Raleigh, Washington D C, Philadephia, New york and Niagara Falls!

Its been over a week since we've been in touch and we've been sooo busy! After an overnight train journey we were grateful to hayleys friend mark who picked us up from the train station at Raleigh, North Carolina. We spent the morning relaxing by the pool in his apartment complex and he took us out for lunch to a nice salad bar..much appreciated after tooo many hot dogs and fast food! He showed us around Chapel Hill and the university of North Carolina, he lived in a really nice area of the US. We stayed with Sarahs family in the evening and we had a lovely home cooked meal :) it was nice to be taken care of and watch a bit of TV!
The next day we caught the train to Washington D.C and arrived at a hostel without a reservation with the hope of a bed for the night!! We were very lucky and able to stay. We went for a wander round the city and caught brief glimpses of the white house.
The following day we were up very early and out by 9 to see all the sights! We hopped on an open top sightseeing bus for a bargain $10 ( reg price $30). We couldnt get off but it meant that we saw all the monuments, memorials, famous buildings and museums in one hour and a half. This was great as we then decided what we wanted to see more closely. After getting off we walked to the capitol building and got some great pictures then headed to the museums. We went into the natural history museum and saw dory and nemo and the dinosaur from night at the museum! We also saw the hope diamond...very beautiful and impressive.
Then we stopped at the national history museum and learnt some american history. There was an impressive display to do with abraham lincoln in particular, and we saw his top hat!
We also saw an american flag that had been handmade in 1814 but we werent allowed to take any pictures as they were trying to preserve it.
After an enormous amount of history we had a short break at the washington monument and headed for the holocaust museum however we got there quite late so we only saw one exhibition.
The Lincoln monument was very impressive with a huge statue of him sitting in a chair. From the steps you could see for miles, the reflection pool, WWII memorial, the washington monument and Capitol Building.
We wandered to the white house for a proper look and we saw both the north side and south side. Unfortunately Obama was on vacation and to get an appointment to see his house takes 6 months lol!!
Before heading back we hopped on the metro to see the Pentagon building. When we arrived there the sun was setting and we walked to see the memorial which was very moving. Each person had a bench dedicated to them and depending on which way the bench was facing depended on where they were at the time of the attack.
The next day we went to New York. Upon our arrival we realised we were staying opposite the manhattan Inn, a place we stayed at 5 years ago! It felt like home! We got changed, went out and bought broadway tickets to see Mary Poppins for that evening. We had dinner at Mr Biggs where we caught happy hour, appetizers and drinks half price each so we ordered 2 appetizers, each one the size of a full meal!
Mary Poppins was AMAZING, so magical and we had some really good seats near the front. Highlights of the performance included bert walking upside down on the roof and Mary Poppins flying into the audience!
The next day we went to Philadephia, Sarah dragged Hayley to the Edgar Allan Poe national historic site which was rather interesting. Then we went for a tour round Independance Hall where the declaration of Independance was drafted and signed as was the american constitution and we also saw the Liberity bell with a nice big crack down one side!
The next day we went sightseeing in New York. The views from the top of the rockefeller center were breathtakingly spectacular. It was great to see the city in the daylight because we had only seen it at night last time. We had the most amazing soup at grand central station. Hayley had chicken pie and sarah had creamy chicken,rice and masala..yummy! Grand central station really was very grand! We then went to find the New York public library ( day after tomorrow) however it was closed because it was Sunday :( We ended the day at ground zero, still an excavation site as they are still clearing debris and planning for the future.
After a day on the train we arrived at Niagara falls, the canadian side. In the evening we went to see the falls lit up at night with all different colours..it was fabulous to look at and we ate chinese whilst watching the falls with some people from the hostel.
We had one day to see the falls so we bought an adventure pass. We first went for a walk alongside the rapids. Then we took the aero car across the whirlpool, which wasnt so whirly but the water moved really fast so you wouldnt want to end up in there! We took the maid of the mist into the falls where we took some brilliant photos and got a little bit wet but we were given plastic macs to take home with us! aka blue bin bags lol. We were able walk behind the falls in tunnels that had been created in 1944 , so we could get as close as possible to the cascading water, it was really noisy. From the outside we also saw a spectacular rainbow forming across the water and generally the views all around were just amazing, like nothing we'd ever seen before! We bought a few souvenirs, and got the wettest of the entire day inside a building. They've created niagaras fury which shows how the falls were formed. You stand on a platform experiencing the ice crack and get blasted with snow, cold mist and water!
This eveing we are heading into Niagara for dinner and drinks. We head back to New York tommorow for shopping and US open tennis!
And we are going to have an overnight stop in Boston before we come home.
Speak soon
Sarah and Hayley xxx

grand canyon, miami and orlando!

