km 16???

So this is my last blog entry from my travels through North America. Tomorrow evening I will finally fly out from JFK International Airport in New York City.

The last few days I spent to further explore North Americas largest city going up to the Bronx and to Brooklyn. I had a look at the Yankee stadium and I walked over Brooklyn bridge. On Tuesday it was St. Patrick’s day and I watched the parade on 5th Avenue. I also went up the Rockefeller centre this day to enjoy the great view from up there (which is much better than from the Empire State Building I think). On Wednesday I explored the neighbourhood around the hostel, including the world’s largest Anglican cathedral St. John the Divine, which still remains unfinished after more than 100 years of construction. After that I went for coffee and cake at Café Lalo (Meg Ryan waits there for her blind date in “You got mail”).

In the evening I went to Madison Square Garden to a NBA basketball game. The New York Knicks played the New Jersey Nets. In the end the Knicks lost by 26 points (89:115) and where hooted by their own fans. It as really not their best day I guess, but also Vince Carter from New Jersey played a really good game. Generally I have to say I was a bit disappointed – I had expected way more in terms of atmosphere, etc. My advice: if you can choose between a NBA basketball game and a NHL hockey game, go to see hockey – it’s way more exciting!!!

Thursday I just spent for relaxing at the hostel as it was raining outside anyway. I sorted my stuff, got my ticket for the airport transfer and now I’m writing these last lines about my trip. Now coming back to the title of this blog: In the last 3 months during my trip I’ve driven 15,622 kms in my good old Honda nicknamed “Sofie” (cause she was the first one asking me what name the car has). But that still doesn’t explain the title does it? Well I’m quite sure that I at least walked 378 kms during my trip as well to get to a total of over 16,000. For example:. I walked more than 55 kms in Las Vegas alone – 6 times up&down the strip starting at the hostel – one way approximately 9.5 kms. Another example: I walked home on New Year’s Day in the morning from Downtown Vancouver to Janet’s place – approximately 12 kms. And believe me, I walked a lot more during those 3 months.

Well, some more figures about my trip: driving 15,622 kms took me more than 9 days and 14 hours on the road in total, which is an average speed of 75 km/h. It took me 40 days of my trip to cross the American continent (leaving the Pacific Ocean in San Diego and reaching the Atlantic Ocean in Boston). The longest drive for one day was from Winter Park, Colorado to Omaha, Nebraska with 986 kms. In total I spent $104.15 (Canadian) and $560,38 (US) for gasoline – almost half of that amount I covered with selling my car in the end for 280$. In total I spent about $650 in Canada and $3,700 in the United States.

My trip was 92 days of which I couchsurfed 61 days and spent 29 days in various hostels. For 2 nights I stayed at motels (1 in Fort Bragg, California and in Page, Arizona). For overnight stays I spent approx. $1,000 in total (Canadian & US, including parking fees), which means I needed about $11 a day for a place to sleep.

30 days of my trip I was in Canada in 3 different provinces (British Columbia in the beginning & Ontario & Québec in February & March). The other 62 days I spent in the US going staying in 12 different states (and the District of Columbia) and going through 8 more (Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maryland, Virginia). The state I spent the most time in was California where I stayed for 18 days; the city where I stayed the longest was New York in the end with 8 days. In total I stayed overnight in 27 different cities.

I visited numerous National Parks, which I think I can’t remember all. The ones sticking to my mind are the Redwood forests near Santa Cruz, Mt. Diablo, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Arches National Park, Death Valley and Niagara Falls. Being out in the nature I also reached the highest point I have ever been to in my life with the peak at Mary Jane in Winter Park @ 12,000 feet (3,657 m). I also skied for some days – 7 in total (3 in Whistler, 4 in Winter Park).

Visiting the cities I went up several interesting buildings by elevator. The most interesting one (although not the tallest) was the Gateway Arch in St. Louis (192 m). The tallest one was Sears Tower in Chicago (99th floor – 400 m). The most spectacular view I enjoyed was offered by the Rockefeller centre in New York. Of course the Empire State Building is higher with the disadvantage of not seeing it when you’re on it

The largest cities on my trip were New York City (8.2 million city/18.8 million metro) in the US and Toronto (2.5 million/5.5 million) in Canada. The smallest towns I stayed overnight were Winter Park (Colorado, about 700) in the US and Whistler (British Columbia, about 9,500) in Canada.

