Archive for June, 2009

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The final curtain

28/06/2009

Oh man, what a day.

I got in from that gig (which was very good, the pic below is when Dr Dog was on stage) at about half 1 and then had patchy sleep at best as the new arrival in the bunk above appeared to be prone to some sort of weird epileptic whailing banshee fits in his sleep. Then I was awoken by my sister ringing at 06:15 and that was me then.

My sister was ringing because Claire was stood waiting for me (to take me to Lincolnshire to see how my scooter is behaving) a day early in Manchester Airport. There’s been a bit of a mix up you see, probably 75% my fault as well. This has caused all sorts of complications. The low road would be nice for once!

I went to check out of the hostel about 15 minutes late but there was no one there, so I just dumped the swipe card on their desk. Just as well really as there was a sign up saying “Late checkouts $5, no exceptions”, well there would have had to have been an exception this time round as I only have about 2 and a half bucks remaining (and that’s reserved for a bag of crisps and a bottle of water to last me until my in-flight supper late this evening). Swivel on that New York Loft Hostel.

Annonyingly, this is the only (or one of a couple at best) hostel I’ve stayed at that charges for bag storage for the day you check out, $3. This means I’m spending the day with my North Face Terra 60, that puts a different spin on my care free stroll down the Coney Island promenade. Especially when the weather is what could be described as, ‘el scorchio’.

I can’t wait to have a cash card again, it just causes loads of problems and much hard work without one. It will feel like a real luxury I think when I’ve a couple of the blighters in my wallet again.

I’m in a quandry now as I’ve located the ‘Flight of the Conchords’ apartment in Chinatown (though the address is different from the one I was given, seems to be a running theme of this trip!) but there are 3 grumpy looking Chinamen deep in discussion on the steps where I want to take my happy snaps. I don’t think they would be willing to shift and I doubt they’d understand me if I made the request anyway. Hmm, how long to wait? Well at least I’ve found an unprotected router in the area to leech wifi off in the meantime.

Bloody ‘ell, I reckon these lot are here for life, looks like I’ll have to leave without my pic. Hold on the chatty one has done one, 1 down and 2 to go. And another! Things are looking up, 1 paper reading mudda remaining. This guy is playing hard ball though, it’s like a ‘don’t get piles’ contest.

I give up, this bloke is going to get his sleeping bag out in a minute, he’s got a new mate too now. Story of my day. Chatty grumpster is even back now as well to swell the ranks to 3 once more. Not to be. After nearly 2 hours I’m off to Coney Island somewhat (ok very) disgruntled and with a bit of a sore bottom.

Now I wouldn’t say I’m a patient man but stubborn maybe, so I actually hung around another 10 minutes and to my delight everyone cleared off! I leapt up and asked a fellow mending his bike if he speaks English, I’m not sure why he answered yes as the conversation that followed was probably closer to Esperanto. Anyway I managed to reluctantly get him to agree to take the photo, he didn’t seem to know what was happening but a reasonable snap was the end result. Phew. Just in the nick of time too as the man with steel buttocks must have only nipped to the lav as normal service was resumed by the time I put my camera away. Phew.

Coney Island, that’s a freak show alright. I didn’t stay too long as I’ve no green to spend and a big bloody ruck-sack strapped on to me. I did do a bit of walking on the boardwalk though. The beach is quite nice, is full of people playing volleyball significantly better than me, Simon and the Bristol lads did. The rest of it though is the usual scummy seaside sort of thing.

There was a game called ‘shoot the freak’ which funnily enough caught my attention. Basically you pay for a certain amount of paint balls and then get to shoot them at a particularly unfreaky guy in a helmet holding a board in front of him about 50 metres away. Now if you had an unarmoured John Merrick doing cart-wheels a mere 10 metres away the queue would be round the block. Cruel these New Yorkers.

The only other thing that stood out was some very strange karaoke on the front. These extremely odd people were that horrificly bad that they wouldn’t be out of place in a Pop Idol outtakes show. Some of them would make good targets in shoot the freak ‘n all.

