TravelStream™ news feed for member chrisuk07 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/chrisuk07 en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 14 Jun 2009 08:58:31 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/5/1244952060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/5/1244952060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/5/1244952060/tpod.html Sun, 14 Jun 2009 08:58:31 -0400 A short hop accross the pond

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Albany, New York, United States

This morning we went for breakfast at the Quincy Market. Loads of little food places. It was surprisingly quiet. I just went for the standard eggs and bacon combo. Jumped on a subway to the airport to pick up our hire car after that, and then got onto the I-90 Massachusetts Pike road heading west on our way to up-state New York, with the planned first stop of Springfield!
Lots of tolls, relieving us of plenty of small change.

There wasn’t a fixed plan for today…we did intend to get up to Lake George and stay there for the night, but warnings of 1 inch of snow per hour, plus a crash further along the I-90, made us all agree that taking an unscheduled stop in Albany for the night was a good bet. So that’s where I am now, the state capital of New York. Great drive here, typical big landscape, only with snow so it’s great for driving views. We’ve planned a bit of sightseeing for tomorrow, and then we’re hoping to get to Lake George later in the day. After taking a very wrong turn (even though we followed signs for the entertainment district...perhaps we were meant to be the entertainment?) and ending up in a really run down area full of boarded up houses and questionable looking people, we ended up downtown in a cafe where we checked out hotels. There was a traveller by himself, which I wasn't expecting. He had very little in the way of banter, mind, so the conversation was brief.

The Best Western, a few miles out of the centre is just $95 for the night, so works out well split 3 ways. It’s pretty great heading out of a major city in the US without knowing where you will be by the end of the day.

Just had a good steak and a few beers (hmm, there is definitely a trend forming here..), will probably catch an early night.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/5/1244952000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/5/1244952000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/5/1244952000/tpod.html Sun, 14 Jun 2009 08:57:41 -0400 A short hop accross the pond

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Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Well, arrived in Boston after a great flight. I really am a fan of Northwest. As always, I relieved them of a reasonable chunk of their drinks trolley stock. Got the usual grilling from Customs & Border Protection though! "How much money do you have?", "Not much, I've brought my cash card","Sir. I asked you how much money you had!" Smile and nod. Yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir!

Met friends in Logan airport in and then headed to our hotel. They had warm chocolate chip cookies for us at reception, which were promptly devoured. Very nice indeed! Didn’t get up to much as it was about 8pm by the time we got sorted, so just headed to an Irish bar close by and then went for a steak at Flemings. Between three of us, we had one side and didn’t actually finish it – the onion rings were enormous. I do love the food in the US.

Yesterday was Superbowl sunday, and we made a very early start…we were out wandering by 8am. We walked the ‘Freedom Trail’, which is a great way to see the city, and it’s all free as it's just a case of following a coloured line around the city. There are lots of communities in Boston; we stopped and had a coffee in a shop in Little Italy. It reminded me of more civilised scenes from gangster films. Lots of character about the place. I managed to spill a load of my coffee though... We attempted to go to a Boston Celtics basketball game, but the only option we had was to pay $120 each to sit in three separate seats dotted in different parts of the stadium...and there wouldn't be much fun in doing that.

After several hours of wandering about we stopped off for a drink in the Cheers bar, which just seemed totally aimed at tourists, which isn’t really surprising I suppose. On the way out you are directed via gift shop! It's a tad tacky, and the beer isn't cheap, but it has to be done. We did get a tip from the barman for where to watch the Superbowl though, so that saved us the effort.

So after yet more wandering we had a quick rest in the hotel, and then made for the sports bar which was about a 15 minute walk for the hotel. We arrived, and then were immediately asked for I.D…which we had. But they wouldn’t take our driving licenses (certainly not from lack of trying) so we had to get a taxi back to the hotel to get our passports, and the cheeky driver reset the meter while he was waiting for us!! So…if you want to drink in Massachusetts, you need your passport. It was a bit annoying to return with the place much busier, to see no sign of the guy anywhere, and nobody asked for ID. We lost our seats at the bar too.

Superbowl was good, but there wasn’t really much atmosphere in the bar we were in, which was a bit disappointing. I was hoping for some of that real American ehthusiasm and over-exaggeration. I did enjoy pigging out on hot wings though, and several pints of Sam Adams, which is a great beer. Went to a few other bars after that, and then got a huge slice of pizza before heading back to the hotel just after midnight.