GRAND CANYON..words cannot describe how amazing it was to actually be there! It was huge and you felt soo tiny in comparison, wouldn't want to fall off the edge ( many people have actually died there- didnt stop people getting as close as they could though!) Could see for miles..rocks 1,000s yrs old and we caught glimpses of the phantom ranch and colorado river. it was a 10hr coach journey round trip, very long day with a stop at the hoover dam on the way, very impressive the way it was built in to the rock! On one side you were in nevada and the other side, arizona!
We expected cooler temperatures in miami..how wrong we were! It was hot like vegas but also very humid and sticky and the midges were at large! Hayley got bitten quite a few times! On our first day we chilled at South beach and swam in the sea in the lush warm water! Could have stayed there for hours! Left the beach at 8pm and went to make some pasta!! we've not had that in a while-too expensive!
On the second day we went to miami seaquarium, paid enough to play and swim with dolphins! Such an amazing experience, so worth while, priceless! After swimming we went to catch some sea animal shows, the sealions were great lots of fun to watch but the highlight of the day was watching lolita the giant killer whale do her stuff..jumping out of the water and splashing everyone in the audience!
We left miami expecting to arrive in orlando fairly early however we encountered 2 delays on the train, the second being a crash with a truck on the lines but nobody died.. and we got to our destination a few hours late..longest train journey to date.
In orlando we made a trip to the kennedy space center. It was rather exciting because we didnt realise our trip closely coincided with a space shuttle launch to the international space station. We saw the launch pad and shuttle fairly close up and we got to see how they prepared for the launch and we had a detailed look into the history and the future of space travel! Due to fully booked trains we spent another night here, yesterday we went into downtown orlando ( business district) and went to the cinema to see the hangover..hilarious from beginning to end! Even more funny because we'd already experienced Vegas!
Overnight train tonight to Raleigh where we will make a quick stop before heading to washington D.C.

VEGAS!

Booked a hotel for 3 nights OMG amazing..felt soo spoilt..huge kingsize bed..big enough for 3! plenty of room for 2! nice ensuite bathroom, really clean! Arrived tuesday night and went to explore straight away, soo many bright lights and cooler inside than out! Went shopping on wednesday and were given club VIP passes. Our hotel was right in the middle of the action next to New York-New York, Tropicana, MGM and Luxor. We went to club LA X in Luxor that night using our VIP entry ( very overated!!) Spent thursday relaxing in the spa at the hotel and by the pool, lovely lazy day which we needed, followed by lots of dancing and free drinks at Coyote Ugly and club ROK in New York-New York. Friday we moved to a hostel as weekend rates are very expensive here, not the nicest hostel weve stayed in but still on the strip and easy access to places by bus. We saw some spectacular circus acts, treasure island pirate show and the prettiest fountains at the bellagio hotel, graceful dancing water in time with music..was really magical and a great end to the day. Gambled on the penney slots..didnt spend much won some lost some. Going to the freemont experience today and off to see the grand canyon south rim tommorrow, that will be a long day. Flying to miami on tuesday. ttfn!xx

LA, San Diego and Vegas!

3 nights at surf city hostel on Hermosa Beach, LA gave us time to relax in the sun..literally spent 3 days chillin on the beach admiring the scenery, surf and hunky volleyball players! met lots of people, some by the beach, and we met some rich kids in a bar who were paying $300 for a table and bottle of vodka haha! $100 for a vodka bottle..free drinks for us, $700 bill for them!! we also got took out for an early breakfast at dennys 24/7! 3 nights in San Diego, first hostel was very quiet ( not that hayley noticed as she slept for 14hrs!) went to watch a baseball match, San Diego Padres vs New York Mets. Similiar game to rounders, Mets won, exciting towards the end but not much scoring happpening! Went to another beach,La Jolla, in the evening, very scenic and then we went out for food and drinks with some other people from the hostel. We were a random bunch, 2 english girls, 2 austrian girls, one swiss guy and one new yorker! The second hostel in San Diego was very lively partied with french candians from the hostel. We went to the zoo during the day..the polar bears were fantastic to watch, they clearly knew how to entertain the audience and loved the attention! Pandas and koalas were v cute and amazing to see and the meerkats also cute and lively! A long days travel from San Diego to Las Vegas. We were mesmerized by the bright lights and we had to go and explore on the first night. Hotel is in a great location on the strip..its like a huge castle :) opposite New York-New York with theme park ride outside! we still have lots to explore and 7 nights to do it in! off for some gambling lessons later!! love sarah and hayley xxx

los angeles

4 nights in holly wood:
1. arrived and went on a hollywood tour, saw beverly hills, famous houses, rodeo drive, hollywood sign, hollywood boulevard (main strip) and sunset boulevard (famous bars!) met some random guys from texas in a bar owned by aston kutcher!

