TravelStream™ news feed for member lovingit on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/lovingit en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 08 Oct 2006 22:48:28 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1160269980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1160269980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1160269980/tpod.html Sun, 08 Oct 2006 22:48:28 -0400 Final destination Sydney... After just under 10 years in the UK, it's time to go back home. Well closer to home than the UK anyway.

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Los Angeles, California, United States

4 days to go. Boo hoo..... In LA now, our final destination before heading to Australia. We're at the moment staying in Venice Beach in this awesome hotel on the Beach called the Cadillac Hotel. It is very cool. A bit like a hostel with a bright pink exterior and a really relaxed feel with lots of young people like ourselves staying here. := ) So we're looking forward to our last few days hanging out here and on the beach. Hopefully the weather will be warm enough and I might even go as far as putting my bikini on and doing a bit of sunbathing.
I think my last update was in Vegas, mmmmm, I've become a bit slack with the old blogging. After vegas and realising we weren't going to win big on the 5c pokkies we grabbed a jeep Liberty from Allamo and headed on up to Death Valley stopping off in a little cutsie town called Beatty for the night. It's similar to alot of the places we have driven through in mid America with really not all that much going on and quite desolate. Just outside Beatty was a ghost town called Rhyolite which became so due to the end of the mining boom. It was pretty cool to see and they attempted a sort of museum there to make it worth visiting which it was. Quite spooky and airy like the old ghost towns in the movies.
The following day we drove into Death Valley national park via a 4 wheel drive road. This was amazing, we saw no other vehicles just coyote and long horned sheep. We were literally in the middle of the desert. Gawd knows what would of happened if we broke down, but thankfully our little jeep made us proud, and the scenery really was spectacular.
From the middle of the desert we drove up to Mammoth Lakes, now 6000 feet up in the ski resorts. A complete contrast, from desert to mountains and it was freezing. We woke up the next morning to snow in the mountains. From here we drove on into Yosemite along the top down into the valley. And again some stunning scenery. It really is one of the places where you drive along in awe at it's beauty and only wish you took photographs like Ansel Adams.
And from here into san Fransisco, where it unfortunately rained for 2 out of the 3 days we were there. Painstakingly we had to spend it in the shopping malls. Not really such a bad thing I guess. I love Macy's!!

Well this is it, 10 of the US states visited in 5 weeks. Only a fraction of the US, although I feel pretty fulfilled that we've seen and done. And from here, Australia awaits. Bring it on!!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1159597080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1159597080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1159597080/tpod.html Tue, 03 Oct 2006 11:08:15 -0400 Final destination Sydney... After just under 10 years in the UK, it's time to go back home. Well closer to home than the UK anyway.

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Las Vegas, United States

Well there has no been update to my blog for the last couple of days as for some very annoying reason our hotel here in Las Vegas has no internet. Find this very surprising as the Budget Inn's along Route 66 seem to offer it but not our hotel here on the Strip. OH well no dramas, more time off the internet and into the world of poker, blackjack, frozen margaretti's and fast cars. Alas however our third day here and we have been sucked of a little too much of our petty cash, and no big wins to talk about. So it seems we will be moving on as planned after all.
We are staying at a place called the New Frontier, although there is nothing new about it at all and the theme of the place is if you hadn't guessed, cowboy stuff. So all the rooms are have dim lighting and lots of woods and bad carpet. It's all part of the ambience so suits as just fine, right in the middle of the strip and it hasn't bankrupted us to much, so we can just stare in jealousy at the likes of Treasury Island, the Mirage and oh my god my favourite, Belaguio. You should see this place....... next time I think.
This place is seriously crazy there is soo much to do with shows, shopping, eating, walking around checking out the money, but as we only have a short time we did the following: drove a corvette and then a hummer on an off road track, pretty cool. We saw Circus de Soleil - Mystere, which was just amazing. Paid $10 to go into our in-house bar/club to maybe see some bikini bull riding but instead saw country and western dancing. Not the best money we've spent by far, it was awful and we only lasted 10 mins.
BEfore Vegas we were at the Grand Canyon, need do I say was amazing. We did a helicopter ride around the rim, a must to show the scale of the thing.
and before Vegas we went to Sedona known for it's red rocks, a hidden little gem out in Arizona. It is famous for it's movies, alot of the old cowboy movies were filmed there, and the likes of John Wayne stayed there.
Off to San Fran tomorrow, via Yosemite and Death Valley.


