toronto from ahigh

So Melbourne has booted Vancouver off the top of the list of the world's most livable cities. After a day of errand-running in Toronto, I'm not surprised the world eventually chose an Australian city over a Canadian one. After living in Burnie for the last four years, I was prepared for things to be more expensive over here. But as I've found out with their cell phone options, it isn't just more expensive, it's five years behind. There is no way an Australian mobile provider would survive charging what the companies charge over here. No one would buy it. I found banking is the same. At home I paid about $5 a month with a major back for unlimited transactions. Today I signed on for $15 a month for the same deal. If I wanted it cheaper, I would have had to limit my card use. By Australian standards it's ridiculous. All pays are also done by cheque. When I pulled out my Travel Card, the guy at the bank asked what BPay was all about. I explained it and it was like I was speaking another language. "What a great idea," he said. No kidding! I think there is a lot of money to be made if one company decided to cut the crap and offer a competitive deal, because such a thing doesn't seem to exist.

Ok so that's my whinge for the day. Oh I would like to add to that, the tax issue. All prices are shown before tax, and I'm not so good with doing calculations before I get to the register so I'm finding it downright annoying. Now don't get the impression I'm not enjoying Canada. I am. I'm just adjusting.

I wasn't that keen to see much of Toronto so today became my errand day. I waiting at Service Canada to get my Social Insurance Number (a must to work in the country). It took about half an hour of waiting and two minutes with the customer service woman. A lot of people there were applying for a marriage licence, including one couple dressed for their wedding. I got my SIN and headed to the shops to find something to wear to my job interview on Thursday. I braved the Eaton Centre (a huge underground shopping centre), found a skirt and went for a walk in search of lunch. I ended up down by the waterfront, which looks over to Toronto Island. On the way back I called into TD Canada and opened an account. To be fair, they were very helpful. Even if their charges are ridiculous.

Back at the hostel I was exhausted so I curled up with Wilson Dell (my laptop) and watched a movie. I surfaced a couple of hours later and headed out to grab dinner on the way to the CN Tower - the only touristy thing I decided to do. The tower was the tallest in the world until 2010. I arrived on dusk so enjoyed sunset at the observation deck at 346m before going up to the Sky Pod at 446m. I got a little nervous going up the first elevator, which has glass windows. Going up the to Sky Pod wasn't as bad as the elevator is inside the concrete tower, so you can't see out. I admired the view for a while before making my way back down. Apparently on a clear day you can see all the way to Niagra Falls. As nice as it would have been to be up there during the day, I actually prefer views at night. Seeing the city all lit up is gorgeous.  

a quick game of pooh sticks

This trip has taken me to several famous attractions: the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty, Platform 9 3/4 etc. The problem with such attractions is you have an idea of what you're in for. In some cases you've seen it hundreds of times and this gives you certain expectations. Times Square is a good example. In movies it looks like this fantastic place full of lights, life and fun. In reality it is simply insane and I spent most of the time there looking for the quickest way out.

Today, with my camera and expectations in tow, I ventured to Niagra Falls. Now I don't need to explain to anyone just what a sight this looks in pictures. In reality, it it's a lot smaller than I thought it would be. But what was surprising was the force at which the water roars over the edge. There's a barge shipwrecked not far from the edge. Apparently it's been there for a while. It's just too dangerous for anything to get in to fish it out. That gives you an idea of the verocity of the current. A woman was killed only a week ago. She climbed up on the barrier and had an umbrella. The wind caught her umbrella and over she went. Despite this, people still stood up on the barrier, or worse, lifted their kids up for a better look. The water moves at an incredible pace. It would be a very quick game of Pooh Sticks.

Uncle Mickey and I did the Journey Behind the Falls, where you ride an elevator down and can go out onto some viewing platforms or in some tunnels to see behind the falls. The falls sound like thunder and echo through the tunnels. After lunch I did the Maid of the Mist, which are the boats that cruise up to the falls. The boats push as far up as they can against the current. After everyone has had a good look they turn the boat around and it is dragged back. The current moves the boat like it is a twig. I was suitable blown about and a little wet (my Drizzle took one for the team there) when I met up with Lyn and Mick again. My Drizzle is bright pink so it was easy for them to pick me out against the sea of blue ponchos on the boat. The falls have eroded quite a lot in the last few hundred years. Unfortunately it seems this sight won't be around forever. I wonder what will happen to the casinos, hotels and amusements parks that are fuelled by the never-ending stream of tourists that visit this place. Apparently we'd come on a quiet day, and it was still hectic.

Then came the drive to Toronto. Although it's visible over Lake Ontario, it takes about 100km to drive around the lake to get to the city. Mick and Lyn dropped me off at my hostel (Mick goes back to work tomorrow) and I headed out for some dinner. To be honest, I'm not that fussed about being in Toronto and already plan just to run some errands tomorrow. It's not that I'm over travelling, it's just that reality is now only 48 hours away and I'm rather exhausted.

canadian and proud of it

After only a couple of days in Canada, I have come to the conclusion Canadians are as patriotic as Americans. I doubt you'll find a Canadian who will like the comparison. I doubt you'll find a Canadian who likes Americans. But there it is. Today the troubles of Hurricane Irene seemed a world away as the sun shone on southerwestern Ontario. After another lazy morning I decided to walk into town to take a look around. I also wanted to get a Canadian cell phone. So I walked the 3km out to Rogers, one of the main providers in Canada. From what I've heard, they are the Canadian equivalent of Telstra: good coverage, bad service. It didn't take too long to get sorted. As I walked through the suburbs, I noticed a lot of Canadian flags. I saw the same thing yesterday on our ride to Port Dover. It's just not something we do in Australia. I guess we wear the print on clothes and thongs though - wasn't that a heated debate earlier this year?!

The town has a downtown area, but the establishment of major chains outside this area has decentralised the town. The Rogers store was in the 'new' area so I walked back into 'downtown'. I had lunch at a small cafe and worked out I'm not a fan of dill pickles. I fear this is going to go about as well for me as trying to avoid corriander in Vietnam. I also got mistaken for a Brit. Mick told me later it's common. It's like an Aussie trying to pick the difference between Canadians and Americans.

I got back to Mick and Lyn's after a couple of hours walking around and without getting sunburnt. I then spent the next couple of hours studying and completing the Serving it Right exam. It's the British Columbia version of the Responsible Serving of Alcohol certificate and it's compulsory if I'm going to work somewhere that serves alcohol. I don't need it just yet but I figured I might as well get it out of the way.

That evening, choosing between pizza and a barbecue for tea, I chose the latter. It seemed like a touch of home. After eating way too much, Mick and I chilled on the couch watching House before I called it a night.

two-wheeled road trip

It seems I have a knack for avoiding drama on this trip. I left London a few days before the riots, left DC the day before the earthquake, and left New York the day before they start warning people to prepare to evacuate if Hurricane Irene hits. While my friends in New York stocked up on food and alcohol in preparation for possible trouble, I explored southwestern Ontario without a care in the world. That may be a cliche, but it's hard to have a worry when you're on the back of a motorcycle, feeling the wind hit you as you cruise through gorgeous countryside.

