KirstyDevine

San Diego and Venice Beach - both by the pacific ocean but with completely different vibes. Before I divulge any details of our stay I will mention that preceeding our trip to San Diego Jon, Stephanie and I had one night in California's capitol city Sacremento. I think its fair to say that neither Stephanie nor I expected much from the city but upon Jon's recommendation we stayed there for one night, and I can say that I'm really glad we did. Old Sacremento is a fantastic area, like something out of a western; wooden pathways, old trains and kitch little shops. A fantastic costume shop aswell selling halloween stuff - so jealous I can't be in the States for this holiday! We also took a tour of Capitol Building aka the Governator's old hang-out! Okay, ... read more

So its the last American state to explore on our journey and the first stop on our journey around California is San Francisco - a city I have been awaiting with anticipation. We knew San Fran was going to be a highlight of our trip and were excited to arrive there but first we had to take our normal overnight greyhound journey - a journey made worse by the fact a 30 minute lay-over in LA turned into 3 1/2 hours! We weren't even told why there was a delay until we complained! I appreciate English customer service SO much more now - you have no idea. At least on our delay we met a guy from essex travelling with his girlfriend who we could vent our fruustration with. It amused me that he had experienced ... read more

So, just to finish off from my last blog, we had one more day left in Austin Texas. It being the hottest day of the year so far we decided what better day to head to Barton Springs. Barton Springs is a natural spring from underground which remains constantly cool all year round. And they definately weren't lying! It took about 20 minutes for me to slowly lower myself into the water and to quote Jonathan who jumped straight in: "my heart missed a couple of beats". They've kept it really natural as well so it was full of plant life and it wouldn't be too uncommon to see some eels, fish or turtles swimming alongside you! When the sun was setting we travelled downtown to watch the world's largest urban bat colony fly out from ... read more

I apologise in advance given I am writing this blog after a very strong Margarita... typos galore I'm sure.. Anyway... Day 22: last day in paradise (ie New Orleans) Checked in at another hotel - the Holiday Inn - courtesy of hotwire.com and after another casual walk around the French Quarter it was back to being pool side again. I don't think we really needed 4 days in New Orleans but it was nice to soak up all the culture - my favourite place so far. Upon recommendation from Jon's dad we had dinner at the famous Pat O'Briens bar, where the original Hurricane mix was invented, for my last taste of gumbo. Yummy. Day 23: greyhound to Houston Texas! Another long day on the greyhound - about 8 hours again I think. Approaching Houston was ... read more

note: sorry for the typos in the previous entry, I was clearly rushing to do the blog in time so I didn't have to enter another dollar lol. But now I'm in the business suite at the Hilton Garden Inn so I have all the time in the world (more about the hotel later!) so hopefully this one will be better... Day 13: Washington DC Last day in Washington (finally!). Definately wasn't my favourite place to stay given the sheer number of museums, awful hostel and humidity but today was less about rushing through museums and chilling out a bit. We firstly walked into beautiful Georgetown area, close to the Georgetown university campus. It really was lovely - not much but cafes and shops mind, expensive shops infact (which I found really odd for a student ... read more

Sorry for the delay, internet is much harder4 and much more expensive than I thought. But now I shall catch you up on my last few days :) Day 7: last day in New York. Today was all about tying up loose ends - going to places we had left out and bringing our NY experience to a close.Our first attempt to go to the Metropolitican Musuem of Art however was unsuccessful as it happened to be closed today! You could still go into see t5he Alexander McQueeen collection but at $50 it was far too rich for our tastes! I then urged the group to go and find Starwberry Fields the garden dedicated to John Lennon in Central Park. It was a VERY scenic route lol! I can't actually believe how easy it is to ... read more

I finally have internet access again so its time to fill you in on my past 4/5 days. Day 2: New York. In the morning me, Stephanie and Jonathan went to the Guggenheim on 5th Avenue. A japenese 'artist' was featured - Lee something - I didn't really want to remember his name considering most if not all of his work consisted of a rock and a plank of wood, and once you've seen that the one time seeing it again another 20 times becomes old... There were a few beautiful portraits by Picasso though - ones I had never seen before painted during his blue phase. We then took our lunch into nearby Central Park and had a bit of a make-shift picnic and people watched for abit. It is about 80 degrees farenheit here ... read more

We are finally here in New York!!!! After our flight being delayed by almost two hours and a pilot who specialised in crash landings we have made it to our (very lovely) hostel - the HI hostel - in one piece! The first morning we wandered through beautiful central park - a definate high point. Just to sit there and people watch is such a contrast to the bustling city. We also visted 5th Avenue - Tiffany's, Gucci, Trump Tower (where I rather glamourously had to use the restrooms to clean my top from bird poo.. =/) and headed towards Times Square. We visted Grand Central Station where by chance I found the Magnolia Bakery - made famous by Sex and the City. Best. Cupcakes. Ever. Talking about food - I've already started sampling the local ... read more

4 days now until myself, Stephanie and Jonathan embark on our two month adventure! Starting to get nervous now and I feel totally unprepared but I'm not quite sure whether you can be completely prepared for such a trip. I graduated 2 days ago from the University of East Anglia and am enjoying this time now to party with friends who are all dispersing on their own adventures. I have grown to love university but now is the time to leave, grow up, see the world and challenge myself. I will blog again soon once the journey has commenced. New York - here we come! xxx... read more