I think this would be a good point to unveil the inaugural Send The Bugger Back post trip review award ceremony extravaganza thingy. Here goes:

HIGH POINT OF TRIP: Vespa ride in Boston was up there, as was the beauty witnessed in Yosemite Park but the winner is going through the Lincoln Tunnel from New York to Jersey with The Sopranos theme music playing.

LOW POINT OF TRIP: Missing flight and cancelling cards in Vegas no question, the butterfly effect has been immense.

FAVOURITE CITY: There’s been quite a few I’ve liked; Boston, NY, Chicago and Portland are up there but the easy winner is San Francisco.

BEST TRAIN TRIP: I had fun on the Texas Eagle, it’s the Californian Zephyr all the way to Denver that gets the nod though.

BEST CAR: Volvo S60, not much competition really.

WORST LEG OF TRIP: That God awful 27 hour bus trip from DC to New Orleans. Shudder.

BEST HOSTEL: I seem to remember the one in Flagstaff ticked all the boxes but I had the most fun in the USA Hostel in San Fran so that shades it.

WORST HOSTEL: The Denver International, no contest. The gaff hasn’t been cleaned since the 70s.

BEST READER: I think Cousin Del takes the most improved player trophy home with him. He’s been a stalwart in the comments box all season, good on him.

Are there any other catergories I should introduce d’ya think?

So, that brings this leg of the journey and this chapter of the blog to a close. But fear not readers (or indeed fear so), I’ll be continuing my adventures across the channel on mainland Europe shortly, hopefully on the back of a Vespa. I’m hoping to leave 2 weeks tomorrow but it is dependent on sorting scooter, bills, bank stuff etc. so watch this space. There will be the odd update posted on my project planning progress and stuff like where I actually plan to go if you feel like dropping in during the next few weeks.

Thanks for coming, it’s been emotional. I’m off to try and grab a few hours pre pond crossing kip in JFK now. Good night and good luck.

Oh, one other thing; at the beginning of the trip I had a few English quid left in Manchester Airport so I bought a couple of scratch cards to get rid of it and then decided not to reveal their secrets until my return. Of course I lost them around 2 months ago. I could have been a contender. Cheerio.

PS Sorry about this but as I’ve not had a chance to upload this monster yet I’ll give you a flight update. I can’t sleep on planes as there’s just too much to do. In my first networked trivia I just broke the all time record apparently (well all time record for the flight anyway) and before that I watched ‘Gran Torino’ and ‘Taken’ and enjoyed both. Right now I’m watching ‘Milk’. Then there’s the nice food they keep shoveling down my throat. I can’t wait for the long-haul flight to Australasia. On the negative side by the time I get to Lincolnshire tonight I will have probably been up for around 36 hours.

Right, really going now. TTFN.

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To the 5 boroughs

27/06/2009

One of my ambitions on this trip was to witness a proper gig in the US of motherflippin’ A. Tonight I will kind of get the chance as I’ve been duly informed that there is another free outdoor thing on. I’ve been YouTubing 2 of the bands (Dr Dog and Phosphorence) and really like them both so I’m looking forward to it a lot now. Jurassic Park.

These mozzies are doing my nut in. I’m well over double figures for bites. That’s the problem with having blood this good, mini vampires forever after my plasma.

I spilt jelly (I mean jam) on my shorts before at breakfast. It was a mess, some peope may have even taken it for a dirty protest. No point using a washing machine with under 48 hours remaining though eh.

The best night’s sleep of my trip was probably had last night, I got over 8 hours which is a real rarity for me. So how come I feel more knackered than usual, how does that work?

The journey I’m on is not helping. I left at 11:00 and nearly 2 hours later there has been little progress made. The local Brooklyn L line near me is shut up with buses replacing it for the weekend so that took 3 times as long as normal. Now I’ve changed to the 4 line to go uptown to The Bronx and there are massive delays, we are getting no where fast. Not good.

If I hear the computer say “Ladies and gentlemen, we are delayed because of train traffic ahead of us, please be patient” one more time I’m going to track it down, open it up and then eat the CPU.

There it goes again. Ohh man that’s it, I’m taking that mudda down, down to Chinatown.

