Around the World in 180 days

Yesterday went to Niagra Falls. Taking away the comercialism, the falls are spectacular. I decided to forget going up the CN tower in Toronto (about $100 CA for meal and ride) and instead took the 15 min helicopter ride over the area ($85 CA), which was Amazing. Including the extra fun of a storm we hit half way through, the look of terror in the womans face who sat across from me, was worth the ride alone.

Today its pack my bags time again and moving on to Calgary. I should be there 2 days before taking the week journey through the rockies on to Vancouver, can't wait. It will be a refreshing change from the visiting city after city routine. Not that it hasn't been fun. Toronto's a great city, although i was only here a week, there was so many places that i didnt get to see.

Particularly "Evil Dead The Musical" which i came across yesterday. I will regret missing that.

Finally figured that i can't do a blog every single day. Firstly all i'd be doing is travelling around internet cafes, and secondly some days you just dont do much but chill out. Satruday being one of those days.
Sunday was much better, I moved hotels as i found a much cheaper one (cheaper than the hostel i was trying to get in).

Having toured the street again. I somehow stumbled in to the Much Music video awards (canada equivelant of MTV). wasn't a bad free gig Sum41, Nickleback, Joss Stone, Maroon 5, Fergie, Belly and Ludirous, a load of canadian idols and for my little Niece Avril Lavigne. Said hello to some girl who turned out to be Hillry Duff (obviously i'm not down with the kids any more, didnt have a clue who she was). Did notice Naked News were there, so it must be an important event.

Monday was also a bit of a none event. apart form coming back from dinner to my hotel when i was asked by very attractive scantly clad blonde woman if i wanted a date. Obviously Date means something complety different to people in Canada (and Austrailia aparently)

Anyway tomorrow's Niagra Falls which should be fun

Today is my first full day in Toronto, so i have taken the usual walkabout tour. and the place is BRILL

The place has 4 open areas of many that i've seen, where there is open air performances going on through the day and night. There's so much to do and see here. Also, Niagra Falls is only about an hour from here so id be better off trying to do a day tour and stopping here a bit longer

All the shopping malls are again underground but on a much larger scale. they're so large, there is 2 tube stops between them, and thankfully a bookstore that this not all french

Nighttime is great, the city is buzzing with all kinds of performers and once a week in Dunda square they show a movie on the big screens, again all free.

The other thing is you feel totally safe wherever you go. The place isn't perfect there are a few street people, but thats no different form all the other cities ive been to so far.

Not sure which way to go next, either Chicago or Calgary i'll decide in the next few days.

And the Chillian Pann Pipers have found me again. Damm them. Un Dos Tres......... and they brought a marriachi band with them!!

Not must to say today, since spent most of it on a a bus. However was getting slightly conserned when the last two stops before aviving at Torronto were Whitby and Scarborough. Had a bad feeling that i may wake up and find myself in Middlesborough.

Fisrt impressions of Toronto (apart from the big CN tower, ITS BIG) is that the place is big and vibrant. The hotel ( how jammy am i getting ) is next to the main square, so position wise is good and there's an internet cafe across the road. Will go walkabout tomorrow.

This is my last day in Montreal, as it was only meant as a means to get to Toronto. However, that doesnt give the place justice. I didnt realise that Montreal is actually an island itself. There is loads to do here and definatly a place to go for a long weekend. Every one speaks english, although they'd rather speak french

Its a good place to walk, altough there is a small but safe tube line you can use

Had Le Dinner down Rue Saint Paul, which is a mass of trendy restaurantsand , art galleries and only an stones throw away from from the square near notre damm, which is a great place to chill out and for Pete and Jason i Had "Tornado Rossini". (In other words i went to the "keg" and had steak)

Long day tomorrow, 7 hrs on a bus to Torronto. Sounds like fun

Its good to Know that my years study of Spanish is to come in to some use. But not today, today im in France, and what French i do remember is now mixed up with my Spanish lingo. I dont know if im saying hello, bonjour or hola now.

Montreal is also a great city to visit, so for my 2 day stop over before having a bit longer in Toronto should be enough

Shopping is tres bizzare non. the shopping center is 3-4 stories below the main shopping street, so if youre not careful youd miss it. The money ive spent so far id wish i had

The people are very frendly here and alot speak English as well as french (although all of the signs are in french). The good news is there are no mimes, looks like canadians dont like them either

So doing the usual with the recommendations of the UPS girl, i headed for the old town and waterside, where there is the usual statues, churches, bars.. Yadda Yadda Yadda... but very nice

Nighttime headed for the Rue up the road, with is littered with tiny bistros all the way down it and every style of food imaginable. Very pleasent but they all speak French. Commo Sa Va just dosent cut it in this town, and neither does Hey How You Doin.....

First problem on my travel journey. The link i want to get to Toronto means that i would have to go back to New York. Since ive decided that theres no going backward. I have 2 choices, head for Albany and stop over on the way to Toronto, or move to Montreal. I had been told that Albany is dull so off to Montreal. Its a 7 hr drive plus customs so i left at 2 pm giving me another day in Boston.

One thing you can say about the road to Montreal theres a lot of trees. I dont mind picturesque views but 7 hrs of driving down a road lined with trees. Insane. Im sure camp chrystal must be around here, and looking at some of the stops on the way its hills have eyes territory as well.

