Ground Zero

Entering this area would make even the most stone hearted person feel humble. The thought of everything that happened on the day is still in the atmosphere. What hits you first is the amount of emptiness there where the twin towers once stood. We walked around and seen a gallery of photographs showing what happened on the day. One thing that did leave a bitter taste in our mouths was that the law enforcement were as usual really anal in their efforts to play Starsky and Hutch. One officer stood right behind us as we were looking out towards ground zero from the bridge. There were also a whole host of police cars at all four corners of ground zero. Kind of pointless as given it's no longer there it seems to be the least likely place any terrorist would attack. I guess it makes people feel safe and believe that something is being done.

When You're Strange

There are a lot of really odd people in New York, such as funny people waving their arms about screaming here and there, others in there own little worlds. We seen one person who for the time being shall be known as 'Lipgloss Face' together with her friend, 'Surgery Woman'. Surgery Woman looked like her doctor had put his foot on the back of her head whilst yanking her facial skin back so hard that her muscles and bone structure were almost popping out of her face. She could barely move her lips whilst talking. There were also a fare share of people pushing their dogs around in kids prams.

Wall Street

The beautiful building where all the business folk go to gamble with their stocks and such would have been such a wonderful sight if it weren't for the huge American flag plastered on top of the buildings lovely architecture. The street in general had a lot of charm and was very pretty.

Statue of Liberty

One thing is for sure, you can't go to New York without visiting the Statue of Liberty. First impressions were that it was a little smaller than we had expected. However the statue was still pretty impressive. The island where it stood had a really nice atmosphere and had a whole bunch of history regarding the artist who created it and such. I must admit mind, the statue does hold a striking resemblance to Rocky Balboa. In fact, stick her arms up in the air and she would look a lot like the statue at the top of the stairs in Rocky 3. Well worth a visit, thumbs up for Lady Liberty.

Madison Square Garden

This is another one of the famous locations seen in the films. Again it always looks so much larger on screen, and again when you are there it doesn't seem anything spectacular compared to any other city centre. In it's own right however it was pretty lively and a sea of neon all the way.

Time Square

This is how I thought more of New York would be at least, if not America as a whole. Time Square looks a bit like Tokyo or Shanghai, with the large neon adverts and entertainment all over the place. It was really buzzing with life.

Empire State

Again, although I'm sure it was great in it's day, this building kinda sucked in real life. We can say we've seen it I guess but ain't impressed. Next!

Waldorf Astoria

Ok, now this really was an anti-climax. The great Waldorf Astoria looked more like a run down youth hostel. There are far more grand hotels in the area. Another example of all talk, no delivery.

Lennon Memorial

Just inside Central Park, opposite where John Lennon lived there was a small mosaic like memorial. It was called Strawberry Fields, after the song. It's so sad that the American government had to off him for speaking out against Vietnam and other such things. Almost as sad as that poor quality fake photo of Harvey Oswald holding the gun during the Kennedy investigation. Why did the shadows on his face not match up with the rest of the photograph. Sigh!

Central Park

Central Park was really nice. You can see why people need a place such as this. It takes you away from all the noise, dirt and rudeness of the city. It has such a peaceful atmosphere. You can take a horse and carriage ride, row boats in a lake or take the kiddies to play on the swings as well as other things.

Crap subway(3rd world)

And I'm not talking about the sandwich joint here, although saying that, the branches of Subway found all across America tend to sell unfresh kinda rotten looking contents in their sandwiches, unlike anything you could get away with at home. In fact on one occasion in LA we found ants an our Sandwich. Bonus! (not).

Anyways, the subway underground we expected to be world class, given that its the 'Fabulous New York' in 'Fabulous America'. Sadly we found better quality subways in places such as Thailand, which is still regarded a a third world country. It was nothing in comparison with systems in Tokyo, Paris or London. All of the underground stations were grotty, run down

School for Dogs

This was one of those silly little stories that you get pretty much anywhere in the world but god was it stupid. The TV programme showed researchers trying to teach dogs how to read. So far they had managed to get dogs to understand signs that said, sit, roll over, bark and other such things. That's all well and good, clever dogs, but why the heck are you guys wasting time and funding on such things? What possible use can you find from such a task? Do they aim to teach our dogs to read so they can run off somewhere and use their doggy smarts to find a cure for cancer. Crazy, absolutely crazy!

Brooklyn Bridge

This gigantic structure joins Manhattan to the less fortunate side of New York. The size was impressive enough but like most of New York it was probably a lot more worthy of a gasp when it was built.

Grand central railway

Far too many times we have seen an area famous due to appearance in various films and thought it lacked the same sense of atmosphere. Grand Central Station I'm glad to say was not one of these. It had such an aura about it that could be compared to an old (but well maintained) museum. It had such beautiful architecture. You can see why they use it in so many films.

Chrysler Building

One of those buildings that you tend to look forward to seeing if you are going to New York. My advice, don't. I like architecture but this really isn't anything special in person. It sucked.