When I finally arrived I took a few snaps while doing a circuit round the new Yankee Stadium and glanced over at the old one (you can’t really get to it now) and that was my Bronx experience over. But just like Benjamin ‘Lefty’ Ruggiero, I can now say: In all 5 boroughs I’m known, forget about it. I’m known all over the World. You ask around, you ask anybody about Donnie from Clyde Road.

The most impressive thing about my visit was the massive moustache of an old Hispanic lady, Bert Reynolds would be proud of that bad boy I tell ya.

Next up was a trundle round Harlem. I didn’t really know where to go so I just done the 125th Street strip and then wandered 15 blocks down to the north of Central Park. The area seems to be full of bizzare social program offices, churches of all descriptions a lot of very zealous soap-box preachers. It was fairly interesting but I get the feeling I’ve missed a lot of the good stuff.

Every single iPod, iPhone, gramophone, Walkman, car stereo, ghettoblaster and any other device capable of musical output in New York appears to be playing Michael Jackson today. Is all a bit weird.

I just heard an interesting stat on a BBC docummentary I’m listening to. It said New York is home to more of the super rich than any other city in the World. It hosts literally thousands of millionaires and over 50 billionaires apparently.

I’m quite pleased with this picture I got of the famous Apollo Theatre in Harlem which was crowded with MJ mourners outside. I timed it to get the yellow cab in to give it an extra air of New York authenticity.

Off to the gig thing shortly, my last night in North America for quite some time!

PS You ever think what a coincidence it is that Lou Gehrig dies of Lou Gehrig’s disease?

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I’ve had the same jeans on for 3 months now

26/06/2009

Last night was nae bad, though funnily enough I’d actually been to the Brooklyn joint (Legion) last time I was here. I know New York like the back of my hand I does.

I was drinking ‘Atomic lager’ which tasted hangin’ but it was the cheapest thing going and I couldn’t afford to be picky.

The music wasn’t my tastes at all really, was 90s R&B with the odd decent soul tune thrown in. I still had a good time though as the people were nice. I was waiting to see when the first Michael Jackson tune would get an airing and they went with ‘ABC’ by the Jackson 5 followed up with ‘Black or White’, from there it was a full on medley.

So I bought that damn Fred Perry shirt in the end. I’ve now left myself with $14.10 for the 3 remaining days in the city. Though I need to reserve $5 of that for the Airtrain to get to the airport, so that leaves me with the magnificent sum of $3.03 per day. The milkybars are on me.

It’s ludicrously hot here today, the darn mosquitos are laying siege to my body too. I’m sweating and itching like a paedophile in Mothercare. What?

I was going to maybe go to a free gig in a park tonight with some decent bands on but the weather has took a nasty turn and there is now a massive tropical storm (with loads of very cool fork lightning) underway, reckon it will be a long’n too.

So I’m pretty much bound to the hostel for the night I think. I thought I had 3 remaining beers but it looks like some dirty tea leaf has swiped one as well as a couple of my bottles of water. If I catch ‘em in the act there will be blood.

If the weather is good I think I’ll do Harlem tomorrow and go up to the Yankee Stadium(s) in The Bronx. Then Coney Island on Sunday and I reckon that will be me.

The view of the city from the North side of the Jackie Kennedy reservoir in Central Park.

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Who ya gonna call?

25/06/2009

I got that bored last night that I went to the flicks. Disappointingly, ‘Gomorra’ wasn’t being shown anywhere in New York and I didn’t fancy any of the main-stream stuff out at the moment so I checked the art house listings and opted for ‘The Brothers Bloom’ which was already on my impossibly large list of films to see (I actuallly have one ‘n all).

I wish I’d saved my 12 and a half bucks, over stylised nonsense IMHO.

The best bit about it was that it made me realise how much my good friend James ‘Jimbo’ Tierney looks exactly like Adrien Brody, even more than he looks like a skinny Cain Dingle.

As another good friend (David ‘Look at that bird, it’s struggling’ Ashworth) cruelly rudiculed me for my apathy yesterday, I’ve been making use of the web link he provided to famous NY film locations. Sadly, the mansion from ‘The Godfather’ is about a 2 hour trip each way and involves lots of different transport. There are some beauts closer to home though.

