Washington

Hey Guys
So I have to say…Washington has been amazing. The whole time here everything has just felt big, classic and meaningful…
I suppose since we have been in the states we have been watching quite a lot of the news, and getting interested in a lot of the politics. So I am definitely happy that we had that exposure before getting here. It made us understand a little more what it all meant.
We of course spent most of our time around the Capitol, and the whole mall/Smithsonian section. Around this area for those that do not know all the museums are free. So Washington is definitely a place you can do it on the cheap.
We went to the Lincoln memorial, the reflecting pool, Washington monument, WW2 Memorial, Korean War memorial, The White House, Capitol Hill, The National Museum of American History, Air & Space Museum, The National Gallery of Art, The National Museum of Natural History… you get the idea!
We spent a good 8 hours a day walking, so really packed a lot in. As it has been so full on, I’ll just list a couple of highlights.
- Picassos – Family of Saltimbanques at the NGA.
- Dorothy’s shoes from the Original Wizard of Oz at the American History Museum
- Lincoln Memorial
- The Aussie section in Natural History Museum
- Capitol Hill, and having a look where the inaugurations are held, looking down all the way to the memorial from the top.
I’ll upload pics later. We have to go to catch our bus to New York. Which…we are so freaking excited about!... Here you go!

Much love xx

Updates

Hey,

Just a quick update today. Since the cruise we have been laying low in Orlando, saving our pennies and are very happy to report we are back on budget and have made up for our car hire bungle! so yay back on top.

Was nice to just relax for a little knowing that we are about to head into a very full on section of the trip. Washington, NY, Philly, NY, Madrid & Valencia, back to Madrid to fly to London... That whole section os going to be extremely fast paced, so we rested, and saved.

Last night we boarded the epic 19hour Amtrak ride from Orlando to Washington. We amused ourselves again quite well and managed to get in a few hours sleep.

In DC at the moment, looking to turn in early & get into it all tomorrow morning.
Back in the Snow, and have alot to see!

Much love
xxx

Bahamas Cruise

Hello there...

Just before I jump into it, a quick update on our happenings since last post. Where we were staying in Ft Lauderdale was extremely nice. It was the Bridge At Cordova and comes highly recommended. Our room was great, we had a seperate kitchen, big screen TV with clear reception (Olympics & the All Star Game were on), Nice pool, and everyone was super friendly. The guy that checked us in was a douche, but thats a separate story. Anyway we have been there until today where we caught the early bus back to Orlando, and once again I come to you from Maccas Free Wi-fi.

So the cruise, It was priced quite nicely for a treat for us. $85 with taxes & Bahamas port charges, and that was all inclusive. Breakfast Buffet (that we visited more than once) Dinner buffet, included drinks, and not just stingy ones, Mimosa’s, Bahama Mamas, Pina Coladas. The Works...

Now of course this excited me a little, so after a couple of mimosa’s with breakfast (everyone was doing it. I asked for OJ) we made our way around to check out the ship. It had 2 lounge bars, a casino, a kids game room ( Wii, Table tennis etc), and a sun deck on top of the boat filled with banana lounges. The whole boat was serviced, so they would bring you drinks wherever you were.

The problem with this brilliant plan however, is that by 8am, it was hard to tell whether the boat was rocking or I was. Turns out it was fairly choppy and it was quite amusing to watch the whole boat stumbling around with vomit bags, holding their stomachs. It was only for a small portion of the trip but it did trigger our responsible... bone?

We found solace from the choppy seas on the sun deck. Being outside helped, as did laying down and just relaxing...Perhaps a little too much though, we had a snooze & got a little sun burnt.

So, we wake up, not too long after to continue with a few Cocktails and again wander the boat. We made some friends, and met some other people too. Ben had a quintessential one way conversation with your stereotypical black guy Damn!


The Bahamas Island we went to was the one closest to the coast of Florida, Grand Bahamas. Once we got to the island we were all herded much like sheep through the customs, again, then into taxi’s. We weren’t really too sure what was happening as we thought we were free to roam, but they advised we get in the cab as nothing was walking distance from the port. Once all this had occurred we were dropped at the beach and had just less than 2 hours to explore the area, and the Port Lucaya Shops and markets.

We had a lot of fun there; it was clearly a tourist hub as we were constantly being called out to & being coaxed into stores, with store owners seemingly desperate for our money. There was an abundance of beautiful traditional clothes though, but also lots of tacky tourist stuff.

The Beach was stunning, What you would expect I guess, Palm Trees, White Sand, Crystal Clear waters, it was breathtaking. It was sunny, but a little too cold to swim.

Once our time was up, we were again into the taxi to get back, and re-herded onto the boat for an evening of over indulgence. We drank less cocktails in the evening, as we had learnt from the morning. But definitely got our money’s worth. But we did lap up the buffet dinner. We played Wii, Chilled out on the Deck, and just generally wandered the boat.

We were fascinated by the whole aspect of having a time limit on what we were doing. Only having that time and then in groups being rushed back made us very very thankful we haven’t booked any tours or so forth. It is far too rushed, and because you rush to do it, I found we even finished kinda early because we were checking boxes as opposed to relaxing & taking it all in. Definitely was not my kind of travel.