Dat Boy Got Soul

We were sitting in good old Macdonalds eating our food when this guy walks in, wearing his earphones and singing at the top of his voice. I didn't know at first if he maybe thought he was on Pop Idol or something.

A few moments later however, it did indeed seem that he knew where he was as he began to order. That is, he continued to sing just as loud but this time he held up one finger and pointed to the number one menu option (Big Mac Meal). After receiving his goods he left... still singing.

The Day The World Almost Ended

As we took our first walk around New York there were fire engines and police cars whizzing around all over the place. It was complete chaos and as usual very much over egged.

Eventually we arrived at a spot where there were no less than 6 fire engines parked outside a hotel (no smoke to be seen). The little old lady who accidentally burnt her toast was alleged to have possessed weapons of mass destruction and hid links with Alkaider.

New York, New York! (no really this time)

The city that never sleeps, it's just resting it's eyes. We are always told that New York is alive all hours. Quite a shame that shops and restaurants close the same time, if not earlier than anywhere else.

Our Old Friend Insanity!

As we passed through customs back into the USA we were welcomed with the usual arrogant, over the top, status seeking 'I'm wearing a badge' official, who was eager to share his finicky insanity with us. He asked us all kinds of up-tight questions but failed to check a single thing. So long as he sounded important, we could have been carrying anything through with us.
I got out of the car to retrieve a visa card from the boot. He took a look at it and then in his best wannabe Starsky and Hutch voice said, 'Get back in your vehicle sir, back in the vehicle!'

Detroit

On our arrival at Detroit we were surprised that our holiday inn wasn't constructed from a stack of multi-storey cardboard boxes with a Holiday Inn logo at top. I say this because Detroit is a bit of a rancid place. The toothless locals looked as though they had been chewing on bricks. They also seemed to throw their bodies along as they walked. For a brief moment I felt like I was on the set of Michael Jacksons Thriller. Needless to say, we decided to spend our Detroit time within the safe walls of our hotel.

It's Raining It's Pouring

Apparently the most rainy day since 1970 or something, this one day where our umbrella decided to break. Also the one day where my training shoes were too smelly to wear, forcing me to wear sandals. Why oh why did it have to rain so much this day. We spent a few hours sheltering in some of the most dull shops before we decided to almost swim home.

Millenium Park

This was one arty park. The first area of the park had two big block fountains with faces projected on them. Now and then the faces would open their mouths and shoot water out.

Another attraction worth seeing there was a giant silver stone that reflects the city around it. You can walk right under the stone and see yourself reflected. This park has a lot to see, one of the better sights in Chicago.
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Sears Tower

This is the tallest building in the USA and is the biggest blockiest looking structure I've ever seen.
It looks a bit like a bunch of big lego bricks stacked on top of each other. Quite pretty at night though, really adds to the elaborate Chicago skyline. Standing between such tall buildings makes you feel like you are in a massive corridor.

Half Advert, Half Disclaimer

The adverts here are really irritating. Due to the fanatical 'I'll sue' mentality, the adverts present their product then spend another 30 seconds of advertising time giving you their disclaimer. For Gods sake this country is screwed beyond belief. Now days if a person is dying of a heart attack on a bus, nearby off-duty doctors will not help through fear of being sued for accidentally breaking a rib in the process.

Walmart Experience

These things are massive and they have a little of pretty much everything. As well a food you can get electronics, furnature and sports stuff. Prices are real fab too as they seem to have some kind of industry shafting monopoly on things.

Oh sorry, did I not mention that you can buy firearms at Walmart. Yes, full on shotguns and ammo at the supermarket. And you only need to be 18 years of age and some ID.

Funny, you have to be 21 years old to drink here. Saying that, the gun counter was completely un manned for all 10 minutes we were there and one of the ammo cabinets was half open so if you had the intention you could take it at any age.

Sub Standard Subway

Beware if you intend to park at the subway station. Not only do you have to pay your parking fee, you also have to purchase a $10 card to hold credit, $5 of which is for the card its self.

The subways themselves are pretty poor in comparison to places such as Singapore, Paris and London. And hey get this, they have these huge bins (trash cans). For a country that raves on about how unsafe they have made you by invading Iraq, they go and leave giant bins in every subway. This is considered number one security risk for people leaving explosive devices. Sort it out government, it's not safe and it's not clever!

White House

For the 'most powerful man in the world' this place of residence was really crap and small. You would think that they'd chuck in a better place to live for the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!

Anyways there were a whole bunch of guys with guns on the roof and circling the grounds.

Land of the Free, My Arse!

We were on our way to the White House when we stopped at some traffic lights. Suddenly a couple of regular police officers went all dramatic, Starsky and Hutch style. They were running around then jumping into their cars and driving into the road, sealing off the traffic.

Suddenly one of the cops jumped out and told us that we weren't allowed to stand where we were. We had to take about 10 steps back and stand next to this post up the street. She was so anal.

Sirens then started to sound and a bunch of police cars escorted this car down the street. Ok i thought, fair enough, a matter of security i guess. Maybe it was the president. You can't be too careful. So i thought.