Tonight I’m going out somewhere in Brooklyn with the girls I met last time I was here. Their mate is DJing or something so that should be interesting. I’m not looking forward to the money side of things though, I’m going to feel like a bloody student, bag of sh*te.

So I’ve spent most of the day in Central Park. I walked the entire length of it with plenty of horizontal detours too so as you can imagine, that took a while.

I even done a spot of fishing (for free!) though it wasn’t very good as the kit they gave you was unsuprisingly naff. A rod without a reel and the line just tied on, so you couldn’t cast. The real problem though was the hook, far too big for the small fish I could see nibbling at the bait. Still there’s worse ways to spend 90 minutes than standing by a pond in Central Park on sunny day.

After that I wanted to see how cool the NYC Fred Perry store was and taunt myself with all the stuff I couldn’t buy but might have done had I not been a plonker with my cash cards. Extra frustrating was the fact that there is a beltin’ sale on just now. I saw a mint shirt for $42.50 (about 25 notes) that would probably cost about 90 quid back home, arghhh! If by some miracle I can manage to only spend $40 for the remainder of the trip it’s mine, but it’s not very likely. I’ll do well to spend less than that tonight. Also, I’m not sure if there is tax on that price, it’s confusing over here with each state being different I think. In Massachusetts, if the item of clothing was under a certain price it was tax free and you just paid what was on the tag.

Next up I sauntered over to the 8 Hook and Ladder fire station. See if you can recognise it in the pic below. I know of at least one of you who definetely will.

A few blocks over was another famous NY landmark; the Supreme Courthouse. You’d recognise the front steps from loads of films and TV shows, ‘The Godfather’ and ‘Goodfellas’ to name but 2. Pretty impressive looking.

I then wandered into Little Italy which seems to be having a bit of a turf war with China Town, the latter winning. I had a coke in the Mulberry Street bar as I thought it would be cheaper than a beer but it was $5 (with tip), drat. The gaff was a bit of a dive but I was interested in it because it was used in ‘The Godfather Part III’, ‘Donnie Brascoe’ and ‘The Sopranos’. I’m pretty sure it was used as one of Phil Leotardo’s hangouts in the The Sops (I reckon I can call it that now, I’ll be a made guy next time they open up the books after all). “5 fuckin’ families and we got this pygmy thing over in Jersey. There’s no scraps in my scrapbook, make it happen”.

While in the area I also had a mini cannoli as it was only a dollar. It’s a Sicilian pastry dessert that I’ve always wanted to try but never been able to get hold of in Manc. I even tried ringing a few ‘authentic’ Italian restaurants once and they didn’t even know what it was, pah.

I’ve just heard about Mickey J, all very odd. I remember speaking to a bar-maid in Chicago who had paid a tout $1000 for a ticket for one of the London concerts!

Okay, all done.

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A lazy loft

24/06/2009

Ok, straight of the bat i’m going to declare this a crap post today as there is basically nothing to put in it. I’ve just been lazing about the hostel all day and do not even intend to leave it this evening.

What I have been doing though is studying the New York subway map and making extensive use of Google to plan some machinations. I’ve found quite a few things of interest so hopefully the remaining few days of this trip will be worth documenting.

The bonus side of my idleness is not a single dollar has been spent (though I’m going to have to raid the vending machine in a minute as I’m famished) so double spends tomorrow, whoo!

I leave you with the Spanish guitarist from yesterday. Until next time readers.

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Cheerio to John Hancock and co.

23/06/2009

Last night was good. I met up with Eric in Harvard Square and we went to a shop called ‘Hootenanny’ which was deadly. I bought a t-shirt and a very smart Ben Sherman polo for a total of $90. Not the smartest move as that’s left me less than $25 a day for New York but I don’t regret it. It’s only a few days, I’ll have a roof over my head and I’ll just make the most of the free brekkie (bagels in me pockets style).

After that we went to a bar that had a punk night on with 3 bands playing. Was a cool place, Eric seemed to know everyone. I enjoyed it.

