'is this a church meeting or is this a bar... make some noise!!!'

ok so they didn't say it quite like that, it was more like 'make some noise coyote!!!'

i will now explain myself... i was (and am on my way back to) new orleans. that city is up there with new york (cool wise, not distance wise). anyway, i found out there is a coyote ugly bar there so i went, and oh my god it was funny. i got to dance on the bar! thats right, all of you civic people that used to work with me when that movie came out know that i have said many a time that i want to dance on the bar just like that. and not only did i do it just like that but i did it in THE places of all places to do it. i'm heading back there for new years and this time i'm considering throwing my bra on the ceiling with the rest of them, the bartender tried to get me to do it but all i could think was its my favourite one and i don't want to go shopping to replace it. the girls did the 'devil goes down to georgia' dance, did body shots, they drink with you (one of them even bought me a shot) and generally its a great night out even if the bar isn't packed.

as for the rest of new orleans, i don't have enough time here to describe it in the details needed to do it justice. you will all just have to ask me when i get back and i'll talk endlessly about it. heres a few things though

- amazing food. from the BBQ prawns to the gumbo, which is a meaty soupy type thing with spices and rice, everything is so yummy.
- the bars... not only are there dozens and dozens of bars all in a row on bourbon st, they all have great jazzy music of some kind, or a few rock/dancy ones as well. but they have 'to go' bars which serve frozen cocktails in a slushy form and beverages in plastic cups (its legal to drink on the street just not out of glass)... at all hours of the day. it was a really hot day and i was walking around at about 1pm and decided i needed a cool drink... i got a slushy just like i would at home, it was just unfortunate that they are laced with a hell of a lot of rum and consequently i was drunk off my nut by 4pm... at which point i thought it would be a good time to ring my dad... drunk... from a casino. thankfully he has a sense of humor.
- they have a pirates ally (i thought it was funny)
- the place is one massive party 24 hours a day. in the daytime they close off some of the little streets and there are performers and music on every corner. i got my tarot cards read one night which was cool.

i have to stop now... but new orleans is amazing... if you haven't already caught my drift.

i left this morning on the train to washington DC to stay at jamies house for free while he is in LA. the only reason i was leaving was to save money. while i was on the train i could hear boyface in my head saying 'its only money, you can earn it back' and i realised i was leaving one of THE biggest new years parties in the country for DC... so what, i can save a few bucks and party with bush??? hell no. so i jumped off the train in atlanta georgia and am staying here a night till i can get the train in the morning back to new orleans. the entire carraige i was in on the train thought i was nuts.

anyway, having so much fun its scary.

happy new years!!!!

merry christmas

ok so its actually boxing day but merry christmas to all. hope it was a good one. i spent mine in memphis with jamie and his family. i got to go sleding for the first time ever. ok well it was sliding down a frozen drive way on a cardboard box but it was hella fun. i ended up in a puddle at one stage though and consequently went back to the house with a wet arse and 3 very dry 11 yr olds (go figure) they all accepted my reasoning that this is what happens when you let australians go sleding. we had a nice christmas dinner, jamies family are all so nice and funny. they thanked me for coming for gods sake, i was like, thank you for letting me crash your christmas. and james 78 yr old father still insisted on helping me with my coat and pulling out the chair for me. they are all amazing people. so then i went back to my hotel to comtemplate my life, the past, the future... i have to much time to think these days, its scary.

i rang my parents on christmas day aussie time and it seems my mother has replaced me. she offered my bedroom to my brothers girlfriend ally. the conversation went a little like this... ok a lot like this...
[ally] so your mum said i could have your room
[me] she said what??? put mum on!
[ally] mrs V i think you're in trouble
[mum] what??
[me] you're giving my room away??
[mum] no i'm not i just told ally she could have it. (yeah cos thats not the same thing mum!) she wanted to move out of home
[me] and exactly what would happen when i come home?
[mum] oh... um...um... here talk to dad

so if anyone out there still loves me can i come live with you when i get back since my parents don't know who i am anymore.

