Reno, The Biggest Little City in the World.

Today I found this great internet cafe, with real italian coffee, and a nice bar and area for live performances. It is pretty cool and only opened 2 days ago. It was a surprise to find the best internet cafe I've visited in the United States in a Casino/backwater city like Reno, Nevada. Its not the first time, one of the nicest and most affordable internet cafes with excellent service I found in Europe was in Bratislava, a big surprise considering the reputation it has in Europe.

The weather in Reno is really nice, its just a touch cold but there is not a cloud in the sky and it is very easy to warm up by walking in the sun's rays. Its a weird city, it pretty much consists of casinos everywhere, but most of them look and feel like were built 30 years ago and could do with a modern facelift. This city surprisingly feels safe and is pretty clean and I think I have seen only one undesirable person. So I am impressed.

I decided after arriving in the city 12 hours later yesterday that I would extend my stay one day in Reno to recharge my batteries and have a better look at the city. I am staying in a hotel room by myself with two double beds and its own bathroom and shower for $25 a night. Pretty sweet. I have uploaded a heap of photos so please check them out - Denver, 36 Hour Train Trip, and Reno.

reno

im in reno after 37 hrs on a train, net expensive, hate amtrak. took train from denver. sposed 2 be a 25 hr trip, long enuf. got stuk in nevada desert for 10 hours, trip ended in reno arrived 12 hours late. 37 fkn hours. tired tonight. gonna stay in reno extra day. cant imagine gettingon another train in 9 hours.

Closed on Sundays!

It looks like Denver is closed on Sundays. They should have told us this on the train when we got on in Chicago. Its lucky its a beautiful day here and the sun is out otherwise i'd be really pissed off. I spent the first 4 hours walking around just looking at all the closed shops and tourist sites. I walked all the way out of town to the closed box office at the closed Pepsi Sports centre. I started my closed voyage on the main street, 16th street, at the Information Centre which is closed on weekends, so I tried to see a map they had on the wall inside because I didn't have a map of the city and the hostel had not a single map. When I asked the guy at the reception if he had a map he said, "a map of what?". I thought he was joking, but he wasnt. I said, "of Denver".

Speaking of the hostel, if the city wasn't so closed today, this whole post would have been about the hostel. My hostel, Denver International Hostel, is the crappiest, dirtiest and scariest hostel I've ever stayed at. I am really lucky that I have just a night there otherwise I'd be worried. On entering the hostel there are two doors which are seperate from one another. I didn't see the first one and instead entered the second door which is facing the street when you walk to the hostel with the directions they give you. I walked in and there were no signs for the reception. It was dark. I tried the three different doors in there but there was no signs and they were all locked so I tried upstairs. The same story. So I walked outside thinking there might be another entrance which there was and I walked into the tiny room they called a reception. The guy working at reception looked and sounded exactly like the serial killer Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs, which wasn't a good start. I gave him my details and my passport and he gave me sheets and took my money - $13 for the room and a refundable $10 deposit for the key. He walked me up the dark rickety stairs to the room and showed me inside.

The first room was dirty and had a light which worked and one which didn't along with 2 bunk beds. The floorboards were dusty and misformed and the curtains looked like WW2 blankets. He said that there was no shower but a toilet, and there was another shower I could use downstairs. The room was more like an apartment, a really dirty old apartment, in that it had 3 rooms with bunks, a smelly kitchen, and a bathroom with a bath that was so dirty I couldn't see where the drain hole was located. I will post photos as soon as I find a place with basic internet facilities. But when you see the photos you will feel sorry for me and be afraid for my safety.

My final rant about Denver will be about all the homeless and poverty stricken people I have seen on this brief morning of walking. Before I start I must preface by saying that it is a Sunday and it is Winter so the amount of people walking the streets at 9am on a Sunday are probably somewhat limited to those without a warm house or similar situation. I have been surprised on this trip by the amount of homeless people and poor people I have seen while walking around the cities. Up until now the worst was Washington DC, but obviously New York and Boston had their share too. I have become accustomed to a degree of homeless people while traveling throughout Europe, particularly in Paris and the other major cities frequented by high numbers of foreign tourists, but it has been more confronting in America because there are more per area and they are aggressive. When I say aggressive, I do not mean physically in the form of hitting or attacking, I simply mean they talk with you, harass you, and on occasion deliberately get in your way when you are walking. And this is to the regular citizen, not just those who look or act like gullible tourists. The amount of homeless people I have seen today in Denver has been striking. While walking along the main street, 16th, I saw about 8 people who did not look homeless, and another 20 or 30 who sat on the benches, or to the side of the street, or stood and walked, all carrying a little sleeping bag, or clothes bag, and many of which had a little cup with a little bit of change tinkling around in it. As I walked out of the touristic area and into the surrounding suburbs, looking for something interesting which might be open, I saw even more, not as condensed, but they were still there. I saw 2 different people asking for change at stoplights. Then as I neared the library at about 12:30pm, the place was surrounded by them. It was intense. Many speaking to themselves, looking tired and dirty and weighed down. I watched as the people poured into the library when it opened its doors at 1pm, many going straight into the bathrooms and spreading to the free internet or upstairs to the couches. It was an extraordinary sight. I'm still not sure what to make of it all.