At Port Dover

Uncle Mickey has two bikes and has taken some mammoth trips through the States on them. His partner Lyn hadn't been on a bike before meeting him, but was a quick convert. When he offered to show me the area on his touring bike, I jumped at the chance. Mickey lives near Lake Erie, so we headed there to "the Coast". Our first stop was Port Dover, a little village on the edge of the lake. There's a little sand on the bank and quite a few people making use of it, but apparently on weekends it's crazy. The town is also home to the Friday the 13th motorcycle event. On every Friday the 13th, thousands of bikers converge on the town. It could be winter, summer, once a year, twice a year. It doesn't matter. They all come to Port Dover.

Port Dover

From Port Dover we took some back roads through Normandale, Turkey Point, St Williams and to Long Point,  pulling in at various points on the lake. It was a great place to explore on the bike. You feel more in touch with your surroundings. At Port Dover I could smell the chips from the takeaway places as we rode in and I felt the temperature change as we moved away from the water. We rode through a few farming districts. There were a lot of roadside stalls selling fresh vegetables. The main crop here is tobacco, however as demand drops because less people are smoking, many farmers have turned to ginseng. We passed a lot of tobacco crops but with the lack of rain (except for a downpour two nights ago) they weren't looking very healthy. The maze seemed to be faring a bit better.

The view from where we had supper

One of the towns we rode through is fighting against a decision to put wind turbines in the area. There were a lot of anti-turbine signs up including one reading "the answer is NOT blowing in the wind".

Long Point is near a national wildlife area, which is home to a lot of turtles. There are road signs up warning motorists of "Turtles crossing". Unfortunately I didn't see any. We stopped at a place near Long Point for an early supper before heading home on a different route.

and into canada

Ah trains. One of the best ways to travel. Yes they have their downsides: it does take a rather long time to get anywhere. But I figure if you're not in a rush, why not enjoy the journey? I could have flown from New York to Toronto, but I couldn't pass up a train trip. Amtrak is the only service that operates in the State and it runs the Maple Leaf, covering the journey in about 12 hours. It was only a quick walk from Jeremy's to the Station. I'm really grateful he let me stay with him. I'd actually booked a hostel for my last night because I didn't want to be a bother by getting up early, but he's up early anyway so it worked out well.

I'd paid a little bit extra (about $30) for business class. It wasn't much money in the scheme of things, plus I knew I would appreciate the extra space. And oh did I. I had a seat by myself that was big enough for me to curl up in, plus it reclined with a huge foot rest so it was like curling up in front of the TV at Mum and Dad's. I slept for the first few hours and then passed some time in the cafe carriage chatting with some of the staff. Mike and 'J' (he wouldn't spill on what the J on his name badge stood for) travel the line six days a week. Up one day and back the next...three times a week. I'm not sure what their actual job is. They just sat and chatted to me and a girl from Nepal who is studying in Canada and made the occasional announcement.

The scenery, what I saw of it, was nice. We followed water for a while and I could see a bit of the little towns we passed through. It was nice to be out of the city. At Niagra we all hopped off to go through the border check. I had to get my working holiday permit issued and the woman at the desk wasn't very helpful to begin with. At first she said she wasn't sure she could issue it, then said she could but she would have to start the machine and it could take an hour (meaning I would miss the train to Toronto), then suggested I get it processed when I fly into Vancouver, then realised I couldn't do that because it had to be done on entry to the country, then said she could do it but warned me again about missing my train. I said she should do whatever she had to do. I needed to get it activated so if that meant the night in Niagra, so be it. When she processed it she initially said I only had a year, even though the permit could be for two. I'd only bought insurance for one year so she was going by that. After a bit of a conversation where I promised to extend to insurance if I stayed in the country longer than a year (which of course I would!?), she approved it for two years and I was good to go. Luckily, being in business class I'd been one of the first off the train to the customs desk so even with the time it took her, I was finished before some other customers. It would have been a different story if I'd been further back in the line. There would have been no train for me to Toronto.

At the station I met my Uncle Mickey...well once we found each other. I hadn't seen him for 11 years but turns out he looks just the same. I doubt the same can be said for me though. I was 15. I really hope I don't still look like the scrawny teenager I was back then. Well, not that there's much scrawny about me after two months with lots of food and no gym. Mickey and his partner Lyn live a couple of hours out of Toronto so it was a little drive back, but again, nice to be out of the city.

some very special toys

Where to start today’s blog? I’m at a loss. A new favourite sport; One of the most beautiful buildings I’ve seen in my trip (take that Europe and your gorgeous architecture); Napping in one of the world’s busiest cities; Indulging in New York’s finest cuisine. Perhaps, I’ll just go from the beginning. It started like every other day in New York: at Starbucks. After reading my blog, Fa, my host in Washington, was motivated to finally start one of her own, a goal she’s had for a while. After reading hers, I decided I should get around to one of goals: to start a blog of tips and hints I’ve picked up during my travels. So for $2.45, the price of my Early Grey tea, I sat in Starbucks for a good couple of hours and created A blog of tips I’ve picked up while travelling. I wish I’d started it earlier because now I’m struggling to remember everything.

My destination this morning was the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), down near Fifth Ave, so I stared my hike to there. Along the way I passed the main branch of the New York Public Library. I’d forgotten about this place. The library is featured in the Sex in the City movie and it looked gorgeous in the film. I decided to take a look inside and discovered there was a free tour starting in 10 minutes. I put my name down. This building is a reference library and the only lending section is the children’s area. It’s a beautiful building with two sweeping staircases coming down to the lobby, high, decorative ceilings and little lamps on all the tables. Most of the books are kept under the building so you can’t see them, but just to know they were a little elevator away was exciting. The library has lots of different rooms: the periodicals room, map room (Dad you’d love it), research rooms, rare collections and the main reading room. The reading room is the size of a football ground. It was gorgeous. I also found out there is free wifi. Pity I didn’t know that earlier. These surroundings certainly left Starbucks for dead. At the end of the tour I went to the children’s section to look for something the guide had told us about. Something I didn’t even know existed, much less ever thought I’d get to see. The original Winnie the Pooh toys. These are the toys that A A Milne’s son, Christopher Robin, played with that were the inspiration for the books. And here they were. In a case on the bottom level of the New York Public Library. They were tattered and worn, but easily recognisable. Piglet was tiny and even Pooh looked on the slim side (he must have eaten too much honey before the cartoon series started). There were no crowds, no lines. Just these very special toys in a glass case.

The tour took an hour and the I’d decided that I’d rather see the American Museum of Natural History over MOMA, since I now only had time for one. Museum’s aren’t usually my thing but I’d heard really good things about this. There were four special exhibitions – The World’s Largest Dinosaurs, Frogs, Journey to the Stars and Tornadoes – so I paid extra for access to those. I started at the dinosaur exhibits. The entire top floor is dedicated to these displays, and then the special exhibit is in addition to their usual ones. I hadn’t seen any displays like this since I was a kid so it was fun to see them again. There are volunteers around the museum to answer questions too, which was helpful. Then it was onto frogs, which turned out to be real frogs! Oh they were cute. Slimy, but cute. Other exhibits included African and North American animals, more dinosaurs, Native Indian culture etc. I skipped the Journey to the Stars show when I realised it was the same screening I saw at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, but hung around for the tornado documentary. It covered a weather research team and a documentary film maker as they chased tornados for a season. I couldn’t help but wonder why people continued to live in areas that were repeatedly destroyed by these things. Let along decide to build a car so you can survive getting into the centre of one just to make a film.