Oh and by the way I'm an Aunt. Yip, Dominic and Hayley have given birth to a beautiful little girl called Tabitha Anne. I have attached a photo for you to have a glimpse of.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1159147260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1159147260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1159147260/tpod.html Mon, 25 Sep 2006 00:24:17 -0400 Final destination Sydney... After just under 10 years in the UK, it's time to go back home. Well closer to home than the UK anyway.

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New Mexico, United States

To travel Route 66 from start to finish and see all the cool stuff would take weeks. Such a shame as it is so lovely just cruising on the quieter roads, passing through all the little cities where a lot of them have turned into mere ghost towns as now the Interstate bypasses them they don't have the business. It is sad to see where a bustling old community has be come so run down, but they have really cashed on the whole Route 66 nostalgia and most towns have some memorabilia to show they were part of the good ole highway. This brings people like us through the towns giving a little business buying little curios and stopping for lunch. We passed the Midpoint today at a town called Adrian which was 1377 miles from Chicago and 1377 miles from Los Angelos. And because Adrian was midpoint along the Route there was consequently a Midpoint Cafe with a lovely staff and great rest rooms where we parked off and enjoyed just being there.
Along the way also we past the Caddilac Ranch where some wacky dude decided it would be great art to chuck 10 Cadillacs into the ground bonnet first, with just the rear ends sticking in the air. People would come thorough with paint cans and graffiti the cars so now they are very bright and quite an attraction.
Travelling so fast along the route means we have to spend alot more time on the interstates and not really seeing anything in great depth but what we have seen over the distance is a great diversity of landscapes and seen a very real true America lifestyle, as much as you can on the road anyway. We have tonnes of photo's and will put them on a gallery soon which can hopefully show what we have seen.
Stopping off tonight in tiny Albuquerque New Mexico, where no restaurants are open after 9pm. :=)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1158985260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1158985260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1158985260/tpod.html Sat, 23 Sep 2006 00:56:53 -0400 Final destination Sydney... After just under 10 years in the UK, it's time to go back home. Well closer to home than the UK anyway.

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Missouri, United States

From St Louis to Joplin, Missouri. Well still in Missouri after a days driving, a little bit behind schedule due to a tornado. You know they talk about a tornados' and Kansas city, you know Dorothy and Toto, well Kansas state is just one state away from Missouri. We left this morning from St Louis after watching the news from the comfort of our hotel room that there were storms and tornado's brewing, but who would of thought that we would be caught up in one. We started off with a leisurely drive out on 66, stopping off wih some native bush walking through the Prairies, then pushing off stopping off at a couple of towns a long the way. Lunch was had at Missouri 'Hick'-ory Barbecue Restaurant where we had a Sampler Platter consisting of ribs, brisket and pork, side salads of mashed potato and red beans and rice all for ten bucks. Such a hick restaurant at that but the food was soooo good! From the balcony of the restaurant is where we saw signs of stormy weather, but of course we didn't think we would be close to a tornado so we drove off again. Driving along we start seeing dark clouds looming, and folk sitting outside there houses just looking up... ah, its' all feeling a little eieery now but we keep going. It wasn't until we saw the anger of the clouds and thunder and then the debris flying around us that we thought we could be in trouble. Panic set in and we beeline back to the nearest town. Oh, then a tornado siren went off. You should of seen us run into the supermarket where it seemed business as usual, except for now a couple of stunned looking foreigners. We hung out there for long enough, before realising we probably should make a plan and leave. Back on the road very dubiously, passing a turned truck and water tank in the median strip and still bucketing it down we decided to pull into a Macadee's where we heard that a town called St James was pretty much ripped up due to this tornado. St James was the closest town to where we stopped and far too close to comfort for our likening.
Now in Joplin, a crazy truck stop town, still in Missouri spending the night in a Super 8 Motel and everything is calm.
Phew what a day... but exciting nevertheless. How often is it that you get to witness a tornado afterall.

Here is a link to a news story about the tornedo...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1158687360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1158687360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1158687360/tpod.html Fri, 22 Sep 2006 00:00:06 -0400 Final destination Sydney... After just under 10 years in the UK, it's time to go back home. Well closer to home than the UK anyway.