I leave the city at 7am tomorrow, to Reno, and perhaps a nice upright city like Reno will me forget about people who are down and out on their luck.

The Windy City

I arrived safey in Chicago after an overnight 21 hour train trip which was 4 hours late. I arrived at the hostel at midday and was told no check-in until 2pm and if I want to leave my luggage with them til then it will cost $2. Those buggers. I walked all around the city and checked out all the sites quickly cos i know i only have one day here and i was all done by 2:30pm. I visited the second tallest building in Chicago, the John Hancock, so i could get a nice photo of sears tower, the tallest building. I went up to the restaurent level in a crafty maneuveur to get a drink for the cost of entry. When I got up there I got an ace table and took some photos. No-one ever came to take my order so I left and took the lift downstairs the 96 floors. The whole thing cost me nothing! Awesome. Now I am in an Apple store and you can use the internet while checking out their computers. It is an incredible store. Now I am going back to the hostel to check in. Tomorrow I go to Denver. [photos added back at hostel]


Look at the lower levels of the round buildings carefully / that's a cop riding a segway.

Museum City!

Heyo. Superquik cos internet is expensive. very busy day today. i visited the back of the white house, but cant go in at the moment because of high security. no big surprise. went in and up th washington monument. approx 50 storeys. Visited the Capitol builing, went on tour, sat in on Senate and House of Reps. a little boring there but beautiful building. money money. Quickly went into the Library of Congress. Same deal $$. Supreme Court, yet again serious $$. Very nice but missed sitting of justices. Hit the Air and Space Museum and the little section of the Museum of American History while it is being renovated. Saw some dinos and a mammoth at the Natural History Museum. Finally got kicked out of the Old Post Office twice for entering through the wrong door. Finally found the correct door and everything inside was closed. Check out the PICS of washington DC!!

Monument City

A big day in DC today but I just lost a cardboard poster roll I was going to use to post some posters home so I am a little pissed off. Okay, I feeling a little better now cos I left it a little while before I continued my post from my first sentence. I had my first full day in DC today and it was refreshingly beautiful and a fun day. Last night I didn't have much hope because on first impressions DC seemed boring, ugly, cold, dirty and full of homeless people. However, today, after a good nights sleep, I feel much better and this morning was great. It was still cold but the sun came out and the day was beautiful. It was a busy day and I visited a great collection of monuments and attractions, but I have more to go tomorrow.

I started by having a Starbucks coffee and then I walked past the White House. As one would expect, security is pretty tight and no cars can now drive in front of the building, but you can still walk to the fence and take photos. To visit the actual house you need to contact your local congressman (even Americans have to do this) or consulate, and they will contact the White House and work out entry for you.
Following this I walked past the Washington Monument to the World War II war memorial which is a great powerful and beautiful monuement with a heap of spires with all the states of America on each of the columns and a great fountain system (which I didnt get to see cos the fountains get turned off in Winter). So it was good but I imagine better in summer.
I then walked past the Reflecting Pool to the Lincoln memorial. However, the reflecting pool had also been drained and was not very reflecting.
The Lincoln Memorial was great and huge and is very inspirational. Lincoln is gigantuan.
The Vietnam Veteran War memorial was amazing. It lists all the men who lost their lives and is in chronological order so you get a great visual on how the deaths increased as the war went on.
Then the Korean War memorial which was different and effective with all these statues of soldiers.
The FDR memorial was huge and had great stoneworks and waterfalls for each of his four terms.
The Jefferson memorial is based on his old family home which he liked while he was president. It is great and powerful and has a wonderful view of the lake.
I then visited the Holocaust Memorial Museum which was huge and had a very moving and interesting four level exhibit. It was less powerful but more in depth and educating than those I saw in Germany and Poland.
Finally I walked all the way along the Washington Mall to the Capitol building but couldn't go in because it was the night of Bush's Strate of the Union address so security was pretty tight and I'd have to wait til tomorrow.
So tomorrow I visit the inside of the Washington Monument, Capitol, and a heap of museums which are all free in Washington.

Washington DC

Hey. I made it to Washington DC and I am sorry I havent posted ina while. I have decided to stop writing big carefully constructed photo posts as I never do them and instead write a little something quickly every time I use the internet. In USA it is very expensive at internet cafes, ranging from $10 to $20 an hour. It is ludicrous. My hostel has it for $6 an hour but it is still too expensive.