tonight jamie took me to a local bar where there was a band playing live music. the lead singer was a little black guy singing prince songs and not only did he sound like prince but he looked like prince. and the bar patrons where 30-40 yr old white folk booty dacing. it was quite a sight but i was assured this was not normal. when they broke out the line dancing to prince i couldn't control my laughter. i covered it up by pretending to choke on my beer and we went to a different pub. so very funny!

tomorrow i'm going to graceland hopefully and then either new orleans or boston... i haven't decided. i love my life at the moment, who else gets to randomly decide which great city they will spend the next few days in within 2 seconds of leaving or by a flip of a coin.

show yourselves

ok people, i would like to know exactly how many, and who is reading this blog. this means that you ALL have to post a comment to this even if its anonymously but you must put your name. if you don't log on very often and read this in like... a month... you still have to do it.

and a BIG happy belated birthday to boyface
and also a BIG happy possibly belated or soon to be birthday to inga.

i'm dreaming of a white christmas *singin*

ok well not anymore cos i've got one. i went to memphis from chicago (i'll fill in the gap in a minute) and i thought it would be nicer whether here, less cold, less snow. well i brought it with me again. memphis doesn't get snow, well MAYBE twice a year and thats a MAYBE. well today (the day i get here) is the coldest day they have had so far. ok i'll do things in order now and we'll get back to memphis... this is like my own little quentin tarrentino film.

so i left for chicago from philly as mentioned in the previous blog only our train was delayed for 2 hours before we left.this guy starts talking to me who turns out to be a 26yr old christian computer programmer. i dont undertand why the christian part is part of the job discriptoin but apparently it is. so we are laughing at the train and how the people update the lateness of the train every 15 mins but only after that 15 mins is up. when we finally board he sits next to a young black funky kinda guy and i am 2 seats behind. 2 seats behind him is a long haired rock musician who looks a bit rough but is really nie and comes over to talk to me. so i make friends with him, the christian makes friends with the funky guy and we combine our group and take over the cafe car drinking and having a really good trip. we end up dragging other people into the fun, including a soldier stationed in iraq home for 2 weeks on leave. he was my favourite. it was a damn good thing we made friends and got drunk to pass the time cos the train ended up being delayed another 4 hours making it a 21 hour ride. so we all swap details and say our goodbyes at chicago and wala... i'm in chicago.

so... what does chicago have??? well, nice buildings (gothic looking things in the middle of the city), really cold weather and lots of snow (-15/-20 degrees), and jerry springer. thats right folks, those of you that put up with me on a daily bases know would be aware of my obsession with jerry springer, well i dd it, i went to a taping of the show. it was so unbelievably funny. i only got in cos i was australian and had to sit on the step but t was hilarious. people got naked, they fought, jerry made fun of them, they fought they crowd during comments, we had a hoedown on stage, i got a photo with steve which he signed... it was the best free ticket i ever had. the next day i did touristy stuff... saw the biggest and most complete T-REX at the museum, went to navy peir, walked around a lot, chicago is really cool.

so i get to the station for my memphis train and its delayed.. again... by two hours... again!! this trip was less fun. the people were all older black people going 'mmm hmm' al the time and walking down the isle saying 'praise jesus'. it was delayed a further 3 hours though (again) and when we finally got to memphis the whole town was covered in a layer of ice. this meant taxis wouldn't come out and buses weren't running. some nice people i was talking too at the station gave me a lft to the hotel and it was seriously like the car was iceskating. Jamie from washington is in memphis for christmas with his family which is why i'm here... i'm crashing their holiday. so i've been over at his parents house with the whole famil and they are all so nice and funny. we had dinner and now i'm sitting on my king size bed in my fancy hotel typing on a wireless keyboard which in turn writes my blog and e-mails on the t.v. it thinks its a computer.