There was so much I hadn’t seen but I couldn’t take any more in. The museum is right next to Central Park so I headed in there, this time in a different part to where I was last week with Vanessa. I found The Great Lawn, which is basically open space with a few baseball fields so I kicked off my shoes and collapsed on the grass. I was in the centre of Manhattan but I couldn’t hear a thing except a few sirens in the distance, the wind through the trees and the crack of a baseball bat as the players hit the ball. I stretched out and enjoyed a nap before heading back to the subway.

I decided a while ago that I couldn’t come to New York without seeing either a baseball match or basketball. Basketball doesn’t start until October so baseball it is. I wanted some advice on where to get tickets to I put a post on Couchsurfing and a guy called Alex replied and said he’d come along. He recently moved to New York from LA and was keen to see a Yankees game. As I came out of the station and stood before Yankee Stadium, it was clear I’d underestimated this sport. It was crazier than the MCG or Etihad before an AFL game. There were people begging for tickets, street vendors selling merchandise, water and peanuts. And sooo many people. I headed inside and climbed to the top (the very top) to my seat. I saw the national anthem before Alex arrived. Thankfully he is a big baseball fan so was able to fill in some gaps for me. The sport itself is rather comparable to cricket in that is isn’t very fast moving. But when there’s a bit of excitement, the crowd certainly reacts. All I wanted was to see a home run and Nick Swisher delivered that for me. I added to the experience by indulging in my first New York hot dog. I had to have one. However it’s really hard to enjoy such food when every fastfood menu (including at Yankee Stadium and food vans on the street) lists the calories in every item. Obese American’s cannot be that size out of ignorance. 

As the eighth innings started, Alex and I moved down to better seats. I pulled a “I’m Australian, I’ve never seen baseball before, I leave tomorrow and my seats were waaaay up the top” with the ticket checker and he let us sit in one of the better sections. A lot of people don’t bother to last the game and had left already. Mark Teixeira gave me another home run, but the Oakland Athletics scored a couple in the 10^th so it was all over for the Yankees. The game wasn’t even finished but the stadium started to empty out in no time. I caught the subway back to Grand Central Station, which I hadn’t seen yet, and then a taxi back to Jeremy’s.

i was like, soooo american

I'm sitting in Starbucks, sipping my drink, laptop open, searching Yelp for places to eat in the West Village. I could easily be mistaken for a real New Yorker. The only thing that would give me away is that my drink is the smallest size possible. To really look the part I should have got the biggest. I was shocked when I came across a Starbucks in the Forbidden City in Beijing. Perhaps I should have been shocked there was only one. Starbucks is very much the chain of choice in America. There is one at every turn. Sometimes across the street from each other. It's quite incredible really. Although sometimes I wonder at the signs in the toilets reminding employees to wash their hands. I've seen this in about four or five different places (not just Starbucks). Is it that hard to remember?

Looking towards Manhattan

Today I was up and out in the city early. New York in the early morning (by early I mean 7am) is fun. The tourists are still sleeping so you see it more from a local's perspective. Today was garbage day (thankfully as the bags were lining the streets last night. And they wonder why there are rats). The construction crews were already at work, the morning paper sellers were calling out to commuters and the street vendors were setting up. I walked to a Starbucks and used the wifi to update my blog from yesterday. Then it was off to Brooklyn Bridge. It was a little cooler outside but 27 degrees was predicted so I decided to get all my outdoor visiting out of the way before it became to hot for this little Taswegian.

I'd read that the best view across the bridge was coming from Brooklyn, but since I was on the Manhattan side I started there. It's only 1.8km so I figured I'd just walk back. I didn't want to spoil the view so I was determined not to turn around while I walked. At one point I accidently saw a bit of the skyline out the corner of my eye when taking a photo...I couldn't help but smile a little. But I made it to the end without looking back. Manhattan really is a sight. It was a beautiful day: Manhattan Bridge in the foreground and the city behind it. The pedestrian and bike path runs above the traffic - cyclists on one side and pedestrians on the other. Some people were doing the tourist thing, some seemed to be just using it to cross, others were out for a run, including a boot camp group that stopped at the side to do more exercises.

Looking towards Brooklyn

Next it was off to the Staten Island Ferry. I had no desire to go to Staten Island, it's just that the ferry goes passed the Statue of Liberty. And it's free. The ferry doesn't get really close but it's as good a view as I'm willing to pay for. The view of Manhattan was also worth the 1-hour return trip. It looks so small from a distance.

Back on the right side of the water I jumped on the subway bound for the West Village. This is where I came with Vanessa and Kathryn last Thursday night and it seemed to be a good place for lunch. Yelp, a website that's really popular in the States and reviews nearly every business you can think of, led me to The Little Owl, just around the corner. It was a great little place, full of character and they had great service. I did have to wait for a table, but it was worth it. I didn't rush through lunch and afterwards decided to wander around, with the vague intention of heading to either the Museum of Modern Art or the Natural History Museum. In the end I didn't make it to either. The afternoon just flew by as I walked around the city. First around West Village and then back to the Theatre District and Times Square. I like how the atmosphere can change dramatically with just the turn of a corner. From the insanity of Times Square to the sophistication of Fifth Avenue and then the empty construction areas along 37th street. I'd just found somewhere to print my Yankees tickets for tomorrow night when Jeremy messaged and said he was heading home from work.

Jeremy had messaged during the day and said there had been an earthquake. That was news to me. Reports later said people spilled onto the street as they implemented evacuation procedures. I didn't notice that. This must be the only city in the world in which something like that can happen and it's easy not to notice. For dinner we head to the East Village, a place I haven't ventured to yet. I found myself on one of the east streets today, but that was only by accident and I turned around when I realised. First we walked through Chelsea (the gay district) to the Meatpacking District (the nightclubs) just so I could see more of the city. An old railway track has been revamped into a walkway that weaves between the buildings, so we walked along that. Then we hopped on the bus crosstown. The East Village is a more artistic and alternative area, and as such as a bit of a different vibe than the other parts I'd been in. We went to a Moroccan place for dinner, which was amazing. It's one of Jeremy's favourite places and I'm really glad we went there. I would have ended up at some chain no doubt if I'd been on my own. Full on cous cous and Moroccon tea, I hailed my first cab and we taxied back to Jeremy's.

remember 9/11

Me in the insane Times Square

Next month will be the 10th anniversary of September 11. Ten years! I still remember where I was when it came on the news. And I'm not even American. I'd actually hadn't even given a thought to visiting Ground Zero when I was in New York last week. Today when I went back to Newseum, I started back at the 9/11 display. Straight away I noticed something I missed yesterday, which really made me aware just how blasé I'd become. On a bench near the wall of front pages was a box of tissues. It took me a second to work out why it was there. Then instantly I felt horrible for not comprehending just how significant the event still is for people here. And I should. It's still very real. Aussie troops are in Iraq because of it. I spent a bit more time at the display and watched a video interviewing some of the journalists who were working that day.

