"America...F%#K Yeah!"

For those who don't understand the title, it comes from a song in the movie 'Team America - World Police.' America has been fun and i have enjoyed each place that i have been to, there is heaps more to see and do here, so i will have to come back.

The 'Icy' Windy City
Unlike New York where it was what i expected, Chicago wasn't at all. New parks and artistic gardens (pic) with old and new skyscrapers, but a city that you can easily walk around in and not get lost. The central hub of the town is smaller than what i expected but Chicago as an area in general with all the suburbs is huge. At first i unknowingly booked a hostel that was 50 minutes away by train! It was one of the worst hostels i had stayed in and found a great place in the centre of town after. I did a couple of walking tours where i learnt a lot about the city, went to another blues bar (i had to, it's Chicago! -pic) and went and watched the Chicago Blackhawks get thumped by Minnesota Wild (2-5) in my first Ice Hockey game. I loved it. But they lost. A very physical game where one of the Blackhawks players sandwiched a Minnesota Wild player in-between him and the perspex wall, snapping it in two where they spent 5 minutes replacing it. The sell-out crowd of 21,000 fans ranted and raved with joy as the poor bloke got back up quite slowly. Saw a few fights too and the girls in mini skirts who's job it is to scoop up the shredded ice during the breaks. The oversize guy next to me getting drunk on Bud Light? seemed to like it too.

Sin City
Trailer park trash, single mums, Elvis wannabees and drugged up violent couples with black eyes was my first introduction to Las Vegas on my 1 hour local bus ride from the airport to my hostel. It actually felt like i was part of a 'COPS' episode. I was here for a week and a half and it took me a while to find the fun side of this city of sin. The only gambling i did was lose $35 in a poker tournament and win $35 on a Roulette table. Other than that, i watched many people throw away the same amount i am spending on my entire trip within 10 minutes on various games. I became a member at every single casino (pic), went on the scariest rides i have ever been on on top of the Stratosphere casino, i gatecrashed an Elvis themed wedding (pic) and as i was their only guest, they made me part of their wedding photos! I saw most of the outdoor shows the casinos put on and went to many bars and clubs in the main strip and the outside local areas as well. Went to 8 free gaming lessons and learnt how to play most of the popular table games. In the end i did enjoy Las Vegas. It's been blue skies and around 16 degrees everyday.

It's a Grand Canyon
Wanting to spend more time here, i could only go on a day trip for various reasons. It was a long but good day. Up at 5am and arrived back at 9pm. The canyon was amazing however i was shoved in with 60 other whinging and whining tourists where all they did was complain that the bus TV was too quiet and it's too early, too cold etc... With the 5 hours there and 5 hours back, all i did was try to tune out listening to my music and look at the stunning views out the window off in my own little world. We visited Hoover Dam and the southern part of the Grand Canyon (the deepest/widest etc). I watched an IMAX movie about the Canyon before witnessing one of the natural wonders. It was a great day and i was lucky enough to be able to trek down and up a bit only for an hour though on the snow covered path as we were 2.5km above sea level.

Los Angeles
With non stop patchy rain the whole time i was here was a bit of a shame yet i got to do a lot of things that i would not have expected to do in this huge spread out city. Shaved my head again into what my mother has called 'a silly hair strip' and went to a few clubs, being called 'The Girl Bar' a goth club 'Das Bunker' and a roller skating (not blading) club called 'World on Wheels' where hundreds of people dressed in 80's gear and hot pants skate around the ring to 80's music with the bar up the top. They all were very cool clubs like i have never experienced before. On top of that i climbed up in the hills near the Hollywood sign, and got chauffeured around Los Angeles thanks to Mariah who lives here whom i had met earlier in my travels, walked and spent an afternoon at Venice beach and Muscle Park where there is an outdoor gym to show off and release some testostorone when the weather was surprisingly really nice, and went cruising around Bell Air, Beverly Hills, Downtown, Hollywood and all the other areas that need to be seen.

Next stop is 'Carnival!' in Rio, for nearly 2 weeks!!! For the next 3 months i will be travelling and camping throughout Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Peru. I don't know how often i will be able to access and/or have time to check emails and write my blog but i will when i can.

It's a Big Apple

I loved New York so much that i stayed here for 2 weeks doing the tourist thing and looking for different things to do. I went and watched 'Chicago' on Broadway (pic), went to the Statue of Liberty (pic) and learnt about the immigrant process on Ellis Island, bought a harmonica and went for a lesson in uptown Harlem (pic) trying to learn the 'Hoochie Coochie Man', spent New Years in Time Square, played King Kong on top of the Empire State building, ate from all the fast food chains and the healthy food places serving big meals as well as having lunch in the newly renovated 'Seinfeld' cafe. "Hallelujah" and "Praise Jesus...ah!" were being shouted out loud and proud at a Baptist 'gospel' Church also in Harlem on the 1st Holy day of the new year (pic) and preparing myself and doing a bit of organising for South America in a couple of weeks time. I am now addicted to 'Starbucks Grande Mocha Frappacinno's' with whipped cream and a hint of caramel sauce and 'Butterfinger' candy bars.

Spirit Fingers
Going and witnessing what a gospel church is like was one of my goals in America. I set the alarm on Sunday morning and off i went. (I don't think I've ever been excited to go to church before). The service went for 4 hours, where the heavenly sounds of praises to Jesus, clapping and swaying to the melodic tunes got the most committed members shouting out "Amen" and "Praise the Lord..ah" at any random moment. You could definitely not fall asleep here. The Reverend to emphasis his points in the stories he would tell would SHOUT into the microphone with all his MIGHT to the point where you would be sitting back straight and hands on knees! It was a bit hard for me to understand the Reverends speaking and building up their stories into a full blown shouting session as their deep accents were so strong. This was a completely opposite experience to the church service i went to on Christmas Eve at Notre Dame in Paris, but was a lot of fun seeing how the African American worships and spends their Sunday mornings. You certainly walk out of there awake and ready for the day.

