Saturday, March 31, 2007

Stuck in Dallas....ahhhhhhhh !!!!

He haw outside our hotel

Maybe it's karma....because we slagged off Dallas below, but we yesterday (30th March) went like this :

- I had checked the tickets, for our flight to Buenos Aires, and noticed that it was in the evening so didn't give it much thought, so we thought we'd do some washing and laze about at our hostel (It wasn't a very nice day anyway).

- I rechecked the tickets, at about 12:30, and noticed that the flight was actually at 19:30 (not 9:30pm as I thought), which meant we had to check in by 16:30 to ensure that we got decent seats. We'd better get a move on, get our clothes out the drier and head to the train station, to get the train to the airport.

- checked the trains....there wasn't one until 15:00....(ahhh it's all going wrong)

- it's OK, there is a bus....panic over

- get to the airport and it's chaos at the American Airways check in. Because of all the bad weather, the previous night, everyone is on standby and trying to get on any flight possible.

- eventually get checked in....not a window seat, but together....cool

- just about to board the plane and we are told the flight is cancelled because the Argentinian and Brazil air traffic control staff are on strike.....no planes going anywhere near Buenos Aires

- luckily we have insurance....so we got a hotel, but the nearest flight was on the 2nd (with a chance of standby)

THERE IS NOTHING TO DO HERE....AHHHHHHHHHH !!!!

If you don't believe me look at microsoft maps put it in hybrid mode and zoom out a wee bit....nothing (unless you have a car !!!)

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Debo (and IB) does Dallas


a grassy knoll

Statue at Pioneers Plaza - what a load of bullocks (ha ha)
Left San Francisco yesterday (Wednesday) and arrived in Dallas. Since the plane had to stop in Dallas, on the way to Buenos Aires (or at least we would get our connecting flight here), we thought we'd take the chance to visit part of Texas. We got here as it was getting dark last night, so not much chance of a look about, but today we went out and "did" Dallas. What did we discover ? It's pretty much spread out and there is not that much to visit. There was the statue above, which was pretty impressive, since there is about 70 "steer" and a few cowboys....all made out of bronze. We went downtown and uptown and I suppose there was the odd restaurant and shop dotted about. We also went to see where JFK was shot....and I that was it !!!! (maybe we've missed something - but we went into the tourist info and they gave us a map which didn't have much on it). It's been pretty humid all day and, just when we got back (luckily), it started to thunder and pour down. Glad we never booked a week here !!!

Arrive in Dallas

Saturday, March 24, 2007

The Golden Gate bridge....

The Golden Gate Bridge

Walked for miles and miles, yesterday, and eventually made it to the Golden Gate bridge. Was a beautiful day again (yep more sunburn - not too bad though) and we sat and watched some very poor surfers trying to surf and avoid the rocks. Luckily we have travel passes, so got a bus back - which was rammed, but it beat walking.


Beni and Jeni goto Alcatraz


But are bad, so are kept in...


(help uncle pluggy....bail us out !!!)



Friday, March 23, 2007

We love San Francisco

Cable car coming down one of the many hills

Landed in San Francisco and guess what ? The SUN is out.....yahoo !! Of course, doing the Scottish thing, we sat out in it and got a bit of sunburn. Our hotel is nice, clean and of course gives us the free internet and free breakfast, which saves us quite a bit. Took an audio tour of Alcatraz yesterday which was narrated by the old inmates and guards (thanks Susan for the recommendation). The tour was really interesting and gave you a feel for what it would be like to be locked up there. We really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, Beni and Jeni broke the rules and were incarcerated for the rest of the day. We did bail them out, but they are both grounded.

Today we took a trip to the beach today and went for a (long) walk to see the Golden Gate bridge. The beach went on for miles and had really white sand. There were some surfers too, but to be honest, we could have done a better job ourselves. We sat in the sun and had a lovely lunch and sunburn. Got a cable car back over the hills, which Debo nearly fell off of, as the hills were very steep, and we didn't have a seat. Luckily she held on tight and made it back safely. Her arm was like "Popeye's" though and is now still rubbing it.

Tomorrow, we might take a trip over the Golden Gate bridge itself, but today is Friday and that means we have to go to the pub (it's tradition for the start of the weekend) but we will see as it is still very, very hot outside.