The customs line to get back into the country was torture once we docked. We waited at least 45min for clearance to disembark and a further hour easily in queues to get to the customs officer. When we came into the country they asked if we were leaving & coming back and we answered no as at the time this was not planned, so we weren’t advised to constantly carry our Visa Waiver Forms, which caused a bit of a hassle. Apparently they shouldn’t have even let us on the boat without them. We thought the stamps in our passports were enough, evidently not. Was indeed a lesson well learnt. It’s probably something well known for regular travelers, but for any soon first timers. Carry it. Cranky customs are not nice. So all in all, it was a long day. We woke at 5.30am and got home well after 12…and had to get up early this morning to catch a bus, so we’re tired.

Although it may seem I have run it down in the post we had an amazing time, everything was in excess and as backpackers we don’t get to do that very often so it was lovely for many reasons. It I highly recommended to anyone wanting to do one, but I would probably prefer to stay for a day or two in the middle to not feel so pressured.


Great Day.
Hope everyone is well

Cheers
Mel xxx

Miami Beach

So Far, it's a big call, but Florida is my favourite state. Whether that's because it's a welcome relief from the cold, or reminds me a touch of home, I'm not sure. But I love it here!!

Orlando/ Disneyworld was crazy...but Miami Beach has touched me, I would live here.

The beach itself is beautiful. In colour and appearance, it's like a really long Scarborough Beach. Covered with seats & umbrella's as all the resorts are just behind the boardwalk, and these are provided for guests. It's pretty much a pamphlet for the perfect beach vacation.

I think it's a mix of the palm tree's, the water and the lifestyle. We stayed up at Miami Beach in a bit of a shitty hotel. It was the most expensive accommodation we have had since we've been here, and were a little pissed off about that, but every time we walked out & in 2 minutes were at the beach. Every penny was worth it.

We woke up in the morning and went for a jog along the boardwalk, surrounded by palm trees and with the beautiful pools at the resorts on one side & the beach on the other. It actually gave me the motivation to jog...so I guess no more needs to be said!

We also ventured down to South Beach, the more populated area, and this is where alot of the culture comes into it. South Beach is the most recognisable section of the beach. It has the Art Deco area, bars & restaurants all along the coast road, tattoo stores everywhere ( and yes we went into Miami Ink - kinda the same as LA, no-one there of course) There is Cuban food everywhere, and everyone smokes Cuban Cigars. Shopping was heaps of fun too. There is lot of trashy stuff, and alot of really expensive stuff, but I got a nice maxi-dress and a cute short one from a Vintage store.

We went down just after Superbowl weekend so just missed a free concert with Rihanna, and a few other structures were being pulled down on the beach too - so you have to love the way it's utilized. looked like it may have been fun...Even with Rihanna. haha


The whole Miami beach area is extremely multicultural too, up near where we were there was a strong Jewish Presence, and as I mentioned, very Cuban/South American influence as well.

Anyway it was the kind of place you would vacation to - and never want to leave.

Since Miami Beach, we stayed in Downtown for a few days as well. A little different and a bit more urban, but near the water still incredible, markets and yachts/cruise ships everywhere We spent lots of time here dreaming of being rich...then eating Noodles & Mac and Cheese.

That's my Rant over. We are now in Ft Lauderdale, Enjoyed a lovely home cooked Valentine's dinner, and head on our Bahamas cruise in 2 days.

Very Happy, hope all is well at home
xxx

Disneyworld!

Was amazing...

We are big kids. Thats all there is to it really, and for the day, this is what we got to be. We had a free shuttle from our Motel - so we were up & ready to go at 7.30am ( this is early for us bums in holiday mode) I grabbed a coffee & we got on the bus. I know earlier I had mentioned how insanely big it is, but I need to again. It is ridiculous. The fact that the parks are as big as they are, and that there are so many onsite, as well as golf courses, resorts, downtown disney,etc means that Disney has it's own transport system inside the gates. To get to your chosen park you can catch one of the the monorails, or a bus, or a ferry - it's insane.

We caught the monorail, and our chosen park was Magic Kingdom. Many say that Epcot is the best park, and I don't doubt it. It is the biggest, and has the biggest Fireworks show, but half of it is based on Emulating major cities in the world ( and we are hoping to do the real thing instead0 and also, it's not really THE Disney dream I had as a kid. I wanted Cinderellas castle!
Magic Kingdom itself has 7 themed areas inside.
•Main Street, U.S.A.® area
•Adventureland® area
•Frontierland® area
•Liberty Square
•Fantasyland® area
•Mickey's Toontown® Fair area
•Tomorrowland® area

Main street USA is the first bit as you walk in, we kinda ran past that at the start and headed to the castle, but came back later & had a killer ice Cream Sundae. I ordered it with chocolate Mickey Ears!

Adventureland was heaps cool, it has the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, and is all jungle like. We climbed & played in a mass treehouse, and unwittingly went into the Pirates ride not knowing what it even was. The Jack Sparrow "things" were so realisic they were freaking me out - I didn't know if they were actors or robots, they blinked & were just really well put together.. Of course, it was all mechanical. We shit bricks for a sec thinking it was going to drop when it went pitch black, but it didnt, and I was a bit bummed.

