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Mon, 30 May 2005 09:25:00 GMT http://www.paintaylott.com/newsletter-archive.php?n=26 Issue 6 – Arrival in Philadelphia

Hello and welcome to the 6th issue of my newsletter. Currently located in a hostel on South Beach Miami, I’ve finally found a quirky Internet café in the front room of someone’s house! At $3 per hour it’s not too expensive either. Anyhow, before I let you eager people read my updates, I’ll point out to you now that Joe and I are about to embark on a 25-day trek that takes us from Miami to San Francisco. Hasten to add, I have no idea as to the next time I will be able to reply to emails or make updates as Internet access and time will be limited…so watch this space!


April 22nd 2005 - New York to Philadelphia

We woke today with the knowledge that we were leaving New York. It was quite strange as I felt I had become used to my surroundings and had fallen into a comfort zone. But as they say, all good things come to an end and it was time to move on to bigger and better things. At around lunchtime, we caught a yellow cab to New York’s main bus station. The 3 of us taking a cab was slightly cheaper than each of us paying separately for the metro, plus we didn’t have to walk so far with our heavy bags! On arriving at the station, Joe and I presented our 45-day Greyhound Bus passes and I.D. to the bus driver and we boarded with no problems. Paul bought a separate ticket. This was our first experience of the Greyhound transport network out of a predicted 6000 miles, as we would eventually make our way up through Canada and down to Miami. It has be said that the Greyhounds attract a certain clientele ranging from the drunks and homeless to travelers and those who missed either flight or train connections and had no other choice! Our trip to Philadelphia wasn’t too bad though, mainly because it was a daytime short 2-hour transfer. However, there was one incident where some American guy forcefully reclined his chair back onto Paul’s knees and then had the nerve to have a go at Paul because his knees were sticking in his back.

We arrived in Philadelphia shortly before 4pm where we quickly made our way (9 blocks on foot) to the Bank Street Hostel. We had to hang around to 4:30pm for it to open as we later found out that it had a curfew between 10:30am and 4:30pm where all residence had to leave the building for cleaning purposes. There was also a midnight weekday curfew and 1am curfew for weekends where the front door would be locked and we wouldn’t be allowed in for the night. On entering the hostel I think we were all pleasantly surprised. It was clean, tidy and affordable. There was even a free pool table and large comfy seating area where at 9pm every night a different movie would be played – pretty cool and relaxing. The guy that helped run the place was friendly too. He even let us borrow his laptop and use the wireless Internet free of charge from time to time.

Hungry from our journey, another traveler recommended a quaint authentic bar come restaurant located just around the corner from the hostel. We couldn’t resist trying the world famous Philadelphia CheeseSteak - a sandwich made up of wafer thin roast beef topped with melted cheese and various other toppings in a foot long baguette optionally served with fries and a cold beer. It was gorgeous – a definite recommendation if you happen to be in the area. Although don’t do what we did and run away with tails between out legs as we left a measly $3 tip comprised of far too many coins! We then walked off our meal by exploring the waterfront. On returning to the hostel we were just in time for movie night. We watched the movie "Office Space” which I think sets out to show a satirical view of the problems incorporated in multinational companies.


April 23rd 2005 – Philadelphia

The male dorm we stayed in had 25 beds; hasten to say we probably didn’t get the best nights sleep, as there was quite a lot of noise inside the room and from a club directly opposite. There were also only 3 showers on our floor and a 10:30am curfew, so we got up at around 9:30am to make sure we would be out in time. Joe and I encountered our first hostile traveler in this dorm. The funny thing was that I had already annoyed this guy by waking him up as I unzipped and zipped my bag getting fresh clothes, my towel and wash bag. Once showered and dress, I woke Joe and unfortunately he went and did the same thing not knowing that I had already aggravated the situation. On leaving the dorm all I heard was a lot of shouting and cursing from the guy as he pointed at Joes bag and proceeded to kick it. For the rest of the time at the hostel we tried to keep out of his way although we were tempted to leave a spare pair of earplugs on his pillow for the next night!