Tomorrow, we will go for breakfast and then collect our hire car. The plan is to head to Lake George.


]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/5/1233378000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/5/1233378000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/5/1233378000/tpod.html Sun, 14 Jun 2009 08:37:26 -0400 A short hop accross the pond

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Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands

I've really been getting around recently...mostly trips to Holland for work. I was last in the states just a few months ago - spending a month in Minnesota.

A colleague and friend of mine was at the office, which isn't too common as he's a home worker and lives miles away. I was roped into (well, I went freely) having a few beers after work. Over our beers, the usual subject of travel came up. He was soon to head off to the USA for a month, for a brief stop in the East before heading to the west coast. I recall the conversation rather well:

Me: "New York is really on my list. Got to go there!"
Pete: "You know...you should get a flight to Boston and come with us for the first week. We're going to New York for 3 nights"
Me: "Hmm....yeah but it's pretty short notice, I'll never get a flight. I'll check the website"

And, by the power of modern technology, I fired up KLM.com on my iPhone, and was astonished to find that flights were just shy of £350 return - an absolute bargain.

I agreed there and then that, subject to the bosses approval for a weeks holiday, I would be going.

The next morning came...I sheepishly put the idea to the boss...."No problem", he said. I was quite stunned, and promptly reached for the credit card.

So yeah, I'm off to the USA again, on a whim. Really one of those "well if that didn't happen..." moments.

I finished packing with just 10 minutes to spare before needing to go to the airport and I’m happy that I have everything. Great timing! Currently I am sat in Schiphol, enjoying a beer at the bar. A bar which I have been propping up alot lately! I get there at around 5.30pm their time, so that’s good timing to see a bit of the city, get some food and enjoy a few large Sam Adams!!

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/2/1227107400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/2/1227107400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/2/1227107400/tpod.html Wed, 10 Dec 2008 13:17:16 -0500 Sweet Home......Minnesota.

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Chicago, Illinois, United States

So we knocked off work early on Friday and jumped in the car for a 6 hour, 350 mile drive to Chicago. To us, this was fairly considerable. To our American colleagues, it was nothing. Our route would take us south-east on Interstate 90, spanning Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois. The directions were foolproof, with only around 5 steps; one of which was 5hours and 45 mins on the same road..

Our hotel room was quite small considering there was 4 of us sharing, but it was in a great location. We stayed in the Hyatt on East Wacker Drive, really close to Navy Peir and the shore of Lake Michigan, the second biggest of the Great Lakes. As we arrived late, the main agenda for the evening was to get something to eat, so what better than a famous Chicago Pizza Pie! And this thing was huge; we shared 2 SMALL pizzas between 4 of us (with chicken wings to start of course) and we were struggling by the end. It was nice, but nothing fantastic. Apparently we went to the wrong place; typical. After we'd stuffed our faces we had a quick wander round, and then a few beers back at the hotel before turning in. Very few beers; they were $10 each! Slightly more expensive than Rochester....

We got up fairly early on Saturday morning, we had a really packed day of sightseeing planned. First we went to Navy Pier, which is an old Navy-base-turned-tourist-attraction, plenty of shops and a kids theme park. We had breakfast there, and then headed to the John Hancock Center, which is the second tallest tower in Chicago. Sears Tower is the biggest, but John Hancock was closer and there isn't a great deal in it. One thing to say about the tower is that it is HUGE. At the time I was trying to figure out how it compared to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building which I visited last year; as it turns out, it's actually around twice as tall as the TMG, towering over 94 floors and 1200 feet, comparted to 45 floors of the TMG. Needless to say, the view from the top was impressive. There was audio commentary from David Schwimmer...that's Ross from Friends to you and I...which gave some interesting facts about Chicago. One fact to note...the name "Windy City" actually has nothing to do with wind. There are windier cities! It's all about politicians years ago.

After that, we met a friend of Fabrizio (my Italian colleage for this month) who showed us around the shops of Michigan Avenue (where I bought yet more clothes) and then took us to Millenium Park, which among other things, was home to a giant chrome jelly bean like sculpture.

A bit more wandering later and it was about time for a beer, so we headed to an Irish bar and had a few there. We fancied a steak, and luckily there was a Ruth's Chris just accross the road, who are rumoured to do some of the greatest strak in the world. Unfortunatley, it was a 90 minute wait, so we went back to the Irish bar and had a burger. With everything on it (and I really do mean everything!).

