Youll notice that, despite my promises of frequent updates and my 'staying on top of it' attitude, ive been rubbish. In keeping with that, and until i find time and a thesaurus with enough alternatives for the word "magnificent", im just going to write an update that misses out the last few weeks of my trip.
Here seems as good a spot as any.
We found ourselves in Vegas airport after a night of drug dealer dodging and booze-fuelled gambling in the oldest and most questionable area of Sin City. Having booked cheap last minute flights out of town to the cheapest and most easterly destination we could find, we had our tickets in hand for Toronto and were feeling very pleased that we'd made it to the airport with everything we arrived in Vegas with, and even a little more. By which i ofcourse mean inches on the waist, and not money won - oh no no. Our tickets, had we bothered to look at them in any detail, were marked with 4 large "SSSS" markings right down the middle, and upon going through security we were advised that we were to be the subject of a serious security search and could we kindly follow the officer who had been summoned to watch over us with one hand resting eagerly on the butt of his gun. We were taken from the que of other passengers down a little glass tunnel and into our own security screening area where we were placed, one at a time, into a giant wet'n'dry vaccum. After a quick 10 secong blasting each in the chamber we were told that it was shoes off time. Through the metal detector that neither of us beeped in we went, and thank God too, as im fairly certain had either of us even given a slightly metallic look towards anything alarms would have sounded and the machine, clearly set to terrorist mode, would have alerted the entire airport security team to descent upon us and strip search us where we lay, after the beating and indiscriminate bludgeoning had subsided. As it was, no beeping. Then off to have someone unpack our bags and swab each item all over with little round pads that were then fed into a machine which hummed and hawwed and tried to determine what sorts of explosives we were carrying that they could shoot us for. Luckily, several hundred swabs later, each, we were free to shuffle guiltily off and repack our things whilst recieving suspicious glances from all the other people who hadnt been smuggled away down the tunnel.
But it was to be that, after having it proved to us that America is as free from terror as the sea is free from salt, we were in Canada, and it was good and cold. We'd been in shorts and t-shirts for a couple of months so it felt good to throw all that stuff away, literally, and get the trousers on and buy the little things you forget youll need mid winter... jackets, gloves, hats, scarves, thermals and winter boots. Toronto is a great little place, with everything you will want to see as a tourist within walking distance. We stayed in Chinatown in what the hostel site we booked it on called "a small friendly hostel with great friendly staff and friendly wooden floors". Clearly the reason we chose it wasnt for its amenities or its amazing sales pitch, but fot the fact that it was the cheapest hostel in the country, and it was easy to see why. After 10 minutes of ringing the doorbell of the council house that the hostel turned out to be, the door was answered by a chinese man in his 100's who we were told was the building manager. Not one single solitary word of english did he speak either, so after a conversation with his nephew over the phone we were shown to our room. Amazing. The toilet cubicle in the local pub was bigger. Infact, the only way to get a bed into the little cupboard that was to be our room for 2 nights must have been to build the walls around it. The room was exactly matress wide. Exactly. Still, we were in chinatown so the food was awesome everywhere we went and once we got out exploring we had a blast. A few days exploring in the cold was plenty though, so being as we were in the neighbourhood, off we went to Niagara, ON(Ontario), home to the mighty falls.
With glorious weather and crisp, fresh air we strolled around a town that seemed to be deserted. We enjoyed the falls, which i though to be in the middle of nowhere but are infact in the middle of a city, poked around a bit, and looked over the river to America where Niagara, NY(New York), looked to be about as exciting. We visited a chocolate factory and ate dinner in a Planet Hollywood restaurant in which we were the only guests. It was fairly creepy at times. The restaurant could have seated about 300 people, the bars we were in were massive and deserted and there were stalls and outdoor shops that looked like someone had forgotten to show up for work that morning, but were obviously closed for the winter, judging by the number of absent minded employees it would have taken for this to be the case. Very nice place though, lots of photos.
From there to Buffalo, NY. Back into America with barely a sideways glance this time, and smack bang into a city that seemed to be a ghetto from end to end. Dont go to Buffalo. One cup of coffee and a quick internet ticket purchase later, and we were off to Boston on the first thing moving. Dont go to Buffalo.
Boston is clean, friendly, and small like Edinburgh is small when compared with Glasgow. You can walk everywhere, and we have been. Our first day we went to the "Cheers" pubs. The first bar, the one which gave them the idea for Cheers style and the one they used the exterior for on the show, did us a great lunch and some beer in Cheers glasses that i was allowed to keep!! Hurrah! The second one, which is a replica of the bar television set which they used to film the show in LA, did us more beer in regular glasses but we got to sit in Norms chair and call each other Norm, so i was delighted. Photos galore. Yesterday we did some more shopping for christmas and got the lay of the land - Boston is truly easly to navigate. Today we explored more, took in some history and more good food and met up with Jay, a friend whos coming to Scotland in January to visit. He's a Boston local so he took us to little Italy and showed us a good time. We went to a great little Italian and ate like kings, then to a famous bakery for Canolis. These are like cream filled brandy snaps, but instead of a brandy snap its more like hard pastry. I had a cookie, no Canoli for me. We took them to a cafe next door where coffee was had and cake was eaten, until it was time for a night cap. Downstairs from the bakery and the cafe is a dark little cigar bar with menus of different smokes and a good range of whiskies. I enjoyed an Aberlour 12 while wrestling with a truly enormous 1983 El Fuego something-or-other Cigar in the most eye wateringly smoky room in the whole world. Brilliant. Tonight was brilliant. Ill have to throw away everything i was wearing and shave my hair to get rid of the smell, but it will be a small price to pay for such a great experience. And now its 2am, and tomorrow i have to go and poke around Harvard and MIT Universities, so its time to sleep.
Ill get our tales of Vegas written up eventually, but so much happened over those 2 weeks that it seems like an insurmountable task to ever have to begin. I will get it done though, as i worry if i dont write things down, then ill forget - that would not do at all. We do have over 4000 pictures mind you, so if i ever find my memory slipping i can just have a glance through. With that many snaps i should be able to print them and run them through my fingers like a flick book for a near real time show of what we were up to, but ill still write it down.
We have no number here to be contacted on, but if you need to get in tocuh you can leave messages on here and they all come through to my email.
We go to New York on the 9th, ill write next from there.
