Chapter 5: the day Monday became Damon-Day...

It's been so long since I spoke to you all last :P AND THIS TIME THERE WILL BE PICTURES!!! CRAZINESS!!!!

But first, for the words :D

New York. As much as everyone's raved about the place, and as many wonderful and exciting things we did, we did have trouble putting our finger on the feeling of it. Like, the streets are incredibly pock-marked and filthy, there's rubbish everywhere, and the steam coming out of the grates has a sulphuric scent, so there's a slightly odd smell in the air. Plus people are a little bit ruder there, the general population. For instance, when it rains? No one gives a stuff if you happen to be in the way of their umbrella and will happily stab you in the face or head with the metal rod....So we gave as good as we got. And that thing, when cars go round a corner in a puddle and spray your legs? Totally happened to me :D Not that I was excited at the time by that...

But the good things! Lol.

Times Square was absolutely epic, didn't ever stop being bright and full of people, even when it was bucketing, which it was on our last night there. Was amazing. Just cannot get over the size of the billboards.

We saw Rockefeller Centre, went to the top to see the city skyline, visited the NBC store :D Excitement, there. Didn't have a chance to do the studio tour, but wouldn't have had time anyway :(

Still, managed to see the City Library with it's famous lions out front and I had a major flashback to 'The Day After Tomorrow' :P

Visited also, obviously, the Statue of Liberty - she is SO much smaller than you think, though when you're actually standing at her feet she looks big. But she was beautiful, absolutely loved her. Checked out Ellis Island and the Jewish Holocaust Museum which was terrible and depressing and wow all at the same time. We picked up our spirits by seeing 'Wicked' which was amazing :) A-MAAAAAZING, as Brooke would say. Love that production.

Saw Wall St and it's golden bull, but was so packed with people we didn't really get to stay long. Saw the outside of the Stock Exchange and were amazed it was was roped off and thoroughly guarded by police. Epic o.O Also amazed at how big it was, with columns and carvings on the outside...refer to Brooke's pics on FB for a better idea ;)

Visited the World Trade Centre site and the memorial museum - gods that was sad. Came out of there dripping in tears :(

Walked through SoHo and the Village, photographed the Flatiron building, and went to the top of the Empire State Building. That was awesome. And all the main attractions we did early enough to avoid all the queues, thank heavens, cos they were all massive when we left. Phew.

Did a little too much shopping, but then also, in one day, visited the MoMA, the Met, and the museum of Natural History, ALONG WITH checking out the Harry Potter exhibition on it's final day - we became pros and whipping through these enormous places, taking photos and moving on. Gotta say, we spent the longest time standing in front of Van Gogh's 'Starry Night' - nearly had us in tears. Was absolutely amazing.

Hmm, what else? Sorry that there's not as much detail this blog - have a lot to say and not a lot of time or money to do it! Lol.

Wandered through Central Park and saw the Alice in Wonderland statue, the Balto statue, the huge fountain in the middle...also went to the Guggenheim. That was a bit of a joke. That, and in the Met, was where and when we decided to name the 5th of September, Damon-Day. See, there was this art, like a blank white canvas, hanging, just as it was, in the gallery. Or a collection of rocks, with some cotton wool around them, or a board of wood balanced on top...and we know how much Damon loves that sort of shit... :P So Damon-Day was born. Brooke has photos of most of that stuff, so when she gets a chance to get them up, and when you get a chance to see them ... :P

We also went and sent 3 boxes home...we went a little crazy on the shopping. Though it didn't really feel it. oops. Also saw "The Lion King" on Broadway. OMG . The costumes and sets were amazing :D :D :D Was brilliant.

And followed up that great night by having dinner at Bubba Gumps - of Forrest Gump fame :D :D :D Such awesome food and drinks - we both got cocktails and got to take our glasses home, and our waitress quizzed us on our Forrest Gump knowledge and it was awesome :D

Course, Brooke also had to have a cosmopolitan, so on our last night, in the Waldorf Astoria bar, she did. And another cocktail. Despite her merriness, managed to keep her away from my phone so she couldn't ring anyone this time (sorry, Elliott, though I know you enjoyed it as much as her ;))

And today we came to Boston :) Via train, which was absolutely gorgeous, going to have to come back and spend more time in Conneticut - all green and huge houses and lake-y...lol. Course, we did manage to sleep past our stop. Oops. Thankfully only went one stop further and wasn't too far from where we needed to be. Plus had a hell nice taxi driver who was, first person this whole trip, who actually APPRECIATED THE TIP. Sheesh.