I was looking at a display on the freedom of press in other countries (Finland is rated as having the most free, North Korea the worst) when one of the employees asked if I'd like to see inside a TV studio. They have a couple of studios at the Newseum that are hired out, but that guests can look inside when they aren't filming. The studio I went in was being used by Al Jeezra English in a few hours. It's different from most studios in that it has a window, the view being the Capitol Building. The floor isn't attached to any of the walls, meaning if someone was drilling on the street, the vibrations might be felt on the walls of the building, but not on the floor, therefore not affecting the cameras.

The other displays I had left to see was a collection of photos taken by the Presidential photographer. My favourite was a picture of Lyndon Johnson howling along with the family dog. There was also an interactive floor, where you can can answer questions about what you would do in certain situations to learn about ethics in journalism, and a game where you have to interview people to get a story. I did quite well in both, which was comforting. After finishing the interview game, I was told my the computer that "I will go far". Good to know.

My bus back to New York left at 2.30pm so I headed back to Union Station to get to the bus stop. I'd spent just over another two hours in the Newseum and I still could have spent more. There were a lot of short screenings that I hadn't watched and would have been interested to see. If anyone is in DC, make sure you go there. It has everything: history, current events, media! My heaven!

The bus ride back to New York took a little longer than it should have. Not helped by the fact the bus left 45 minutes late. But there was free wifi so I passed the time online. Back in New York I picked up my luggage and walked to my new host's place - both stops were only a couple of blocks from where the bus dropped us. My new host is Jeremy. A Texas native who moved to New York about six years ago. He's travelled a LOT and got into Couchsurfing while he was travelling and now hosts to give something back. It was about 8pm when I got there so we headed out for dinner. Jeremy was great at telling me where to go, where not to go, where to eat, where not to eat: all the things you miss out on when you're travelling alone. It's always great to get a local's perspective. Despite the fact he does not like Times Square, he took me there so I could see it at night. He used to work around the corner so began to dread the place when stepping out to grab a coffee meant going to war with a sea of tourists. I thought the place was pretty crazy during the day, but at night it is insane. My first thought was of the power bill! It was spectacular, but also intense. We battled the crowd for a couple of blocks and then turned off to walk back to Jeremy's place.

View from the top of Jeremy's apartment building

a profession to be proud of

The White House

Washington has more museums than anyone could hope to visit in a lifetime. Since I only had two days, I had to be rather selective. Top of my list was the Newseum. It is what the name suggests. A museum about news. Fa was meeting a friend so she dropped me at Dupont Circle in the morning. Driving is a bit easier here than in New York, where Vanessa and Kathryn avoid it at all costs. Parking is difficult, but possible. Fa played Edith Piaff while in the car. On top of her other talents (which also includes photography), she can also sing in French. I wanted to get a US cell number because Fa, and my uncle in Toronto, can't message my UK number. The phone stores weren't opening for another hour so I spent some time walking around and found a farmers' market. This one was more impressive than what I saw at the Rockefeller Center in New York. Peaches seem to be the flavour of the month, as were zester apples, which I'd never heard of. I picked up a couple of pieces of fruit for lunch and continued to walk around the circle.

Millions of peaches at the farmers' market

At noon I went into the AT&T store. I'd looked up some of the plans online and it seemed pretty clear that the cell phone market must not be all that competitive. The deals offered in the UK, and even by Telstra at home, leave these for dead. You pay for incoming calls, which strikes me as somewhat ridiculous. The phone companies would make money on both ends - the person calling, and the person being called! Turns out AT&T had a deal that suited me just fine. $2 a day only on the days I use the phone and unlimited calls, receiving calls and texts (international ones too). Since I'll only be using it until Thursday that sounded pretty good to me. 

I caught the metro to the Newseum, had some lunch, and went inside. The Newseum is six floors. They recommend doing the bottom, then going right up to the top and working your way round. I started at the collection of Pulitzer Prize photographs. The display covered decades of images and all of them, as you can imagine, were stunning. Some of them were a bit hard to look at, particularly ones taken in conflict and disaster zones. There were ones I'd seen before such as Nick Ut's photo of the naked girl running down the road in Vietnam after a napalm strike. All of them were quite intense, to the extent that after a while I found myself looking around for something a bit more light-hearted - sports shots etc - just to give myself a break.

The Berlin Wall

From the photos I went to an exhibition about the Berlin Wall, which actually includes parts of the wall. I knew the basics, but it was great to learn a lot more. Then came a 25-minute documentary on the history of sports reporting. Of course, it was all about American sports reporting, but fascinating all the same. Particularly with how often race has been an issue in sports.

One of the temporary exhibitions is on the FBI. There were a couple of cases I'd heard about but most, despite how big they were in the US, must have escaped much attention at home. The display focused on the media's role with some of the cases, which at times has been quite significant. There was one example when a bomber wrote a huge essay and asked the papers to print it. Although reluctant, one paper did, and it lead to the bomber being identified when a relative recognised some of the opinions and attitudes in the writing. A short 4D movie (4D because you feel some of the elements in the film, wind, the chair moves etc) about the history of journalism, and then it was up to the top floor. By this stage a storm was coming through the city so I was happy to be tucked up inside.

The top floor featured a large display on the reporting during Hurricane Katrina. I was really touched by the role the media played in parts of this, and the way the people valued it as well. It's nice to know I'm part of an industry that can have so much influence. The conditions some of the reporters battled to do their job, and print a paper, were incredible too.

A history of newspapers included editions that covered major news events: the deaths of Marilyn Monroe, Princess Diana and John Lennon, Martin Luther King's speech, the pull out of troops in Vietnam etc. Then it was downstairs to the coverage of September 11. I expected there to be a bit more here, especially after seeing the Katrina display, but I guess it has been 10 years and there has been a lot of news since. An announcement warned of the Newseum's closure in 30 minutes. I still had so much to see, but my ticket was valid for two days so i decided to head to the National Air and Space Museum, which was going to be open until 7.30pm.

Front pages from September 12, 2001

Fa had warned me that the Air and Space Museum was very "boyish" and would be packed with families on a Sunday. But I thought I may as well head along and see what I thought. If I wanted more time, I would head back the next day. The museum covers a lot of history, from the Wright brothers and the use of aircraft in war, to the space race and astronomy. I went to the planterium and watched a show on stars, voiced by Whoopi Goldberg, which made it even more enteraining. The details on the space race was particularly interesting. There was sufficient information on the USSR program too. I last a couple of hours before I couldn't absorb any more information.

I decided to walk to the metro but changed my mind and headed to the White House instead. Washington isn't actually all that big so it's not hard to walk to where you want to go. The White House was slightly disappointing. I first ended up at the back of it, looking at the kitchen garden. And when I got round the front so much of it is blocked by trees and fences that I had to double check that I was in the right spot. It did look nice with the setting sun as backdrop though. I grabbed some dinner and headed back to Fa's.