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Chicago, United States

Ten years ago I started my big OE here in Chicago. I was a camp counsellor at a Camp on Lake Geneva which was actually in Wisconsin but the nearest big city was Chicago. So 10 years ago I'm back here at the end of my OE. Is it possible to say OE (Overseas Experience) when it lasted 10 years :)
This time around windy Chicago was nothing more than the beginning of our Route 66 trip, except we did spend a night out at Blue Chicago listening to Linsey Alexander. A typical Blues band in a smokey pub with the locals on a Tuesday night. Very cool.
So out onto Route 66, out on I-55 then winding our way through towns and stopping off at Dixies diner for some trucking lunching. Travelling all the way on the Historical Route would take weeks, so back onto the highway down to St Louis in time for bed.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1158421440/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1158421440/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1158421440/tpod.html Wed, 20 Sep 2006 13:34:31 -0400 Final destination Sydney... After just under 10 years in the UK, it's time to go back home. Well closer to home than the UK anyway.

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New York, United States

From Maine to New York. What a culture shock, from serenity to the bustling horn honking city of New York. Leaving booking accommodation to the last minute, ie, we were on the phone to NY from Boston moments before we caught our bus, it seemed the whole of Manhatten in the way of budget accommodation was full, except 1 hostel called the Jazz hostel in none other than Harlem. But that's cool, we're the adventurous type, and it was fine, a bit squishy in the room, they were trying to get the most $$$ for the least work possible and squeezed 5 sets of bunk beds into a dorm with no space at all to put our baggage and no lockers for valuables. And Ok, so we didn't leave the hostel that night to check out Harlem as they had a 5 dollar chicken wing and potato salad night which we just couldn't refuse. That was our first night in NY, sleeping on our day packs not so comfortable but sleep was had and it was only for 1 night as for the next 3 was spent with my cousin Aidan in his apartment 1 block from Wall Street.
Plans for the next morning were to get up early dump our bags at Central Station, sightsee for the day before meeting Aidan later in the evening to move on down to his place. Firstly it's torrential rain in New York, yip, its bucketing down. Ok so we won't be doing the Circle Line boat tour, so what else to do except shopping, Macy's here I come.. ;=)
However we still need to dump our bags, and guess what Grand Central Station doesn't have baggage storage, and NEITHER DOES THE WHOLE OF NEW YORK CITY, thanks to 9/11 so the info people and nice police officers tell us. Realising we had Aidans address we jump on the subway and head straight there handing them to reception to mind for the day. Whoo hoo, now 20kgs lighter, off to do the sights. Straight into Times Square, take the photo, then as it's still bucketing down into Toys r'Us and Macy's for me for the afternoon. And do you know the best thing about shopping the the US... I'm a size 5. How cool is that!!
Thankfully the next day the rain stopped, the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. So off we go to do the Circle Line Boat Cruise which goes for 3 hours around the whole of Manhattan providing a fantastic view of the skyline with a guide pointing out those interesting spots and buildings where the extremely wealthy wellknown and not so wellknown people have their townhouses. Exhausted after our big day we decide to retire back to Aidans to do some laundry and have a early night. Whoo hoo clean clothes.. :-)
Next day, Empire States Building, Central Park, stumbled across a street fair, Brooklyn and Greenwich Village in the evening for dinner and margerittas. Man, this sightseeing stuff is exhausting.
Next morning, down to Wall Street and the Stock Exchange to take the pictures at the same time seeing the US presidential helicopters land. What timing!
Feeling like we could spend a week or more in NY soaking up the vibe, we at least feel like we've conquered the main sights of New York in 3 days, and the time has come to leave on a train to Chicago. All aboard!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1158116580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1158116580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1158116580/tpod.html Thu, 14 Sep 2006 00:05:51 -0400 Final destination Sydney... After just under 10 years in the UK, it's time to go back home. Well closer to home than the UK anyway.