What happened next however, spat in the eye of every American citizen. I started filming and this dumb arse officer told me in her over dramatic fashion "NO!" Can you Believe that? Told that i couldn't film in a public place. Under what law? Where is your 1st amendment that the USA is so proud of?

There are so many signs of Nazi Germany here, i.e restricted filming, restricted news coverage, arrests under new terror laws(no explanation necessary, no lawyer), more powers to tap peoples phone lines without permission from congress.

The second those powers go over they will then have permission to tap phone lines of opposing democratic parties and use such information against them. They may say it's to defend against terrorism but once they have these powers they don't need to disclose their purposes.

Wake up America!

Botanical Gardens

There are plenty of attractions in this area and most are free. The botanical gardens are pretty enough although on a very much smaller scale to Sydney, Thailand or China. Worth a look in on the way past I guess although if I run the place I would stop with the security checks at the door, in the event of the places destruction you could build something a little more entertaining.

Lincoln Memorial

This was one of the main sights I wanted to see in the US. It's always seemed to have an atmosphere about it when I've seen it on TV.

As you approach the memorial you are met with a long flight of steps leading up to a very Roman style building. The structure looks out on the Washington Monument.

As you enter the Statue of Lincoln does not disappoint. It is bold and wise looking, very powerful. On each of the inside walls there are texts regarding the freeing of black slaves. The whole atmosphere was both astounding and humbling. I'd strongly advise George Bush to visit here to remember what he represents and what he has been elected to do. Stop misleading people George!

War Memorial

We've seen a bunch of these now and they are always pretty impressive. This one is placed right between the Lincoln Memorial and Capitol Building.

Air Space Museum

Again lots to see here, loads of old planes, space shuttle living quarters and even the monkey they first shot up into space. By the look of it i don't think the monkey volunteered.

Capitol building

Beautifully grand to see in real life. The entire area is quite impressive although they could do with some new grass. I imagined lush well kept lawns, not the shabby edged grass that runs all the way from Capitol Building to the Memorial. Anyways, the building was really nice, well worth visiting, I came to DC for this area alone.

Airport Fun

This is right after the attempted bombing of planes headed from the UK to USA. The damn terrorists have made check-in hell for us travelling folk.

First off as we checked in we found SSSS was printed at the base of our boarding pass. As we advanced to luggage scanning we were pulled aside as "VIP's". We were given the full on scan treatment like we were terrorists. They took everything out and scanned it thoroughly with all kind of gadgets.

As they scanned we asked them who decided to put this on our ticket to which we were informed that the process was "random". Funny how there was a long line in front and behind of people of Indian origin. Heck I didn't mind that we'd been singled out, it is the only way to be certain and we just need to get on and deal with it.

The thing that did annoy us however was that given liquids were banned, Bobbi still got through the thorough check with a bottle of eye-drops and a needle in her sewing kit. Then again later we brought a can of coke from a previous flight through in our hand luggage. If you are going to bash everyone's ears about security then at least check properly! Stupid security.

More Gambling

We quickly learned to play on a variety of 1 cent and 5 cent machines to win.

At one point one machine started to count up my prize. It kept beeping as it counted. This lasted for what seemed like an eternity. Finally it stopped at what I thought was $16 (forgetting that each credit was worth 5x). Again the day after, the same machine paid out $100

On the last day Bobbi had to be pulled from the machines to go for our flight. We did also earn a free T-shirt each from gambling loyalty points.

To cut a long story short, from our winnings we earned and lost about $400 worth and finally stopped at $100 profit.

Crappy Town

Not everywhere in Vegas is as amazingly built as the area we were in. We had heard of an area where there was a light show tunnel that you can walk through. This area was a large shopping area, also bustling with casino activities.

When we arrived it was blatantly the skanky side of Vegas. As we entered the main tunnel there was a religious fanatic Christian guy telling people not to sin. Yeah like that's gunna work in Vegas! Like people will come here and decide not to gamble.

Anyways, this part of town was a lot more runned down and tacky looking. This is the area where you get the drive through weddings and such likes. There were loads of dodgy looking characters hanging around. After staying in the more spangly side of Vegas we felt out of place here so we took our snobby selves back to the hotel.

Mac King

This guy was a first class act. We were given two "free" tickets whereby we could enter free of charge providing we first bought a drink at a price of $10 each. We did so and I have to say it was so much worth every penny (or cent as the case was).

Mac King's performance was a magic act mixed with comedy. The guy was soooo funny and some of his tricks were nothing short of amazing. Vegas is the home to magic acts such as Pen and Teller but honestly, if you get a chance to see this guy do not pass it up.

Biggest Pizza Ever

Another testament to the fact that Americans eat big. And in Vegas as usual they go the extra yard. I ordered a pizza using our hotel room service and got a monster of a pizza big enough for about 3 people. It provided a good breakfast meal for the following day.

Other Hotels/ Casinos

The Paris hotel had a huge lifelike Eiffel Tower built outside along with a massive Arc de Triamph. They had a nice fountain outside and beautiful Paris style décor inside.

