Our journey continues! We left Montreal on the 4th after having a great time in this truly bilingual city. The bus to Boston was quite rough. For starters, the bus ride begun around 11 at night and it was full so we were all squished into the back seat next to the toilet. When the main inside lights went off these stupid blue lights came on over our seat (anti-needle lights perhaps). Next up, after trying to sleep and failing miserably for a few hours, we reached the U.S. border. It wasn’t as insane as we were told. We were asked a few questions, had our prints and photos taken, we paid our $6 entry fee into the amusement park that is America and we were on our way!
The situation on the bus didn’t improve, but I kind of drifted in and out of consciousness until we arrived to Boston. From there, everything was good! We were luckily able to check-in to the Holiday Inn very early (about 8.30AM) which was excellent because we had virtually no sleep and their normal check-in time was 4PM. So we all crashed for a few hours, then got the handy courtesy bus downtown. Boston was very beautiful. Lots of green spaces, plenty of activities and friendly people. The waterside was amazing.
So we spent the 5th cruising Boston and recovering from our hellish bus ride. It was a very relaxing day by the end of it. On the 6th we went to Harvard, down the road from out hotel, and then started our trek to New York City! After getting off the bus we were thrown onto the confusing, very busy and ‘every person for themselves’ subway system. We made it, after discovering the lack of elevators and having to lug our luggage up seemingly endless flights of stairs. But after all that we arrived at our hotel on 94th and Broadway, mid-upper Manhattan. The place wasn’t as good as Boston, but it was a place to rest our heads - and we needed it! The next four days were an insane whirlwind of cramming one of (if not the) most famous city in the world into a few days.
To sumarise, here’s what we did. Statue of Liberty (from a distance, on a boat, up-close and personal AND on a helicopter), Wall Street, the United Nations buildings, Time Square, shopping on the famous 5th avenue, the 102nd floor of the Empire State Building, an errie glimpse at ground zero where the two main buildings of the World Trade Centre once stood, a brief stint in Central Park, Stonewall, Grenwich village, chocolate frappe in Trump Tower, some random wandering around and a bunch of time getting familiar with the subway. It was insane, the experience of a life time, exhausting and exhilirating all in one. I’d like to come back one day and spend some more time here, but not for a while yet.
We left NYC on the 10th and arrived in Washington DC. It’s a nice place to stop in for a day or so, but I wouldn’t want to stay here any longer than that. The place we’re staying - and from the feel of it, anywhere outside the core of the city - is a bit of a dump. But we did go to the White House, the Capital Building and a few parts of the Smithsonian which was great. We also met up with a friend of mine Kim and her friend Hollie who showed us around and took as on a tour of the un-National Aquarium. Free the turtles!
Photos coming as soon as I can get them off Casey’s computer. There are some amazing ones! But now, I must sleep for our early flight to Florida. I’m missing everyone very much, and looking forward to coming home and seeing everyone.