The Capital Building



the clean capital

Where New York is loud, sticky, dirty and busy, Washington is clean, calm and somewhat elegant. The differences are apparent as you drive into the city. The streets are more orderly and there are trees everywhere. The subway is orderly and tidy - smooth rides up escalator instead of hiking up dingy staircases - and a lot easier to understand.

After a rather delayed bus ride from New York, we pulled up near Union Station. My couchsurfing host had given me great directions to her place so it wasn't hard to find. Just a short metro ride and a short walk. After lugging my big bags around everywhere else I decided to store them in New York while I came to DC so I only had a backpack to carry. I'm staying with Fatima, a girl from Yemen who has been living in DC for about five years. It didn't take long for her to become one of the most fascinating and inspiring people I have met. In short, she's traveled A LOT, studied architecture, paints, cooks, is studying foreign policy, has written news articles pro bono, plays chess, tennis, swims everyday and the list goes on. She is on amazing woman! Fa hosts a lot, in fact she had surfers before I got here and has one coming after I leave.

There was still plenty of daylight left so we decided to visit some of the monuments. Fa hasn't seem many of them so we started at the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial. Mum and Dad had warned me that there was no mention of any other country, but I still found myself annoyed at it when I saw it for myself. It is a beautiful memorial and lists the names of the 58,000 US soldiers. There was a ranger talk starting in about 30 minutes so we walked over to the Lincoln Memorial for a quick look and then were back in time for the talk. Our ranger, John, was extremely passionate and great to listen to. He was particularly impressed that Fa had read the same book he's read for research. John told us the memorial was designed to bring together the past (the names of the soldiers) and the present. This is achieved by the reflective surface of the memorial, so you can see yourself while looking at the names.

Visiting the mall (the name given to the area with all the monuments) was great however it did hold one, rather major, disappointment. I'll set the scene. It's halfway through Forrest Gump. Forrest is addressing a huge crowd in front of the Washington Monument about the Vietnam War. Then Jenny comes running through the reflective pool. "Forrest! Forrest!" "Jenny! Jenny!". Forrest runs off the podium and into the pool. Great scene! Anyway, I was rather excited about seeing the pool....except it's not there. It's been drained because they are rebuilding it. Apparently the pool began to crack because the area used to be swamplands. John said some say it will be rebuilt by early next year, but other estimates put it years off.

We have some dinner and feeling a bit more energetic, decide to walk to Dupont Circle. It was a beautiful sight at night, even if we did see a rat. Fa said they were quite common in the city and perhaps one of the main reasons food and drink is banned on the metro. I've also seen more homeless people in DC than I have anywhere else I've been, which is sad. To think of the number of politicans that would see this everyday, and yet there are still people sleeping on park benches.

a city out in the open

If you went into the Burnie Park on any random day, you would be hard-pressed to find a soul. Perhaps the odd tourist using it as a spot to pull up for lunch, or school kids walking through it into town. Tasmanians, and to a lesser extent, Australians, are terrible at making the most of their public spaces. Not so in New York. Prospect Park was a great example yesterday, however there is no bigger or more used public space than Central Park.

Kathryn had to work today and Vanessa loves Central Park, so she took me into the city. We caught the subway to Times Square, a place I'd actually forgotten about until Vanessa mentioned it. The subway is an interesting place. We get on in Brooklyn, which has a large black population. At one stage I was the only white person in the carriage. The streets near Kathryn and Vanessa certainly cater for that demographic. The stores offering African hair weaving probably aren't aimed at white people.

Central New York is exactly what I pictured, no thanks to the endless US tv shows and movies I watch. The smoke from the subway spewing out of drains in the sidewalk, yellow cabs clogging up the road and flashing billboards everywhere. Vanessa had warned that Times Square could be fairly full on, mainly because of the tourists. She mentioned that people seemed to gather outside the store Forever 21 to take photos. Sure enough when we walked past Forever 21, there was a crowd. Although the attraction wasn't Times Square. It was a young blonde girl who is apparently a star on Youtube for her beauty advice. Clearly I am out of the loop.

From Times Square and it's flashing billboards (and Bubba Gump Shrimp) we walk to the Rockefeller Centre. There's a farmers' market set up so we walk through that. It's not quite the farmers' market I'm used to though. This is surrounded my high-rises. In Burnie, I'm best off wearing my gumboots. Up the road from the Rockefeller Centre I discover the best shop in the world. FAO Schwarz. The best toy store in the world. Everything is priced way out of reach of the average parent, but that doesn't stop it being a whole lot of fun. There are stuffed ponies selling for $1000, or perhaps you'd prefer a Barbie Fooseball Table (one of only 10 in the world) for $25,000? The store is amazing. There is a section for doll houses, willy wonka, lego, puzzles, action figures etc. One of the assistants, Carlos, stops and has a chat with us for a little bit. A kid came up and asked the price of something and was told "$80, but for you $29.95", so they do like to have a bit of a laugh.

Central Park was right across the road so we ducked in there and waited for Kathryn to finish work. It was a beautiful day, again despite the forecast for thunderstorms. People were rolling out their yoga mats, walking through in their suits after work, walking their dog and sleeping on the grass. We met Kathryn back at FAO Schwarz and ducked into the Apple Store. If there is one place that could warrant a 24-hour Apple Store, it would be New York. The store is underground and insanely busy. They are building a giant glass cube at street level so it will be quite a sight when it's done.

We walk through Central Park and catch the subway back home. Back in Brooklyn, the locals are again making the most of their city. Three men sit on the corner on up-turned buckets just watching the world go by. Up from them is a chess game in play. We are barely in the door two minutes when the rain starts coming. Vanessa had to go pick up Thor, the dog that got hit by a car, from the vet, but every taxi is booked so she has to wait for nearly an hour. I act like a true New Yorker and order dinner to be delivered. I'm still battling with remembering to tip and knowing how much, but I'm sticking with about 10% to 15%. We had planned to go out but I'm exhausted and after getting ready, change back into my pjs and go to bed while the others go to the pub.

new york, new york

Ahhhh New York! It was a seven-hour flight, thunderstorms were forecast, and I'd gotten up super early to make sure I allowed enough time for customs. But I made it. Mel and Bryan had warned me to allow a lot of time as customs for the US is done in Dublin, before you board the plane. They can also be quite funny about young people as they suspect everyone and anyone might be trying to stay there. They also warned me not to mention Couchsurfing as apparently that never goes down to well. They assume that anyone surfing is broke and can't afford to go there. So as a backup I booked two nights accommodation at a hostel and then cancelled it, but printed out the confirmation, just so I had an address to put on all the forms and information to show if asked. I also printed out all my Canadian details (visa, train to Toronto, flight to Vancouver) incase they wanted me to prove that I really was going there because I didn't have an exit flight from the US. In the end it was a breeze. I filled in the form and made it through with plenty of time. The flight ended up being held up a bit because of the delay though customs, so I'm glad I went early.