Our Scottish skin is no longer white (well the bits which have been exposed to the sun anyway). Our calves are aching due to the "hill" walking, but we are Having a fabulous time. We love San Fran, and you never know, it maybe the place we might settle....but that's a long way off. Would recommend it. xx

Monday, March 19, 2007

Statue of Liberty (for free)

Statue of Liberty
If you look close you can see all the folk who paid $11.50.....ha ha suckers
(see blog entry below - I know we're stingy...but this budget has to last all year !!)

Nearing the end of New York


Manhattan from Staten Island Ferry
Well our week is almost up so we'll be off to San Francisco sooner than we think. Thought we'd go down and see the Statue of Liberty today. When we eventually got down there....there was a huge queue with a good 45 minute wait (not to mention the $11.50 each it would cost). Instead we took the Staten Island Ferry (which is free) and gave us the views we were looking for. It's sunny here at the moment but still cold in the wind.....all in all we've had a great time. Roll on Frisco !!

Sunday, March 18, 2007

St Paddy's Day.......has it finished yet.....


Well it's true what they say....St Paddy's Day is HUGE over here. We arrived at 51st street for just before 11am and left 2 hours later. The parade was fantastic and was still going when we left. We left to go to a pub as it was so cold (well thats our excuse anyway). 9 hours later after several boozers, several pints of guinness, several shots, and several irish tatoos (stick on ones)beads, t shirts later, we fell onto the subway and made our way home. The good thing was everyone on the subway was p*&^% so we did not look out of place. If anyone is thinking about coming over to NY for St Paddys Day, we recommend it. We can both honestly say that it was the best St Paddys Day we have ever had.

It is only 8.30am when we are posting this blog, so there is a good chance that we are both still drunk, so it may be amended later. We are now off to walk the streets to find a phone to call home and speak to our mammies as it is Mothers Day today. xx

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Beni and Jeni hit Manhattan


New York, New York.....

Manhattan from Empire State Building

Arrived safely in New York. The flight from Boston to NY was only 45 mins. It was pretty easy to find our hostel from the airport and we got another mega cheap metro card. Our hostel is pretty basic, but at least it is cheap, clean and safe. We also get free use of the internet (hence the blog update) and free breakfast. To get down town takes around 10 mins. We walked through the top part of central park today and our way to the Empire State Building. The park is pretty nice. Eventually, heavy legged, we got to the Empire State Bulding and that is impressive. The view from the top was approx 5-10 miles (so it said on the details) so we managed to see all the way out to the Statue of Liberty. Left there and went to see the Flatiron Buliding. This is the triangular shape builiding that is featured in most of the photos of New York. Again pretty impressive. You can not get in as it is residential now. We then walked down to Canal Street. This is like a posh, Barras, but 5 times busier. IB got his digitial watch for $13 (around 7 pounds). It still seems to be working, but for how long, no one knows. Tonight, think we will head out for some food and early bed. Walked for miles today. Tomorrow the weather is going to change to cold and possible snow, so not sure what our plans are. We will keep you posted. XXxx

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

The Witches of Salem


Salem Station......and behind "Salem's Parking Lot" Ha Ha Ha.
(Park the car for the master, can you do that for me holy man?)


Went out on the train to Salem, and most of it was closed due to it being winter here...we did get go to the Witches Museum witch was very interesting and told all about the witch hunts of Salem. http://www.salemweb.com/guide/witches.shtml
for more info. Due to the lack of witches we headed back to Boston and went to the Red Hat pub for a wee refreshment (do you notice a theme to our world tour - well recommended Doug)

Off to New York tomorrow so not sure how easy it will be to update our blog!! Apologies for any drop in service and dont worry if you dont hear from us as we will be in a pub somewhere.. Love The Bluesxxxx

(PS Debo has not had one hangover yet!!)



Do you have ID Ma'am.......??


I think the bartender was just feeling sorry for me when he saw my old face...ID'd at 37, I don't think so.


We went back up to Harvard as the other day when we where there it was -13. It is really nice and roaming with students, of course. Discovered this really cheap Mexican restaurant. Food was great. That's where I got ID'd, much to IB's amusement. He let us off, once he had a good look at us, and to prove the bartender that we were hardened drinkers we felt obliged to stay for several margaritas. (picture attached is proof of old and drunk face).....

Jeni and Beni hit the bars..


...................and did not get asked for ID.


