First full day in New York

I must say that Rosy's Blog put's mine to shame. I guess that's what happens when you have to pay $1 for 5 minutes with a time limit. I just get to write the bare minimum.

Anyway, I'm in a room with 7 other guys. I didn't think I would get much sleep here as we were on a pretty busy road - but as I am walking quite a bit I get to sleep quite quickly.

Last night I saw Disney's live stage production of Mary Poppins. I enjoyed it quite a lot, but the new songs weren't as melodious as the originals, which seemed few and far between. The set reminded me of Sunset Boulevard. It had a full size multi level cut-away section of the house from the story and the roof contained the nursery, which would come down from the top of the stage to ground level. The story was roughly based on the original movie, but this time they concentrated a lot more on Mr and Mrs Banks and the relationship between father and son. When looked in this context it seems obvious to me that Bert symbolises the positive father figure, whilst Mr Banks is the negative - that is until it all switches around when Banks realises that family is more important than work. The lead had a great voice and at the end of the show she flies off the stage and floats up the mezzanine and dress cirlce floors. Quite impressive considering she is about 60 feet off the ground. The new songs were a bit forgetful and they also introduced a new mean nanny, who was Bank's original nanny when he was a child. It explained why he was short of feeling.

Cheers
Stephen

Arrived in NY

Finaslly made it to NY and it hasn't changed much. Although I did get lost and ended up on the wrong side of Centyral park to where the hostel is. Oh well, it wore off the Maccas I had for breakfast. Was able to get into a couple of shows while I am here and I am meeting up ewith my niece Cathie and Joel on Thursday night. Must go now. Off to a show. Cheers
Stephen

Philadelphia

Well, I made it to Philly in one piece, although I didn't expect the hostel to be shut until 4:30pm, which meant I had to cart my bags and backpack around with me for 5 hours. There was no luggage storage in town, so it was a very long day. I was starting to get pissed off with the whole situation and then I was sitting next to a food stall and a young woman had just cut her fingers off with an automatic slicing machine. It sort of put my little problem into perspective. I am in a room with 19 other guys. I can't explain the smell!!!! But it's a bed and most of them slept in. Not so many snored. I keep on bumping into a guy from Russia and we have snippets of conversations.

A new day has begun and I did the Liberty Bell and Independence hall thing and then did the square mile walk, which took in Betsy Ross's house (she was commission by Washington to quilt the first stars and stripes flag), the Benjamin Franklin bridge and an assortment of museums. I only just got back to the hostel, so I have been walking for about 8 hours. My feet are all blistered and red from all this walking I am doing in the heat.

Overall Philly is a nice place with a lot of history. It is much bigger than I thought, although I don't think I will want to come back here. Tomorrow I am off to the big apple with Amtrak. It should only take an hour.

Washington Tour

Got up early today to head for The Capitol building to line up for the free tickets for the tour. I got there about 7:45am (it opens at 9am) and was about 25th in line. By about 8:50am the queue had reached about 500 people. It weaved and doubled itself in no matter of time as bus after bus dropped off hopeful tourists. I got in on the first tour and they make you throw out any liquids you may have on your person. The they scan your bag. Overall the tour was well worth the free admission, in addition to the great views you get. I then got on the Old Trolly Tour bus and did the FDR monument, The Lincoln memorial, and Georgetown (I got a picture of the stairway they used in the Exocist, just outside the Georgetown University). Then I got off the tour and used the subway to get to the National Archive, where I saw the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and the Emancipation proclimation. All great stuff. It's now about 7:45pm and I leave tomorrow for Philadelphia. I haven't been there before so i am curious to see what is there. Bye for now.
Stephen