The Luxor Pyramid
This is one of the most fantastic casinos we'd seen. On the outside it was the largest black pyramid with a powerful light beaming into the sky. On the inside it had loads of giant Egyptian statues. There were some huge sphinx styled statues and pillars surrounding the swimming pool. This was one of the few contenders comparable to our fantastic hotel.

Caesars
Very Roman style, really beautiful. Celene Dion is now resident here. Bobbi had already made me watch Titanic twice on HBO Movies so the thought of paying a shed-load to hear that song again made my flesh crawl.

Treasure Island
We spent a little time gambling here also, Bobbi winning a $40 jackpot on one occasion. The hotel had a Pirates of the Caribbean kind of theme with large sail boats outside.

Further down the road at a neighbouring hotel the was a fantastic elaborate fountain that shot out water in a show whilst playing Frank Sinatra music.

Timeshare

One thing you will quickly notice in Vegas is that loads of hotels will offer great gifts as an incentive to attend a timeshare presentation. They offer expensive helicopter rides, concert tickets, cash and all sorts. Although some of these were from reputable companies such as Marriot, I have such a great hatred of timeshare presentations that we never went. Good luck to anyone else trying for those free gifts.

Let The Gambling Begin!

We started out sensible with only $10 to gamble. At the end of the evening we had won back our original $10 plus a further $14. From that moment on we decided to play only with our winnings.

This is where it got crazy. There were so many machines calling out for our money. Paul kept on going for the large winning ones with the $6,000,000 counters on the top. They cost big but pay out big. There was a huge wheel of fortune game where about 16 people play at once. During bonus round a huge wheel rotates and pays out (occasionally). For some reason we found ourselves playing on slot machines until the early hours of the morning without getting tired. We were later told that some casinos pump pure oxygen into the air to keep people awake so they gamble more.
Game On!

New York New York!

Well almost, this was the name of our theme hotel/casino in Las Vegas. It had a huge Statue of Liberty, a Brooklyn Bridge and a rollercoaster that went all around the building, inside and out.

The hotels here are all over the top grand. There has been so much money spent on every aspect of every building and our hotel was no exception. Each hotel had a huge casino on the ground floor. Vegas is ace! It was everything we expected here.

Fountain of Life

This fountain had a whole bunch of animal sculptures. It's a good place to cool down in the baking hot sun.
Probably the only sight to see in Palm Springs aside from the bar that gives free drinks.

Free Drinks Ahoy!

Palm Springs is as hot as sauna. We could only stay outdoors for a few moments before running for cover in an air conditioned place.

On one occasion we ran for a drink at a bar/restaurant. As we entered we walked through to the bar area. We ordered a couple of cokes and sat for a while to cool off. The barman was chatting to us and asked us if we wanted a table. I replied, "no thanks we've already eaten, we are just having a drink before we head off back into the sun."

When we went to pay he would not accept. It seemed he thought we'd eaten there as I did not specify. It seems that they offer a free drink if you eat at the restaurant, they even gave us free refills. Oh well, waste not want not! We left with our freebee drinks, Hunnymooners: 1 Barstaff: 0

Place of Comfort

We stopped off at our latest hotel in Palm Springs, the local Travel Inn. As we entered we were a little bothered to see a disclaimer sign on the wall, telling us that they used a variety of cancer causing chemicals to clean the place. Joy! Make ourselves at home then. No way am I swimming in their pool.

San Deigo Beaches

We UK folk always hear about the beautiful Californian beaches. Sadly Santa Monica and LA were a bit pants but San Deigo was another matter. The sand here was as beautiful as any we've seen on our travels. The water was nice, the weather was fab and very good atmosphere. Go there, it's a really nice beach.

Eating Mexican

They really like their spicey food here on the account that they are so close to Mexico. We head into a Mexican restaurant and quickly realized that they really give you huge portions here. They seem to eat big or eat bigger. We had so much food! The Mexican lot are also a pretty friendly bunch so always a nice environment in which to hang out and eat.

Seaworld

This was something we considered a freebe from our 3 day Disney pass. We thought, as we were in San Deigo we would give it a shot. First impressions were that some of the extras were far from free. For example, if you wanted to get in the pool with the dolphins you would have to pay over $100 each. The tower in the centre of the park also cost money to visit. Bit of a rip off but we didn't let it spoil our fun.

Killer Whale
This was such a huge lump of fatness it was unbelievable. The whale swum around the tank, spraying out at people.

Dolphins
They were great. They loved attention from people. They came right up to the side of the tank to see people. Watch them though, the cheeky ones spray you.

Matinees
These things are fat! They spin round and round like torpedoes as they swim. They are the weirdest looking things.

Walrus
Again fat big lumps for things. They apparently use their tusks to pull them from the water.

Sharks
Looked so scary with their vicious teeth. We seen a jaw bone from a shark that looked more like something from Jurassic Park. It was more like a whales jaw bone.

Flamingos
Right little show offs, running around flapping their wings. They come right up close.

Arctic theme ride
Only worth mentioning so that you don't waste time on it. This ride was pants and boring.

Polar bears
Big, fat, furry and quite cute looking.

