Band Photography

Goodbye Big Apple

After the disastrous hostel experience, my last couple of days in New York were pretty perfect. My new hostel was such fun. It has a huge courtyard where everyone can eat breakfast in the sunshine, clean bedrooms, friendly staff and good vibes. I met some really sweet people there. That is the best part about hostelling - it is such a social way of travelling - and everyone has an interesting story to tell.

        One very sweet thing that happened - I was doing some Soho shopping, and one of the guests from the hostel from hell happened to be in the same shop. She recognised me and came over to make sure  was ok. It's amazing how tiny huge cities can be :)

     I spent my last evening on the roof of one of New York's tall buildings, supping cocktails and watching all the lights come on in the city as the sun set - sublime!

Goldilocks in New York part 2 (aka - who is that sleeping in my bed?)

Do not stay in the Chelsea Spot hostel if you can avoid it. I arrived there too early to check in, and the guy behind the desk couldn't even be bothered to lift his head off the desk to tell me so. I left my backpack in the unlocked cupboard and went off to kill a couple of hours. When I came back I was told the room still wasn't ready, but I could use the common room if I liked. About half an hour later the guy came and gave me my key (the people at this hostel haven't heard of courtesy or smiling)

     I found my way to my dorm, occupied by all men except for myself. The beds were so close together I may as well have been sleeping with the guy in the bed next to mine - minimal floor space. So I ditched my bag and went out for the evening.

        I guess I got back at about midnight, very tired, very sweaty, very bad earache. I went to my room only to find someone sleeping in my bed. AAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH! So I had to spend the next hour trying to find another bed somewhere in new york. The management at the chelsea spot hostel were rude and unhelpful. The rooms are tiny and not very clean. The common area is miserable. There was one member of staff there who was very sweet and sympathetic towards me during my 1am expletive filled rant.

       Thankfully I found a bed at the lovely Chelsea International hostel - which I highly recommend. Its cheap, clean and has a fun atmosphere.

RANT OVER!

Philly Fun

Philadelphia is beautiful! It felt like a really romantic town. It's a bit sparse on hostels though, and when my cab pulled into a particularly dodgy looking backstreet and dropped me off opposite a club with a plethora of randoms hanging out in the rain gasping on their fags, I felt a little timid. But the hostel turned out to be great fun, clean with lovely staff , even to the extent of phoning round all the local book stores for me to find a copy of fight club so I wouldn't have to go out in the rain. And man did it rain! Big rain accompanied by a crashing thunder storm, lovely stuff. 

      I only had one whole day in Philly so I asked the guy at the desk where I'd find a decent coffee place. He sent me to a cafe round the corner from the hostel, hidden down a cute cobbled street. Possibly the first good cup of cafe coffee I've had in America, and wow the apple cake is mmmmmmm!!! I asked the guys there where a person with one day in the city should go, they drew me a little map to take me to The Mutter Museum. Basically a museum full of preserved diseased human remains - slightly disgusting but fascinating at the same time, I think.

       

In the Loop

My visit to Chicago was way too brief, I was treated this time around though. I stayed in a friend’s beautiful apartment rather than hostelling it. This also meant I got to see Chicago from a local’s point of view and was introduced to the very cool, very unique “Richard’s Bar”, possibly the closest I’ve come to a pub since I’ve been here.

I also revisited the museum of contemporary art and the bean, this time in the rain - which was actually quite cool as it meant I could shoot it in a different way.

After doing the cultural thing I of course had to do the shopping thing. I found an amazing chocolate shop where I browsed for a while before buying - and sampled some free choccies ;)

I do love Chicago’s train system. It’s like having the london underground weaving its way just over street level (except that the trains are shiny silver). Very cool. 

I am writing this on the train from Chicago to Philadelphia. It is a long haul and we are running two hours late, with no explanations being given as to why. The staff on this train are uncharacteristically rude and uncommunicative. I also had the worst snorer I have ever encountered in the seat behind me last night. Roll on Philly!

Montreal mini break

Montreal has felt like a holiday in a holiday - partly due to the fact that niagara was so horrific, but also cos I've been here for a full five days, so its actually felt like rest rather than the exhausting experience that backpacking can be. The city felt like a breath of fresh air after leaving the apparent ghost town near US falls. Of course I'd completely forgotten that I may have to dig out some of my secondary school french education while I was here - thankfully most people speak English too.

Despite the fact that I have been here for a few days - I don't seem to have fitted in much sight seeing. The hostel here has a very party atmosphere so most of the time is spent socialising and going on pub crawls. Its the HI hostel - I highly recommend it ;)

The climb up the mountain on the first day was really worth it - beautiful view of the city, and walking back down through the park (designed by the guy who did central park nyc apparently) by the lake in the sunshine was perfect. 

I was told that the old town was a must - full of pretty buildings etc - unfortunately I left my trip there til the last day - and the stifling heat has made it difficult to actually be outside.

Next stop - Chicago - looking forward to meeting my host ;)