My last full day in New York City, and the United States of America. I'm approaching the end of my visit here and I know I'm going to miss it. So the first thing I did today was head to Central Park, a near walk away, not far from my hostel. And I found it a beautiful place to walk through. It took a while, but I was able to enjoy it and take in as much as I could, at a slow pace. That's the beauty of it. It seems like the best place to hang out in town. There's things to do and see here; there's even an ice-skating rink. Pretty good for a park that much of is man-made. After my stroll through here, I continued downtown. I made my way to the ... read more

A fair portion of today was going to be spent walking around. First off, I had a reserved ticket to Liberty Island. I had to catch the subway down to Battery Point, though, it didn't go all the way, for some reason. I had to make a run for it from Brooklyn Bridge station. Grabbing a hot dog on the way as I ran through downtown and the financial district, I made it to my ferry set to depart at 10:25am. It was a fairly nice day today. There were plenty of people aboard. We set for Liberty Island. What a fantastic sight to see. I had a walk around the island, checking out the gift shops, and getting some good view points of the Statue of Liberty. Interesting why it's green - I had no ... read more

This was it. Time to head to the last place on my itinerary; New York City. My expectations were high. I ended up having to take the megabus this time, since my greyhound bus pass wouldn't allow me on the express service. No biggie. I already felt amazing just approaching New York. I could see the cityscape in the distance. And I knew this would be the last place I visit before leaving the country, so I knew I had to appreciate it as much as I could. When I got here, it was pretty warm. Unusual for this time of the year. But I made it to my hostel after taking a series of subway trains. I got familiar with the system. It was like the London tubes, fun to navigate, like a puzzle. After ... read more

My one full sightseeing day, another of which I spent walking around the city and its sights. A very beautiful city to walk though, actually. The first thing I noticed when I stepped outside the hostel was, something beautiful. The city reminded me a lot of Seattle, largely due to one of the facts that it was another port town by the ocean. It was also very pleasant to walk through, and there were plenty of historical sights, much like Seattle. I walked along the river. The city colours stood out vibrantly; it was different, yet still America. This would be the second last city I visit here in the States, so I made sure to take in as much as I could. I spent time walking around the ports, but mostly through the city and ... read more

Off to Boston I was. I was up at 7am, and Mark dropped me off at the bus station where we said goodbye. It was great to stay with him. It was another fairly long trip, but not too long. About nine hours. We went through Syracuse and Albany. I kept mostly to myself, on the internet with the Wi-Fi on board, but I had a little bit of small talk with a fellow passenger from time to time. I got to Boston at 5:30pm, and it was night time. Daylight savings ended early this morning, so I'll have little daylight to occupy my days. And Boston's bus station was the largest I've seen so far. It was combined with the train station. You could almost say it was the size of a regional airport. I ... read more

And today our plan was to make the day trip out to Niagara Falls, but I wouldn't be crossing over to the Canadian side, which is the better side, but I didn't want to take the risk of not being let back into the US. It was an hour's drive, and quite a beautiful place, regardless of not getting to see the best of it. But one day, I will visit Canada and see it from the other side. We spent a good amount of time appreciating the views and taking pictures. Another attempt with artistic shots, some turning out really great. We later headed to the town of Buffalo, where we tried the original Buffalo chicken wings. They were tasty, and spicy, and Mark's were extra hot. He had strong tolerance for chilli, but this ... read more

New York state. Not to be confused with New York City. I'll be headed there next week. Today, with Mark, we were going to do a little bit of touring and photo shooting. Artistic photography, with an edge. From this I would learn something. I need to invest in a better camera than my simple point-and-shoot. So firstly, we drove to Letchworth State Park. A beautiful park in New York state, considered the Grand Canyon of the North-East. This is where we saw quite a few waterfalls. A very photogenic area. We tried out some of our 'art' here. The area was beautiful at this time of the year. I think I'm glad I came during fall. Or autumn. I'm developing a bit of an American vocabulary here. Bright yellow tree leaves were fallen everywhere. The ... read more

Time for another bus trip. This one was the most complicated so far; I hoped I would actually get to Rochester by the time I planned to. The bus journey from DC to Rochester was in three segments, and one of them didn't involve a greyhound bus, which meant I had to buy a ticket for that segment. I went from DC to Harrisburg first, barely making it in time for the transfer to Elmira - the leg I had to pay for. Then from Elmira, it was a free ride to Rochester, and I got there by 7pm, after eleven hours of travelling. My reason for coming to this part of New York state, was to see my friend Mark, from the forum. He had a place for me to stay up here for the ... read more

My one full day of sightseeing around Washington DC, and I was going to spend most of it walking around. First off, I headed to the Capitol building. I thought this was the White House at first, but I found out I was wrong. A pretty good looking building, I'm guessing that a few people would make that mistake. I walked through the National Mall, all the way to the Washington Monument - much bigger than I expected it to be. There was more to see further along, towards the river - there was the War Memorial, which was a photogenic area, but in no way do I support war. There was also the Lincoln Memorial, which I walked around before heading across the bridge, into Virginia. Here they had the Arlington Cemetery, which I only ... read more

Time to have finally visited the capital of the United States of America. First things first, I woke up as the bus was driving through Virginia. I actually seemed to have had a good sleep this time. I wasn't too tired. Virginia was beautiful. Once again, orange, red, yellow and green-leaved trees along the highway. We were approaching Richmond, our one change before Washington DC. I got there two and a half hours later, and found my way to the hostel easily. It was slightly chilly here, but not enough to need a jumper. I settled into me new place, where I met my roommate, who was Aussie, and had a story. He's been travelling a lot, like myself, and has been working in South Africa. After our little chat, I headed out to buy some ... read more