Blogs from Providence, Rhode Island, United States, North America - page 2

**Unless a local has ridden on the roads you are about to ride on, never trust them when they say "its all downhill from here!" because then the joke will be on you when karma comes back to give you the exact opposite. This is what happened to us today.** This morning we woke up and our wonderful, gracious hosts were busy in the kitchen preparing a delicious breakfast for us. Once I got dressed and packed up my bag and took my bike outside, I went into the kitchen to try to help them prep breakfast. Though they said they didn't need help, I insisted and helped with a few things here and there. Breakfast is served buffet style and there is no shortage of food and snacks. We eat to our hearts content and ... read more

Why South Africa and not a zoo? is a question I get asked a lot, so here's the story: I attend Hartwick College in NY state and one day while I was on the website I came across this picture of someone riding an elephant. We are really big on studying abroad at Hartwick so I was wondering what trip she went on, turns out, she spent the summer in Sri Lanka at an elephant orphanage, which I just thought was amazing. I started browsing the web (procrastinating on the homework I clearly didn't want to do) and looking for different places people volunteer around the world, specifically working with giraffes. I came across this one program in South Africa, volunteering with African big cats, training them as cubs (I'll get to why that has to ... read more

I can't get Dumb and Dumber out of my head when I think about Rhode Island...so that's been fun. My friend Courtney (pronounced cawtney) picked me up from Sarahs house in Arlington. Unfortunately the weather is horrible. It's a blustery Wednesday if I've ever seen one which made driving lots of fun. It was about an hour and a half from Sarahs house to Courtneys house north of Providence. Sorry for the lack of punctuation...I'm on the iPad. I met Courtney in London on our way to South Africa. She was definitely one of my closest friends on that trip. She's laid back, determined, hilarious and so much fun. This June, her and her older sister are riding their bikes across the country! Starting in Washington state. They are raising money for UNICEF so if you ... read more

7am on a Thursday morning, I arrived in Boston airport and was determined to have some of their specialty dish(es) - New England Clam Chowda and Lobsta Roll. YUM! Then hours later I decided that I am going to rent a car and drivE down to Rhode Island since I have never been. Driving down on Interstate 95 never looked so pretty. There were miles and miles of trees on either side of the road with beautiful fall colors that I usually NEVER see back home in sunny Southern California! It took me just about an hour to get to Providence and thought I visit Brown University. It may have been gloomy, but it brought a bit of ambiance to the old victorian/gothic look of each building. Then I thought I could make it to the ... read more

Providence, the capital of Rhode Island state is a lovely city. The State House (Parliament) is an impressive building modelled on St Peter's Basilica. We wandered the streets and Anna had a BOWL of cappuccino (American's drink sizes really are crazy). Then we visited Newport and toured the International Tennis Hall of Fame museum (nirvana for Darren) and an over the top mansion, built in the 1890's, known as 'The Breakers' by the magnate Vanderbuilt (NY railways) family. You must tour this bldg sometime, even if only on the internet. Evening found us in Falmouth at the start of Cape Cod, for another good night's rest. ... read more