The hostel is awesome here, this city is awesome - totally my second fave city of the trip. Such a chilled, easy place to get around in.

Now, before I leave you all, some quotes!

"I like what alcohol does to me!"

"It felt tight. It felt good."

"And I'm like, I don't think I can put on enough lotion." (random guy, not Brooke :P)

"I'm pretty excited about drinking another drink tonight."

There were a couple of others, but have no time and want you to get this before my connection times out ;)

Talk to you soon!!

Chapter 4: I headbutted my sister

HI EVERYONE!!! Has been freaking forever, so sorry about that. A lot's been happening though!!!!

When last I left off we were in Phoenix. We hot air ballooned the next morning across the Sonaron Desert!! Well, more peoples backyards....but meh. We got to see cottontails and ... jackrabbits....and cacti....yeah. Landed after an hour's flight and our pilot and driver then set us up a champagne breakfast on some table-clothed trestle tables - we had fruit, cheese, champers, chocolate croissants, quiches.... Was fair epic.

Then to the Grand Canyon!! Okay. that was just wow. Blew our minds every time we saw it. Made us feel so incredibly small and just wow. You don't realise how big it is til you're actually standing there, taking it all in. Like, the sheer scale, of how much water and time it took to craft that thing? Mental. Well and truly. And the colours...always changing with the sky and the weather...far out. We really couldn't get over that. Spent two nights and one day there, and it was just enough, though it wouldn't have been if we hadn't TAKEN A HELICOPTER FLIGHT OVER IT ALL.

:D

We may have taken too many photos. Brooke and I were sitting either side of the helicopter and when we weren't taking photos with our camera, we were taking them with each other's.... :D :D :D I say a big, advanced apology to you all when you get to see them all :P

That was pretty epic. As was the same night's cactus cocktail :D Bright pink, massively sweet and soooo good. But yeah. The canyon in a nutsheel, cos I only have 7 minutes left on my internets here. Lol.

Vegas next :D And just wow. A massive omg, as well. We arrived in the evening, had enough time to shower and change, before we went out for dinner. Did I mention our hotel, Harrahs, was on the Strip?? No? Well, there you are then. After that, we went to do a tour of the Strip but our bus had some dramas, so we ended up pulling over in the dodgy part of Las Vegas. Our tour manager found somewhere for us to hang til he could organise cabs to the club we were going to...and it was in a wedding chapel. Where Elvis then proceeded to 'marry' two of our group :D :D SO BRILLIANT. COMPLETE WITH SONGS.
The guys he married was an Aussie and a Japanese chick, whose grasp of English was good, but her pronounciation...."in goodness and in bad" became "in goodness and in bed" :D Gold moment, right there. Was such an awesome surprise ":D :D: D

We hit the Luxor, and it's club, the Cathouse, after that. Ladies were in for free, with two hours of free drinks. Hells yes. Brooke partied on longer than me, cos I wandered off with another Adelaide chick (from Para Hills West, no less) to walk the Strip. Which just sounds wrong. But shhh. We got to see all the lights of Vegas...most of them. Was amazing. That was another place that the scale of just doesn't register til you're there. Places are few but because they're so big, they take forever to reach and return from o.O That was mad.

Next day we were up early to shop (of course :P) and wander some more. Caesars Palace was AMAZING! And their pool??? Had a temple in the centre, with statues everywhere, and fountains and little tents (3 x 3 ones) for privacy if you wanted to pay...and wow. The decadence and luxury of the place was just mind-blowing. And of course all the casinos have shops within them, and many have painted the ceilings to look like a cloud covered blue sky....jeezus. Then there are places like the MGM which has an enclosure for lions, who are there 11am-7pm every day.....the Venetian that has indoor and outdoors gondolas available for riding. Like, the canals were beautiful and the drivers (?) sang to you in Italian.... o.O

