New York, Mojitos and one heavy, hazy head.......

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Greetings people and warm hellos from a place I like to call Plastic / Sex Pest Central, known to most others as Miami.

I have found my way down here after the speediest 2.5 weeks ever and have no idea where time has gone and let me here apologise for being lame at staying in touch. Thanks people who have messaged me - I love hearing from you and I really miss people even though this trip is so much shorter and time is flying.

The shinanigans began in New York, where Elisa and I borded our VS 35 (??!) plane at Keithrow bound for JFK on Wednesday, July 1st. We took full advantage of the complimentary bar service on board and I don't believe our hands were empty of Gin and tonics at any stage during our trip. After being awake for (I quote) "23 HOURS!!" we made our way to a charming and trendy Mexican restaurant in Manhattan with Dai, consuming more liquid refreshments lovely nosh and pretty much setting the scene for what was to become a largely boozy week.

My third time back, the city still brings the same feeling of excitement and natural high to me as it did the first time I visited and even though I may have done all there is to do when touing New York, just existing there for a few days is just about as fun as life gets for me. Simple things like having coffee and bagels in Penelopes coffee house, walking through Central Park and catching a subway to Brooklyn bridge brought huge smiles to my face as did drinking in my favourite Manhattan bar - Murphies Irish Bar on 3rd. The bar tender Gavin (or GAV-LAH as he is now called) knows me and therefore knows how I am unable to drink very well. My spilling of a cosmopolitan over the bar and to the floor after demanding one relentlessly during visit numero one two years ago should have educated him as to my inability to hold alcohol, yet he, pretty relentless himself, took it upon his dear self to pour me half pints of vodka. Bad idea. I believe there was one occasion I became quite 'tired' and needed bed, but gladly can report on other occasions throughout I was reasonably tidy whilst becoming further aquainted with Manhattan bars and restaurants.

We were also lucky enough to cop a squat at a pretty lovely and high up apartment to watch the fireworks on Independence Day on saturday 4th July. A bonus indeed that the apartment belonged to fellow Welsh friends of Anna and Dai - who had put on a buffet, (needless to say) drinks and some benches next to their window. After watching the most mind blowing sunset over the Empire State building, it wasn't long before the fireworks began. In silence, I sat and watched the most colourful, beautiful succession of fireworks unfold into the night sky. All shapes and sizes, wide, long, narrow and round, one by one all shades of the rainbow opened out into the darkness, brightening up Manhattan even more so and enhancing the feeling of contentment I seem to experience in New York. I could not have wished to be anywhere else than sat there, next to my sister, opposite one of my oldest friends and watching fireworks surround the Empire state Building. I wish I could put New York's Magic in a bottle and take it everywhere with me.

Our trip also consisted of more sober moments, like for example, an early afternoon trip to Ground Zero. This was the first time I had made it there and I didn't really know what to expect. You can't really see anything, all boarded / covered up, the now building sight is somewhat hidden, but walking around the edges and considering the very day of 9/11 was an extreemly powerful feeling in itself. As we walked the edge, all I could think of was the previous days I had spent in sunny Manhattan, in and out of shops, cafes and bars. I honestly can't recall many rude or negative locals, rathermore, they were friendly, positive and helpful. The resilience and strength of local Manhattan, and indeed American people was very prevelent in my mind as I walked around this very profound location.

A trip to Soho later that afternoon was a slightly lighter contrast to our earlier trip that day and we lunched and shoped for a bit, each buying a quirky little necklace - a little piece of Soho and New York to treasure. I didn't last very long however as having sustained a drunken injury the evening before (long story involving push ups - please don't ask), feeling sorry for myself, I took myself home.

The rest of our time in Manhattan involved lovely things like late breakfasts, coffee houses, trips to Madison Park for the Shakeshack and a walk over Brooklyn Bridge. Elisa and I also made it to Boston for further good dining, testing of local liquid refreshments and a little explore. Even though the weather was rainy and a tad disapointing, a little Duck Tour with an excentric guide certainly put a smile upon my face as I learnt a tiny bit of local Boston Knowledge.
A walk along the Liberty Trail and around the Park and quirky (and expensive) streets of Boston soon passed, bringing us to the end of our Boston visit before it really felt it had began and it was soon time for Elisa to fly home and for me to Greyhound it back to New York. It feels only yesterday, even though by now I have covered a lot of milage and am scarily half way through my fast moving trip.

