usa

This is another hostel where they provide breakfast but it’s self serve. I managed to burn my pancakes this morning and set off the fire alarm! After eating my burnt pancakes, I spent most of the morning chatting to Ami, a Japanese girl studying cancer research in NYC. I caught […]
MV Towns

I left the Boston hostel around 8am this morning, and managed to get on the 8.45am bus to Woods Hole. Fairly uneventful journey, but you feel like you’re really in New England on the drive: all the houses are just like you see in holiday brochures, and there is lots […]
Boston to Martha’s Vineyard

I got the subway over to Government Centre today. I waited until around 10am so things could get started. But it was still quiet when I got over there. I wandered through Faneuil Hall and the market, and found the Cheers Bar (not the original). It was all very old […]
Good Weather for Ducks

I took the subway up to Cambridge today, which is where Harvard University is. Some guy sat a bit too close for comfort on the subway! Luckily he was only going one stop. Aside from Harvard, Cambridge is also known for having a high concentration of bookstores. So I spent […]
Cambridge

This hostel does free breakfasts: bagels and fruit, as well as the free coffee and tea. After that I walked up Boylston Street, which runs parallel to Newbury. It passes by Copley Square, where the Public Library and Trinity Church are. Then it continues on to the Public Garden. It’s […]
Boston

I got the bus to Boston at 10am. I washed and straightened my hair last night, but needn’t have bothered because I was sweaty and a bit frazzled by the time I got to the bus station in NYC. The journey was about 4 1/2 hours, and we had Man […]
Newbury Street

I had breakfast in Picnic, the place up the street, again. Finally got going around 10.30am, and took the subway to South Ferry, where I queued in Castle Clinton for my ticket for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. You have to queue for the ticket, then go through […]
Liberty

I started today with breakfast just up the street. A proper sit-down meal with real cups, plates and cutlery. And not much more expensive than queuing. After breakfast I spent a while on the internet, still trying to organise New England. Around 11am I set off for the UN. I […]
United Nations

I decided yesterday that Bryant Park looked like a pleasant spot for breakfast. The choice was better in Starbucks though, so I bought from there and sat at one of the tables in the park. A guy from Comoros who was a diplomat but is now an economist on Wall […]
Districts

I woke up early and decided to try to find a big internet cafe on 42nd Street. I got the subway down there and then realised I didn’t have the address with me: I just knew it was somewhere near the subway station. I got a coffee and walked east. […]
Day 1 in NYC
Typical: the one day I really need to be up, and I sleep in until 7.10am. I wanted to be in the airport by then! Luckily it was an internal flight, and I was checked in by 8.10am, so plenty of time. Boring flight. Crap film. Crap music. We got […]
Flying to New York

No-one woke me up this morning, but I was still up early. Made myself waffles again. I had a ticket for the Bumbershoot festival in Seattle today, but planned to go up to Capitol Hill first, home of the counter-culture. I destroyed my feet on the walk up there in […]
Bumbershoot

I got woken up last night by people leaving at stupid hours of the morning. The first one I didn’t mind so much because she was at least trying to be considerate. But the two later on opened and closed the door a number of times, and turned one of […]
Mt Rainier

I woke up early and tried to make it for the 8.30am train (I had a bus booked at 10.30am but wanted to leave early), but wasn’t quite fast enough. So instead I got a coffee at the place across the road from the hostel, took a walk around the […]