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Lake Rangeley, Maine, United States

Before heading into the States I would first like to mention our last night in Canada and the Canadian tradition or maybe more the Whisell tradition of the 'Corn Roast' which we were delighted to attend at the Whissil cottage. Sylvain and family were more than hospitable in making us feel extremely welcome and part of there home life in Sudbury then out their amazing cottage on the lake out back somewhere. The corn roast consisted of 50 Whissell family and friends lots of corn, and lots more gorgeous food. A great tradition and the best way to spend our last day in Canada.
Now for that dreaded 16 hour bus ride down to Boston. Ok, the dread was worse than the bus ride and the expected 16 hours become only 10. We got a goodnights sleep and apart from the border crossing into the States all went relatively smoothly. The border crossing was quite amusing. We all piled off the bus around midnight into the US immigration offices. After our pleasant greeting by the control officer, he told us that because of the visa we required both would have to pay US$6 each. I was a little surprised at this, especially hearing how these immigration people are known to blackmail innocent people, and asked the reasoning behind this fee as I've never had to pay it before when entering the US. The officer less than politely told me that this is standard as we were crossing the border and it's not included as it is when flying into the US. He then asked us what our purpose for being in the US was. I said holiday. For some reason I am still not sure why, but he didn't like this and basically told me that he had the right to refuse our entry into the US and for me not to be such a smartie. From there I kept my mouth shut and decided to leave the rest to Brent. Aparantely he wanted more of a detailed explanation of our trip. Still not sure if he was being serious or trying to be funny but we made it thru thank goodness.
So we arrive in Boston and head to our hostel. Not a bad little Hostel in the heart of Boston. Clean, dorms ok and only a couple of smelly people, but overall it was cheap and central.. We spent a couple of days in Boston before heading around to Cape Cod. At the bus depot in Boston we met a lovely Aussie girl who was going our way and on arrival asked her gran to give us a lift to find our hostel on the Cape. This was awesome as without their help we may of spent a couple of hours walking the streets as it was tucked away in the middle of nowhere. Great hostel with cabins and a couple of really cool chicks running it. On the Cape we hired cycles for a couple of days, and took on more than we bargained for on the second day which unfortunately didn't leave us much time to see the rest of the Cape. But we did make it up to Provincetown to take a picture and grab a beer.
Next stop the State of Maine which has been suberb. I would have to thank Brent for deciding to travel up here as it wouldn't be a place I would of thought to travel too. Or maybe we should really thank Stephen King who was the inspiration. Stephen King bases most of his stories in the New England Region, and if you know his stories ie. Misery, or Needful Things which are ones I know, you would get a feel for where we are. He lives in Bangor and as part of our road trip and with a little detective work we found his house or shall we say Mansion, drove past and took a few pics. Anyway, I've skipped a little ahead of myself.
Back in Boston, we picked up our rental car and navigated our way through the spaghetti highways, and got on the correct one up towards Maine.
Our first stop was beautiful Kennebunkport where we had lunch. This is also the town where ex George Bush has his Summer home, so we dove past, saw, and took a photo. Well as you do. La de la. Continued on and after enough driving for one day we checked into a highway Motel just outside Portland, called very appropriately 'Budget Inn'. It had a washing machine, telly and king sized bed and after staying in hostels for the last week this suited us just fine.
From Portland to Freeport, home of ALL outlet stores. Of course it deserved a stop although nothing else can fit in our backpacks and no we are not sending any more parcels home. Considering we shopped for a couple of hours I think I withheld extremely well andwe both only left with 1 item of clothing each. From Freeport to Bangor became interesting driving as it was bucketing down with rain, torrential rain in fact with fork lightening and stuff. Pretty hairy driving into an unknown town in these conditions but we survived and found our way to Circuit City which is where we decided to buy this laptop. It was cheap ok, and although I was a little hesitant as to why we need a laptop on holiday, it has become a great purchase and has made life alot easier and I guess it's time for me to start living in the 21st century. A nice chilled out night was spent in the Ramada Inn. I'm a bit worried I'm getting to used to this hotel life it's going to be tricky going back to Hostels after this.
From Bangor we drove over to Bar Harbour, a little island just off the mainland consisting predominately of the Acardia National Park. We heard about this area from a the ladies at the hostel in the Cape, and it really is stunning and was definitely a great recommendation. We spent an awesome couple of days there sightseeing and hiking around the island. Oh and I shall not forget, winning my challenge of Adventure Golf! It's now 1 all. Bring it on. ;-)
After sadly leaving Bar Harbour we drove inland to Rangeley in our continuing search for Moose. Now if I thought Bar Harbour was gorgeous this certainly tops it. Rangeley is surrounded by a number of lakes and forestry. The leaves are just starting to change their colours and we can see how amazing it must look at it's peak. Shame there are no hostels around, so we are staying in the Saddleback Motor inn. Very cozy and it overlooks Rangeley Lake. It's soo beautiful here we've decided to stay two nights which gave us a whole day here today. So this morning we got up bright and early and went canoeing. And guess what? We saw Moose! 3 of them. It was very cool. We also saw Loons, (a Canadian/Maine duck) and a Heron. This afternoon we took a scenic flight across the lakes giving us an awesome view of the lakes and surrounding area and saw another Moose. It's been a great day. Off to New York tomorrow. Not sure how we are going to feel about the city after being here. So until our next adventures......
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1157073480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1157073480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1157073480/tpod.html Fri, 01 Sep 2006 10:42:15 -0400 Final destination Sydney... After just under 10 years in the UK, it's time to go back home. Well closer to home than the UK anyway.