To finish the night off I took a butchers at the very impressive classic scooters collection hiding in his garage(s). There was some very rare stuff including lots of old Lammies and a load of Maicolettas from the 50s which I’ve never seen before in the flesh. The real jewel in the crown for me though was the 1970 Innocenti Mini Clubman Mk 2 wooden station wagon, 1 of only 1540 ever made. I nearly got a lift home in it but the battery wasn’t playing, it was like the scene in ‘The Lost Boys’ – “Let’s go to town”.

I’ve been impressed with the hospitality the Boston boys have shown me, I hope to get the chance to return the favour one day back home.

I’m just on route to get the Chinese bus to NY now. I’ve took the 5 bottles of Rolling Rock I have left (because you couldn’t drink in the Boston hostel) with me. Is a pain lugging them round but I couldn’t leave them could I, I mean what’s a man without self-respect and dignity?

A busker in an underground station has just impressed me a lot, he was playing Spanish guitar in a most excellent fashion. Good stuff.

What I don’t like about some of these Yank buses is you start with pretty limited leg room and then they allow the geezer or sheezer in front of you to recline at leisure and whack your knees. It plays havoc with the synthetic mesh in my right leg. 4 hours and I’m off the bugger though so I’ll manage.

Finally off the bleeder. It took 5 hours in the end because of gridlocks in Brooklyn. Not an enjoyable journey but Bright Eyes, Bob Dylan and The Libertines kept me company so that helped.

It’s nearly 22:00 and consequently close to 12 hours since I last ate, man I’m proper Hank Marvin’. Got some water boiling now for some pasta. Can’t wait.

My budget per day is now down to $22 but this is not due to extravagance. I bought a weekly subway pass for 25 bucks which by my calculations would mean once I get past 14 trips (which I will do) I’m quids in. My other expense was 13 dollars in a supermarket, but that has likely covered all my evening meal needs as well as my apple juice and water requirements for the week. Good work all round I reckon.

The supermarket was in a well dodgy area, lots of shady characters about but it’s not like I was getting evils so it wasn’t intimidating or anything. The coolest bit was that there were overhead rail platforms everywhere, exactly like the ones in ‘The French Connection’. I could just watch that flick now.

I’m actually glad to be in New York again. I feel relaxed because I have 5 days but I’ve already done most of the stuff I wanted to so I can be lazy and just relax and cross off the few things left I’ve still to see at my leisure. I’m also looking forward to getting home and catching up with everyone.

There really is no place on Earth like New York City. Half an hour on the subways and you see every sort of race, ethnicity, culture, religion and style of person there is to see. It’s just such a diverse city.

That’s my final thought of the day readers. See ya.

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Puts up a brick

22/06/2009

I forgot to mention something that tickled me in the ‘Cheers’ gift shop the other night. They had baby bibs with the slogan ‘Even I don’t know my name’ on, thought it was good that I did.

The purchase of the bus ticket to NYC tomorrow is first on my list today and after that it’s off to sail the 7 seas (or maybe just one of ‘em) to give chase to leviathans.

Tonight I might hook up with Eric from the scooter club as he said he could be about. We rode down to the scooter shop he runs yesterday which was cool, he’d just finished working on a beaut Vespa Rally 180. Tremendous (with Malcolm Merton pronunciation).

I just bought a bus ticket with the Fung Wah bus company. 15 bucks, it all sounds a but dodgy to me and I doubt their health and safety record is too clever but for that price they can bungee me to the roof rack if they want.

Ah, it looks like I won’t be going whaling after all. Cancelled because of rough seas, pussies. What would Captain Ahab say eh.

So i’ve got 2 subway trains and completely soaked for nowt. Seriously soaked too; jeans are like I’m in The Ramones, boxers have become a micro thong and my fisherman’s cap is all soggy. I hope this iPhone is water-proof.

Not really sure what to do myself now as it’s no day to be wandering around taking in the many historical sites of Boston. I’m right near an aquarium that looks alright but there’s a massive queue that’s exposed to the elements, I think I’ll have to brave it.

I hope the weather improves when I return to New York or Central Park and the like won’t be much fun.

I see City have signed Roque Santa Cruz; I’m not overly convinced by him but we’ll see. I’ll be happy when Carlos T arrives.