Overall a nice enough day but better when it's a freebee.

9/11

I'm sorry to ramble on about this but why are people going so over the top with this still. Some guy stopped me filming at an outdoor shopping area because he was afraid I'd use it for some terror plot. Are you f*****g crazy!

Some poor guy was thrown in a prison camp for filming in Disneyland for Gods sake. Guys, I was equally sickened by how some people who follow a usually peaceful religion could kill so many (Muslims included). But heck we need to get on with life. Tighten up security yes, but don't go crazy.

You can never cover all bases. The solution to the problem is at the source, how you treat other countries. The American people are more friendly than pretty much anywhere else in the world. It's about time the government acted accordingly. Until then and until the news stop reporting to suit their business interests, I ain't moving anywhere near here.

Be Scared! Really Scared!

Again the news to blame here, they hammer you with terrorist fear here. They make people believe that they are at war like the country is constantly under attack. Guys, first off you haven't been attacked since 9/11 five years ago. Stop using such a tragedy to keep your hooky government in power. Iraq had nothing to do with Afganistan and never did. Attacking Iraq for oil control has just made these people angry. This blog post I have entered from UK because the USA has no freedom of speech anymore.

And what is this crap about tapping peoples lines? Yeah sure, sometimes it is necessary to keep the nation secure (so get a warrant). This was another example of a distorted story. If you disagreed with Bush being able to do as he pleases, suddenly you were said to be fine with America being attacked. Nobody disagrees with you tapping phone lines for security IDIOT! You just have to ask permission first because being elected president does not put you above the law!

News Time

One thing that has put us off moving here is the news. FOX and CNN being the worst offenders. Each story is so one sided. They are so manipulative. For example they say things such as "For those of us who understand the big picture" and then go on to make their point. It makes the people believe that if they don't agree with what's being said, they must be stupid. On the rare occasion that they host a person with something to say, they belittle them in a very childish manner, preventing them from speaking. Even their debates are kept within very strict boundaries so that no matter which side of the debate you are on, your opinion is always a safe one (safe for the manipulative nazi's that run the country). The people here don't see what is going on and beleive everything they are told. They are made to feel that they are traitors to their own country if they question these things.

Disney California Experience

This was almost like another Disneyland only more focused on rides. They also had more parades featuring the Pixar characters such as the Toy Story cast.

Rafting ride
We had wanted to try rafting for quite some time but had never got round to it. This ride seemed to be a mini intro until we get our hands on the real thing.
It wasn't all that hair raising as i'd expect proper rafting to be but as far as rides were concerned it was good enough I guess.

Soaring over California
This ride lifted you up in the air in your seat and flies you through an imax film of California's sights. I nearly lost my shoes! Worth a look, pretty good fun and almost like really being there.

Disney Drawing School
We popped into the mini studio tour where they had a whole load of artwork on display. I love seeing all that concept art. We also took part in a drawing class where we learnt to draw Winnie the Pooh with some Disney artists. This was a good laugh as we didn't know which part was what until the end.

Bugs Life 4d
You'd think that after so many 4d rides we'd be bored but once again this was loads of fun and different to any of the others. They took you through Flik's show where loads of other characters played a part. They had a few little surprises rigged up with the seating which is always a hoot.

All in all, Disneyland California needed another day of sight seeing in itself. There was loads more to see. We however had some more VMK quests to complete in Disneyland main park so we went back in.

Vmk.com

This has got to be the most addictive online game ever. It's like Disneyland online with a whole bunch of quests and mini games. You can chat and trade items with other players. There are loads of costumes and gadgets you can win in game. You can dress your character and make them look how you like.

Also we were given about 5 different quest cards for the Disneyland park. As we completed the real world treasure hunts, we were given rewards for the Disneyland computer game. Also when we bought a set of golden mickey ears from one of the Disney shops, they gave us the digital version also so our characters could wear the same in game.

Disneyland

Yay we're here! For those of you who have never been, Disneyland is like stepping into a cartoon. All of the buildings have a very painted look about them. There are many areas, each based on a certain theme such as Tomorrow Land or Storybook Land. Get ready for it, here's the rundown...

As we entered on Main Street the decoration was mesmerizing to the last detail. You could smell the cookie dough in the air. All the shops boasted toys, posters, artwork, statues, of all the Disney characters.

As we walked further up the street a parade was starting. There were loads of floats with the Disney characters dancing to music. Each float was crafted to give an overview to each cartoon. There was a Lion King float, a Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty and many more.

Further up we seen the Disney castle which is at the centre of the park. This is a lot smaller than the EuroDisney version and you can't go inside.

They had a few different modes of transport to get around the park such as a train, a cartoon style fire engine or a horse and cart. They had a little cinema there where you could watch cartoons (we figured we can watch cartoons until the cows come home when we get back, and so we moved on).

In Fantasy Land we first tried out 'Pinocchio's Daring Journey' which was like a ghost train ride which very quickly took you through the story. Pretty much the same for the Roger Rabbit, Snow White and Alice in Wonderland rides. Quite entertaining and full of nice artwork.

