The final countdown

Well it is nearly here, the end of our trip! Only 3 more days left in the U.S.

We have visited 3 cities since my last post. The first was Denver which was a blast. I liked it so much. If I was to live anywhere in the U.S. from our visit it would be there. Mainly because the mountains are so close and they looked fantastic and the city had a cool feel about it. We did a day trip out to one of the mountain villages and took a gondola ride up to the slopes - I was itching to go skiing. I want to go back. I also got to see my first live american sport game - basketball (Nuggets vs Grizzlies), which was great. Definately a sports game and an entertainment show combined.

We have been in Portland for a week visiting Brooke. It has been great to see Brooke again and see what she is up to. The highlight of Portland was definately getting out to the coast to this little town called Cannon Beach. It was really beautiful out there and weird to see a west coast beach with white sand. We also managed to do a road trip for 2 days out to Seattle. Seattle is such a beautiful city (probably my #2 city of the U.S.) - the best way to describe it is Wellington meets Queenstown. We were so lucky for it not to rain on both days, with the odds on rain been 5/6. For it is known as the rainy city.

It is now our last night in Portland before we arrive to our final distination L.A. And then it is home sweet home (and my own bed!). See you all very soon :)

New York, New York

Well today has been a fantastic day. Why you might ask? Well, it was Yankee Stadium tour day, that's right, we did a tour of Yankee Stadium. It was so much fun. We got to go in the press box, the dug out, the players changing room which still had all the players stuff in their lockers and out around the actual field (yes I have touched true Yankee ground) to the memorial. I could have stayed there all day. I would love to hit a few balls around and play catch. But alas, that wasn't part of the tour :(

New York has been great - nice to be in a place where you understand the language, except the americans do struggle hearing me a bit! We went out to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty yesterday which was exciting and we had the most intense security checks to get on the Statue's island, more than any other airport. Also got my first New York snow today, just a few flakes - could possibly be alot more by the time I get outside.

Anyway, time to go out and explore some more. And I must mention big ups to apple who have a store (which I'm currently in) which is full of all their computers which you can go online for free.

Home of the Skoda

We are now in Prague, where ever 3rd car seems to be a Skoda (they must make them super cheap to buy) and where beer is cheaper than water - well actually cheaper than any beverage it seems. Still looking for that beer that will top a Monteiths though! It has been nice to walk the streets and see old Prague where the castle and bridge is - it so beautiful. Will wonder a bit more tomorrow.

One and a half more days in Prague (and Europe) before the US. First stop New York. I'm looking forward to understanding what people are saying again and hopefully I will stop saying 'Si' - Italian for yes.

Roma

Well we have made it to Rome safely and we are loving the place we are staying in (The Beehive). It is quite a small hostel but so homely and it even has a big fat cat (which stays out of the rooms thankfully). It also has its own little cafe and free internet. So anyone coming to Rome should definitely check it out.

We have seen heaps of sites so far in the past day and a half. There are lots of things to see within walking distance of each other so the highlights in the lonely planet guide are getting ticked off quickly. I think we have ticked off 8 so far. No one standout for me yet, they have all been spectacular and oh so big. Romans definitely like to make big statues and pillars! And the sun has been shining - oh how I love the sun. It has been making me so much happier and so much easier to be a tourist.

Rome has to be the most touristy place so far - so many people out in force with their cameras. Other tourists aren't too much of a hassle but the people trying to continually sell you roses, umbrellas, scarfs, tickets and the list goes on are so annoying. I've had to bite my tongue a bit - grrrr.

Anyway, time for some rest. Off to Vatican City tomorrow so need to get up early to beat the queues, although anything less than 3 hours is fine now that we have already experienced lining up for the Eiffel Tower. Ciao.