well.. merry christmas all, and to all a good night

my brain is freezing

literally!!! yanno that feeling in your head when you get an ice cream headache or drink a freezy too fast? well its that times 10. so painful. the reason being it's like, below freezing and starting to snow in Philly and the wind is freezing my brain and my ears are gonna fall off, even with my hat on and the hood from my jumper up. worst thing is i'm leaving for chicago in a few hours and apparently its -10 there at the moment.

i went to dutch county yesterday to try be amish for a day but the public transport doesn't run on a sunday and everything is really far apart and it would have cost me an absolute fortune to get taxis everywhere and even more than i was told to stay on the farm. the only way i could have stayed there was to spend $99 at a b & b in the city which is nowhere near a farm but the people who run it used to be amish and they could have told me about the culture. it wasnt worth it so i just got the train back to Philly.

there's this guy from Quebec city staying at the hostel that has taken a fancy to me. he snuggles me on the couch in the common room, kisses my head and strokes my hand etc, he is a really sweet guy. always on about practicing his english. i let him kiss me one night but when he put my hand in his lap i said it was bed time and left. the next day i thought it would be weird but we were talking in the common room and he took a book out of his pocket and put it face down on the coffee table to show me the portable radio he had bought cos he liked my mp3 player. i was like, yeah thats cool (but not anywhere near as cool as my mp3 player) and gave it back to him and picked up the book saying, what are you reading??? i looked at it and the title was "how to give her absolute pleasure". i laughed and said "practicing your english?". it was rather funny for me... he took it ok too. he came and sat with me in the common room and when i asked how the reading was going he asked if i wanted to go to the room and read it... i guess thats the same as 'would you like to come up and see my paintings' these days.

do do doooooo do do doooooooooo (rocky theme)

but not in the way you think boyface and sarah...

i am in Philadelphia and just ran up the steps that Stalone ran up in Rocky. oh so funny, and long... well, they are when you are wearing a backpack (Ok a day pack) and am unfit (ok REALLY unfit). the building is actually the art gallery, not what i thought. and if you stand there for like, 5 minutes you see DOZENS of people run up the stairs, get to the top and some of the braver ones jump. i did the punching the air thing like a boxer. so now, by six degrees of separation i have stood where Stalone has stood via stone steps.

i did the whole liberty bell, independence hall thing as well. last night we (2 girls i met that are australian but studying in north carolina, the manager of the hostel - cute boy - and a group of 3 guys that are friends, 2 australian and one english) went out to a club that is across the street from the hostel. you pay $10 at the door and its open bar from 9-11pm. these black american girls were teaching us how to booty dance so of course we had to practice on someone. at first we'd only do it to the black guy the girls were with but our boys got jealous so we started booty dancing them. we were all getting along fine and then the manager guy suggested we go to a different club down the road, so we get there, pay another $6 to get in and the place is filled with skanky women. FILLED!!! the boys walked in there and their mouths hit the floor and eyeballs fell out of their heads. us girls looked at each other and knew we couldn't compete with fishnet stockings/tops and garters... even with our booty dancing. so within 2 mins the boys had forgotten we were there and we left. it wasn't a hissy fit cos in all honesty we were getting attention from the guys that were used to the place already (fresh meat syndrome) but the music was shit and we couldn't afford the drinks.

so i get back to the hostel and realise i'm not tired, the girls went to bed and i was sittin on the lounge in the common room reading up on things to do in the area when this guy from Chile came and sat with me. in 2 seconds flat he was holding my hand... i was not flattered as i knew he must have lucked out with the rest of the girls in the hostel before he got to me. i've said, ok i'm going to bed now and left. so you go up the stairs to the women's dorm, through one door and there is a lounge with books, then through another door to the beds etc. i'm sitting on the lounge and he comes in!! i'm like, you can't be here. he sits down anyway and starts all over again. i said i'm really going to bed this time and went in the room, he leaves, i go to the bathroom and when i come out he is waiting there. i just ignore him and go to my bunk. a min later he sticks his head around the door while i've just pulled my jeans off. the bastard! i pull my jeans up and walk over to smack him one, he asks me if he left his hat, i say no, he tries to kiss me, i tell him to bugger off... he leaves. i spend the rest of the night watching the door. very annoying!!