The New England Aquarium was actually really good. There was no scrimping on the collections with all sorts of crazy jellyfish, giant turtles, sharks and big bloody fish on dislplay. Lots of penguins and even a few anacondas were thrown in for good measure.

Watching the divers feed the stingrays was pretty cool. No Steve Irwin like drama on show though.

For a couple of bucks more you could get to see the IMAX movie ‘Dolphins and Whales’. It was alright I suppose though I nodded off a few times and I never fall asleep at the cinema. Darryl Hannah narrated, I bet she only got the gig because she was in ‘Mermaid’.

An early tea now I reckon, I’ve just opened a can of corned beef hash. It’s not a good thing that it smells and looks like Pedigree Chum is it? Winalot I could live with.

I could have used one of various marine related photos for today’s pic but I really like this snap I took of a Boston pavement. I think it’s of the Boston Celtic’s Larry Bird.

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A way of life

21/06/2009

This is my 100th post, take a moment readers. Onwards.

So much for my plan on the socks, I’ve caved on day 1. The problem is that it’s raining a lot so it’s a bit slippy for the flopsters but it’s also really hot, so in the interest of hygiene action had to be taken. Plus there was a good deal on at Urban Outfitters (my 2nd home on this trip) so I’m now the proud owner of 5 new pairs of Bobby dazzlers.

I also bought some smart Asics trainers to replace these things that have been hanging off my feet for the past month, about 40 quid English. Jobs a good ‘n.

The next opportunity to spend money was the booking of the whale sightseeing trip I’m off on tomorrow. I got a tenner off at the hostel which brought it down to $32, not bad I thought for 4 hours on a boat looking for one of the most amazing species on the planet, especially when considering you pay nearly $20 to go up a lift and look out a window for 10 minutes in most of the big famous towers in the US.

So after all that spending (though in my defence some of it was necessary) I really need to tighten the purse strings to make the dosh I have on me last the rest of the trip. Quite annoying when I have money set aside for this adventure but have no way of getting to it.

I’m just on the ‘T’ now to meet Jon from The Stranglers (scooter club not band) at his gaff. From there a rideout to meet the rest of the lot I think. Weather is bobbins though, will be like being on a rideout back home.

I had a great time with The Boston Stranglers SC, a sound and lively bunch of lads. Jon had an Alladin’s cave of different scooters in various stages, I was in heaven.

We took 2 of his smallframes out, him on a ’68 Primavera and me on a 92 PK with a Pollini 130 kit (I think) and seemed to cover most of Boston on them over a good 3 hours or so. I got soaked but it was great fun and cool to be on a scooter again. Then the pub to meet up with half a dozen or so of the other chaps.

A big thanks to Jon for his kindness and hospitality, much appreciated. I was even given one of their t-shirts from a rally the week before. An ace scooter club all round.

I’m just sat in the common room at the hostel where there is wifi and you can’t help but over-hear other folk. Man, people have the most pretentious wanky conversations at hostels. “I felt like a molecule separate from reality and then finally I reconnected with myself” some fella has just banally uttered to a girl. I mean come on for Christ’s sake. Oh blimey I’m actually intrigued now as they are just bluffing their way through pretentious subjects, she has just listed ‘The Grateful Dead’ as her favourite rap artist. Eh? I think she realised her error as she changed the subject (to speaking Arabic in Algeria) rather sharpish.

Crikey, it’s late. Shuteye time.

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Where everyone knows your name

20/06/2009

Western Union are a right bunch of fly boy scammers! I owe my Dad £540 but I only got £465 in $ equivalent because of the fee they charge and then an exchange rate which they must have completely invented. I guess they know if you’re using them it’s because there are no other alternatives. This is not the way to travel!

Anyway, can’t be helped now. After feeling like Michael Douglas in ‘Falling Down’ yesterday (if an Uzi had been to hand I think I might have whacked 76 Redsox fans) I’ve calmed down and set aside my agitation. Time to see Boston shortly as it looks like a good city.

As I type this I hear in the background on NBC that there is a good chance the travel ban on US to Cuba could be lifted. This may be good news for me as I was looking to maybe get to Cuba on the way to Central America.