All but a fizzle

Happy New Year from Paris :)

Well I hope you all had a fun night. We had fun night but it was a bit of a fizzle. Philly, Steve (our friends), Kylie and I went down to Champs Elysees where we could see the Arc de Triomphe, Louvre and Eiffel Tower thinking we would be able to see the fireworks to see the new year in. But sadly their were none. You may think that we missed them as we didn't know exactly where they were - being tourists and all, but there were a couple of hundred thousand people lining the street in our same predicament. No countdown or anything, everybody was waiting for the big show that didn't eventuate. So we walked home avoiding random little fireworks and went to bed. Woop woop!!!

Paris has been fun times. It has been so nice to stay with Philly and Steve (in their friends apartment) for 3 days who are sadly leaving us tonight. We have a few more days left in Paris by ourselves before we head off to Rome. The highlight of Paris has to be in Montmartre - the area that has the Sacre-Coeur and Moulin Rouge. It had cute little streets and stores and felt like Paris should be. The major tourist sites like the Louvre and Eiffel Tower were so over crowded - it slightly takes away from there beauty. And the other highlight was the crepes - chocolate and banana filled crepes - oh so delicious. Mmmm, they will be missed.

We had a few days in Newcastle before we got to Paris which was awesome. We didn't look around Newcastle that much as we were about 30 minutes out of the city staying with my Dad's relatives. Also with it getting dark at 3:30pm didn't help either. It was great to see my extended family who I had never meet, see where my Dad grew up (and hear stories of my dad as a child from my great Aunt) and to visit a coal mining museum (similar to one my Grandad used to work in). Many great memories to take home. A canny time :)

Well it is now time for us to venture out back into the city and find our budget hotel for the next few nights. Say hi to the sun for me, I'm missing it a little.

Airports!!!

Well once again we are in another airport - Heathrow - although we are going to be here for a little bit longer than expected. Why you might ask? Well we missed our first flight today from London to Newcastle. We were 35mins before the flight departed but still we were late. A little bit stricter on closing time here :( But luckily we have been able to catch another flight 3 hours later. Fortunately we didn't have to pay for another ticket. I think the charm of Kylie replying to the ticketing office of why we missed our flight 'Just a couple of kiwi's totally under estimating how long it takes to get to Heathrow on the tube' got us off paying. The guy next to us didn't seem to be happy as he had to pay for his.

Today is the 27th and our London leg is officially over. Christmas went well in the country - even played tennis on Christmas day! But no back yard cricket. It was weird not having any of the usual Christmas traditions so it didn't make it feel like Christmas at all. The only thing that did make it feel like Christmas was the feeling of I ate too much.

Oh well, gotta fly - literally. I hope you are all enjoying daylight, the one thing I am certainly missing as it gets dark at 4pm.

Give me some Seoul

It has now been just over a week since we've been away and it has been such a whirlwind. We are now in London getting ready to go to my first ever English Football game. Fulham vs Westham. I am super excited.

Seoul was so amazing. It was such a culture shock and so huge. Buildings for as far as the eye could see and no grass to be seen. Everything open 24/7 and people everywhere. But we had so much fun with Youngjae, our friendly Korean :) My highlight of Seoul had to be the World Cup stadium. We took a tour of the stadium where we could go down to the pitch and into the locker rooms and then an interactive museum - I was like a little kid in a candy store. So much more to say, but that will have to wait until we get home. Oh, almost forgot, you can't talk about Seoul without the food we were subjected to. It was actually quite nice except Youngjae's mum continually feed us until we were bursting at the seems. Will try to post some pictures later of what we ate but as an idea we were having whole chickens for BREAKFAST!!!!! My stomach hurt after breakfast. Is it too much to ask for a single bowl of cereal.

We have now been in London for 5 days and Korea is becoming a distant memory already. So many new sites everyday to take in, luckily we have been taking so many photos that I don't need to expand my brain to remember everything. London has been fun seeing all the historical sites and museums. Every corner has something new to see. I think today's football game is going to be my highlight, but as we haven't being to the game yet so I would say the Tower of London is winning so far. Oh, and we are having a single bowl of cereal for breakfast everyday - the simple things in life are so good.

I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas. Missing you all :)