On my way to Washington

Hi there,
I made it to Washington in one piece, although the train trip with Amtrak was a bit ofa shambles. Firstly, the train was late by 40 minutes due to the heat. They said the trains had to be slowed down. It was a full train, or rather over full (looks like they are copying the airlines). My foot stand was broken, but I found the bolt and put it together again. Then they turned the air conditioning on. OH MY GOD!!! I thought I was back in Antarctica. I had to put on another shirt, then a jumper, then a pair of jeans, then some socks and shoes. it must have been close to zero degrees. I asked the conductor for a pillow and blanket and he came back with just a pillow and then ran away. i later found out that you can purchase the blankets, but not to bother because they sold out of them before getting to orlando, which is where I got on. As I said it was a full trian, mainly big black women with their kids and boy can they talk the ears off a drink man. I took some sleeping pills and went through the night with hourly wake-ups. I got up at about 7am to find that there was no water on board, and that meant none in the toilets - to flush or to wash your hands. But that got rectified when we arrived at the next station in an hours time. Now we have water, but they run out of hand towels to dry yourself. Who runs this organisation????? Anyway, we arrived at Washington 15 minutes late and I got off. i asked the guy next to me if he wanted me to hand down his backpack and he said that he was staying on board. I told him how sorry i was for him.

Now that I am in Washington I got a quick walk in around The Capitol and The White House and Pentagon City Mall. Time to crash out. See ya.
Stephen

Busch Garden Tampa Bay

Well, I think I have found the best amusement park so far. Busch Gardens at Tampa Bay, about an hour away from Kissimee. They four great coasters - a wooden one that shakes your bones and mixes up your brain a little. There are two tracks with two competing trains. One is the Lion and the other the Tiger. Tiger is faster and rougher than the lion, but both will shake the dentures right out of your mouth.

The best is Sheikra. I rode it 3 times. It's the one with the 2oo foot 90 degree drop. It is so out there that when you go down the drop, you freefall and your butt is off the chair. I suppose it would be a bit like parachuting. There is another vertical drop but not so high and a big splash. The carriage sits eight people across and the two outer seats on the left and right have nothing beneath them - nothing but air. I was in the outer seat in the fron row and the last row. The ride blew my mind away and definitely worth the trip over.

Busch Garden is also a working zoo and they have several rides that incorporate the live animals, gorillas, crocodiles, chimpanzes and elephants. The park is also a beautifully manicured garden, so the oldies have something to look at. Even though this park is a bit out of the way, I would say it is better than Universal and Disney for thrills. There are no express passes, but the lines aren't that long and you get on a rollercoaster within 20 minutes. Busch Garden also has a park in Williamsburg, which has the same coaster. It's a little south of Washington, which is where I am heading off to tommorrow by train.

Cheers
Stephen

Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure

today I did the two Universal amusement parks. I thought I would have a tough time doing it, but with the help of a double priced, Express Ticket I was able to basically walk onto every attraction. My head is still spinning, and I rekong these rides are better than Disneys. My favorite was the Duelling Dragons. A roller coaster that has two carriages running simultanously, each going through about seven inversions. I went on it four times - I had to try out the front and back of each track. One was fire and the other water. I think I liked water better.

There was a part in the park where all the water rides were, and I can tell you that I got completely drenched. Not just a little wet, but soaked through to the skin. I was in the fron seat for Jurassic Park and I can't tell you how much water went up and splatted all over me, then I went on Dudley Do Rights Saw Falls and was in the last seat, which got most of the water in it ( a more intense version of Splash Mountain in Disney). I didn't go on the third water ride as i thought I was wet enough. it was one of those big tyre rides. But the best thing was you can get on a bridge over the riders and pay 25 cents to work a water canon and aim it at them. i could have spent all day doing this. it really bought the bad side out of me.

I filmed the whole Jaws ride, even though I don't think I was allowed to. I thought someone was going to take my film away. There was also The Mummy's Revenge. Another dark inside rollercoaster, more intense than the others. Earthquake and Twister were both good shows. And then there was The Hulk roller coaster. Wow, wow, wow. It gets throust up the incline where it starts off with a rolling inversion, then about another 7 inversions. So much to see and do, but i got it all done in one day. Tomorrow I am off to Tampa Bay and Busch's gardens Amusement park where they have a rollercoaster with a 200ft 90 degree drop. got to love Florida (except for the humidity, afternoon thunderstorms and the friggin' heat.

Bye for now.
Stephen