I had lots of fun on my trip although there also were some boring hours (especially when driving) and others that really sucked (locking my keys inside the car in Chicago/being accused of drug trafficking at the US border). I also made some new friends at some places and I hope to see them soon again.

Well, and tomorrow my trip comes to an end. I will fly out from JFK international airport at 9.30 pm. The flight goes via London and if everything goes according to schedule I should arrive in Munich at 12.30 p.m. where I hope to meet my brother Willi for picking me up

I’m really looking forward to coming home again and I can’t wait to see all of you again. I wish you all the best and thank everyone who read my blog and especially those who left a comment I hope you enjoyed my travel stories.

Let me close with the words of the german aphorist Anke Maggauer-Kirsche: “Every journey finishes at our self”.

May God bless you!
Gerhard

km 15622

Well, well – I think this one will be the second last entry in my blog about my travels through North America.

Being in Washington on the 2nd day I went to the National Air and Space museum which was really interesting and just hang out in the evening watching the basketball games and listening to the funny comments of the hostel manager, e.g. two Chinese guys arriving and each one asking him for a city map, when he replies: isn’t 1 enough? I thought China also has the 1-child-policy, so why isn’t 1 map enough? – maybe that was just funny in the very moment The last day in Washington I again went downtown to the Smithsonian Museums and visited the National Museum about Native Americans.

On Thursday I left at 6.45 in the morning (to escape rushhour) and headed for New York City where I arrived around 12.30 p.m. I checked in at the HI hostel and just as I started asking myself how I would get into contact with Jamie (my host from St. Louis who wanted to buy my car), she stands right in front of me and asks me how I’m doing. I then with a heavy heart sold her my good old Honda for 280 $ … 19 years old, 398972 kms … it had done an awesome job – thx Sofie

In the evening I wanted to meet up in Soho with Dan, who I had met in Philly and who works in New York, but first I celebrated my arrival in NY by going to a good Italian restaurant where I had dinner for 60$. Then I went to the place Dan had told me to meet at, but as I he had written another mail with another location I was waiting at the wrong one and we didn’t meet – well, my fault.

On Friday I took the “train” (subway) down to Lower Manhatten and took a ferry to Liberty Island and Ellis Island. It’s really impressive to see the Statue of Liberty in reality actually … Ellis island is very interesting too, with all the history of immigration to the US. Afterwards I went to explore lower Manhatten with Wall Street and the World Trade center site where heavy construction is going on. I then went on to Midtown Manhatten to have a look at Grand Central Station, Madison Square Garden & Times Square. In the evening I took a ride up to the top of the Empire State Building to take some nice pictures of the big apple.

On Saturday I left the hostel around noon, took a walk through Central Park and walked along 5th Avenue along the museum mile to have a look at the Guggenheim museum and the Metropolitan Art Museum. Walking along 5th I discovered the “Neue Galerie” New York, which exhibits German & Austrian art, amongst others also Adele Bloch Bauer I by Gustav Klimt. I then walked on to the Apple Store, which is probably the coolest you can find anywhere and to Rockefeller Plaza. In the evening I also bought a ticket for Wednesday’s NBA game New York Knicks vs. New Jersey Nets and I’m really looking forward to that one.

Yesterday, Sunday, I took the train to Queens to Flushing Meadows Park, where I watched lots of Hispanics playing soccer and talked to a nice Mexican guy who thought that I was a talent scout DDD Flushing Meadows Park is the site of 2 past World Fairs and a really nice place where lots of cultures meet. I also went to the Queens Museum of Art there, where a huge model of New York City can be seen. After some more walking around I took the train to North Brooklyn where some couchsurfers had invited me for dinner. Markus, from Vienna, was the chef for the evening and prepared some really good Tiroler Knödelsuppe and I helped his 2 hosts Marc & Guillaume setting up some of their IKEA furniture as they had just moved in. After some beers and a nice evening I took the train back to the hostel where I ended up watching Spiderman 3 on a big screen and finally went to bed at 4 a.m.

And today? … well, I got up at 9.15 had some breakfast and now I think I take a train up North to the Bronx to have a look at their neighbourhoods.