On stepping out of the hostel and walking a few blocks, my first impressions of Philadelphia was that it gave the impression of being a relaxing place. Definitely more laid back than what we had become used to New York – a nice welcome break. As Joe pointed out, the streets were in good condition with grass and trees separating the pavements from the streets. It was beginning to feel a little like home. The whole place had a colonial feel and was steeped in history. The streets were clearly marked for visitors to follow historic trails and learn about the last 200 years of America’s history. We went to the visitors’ center first to pick up some free tickets for a tour of the Independence Hall and Liberty Bell. Luckily Joe remembered a lot of the facts from the tour. The hall itself was where they signed the Declaration of Independence and a draft of the US Constitution of Rights. The tour guide was pretty amusing and very loud in his delivery and presentation. He gave a fair portrayal of historic events providing a non-biased option when it came to discussing British involvement, at the end of the day the disputes were over taxes so nothing really changes there. Seeing the actual Liberty Bell with its world famous crack was pretty cool. It now sits in its own room providing a great photo opportunity.

In the afternoon we visited Philadelphia’s Natural History Museum. We managed to a get a dollar discount by showing our student I.D. – it’s always worth asking. The museum itself had a huge selection of dinosaur exhibits as well as an area where we could touch a snake and hold live bugs. It passed a few hours and was enjoyable.

Back at the hostel we made some new friends one of which has become a contact for when we arrive in Nepal – always useful when you can’t speak the language. We then played a few games of pool and cards before bed.


April 24th 2005 - Philadelphia

The weather in Philadelphia has been changeable with a mixture of rain and sun. Today it was cold, dry with patchy cloud. We headed off early to the Museum of Art as they were holding a Dali exhibition but more importantly the steps leading up to the museum were featured in the Rocky film with Sylvester Stallone. When we got to the base of steps we were already humming the Rocky theme tune. Then Joe and I ran up the steps in true tourist style although our performance was out classed by what had to be 3 other British lads. They had gone the whole way by buying super large comedy boxing gloves, a huge American top hat and American flag boxer shorts. Without wearing their shirts they repeatedly ran up and down the steps, in the freezing cold, whilst their mates filmed them. On the top platform, we found marked in a concrete slab an engraving and the actual footsteps where Rocky stood which were pretty cool.

With the Dali exhibition sold out, we happened to meet up with this guy from our hostel. We decided to visit the Rodin Museum. The museum located at the Benjamin Franklin Parkway boasts the largest collection of the artist's works outside France. In 1923 Philadelphia's Jules E. Mastbaum started collecting works of Auguste Rodin. In less than four years, he had amassed 124 sculptures.

Auguste Rodin is best known for his realistic, dramatic sculptures, most in bronze or marble. But he also made many paintings and sketches.

The most famous of Rodin's works, the Thinker, can be seen outside the museum, in the front yard. (See my photography section to see a close up pic!) It was modeled between 1880 and 1882. What I found to be most impressive was passing through the Gates of Hell as we entered the museum. The massive 18ft high bronze doors were created for the Museum of Decorative Arts. Rodin worked on the sculpted doors with more than 100 figures from 1880 until his death in 1917. Several of his works are actually studies made for these doors, the famous 'Thinker' being one of them.

Once inside the museum, we were presented with several rooms with many more of the artist's works on display, including the Kiss (1886) and Eternal Springtime (1884). All in all, I think we were all really impressed by his work especially after we had watched a video showing the casting process of his bronze works.

After the Rodin sculptures we paid a visit to the Benjamin Franklin Museum. The museum featured an exhibit on the life of Benjamin Franklin, a walk-through heart, historic aircraft, an Imax theater, and planetarium. Not impressed by the entry price we decided to opt only for the iMAX theatre ticket but we had a 2hr wait before our show. So, a few Ben Franklin statue photos later, we found ourselves at what we thought was a cafe and gift shop. We took a few steps inwards only to find ourselves in the museum amongst the exhibits themselves. Not sure wether to stay or go, our money saving view urged us to stay. We spent the next few hours playing with the hands on exhibits, walking through a mock up heart and watching an employee di-sect a sheep's heart in front of kids as young as 3yrs! This was really interesting as I doubt it would ever happen at home! The iMAX theatre movie was pretty weird as it wasn't 3D as expected, but it was projected inside a huge dome like structure providing an uninterrupted view.