We made a good tour of Chicago's night spots, naturally stopping for a drink in each. In one Mexican bar, the barmaid helped herself to an 18% tip; charming! Obviously she was trying it on since we were ordering rounds of $8.50 a shot tequila. I must admit, I wasn't overly excited at the prospect, as my previous experience with tequila has been somewhat nasty. However, I was pleasantly surprised. You really do get what you pay for....We partied until 5am before heading to bed - although unfortunatley we didn't go to a jazz bar!

Woke up on Sunday feeling surprisingly fresh. We went out for breakfast, had one last wander and then sadly it was time to jump back in the car and head back to Rochester. I had already done my share of the driving on the way there however, so it was time to chill.

All in all, a great weekend; Chicago is a fantastic city; very vibrant and lots of atmosphere and I would definitely go back, but my next big wish is to visit New York.

Bye for now!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/2/1226453640/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/2/1226453640/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/2/1226453640/tpod.html Tue, 11 Nov 2008 21:14:30 -0500 Sweet Home......Minnesota.

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Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

The unseasonably good weather I have been enjoying is long gone. When leaving the hotel yesterday, it was minus 7. Toasty. So finally the ski jacket that came with me is being put too good use. The car was frozen too, and Hertz didn't see fit to give me a scraper!

At the weekend we took a trip to Minneapolis. We got a very favourable rate on a hotel that was about a 5 minute walk to the main street (1st), so we decided to make a weekend of it.

First port of call was the Mall of America, which is huge. So huge that it can accomodate a theme park with 3 roller coasters right in the middle of it, along with a bunch of other rides. We spent a few hours wandering round the shops, but malls are malls at the end of the day! We were going to go to Hooters for lunch, but the queue was too big, so we went to the food court and joined an even bigger queue. But hey, it was a good burger! We took a few rides and then set off to our hotel.

We got a little lost on the way into Minneapolis. It's a one way system, but didn't take us too long to figure it out and eventually found the hotel. As it turned out we had passed it about 20 minutes before, but that's life! Hotel was nice, and only cost us $40 each... We arrived just in time for the free drinks, which was a great way to get started. 2 drinks per person at a time and as many trips to the bar as you want. Reminded me of a few weeks ago when I was in the Dominican Republic...only it was near freezing and not a palm tree or beach to be seen. We spent a good hour on the beers, then had a few cuba libres (that's dark rum and coke for those who don't know...) which for once we're not 90% ice. There were alot of football fans (both home and away) there aswell, in preperation of the big game the next day - the Minnesota Vikings vs. the Green Bay Packers, from Wisconsin.

Our "temporary boss" reccomended a Brazillian restaurant (Fogo de Chao) just near our hotel, but when we got there it was a 2 hour wait, so went for a steak, at a place that brewed all it's own beer called Rock Bottom Brewery - it was great, and very reasonably priced.

From there it was a case of trial and error to find a decent bar or ten and a club. We settled on O'Donovans Irish Pub and then to a club called First Avenue following the reccomendation of a bunch of girls outside O'Donovans, who, when they realised I was English, stated that I would drink them all under the table becuase English people have good drinking skills. I wasn't going to argue, especially since I'd suffered an earlier defeat at a game in the Mall of America, where you had 3 chances to knock a floating ball off the fan that was keeping it in the air. English pride restored. We had a good few more Cuba Libres, leaving just after 2. Lots of people were around the hotel, so we ordered a pizza and talked to a few locals, before rolling to bed at about 4.

Took a walk around the city on Sunday afternoon. It was cold, but bearable, even with a headache! Very easy to find your way around as it's not particularly huge. There were a whole lot of people sitting outside camper vans etc, watching the football game in the stadium car park. That's dedication! I'm sure staying at home would have been a better option.....After that we set off for another outlet store, only this time it was about 5 times bigger than the one we went to a few weeks ago. Spent quite alot but I have alot of stuff. No idea where it's going to go...i'm going to be a bit warm on the way home I think....

So that was Minneapolis. We have booked into the Hyatt in downtown Chicago (living the high life eh!) for next weekend. We will just have to see how the weather pans out...if it's naff then there is no point going. Once again though, we got a good rate. Will be just over $100 each for two nights. Not bad at all.