It’s my 5th last day now and I really look forward to coming home in a few days. God has blessed me so far on my journey and he may bless you all!

greez,
Gerhard

km 15211

Uuuuh, 11 days left

After I left Montréal on 3rd March in the morning I headed for the US border. This time it took me even longer than usually cause the CBP officer was convinced that I was carrying drugs and searched my car. Of course he didn’t find any. I then continued my journey to Boston. On the way I went through 2 other states, Vermont & New Hampshire – the latter being a really pretty one with at least 1 nice ski hill

In Boston (exactly in Somerville) I met up with Emrah, my host there. He originates from Turkey and came to the US some years ago for studying and now working. In the evening a bunch of friends of his came over and we had a little party at his place. We then intended to go to a club together with the metro, but they somehow “forgot” me at the subway station and so I followed them with Emrah’s roommate Ben by car. In the meantime Emrah went back with the metro to search for me and I met him again when we came back home.

The next day I went downtown with the metro to explore Boston. It is a really nice city with lots of old red brick buildings. Especially Quincy market, Beacon Hill and the area around the wharfs (harbour) is pretty nice. I followed a path through the city which is called Freedrom Trail which passes by all the sites around downtown. Afterwards I went to Harvard University to have a walk around there. In the evening I went to the movies to see “The International” starring Clive Owen. I think it’s a pretty good movie and I like how it turns out in the end.

On Thursday I went out to Provincetown on Cape Cod to have a better view of the Atlantic Ocean than from Boston It was really windy out there but definitly worth the drive (but I think it’s a lot better in summer). In the evening, when I came back to Somerville, I went out for a drink with Emrah and his girlfriend. On Friday morning I then left Emrah, who was a great host and headed for Philly.

I arrived in the early afternoon and met up with Grace at her apartment (a really cool place ) We then went for a coffee at the “Mugshot” a close coffee shop and Grace showed me around the neighbourhood including the Philly art museum and the park at Lemon Hill. We then met up with her boyfriend Dave (he’s in his final year of studying photography) and her sister Gabrielle to go out for dinner at a greek restaurant. Dan, Gabrielle’s boyfriend, met us there. After dinner we went to a house party at friends of Grace while she took the longest way possible to their house to show me all of Philadelphia We hang out there for some time and went back home afterwards.

The next morning (noon) we all together went to the Italian market, basically just having a look around and drinking some awesome Espresso. Grace then went to work and Dave arranged his belongings in his new apartment, while Dan & Gabrielle went to New York (Dan works there). So I explored Philadelphia on my own, took a lot of pictures and had Philadelphia Cheese Steak. Altough it has nothing to do with a steak in the conventional sense it was one of the best things I had since I’m in the States.

I walked around the city until 10 p.m. and then met Grace and Dave at her workplace – the “Mix” pizza & bar on Chestnut street. I had a couple of beers there – thanks to Grace they were very cheap and we finally went home around 3.30 a.m. On Sunday, after giving Grace a little thank you (a gift voucher for the coffee shop) I left towards Washington D.C. Grace also gave me some coffee on the way in her coffee mug – thanks sooooo much. She will definitly be welcome at any place I ever am able to be a host to her.

Arriving in Washington around 4 p.m. I took a walk to Georgetown (the shopping and restaurant area next to the Potomac river) and the university there. The security guard at the university’s library told me that he has ancestors from Austria, who emigrated to Brazil 5 generations ago. In the evening I went to the apartment of Jordan who was supposed to be my host in D.C. When I got there he was not there (he told me that he would come home late) and so I met his housemates first, who somehow gave me a feeling of not being welcome. As he did not come back home until quarter to 11 I decided to go to the HI hostel for that night, cause I had no good feeling with his housemates.

Today I went downtown Washington to explore the numerous monuments there. I walked along New Hampshire Ave. where a lot of African and Central & South American embassies are located, and had a good-morning-coffee at Starbucks. Then I continued to National Mall to see the White House first. Unfortunately Obama didn’t invite me in

I then walked west towards the Potomac river to see the Lincoln Memorial there, which is really huge and impressive (and I somehow really start liking “Abe”). Walking along the river I passed by the Franklin D. Roosevelt memorial (hew was the only American president elected for more than 2 times – he was elected for 4 terms) and then reached the Thomas Jefferson memorial. Afterwards I passed by the Washington monument (the huge obelisk) and then walked all the way up to the US State Capitol (about 4 kms from Lincoln Memorial). On my way back to the accommodation (now the Washington International Student Center) I passed by the Canadian embassy and I hope to find the Austrian one as well before I leave.