Later that evening we ate out at an 1950's style diner called Johnny Rockets. Eveything from the chrome and red leather eating boothes to the staff uniform and juke boxes on the tables was inkeeping with the era. They even supplied the dime coins to operate the duke boxes once we had sat down. We all had the must have burger, fries and the best milkshake known to man - the Oreo cookies and cream shake. I've never tasted a drink as good as this in my life full stop! All in all it was a fab evening and we had a lot of fun. After the meal, we headed back to the hostel to pack our bags and prepare for the nightmare 18 hour overnight Greyhound trip from Philly to Chicago.

Final thoughts for Philadelphia...

I really enjoyed my time in Philly. It's a pleasant historic city with lots to offer to the traveler. Everything was clean and tidy and the people were friendly and relaxed - I definately would have liked to have spent more time here!

Until the next update,

Regards Pete.
Mon, 30 May 2005 09:09:55 GMT http://www.paintaylott.com/newsletter-archive.php?n=25 Issue 5 - Final days in NYC

As you have probably noticed, I am slightly behind with my newsletter updates! Personally, I put this down to the lack of affordable Internet access here in the States, but if the truth be known, it probably has more to do with the amazing time that we are all having. So, rather than write a marathon long update, covering my day to day activities over the past 25 days, I have decided that maybe after this final NYC update, to group the events that happen under city headings as opposed to individual dates. Hopefully that way some of you may actually be able to finish reading what I have to say in your lunch hours! Just so that we’re all up to speed, I’m currently in Raleigh (North Carolina) having completed my visits to Washington DC, Boston, Montreal, Niagara, Toronto, Chicago, Philadelphia and New York. Savannah is our next stop leaving in a couple of hours on 16/05/2006.

So, on with the updates...

April 19th 2005 (NYC)

We woke today to find NYC under a hazy orange cloud composed of a mixture of smog, dust and dirt still lingering in the warm air from the previous night of work carried out on the city roads. Unlike at home, where they sensibly close a road for resurfacing and put up diversions, in New York, they use a machine the size of 4 garbage lorries that literary slices and crumbles away the top 3 inches of the tarmac leaving behind a right mess. Then, before the job is finished, cars, cabs, lorries are allowed to use the road throwing up an array of dirt in the air! At times I was finding it difficult to see and breath. Anyhow, Joe and I found a local supermarket and bought ourselves some dirt covered fruit for breakfast which made a nice change from the bagels and croissants.

Early in the afternoon, we set off for Downtown, where we passed St Paul's Chapel - the oldest building still standing in Manhattan. It was a small building but demonstrated a lot of detail in its architecture. Positioned among the high rises it did look a little peculiar. The chapel was heavily used after the 9/11 attacks where people left donations of food, water and clothing. Fireman and volunteers sought a safe place of refuge here between searching for survivors - it was all very moving. Continuing through downtown, we visited Trinity Church. Compared with St Paul’s Chapel, this church was grand in its design.

Wall Street was next on our agenda where we saw the New York Stock Exchange (which we couldn‘t get into because of all the security). This area of the city was unlike other areas we had visited. Wall Street itself was extremely narrow. We then headed towards the Staten Island Ferry where we took the free crossing and managed to get some amazing pictures of a perfect sunset behind the statue of liberty <a href="http://www.paintaylott.com/view-photography-item.php?itemid=284">(click here)</a>. I definitely recommend this free ferry even if you don’t set foot on the island as the views of downtown Manhattan, Liberty and Ellis island are just spectacular. After landing back at battery park, we headed back towards our hostel in Chelsea. We traced our steps back through the financial district where we found the bronze bull sculpture near Wall Street. Joe, Paul and I all took turns at holding the bulls balls which supposedly brings good luck! It took almost 2 hours to walk back to the hostel where the warm weather had really brought the city to life. All the restaurants and bars had fully opened their shop fronts with people spilling over onto the side walks.