ANYWAY. Got back and got ourselves ready, forgoing dinner in the process, to then go and see a variety show with the contiki group. Wasn't great. Was kinda lame. But there were some funny moments. Was only an hour and a half of our lives. Managed to get through it cos right after we went on a LIMOUSINE RIDE DOWN THE STRIP WITH CHAMPAGNE. Sadly, the music was R&B crap. And there was no airconditioning. And did I mention that nights didn't get cooler than 35 degres? Sigh. But that was fine. To the Playboy club at the Palms! WOWWWW. Lol. Three levels. Two with balconies. Got into our dancing groove - girls again got in for free with two free drinks, while the guys had to pay $15 and no free drinks. Bahahahahaha. Kinda sucks for them :( Bit sexist there :S

Course, it was fun right till I got hit on by a Jack Black lookalike....that was weird. Especially when he followed me from the bar to the balcony, where Brooke was. Who then left me. Cow. Tactfully removed myself....swear I didn't leave him standing there.

Think I crashed around 2 that night, but Brooke kept going til 4...and we had to get up at 6. Checked out of there, into the Belagio and off to the Hoover Dam. Brooke and I were hell devo that we'd left the Contiki folk, but we've Facebooked most of them now, so we won't lose touch. So many awesome people out there.

Hoover Dam? Another incredible place. Huge. Curvy. Blisteringly hot again. Seems to be a theme. But was so interesting. We really enjoyed that. And the air conditioning on the bus later.

We got back and met up with a couple of folks who'd got off at the same time as us, from the Contiki trip, and chilled with them for a while, checking out the lions at MGM, M&M World...wandering. That's when Brooke and I did the gondola ride at the Venetian. Then back to the Belagio to chill in our MASSIVE suite - had a foyer, a lounge, a guest toilet, a huge bedroom with a king size bed, and a his and hers bathroom, effectively. One had a bath, the other a shower. All four main rooms had tvs.... So obviously while Brooke and I were getting ready for dinner, we were watching tv in all the rooms. And enjoying the bathrobes and slippers.

Trundled to dinner with Scott, one of the Aussies, caught up on the gossip from the group, saw the Belagio fountain show, and did some betting, before Brooke and I HAD to call it a night. Was around 11, and we had to get a shuttle the next morning at 5 to the airport. Despite the fact it was an 8:15am flight. Far out. We were absolutely buggered. So we actually slept for a chunk of the flight, despite turbulence. Which is kinda why I headbutted Brooke....cos see, she was sleeping, head resting on her hand, and then my head kinda nodded down and BAM :s :( Oops. I am a horrible sister.

Got in to NY's JFK airport at 4, but weren't on a shuttle til 5:30, and not into our hotel til 7. SUCH a long day. But we made it :) And we walked ten minutes to Times Square. So bright :) And shops along there are open til 2am, even on a Monday. And I'm talking fashion shops, Maccas, cafes, the works. Wow. Madness, yet again.

Best thing about this place? Alcohol is cheap. Like in this internet cafe we're in, Brooke bought a smirnoff cruiser for $2.50!!! Drinks are cheap like that, and if you tip your bartender $1 for each drink, you get more and more alcohol, and less and less mixer. Massively dangerous. As for the tipping, kinda tricky to get used to. But it's easier than the hidden tax :S See, the price tags are just straight out what it costs, and then the tax gets added on at the register, which sucks, cos you can never predict exactly how much something's going to be :S We're managing though. Dislike the tipping system everywhere except bars :P

And so here we are. In New York city. Been here a day, and we've managed to check out Rockefeller Centre, the Chrysler building, Grand Central Station (with a market soooo much like Adelaide's, it was a little bit of home, same smells and atmosphere and everything :D :D :D ). Also did shopping....oops. But most importantly, bought our tickets to Wicked for tomorrow night, front row of the mezzanine level!!! Crazy awesome.

One thing we have noticed about NY is it's very distinctive smell. Reminds me a little of sulphur...but it's also really dirty. Like the streets and the sidewalks are fairly filthy. And the roads are hell pockmarked, when we were in the shuttle coming to our hotel, our butts left the seat sooo many times :S Ah well. Tis decent barring that ;)

And NOW, I will leave you all alone. Sorry for the mammoth update. Figured it was time though :P And internet is cheaper at this cafe than our hotel - Brooke and I were on it for two hours last night, doing emails and the like and it cost us $45 fracking dollars. My god o.O Not happy, Jan. So be warned folks, 4-star hotels are not all they're cracked up to be.

Love you all :)