reason #2 not to plan anything

it all goes to shit anyway!!!

i was meant to go to Poughkeepsie NY to meet Paula for christmas then drive to Boston with her and surprise the rest of the family. Unfortunately Paula's friend has taken ill and Paula is looking after her and the pets and will not be going to Boston. i understand the situation and hope that both the friend gets better and Paula doesn't drive herself into the ground (she's still working and stressed) so i said not a problem don't worry about me and rang my friend in Washington. He is going to Memphis for christmas and has full house and after that going to LA so i might not see him at all. right... i start wondering who else i know in the states and realised i'm going to be having a picnic christmas lunch in a gutter on my own. woo hoo.

so i had a minor panic attack thinking i hated traveling now and want to go home, stuffed up converting the time zones and rang my darling friend at 1am for guidance... whoops... took her advice and stayed in NY another night and she was absolutely right. i went and did more touristy things in NY and realised i do love it.

i went to the zoo in central park and saw POLAR BEARS!!!! they are so big and white and fluffy and lazy, he was sleeping on a rock but opening his eyes every few seconds to see if the people were still there. then he got up and he looked like a 2 year old but fatter. the bum goes in the air first while he supports himself with his front paws then gets up fully. such a lard ass, its so cute. and i saw sea lions, penguins, snow monkeys, other strange monkeys, a toucan, snakes, weird rainforrest creatures, tortoise and the tortoise were makin IT. at first i thought he was just trying to climb up a rock and took a photo, then i realised he was just climbing a chikki tortoise. and they make even funnier facials than humans!

i went to the John Lennon memorial bit of central park. it's called strawberry fields and has a mosaics with 'IMAGINE' written in it. the whole this is right across from the Dakota building where John Lennon was assassinated.

i saw the ice skating rink that is used in all the movies and its not that impressive. it looked better in serendipity. but central park at night is gorgeous. the edges i mean cos you'd probably get killed if you walked in there past the rink at night.

i went downtown to tompkins sq park to the stone fountain where ethan hawke and gwyneth paltrow kissed in 1998's version of great expectations. it was really pretty and i had my thumb where ethan hawke had his thumb, then i sat where ethan hawke sat. and i know that for sure cos i sat on every chair around the fountain just to be safe dammit. so there you go, six degrees of separation through a park bench and i've touched ethan hawke!

good news though, i might be able to spend christmas with Jamie in memphis, we are looking into it.

so how would you guys feel if i never came home???

i really really really want to live here. boyface, sarah, inga... when can we shack up in new york together???

last night i went to rockafella centre and saw the oversize christmas tree and ice rink. there were all these kids from stanford university (california) singing christmas carols for no apparent reason other than its christmas. the entire city is covered in fairy lights, christmas tree's and bows. everyone is shopping and carrying around those fancy paper shopping bags. i wanted to buy something just for the fancy bag so i could walk around feeling more christmasy. and on the subway back i was standing on the platform at 10:30 at night and all you can hear is some guy singing christmas songs playing a guitar and a flute. nowhere in the the world other than new york i tell you. i'm starting to understand why americans have that over-patriotic thing about them. it really is a fantastic country... other than the politics and how they view the rest of the world etc but you can really just get caught up in your own little world here. its like one big massive cult... but in a warm and fuzzy way.

its damn cold at the moment, below freezing most of the time. its meant to start snowing next week and instead of going south like i planned too i'm going north first. this has it's pro's and con's.
1. i have to anyway cos i don't have enough time to go south before i have to be back to NY for christmas.
2. if i wait till after christmas north is going to be even colder than it is now
3. i really wanted warmer weather now but im going colder instead
4. when its beyond tolerable after christmas i can head south where its warmer.

