Advertisement
Published: July 19th 2008
It means no worries, for the rest of your days, its a problem free philisophy, Hakuna Matata.
For those of you who aren't now humming alone, go out, rent The Lion King and you'll be in the same fluffy mood I was in watching a live action version last week. Simba and friends dancing and singing to all the well known hits, warms the soul. Disney World. The magic is real, and it takes over you from the moment you walk through the gates and see the fairy princess castle, see Mickey Mouse, get chatted up by a Chipmunk, ride the amazing rides and fall in love time and again with all your favourite characters. I loved it. My inner child was skipping with joy for the full week we were there.
Since it's now the 19th July, I've obviously missed telling you about one of the most important days in the American Calender. Indepandance Day. Just happened to be in Washington DC on the 4th. Great timing. The city was buzzing. The day before we explored the National Mall and the greatest collection of free museums I've ever seen. Starting with the Natural History Museum that had a mammal exhibit and was full to bursting with bats. Yay. Also took in a Art Gallery, Science Museum and Botanical Gardens. The latter mainly because the fake tropical heat was cooler than the intense heat outside. Obviously we also took in the sights, White House looking impressive from all sides. Just a pity the peace protestors outside spoke more sense than the idiot who lives inside. Still not found anyone who'll admit to voting for him. Would you?
The 4th of July celebations were rather impressive, free concert on the slopes outside the capitol building followed by fireworks lighting up the sky around the Washington Monument. Hayley Westenra (superb) some kid who won American Idol (great singer, can't remember his name) Huey Lewis and The News (overrated, too many songs when Hayley only got 1) John Williams Olympic Anthem (wow) and Jerry Lee Lewis (got almost overwelmed by the moment dancing to a live version of Great Balls Of Fire, fireworks starting up, capitol building illuminated behind us) The American National Anthem did nothing for me then we cracked up laughing as they played a slowed down version of God Save The Queen while talking about their precious declaration of Independence. Pretty sure they didn't have a clue. Made us feel suitably partriotic.
The rest of the last week has been spent travelling through HicksVille. Many really nice people in the deep south, many, particularly in our current destination, Asheville, whose family gene pool seems a little shallow. We've found the people who think George W Bush is a genius. So many keep looking at us as if we're scum. Making simple requests like asking for a bus timetable at a bus stop, or asking for a drink without alcohol earns us a dirty look so my sympathy and respect towards these poor inbred McDonalds munchers goes down by the day. Asheville itself is a dull little city, one nice lake, and a gorgeous national park that is inacessible without a car, and unlike the rest of the planet, no one is offering to take us out there in exchange for huge piles of cash. Bit frustrating, but I've seen a lot so losing a few mountains is not the end of the world. Arriving at a hostel which has videos, dvd's and no televsion was the end of the world this evening. why, just why??
We've also seen one of the classiest homes on the planet. Graceland. To be fair, the 5 gift shops with everything under the sun available with Elvis doodled on it, brings down the tone. The mansion itself was quite impressive, almost tasteful. I'm not a big Elvis fan, but could see why people are so in love with the man. The halls of gold disks were breathtaking. Over 1 billion records sold. Awe inspiring sucess. Would be more impressed if it was Meat Loaf's place but you can't have everything.
Nashville for a spot of good live country music was a nice change of pace. Not a huge amount to do during the day so we hit the nearest shopping mall. Reebok Trainers for 13 pounds, yay. The evening entertainment was ever so slightly dominated by having to get to one place before it shut. The most wonderful ice cream palour in America. Much more important than live music. We have our priorities.
Off to New York for sadly the last location on my tour. Sob Sob. 10 days of sore necks looking up, plus an amazing collection of important stops. Picnic in Central Park, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, The Cheesecake Factory.... 😊
Advertisement
Tot: 0.064s; Tpl: 0.008s; cc: 14; qc: 29; dbt: 0.0343s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb
mum
non-member comment
hi
excellent keep on going u2 have sold the v fest tickets i think looking forward to your return love mum