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 ;)

Niagara Falls

I've been trying to decide if the twelve hour train journey was worth it. Niagara is a very strange place and not one that I will ever return to out of choice. The falls are impressive, and the small green area surrounding them is pretty, but Niagara itself feels almost like a ghost town.

 The streets are lined with the prettiest little houses - mostly condemned due to them being empty since the demise of the local car industry. There is little to here for entertainment other than a few very local bars. The walk from my hostel to the falls was only 15 minutes - but hard work as it was along a very wide busy freeway.

Effort has been put into making visitors time at the falls more than just looking at tons of water falling. The falls are lit up at night and they have a short firework display twice a week. There are boat rides and walks through the falling water. But these activities aint cheap. There is also a very tiny and unimpressive aquarium, including three, very sadly, blind sealions.

There are some very bizarre restriction policies at the hostel I stayed in as well - with deposits required for just about everything.

My advice to anyone wanting to visit the falls - drive there - stay for a few hours - get out!

MOMA

Cannot believe I missed MOMA last time I visited New York. Six floors of breathtaking art work. Probably the most impressive collection I've seen. And so many of my favourite pieces - most notably Giacometti, but also "Starry Night", Chagall, Kandinski, Rothko - as well as some impressive new exhibits. I wandered round for hours - something I havent done for years in a gallery. I usually get restless after an hour at best!

I loved the Guggenhiem as well, but for the building not the exhibitions - although some of the design models were very cool.

Well with the culture stuff out of the way I went to my favourite dehli place on Ludlow then caught some rather bland singer songwriter in "the Living Room" - the wine was good though ;)

Right - ten hour train journey ahead of me - I hope niagara is worth it :(

Goldilocks in New York

Talk about hard to please - I've been in NY for less then a week and changed my hostel three times - the first one was too far north, the second one was too expensive - the third one sadly isnt just right- but the location is perfect and its dirt cheap - it does resemble one of the prison cell blocks in alcatraz - pretty grim!

But other than that New York continues to entrance me more each day - sadly ill be leaving tomorrow, but thats ok - ill be back in a couple of weeks time before flying home. 

I've spent today trying to do some of the obligatory touristy stuff. The empire state building experience begins in a pretty horrible way. hundreds of people being herded like cattle through roped zig-zags, but OH MY LORD it is so worth it. The views make the city even more beautiful. Breathtaking!!!

And if I thought LA train station was classy - it ain't got nothing on Grand Central!!!! Could've stayed there for hours soaking up the atmos.

On a slightly less classy note - I do appear to have been eaten alive in the night - but I guess it cant all be a bed of roses ;)

The best laid plans...

Now I understand why america appears to be obsessed with aircon. The city heat in summer is so stifling it does make breathing a serious issue! The evenings are perfect though - full of summer buzz! 

    I had great plans to land in NYC then head to Atlanta the next day to catch an Elbow gig. Sadly this ain't gonna happen. All the trains south are booked for days. So Elbow will have to wait for my company til September - their loss ;) It has meant that I've spent a glorious few days rediscovering New York. The best way to find cool places in nyc is to know a new yorker - luckily I do. My second night here I was treated to a night of knocking back the most delicious champagne in the beautiful atmosphere of the champagne bar in greenwich village (warning - just cos its pink and bubbly doesn't mean the hangover is gonna be any less evil - ouch)  http://www.bubblelounge.com/new-york/ I also discovered the best places to hang out are the bars that don't actually look like bars from the outside - again you really have to know someone in the know ;) http://www.macaonyc.com/     

So - plan B - head north...    

BFN London

Trying to make the most of the "being a teacher's best perk" - long summer holidays - I'm off to explore some of the bits of America that I missed last time - as well as spending a bit more time in new york, 4 days really wasn't enough. My route is sketchy at the moment, but that's good. I was being way too ambitious trying to get from east coast to west coast last time and ended up missing so much. I'm hoping to start in New York, head to Georgia for an elbow gig. Carry on down to Florida. Then gradually make my way north - taking in Charleston, Philly, Maine, Niagara Falls and maybe Montreal and Chicago. Then finishing back in NYC for some fun. Of course all of this is subject to change ;) 

        

Glastonbury 2009

Glasto in the sunshine - what a bizarre concept! There was I equipped with ill fitting wellies and stupid looking pac-a-mac, and all I got was sun sun sun! Actually thats a complete lie - there was a full on, ground shaking, raining all night experience waiting to greet me on the Thursday. My badly chosen pink flowery pop up tent could not withstand the torrent! I woke up on Friday morning with that swimming feeling, my airbed was all but floating!!!