Tomorrowland was probably one of the favourites. Although Space Mountain was closed due to technical difficulties ( boooo) there was heaps of other stuff to do. I was facinated bu the fact that some of the rides don't stop. When you get out you step onto moving platforms that go along with it, and then it keeps going & the next people jump in. Spose it's smart was just something interesting I thought. In tomorrowland we shot at Aliens in The Buzz Ride, Giggled at Benny on the big screeen in monsters inc, and rose on some spaceships.

I wont go into detail about everything we did, but other highlights include:
PhilharMagic - this was a 3D show that was just real cool. References were from Fantasia, Aladdin, Bauty & the Beast, The Little Mermaid. Classics. It was great
The Street Party - It's super lame, but it's a street pary...and we boogied. However reluctantly at first.
Tom Sawyer Island - Here I got to unleash my inner tomboy, we explored caves & jumped across rickets bridges. It was dirty fun kid stuff.

The Stores - It's so basic but running through checking out all the merch & trying on silly hats was fuuuun.

and of course
The Fireworks show to top it all aff was magical.

The whole day was great fun, and we managed to do it only spending $20 on food & Drink ( and maybe a massive sundae)

Next to the Country Bear Jamboree theres a cafe that sells your regular burgers etc. But they have a condiments section thats free ( once you have purchased somehting of course) Lettuce, Tomato, Grilled Onions & Mushrooms, Salad Dressings, Sauce, Nacho Cheese...

Originally for lunch we bought a burger. But there was easily enough food once we made an additional Salad for the both of us. So for Dinner we bought Chips for $2.50 - and proceeded to make massive salads & some lord of the Fries style chips to accompany. possibly the best way of saving money at Disney on food.

Another way we tried to save a bit was buy purchasing resell tickets at one of the many stands along the US192. IF you are going to do this, make sure that you get hem from one who Guarentee's them. Ours did and they still didnt work...So we had to but tickets at the gate, but luckily as they were guarenteed, we got our money refunded.

Those ae just my mony saing tips, but to be honest I would love love to do it & not care about it. We got caught up in Disney fever.

From the second I walked in to possibly a couple of days later everything just seems kinda magical. Romantic, Dreamy, and that everything has a happy ending. It's a great buzz, and one of my highlights of the whole trip.

I'd love to come back one day - r just do it at one of the others, it was awesome.

oh & I had "It's a small world after all" in my head for days....
oh shit... Here we go again



Much Love!
xxx

Road Trip #2

Hello...

we haven't updated as we have been on a bit of a road trip. It's been a trying few days thats for sure, and we are under more scrutiny than before to save, but we are happy, safe, and enjoying the challenge.

The trip began with moving, whilst still in Nashville. We changed hotels, purely because we needed to be close to the airport so we could pick up our car in the morning. so on to the busses with our backpacks we went. It's always an experience, as there's really no room for them and like in LA, this bus was packed, so we were sardines, with bags the same size as us.

That night we went to WWE Raw. Its was sooo much fun. There were massive lines, and we had half decent seats, but the amusement factor was brilliant. Even Ben had fun. We spent half the night picking on people and the other predicting the predictable. We hit jackpot on the night we went though...William Shatner & Bret Hart. Gold! - check this out!



The next morning we went to pick up the car. Incase you didnt catch my mini rant on Facebook, we got screwed. Last time we picked up a car we had a $100 one way drop off fee, that was all on top of our booking, and we expected that. This time, we were travelling less, and booked though the same voucher company, only to get there and them charge us an additional $440USD in additional fee's. And as they were busy the airport had no other options, we just had to cop it. Burn! thats pretty much 44 meals for us, or 10nights accommodation. We are trying very hard to make this up at the moment. On the other hand, we have a sweet ride!

So after the drama, we drove to Atlanta and had a look around the Olympic memorabilia. We were only there for one night. The city seemed quite cool, but we didn't have very long to check it out.

Next Stop, Lenox. About half way between Orlando & Atlanta. Funny, funny town. tiny. No real supermarket, 4 churches & no pub... our "free continental breakfast" was these not so nice sugared doughnuts, and their Free Wi-fi was not working either. Bit of a bummer, but cheap...so we were happy.

Today we have happily arrived in Orlando, Florida. I love it here. We went via Jacksonville & Daytona Beach ( caught a quick look at the Speedway - It's huuuuge) and accidently got lost in the wonder of Disneyworlds freeways whilst trying to find our hotel. So it's still 17C at 10at night, it's humid, warm & everything is designed for fun. We have a carnival up the road! ( but saving pennies for Disneyworld) and are NOT shelling out on an all you can eat buffet tomorrow. We are going but It's $5.99 and buy one get one free!

Looking forward to everything Florida. We are both really happy...but being in the sun will do that to you!

Hope everyone's well at home.Feel free to email us & have chats!
Oh & issues with Pics again. Crappy internet torments us, we will try to edit later.

Much love
xxx