April 20th 2005 (NYC)

Today was our first chilled day in NYC, which was really nice as we were able to reflect on the previous weeks activities. At around lunchtime, we made our way to Easyinternet to make a few website updates, and to check out clubs and bars in the Chelsea area. We decided that because we hadn’t overspent too badly that we would have a night out. At around 11pm we took a couple of yellow cabs and eventually found a club that had been recommended to us by <a href="http://www.clubplanet.com">www.clubplanet.com</a>. A guy called Greg joined us from the hostel as he had nothing better to do. On arriving at the club, we were a bit disappointed to find we had picked lesbian night! We still went in as there was no cover charge and bought ourselves a beer or two. Sitting in the corner downstairs we were soon in stitches of laughter as one of the ladies interrupted a certain camp acting DJ requesting he play a different track. Right there and then, the DJ stopped playing the record and he started having a huge go at this girl who just stood there. The performance he gave was funny as you like! We soon left and after another cab ride found ourselves at a bar open until 4am. All in all, the nights activities were amusing to say the least, but what we learnt was that you really need to know what’s going on music wise and have plenty of money too.


April 21st 2005 (NYC)

Today was our second to last day in NYC. We all chilled out again and I backed up some of my photos onto CDs at the local Kino’s store. Joe and I looked for souvenirs to send home and wrote some postcards. In the evening we just played cards with some fellow English travelers we had met that day called Vicky, Joe and Bill. We swapped emails as you do and it would be nice to stay in touch.


General comments about NYC

We leave for Philadelphia tomorrow (22/04/2005) after an amazing 11 days in NYC. As a quick summary, my personal feelings about the city is that it can be expensive (although we survived on about 20 GBP per day including accommodation). Otherwise, it sure is brash, bright, loud, diverse and multi cultured. Would I come back? Maybe not to settle down but I would definitely return when I have the money to live and experience the city from a different angle where budget wasn’t a major factor!

For those of you that are new to my newsletter, feel free to click the link below where you will be taken to my newsletter archive.
<a href="http://www.paintaylott.com/newsletter-archive.php">Newsletter Archive</a>

Until next time (hopefully not too long as I still have 20+ days to write up!).

Pete Tue, 17 May 2005 00:00:00 GMT http://www.paintaylott.com/newsletter-archive.php?n=24 "Back and feet are aching somewhat - Joe and I sat up last night and worked out that we've walked approx 70 miles YES 70 miles since we arrived in NY on the 11th April! - the weight is dropping off both of us which isn't a bad thing!"

April 15th 2005 - Change of Hostel

Up early today (8:30am) and went to Kinkos (they're recognising my face there now) to upload images of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I used my new card reader which worked a treat. Arriving back at the hostel for 10am both Joe and Paul were just about up. Just like the previous day we made our own breakfast and lunch although I'm seriously going off the taste of Bologny (machined cheap meat) and that rubber cheese you usually only bring out at BBQ's! We had to check out of our Chelsea hostel by 12 noon as there was no room for us - in my typical style, I left this to the last minute only to find I'd left no room for my black shoes and washbag! With some help form Joe and Paul and some additional squishing, we checked out just before 12 noon and collected our $10 key deposit.

We took the metro to 103rd street (30mins) in search on the YHA International Hostel. With over 600 beds this is the hostel recomended by all travel books. We arrived shortly before 1pm only to be told they were full! They were helpful in directing us to the nearby "Central Park Hostel" in upper Manhattan. First thoughts were not good. The area looked run down and it felt like we were in a ghetto! Feeling tied and with no where else to try, we checked in. It was $28 per night sharing a dorm with 8 people. The room and bathroom were dirty and dingy with very little natural light. It felt more like a doss house but I'm sure we'll come across worse over the next 12 months. Staying in our dorm was some old man who claimed he'd loved to come to NY for the weekends - strange how he never left the room whilst we were there! Also, there were 2 Japanese guys who didn't speak much english.

We left our new hostel (hopefully not for long) in search of an American Express so that Joe could exchange some of his sterling travellers cheques. (A word of warning here, if you're planning to come to the USA, don't bring sterling travellers cheques - nowhere will change them not even the banks only American Express specialists and even then they charge a commission. Both Paul and I have managed really well with dollar traveller cheques, they can even be used as cash in local supermarkets). Anyhow, we walked East to West across North Central Park which is really beatifull bye the way. It's really well landscaped with woodland paths, waterfalls, lakes and ponds it even has a zoo!

