Back 2 life.....Back 2 reality.....

Hello, for this blog's final time web friends.

I arrived home earlier today. I woke up as we landed, but when I looked out the window it was unmistakably Scotland: Cloudy and grey.

Give me San Francisco back, please!

I've now uploaded my pictures from the parts of my trip that I was unable to at the time (most of it).

Enjoy!

Miguel

If you're going to San Francisco.....

.....don't wear a flower in your hair if you're a boy. The locals get entirely the wrong idea. More on this later, maybe.

Hola!

Since I last blogged I've done a few things here in San Fran. Happily, the weather's brightened up a bit, so it's now sunny pretty much all day, although it's still cold. It's made me get all emotional and nostalgic for home. I leave here tomorrow (Wednesday) morning though, so I'll be back in the tropical climbs of Porty soon enough.

But anyway, back to the things I've done. I 've been to Alcatraz, which was good, as it's a key touristy attraction. When you get there though, once you've seen one jail cell you've kinda seen them all. Still, as I say, a good touristy thing to do. I've also cycled over the Golden Gate Bridge, which was quite satisfying, albeit hard, but again, worth it. I've also been on a cable car, hung with the hippies in Haight's Ashbury, and been harassed by the millions of homeless people. All of these thing are boxes that need to be ticked when you come to San Fran, and being chatted up by an old guy in a bar completed the set! Eurgh!!!

I must admit though, I feel as if I've stayed too long in San Francisco. The last couple of days I've been kind of lazy, as I've pretty much seen everything I wanted to see, and there's only so much clam chowder one can eat (although it is the business). Maybe if I'd left a few days ago and went somewhere else I'd still have what the French call "I don't know what"? (Sorry, I watched Austin Powers last night) But life's full of 'what ifs' I suppose, so what the hell. It's given me time to plan my next grand adventures: I'm thinking Spain for some tomato fun in August, and then the world!!!!

Until next time, take care mis amigos

See y'all soon
Miguel

It doesn't rain in Southern California.....

..............But I got soaked in the north.

Hello again friends!

With a heavy heart I waved goodbye to my Vegas wife LaShonda, and set off for the promised land of California, where I was led to believe the sun always shone. How wrong I was.

I arrived in San Francisco a few days ago, and was immediately struck by how cold it is! It's like being back home! After 3 weeks of being in really hot places, it was quite a shock to the system. Also, the airport here sticks out into the water, and so when we were descending in the plane it looked like we were crashing into the sea. Obviously I knew that we wouldn't be, otherwise there would be far more panic on board, but still, until the last moment I could only see water out both sets of windows. Fuuuun! It's also very foggy.

I few days ago I went to Yosemite National Park for a couple of nights. As soon as you get out of San Fran and into the valleys, the sun comes back. It's like the city's in some kind of weather vortex. Yosemite was great: we went for a mountain bike ride and a swim in the river on the first day, and then a hike on the second day up into the mountains. Unfortunately, it chose this day as the one-day-per-month that it rains, and so I got soaked (we were assured it'd be hot and to not pack much). Also, when we got to our second hike of the day (the one with the best views), it was a pea-soup-mist situation, so couldn't see anything. Still, we went on a different trail, and it was well worth it, with some really cool photos. America is generally much bigger on scale than back home, but the mountains in Yosemite were huge!

I didn't see any bears, which would have been cool, but I mustn't grumble, as it was a great experience.

My time here is drawing to its inevitable end, so I reckon I'll only get one more entry on here. Still, it'll be nice to see you all when I get home, if only to bore you with my tales and photos!

Cheerio for now

Viva Las Vegas!

Hola compadres!

Las Vegas was an experience. As soon as you get off the plane, the first thing you see are fruit machines. Was left in no doubt that I was here to lose money.

I stayed in the Luxor, which is a pyramid, complete with sphinx outside. If that sounds bizarre, next door was a medieval castle and just over the road from that was a miniature New York. Very odd. Most of the hotels look really amazing, but I thought that Excalibur (the castle next door) looked a bit plastic-y. It's hard to describe in words what Vegas looks like, so I'll not bother and just show you the photos.

Unfortunately I developed some rather large and painful cuts on my feet and so general walking was pretty hard. I went up the Strip on my first day and took all the photos I was after, and then retired to lie beside the pool for the next few days. It was very hot; about 100 degrees in the fahrenheit, which I believe translates to 'pretty bloody hot' in celsius.