2. went on bus to venice beach, hari krishna festival happening - FREE FOOD! (actually not tht great, but was free, so was good!)
got tickets to Americas got talent!

3. watched americas got talent, met and spoke to david hasslehoff! saw sharon osborne and piers morgan!
went to farmers market and that night went to the viper room, rock club, used to be owned by jonny depp!

4. went to universal studios! amazing! brlliant! etc etc!

xxxx

Absolutely loving san francisco! these last few days have been non stop walking and sightseeing!

The cruise along the coast line around alcatraz and under the golden gate bridge was a fantastic way to see the island and soak in some of its history-lots of famous prison break outs..but all unsucessful!!

Pier 39 is the ultimate tourist location in San Francisco, home to over 400 playfully lazy sunbathing sealions!!whom we watched for hours!after a bit of shopping and hayley's excitment at the left handed shop we wandered down to fishermans wharf. We could have got the cable car but we decided to walk up this ma-hoosive hill to see the famous crooked street..the only street in the citys that not intentionally straight! ( you need to see the pictures!)

Wednesday morning was quite an evenful one, changing hostels at 8am all seemed to be going smoothly until a van decided to park in the tram tracks causing us to get off early and run to catch our first tour of the city...a ride in an actual 63yr old world war II truck that not only had wheels but was boat shaped and took us for a cruise in the bay! Our driver was a real live war veteran and swedish who amused us by making us quack when he quacked and the locals loved it! Would recomond the DUCK tours to anyone!

After the tour we took a trip to the 'delightfully tacky yet unrefined' Hooters bar for lunch and extra large lemonades( bucket sized and pink!) Food was great and being typical students, we took advantage of 20% discount when buying our souviner vest tops :) so we can be hooters girls too!!

The second hostel wasnt great however Sarah invited one of her room mates along to join us to go and visit Golden Gate Park. After gettin on the train in the wrong direction we managed to eventually get the tram in the correct direction to the castro district..home of the hippies ,free love and lots of rainbows. Had a great lunch then wandered up one of SFs many hills and long to golden gate park.

We went in to a bar afterwards for a much needed happy hour drink and discovered some fabulously cheap cocktails..vodka triple sec cranberry lime and a dash of red bull mm..a few hours later we left to head down to fishermans wharf for the evening to check out a bar called the dirty martini! on the way, a dutch and french guy who were clearly lost asked us where we were going and we invited them to join us and 3 hopeful europeans became 5! The bar was good and music great but it seems like most san franciscans leave the partying till the weekend!

Today we hired bikes and cycled miles..and miles..We cycled the golden gate bridge with spectacular breath taking views and on our way back we almost got lost in a huge crowd of cyclists. we asked a guy what was going on and he said that every last friday of the month, all keen cyclists meet outside the ferry terminal and go for a 2 hr cycle around the city. We joined the crowd and became part of the event..there were probably nearly a 1000 cyclists some with stereos blasting out music and others on weird and wonderful contraptions, the hippie spirit is definately still alive here!!AWESOME!

Tonight we journey on to Los Angeles and Hollywood tommorow..meet us there!

Hayley and Sarah xx

omg..these last 2 days have been the longest of our lives! after about 40 hours we've finally arrived at our first hostel in San Francisco..and what should greet us at the airport..scary imigration staff and even more scary finger scanning machines...they took all 10 fingers! Considering national express travel??..dont stop in birmingham unless you want to freeze..you cant even get a decent hot chocolate!
Flight from London to Chicago was lush, filled with fabulous plane food, mini dvd players and entertaining staff! although the connecting flight encountered quite a bit of turbulence and we really couldn't wait to land.
So here we are in san francisco, our hostel is near chinatown and the people are really friendly :) and we have a fun filled day sightseeing tomorrow. We will probably stay here till friday.
need to sleep now....