Last night went to a bar for Fabrizios birthday. Quite a multicultural event....Two Italians, two Americans, one Indian, one Swiss, a Columbian and an Englishman. Never seen so many beers available on tap or in bottles in my life; certainly puts Wetherspoons to shame!

That's about all for now, enjoy the pics.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/2/1225684140/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/2/1225684140/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/2/1225684140/tpod.html Sun, 02 Nov 2008 23:48:16 -0500 Sweet Home......Minnesota.

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Rochester, Minnesota, United States

Halloween is a big deal in the USA, as we discovered on Friday when we turned up to a bar, dressed normally, only to discover that everybody was in fancy dress! Not to worry, we still had a good night and did a tour of Rochester's finest night spots - Gilligans, Kathys and a brief stint in CJ's; until we realized that we were the youngest there by at least 20 years. Ironically, low calorie light beer is very popular here. In England we refer to this as "water" but fortunately I have been introduced to a great white beer called "Blue Moon." You need to be careful mind...the large glasses are definitely more than a pint! We were briefly talking to a "security" guy in Gilligans, who was only identifiable as a security person by his t-shirt. We mentioned how we had came dressed as "European Guys" to which he replied "Wow, you have really convincing accents" and then went on to say how everyone from Europe sat down with a straight back, with their hands on their knees, drank tea and spoke like Hugh Grant. We all had quite a chuckle at that. I didn't have the heart to tell him that there's more to Europe than England. We had a great night (a good band were playing in Kathys), but everything shut at 2, and with the nearest place open after 2 over an hours' drive away, we decided to call it a night.

Yesterday we took a road trip, and I had the pleasure of driving us North of Rochester up highway 63 to Lake City, home of Lake Pepin which is the widest naturally occurring part of the famous Mississippi River. From there we continued to Red Wing, which was a strange little town with apparent Native Indian history.

After that we crossed the Mississippi into Wisconsin, and followed the Mississippi south on State Road 35 (at 55 mph...) via Bay City and Stockholm (population 97!) before continuing on to Nelson, at which point we crossed the Mississippi again into Wabasha, and then headed back via Kellogg, Plainview and Potsdam before joining Highway 52 which took us back into Rochester. It was a great drive, very scenic - lots of corn fields, and it's very flat! All in all it was around a 4 hour trip and a good experience of those real, small American towns (some of which are called Cities....) you see on the TV.

I found a motorbike license plate lying by the side of the road, so I have claimed it as a souvenir. I did quite well in the drivers seat considering it's the first proper driving I've done here....I wonder how many traffic violations I racked up! Fortunately there no police on hand to make me spread 'em for any violations I might have made. Speed limits vary from 55 on single lane roads, to 60, 65 and 70 on highways/Interstates.

On the way back we decided to call in at the local Outback Steakhouse. Hell of a steak, but once again the portion was too big, even though we shared the starters! It only came to around 30 dollars each, which is very reasonable indeed.

Today has been pretty laid back. We took a trip to an outlet centre, which among others had a Nike and a Levi's outlet. Obviously I had to take advantage, and I returned with a new pair of Nike trainers, a Nike 6.0 jacket, a pair of Levi's and a Columbia hoody....and even though the exchange rate is crap at the minute, this totaled just over £70 (not so long ago it would have been £55). Quite unbelievable really. Some of the stuff you could get was amazing, proper Columbia winter/ski jackets from $100! I also saw a pair of UK size 17 trainers in the Nike store....talk about canoes!

Took another trip to Walmart to pick up some supplies, and had a look at the sports section, where you can buy yourself a rifle and a whole lot of bullets....I'm also glad I have a habit of reading the nutrition labels on food because there is some seriously bad stuff on the shelves here!

Anyway, I'm going to get back to my Coors Light and one of the greatest movies ever....Terminator 2.

Bye for now.

PS - Don't forget to click "view all thumbnails" below the photos at the top to see the rest of the pics.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/2/1225328220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/2/1225328220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/2/1225328220/tpod.html Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:30:58 -0400 Sweet Home......Minnesota.