Next came 'Storybook Land Canal Boat' journey which was a bit dull. It had a bunch of miniature houses from Disney films. They could be anything as far as I could see. I think they could have done a lot more with this.

We went to meet Mickey Mouse at his house which was pretty cool although we were surrounded by mostly children.

Frontier Land had a nice boat called Mark Twain that took us for a tour around Tom Sawyer Island. This is the island where they perform some of the shows such as fireworks shows etc. There are a lot of the usual shooting galleries and other such games here.

The Pirates of the Caribbean ride was pretty cool. It had loads of atmosphere with cannons going off and the animatronic characters.

Indiana Jones ride was good fun. All of the booby traps were going off around the carriage, poison darts, rolling boulders and all.

The Jungle Cruise was a little boring. It was just a tour down a river with a bunch of wooden animals plonked here and there. I guess the magic is spoiled when you have done the real thing.

The Tiki Room was great fun. It was filled with animatronic birds who would all sing and put on a performance for us. It was a good laugh and had some terribly catchy tunes.

We walked into Tomorrow Land where everything was based on the future. We went on a 4d ride called "Honey I Shrunk The Audience". This was good fun and again surprised us that the 4d rides are always so unique and offer so many little differences in the show.

We went on a tour ride called Innoventions. It introduced us to a load of new gadgets in the home such as ovens that would start cooking when the owner returned. It was all good although our greatest discovery was VMK, see next post!!

Disneyland was great, offering loads to do. We got a three day pass and were still kept busy. Food was pretty expensive mind. We went to a Mc Donalds there where they only sold fries and drinks. I guess Disney didn't want them stealing all the business. A great few days though.

Hollywood Sign

This is another one of Americas' famous places. It's funny that it was first just a sign for the housing estate, Hollywoodland. I wonder where the rest of the sign went?

Anyways, it was pretty usual, wasn't all that. It was pretty much just a sign on a hill. There was however a nice viewpoint further up the road where we could see the sign and also looked out on LA.

Too Friendly?

Another example of friendly folk, we were at a stall and some guy realized we were British and immediately asked 'Oh how is the weather there' because after all, that's all us Brits care about eh? Sadly Paul misheard him and thought he'd said 'How are the women out there' to which he looked puzzled and replied 'Er ok I guess although thankfully I don't have to worry about that as I am happily married'. The guy looked really embarrassed. Paul on the other hand thought 'Ah that'll be my brain and mouth not working properly again, best get my ears cleaned out'.

Universal Studios

This was a groovy day out, almost like visiting Disney land. There were loads of rides and activities. We also got a digitally altered poster of Van Helsing with our faces on the characters. Great fun, Universal Studios is definitely on the recommended list.

Waterworld ride:
Just in case you missed it from the title, this one gets you really wet. It's a show where they cover the audience with water by exploding things, creating waves in the direction of the audience with a jetski, and if you're really unlucky, one or more of the actors will take a dislikance to you and spray you wit their water gun. So many people were literally soaked to the bone. This is one to try at the start of the day so you can dry off in the sun. We sat next to a disabled old lady, hoping for some mercy but still got soaked.

Backdraft ride:
We made the mistake of going on the Waterworld ride when the sun was going down. We decided to go on the Backdraft ride to dry off. This seemed to work and the ride was good enough, lots of things collapsing, burning and bursting into flames.

Shrek 4d:
This has to be one of the more impressive 3d rides we have seen. The cool characters, artwork and humour of the Shrek movies.

Terminator ride:
This was another 3d glasses ride which also had a bunch of actors running around shooting and driving motorcycles. It also had three separate screens that robots ran around so that it really gave a sense of atmosphere. Thumbs up for this ride also, it was pretty good fun.

Van Helsing ride:
I really enjoyed the movie but the ride was pants. Not worth going in even if there is no queue. It's like a lame version of London Dungeon.

Visul Effects Tour:
This gave a behind the scenes look at certain films special effects. It was presented in a fun way with two hosts interacting with the audience, performing special effects wizardry on volunteers. It was a pretty good laugh.

Studio Tour:
One area had cars from films such as the Fast and the Furious, Back to the Future, Magnum PI and more.

There was one teeny water pool area where scenes from Jaws and Vanhelsing were filmed. It had this naff painted backdrop.

There was a street area that is apparently used in loads of films such as Spiderman. All of the building were made from foam like material instead of brick. They had huge prop areas that would grow if for example someone wanted a bunch of different lamp posts for their film.

We seen gigantic sets for films such as War of the Worlds and the Grinch. We also went past the street where Desperate Housewives is filmed. There were countless other buildings where TV series such as CSI were being filmed.

We seen a whole bunch of other people in costumes such as Spiderman and Shrek. The park in general had loads going on. We really tried hard to cram everything into one day. Two thumbs up for Universal.

Hollywood Walk of Fame

It's world famous and the one place you'd expect to be soooo glam, the walkway of the stars baby! Sadly this isn't really the case. The floor is indeed scattered with loads of stars with peoples names on but the street its self is pretty poor and grubby looking. It ain't as glam as you'd expect. There's one area where a bunch of stars have placed their handprints which is a little more up market but not by much. It's one to see just to say that you've seen it but as far as I see I could say you can keep it! Oh and the subway is poor, too few trains.