The main reason I wanted to go to Vegas was to see the Beatles musical 'Love' by the Cirque de Soleil. In testament to my planning skills, on the three nights I'd booked to stay it wasn't on. So, I stayed for an extra night and saw it, and it was sooooo worth it. I reckon I'm a reasonably learned type, but despite my university degree I still think that swear words can be the best desciptive words, but out of respect for my mum and dad who'll read this, I'll just say it was 'flipping' fantastic. It really, really was.

Overall, Vegas was an experience that I'm pleased I've done and seen, but I couldn't really spend any more time there. It's just a bit much. Oh, and it's true when they say that gambling is a mugs game, but there are plenty of mugs in Vegas (me included).

Georgia on my mind..

Hola, y buenos dias/tardes/noches mis amigos! (depending on when you're reading this)
I've travelled about 2000 miles since my last post, and am currently sitting in my room in Las Vegas, writing this. I've not had a chance to update my blog since Miami (which feels like a longtime ago now). A thousand apologies for this. I shall now attempt to recall and recap my last 11 days.... Here are my newly uploaded pictures, of which there are many, many more.

Anyways.... after my mammoth 17 hour bus journey to Hotlanta (as I believe none of the locals call it), I met Rachel, which was nice. Disappointingly, we had less time together than planned, as she had a Rotary Club presentation to give. Still, it was really good to see her again (although she'll be home before I am) After a definite lack of culture in Miami, we went to an exhibition, which was surprisingly good.
My main purpose in the ATL (as some locals do call it), was to see her, and so with my spare days I went to Savannah, about 4 1/2 hours east. I'd heard it was nice, and wasn't disappointed - it was old, and very picturesque, and generally nice to be out of a city.
When I came back to Atlanta (as most locals call it), I went to a baseball game (long, very hot, and not as exciting as the highlights on TV would have you believe) and the CNN centre (out of defference to my uni training)

While I was over, a main objective was to

watch the Champions League Final as

Liverpool were in it. Alas, we lost, but

my faith in life was re-established

in a watering hole, as shown here:

Georgia has also started my 'crime-in-America-count'; there was a carjacking in Atlanta, just over the road from my hostel (it wasn't ina particularly nice area), where, incidentally I had been standing about 15 minutes prior (nice!) In Savannah I was apprehended by the police for the crime against humanity known as jaywalking, and got told off. Then, I went to a bar and saw a rubbish thief steal a girls purse (and then spend his loot at the bar - surely it would have been a better idea to just leave and make his getaway!?) Finally, as I was lying in bed the next night, I heard alot of shouting outside, and then 2 gunshots (again, I wasn't staying in a nice part of town) Needless to say, I lay flat on my bed and hoped that the bad men would go away. They did. It all adds up to make the rich tapestry of my American adventure!

More Miami fun

Hola!

It's soooo hot outside, and as I'm still feeling a bit tender in the sun, I'm in the internet cafe as it's nice and air conditioned.

Went to the Everglades this morning, as the photo here attests. (I went and got a new camera yesterday following my issues with my old one. It be shiny and new) It was really good, and I had the whole alligator experience; I saw many, then held one (below), and then ate one! Tasted good! That's a real one behind my btw, I'm truly fearless!

I read in 'Made In America' (cheers guys), that the phrase "paint the town red" is an Americanism. In honour of this, that is what I plan to do ce soir. I shall take my nice new camera and take many pics.

I'm off to Georgia tomorrow, so shan't be around for the next couple of days I expect. Until next time friends, take care.

Buenvenidos a Miami

Hola, once more mes amigos. I've taken this oppertunity to add some more Miami-chat, as it's chucking it down outside. It's approaching hurricane season, so I think the storms just get worse over the next month or so. It's just like being at home, except the rain's warm, and it only rains for about an hour or so a day. Fortunately, I leave at the weekend, so will miss any big storms.

Yesterday at the beach I got quite remarkably burnt, so I'm planning on taking it easy over the next few days, and avoiding too much sun. I think I'm going to go to the Everglades tomorrow; I may hold an alligator!

As a result of my lobster-red 'tan', I didn't really feel like staying out too late last night, although I did go for a couple of beers on Ocean Drive. There's a cannonball run style race in the next few days, so there were (even more) fast looking cars. I did try to take pictures, but my camera is now officially goosed, which, combined with my shakey hands, mean I didn't get any good shots. I shall try to rectify this today. In the meantime, above is the one decent shot I took at our pre-club drinks. Good (if a little burnt) times!