Seven hours later I touched down at JFK. In all my travels I've never felt particularly nervous about being in a new city, but for some reason I was here. Perhaps because it is SOOO big, and perhaps because I watch too many New York-based crime shows. I found the subway to Brooklyn without any hassle and then caught a taxi to my hosts place. I'm staying with Kathryn and Vanessa, a couple from California who moved to New York about a month ago. They have four dogs (although one was hit by a car last night and is at the vet) who are absolutely gorgeous. It wasn't raining when I arrived so I decided to head out to explore Prospect Park, the main park in Brooklyn. It was great to see so many people using it. There were exercise and yoga classes happening, people flying their kites, walking their dogs, having picnics, flying frisbees etc. It was a great sight. I heard thunder in the distance so started to make my way back. I was only a block away when the rain started so that wasn't too bad at all.

Kathryn and Vanessa are vegetarians and I was craving sushi so they recommended a vegetarian sushi place (perfect) in the city. We caught the subway in (I'm slowly getting the hang of it) and found the restaurant. New York at night was exactly how I'd pictured it. Lots of lights and an army of yellow taxis shooting down the street.

feeling at home

Since I'm couchsurfing a bit on my trip, it's a subject that a lot of people have been interested in. People were equally as interested when I started hosting back in Australia, but I found most people were rather skeptical. Mel and Bryan and I discussed couchsurfing a lot. While I was there they received quite a few requests, unfortunately, not great requests. Some of them were people who had started a profile but not included a photo or any information about themselves, and here they were asking to stay in someone's home. As a host I really enjoyed sharing my home town with people and getting the chance to show them things they wouldn't have seen otherwise. As a surfer, it's worked the same way. I've only surfed twice but it's been a great experience both times. I think it just takes a bit of commonsense when choosing somewhere to stay. If they have negative references from past guests or, as I saw on a couple of profiles, guys saying they will expect a massage from their guest and that the sleeping space is their own bed, then just don't ask to stay there. But none of that was an issue with Mel and Bryan. In fact, Dublin would have been pretty boring without them. 

Mel and Bryan live really close to Pheonix Park, a huge space where the Dublin Zoo is located. To try to make up for all the eating and sleeping I've been doing lately, I headed out for a run. After that I decided to check out Mel and Bryan's favourite tour in Dublin. They suggested bussing from the city centre but I decided to walk there instead. I enjoyed the walk but I probably should have taken their advice as I made it just in time for the last tour. There is a museum there which I had a little bit of time in, but the only way to go inside the gaol is with a guided tour. It didn't take long to see why Mel and Bryan like the tour so much. It's really facinating. The stories of the gaol are closely linked with a lot of Ireland's and Dublin's history, so it was a pretty informative tour.

I caught the bus back to Mel and Bryan's place and we had a bit of a lazy evening...which I needed as I had an early start to catch my flight the next morning.

and onto dublin

Ah the joys of early mornings. After many days of late nights and sleeping in, rising before 6am was a shock to the system. I caught a taxi to the airport and made my flight with plenty of time to spare. I must have left something in Cork because my bag now weighed less, even though I’d put more in it. I also didn’t get asked my test my carry on bag, which was disappointing because I’d put a lot more effort into packing it better this time just in case. Typical.

I’m being hosted by a couple while I’m in Dublin, but I wasn’t meeting them until after lunch so I killed a couple of hours walking around the city. I met Mel and Bryan at 1pm. Mel’s from Vancouver and Bryan is from London. They met over the Internet about 5 years ago and chose Ireland because it was easy for Mel to get a visa. They are currently going through the process of applying for another visa and have to prove they are a couple. It’s been a lot of work for them. Their application includes phone records from years ago to prove they knew each other, stacks and stacks of photos and a LOT of paper work. One more reason for me not to fall in love with someone from another country. Mel and Bryan had a couple of things to do so I tagged along. They also gave me a bit of a tour of the city, which was great because I didn’t know a thing about the city at all. I’d assumed the bit I’d been walking around all morning was the main street, but no. That was over the bridge.

They live a quick bus ride away in a house that has 10 bedrooms. It’s about four storeys, but Mel and Bryan have scored two rooms on the ground floor, one which Bryan uses an office. He runs his own business fixing playstations and game consoles. Mel works at a café called The Cheese Pantry.  It was reviewed in a paper recently and it sounded great so I was all in favour of heading there for dinner.  When I went hunting for lunch earlier, I really struggled to find anywhere I wanted to eat. Apparently Dublin is not known for its food at all, so I’m really glad Mel and Bryan knew somewhere good. A friend of theirs, Mel’s first couchsurfer, Kirby, joined us for dinner. Kirby’s Australian but is determined not to go home. She’s on a working visa but can only work for the one company for six months at a time. She’s about the come to the end of her six months at a job she really enjoys. It’s a bit of a hard time for her because she doesn’t know where she’ll be in a few months time. I can’t help but wonder if that will be in sometime soon. Stressing about visas and trying to work out where to go and what to do.

irish weather prevails

Another late night meant another late morning. I haven’t slept this late so often for a long time! Unfortunately the nice weather of the weekend was short lived. Today the view out the flat window didn’t look very inviting at all. But we had to brave it because I was hungry and needed things in town. At least it wasn’t cold. We had breakfast at the English Market before heading to some shops and then the post office…yes someone has a present on the way J

Donagh’s friend Brendan had a few new episodes of Entourage so we walked to Donagh’s college to get them. The college (what Australia’s would call university) was quite a beautiful place. Much nicer than the one I went to. Exams are on at the moment so there were a few students camped in the hallways pouring over their notes in a last-minute attempt to learn something. I resisted the temptation to whisper to them “if you don’t know it now, it’s too late”. A lot of the buildings are quite old, with plants climbing up the walls. Some of the newer ones aren’t quite as impressive. Donagh said one of them was designed and built by a civil engineer who forgot to put toilets in. The oversight wasn’t realised until the building opened.

There’s a lough (Irish spelling of loch) not far from the college so we bought some bread and headed up to feed the ducks. The birds were quite friendly little fellas. I’m assuming they are quite used to being fed treats by humans. Some of the geese were quite snappy, so I gave them less and favoured the birds they picked on. It wasn’t long before the short break in the rain was over so we headed to a popular fish and chips sho to get some dinner. Apparently it was once rated the best fish and chip shop and a very young Bono went there to present the award.

Once again at dinner I managed to eat far too much so lying down to watch a movie was called for. I was meant to be staying at a hostel tonight as I have an early flight in the morning, but the boys weren’t too concerned about me being up early so I stayed another night.

the weirdest sport in the world

If you took rules and ideas from every sport in the world and made a new sport, what do you think the outcome would be? I now know the answer. Hurling. This Irish sport is ridiculous, but also great fun. Dublin was playing Tipperary in the championship semi-final so it was off to the pub we went.

I’m not quite sure how to describe this sport, but I’ll do my best. The players have sticks that are shaped similar to a hockey stick but a shorter and are used in the air like a baseball or cricket bat. The players can catch the ball with their hand and run with it but have to hit it with the stick every three steps or so. They can’t pick up the ball off the ground with their hand though, they have to flick it up with their stick. The goals are a mix of soccer goals down the bottom and rugby posts up top. It’s a point if it goes over the net and between the posts, or a goal if it goes into the net (past the goalie). It’s an incredibly rough sport and it was only in the last few years that the players were made to wear helmets. The halves go for 35 minutes, except at the end the referee adds extra time to make up for stoppages. The length of the extra time is up to the refs discretion. In the match we watched he gave two minutes but let the game go for an extra minute and a half past that. The game was a better match than anyone expected. Tip was the clear favourite but Dublin put in a good fight.