Celeb Spotting

Downtown Beverly hills is a great place to go celeb spotting so they say. We checked out Rodeo Drive where there were a load of designer shops for the rich people to spend their cash, and there were a lot of rich folk judging by the cars parked outside.

We didn't see anyone famous although we did see some woman being photographed as she strutted around luvvy style.

The highlight of the street was a little gallery with the most amazing oil painted caricatures of the Rolling Stones. They were wonderful paintings.

Good Old Andy

LA is home to a very good friend of ours Andy. As we were in the area we decided to pay him a visit. It was good to see someone who i knew from back home.

LA has loads of areas where you think 'Ah I see'such as Andy living right round the corner of the school where 'Grease' was filmed and working right next to Elieshah Woods house(guy with the funny eyes out of Lord of the Rings).

Anyways, we met up with Andy and he took us for a tour around his workplace Blur Studios who are famous for special effects magic both on the big screen and for computer games cinematics. I was so jealous of everyone who worked there.

We moved on to the beach to hang out and catch up on things and later had a meal in a good old British style pub. To Andy, had a grand time bigman! Hope to see you soon.

On the Road

Driving seemed to be the easiest way to get around in most places. We hired cars in many cases so we could see more of what the USA had to offer.First of all we found driving a new experience when Bobbi drove on wrong side of the road.
We later found that after all the hype, America wasn't as advanced and richly developed as we had thought. The service stations were often pretty run down. Even the big brand name stations were pretty lame. Back home as well as petrol we can get all sorts from modern service stations such as food and supplies. Here everything seems to be purchased from large walmart like stores.

Other than that we found there were huge expanses of space between cities. So much unused land

Baby You Can Drive My Car.

Driving from Reno to LA is an epic journey to drive at the best of times. We however chose an even longer route via Big Sur (an area by the coast that leads all the way down towards LA).

We stopped off many times on the way down to have a break from driving. The views were up there with the best. We also stopped off at Monterey beach where we did some sunbathing and Bobbi got pooed on by a bird eeeuch.

We finally arrived at our hotel so late at night to find that Bobbi had indeed booked it for the correct day...sadly in 2007. Time to search for a last minute hotel. This was turning out to be a long day!

Mini tornados

We thought visiting areas on fault lines were crazy but when we seen mini tornadoes forming in front of our eyes up in Reno it was pretty shocking. Crazy weather, CRAZY!

Lake Tahoe

This place is more like a beach than a regular lake. It spans miles across which gives it that seaside feel as well as good sand. A pleasant day out although parking was a bit of a rip off.

Picnic by the Lake.

We eventually arrived at a picnic spot near a 'lake'. This lake looked quite epic on the map but sadly turned out to be more like a teeny puddle. Still we had a pleasant time eating in the sun together.

Bad Boys Bad Boys, Whatya Gunna Do

On our way to a Nice romantic picnic in the country, Bobbi passed a police car and was traveling 5 miles an hour over the limit. They tailed us and pulled us over. The officer gave us a little grief regading the speed limit and asked for Bobbi's license.

He then went into 9/11 mode and asked for our passports as proof that we should be in the country. We gave him our duplicate passports that we were carrying to which he complained.

Bobbi gave him a mouthfull that we provide our passports to customs on entry and a speeding charge has Nothing to do with 9/11. The officer having been told off lots finally gave up and let us on our way.

Wine'o Adventures

We drove to Nappa valley to visit the world famous wine yards they have there. When we arrived we were met with some of the most beautiful scenery we'd seen in America so far. Our idea to set up a ranch in Canada now had a contender, we could set up a winery of our own. Sure we don't know that much about wine But heck we'd learn if it meant we could live out in the country like this.
The first place we visited was a winery named V. Sattui. The grounds were beautiful with the old fashioned stonework, the small museum about their history of wine making, the surrounding picnic area. All of this together with the wine yards made a beautiful location to spend the day.

We went inside to take part in a tasting. We paid for six samples, 3 white, 2 red and 1 rose. The rose was so yummy that we walked out with a bottle.

Mumms winery came next, famous for their champagne. Paul was feeling a little wined out due to the mixing of wines so we decided to pass on another tasting. We did however check out the grounds which were nice enough. Most memorable was the gallery they had of photographer Robert Turner(see link). His work was amazing. He had an ability to keep absolutely everything near and far in perfect focus. Each photo had a perfect oil painted look to it. Well worth going out of your way to see. We managed to get some advice on taking such pictures even with our humble home camera. Every day is a school day.

Palace of Fine Arts

This place was gorgeous looked like a cross between some epic palace in Rome and one of the buildings in Starwars Episode 1.

It was a beautiful dome like structure with giant pillars and a surrounding pond and garden. This was easily one of the prettiest sights in San Francisco.

America in fact - so far of what we have seen anyway! - Seriously its not all that out here.