i realised why i don't bother planning anything. its WAY too much trouble. i spent today organising the next week of my trip. i bought a lonely planet for USA so i know whats in each city, i went through all possible routes and times for the trains, i looked up all the hostels and whats available when. it took HOURS just to get the week sorted and that really only covers travel and accommodation. i'm still not sure what i'm going to do when i get to each city either. i figure i'll sort that out on the train.

and all that jazz...

soooo, my first proper day back in New York... what did i do?
i tested my memory on the subway system and made my way from park & 33rd to penn station, which requires 3 different trains, without a map. and i did it! at penn station i purchased my nifty little east coast travel pass and walked away singing.. 'i've got a golden ticket' (hehehe sarah) i get back to the subway and this woman asks me where does she get the J or Z train to queens from here. i'm thinkin, there is no J or Z train here so we look at the board and i'm like, no... you can get the C train downtown to queens from here, otherwise if you want the J or Z train you have to take the B train downtown and switch at the bridge. she looks at the map, looks at me, looks at the map and she says "no i want the J or Z train from here". i look at her like she is an idiot (cos she is) and show her that we are on the dark blue line and the dark blue line only has A, C and D trains. the C train will take you to queens from here, see how it goes all the way over to queens? she says "i want the J or Z train". ok well the J and Z train is the brown line. you can't get the brown line from here, see (point to the board). so you have to get on the B train and follow that all the way down here till it hits the brown line, then you can get off and get the J or Z train to queens... she says... no i'm not switching, i'm in the right place. to which i think, i stopped dealing with idiots when i quit my job, this isn't my problem and say 'ok right have fun then'.

i went to time square instead and got half price tickets to see chicago on broadway. it was really good but i've seen the movie too many times i think so it was strange to hear them do the songs differently. and they kinda took the piss out of some of it which was disappointing at times cos it just didn't have the effect it could have had. it was a good night though.

new yoooork.. neeeeew yooork (for boyface)

hello hello i am in the New York.... again... but before we get to that can i just do a big shout out to the customs officers in Detroit... FUCK YOU!!! that's right, settle in devoted readers cos i'm about to have a rant!

it really all started about a week ago when i booked my original flight. i was going to leave on the 11th dec, flying out of heathrow airport which is the EASIEST airport to get to in london, and the most efficient i found out later. so i'm typing all my details in on the net and pause for about 2 seconds wondering is this what i really want to do... yeah it is... so i click to confirm. big screen pops up and basically says... "ha ha you took too long and some bastard has just taken the last seat on the plane" hmm.. so i panic and put all my details in for the 12th and thankfully there is both a departure and return flight available so i click on confirm without really checking anything other than date and times. so la di da di da i've set my alarm for 9:15am the day of my departure which gives me plenty of time to get ready and make it to heathrow with plenty of time to spare. do di do di do after packing i say to myself i'll just get the printout of my flight details out so its handy when i get there... scan over the paper... and read Gatwick airport... gatwick i think, i wonder where that is in heathrow. (click click click, my brain is slowly turning over) OMG FUCKING GOD (there it is) Gatwick is a whole other airport and NOT easy to get too. so i ring the shuttle, the next one is leaving at 11am from victoria station (which is at least half an hour away by tube) and it gets in at 12:20 (35 mins after i'm meant to check in) i haven't even had a shower or brushed my teeth yet and i'm on the phone trying to book this bloody shuttle. so i've given her my credit card details and paid for the shuttle and just been informed of a further 5 pound cancellation fee when she says and you have to be there 20 mins before the shuttle leaves to be able to get your tickets in time. no problem i say, hang up, look at the clock and its 10:30... shuttle leaves at 11... 11 minus 20 mins, minus the 30 mins its gonna take to get to victoria station (brain = click click click) FUCK, not a chance in hell of making it (finally, thank you). make a run for it anyway figuring i might be able to get a bus from victoria station or at least get as close to the station as possible and get a taxi (its like paying for a limo over here when you get a taxi.. SO expensive). so i get to victoria station and see that there is a national train that goes to Gatwick airport (national train is like country link). 1) damn i just wasted 13 pounds booking and not making that shuttle. 2) damn a ticket to Gatwick is also 12 pounds and i have no money so add another $5 my bank is gonna charge me to withdraw 20 pounds in cash. (damn you gatwick). long story short, i finally make it to gatwick just in time to check in and board the plane, still having had no shower but i managed to brush my teeth in the airport bathroom.