We must have walked over 50 blocks pass the Guggenheim (very impressive architecturally speaking building) and MET museums looking for an American Express for Joe. Eventually we found what we were looking for, Joe changed his money and we walked diagonally south to north (just under 4 miles) through central park. It was still pretty hot and sunny. The trees were in spring blosom and the joggers were out in force. They even have a rule that you have to jog clockwise around the central park resevoir. We did some people watching before finally returning to the hostel. We watched some TV, grabbed a subway chicken melt wrap for dinner and went in search of a recommended pub called the "Ding Dong"! Even though the pub name was a bit dodgy, tt was a lively joint with a lot of atmosphere. Walking back, we could really take in the feel of the area. There's no where near the levels of hustle and bustle in uppertown compared with midtown. As mentioned, the hostel and area definately had a ghetto feel and as Joe said it was amusing to see all the bling, especially the spinning alloys on the clapped out cars. It feels like something you would in an American MTV music video! This area was a definate eye opener to say the least. but we made a decision not to stay another night as it wasn't particuarly safe and there was more to see and do downtown.

April 16th 2005 - Empire State Building

Due to the lack of no natural night in our dorm, all three of us slept in late. We were woken by a cleaner at 11:35am. With just 25 mins to check out, we had no time for a shower (just as well considering the state of the bathroom!). I phoned the Chelsea International Hostel to see if they had space that night - they did but we would be split up. This was a small scarafice considering we would be living in comparative luxury. We took the metro back to Chelsea and settle back in to what would be home for the next 5 nights. We chillled all afternoon, played cards and had a late lunch consisting of bagels filled with Philidephia cheese. At around 5pm, we had decided to take a evening/night excursion up the Empire State Building. We had to queue for an hour but it was definately worth the wait. The building from the inside is stunning as it's full of authentic art deco interior design features. The lift ride up the first 80 floors was over in a flash but we had to queue again for another 20 mins to get the lift up the remainging 6 floors to the observatory level. The views over Manhattan, Queens, The Bronx, Brooklyn and New Jersey were just spectacular - have a look in my photography gallery to see what I saw on www.paintaylott.com. However, it was extremely cold and I was glad to be wearing 3 layers. After the Empire State, we walked to Times Square and bought a hot dog - it had to be done (just a ride in a yellow cab left on the list of novelty things to do!). We were back at the hostel at midnight although to cut down on noise, the hostel courtyard closed at 10pm and kitchen at 12midnight which was pretty annoying for socialising reasons.

April 17th 2005 - China Town

Up at 9:30am today and went straight to Macys (the worlds largest department store). Quite impressive as department stores go, but with limited funds there was no point staying here for too long. My bag is well and truely broken now with the harness flap zip completely buckelled. Went to Easyinternet to try and source NY backpack retailers. Took down a few addresses and made a few website updates. At around lunchtime we headed south towards downtown passing some of the backpack stores along the way. For those of you that know a little about backbacks the reality quickly hit that the concept of "side loaders" instead of "top loaders" is almost unheard of here in NY. The reality has dawned on me that I will have to have a new backpack shipped across from the UK. In the meantime, I plan on using a lot of safety pins and tape!

After a few more miles of walking, we happened across Canal Street just of Broadway. Suddenly we had entered China Town. I have never seen so many people on the streets in my life (except for New Years Eve in London that is!). There's wasn't a lot of choice in a direction to walk as you just had to move with the crowd. There were hundreds if not thousands of small souvenir shops packed in along the streets. The sites and smells were so different to anything we had experienced previously. Paul and I bought ourselves some Lo Mein (noodles) from a street vendor for $1! which tasted absolutely amazing. Much of the rest of the afternoon and evening was was spent site seeing and chilling.