Feeling tired, boozed out and agravated by my self inflicted injury, I deliberated as to whether tp stick with my earlier plan to get a bus to Toronto - however timewise, it seemed too tight and I was not in the frame of mind to do a 12 hour bus trip, maybe next time - North America is huge and time is sadly tight :-(
Instead, I have made it down to Miami, thanks to the great suggestion of Dai's - to purchase myself a train pass - the beauty of taking off on my own and with zero plans means with my pass, I am able to hop on and off trains, seeing if I like places and if not hopping right back on - something I have already exercised and no doubt will again soon. I took off a week ago from New York a la Amtrak to Philadelphia, through to Washington DC, down to Orlando on a 19 hour journey (ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ) and straight from Orlando to here, Miami where I sit, hazily and try to piece together this blog.

Philadelphia and Washington were Historic Hubbs, bursting with museums, tours, Galleries and profound sights. I only regret not spending slightly longer in each in order to learn more than I did - it's one thing to pass through and take pictures, but another to absorb and understand and one thing that is becoming ever clear to me throughout my trip is how unknowledgeable I am about this country and it's history. This to me feels a shame as the little I have grasped seems pretty damn interesting. Perhaps I should attend an evening history class on my return and make up for all that messing around in school when I could have been setting myself up to be a far more educated traveller... I guess it's never too late. It was great to go on brief tours, getting nutshell information, taking snaps and trying a famous Philli cheese steak - (you should try one too), on quick impressions they seem great cities with plenty going on for all, the country seems full of these.

So, I zipped through Philadelphia and Washington and soon hopped on my train to Orlando - perhaps I should add and 'Organisation Class' to my evening class list as it was bloody bad planning that saw me aimlessly in Orlando. Having not checked my Lonely Planet or a map I assumed it was on the coast and knew I'd be ready for a break however, home only to Disney Land and theme parks, there was little else to do, and therefore, in a slightly Bah Humberg stance, having opted out of the parks, I sat in my hotel bored and unentertained. I quickly made a change to leave straight for Miami on Thursday and have been here since. All there is to do here is sunbathe, swim and consume the free pancakes and coffee served at the hostel daily. I met a fellow British traveller who is on my page when it comes to a good knees up and last night, we took it upon ourselves to experience a Miami Mojito, which, I am not kidding was more like a big mixing bowl full of the stuff - it must have comprised of four normal sized glasses of the stuff - yummy but deadly. Highly tipsy, as we left this bar we befriended and fake named (my new name is Lucy - how so very different from Lisa) two guys on a stag do, wearing very questionable outfits and up for showing us more bars. They bought us drinks too (don't worry mum, I watched it being poured) I'm sure these consisted of Whiskey and Teqilla and to be honest the rest is history. I remember wolfing a Pizza and all I have after that was waking, fully dressed to a harsh and ROARING alarm clock which was not only annoying me, but more so my highly bemused roomates - ooops.

It is with this screaming head and these tired eyes that I have to make one HELL of a journey to New Orleans, by reputation, I am led to believe that it'll be worth it when I am there and I really hope this is correct but right now, I am cringing at getting on transportation feeling like this, however happy enough to leave Miami. I don't dislike it, it's just that I would sooner find myself on board a hammock on a deserted beach somewhere where ATMs, shops and cars are non existant and people (especially sex pests commenting on my beachwear whilst literally sticking out their tounges - smooth) are few and the noise of the sea and breeze is all I can hear... maybe I am experiencing a touch of Perhentian Nestalgia (spelling?) however, it was worth coming to relax and getting to see yet another American city.

So New Orleans next, then Chicago, a flight to Vegas and a journey all the way up to the West coast to Vancouver awaits me, excited about it all and trying not to think about the travelling and lugging around of crap, I must gather my backpack and get ready to move on. So I leave you for now and will try not to leave it so long before my next update.

I hope everyone is Okay and enjoying the summer, hope the weather comes around to being nice again and any trips away are lovely. Send me a message - I love having updates, I know it is a shorter trip and I'm moving SO fast but I am still missing people a lot actually, I had forgotten that as well as a great and really fun challenge, lone travel can be tough going at times. I feel lucky to have had the company of Elisa for my first week and that I have people to meet up with / stay with further en route, there's nothing quite like sharing special moments with special people.

Enough soppiness now, a mamouth journey awaits me and I am SCARED!!! I will blog again soon. There is no photo hubb here so I can't put any up - so will have to do that next time too. Sending huge amounts of love,
Lisa xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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