Last night I slept in a 6-bed dorm room with one other character. I came into the room at about 8pm and he was already asleep so I left the light off. Then when I returned at about midnight the room was really cold and I prepared for bed. The gentleman opposite me started speaking, and I thought he was speaking in tongues in a sleep talk but I soon realised he was speaking turkish or persian or some language I haven't really heard before. Needless to say I couldn't help him. Then he said "hot, hot". I told him I couldn't use the heater. I went to the bathroom and soon he came in too because I'd woken him and his body I guess. I got a look at him. He was about 5 foot, and looked very similar to Danny Devito, about 55 years old, bald, fat, but had a thick grey beard. I was a little worried about him so I scooted off to bed and didnt get to sleep until I heard him deeply snoring. In the morning when he woke up he worked out the heater and turned it on. So I woke to a nice warm room. Nice guy!

This old guy in the internet room has just turned the radio up really loud so he can sit at the other side of the room and still listen. This guy has a hooked nose and long grey hair in a ponytail. Weird.

Today I visit the Washington sites. You know the ones.

New York New York

My final day in Paris was sad, but I had so many last minute things to do that i didn't really give myself time to worry about it. I spent the day racing around the city posting things and saying goodbye to good friends that I won't see for years. I arrived at the airport with no problems, traveling quickly on the RER it took me about an hour. The french security guys were friendly at the airport and I didnt have my bags checked nor get any trouble going through the metal detectors. My flight to New York first stopped off at London and I needed to change planes and I was lucky enough to not have anyone sitting in the seat nect to me on either flight. Both flights were delayed but I found them pleasant enough and didnt sleep. I watched a number of movies including The Illusionist, The Departed, and Love Actually. The Departed was really good, but I was disappointed with The Illusionist because the plane landed before the movie finished, so now I will need to borrow the dvd and watch it all again. Before the plane landed everyone fllled out a green or white customs form. I filled out a green one because I don't need a visa for the US. The landing was nice and there were no problems. At this point it was strange to think that I was in a new continent, one of which I had never visited before. It was exciting to imagine how far away from Paris and from Melbourne I was and the amount of distance I have covered so far on this trip.



I expected the worse of American customs because they hat terrorists and they hate illegal immigrants and they hate non-allowed foods and liquids. With this in mind I was wary but I ended up having no trouble with customs and I found everyone I encounted to be very friendly and interested in my origins and travels. The gentlement in charge of checking my passport and allowing me passage into the US actually watched Aussie Rules some nights on US TV after 2am. Incidently, when they check your passport, they also get a fingerprint of your left and right index finger and a photo of you. After this I picked up my bags and walked to the real test at customs where they rummage through your bag for bad things. Luckily I was ignored and I walked straight through with my contraband Vegemite.



The trip into New York was relatively painless except for the fact that it was about 12:30 at night and I hadn't slept for 22 hours. First I took the Airtrain to Howards Shore stop where I changed for the New York metro, then took a long trip on the metro to 57th St stop. From there I walked with my stuff for 7 blocks to the hostel for the first night. The whole trip from the airport taking me about 2 hours. By the time I got to bed it was about 3:30am. The hostel was called Broadway Hotel and Hostel, and it was definitely a hostel, although it looked like a hotel from the outside. I was in a clean four bedroom and I never met my roommates. I left early the next morning and I caught up with my friend Fiona for breakfast.



The breakfast was great. We went to a cool local diner where you get about double the food for less money than a typical Paris breakfast and unlimited topped up bad coffee. It was awesome and it was my first opportunity to tip american style, that is 15% regardless of service. We walked around the city and explored some of its best sights. I spent a great deal of time as I looked around trying to find a bank or american express office that was open so I could cash some travelers checks or change some money. There were none open, but at the end of the day after asking countless people I did find one bank open that I could cash a travelers check. That day we visited battery park and finished at the end of the night in the NYU area where we grabbed a $2 felafel and a $3 pint of Hoegarden, a different world to Paris (4eur felafel 6.5eur pint = $13).



I'm falling in love with this amazing city and I am constantly seeing new things that I want to explore more. I know the next week is going to go really quickly and I'm gonna need to visit again. Next post: Metro cards, Bagels, Central Park, and Times Square.

Happy New Year! & Sweden & Paris Photos

Happy new year everyone! I feel bad for not posting in an incredibly long time but its been hectic and i can never get my act together. my nye was great and here are some photos of the last days in paris. i leave paris on jan 5 for new york. In the last few days I've cleaned out the apartment and now I'm staying with a friend. Its been really touch going through all my junk and its amazing how much you can accumulate in an apartment in 4 months. I have heaps of things which are totally necessary for an apartment which are useless for a backpacker travelling. I have to sell or throw out things like my fridge, lamps, chairs, tables, cutlery, plates, glasses, cloths, cleaning solutions, food, sheets, mattress, other tools, bottle openers, bags, and I have about a kilo of 1 cent and 2 cent euro pieces which are just as useless in Europe as they are in the rest of the world. I have included some photos of the last few weeks for your interest.

Sweden:


I dont have time for other photos but check out Flickr. Ill post more soon on the blog.