so, its about 5:30pm-ish detroit time when i flew in from London ready for my connecting flight at 7:04. this is great i think - i can go get some US money out, have a drink at the bar, something to eat since i skipped breakfast and the food on the plane was close to inedible. but detroit customs had other ideas for me. i've said this before but apparently i look like a terroist. i got detained.. thats right DETAINED in detroit for over an hour. i got questioned at the regular customs desk for 20 mins... he asked me everything from do i have a boyfriend to how much money is in my bank to why did i quit uni and my job. then he took my passport and boarding pass off me in case i bolted and sent me into the big office. 3 officers poured over my passport with confused expressions on their face for 10 minutes checking stuff on the computer before finally calling me up. i got questioned for another 30mins where he wanted names and phone numbers of the people i have claimed to have stayed with the last 2 times i entered the states and then proceeded to READ MY TRAVEL DIARY!!!! THE BASTARD!!!! then he made me go with him to collect my bag and bring it back to the office so he could put on his little white plastic surgical gloves like im some infectious freak (well i still haven't had a shower) and goes through EVERYTHING in my bag and backpack. i look at my underwear and the entire contents of my wallet spread out across the table and think... i'm never coming back here again. finally i pluck up enough courage to say something along the lines of 'what happens if i miss my connecting flight" (which has been boarding for the last 15 mins) meaning "let me go you ugly prick".. and he says "oh we are almost done here" meaning "im a perverted prick and am getting off on touching your bra's... just give me a minute i'm almost there". so they finally let me go, i have 15 mins till my plane takes off and i'm approaching the last security check where you send your bag through the machine and 'beep beep beep'... "what's that"... "can you stand over here please miss"... "OH YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS.. WHAT NOW... THEY JUST WENT THROUGH MY ENTIRE BAG!!!"... 'it is illegal to carry a torch lighter on an airplane in the united states miss'... 'oh gosh is it???... sorry' meaning 'like i give a shit, i have a plane to catch'. so the bitch keeps my favourite and i think only souvenir from paris. my funky lighter that had the eiffel tour on it and lit up when you opened the lid and i bargained the guy down to 2 euro when he wanted 5 and then he called me something in french when i left which i dont think was 'pleasure doing business with you'. so... i proceed to run for my plane and only just make it and find i'm sitting next to a massive guy who snored just by breathing whilst awake and who in all honesty should have had 2 seats. i had to sit in a twisty, totally unnatural position the whole flight and ended up with a really sore back.

welcome to New York!!!... again

and here's to you mrs robinson...

well jackie has gone back to australia and left me in her friends capable hands... well maybe not so capable cos i ended up getting a little too friendly with a 19 year old. we were at the pub drinking and playing pool and i ended up playing him 5 games in a row and beat him at most of them. he took it very well though and we kept drinking. i blame the Guinness for my actions and the rest of the evenings events. the thing was though i wasn't planning to drink that night but i had done my hair in tiny plaits and some girl wanted hers the same way and bought me pint after pint for as long as it took to finish her hair... and then a couple more after i was done. once i was already pissed its a lot harder to claim im not drinking that night.

anyway, it was the first night i was too turn up at the guys apartment and before he left the pub, Matt (one of them) gave me his number and said when the pub closes (11pm) call him and he will let me in... so the pub closes... we leave... i call Matt (1:45am) his phone is off (whoops)... call the other guy Steve and he lets me in while i beg for forgiveness. (he is laughing though so its ok)... my excuse?? i got distracted.