"Da na na na na..."
No, I'm not smoking, that's me playing the harmonica! I purchased one in France a while back thinking i could teach myself some blues after listening to an awesome player in a blues bar where he had around 15 harmonicas in his little bag. Well as it turned out, i had no idea how to play the thing. So i decided i needed a lesson and what better place to get a lesson than being in an English speaking country. It took a while to find someone who could teach me, but i found him. Arthur Moskuitz was his name and we 'jammed' (is that the right word) after teaching me the basic notes to "The Hoochie Coochie Man" (that's the song where you can make up your own rhymes in between playing the notes), he showed me how to 'bend' notes and how to hold the thing while playing. It was so much fun. As well as learning, we also chatted for ages about his life growing up and the hardships that he has experienced and living in a predominately black community. I got to see what a typical flat looks like in uptown Harlem and its not much, just 1 tiny room with everything shoved in their. My hair is a tad short due to me shaving off my mohawk as I'm sure the Gospel church wouldn't have let a white guy in with a strange haircut but it's growing back pretty fast.

NY for NY

Happy New Year everyone! I planned this one year ago. A hostel half a block away from Times Square in New York, plane flights booked and an event that i have been looking forward too for just as long. After waking up late on the 31 December, i knew that it was going to be a big day. One of the guys working at the hostel recommended that to see The Ball drop, you have to be there by 5pm. Not knowing if there would be toilets or food available, we went outside the police barriers at 3pm that were already set up. Once we got our stuff, it was a big hassle trying to get back in. The police were already not letting people enter. We managed to squish through the crowd around the barrier only because we had hostel keys within Times Square, no-one else was allowed in. Once getting metal detected at this checkpoint, it was again a problem walking to the main area to view the ball. Power driven cops blocking the way and not letting anybody in. At this point i actually thought i was going to miss out, but by asking different officers and pleading with them, we eventually got in. It was 4pm and we had 8 hours to go! It was a huge crowd already and we managed to find a great spot in one of the 'sheep like pens' that they had set up. (pic) We were positioned in-between the ball and the 2 stages that they had set up above the crowd where we could see both. The red ball is in the top right corner where most of the screens under it and behind where we were displayed the countdown. Now what do we do? Well, we listened and danced to bands playing including Lenny Kravitz and a whole heap of other bands the crowd definitely knew but i had never heard of. Every hour was a countdown to New Years somewhere in the world, and there was a restaurant open right next to us where you could get quick food and use the restroom after lining up. With free red hats and balloons being handed out to the crowd of 300,000 within Times Square, everyone and myself went nuts after the final 10 second countdown. Fireworks, confetti and a roar that sounded like the crowd when Essendon won the AFL Grand Final over Carlton back in 1993. With New York, New York playing on the loud speakers, everyone wished each other a happy new year. By 12.30am, most of the crowd had disappeared as everyone had been standing there all day. With adrenalin pumping, it was time to go clubbing, however as we found out, all clubs were charging US$60-80 entry fee! So we ended up having a few drinks at a bar which put us to sleep as it had been a long day standing in the cold and squishy crowd. I loved it, but like everyone around us was saying... never again.
(pic) Mariah and I and our hairstyles... don't freak out mum, it's only hair :)

I'm off to explore New York, Chicago, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon and LA until the end of January. Unfortunately due to 'Carnival' in Brazil changing its dates to the start of February, i have had to miss out on exploring Canada and Mexico.

France 'Encore Une Fois'

France once again! I had to alter my plans these last few weeks due to trying to find cheap and available accommodation, French transport strikes and the weather. After Spain i went to Bordeaux, Limoges and then i spent Christmas in Paris. I had a pretty relaxing time in the towns beforehand before reaching the City of Love. Top temperature was 2 degrees and it hit -5 during the night. I could only go out and explore between 12pm and 4pm as that is when the weather was at least bearable. So cold. I know everyone sais it but i would have to agree that Paris is one of the best cities in the world. I ate frogs legs and snails (pic), visited a French dentist, went to the Christmas Eve church service at Notre Dame, spent an hour walking down through the Paris sewers, went up the Eiffel Tower (pics - of it and under it at night), went to the Moulon Rouge (pic), waded my way through the crowd to see Michelangelo's Mona Lisa and walked and saw all the main tourist sites that had to be seen. Big thank-you to Florence whom i met up with from Spain and her group of friends for taking me out to their local bars and being my personal guide to the must see places and trying to teach me French. All up i spent 1 month in France in 6 towns where i have found the people to be one of the nicest in all the places that i have been.

The breast show ever!
Moulon Rouge, well what can i say. Pretty expensive but well worth it. After having dinner with 8 French friends i had made, i was off back to where i was staying which is a 2 minute walk from the most famous dance shows in the world. While waiting in line i witnessed a bloke getting belted out on the sidewalk by the security guards where the biggest, baldest guard kicked him with his US14 size boot just under the ribs! OOO that had to hurt. With my pre-purchased ticket, my seat was right in the middle and on the 1st level back, perfect viewing spot. The 2hour show started soon after. With my free half bottle of champagne i watched ventriloquists, gymnasts and random other impressive performances, a topless chic swimming with 3 huge snake serpents and 40 topless women with the best bodies dancing around with different costumes and backgrounds. I think there where a few guys dancing too, but i didn't really take much notice.

France was a lot of fun and i would love to come back one day (when the weather is warmer) and bike ride one of the stages in the Tour de France as well as explore and mountain walk the Pyrenees.

Next is New York for New Years and about 1 month in America.