April 18th 2005 - Brooklyn Bridge and the Yankees baseball game

It dawned on us today that we only had 5 days left in NY - where had the time gone? After a late breakfast we made our way to the Brooklyn Bridge. I gave my spiel to both Paul and Joe about how the bridge was built having watched that series in the UK (7 Modern Wonders of the World). As we walked across the bridge into Brooklyn there was a sudden scream of brakes and smashing sound, looking to our left, in true comedy style we saw a 3 car pile up in real time! If you ask me its their own fault for driving almost bumper to bumper at 40mph! The bridge itself is pretty spectacular. As Joe mentioned, it's pretty weird to think we're still using the same suspention type technology 100 years after the Brooklyn Bridge was built. There wasn't much to do in Brooklyn, so we took the metro back to the hostel, grabbed a bite to eat and headed out to the Bronx to the Yankee Stadium.

The NY Yankee baseball stadium was definately worth the visit. For just $16 we managed to get some seats high up behind the batter. Paul explained in detail how the game of baseball works, to a non-sporty person it sounded pretty cool. However, what he forgot to mention was that some games could last many hours. In our case, the Yankees were playing Tamper Bay and the game lasted for over 3 hours and was a bit dull at times. The interludes between team changes were amusing though. Along with standing to the American National Anthem, they had a huge screen which focused in on random people in the crowd pulling funny stunts and dancing away to the music played. They also played "God Bless America" which the crowd were urged to sing along to - it all felt well over the top, but all in all the eveing was a lot of fun. On returning from the game, Joe and I bought ourselves some true american food - a lovely Big Mac Meal! Still, we had resisted from temptation for almost a week which is good going seeing as we're in NY.

Until next time, all the best
Pete

www.paintaylott.com
p_aylott@hotmail.com

Wed, 20 Apr 2005 09:28:37 GMT http://www.paintaylott.com/newsletter-archive.php?n=23 "We have finally crumbled to the temptations of fast food! Joe and I bought ourselves a dirty MacDonnalds after returning from a Yankees baseball match on Monday 18th - see entry in next issue for more details."

April 13th 2005

Today we woke early (around 9am) and made our way to the NY Port Authority Bus Terminal so that Paul could buy his Greyhound bus tickets for NY to Phili (3 hr transfer) and then Phili to Chicago (17 hr overnight transfer). The latter journey should be quite interesting, doubt we'll get much sleep! But hey, at least we will save $30 for a nights accommodation!

With our stomachs rumbling, we strolled for 10 blocks before finding a nice little deli where we got an egg and bacon roll followed by the usual muffin (definately the best combo here to last us through to dinner!)Walking down 42nd street between 7th & 8th Avenue we found "EasyInternet". Just like all the other "Easy" brands (i.e. easyjet, easycruise etc) its very cheap here. For just $20 I bought a 14 day access pass which means I could hop on and off the net as much as I wanted. The only problem was that I couldn't upload images here and it's a 35-40min walk away from where we're staying at Chelsea. So anyway, on April 13th, I sent out my first paintaylott.com newsletter and all went well. Feeling slightly annoyed about the no picture upload facility at Easyinternet, we found a company called "Kinkos Copy Shop"!! Talk about a blatent rip off of Kenko Coffee Shop brand! For 35 cents a minute we could upload images here which we did.

Later that day, we walked through Times Square, It was just as busy during the daytime as it was at night. The noise, lights, people - everything and everyone is so brash. We grabbed a quick afternoon pint in Irish Bar (all bars here seem to be Irish) then continued to walk by the Empire State and Chrysler building, both of which were pretty awesome. We headed back to the hostel for around 5pm for free pizza, over 40 boxes arrived. Hoping there would be some left in the morning, we were sadly disappointed to find it had all been eaten (next week we're going to hide a couple of boxes in our dorm!). After 8-10miles of walking, we played some cards before I crashed out at 9pm. Joe and Paul went for an eveving walk to find a pub although Joe came back early.

April 14th 2005

Another sunny and beautiful morning. We've seen on TV that the temperatures are likely to hit 25-30 degrees celsius later in the week - can't wait! 1st up and showered, I made my way to local camera shop to purchase an SD card reader (this should allow me to post up images easier). I went to Kinkos and uploaded 5 photos - very impressed with the service. Returning to the hostel for 10am, all 3 of us went to the local supermarket where we bought bagels, buns and fillings for our breakfast and lunch. At $2.50 all in for both meals this was a real bargain. We've managed to cut our spending to around $38 a day which includes our accommodation at approx $30 a night. Apparently NYC will be our most expensive stop on this trip, with living costs in Thailland nearer $5 a day!