well i'm meant to be at the college christmas party now with the boys so i better go. i intend on being an angel and getting home before they do.

ello

'did you say hello?'... 'no i said ello, but close enough'

i'm going to take an extra minute or two to write this as i read my last post and pissed myself laughing at how i spelt stuff and the typos. i blame the contiki tour and weeks of not being sober killing the last few precious brain cells i had.

well i'm in london, very quickly i'll give you the last few days of the contiki tour

FLORENCE - saw how they make italian leather stuff and walked around. the place is gorgeous and it has so much history. if i'm thinking of the right place (it gets confusing) we had an amazing dinner at a fancy restaurant and invited one of the waiters to come to a club we were going to. he turned up... and we had a really good night dancing and checking out the italian men. i got a guy claiming to be a porn star with a 26 cm 'talent' following me around. for some reason he felt the need to share that info and i told him in that case i dont think i could handle him, thanks tho! got back to the hotel at 4am and got up at 6 with a major hangover to head to nice.

NICE - the bus took us to monaco for the night and we ate in a little restaurant near the royal palace. saw the church that grace kelly got married in and is now her resting place. went to the grand casino, which is pretty grand but it doesn't have the energy you expect in a casino. this was for high rollers and only 3 of us went in, i lasted about 20 mins before i admitted i was out of my league and left. the rest of the tour went to the 'cheap ass casino down the road' as they called it. but you gotta say you did these things. went back to nice and hung out in a pub till late but it was a pretty quiet evening. the 2nd day in nice i got up and went to do my laundry at a local place and met a cute french boy. we hit it off and he took me down the promenade to walk along the beach holding hands (i know i know.. puke - WARNING it gets worse)... then he took me to the top of the chateau to watch the sunset (told you). it was an amazing day and once again.. absolutely gorgeous (so was he) and then i went to dinner with the rest of the group but planned to meet him in the pub the rest of the tour were going to to watch the rugby (NZ vs france). we danced all night and made everyone, including myself, sick. i believe you call it 'get a room' dancing. anyway it was kinda sad to leave the next day and he didnt want me to go either. he called 4 times the next night once i had gotten to Lyon but i didnt answer any of the calls. but it was the right decision... i think.

LYON - kinda a blur cos i was so tired... we went to a perfume factory in the morning which was good. cheap nice stuff and i got a couple of little bottles. i think we just to dinner in Lyon which has more restaurants in any 100m cubic block then anywhere else in the world. ate escargo and other french stuff. crepes etc.. all very good but i just wanted to sleep so.. thats what i did the rest of the night.

PARIS - made it just in time to go to the louve as it was closed the next day. saw the mona lisa etc went up the eiffel tour at night(did you know that from the eiffel tower i am 16,962km from home) and did a driving tour of the great sites at night- notre dame, arc de triomphe etc. next day i went to Jim Morrisons grave, the musee d'orsay which i liked better than the louve, eiffel tower by day, notre dame so i could go inside and a river cruise up the seine. that night we went to the moulin rouge. that was amazing and we had front row seats and dinner and a hell of a lot of wine was included. we were kinda drunk when we left but went to a pub next door where there was another contiki tour and we took over the entire place. french men are strange, they chase anything really and i had 2 stalkers that night. they would literally wait outside the ladies bathrooms where i had gone to hide and the other girls would have to update me of where each one was and when it was safe to come out. that was our last night on tour and we just drove back to london the next day.

so there you are, all caught up on the tour. at the moment i'm in london with jackie, an old school friend and living her life with her. ie, going to college (where i can use the net for free), drinking in the pub with a buch of freaky art students etc.(scary thing is i fit in) i've just booked a flight to the states for christmas so i fly to NY on the 12th december for one month. i'm looking into amtrak passes so i can travel the east coast for a few weeks. looks good so far. if anyone knows people on the east coast that i can stay with for a day or two in good cities, let me know, i'm trying to save on accomodation.

time up!