Each county has its own team that plays in the championship, but then there are heaps of teams and leagues in each county. Young kids also play, which surprised me because it really is quite rough. Also surprisingly, the players don’t get paid. They might do your taxes or fix your car during the week, and then play in front of 40,000 people come Sunday. There is some money in endorsements but apparently people believe that paying the players would take away from the spirit of the game.

After the game we went to a café for dinner. It was a pretty nice day, which most of the girls celebrated by wearing skirts and dresses. It still wasn’t remarkably warm, but I guess they take what sunshine they get. To make the most of the good weather, Donagh and I walked around Cork, first away from the city along the river, and then back into the city and out to the wharf. It was a beautiful night, even though we did see a rat at the wharf. What is it about rodents that is so damn creepy? It was past 11pm when we got back to the flat.

a spoonful of sugar helps...keep the fairies away?

Did you know that people used to put salt in butter when making it to keep fairies away? Well now you do. That tidbit of information was one of the many learnt during my visit to the Butter Museum. Our visit there started as a bit of a joke. The taxi driver who dropped me from the airport on Thursday night pointed it out as we drove past in case I might want to go there. Um, sure, I thought at the time.
Anywho, it came up in conversation a couple of times to the point I decided that I wanted to go see it, even if it was just as a bit of a joke. Donagh suggested riding the hop on/hop off tourist bus, which he'd never done. And wouldn't you know it, the bus stops right outside the museum.
It was a pretty nice day (it would want to be after yesterday) so we rode up top. That turned out to be a bit of a hazard because the bus went under a lot of low-hanging trees. Donagh had to duck a couple of times.
Cork centre is pretty small so the bus route wasn't huge. Soon enough we were at the Butter Musuem. A guy who looked like he could have been around to invent butter let us in. The museum wasn't too bad actually. I found it quite interesting because it talked about dairy farms a bit. Apparently back in the day, to have 10 cows was a big operation. That would have made remembering their names a lot easier.

The view from St Anns

three kids ring the bells

Our next stop was St Ann's church, next door to the museum. I had heard that people are allowed to ring the bells and that's something I've never done so I was keen. I'd heard that the bell ringer just pointed at you when it was your time to ring the bell, but actually there is just a book of tunes with numbers, the ropes are numbered and off you go. We chose 'When the Saints go marching in'. If you are a St Kilda fan and get excited, don't. I only chose that because Amazing Grace and Waltzing Matilda were done just before I got there.
They don't have any standards for the bell ringing. One kid messed up and his mum just said, ok let's start again. Hmmm...wonder what the audience thinks of that.

We climbed the tower, wearing earmuffs as we passed the bells. I've been up a few church towers in this trip but this the first one that had me squatting under a bell to let people pass down the stairs. The view was pretty good too. The city really is quite small.
We popped into the English Market on the way home (apparently the Queen visited there when she was in town recently) and picked up some stuff for dinner. Donagh was cooking a 'fry', which is exactly what the name suggests. Sausage, bacon, eggs, beans, tomatos, mushrooms and my first experience of black pudding. I was wary, just as I was of haggis, but it was pretty good. I'm surprised I didn't have a heart attack half way through dinner. However, I did have to lie on the floor for a bit because I ate waaayyy too much.

That evening Ireland was playing France in a rugby match so after the excitement of the butter museum and ringing the bells it was to the pub...again. Rugby has never really been my thing (AFL all the way) so I didn't pay too much attention to the game. In fact, writing this a few days on, I can't actually remember who won. Continuing with my Irish education, tonight I had to watch a few episodes for Father Ted, an Irish comedy. I'd heard of it but never seen it. Now, I have a high standard for Irish comedies: Black Books. So for Father Ted to impress me, it would want to be good. And it was. It's not in the same league as Black Books, but it's pretty funny. And a good representation of Irish humour...even if it is filmed in England. Apparently the building filmed as the outside of the house is a bit of a tourist attraction. I was close to it when I went on the tour to the cliffs.

a sight not be to mist

After weeks of hiding from the sun in France and Spain, I had been looking forward to Ireland and its miserable weather. I would now like to retract that. It sucks. Especially when you go to see a beautiful natural wonder, and can’t see three feet in front of you.
Feeling slightly worse for wear, I boarded the PaddyWagon tour bus at 8am. Our destination was the Cliffs of Moher, about three hours away. It was a much smaller bus than the trip I did with the company on Tuesday, but it was nice not to have so many people. We made a couple of little stops along the way…my favourite was at Ballybeg Priory. It’s basically ruins in a paddock but you can still step inside a surviving medieval dovecots, which was used to keep pigeons. There are also horses wandering around that are quite friendly so I gave them a bit of a pat.

We had lunch in Doolin, a small little town that’s very popular for Irish music. A lot of tourists roll through during the day on the way to the Cliffs, but apparently at night it’s a lot less crowded and more enjoyable. It had been raining all day, but seemed to ease up and clear a little on our way to Doolin. There was even some sunshine and Mike, our guide, was hopeful the sun might burn away some of the mist. Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be. Arriving at the cliffs, the entire bus prepared to be drenched. I put on my drizzle and grabbed my umbrella and headed for the cliffs. I could barely see the path marking the way there but figured I better go and see what I could. That turned out to be not a whole lot. I peered over the edge, eager to see something but there was nothing but mist. I would have been disappointed but given the weather (and my slight hangover) I wasn’t too bothered. I walked around the top for a bit and saw what I could before going back to the visitors centre. Mike said there used to be a lot of little shops there that looked quite horrible, so the decision was made to demolish them and building something that didn’t look quite so ghastly. The visitors centre is quite clever. They have built it back into a hill so it disappears into the landscape a lot. Unfortunately the same can’t be said for the car park, but Mike said there are plans to put some trees and plants around it to hide it as much as they can. Suitably wet, I walked around the visitors centre for a bit in the hope of drying off a bit. There is a good interpretive centre that details a lot of the history of the cliffs. I would have really enjoyed it but I was wet, cold and hungry. And I’d already made my mind up to come back another time.

The tour made a stop at Blarney on the way back and we were home by about 7pm. The tour was pretty fun actually and Mike was a great guide. He talked a lot about general things in Ireland, not just about where we were going. I learnt about Irish number plates, that the day's deaths are broadcast on the radio every evening and a bit about the education system.

