a 3 hour boat trip to the spot to see them, and we did see them! However, the boats can not get closer than 50m, and they stay even further away than this, so you actually don't get to see the Killer Whales that well, which is a shame.
It was a lot of money for what it was, but we had a good day out, and did get some pics, even though the whales are pretty small! The boat trip was lovely and we got to see some beautiful scenery! When we got back, we decided to stay in town, as the Canucks (the ice hockey team!) were playing in a very important game, which was being shown on big screens in the town. So we found a piece of pavement to sit on and got into the game spirit, it was great atmosphere!
On Tuesday we went to Granville Island, a fun market place where we had a nice lunch! In the afternoon we explored Stanley Park, a huge park in
the city, with lots of walks and things to see! We saw some awesome totem poles and beautiful scenery! On Wednesday we booked to go on a bus trip to the Capoline Suspension Bridge, which is a very old suspension bridge
and a kind of little theme park area. We enjoyed lunch there, and a stroll around, and of course over the bridge! On the other side there were some treetop walks which we did, before heading back on the bus. We got our stuff from the hotel, and headed to the greyhound station for our overnight trip to Salem, Oregon, to see the libby's!!!
"An Around-the-World-Ticket for Two, Please."