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Rochester, Minnesota, United States

During my time here I get a hire car which is all paid for. I hadn't booked in advance, so I made a reservation with Hertz just a few hours before I wanted to pick up. When I turned up at the Rochester Hertz office, there was only one car outside - and it certainly wasn't a "compact" (I can't rent a better car, that's the rules!). I thought perhaps it was "out back" so I went into the office and was told that the car I had ordered was not yet available...so they had upgraded me. So for the next 4 weeks I will be driving round in a 3.2 litre, 224bhp, 220lb/ft beast. But lets not get too excited here, this is an American car and so it weighs approximately 10 tonnes...but there is a bit of life when you floor it and the 4 speed automatic box springs to life and drops a cog. It's a Saturn Aura....like a bigger, posher version of the Mondeo/Vectra. However, this is not the place to drive fast, so I don't yet know if it has bellows where the suspension should be - so watch this space. It's very comfortable though, and when you turn it on, the dials do a little dance. Like an Aston...just not as pretty. The car is registered in Texas...so it's called Texas! I am now the envy of my peers - the other two guys have a Focus (Wisconsin) and a Honda (Minnesota).We're considering defacing eachothers cars and doing a tour of the southern States, just like in Top Gear. However, it's perhaps a little too far to go, even if the "gas" is just around £1.50 a GALLON (that's 4.5 litres to you and I). Not used to automatics yet...so I keep slamming on the brakes with my left foot. American roads seem fairly easy to drive. Some odd traffic rules mind, such as being able to turn right on a red light. And then there is the 4 way crossroads - not a roundabout, no traffic lights - just stop signs. You approach the crossroads, stop completely, and whoever is there first has priority. Not so bad when there are just a few cars but it could get hairy when it's busy - which doesn't really happen here so it's all good.  

Anyway, after I got my car we headed to Wal Mart. But this was a pretty small one, only around the size of a Tesco Extra. Got a pretty full fridge for about $45 dollars and we accidentally bought some almost alcohol free beer. Oops. In my defense, I didn't choose it...but I did agree to go half and half with my Coors, and an Englishman doesn't go back on his word, even for non-alcoholic beer. So now I am well stocked on beer, shandy, mountain dew, pasta, bread and meat (I won't be eating out every night...which means I have more money to spend on beer, with the added bonus of not coming home obese). Had a look around a few other shops..including a hallowe'en shop. As you probably know, Americans make a big deal of it! Everybody smiles at you. I wish I sounded like Hugh Grant at times like that.

Was back at the hotel pretty early, just watched a bit of TV. Theres lots of adverts for stuff like Viagra, which after explaining the benefits, goes on at great length detailing all the potential side effects and how it could damage your health. Then in between the Viagra adverts, there are Presidential Candidate adverts, which so far just seem to be from John McCain's campaign - I've seen many adverts for him, but I know nothing about him, because his adverts
only focus on slating Obama.

Today I spent alot of time in our windowless office, which is getting pretty hot due to all the computer kit sitting in the corner. Interesting day, been busy. Had some chat about American stuff. I knew Walmart sold bullets, thanks to Micheal Moore, but apparently the one we were at also sells guns! So we will be going back for a look. The guy we were chatting to "only" owns a pump action 12 guage shotgun and apparently it's quite common for a 12 year old to own a shotgun, because they go hunting alot.

I'll close with an interesting fact about the State of Minnesota relating to what I was saying yesterday about the sign saying guns were banned on the premises. This is because, in Minnesota, it's perfectly legal to carry a (licensed) concealed weapon, and that includes inside buildings that do not display these signs!

Anyway, I'm off out now to sample Rochesters finest bars. Until later, pics to follow!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/2/1225205160/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/2/1225205160/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/2/1225205160/tpod.html Wed, 29 Oct 2008 08:09:29 -0400 Sweet Home......Minnesota.

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Rochester, Minnesota, United States

Well, yesterday was a long day. I arrived back in Newcastle at 4.15am after 8 hours on a pretty naff ThomsonFly flight from a week's holiday in the Dominican Republic (which was fantastic, by the way!) and I was able to get a whole hour in bed before having to go back to the airport. It would have been longer, had it not been for Swissport taking literally an hour to get the bags off the plane. The two Swissport staff in the baggage area were utterly incompetent and just kept giggling amongst themseles. Irate customers soon put that to an end however and eventually the bags came and I got home for around 6am. I had a flight at 10am to Amsterdam and then a 3 hour wait for my 9 hour flight to Minneapolis, Minnesota. I couldn't get access to my email, so naturally I just went to the bar where I got taking to a guy from New York, who said how the relationship between Scotland and England was just like Hawaii and the rest of the U.S. I wasn't too sure what he was getting at...Flight to the States was great - I'd heard NorthWest Arlines were pretty naff but I was impressed with everything about it, especially the fact that you get 2 little bottles of vodka each time you order a vodka and Coke...and the plane was brand new. Bonus.