Sunday, March 11, 2007

Out of the cold and into the brewery

Boston's temperature has (finally), got above freezing and is very pleasant now. Apparently they set a new record for the coldest temp in Boston (-14 degrees centigrade) on Friday....the hats and scarf man did a roaring trade....of course all the shops have there summer gear in now - so they missed a trick. We've been doing a bit of exploring of the city, which always end up in the pub, so yesterday (Saturday) we decided to go to the Boston Celtics basketball stadium, in North Station, but it was shut - so rather than ending in the pub we decided to start in the pub (or brewery) and went to the Samuel Adams brewery. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Adams_(beer) for more info. Nice place, nice beer and all for a $2 donation. That set us up for the day, we then went exploring Chinatown - as usual we ended up going to a boozer before heading home. Headed back to home and went out for a few more beers and some food at "Fat Belly Deli". The food in there is great and very cheap...home and in bed for 8pm... The clocks went forward an hour today, so we are out of sorts as usually out and about by now. Not sure what today holds other than it being another nice day and we will be heading out and will keep you posted.xx

Jeni and Beni hit Boston Chinatown

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Cheers

Where everybody knows your name ?!?.....no one has known my name yet....still it's only the first day I suppose....and yes, I am cold

London to Boston

Had not a bad sleep at the hotel, considering that it was at Heathrow Airport..got up in the moring and went to reception to ask for a taxi and this guy told us to pick up the free phone number to order one...10 mins later the taxi appeared and it was the same guy...we laughed until he over charged us, but as we did not have any change and wanted to get checked in we let him off..ROBBER....

The flight over to Boston was pretty empty... so there was loads of room and meant everyone could spread out and sleep. When we touched down in Boston, it was freezing but managed to find our way via the T line, which is tube come train, kind of a thing to our haunted house. It turns out that the Carruth House is a hidden treasure...it is lovely...the owner, Heidi is lovely...She gave us this room with loads of antique furniture in it, including a 4 poster bed. We also have a wee sitting room next door for our use only....it is great....the whole house is lovely and the neighbourhood is really nice too. We went for dinner last night at "Fat Bellys Deli" and had the biggest bowl of pasta either of us have ever seen. It was pretty cheap to (they also serve guinness at $4.05 a pint - about 2 pound 20).....might go down there again tonight, depending on the -11 winds picking up again..Boston itself is pretty nice, but could only stay out for 3 hours today as our wee Scottish skin was freezing. Friday is meant to be even colder but it's meant to heat up again over the weekend, so we'll get a chance to explore then..........hopefully

Wee Beni in Boston

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Survived London with Tall, but only just!!!

The topic says it all...we are currently in our hotel at Heathrow airport, getting ready to head to Boston tomorrow morning, although it is -16 in Boston and we are not sure how we are going to get used to that kind of cold, but on the positive we are from EK so have had some training..haha.

Thanks to the Tall chap for treating us to a lovely meal and a night of drunken mayhem..also for you giving us your bed to kip on...it was greatly appreciated. It was great to meet Julie too (talls lady). She is lovely and it was a pity that we did not get to spend more time with her. Tall and the Julster make a lovely couple..

Off to get some food and at least 12 hours sleep..(since last night was more of a drunken coma than sleep)!!!..xx

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Leaving do, Sat 3rd March 07.

(this was taken at 12:45 in the morning....so apologies if you missed it !!)

Well last night was our leaving night... it was held in the wee bowling club on Woodlands Road and it was mega cheap £1.22 for a Vodka.........Thank you very much to all of you who attended..it really did mean a lot to us that you took the time to come and give us a big send off....Thank you also for the signed Scotland flag. We will make sure that we include it in as many pictures as possible...Thank you for the lovely gifts and cards..Much appreciated

Please keep in touch.

Next stop London......

Love The Bluesxx

PS: special thanks to Pamela and Stephen for making sure we got home okay...dont think any taxi driver would have stopped for us in the state we were in.

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Pack it up, pack it in....let us begin !!

Holey moley!!! - we've just tried to load our rucksacks and it looks like we are taking less than first envisaged. I then had to get 6 months worth of Marlia tablets.....so there goes some more rucksack real estate. Then there are other essentials like mosquito nets, first aid kits, sleeping bags etc. So I reckon we are going away with a couple of trousers a top and a sock each !!! need to try a new strategy and learn to pack more efficiently - aparently rolling your clothes saves space.....so I reckon we'll try that !!