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Sudbury, Canada

All other photos we have taken I have uploaded them onto a Kodak Easy share gallery. You don`t need to become a member to just view.
These include Scotland, London and Canada.


Check Brent`s link out for more photos. www.nakedbrent.com/blog
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1156345200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1156345200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1156345200/tpod.html Thu, 31 Aug 2006 20:14:53 -0400 Final destination Sydney... After just under 10 years in the UK, it's time to go back home. Well closer to home than the UK anyway.

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Heathrow, United Kingdom

Well this is it, the moment that we have worked up to for the last 6 months or so. I always knew it was going to be a sad moment, but it didn't really hit me until a couple of hours of go on the bus out to the airport where I had a good cry. So many good friends and good times I'm leaving behind. And do you know what, I don't reckon London is such a bad place. Actually it's pretty cool. There are some weirdo's, rude people, it's dirty and the winters really suck, and so does summer for that matter. But there are some pretty awesome people too, and England does have the best festivals and how cool is it to be able to pop to Stockholm for the night.

On my last UK pennies, and this internet is sucking it up, so I'll leave it at that.

To all those fantastic people I've met, I will see you soon.

S xx :-)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1156197300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1156197300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovingit/uk_-_sydney/1156197300/tpod.html Thu, 31 Aug 2006 19:07:55 -0400 Final destination Sydney... After just under 10 years in the UK, it's time to go back home. Well closer to home than the UK anyway.

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London, United Kingdom

Well I can't be leaving the UK without first going to The Scottish Highlands in search of Nessie.
On the 11th of August, Chris, Brent and myself boarded a train up to Edinburgh in the peak of the Edinbugh Fringe festival, oh and I should mention to, Chris's birthday the next day.
The festival was great fun, and if only I had known how great it was I would of visted it years before. The buzz of all the people brought a really exciting atmosphere to an already beautiful city. The Edinburgh Fringe festival is the biggest of it's kind in the world, with a good couple hundred of venues showing film and theatre pretty much all day and night, ranging from the plain weird and very unknowns to very funny and maybe a little more well known such as The Goodies, which obviously was a must see. After trying to fit in as much theatre, drinking, dealing with wasp stings, celebrating birthdays, and catching up with old friends, the weekend finishes, and we say good-bye to Chris, Bernie and Wes who head back down to London to work.
We, as we are sweetly unemployed, board a Haggis adventure tour up into the Highlands and the Isle of Sky for a 3 day tour.
I found the Highlands to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. The Lochs, rolling mountains, animals, in all it's simplicity made it quite breath-taking. Dave our talented wee guide always in kilt was forever rattling off numerous stories and myths of Scottish history keeping the group always entertained. The group itself were an awesome bunch and I can say I don't think there are many times you can get a group of 19 in a tour all at the pub to the bitter end... but we did it... Sooo much fun. After 3 days, and no Nessie, we head back down to Edinburgh for the last couple of days of fringe and saying good-bye to tour peeps.
Then finally back down to London, with all the smelly clothes and shoes.
Summary of last couple of days.
Mark and Wiriya's for beautiful meal and washing. Thank uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu's
Saturday V Festival - well why not!
Sunday, 8 hours at Heathrow. Guess what Brent doesn't know his 24 hour time! arrrghhh, not like I needed the sleep in or anything.. :- )
Monday doing stuff, like this.
Tuesday Citzenship Ceremony where I swear allegiance to the crown, become a British Citizen, then ciao, thanks for coming... last good byes.
Wednesday, off to Toronto.
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