So i arrived in Montreal. I booked a much cheeper hotel on the net. This one turned out to be the Hilton. I walked up to the hotel lined with a assortment of Ferraris and any other other posh car you could think of. There were lots of poeple wearing logos like Mclaren (i didnt dawn on me that the grand Prix had just taken place). Whilst booking in i was presented with a warm cookie freshly baked (dont think ill get that in New Zealand) and theres free internet (its not really but the girl behind the counter let me in the busness suite). She very cute, but French.

Ive decided that since i only have a full day here, the best way to see the city is on one of many tours available. I picked the tram car tour (should have taken the duck tour, which goes on the water as well). I might as well have been on the No 4 to town. The driver guide didnt say anything about the land marks. He was only intrested in the detours he had to make because of the Lesbian Pride march going on in the centre. However the bus did take me to the Cheers bar where i sat on Norms barstool and had lunch.

Headed for Newbury Street which is made up of long lined Geogian style houses converted in to boutiques for all the major posh brands (bostons verision of 5th ave but not so in your face). Actually found an internet cafe there, (its the only one i could find in Boston). Anyone going to Boston should should check out newbury street for the shops and cafes.

Night time i went to see the Blueman Group. Which is basically 3 men painted blue creating music, art and generally larking around. Brilliant - Top night.

Today is a bit of a quite day travelling to Boston. Caught the Fung Wah bus ( for $15 dollars, 7.70) has to be the bargain of the trip. The journey took about 4 and a half hours. The hotel i was put in was the Hyatt, which has the most confortable bed ive ever slept in. The place was way too posh for a backpacker like mebut the concierge was very helpfull. Anyway i had time to go walkabout for a few hours. The first thing to notice was how quaint the place is. Everything is ultra clean. Its a very green city, there aretrees down nearly all of the roadsides and between the imposing skyscraper there are buildings draped in history, of how some lived there who founded the movement to fend away us brits. Boston is the place where the civil war began, although having a tea party isnt the way to start one.
Anyway strolled down to Market Street, which is there equivalent to Covent Garden ( no mimes) but lot of british street performers. we get everywhere. (Dont come here Sharon they have clowns). Very plesent place. but the uglyest city hall ever (all contrete looks like a multi story car park)

So my last day in NYC, so i finished the touristy bit off. Statue of liberty, uptown tour and Harlem and the rest of down town. So here the usual tourist pic

However Whilst in downtown, i was asked to appear in an Wrigglys gum ad campain. Since i did say i'd do something different every day, I agreed, had the photo shoot and will be appearing in Times Square sometime in July on the big screen!! . And no its not a "joey style ad for VD!!"

So Good thing / bad thing about NYC

Good
The Delis- It takes a few days to get in to the routine of ordering food and coffee, with such a wide choice, but breakfast will never be the same, on Rye

The People- Supprisingly friendly and helpful if not a bit abrupt. I lost count the amount of times i would see people asking if they needed help

Central Park- Such a great place, amonst the noise and mayhem
of the surrounding city. there a great place to chill

Shopping- Dont bring the wife/girlfriend -although there is over 200 irish bars to wait in - shame i could find the one showing the england game (which turned out to be lest than 5 mins from my hotel)

The Bad
Traffic lights, actually, not the traffic lights, they'e great, but just because the yellow man says "walk" doesnt mean you wont get knocked over- and i know about being hit by cars - (amsterdam -Jerez- you name it i've probably been hit there). no, the problem is the traffic, they will turn right in to you if you let them.

The People- in particular the tour guides, who seam to have a chip on their shoulder the size of central park and cant wait to have a dig at us brits. Yes Macy's is big, but not as big as Harrods! and ok i conceed Winston Churchills mum was American, So What.

Tipping- Its the Norm, but it doesnt stop in restaurants, everyone expects tips, tour guides (even though youve only hopped on the bus for 3 blocks) drivers, everyone (Ivan you'd hate it)

Pan Pipers enough said - saw 3, or maybe they moved around following me - conspiracy theory

Mimes - Yes there were some thankfull not dress as french Tw***.

Overall i loved the place, and would have stayed longer, but my bank balance wouldn't let me.

On to Boston......

Having booked the Hop on Hop off 2 day tour the pevious day, i decided to take the downtown tour first. Before jumping on the bus, i caught breakfast at the local deli. This one was particularly good as it had half of the NYPD in it (you know, they know where to go).

On the bus the first port of call was the Empire State Building. I was fortunate to get there early and there was no ques at all. Fortunatly the visibility was clear. From the top you could see for about 20 miles. I wont bore you with the details the photos will do that for me.

( they'll be downloaded on the flickr next week), but it was an amazing view.

The next port of call was Ground Zero. It's hard to visulalise the size of the building from the footprint that remains. But standing on the Empire State Building which was slightly shorter gives a good impression of the enormity of what happened. (Having thought of that, i decided to leave the E S building quickly)

By this time all of the attention was diverted away from the scenery and toward the bus driver who decided to have a fight with one of the bus organisers at the stop (he wasnt happy he was taking so long in traffic (great street theatre) think the Asian driver wonwith a slap to the back of the head.

By now, the bus was behind schedule and I was in danger of missing the game. Fortunatley, the bus finished at 2.55 pm (7.55PM UK) Unfortunatly for me, the game started at 2.30, and the pub in Times Square wasn't showing it. Fortunatly, i had a back up plan. An Irish Pub, was definatly showing it, as i had asked a couple of days previously. Unfortunatly, i'd had a couple on that day, so could i find the pub, NO. I caught the last 5 minutes and they then turned it off so i didnt even see the goals. the moral of this story is "sod the football, just find a bar" (any bar)