U.S. Immigration was my main concern for delay, as I had a pretty tight schedule in order to catch the bus I needed to get to Rochester, some 70 miles from Minneapolis Airport. Fortunatley it was fairly easy, although the queue did take quite a while to go down. I didn't get much in the way of questions, and once they'd taken my fingerprints and photo I was on my way again. The only issue I had was when handing in my customs declaration form after passport control, where the woman on the desk was very snotty when I put the form on the desk, instead of in her hand. The fact I was juggling a pile of paperwork and 3 bags didn't seem to register, and she sat and waited until I picked up the form and put it in her hand. Pathetic! However I just got on with it without making any kind of fuss, being funny with these guys would not be a good idea at all really!

Bus ride to the hotel was just over an hour. I have a suite with a kitchen, king size bed, en suite and two LCD TV's (one in the living area, one in my bedroom). There's also a fitness centre and pool/hot tub. It's nice! Also since it's a Marriott it means I will clock up some serious points on my Marriott reward card! Once I was in my room I was pretty much straight to bed. Heaters had to go on mind - last week I was in 30 degree heat, and now it's more like 3 degrees.

Got myself to the office this morning - the complex is seriously huge (I had a meeting and it was a 15 minute walk each way) and politely informs visitors that guns are not allowed, which is good to know I suppose....no windows in my office though. I'm with 3 other guys - a Columbian, who is the Project Manager, a Swiss guy and an Italian. Just had lunch, at a Mexican fast-food place called Chipotle. Very nice indeed but the portions are obviously massive. But it's ok, I have a gym. There are vending machines all over with Mountain Dew!! Great!

So that's it so far, I think the next few weeks will be hard work, but we've already started talking about what cities we're going to look into going to at weekends. Minneapolis/St Paul are obvious but also theres talk of Chicago and Las Vegas, but the flights seem expensive - so much for cheap internal air travel in the U.S. The guys have already been out to find the local bars too - this is important. I was expecting to be in a room with 40+ guys with long hair for a month.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/fareast2007/1190572440/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/fareast2007/1190572440/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/fareast2007/1190572440/tpod.html Wed, 28 May 2008 13:46:51 -0400 The Eastern Adventure 2007

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Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom


So that's it. The trip is over, and i'm back at home. I didn't escape the jet lag this time round, but not to worry. The flight was fine and on time. For old times sake, I rinsed the drinks trolley once again. Perhaps foolishly I ended up going out on the town on Friday night!

But now that I have recovered and am back on British Summer Time, I've had the chance to work out a few statistics.

Over the past 6 weeks I have:

Traveled over 23,500 miles
Spent over 100 hours in planes, trains and buses
Visited 3 countries & 13 cities/towns/islands
Visited some of the best places in the world
Taken well over 2000 photos
Drank far too many airline drinks

For a 6 week trip - that is quite something!

The trip has been nothing short of amazing. Japan is certainly the highlight for me; there is nothing I won't miss. The food, the people, the safety. It's an amazing place and I'd recommend it to anybody.

There's not much else I can say that I've not already said in my blog over the weeks of my trip. I'm pretty gutted to be home, I'd love to just keep traveling.

I hope that my blog has been enjoyable - and if you are going on/planning a trip yourself, I hope it's been useful to you. I'm certainly happy to answer any questions you have about any of the places I have been.

Hopefully I will go away again soon; but for now at least, reality beckons.

I no naka no kawazu taikai o shirazu - a frog in a well knows not the ocean

Thanks for reading - happy trails!






]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/fareast2007/1190154240/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/fareast2007/1190154240/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chrisuk07/fareast2007/1190154240/tpod.html Fri, 11 Apr 2008 07:39:51 -0400 The Eastern Adventure 2007

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Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Had a great day in Kobe yesterday - enjoyed the sunshine, had a look around the shops and then finished off the day in a bar, where we had a good laugh at the adventures of the last few weeks. Those big lockers in the train stations are extremely handy! From there it was on to the coach to the airport, where I sat at the back and enjoyed a nice can of Asahi beer while reflecting on the experiences of my trip.