Not to worry - nothing a few free glasto newspapers and towels couldn't fix. My fault for trying to fit a two man airbed into a two man tent - what was I thinking?!

The only other minor hiccup of the weekend was the three million blisters I collected on my feet. I HATE wellies - the dance tents were definitely a no no with my sore toes.

My highlights were Bon Iver - wow I am in love with Justin (I think thats his name) and Blur - Damon gave his all, and Jarvis Cocker on the John Peel stage. The fun acts for me were The Specials and Madness - all of us lovin the nutty boys in the sunshine :)

Found both Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young pretty boring - just not my thing I guess.

Of course Glasto 2009 will always be the time and place that I heard of Michael Jackson's death.

There were the usual festival joys of beautifully well kept toilets, running hot and and cold water, and cordon bleu cuisine ;)

The weekend ended as it began - a thunderstorm at 2am, just as I was heading off to queue for a coach. Waterproof ponchos were handed out - along with free serving of dunkirk spirit. Arrived home at 9.30am - roll on glasto 2010

Anyone still out there?

Well I'm not travelling at the mo - but I thought I'd carry on blogging anyway.  Since getting back from the states a lot of my spare time has been taken up rehearsing with three other musicians. Gene Linford is a singer songwriter who got in touch with me a couple of months ago looking for a cellist - and along with him on voice and guitar, Rachel on violin, Saki on piano and myself on cello of course, we had our first gig together at the stage door last saturday. It was the most fun I've ever had...with or without my clothes on ;) We have quite a few other london gigs coming up in the next couple of months - so lots more fun to come :) There really is nothing quite like making music with like minded artists!

http://www.myspace.com/genelinford    

5080 miles, 4 time zones, 7 cities and 14 states ...phew

Wow - I can't believe I actually managed to do it. The most fun I have ever had! So pleased I'm finishing with Frisco as well - this is such a unique place. I love the green tortoise hostel - very funky and very cheap. They even throw in free dinner three nights a week, free breakfasts, free saunas and live music. The atmos is great too - laid back and partyish - if that makes sense. I think the lack of sleep and nomadic lifestyle is starting to adle my brain a little.

Sadly due to a mix up with my flights I'm having to come home a day early, so I've found myself rushing around to fit in the traditional tourist stuff in Frisco. Alcatraz was a really interesting part of my visit - quite chilling. But I also loved my cable car ride, scary though it was, and the seal colony was weird - dozens of lumps of blubber just laid out on rafts. The Golden Gate Bridge is stunning of course and the architecture here is very pretty. But man those inclines - my ankles are killing me!!!

I'm hoping to fit in a few more things before I leave this incredible country - some of the beat haunts would be cool, and maybe amoeba records. But I have made some interesting contacts and great friends. Am looking into doing some teaching over here. I will be back!!!

la la land

LA doesn't really count as part of my trip - but as it was the classiest train station I've ever been stranded in I thought I'd mention it. This leg of my trip holds the record for being the loooooooooongest. Flagstaff to san Fran is 26 hours...ish. But I did have the adorable James to keep me company for the first few hours - have fun in Vegas James - see you in London for a rematch ;) (so good to finally find someone I can beat at pool)

The trouble with travelling like this is it is heartbreaking everytime you move on - three days in a city gives you just enough time to let you know you wanna stay for longer. Flagstaff was a real surprise as I thought it was gonna be just about experiencing the great outdoors - but it ended up being the most sociable hostel I've stayed in. Twas fun!

The LA to San Fran train was a little more luxurious. It actually had a games room with huge arcade video games, a very witty host (announcing that we were about to experience an unprecedented eclipse of the sun at 5.57 - just as we entered a tunnel - ha ha) and detailed information on places of interest as we travelled through. But still we were treated to freezing air con throughout aagghh!!!!