In the evening I ran (yes I really ran, cause I just had 10 minutes for more than 2 kms) to see “Watchmen” at the cinema. It was quite good but didn’t really excite me. Afterwards I bought myself a huge piece of pizza for all the walking today (almost 30 kms) before I came back to the hostel where I write these lines from.

So, it’s 2 more days in Washington now and then 8 in New York and my 3-months adventure will be over. I really look forward to come home again now!!!

C u in a few days.
Be blessed,
Gergi

km 13510

So, what happened since my last blog entry …

On Wednesday evening I went to a pub with Stephanie (my host in Ottawa) and her friend Claire (very nice girl ) to celebrate my birthday. We went to the Chateau Lafayette where John Carroll, a blues musician, performed live. We had a couple of beers there and had a good time. Stephanie went home earlier cause she had a mid-term exam the next day while I and Claire stayed until the pub closed (3 a.m. or so). We then also went back to Stephanie’s place, where we kissed good-bye .

The next day I went to see a little bit of Ottawa and I walked around the city to the house of parliament (where I also watched the politicians for a couple of minutes) and the museum of civilization. I then made a tour at the Hi Jail hostel which was a jail/goal until 1972. The cells were so small you couldn’t even fit a bed properly inside. In the evening we wanted to go ice-skating on Rideau channel, but couldn’t as the weather got to warm and authorities closed the channel for the public. So I just relaxed for the evening inside. On Friday I got up late as well and just took a short walk through the city again as the weather was really bad.

I spent the evening with staying inside again watching some TV and waiting for Stephanie, so that we could go to the bar where Claire worked (as I didn’t know where it was). Unfortunately she came not back that evening and so I couldn’t go to visit Claire at her workplace .

Next morning I left around 9-ish from Ottawa and headed for Montréal. I came to Gabrielle’s place around noon and met her and her roommates (Laurent & Kevin) there. I then went downtown to have lunch and meet with Sebastian (roommate of Gabrielle) and his friend Katerine to go for dinner and to a metal concert afterwards at Café Chaos (the place he works). You definitely have to go there if you like metal and go to Montréal . After the concert we went out for the Montréal “All-nighter”, which is an annual festival of arts & music.

We first went folk-dancing at the city-hall, which was a lot of fun. Afterwards we explored “Art Souterrain”, which was a bit “too modern” for my taste At 4 a.m. we went to the Redpath museum at the university and did a nightly tour of the museum equipped with torches – or cell-phones  – to explore the museum in the dark. When we left from the museum around 5 a.m. we decided not to hike up Mont Royal for the sunrise, but to go back home for some sleep. When we finally arrived back home the new day already started, but we just went straight to bed.

On Sunday I got up very late (I think 3 p.m. or so) and then went to do my laundry in the afternoon. In the evening Kevin made some pizza for all and I got to know another friend of them, Gabrielle. We had some beer and talked quite a while and we also watched “the lion king”  the last of us went to bed around 3.15 a.m. On Monday I got up earlier, 11 a.m.  and headed downtown. I first went to Ile Sainte Helene which is situated in the middle of St. Lawrence stream to go to the Biosphére, a museum with an exhibition about the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence stream area.

After that I went for lunch in Old Montréal and I also had some afternoon coffee there. I visited the Basilique Notre Dame de Montréal which is really beautiful. Especially the chapel Sacre Coeur, cause the entire interior is made of wood. Afterwards I hiked up Mont Royal which is the “mountain” in the middle of Montréal to enjoy the view from up there. There’s also a huge illuminated cross on top as well as the Chateau Mont Royal, which looks like it’s used for balls and dancing events. Then I went back to Gabrielle’s place for the last night in the French part of Canada.

Tomorrow I’ll leave to the States again and go to Boston, where I’ll spend 3 days. Wow, it’s really the last 2 1/2 weeks now

I’m so f***ing looking forward to see you all again at home

greez & be blessed,
Gergi