The flight to Dubai wasn't at all bad, but at 10hrs30mins, it's the longest one I've ever taken. I was fortunate enough to have a 2-seat row to myself; or at least at the time I thought it was fortunate. At 5'11" i'm not exactly a giant, but try as I may to get comfortable accross the two seats, it wasn't happening. So while having a double row to yourself does sound good in theroy....the reality in practice is that you probably can't take advantage of it unless you are either quite small, or are a contortionist.

I arrived at Dubai airport to face a very long, very slow moving queue. There was also arabic music playing rather loudly. As it was around 5am, the combintation wasn't at all welcome - as I am sure you can imagine! Eventually got through customs after a brief explanation to the immigration officer, and once again collected my bag without incident. There seemed to be a little bit of confusion when I checked in at Osaka so I was a tad worried about my bag not turning up!

I booked a taxi through the hotel before I left Japan to ensure it would be easy going when I got there. The desk was empty but it didn't take long to get sorted. This service cost 50dirhams and to be honest isn't worth it at all - my advice would be to go outside and get into a yellow cab which would cost less than half the price. When I arrived at the Traders hotel in Deira, the clerk would not budge on letting me check in early for no charge, so I reluctantly handed over some more money - I was far too tired to debate any longer! On top of that, they wouldn't let me have breakfast that morning, even though I would miss the breakfast on the day I checked out due to leaving early to get to the airport. I thought this was pretty rough, but again, I just got on with it. My bags were taken to my room, and after a quick shower to freshen up, I went straight to bed.

The next thing I knew it was midday, and looking out of the window in my room, I immediately became aware of quite a big issue in Dubai - traffic. It's seriously bad! I foolishly booked a taxi through the hotel to take me to Creek Park - again this was expensive at 45dhs - lesson was certainly learned after that. Took quite a while to get to Creek Park due to the traffic, so you can imagine my slight dissapointment to find everything inside closed and the park all but deserted. Even so, I still had a good wander about and it gave me a chance to sit in peace. You're not supposed to drink in public during Ramadan - I did my best to observe their customs but in 45 degree heat this isn't exactly easy, so I had to keep drinking, but I made sure I was discreet.

It didn't take long for me to run out of water, and with convenience shops closed, I was faced with quite a dilemma. I began to walk for a bit, but it was getting a bit too much so I flagged down a taxi and headed back to my hotel for a spot of lunch and several gallons of Diet Coke and water. I initially opted to go for the lunchtime buffet, but once I realised that it was £15 I promptly changed my mind - I wasn't THAT hungry. I already miss the sub £5 delights of Japan!! I ended up opting for a Ceasar salad; which was actually great. It was strange using a knife and fork again!

As it was mid afternoon I decided to wait around the hotel for a few hours. During Ramadan, stuff happens after 7pm and continues until the early hours. Traditionally, this period is known as Iftar and it's when the fast is broken. There are many culinary delights to be had as a result - or so I have read in my Lonely Planet guide...I will find out soon enough.

So at around 6.30, after enjoying relaxing in the hotel's health club, I got myself dressed and this time hopped into a yellow cab to head accross to the Mall of the Emirates. Fortunatley, the yellow cab rate is far more desirable than the "executive taxi" the hotel booked for me. Even so, it all mounts up. The taxi driver was very chatty and took great interest in my trip, and told me lots about Dubai while were were stuck in traffic. As it transpires, Dubai is home to the biggest and the best of everything the world has to offer. Or at least that's how the taxi driver saw it! We went past the Burj Dubai - the world's tallest building. And it's TALL...yet very thin at the top. Quite a bizzarre structure.

The Mall itself is quite amazing. Very impressive architecture and it's utterly spotless. The first thing on my mind however was food! There's a great food hall in the mall, I went for a pizza - lovely. After that I had a good wander around the shops. The mall was operating extended opening hours during Ramadan, so at 10pm I went to Ski Dubai - the world's biggest indoor ski park. Before this, I had only been to Xscape in Castleford (near Leeds, England) and Ski Dubai utterly dwarfs it. Xscape has a little draglift. Ski Dubai has a 50 car, 4 man chairlift! The price was very reasonable; around £25 for 2 hours including equipment hire. The snow was good and I pretty much had the place to myself.

So now I am back at the hotel - tomorrow i'm going on a Desert Safari which should be great fun. I will no doubt report back tomorrow!
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