After breakfast we headed towards downtown NYC to catch a ferry to Liberty and Ellis Islands. On route we passed through Greenwich Village again which is so different from midtown where we're staying. There's more atmosphere, less highrises and more culture here. Continuing our walk we arrived in the financial district and happened across "Ground Zero" (former site of the twin towers). At first, I didn't quite know what to make of it. Whether it was just me, it felt earily quiet here. The expanse of space left after the terrorist attack is immense. However, the plans for the rebuild and memorial are second to none. There is a perimeter fence around the whole site with plaques and information boards posted periodically. We spent about 45mins here taking in all the information and remembering those who died. Close to where we were standing stood an original steel beam from one of the towers with a beam still intact forming the shape of a cross - is was all quite moving.

After Ground Zero, we continued our walk (or should I say 5 mile trek!) to Battery Park which was located on the lower tip of Manhattan Island. We all purchased a $10 ferry ticket to take us from Manhattan to Liberty Island and then onto Ellis Island. At the time of buying the ticket we stressed we wanted to go up into the statue of Liberty. We were assured 3 times this would be possible once on the island. Unfortunatey this was not the case as all the statue passes had been given out... HOW VERY VERY ANNOYING! Anyway, before arriving at Liberty Island we had to go through a strict security screen before boarding the ferry. Every attraction here is so secruity conscious after the sept 11th attacks. The ferry ride itself was fast but choppy. From the ferry we managed to capture some pretty cool shots of the Statue itself plus some amazing views looking back onto Manhattan. We joined a walking tour on liberty island and got told some interesting facts like how many pieces metal make up the statue, but I can't remember a thing now - typical!

Leaving Liberty Island we boarded a ferry (included in the ticket price) to Ellis Island. This is the island where all immigrants had to come through before being allowed to settle in NY. Lots of recent history here and they've done a grand job in restoring the registry building. There's even an original ferry used in the early 1900's half submerged under the water (although we couldn't see it).

We then took the ferry back to Manhattan and took a metro ($2) back to the hostel. I then attempted to mend my already broken backpack (beware of Karimoor although I probably had an unlucky main bag) and cooked the camp food work had given me - beef stew and veg followed by hot chocolate sponge pudding- lovely! We then went out for quick drink followed by a visit to "Dunkin Doughnuts" for an icecream sunday.

The next issue will follow shortly covering our adventures through Central Park, our trip up the Empire State Building, our walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and our evening out at the Yankees baseball game!

All the best,
Pete

For all photos please visit my website: www.paintaylott.com
email: p_aylott@hotmail.com Wed, 20 Apr 2005 07:24:12 GMT http://www.paintaylott.com/newsletter-archive.php?n=20 1 week in and still we have not eaten burgers, fries or fast food in general - we must be the most healthiest of travellers in NY!

April 12th 2005

The first night in the Chelsea International Hostel was great. I got a good nights sleep and had adjusted somewhat to the 5 hour time difference. We were introduced to our fellow traveller staying in our dorm as he returned at around 3am tripping over everything as he made his way to his bed! I think he is from either NZ or AUS, he said he had been here for a week but had not managed to get over the 14hr time diference - sleeps all day and stays out all night!

After grabbing a much wanted hot shower, we left the hostel at around 10am in search of our next meal. We found a great little deli near the Empire State building which served a croisant filled with a ham, tomato and cheese omlette - should be enough calories in that to last the day! We felt pretty full, but still managed to find room for a cheeky triple choc muffin! We let the deli and walked to the Empire State. It was still just as impressive in the daytime as it was the night before. We walked back to the hostel for around 11:30am and planned our day.

We headed out towards Greenwich Village (downtown NYC) passing the river Hudson and views of New Jersey. Again, the weather is superb here with sunny skys and temperatures around 15 degrees celsius. We also got some distant views of the Statue of Liberty. Walking back, we took in another side of NY as we weaved our way through the back alleys, boutiques and eateries. We stopped for a rest at Washington Square Park, situated outside many of the NY University buildings. There were hundreds of students about - we sat for an hour and people watched.