Alcatraz & Hyde St Pier

We again head out to the Golden Gate area of San Francisco only this time we decided to check out some of the pier areas. Alcatraz can be seen in the centre of the water away where nobody can escape (unless they are on a tour).

Hyde St Pier further down had a bunch of old fashioned boats docked. There was a sail boat from Glasgow. It looked like something you would see in Pirates of the Caribean. There was also an old tug boat from Newcastle(back home). Even way out in the USA a slice of home is there to meet us.

On our next journey a not so old, rude Chinese woman decided to pull rank on Bobbi's seat as the bus was full. She decided that the 'give up seats for elderly' sign applied to her and vigorously pointed at the sign while grunting. The hillarious thing about it was Bobbi was paying attention to our next stop and not looking in her direction, it still never occured to the not so old lady to quit pointing & maybe just tap Bobbi on her shoulder to get her attention.
(Bloody freak - if you ask me, Bobbi)
It reminded us of how the locals in China would step over their grandmothers in a fight to get a seat on the metro.

The "Shaft" Trolley Ride

One of the days we were out in San Francisco when we decided to take a tram ride. The trams added loads of character to the streets. They gave a little extra class to everything.

Anyways, we got onto a packed tram and ended up on the rear outside area. As we stood filming the city going by, this guy popped out from nowhere, he looked just like 'shaft' and was wearing a security like uniform and hat. He said "Hey, your standin' in my spot!" He was realy territorial over his little standing area. (Typical American who's authority went to his head..) ..was our initial thought until we gathered he meant it in a banter like manner.

There was a small yellow square on the floor to show us where not to stand, silly us. As the tram pulled away again Shaft started to yank with all his strength on this handle. He hurled his entire body weight into turning this handle and nearly knocked us right out of the moving tram. He continued to do this, not seeming to careb if he Bumped us out to our deaths.

Mini Tour of Silicon Valley

This place is not quite what I expected (tall grand looking buildings) and even less how Paul imagined (a Matrix styled city made of green-code). Instead it was just like any other business park only larger and with signs of all the world famous companies in the Industry.

The rest of the area had a nice family oriented estate feel. Lots of pretty wooden houses & remarkably a quiet district.

One of the numerous Cisco Buildings in the district.





This great photo of Intel was taken right next to their "no photography" sign. Sorry guys.









And the Nvidia building ..hmm is that all the photies i took!?

Golden Gate Bridge

Here we are being swept away by the winds - so powerful although elsewhere its blistering hot!

This giant famous bridge was pretty impressive as far as scale was concerned although from far away it was hidden by a blanket of mist. Close up however, it did look a little bit dirty / rusty.
We also thought they would have added some lights to pretty it up a bit at night. After all other bridges in San Fran had them.

I guess at this stage in our journey it takes a lot more to impress - especially after Neon city Tokyo!

This is Alcatraz

Union Square

This 97ft high Dewey Monument dominates the square erected in 1903 to commemorate the Spanish, American war.

Union Square is San Francisco's shopping district huddled among the numerous, bars, restuarants and the scumptious Cheescake Factory.

Lombard Street

The San Francisco Trolley Bus.

So many streets in San Francisco are built on hills. This particular street has been used in loads of Hollywood films one of many "Maid in Manhattan". There were hordes of tourists such as ourselves, falling over eachother to take photos. It seemed like the locals were used to the attention as they would often stop their cars to let people take their shot.


Another famous street that has appeared in many movies. One day we passed here and there were a horde of hells angel like bike riders, all ready to drive down one by one

Home away from Home

Whilst in Santa Clara commonly known as the Silicon Valley area, we stayed with family there Chits, Gaurav & their son Raayan who is such a cutie, Oh and not failing to mention his baby sister! It was so nice to spend time with them as we've been missing family back home quite alot, and we just felt like we were back home whilst staying with them - thanks guys, missing you!

They took us out places in the San Francisco area. We visited some lovely restaurants and cafes with live bands. We were also introduced to the Cheesecake Factory which makes as well as other things, fantastic cheesecake.

Other places we saw in the area with them apart from Silicon Valley itself was the famous Stanford University, along with the other famous sites in San Fran.

First Impressions

We found the American very friendly, we felt that anybody and everybody was happy enough to stop for a chit-chat. Almost everyone you meet the conversation usually begins with not just a simple "Hello" but a "Hello, how are you?" most of the time leading to a full blown conversation.

This initially we found quite overwhelming, but as we have had every one from Australia to Canada be equally as friendly. Its makes us Brits appear rather rude.

However upon arriving on American soil they sure have made it apparant how they wont forget 9'11. It's sure a time that no one can get over, especially those that lost loved ones, but do they really need surface the sore times? Not to mention the not so flattering portrait of Bush.

Flying over an Erupting Volcano

Whislt flying across North America i noticed a pink smoke in the distance on a clear blue sky day which i thought was unusual, i thought it could possibly be an erupting volcano but it was clear until we flew parallel to the plane, where i could see the rim of the volcano.

An amzing sight!

The United States of America!

We're here! - will post soon.