Friday 8th- Friday 15th June

Having a great time.

Travelling alot at the moment and Internet access has been sparse to say the least.

So no epic blogs this week.

And now the blooming keyboard I’m writing this with is starting to crash!

So far I’ve travelled down and through with my trek group the following places:

Washington DC on Saturday and Sunday, and visited, well looked at the various famous sites including the Washington Monument, The Lincoln Memorial and the Whitehouse .

It’s a big city but not with same razzamatz as New York, being built soley as the administrative centre for the country.

On Monday we continued heading south onto Myrtle Beach.

On Tuesday we went to Charleston, a delightful early English settlement and the starting point for the Civil War.

On Wednesday we visited St Augustine, settled by the Spanish is 1585, and the oldest continual European Settlement in the US. I think.

On Thursday we had the originally unplanned visit to Miami.

So I finally got to see the famous South Beach, see the Art Deco buildings, drink cocktails and wear a blazer jacket with jeans and with my sleeves rolled up.

Well not the latter.

Now in Key Largo on our way to the Florida Keys.

Coping surpisingly well with the camping and everything so far. Not being the big fuss pot I am back home... surprisingly.

Holiday Pics 1

New York, New York (Thursday 7/6- Friday 8/6)

As James Brown sang "I'm back", at some stage in career no doubt...

By Thursday, and after having walked up and down Manhattan from the top of Central Park on a daily basis, my legs were beginning to ache a bit and so I started to use the Subway more regularly to get around.

Although I did walk a large part of the journey to the Financial District to get a train over to Jersey City, where in the afternoon I spent a couple of hours at Free Form radio station 'wfmu' 91.1 FM.

The guys were really hospitable especially volunteer co-ordinator Scott Williams, who showed me around their studios.

It was really interesting to see an organisation not disimilar to Reverb in some respects, but on a much larger scale!

Talking about Reverb, did anyone see the Meridan news piece on the station this week?

Apparently I was on it?

I didn't notice a camera following me around New York this week though!

Once back in Manhattan I then took the Staten Island ferry across the Hudson River, past the Statue of Liberty, over to Staten Island.

Again on arrival I discovered there wasn't much to do to be honest, and so came straight back.

I then decided to let fate chose where I would have my dinner, and with number nine being my lucky number, I decided I would get off at the ninth subway stop from the ferry port and have my dinner wherever that location was.

Luckily for me it was the trendy up market Chelsea district!

Anywho, I'm sure you've all had at least one trip to the toilet and a tea break, so I'll let you know where I'm at now.

I'm currently waiting to check in at the Holiday Inn in Secaucus, New Jersey, that I'll be staying in tonight before the 64 day Trek America part of my trip begins.

I don't think you'll find Secaucus in any tourist guides.

Think Brighton Marina.

The weather, as has it has been since Monday, is gloriously sunny.

There isn't anything really to do around here, so I may head back to Manhattan for the rest of the day for one last time until probably early August.

Stay well, and have a nice day!

New York, New York! (Monday 4/6- Wednesday 6/6)

Hello, or should I say Hi?

I hope you're all in good health.

Well here I am on the other side of the Atlantic.

I arrived here Monday around 1pm (EST), around 6pm (BST).

The weather was pretty grey and miserable, and my body clock was all over the shop.

After one thing and another I didn't get to leave my hostel until around 5pm, and only got to see a bit of the area around W 107 St. where I was staying before going to bed.

With regards the hostel, for those of you who remember my Middle Street bedsit, think that but if had really let itself go!

However, it was a bed, and to be honest will probably be a comparitive luxury in future weeks.

So I guess you'd like to know where I've been and what I've done?

Did someone say "No" then?

Ignoring that, this has been my itinerary the past week:

Tuesday:

Early morning stroll through Central Park;

A trip up the Empire State Building- Not as scary as I though it would be;

Lunch in Greenwich Village;

Passed the WTC site- Genuinely very moving;

Walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, and then walked back after I realised there was nothing I wanted to see there;

Dinner in China Town;

Then the long journey home of 100 blocks plus, passing Broadway and Times Square en route.

Wednesday:

Visited Brighton Beach- Not as big as ours;

Then onto the Coney Island Fun Fair- Think typical British seaside resort fun fair, Ie. not that exciting. I did go on the Wonder Wheel in a moment of madness. It was very high, and the compartments deliberately swung up and down. I know I'm not that masculine;

Watched the England football match in a bar- $20 entrance charge!!!

Then saw former Brighton boys The Macabees play their first New York gig at a venue called the Knitting Factory- Thanks for the guest list Iain.

Three of the four activities I've all done back in the UK!

New post to follow soon...