We returned to the hostel after having walked all day covering about 4-5 miles. After chilling for a couple of hours we grabbed some chinese ($4) and sat down to chat with fellow travellers at the hostel. We soon made friends with an american called Joe(y) and 2 british girls Ruth and Becky. Joe(y) was pretty funny as he took the mick out of the English accent!

PS. I'm a few days behind with my journal, so if you want a sneak peak at some of the photos I've taken in my first week please click the Photography link in the main menu to the left and then select the "Architecture" series.

Until next time when I'll sum up the first week including our trip to the Statue of Liberty. Ellis Island, Central Park and our excursion up the Empire State - all the best,

Pete
p_aylott@hotmail.com Mon, 18 Apr 2005 05:20:30 GMT http://www.paintaylott.com/newsletter-archive.php?n=17 A huge hello to everyone from the Big Apple!

Firstly, welcome to the issue 1 of the paintaylott.com newsletter! I'd like to say a huge thanks for taking the time to browse my website and show an interest in my travels by registering to my newletter.

Just to let you all know we arrived in New York City safe and sound. On the morning of the big day, Joe (travelling companion) and I got up at 6am to finish packing our bags. It still hadn't dawned on us that we were actually leaving for 12 months but sure enough, the reality has now hit home! We left for Heathrow, terminal 4, at 9am and arrived shortly after 10:30am. After checking in we had a quick drink and bite to eat. Joe, Paul and I then said our goodbyes to family as we walked through to departures.

We flew with United Airlines to JFK in New York. The flight was 7hrs and was pretty relaxing. The time passed quickly as we watched a couple of films, played cards and had a couple of "power naps"! The food was pretty good and the crew and captain were typically American with jokey comments flying left, right and centre. It was pretty bizzare being able to listen in to all the communications between the captain and ground control through our headphones.

We landed at JFK just before 4pm local time (9pm UK time) and proceeded through the immegration checks. They asked me tonnes of questions but seemed content with my 12 travelling story (I think they we just jealous). After picking up our bags I was a little annoyed to find one of my zips had ripped but it was nothing a bit a tape woudn't fix. In arrivals we quickly started to find out the cheapest way to get to Manhatten. A taxi was $50, bus $15 and metro $7! So, in true backpacking style, the three of us loaded ourselves up and made our way to the metro. The weather at this point was fantastic and still is with blue skies, hot sunshine but cool evenings. Travelling by metro brought us close to our surroundings. Apart from a few stares everyone seemed pretty friendly. 40mins later we arrived at 20th Street, 8th Avenue at the Chelsea International Hostel (our home for the next 4 nights). At $28 per night, the room was clean and tidy and had everying we wanted including a private ensuit with shower. With 4 beds we quickly noticed another bag in one of the lockers so we knew we would expect company later on.

After a quick unpack, we left the hostel to explore the immediate surroundings. We headed north up 8th avenue and there was a real hustle and bustle. It was a little dissapointing not to see any "walk" and "dont-walk" signs across the cross-walks between blocks but I have been assured they do exist like in the movies.

Everything moves so fast here, the people, the taxis...everything! You have to have your witts about yourself. We grabbed a quick bite to eat from the sandwich shop "Subway" which filled an empty hole. As we continued to head north to Times Square, we passed the Empire State building in the distance to our right. It was semi illuminated in the dusk sky and just looked awesome. We then entered Times Square which at night is definately the visual cliche of NY.

Feeling like a welcome drink, we approach a couple of NYPD cops and asked for the nearest pub - they kindly pointed us in the right direction of a friendly Irish pub. At $6 a drink they were pretty pricey but definately worth it. We headed back to the hostel at 11pm having hopefully beat the jetlag. First thoughts of NY...fab, fast and hectic. Everythings a miss-match, there's little continuity with skyscrapers built directly next to single storey food markets - I absolutley love it!

It´s pretty weird being here but knowing we are only 7 hours from home makes it not too bad, although in a few months time it will be more like 24 hours from home!

I hope to have some photos for you in the next issue, but's its proving quite difficult to find places to upload them.

Until next time, all the best

Pete
www.paintaylott.com
PS If you want to personally email me you can use p_aylott@hotmail.com Wed, 13 Apr 2005 06:20:21 GMT