Back in Cork I walked to Donagh's house, where I'm staying for the next three nights. Because the tour left from the hostel so early it was easier to stay there last night. We went to the pub to meet some of his friends and was home about 1am. Argh I'm too old for these late nights.

and back to the EU

Another transit day. I haven’t packed as much luggage as some people I’ve seen, but I still hate carting it around. I’ve got it down to an art though now. I spent the morning walking around the city centre and the streets near the hostel. It’s still raining and I wasn’t up to exploring too much. Breakfast wasn’t that great at the hostel and a bad breakfast equates to a grumpy Pegs.
Just after lunch I got my bags from the hostel and caught a taxi to the station. A tip for any future travellers in Ireland. If you want to catch the Enterprise train from Belfast to Dublin, book online. You do have to get the ticket sent somewhere, but the trip cost me £8, as opposed to £20 or £30 if you book in person. My taxi driver was complaining about the weather. You would think he would have given up worrying about it but apparently the motorbike grand prix is on today and he wanted to go up and watch it but it’s high up a mountain and he’s worried the mist will be so low he won’t be able to see anything. A lady at a shopping centre was also complaining. ‘July and August is never like this. It’s never this bad’. Just what a tourist wants to hear.

Belfast had reminded me a little like Tassie. Especially the fashions. I thought ugg boots in public was a major error of judgement only made by Burnie bogans. Apparently not. Belfast bogans shop in the same place. I didn’t see any of the murals around the town, in fact I was a pretty bad tourist in this city.

The weather cleared up a bit on the train so I was able to see a fair bit on the trip to Dublin. It was straight from the train station to the airport though for my first experience with RyanAir. I had heard nothing but bad things, but the appeal of cheap travel was too good to pass up. My luggage allowance was 20kg and mine weighed in at 19.5kg. I also had to repack my backpack a little so it fitted in the carry on measure thingy. They always have those little ‘’Does your bag fit in here” things in Australia but I’ve never seen anyone told to try their bag in it. With RyanAir, barely anyone was exempt. One girl had a bag a bit bigger than mine and it was mostly empty, but the frame of the bag wouldn’t allow her to squish it into the bag guide so they made her check it in at a cost of 40 euro. The one thing RyanAir does have going for it is that it doesn’t pretend to be anything but a tight-ass airline. There is no on-flight magazine, no menu cards (the crew just walks past and you take one if you want it) and no in-flight entertainment of any kind.

I caught a taxi from the airport to my hostel, dumped my bags and grabbed another taxi to Donagh’s house. I met Donagh and his friends while I was travelling in Vietnam a couple of years ago. We’ve kept in touch so it was good to have someone to meet while I’m in Cork. He was hosting dinner for his friends so I went along…taking a 1L of gin and some tonic water with me. Dinner was pretty fun actually. All his friends were easy to get along with and very friendly, so it wasn’t as awkward as meeting a whole group of new people might be. The gin also went down well…a little too well actually. And a few of us, slightly happy, went off to the pub. I called it a night a bit after 1am as I had to get up at 7am, but the others lasted a bit longer.

giant steps in northern ireland

I am kicking myself for being both surprise and annoyed at the fact it was raining this morning. I’m in Ireland after all. Plus I’m a Tasmanian. I should know better than to expect fine weather anywhere. I was up early because the tour I’d booked to the Giant’s Causeway was leaving not long after 9am. I’d chosen to stay at the hostel because it was a pick up point for the tour and it turned out that if you book two nights, which I did, you get to do the tour for free so bonus! Unfortunately signing up to the free tour doesn’t guarantee a seat if there are too many paying customers, as a lot of hostel guests found out today. We were lining up to get on the bus when we were all told to go back inside as the tour was overbooked and there wasn’t room for any of us. The office girl said there were five spots left with another company at £25, slightly more expensive than the tour with Paddywagons, or we could rebook for tomorrow. As I was leaving tomorrow and only came to Belfast to go out to the Coast, I put my hand up to join the other tour. When the driver, Troy, realised I was on my own he said he could fit me in so I got the last spot. Apparently there were some not-too-happy guests back at the hostel. I can see both sides: they shouldn’t have told them they could go on the tour if there wasn’t room, but also you can’t expect a free spot over paying guests.

Troy was born and bred in Northern Ireland. I could understand everything he said…it just took a bit of concentrating. For example ‘tour’ sounded a lot like ‘turd’. As soon as we got on the bus Troy started talking about lunch. We were going to have lunch at the Causeway. Lunch is very important, he said. So we’re going to have a nice, big lunch, which he will tell us more about later. It was his main topic of conversation actually for the first part of the trip. The menu, the prices, how full we were all going to be. Ahhh, a man after my own heart. Troy was both driver and tour guide, and a good one at that. He was pretty funny in a very Irish way.

Our first stop was the Cerrick rope bridge. We had about an hour, which was just enough time to walk down to the bridge, cross it, walk around the little island, cross back, and get back to the bus. I tried not to think about how high or wobbly the bridge might be. Unfortunately such thoughts came to me when I was half way across. I couldn’t even hurry to get it over with because a lady in front of me was taking her sweet time. But it wasn’t so bad. Luckily the rain had stopped while we were on the bus and had so far held off. As I was walking back to the bus there was even a little sunshine, casting some nice light on the nearby cliffs and hills. The area we were driving through reminded me a lot of New Zealand. It’s very green and there are a lot of sheep. Some sheep are marked with blue or orange paint. Troy said it was to tell the Catholics from the Protestants. I would like to repeat his story about how the Giants Causeway got its name but it was rather longwinded. By ‘his’ story I really mean that. Troy warned it was what he believed and that no one else agreed.

I had no idea what to expect at the Causeway. I hadn’t seen pictures or anything. I put in my lunch order and walked down the hill to find all these little stone columns lining the shore. Turns out that’s the attraction. It was incredibly windy so I found it easier to walk sideways on the columns. Again the rain stayed away long enough for us to have a good walk around, then I walked back up the hill and joined three South American guys for lunch. My Irish Stew went down a treat and just as Troy promised, I didn’t leave hungry. In fact I was ready for a little nap, so I had one on the way to Londonderry/Derry.

I was really intrigued by this city. Not least by its two names. For those who don’t know the history, it was Derry, then the English came there. The Irish weren’t impressed so the English built a big wall around the city keeping Derry inside and the English settled outside. They did this on the condition their name (London) went in front of theirs. So Londonderry was born. Still today the Catholics call it Londonderry and the Protestants call it Derry. The wall still stands but the city has expanded and it’s all one bit place now. The destinations on the bus flash with both names just to keep everyone happy. Seems a little silly really but I’m learning that these people know how to hold a grudge. Some people did a walking tour in the city but I headed off with the three South American guys to walk around the wall. It looked like it might rain and I wanted to be able to head back if it did. We circled the city (the wall isn’t that big) and made it back just before the rain. Then it was 90 minutes back to Belfast.

Most people on the tour had come from Dublin so the bus had a 30 minute stop at my hostel in Belfast to give them a break. The South American guys and I headed to a nearby pub and had a pint before they had to go back to the bus. I stayed a little longer. The pub was pretty packed at the beginning as soccer fans gathered for a pre-game drink. There is a World Cup friendly in the city tonight. Back at the hostel I cooked tea and looked for a laundromat (some of my clothes are a little muddy from the rain in Scotland and here). One nearby was closing soon so I grabbed my washing and raced up. Back at the hostel I caught up with Charlotte, a Canadian girl staying in my room. We headed back to the pub for a couple of drinks. Charlotte’s from Vancouver and will be home by the time I get there so it’s good to know another person there. We made it to bed at the respectable time of 1am.