We waved goodbye to the US and boarded our plane for the UK! BUT then we got off the plane again and switched to a new one cos there were mechanical difficulties in the first. Finally landed in London 3hrs later than expected so our planned 3 pound subway ride to the hostel turned into a 50 pound cab ride! Paid a little extra but got a private room and bathroom at the hostel and settled in in the wee hours of the morning. Woke up and had brekky and moved onto the next hostel. Carried our packs up 4 flights [View Full Entry]

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A tiny plane with only one (hilarious) flight attendant took us from New York City to Washington DC in just a few hours. Arrived and guess what!? No bags! Caught the shuttle to a dodgy place and waited for 2hrs before we got taken by the hostel owner to the building we were staying in. The original hostel had a fire! So with just us and no luggage and no towels provided (!) we were left in this old dodgy building with no one but another couple in it! Had a great pub burger from down the street and went to [View Full Entry]

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Caught the train to Brighton Beach (near Coney Island) in an attempt to run away from the 30 degree plus heat the crazy heat wave was causing! Had an excellent swim in the Atlantic and after a few hours went to the Museum of Modern Art to walk in air-conditioned comfort. Some souvineer shopping and a snack of Dunkin' Donuts (couldnt resist) killed some time until we went back to the hostel, threw on some washing and met some people from the hostel for a trip on the Staten Island Ferry. Had free pizza in Brooklyn and chatted to some really [View Full Entry]

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Yay for Metrocards! Had brekky for less than $2 and made our way to Time Square. Shopped around then booked a 4hr tour of the city. Got roped in by a lady from the Church of Scientology and had to sneak away from her! Did the looped tours of of Downtown and Brooklyn and ate hotdogs on the pier while watching a contortionist! Got off the bus at the UN but were too poor for the tour so we toured the gift shop instead (after a mass of security checks of course!) Back at the hostel we had a quick dinner [View Full Entry]

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After some sad farewells, a number or hours waiting and a shitty plane movie we landed in New York! Our shuttle bus to the hostel saw us accompanied by 4 crazy locals who ALL talked on their phones non-stop the whole ride! We finally reached the hostel and got pizza from across the road before crashing for the night! The next day we bought train passes and did some serious sightseeing and got our bearings. The subway wasnt nearly as crazy as we had been led to believe! We visited the "Museum of Sex" (no photos will be posted because of [View Full Entry]

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So today I (Kat) turned 19! Jase and I got up early and went to Calgary tower for brekky. After a lovely meal of flapjacks with an excellent view over the city we headed back to Amy's and I baked myself a cake (cos what's a birthday without cake?) and chatted to Mum on the phone. When Amy got home we went out to dinner with Bryan's family and friends at this awesome Mongolian restaurant and then back to Bob and Maria's for a swim in the pool, a game of Scene It and copious amounts of test-tube sized shots! It [View Full Entry]

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As every good tourist does when there's time to spare, we visited the Calgary Zoo today. It was smaller than we expected, but we still managed to spend a good few hours looking around. We caught a few of the talks given by the workers and animal trainers - which were very interesting and interactive, and took numerous photos of the animals. There was even and Australian exhibit! It contained a few Kangaroos and an Emu outside, and a Tree Kangaroo and a few birds and lizards inside, so it was fairly... ahem... lame... (which we'd already been informed of by [View Full Entry]

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Sunday: A bit of a sleep in and a leisurely brunch and before we all knew it it was after midday! It was SO humid so Mary, Ali and the two of us went into Cochrane to get icecream from this awesome place that makes its own in SO many flavours its hard to choose! Everyone must have had the same idea because the lineup was massive. Lucky for us, our part of the line had progressed inside the store by the time the rain hit, so we got our icecream and stayed out of the rain to eat it! The [View Full Entry]

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Every town in Alberta has their own little 'fair' at sometime throughout the warmer months. Today we went to the main day of "Bragg Creek Days", the celebration the small town of Bragg Creek hosts. There was a breakfast of pancakes, sausages, hash browns and juice, lots of little farmers market stalls selling bits and pieces, amusement and games for the kiddies, live entertainment by various singing groups and such, and a parade! Ok, so it was no Stampede Parade, but it was quite entertaining! The people on the floats throw lollies out to the crowd, and although it didnt go [View Full Entry]

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Today was a lazy day for Kat - went swimming at the river for a good 3 or 4 hours and hung out at home with the Courtneys. For me (Jason) however, the night was much more exciting! Heading into Calgary at about 5, I met up with Ryan at the Chinook Mall, and we haeded to McMahon Stadium - the home grounds of the Stamps. Even at this time of night it was still about 25-30 degrees. We grabbed some burgers for dinner, then made our way up into the grandstands to find our seats. Canadian football is similar to [View Full Entry]

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