catch up

god. feel like we've been to the other side of the moon as it's not been easy and/or cheap to get tinternet access since toronto. and that seems like such a long time ago. but now we've finally bit the bullet and paid through the nose for access i am quite amused by the surreal nature that people's comments have taken. it has made me laugh most heartily and also feel a bit smug as normal people are at work and that. well, apart from my dad who seems to be spending most of his time at work googling places i'm going to. ha! still, it's good to know that everything is normal at home.

so where have we been since toronto? niagara falls was the first stop. you're right, father, it does have an american and a canadian side. we knew this, having got the lonely planet guide for this place, but we didn't think to make a note of which side our accommodation was on when we booked it. this blunder only became apparent when on the greyhound and they started announcing all the stops, in the military fashion they have. we decided to get off at the canadian side and hope for the best. how rubbish are we at travelling?! however, it all had a happy ending when a taxi driver from oldham (?!) picked us up from the bus station and said he knew where we were staying and he would take us post haste. hurray. and it turned out we were staying in a proper american motel and everything which we enjoyed very much. we all imagined all the seedy shinanigans that would probably go on as they do in motels and laughed merrily. the place also had a swimming pool (albeit in some kind of car park area) so we had a lovely morning sunbathing, pretending we were on our hols.

but, most importantly, niagara falls! it was fab. you could hear the falls and almost smell them before you saw them. they weren't as tall as i'd imagined but they were still very impressive. such a massive amount of water and the speed! it was great walking down the hill and seeing bits of the falls through the trees before you saw the full thing. we had a canada dry ginger ale by the water (well when in rome...) and just watched it. there was a massive cloud of spray and multiple complete rainbows within the gorge. absolutely stunning. i felt so lucky to be there. we went on the 'maid of the mist' boat ride the next day which takes you right up to the spray and it's even more impressive from that viewpoint as the water is all above you. they give you a big blue plastic mac thing and then just steam into the spray. you can't even see straight ahead but you can make out the water falling on the sides of the horseshoe. it's like it is falling on top of you. i felt like a midget in a massive bath with water pouring over the sides, which probably isn't the most poetic thing i'll ever write but that's what it felt like. it proper made you feel alive!

and then the rest of niagara is like blackpool which is a bit mental. they have all the rides and flashing lights and madame taussaud's type places. it kind of pops the majesty-of-nature bubble you get from the falls. but it's not that bad. i had my first ever proper hotdog and an icecream. must start eating properly at some point...

and then we had the first of the traumatic greyhound journies, niagara to chicago. we'd researched on the internet and got up at the crack of dawn to get the 7.30am bus. however, some dickhead (sorry, mum, but there's no other word for him..) at the information desk told us that it was actually an 8.30am bus so we sat and read the paper etc. except that there was no bus at 8.30 and it turned out that this guy didn't have a clue what he was on about and we should have got the earlier bus. i can tell you that many choice names and methods of death were thought up for this guy. we were panicking because we had had to book the holiday inn in chicago cos there were no cheap options because the 'gay games' were going on and we didn't want to lose a shitload of dollars worth of accommodation by not getting there in time. however, again, it all ended okay as there was a later bus that strangely got us there at the time the earlier bus would have done, give or take the odd mad dash at various connection points. (and dad they don't announce that the time changes like they do on planes - i think they just presume that you're american and you already know that chicago is an hour behind. v strange).

the holiday inn was fab! luxury at last! an iron! a hairdryer! cleanliness! comfy beds and two pillows! plus it was right in the centre aswell. we loved chicago. went to a fab bar that al capone used to frequent and it was all smoky and dimly lit with a woman with a husky voice singing 'tea for two' and 'secret love' and other classics. it was really atmospheric. i felt like a 1920s film star. and then the next night we went to a piano bar that was just like the 'cheers' bar and even had a sam malone type barman aswell. everybody loved us cos we were english (they class you as 'english' out here and not 'british') and some guy even offered to buy us a drink from across the bar. it was marvellous.

i think chicago has everything. free concerts in the park, beaches (which were a great massage and exfoliator for the feet after a month of lugging heavy backpacks around), beautiful buildings (unlike much of new york) and excellent nightlife. we also had a go on the ferris wheel and went up the john hancocks tower. coolio.

we had a bizarre stopover in cleveland the other day. we decided that we couldn't do chicago-washington all in one go so picked cleveland, ohio, as somewhere in the middle. people on the bus thought we were a bit strange as apparently you only visit cleveland if you have business or relatives there. however, we were pleasantly surprised. it seemed very leeds-sized which was good for clearing the head and we had a great day buying cheap clothes and drinking beer. rach met some bloke in the hotel lift (we had to book a hotel again - argh! poverty!) who said he was in a band and that he was playing at a club just around the corner so we decided to go there and they turned out to be well funky. liquid soul, they were called and they were great.

and so now we're in washington d.c., arriving yesterday. it's very different to other american cities we've been to. no skyscrapers at all and instead very stately, elegant buildings. almost european. wide boulevard roads and a large expansive park. the white house is smaller than you think but capitol hill is impressive. the washington monument and the reflective pool that forrest gump jumped in shouting 'jenny' are brilliant places to sit and people watch. we've had a really good day today.

we couldn't get to philadelphia cos we couldn't find suitable accommodation. i'm thinking of doing a kamikaze 6 hour round coach trip in a day from washington to go have a look while we're here. we'll see what happens. i don't feel like i can leave america without running up those steps like rocky did.

we're also amending our other travel plans. rach and the dev decided on the way to washington that they really really really hate the greyhound so we're thinking of spending less time on the bus and more time in fewer places. i think it's cool that we can alter our plans like this. so we may now be heading for memphis next, just cos rach's dad loves elvis and we can send him psychic elvis vibes from graceland. what fun. god knows where we're going after that...

(mum- sorry i haven't emailed. the yahoo site seems to be down at the minute. i've bought a phonecard, however, so i'll try to give you a ring very soon).