Just sorted my bag out, had a shower and even done some exercise. It’s now quarter past 3 and I need to get some food in, wash my stitches, replenish my sock count and not to mention, see the city. But ‘Band Of Brothers’ has just come on the box and I’m struggling to tear myself away, it’s easily in my top 5 shows ever. Brilliant stuff.

I got in touch with The Boston Stranglers Scooter Club who seem like a cool bunch (are in to decent classic scoots and everything) and I think I’m going to meet up with them at a pub tomorrow eve. One of them even mentioned that he might be able to borrow me his 1977 PX200 for a rideout first, that would be ace if it comes to fruition.

Sock update: I went round a few department stores and all the socks seem to be more like stockings in length and silk stockings in price. I reckon I can wing it for a week and a half if I wash ‘em a few times and wear thongs (sorry, flip-flops) when I can. Then a visit to Primarni on my return. Bob’s your father’s brother.

This evening I didn’t really have much to do and I’d seen a flyer for the ‘Cheers’ bar so I took the couple of mile walk for a pint of Samuel Adams. There’s actually 2 of the bars, the original (where I’ve gone) that inspired the show and a replica of the Hollwood set more downtown. You’ve got to go authentic haven’t you.

Nae geezer has a clue what I’m called and embarssingly I’ve said “cheers” on 3 separate occassions without actually intending a pun. Still, all good fun.

I’m thinking of going whale watching on Monday, reading Moby Dick has put me in the mood for it. I need to price it up first mind.

Night readers.

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New England

20/06/2009

I didn’t get much kip last night, the weather was very clammy and I never do anyway when I know I’ve got to get up at unsuitable times. When I did get up at half 5 I realised I didn’t have time for a shower and had to roll hobo style.

A brisk walk through the morning rain and I made the bus with nearly 5 minutes to spare, not bad for me.

When and if I embark on my Central America adventure I will have to improve my time keeping, it’s no fun rushing round with a heavy bag on so I really don’t fancy it in tropical heat!

The 3 and a bit hours bus journey to Montreal was ok, the odd 10 minutes doze here and there helped. An hour wait in the depot and then I was on route to Boston.

Customs took hours as they kept one guy in off the bus for a long time, I’m not sure why but he looked Algerian or something. The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, parts of Vermont seemed nice, Burlington for instance. We also stopped at Manchester Airport!

We got in at Boston South Street Station at about 7, now brave yourself for an epic whinge.

I was given directions to a Western Union office nearish to the hostel which was much needed as I only had 6 bucks on me.

I walked for a while so I didn’t have to make a change on the underground and then when I got near the hostel I started following the directions which turned out to be duff and put me on a wild goose chase looking for streets that didn’t even exist.

With some research when I found a wifi connection I figured out the proper location but by the time I got there at 10ish it was shut. I might have made it but I was near the Redsox (probably the best supported baseball team in the World) ground and it was the end of a game with people flooding out and streets I needed to get down closed. Annoyingly I had already walked past the correct gaff ages before too.

Luckily the people shutting up the main shop new of one that might be open a few miles away, it was to my relief. Making my way through the Friday night revellers and old bids leaving the theatre was hard work but I just about made it in time and got the 500 quid (well 460 after they’d taken there scandalous slice off the top) that my Dad has borrowed me for a few weeks.

It was a pretty close shave to being homeless for a night. I don’t think I’d have fancied that, though it might have been an experience I guess.

I finally arrived at the hostel 4 and a half hours after arriving in Boston, in a sweaty state too (it’s a very humid night to have 70 litres on your back!). The girl at the counter said “Do you have any government issued ID?”. I flicked out my passport in a Mulder like fashion and said “FBI”, she laughed nervously.

Socks are the number one on my purchase list tomorrow, cheap ones though. This budget is going to be a challenge when considering it’s for everything. I’ll have a go though. Where’s an Aldi when you need one?

Photographs were a low priority today so here’s my wheels from yesterday. Pimp my velo.

Right, I’m gonna do some serious sleeping now. It’s been a long one.

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Posted in Canada, USA | 1 Comment »

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