Update 5-8

---

Soo this blog thing is actually really hard! All of a sudden we are 4 cities behind not to mention a country change as well! But, like any good uni students we won't give up, failing is not an option and we will ensure we scrape through with a pass (Not that Claire would have ever recieved a P before but there is a first time for everything). So this is our 'pass' effort (aka the cheaters version) on updating you on the last few cities of our time in America!

Atlantic City

Positive: Living it up in style on the top floor of our hotel! We used every facility they had to offer such as the gym, spa, laundry, EVERYTHING!

Positive: Tax free shopping at factory outlets we went nuts!! This may have been the reason why we got charged for overweight bags when leaving Atlantic City but at the time you just couldn't say no to such a good bargains (plus did we mention no tax?).

Negative: Getting charged for overweight bags when leaving

Positive: 24 hour happy hour at one of the many casinos!!! Thats $4 coronas and $3 jim beam shots.

Positive: We both won money on the pokies!

Negative: We actually ended up in the negative as far as our pokie playing went.

Negative: Boardwalk was pretty sad and dead looking due to the winter season.



Bawston



Positive: Overall, one of our favourite places.

Negative: The hostel was heated like a sauna

Negative: The hostel was, in atmosphere and people, like a geriatrics ward.

Positive: The hostel was very quiet, it had great facilities (popcorn maker! free popcorn!!) we had our own room and also there was free breakfast. Even if the eggs did have a green tinge to them.

Positive: We totally nailed the subway. Got around everywhere on that bad boy. Only used a taxi once to get into Boston from the airport. We're pretty proud of ourselves.

Negative: It was doable but not particularly enjoyable; getting peak hour trains with our massive, oversized bags, to the airport. Also, Vanessa has learnt despite the many perks of having a four-wheeled bag, one of them isn't its free spirit and ability to fly around the bus from the train station to the airport.

Positive: Going to a Celtics game. And them winning. And all the crazy entertainment and gimmicks involved in American professional basketball.

Negative: Not being able to buy alcohol from anyone (we sure did try nearly everyone), because for the first time on our trip we needed to have our passports.

Positive: Harpoon brewery tour for $5 which included very generous amounts for tasting. Tastings included: cider, raspberry beer, 'celtic' beer, an orange and coriander white beer, coffee infused beer, and some fig one.

Positive: stumbling upon a weird and delicious Japanese restaurant. Where you get two soup broths which boil at the table to which you add thin slices of beef, noodles and chopped vegies as much and in what combinations you like as you go. We didnt quite do it right but it was fun.

Others: Vanessa went to Fenway Park whilst Claire went to the Museum of Fine Arts. Ate at a nice sushi place, Douzo, which we both agreed had some waaay delicious tofu in the form of agedashi tofu. Went to the North End (aka Little Italy, but by god, dont call it that. We can't understand why not, the locals just have some weird thing about it), where we had the 'second-best' pizza in Boston. Vanessa was unimpressed that we did not go to the best. Very good bolognese though so that bitch can't complain too much. We also did a self-guided tour through Harvard. Snore.

Chicago

Positive: Really really nice hostel with very helpful staff and in a very nice and cute neighbourhood.

Negative: Sharing a room with 6 others, one of which was a lady who talked to her friends we couldnt see and who repeatedly demanded to be in our room rather than in a room by herself. The bloody hostel staff allowed this to happen. Really, she was harmless except her loud, continual snoring.

Negative: Other nutters in the hostel that just clung to us, probably because of our ridiculous good looks. We couldnt watch tv or cook dinner in the hostels beautiful kitchen without being harrassed by people telling us how good they were, when (really only one in particular) they were actually a bit of a wanker.

Positive: This is where Claire got her first decent coffee since being in America. Had to spend $12 and go up 94 levels to get there but at least got to enjoy it with amazing views.

Positive: Amazing views at the top of the John Hancock building. Looked out on to Lake Michigan, which is actually an ocean, as well as the expansive city of Chicago.

Positive: Deep-dish pizza. Greasy and malicious. Even though Vanessa the food snob she is, thinks she'd rather Dominos any day of the week.

Negative: Vanessa getting sick and spending the day in bed.

Positive: Claire got to spend the day wiout Vanessa. Going crazy and seeing enough Kandinskys, Picassos, Warhols, and other classic paintings, that she actually got bored of them. Also a bunch of canvases painted in the one colour which is supposedly art. Vanessa wants you to note how Claire left her for over 9 hours while she suffered, nearing death. Claire would like to note she bought her home sushi for dinner and that she didnt catch Vanessas disease.



Anyway, just enjoying our last night in Montreal before heading to Mont Tremblant, or as Vanessa puts it, 'that mount place, Claire you say it'. Vanessas really getting into her french. We'll update you on our Canadian adventures once we've rejoined with our third muskateer on the mount place.



Au revoir!!

---