Wednesday, January 24, 2007
The final leg.....
I think the last time I wrote to you was back in Seattle, seems like weeks ago!! Since then we spent a night in Vancouver again, where we went to a NHL game and saw the Vancouver Canucks V Minnesota Wild. Was awesome to see, I love that sport! Kate was shattered cos there weren't any fights!We have spent 5 days in Los Angeles which was heaps of fun. We had a great room in a great location, on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood. We spent the 5 days checking out Hollywood Blvd and the Walk of Fame, I got a pic with Trump's Star, and where Kate was stabbed on 3 seperate occasions by Chucky (a midget dressed up as Chucky) which was hilarious for me, but scared the sh*t out of her! We did a Celebrity Homes Tour in a limousine, seeing 50 celebrity homes and during the tour we got caught up in a Papparazzi chase which the driver decided to join. In a matter of seconds, there were literally about 100 4WD's chasing who the driver thought was Jennifer Aniston based on where the car was headed. The Paparazzi were insane, driving on the wrong side, all running reds, speeding, we couldn't keep up! We went to Rodeo Drive a few times, Robertson Blvd, spent a day at Santa Monica and Venice Beach where Arnie used to work out in the open air gym and where White Men Can't Jump was filmed. The Golden Globes were in Beverly Hills while we were there so we went to check it out and were lucky to see a heap of stars, the main ones being Tom Hanks, Jamie Foxx, Dustin Hoffman, Mark Whalberg, Courtney Cox, Cameron Diaz, Will Ferrell, and a heap more! We just spent 2 nights in Vegas which was amazing. We stayed in the Aladdin, one of the best on the strip, opposite the Bellagio (Oceans 11). We checked out all the casinos, gambled (Kate won on the slots, enough to cover 2 nights worth of dinner), but I failed miserably, damn Roulette!!!We just arrived in San Francisco, we're here for 4 nights then back to LA for a night, then we're coming home!!! We're very excited!
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
The Seattle Pilgrimage
Our last few days in Whistler were just as good as the first few. We went back up the mountain again, I improved more again, and in then end boarded from 3/4 of the way up (2000m) all the way down into the village and Kate improved out of sight, going from hardly getting up all day, to doing entire runs on her own. We had a ball!! That day and night it bucketed down snow, we were really lucky, in the week we were in Whistler, we got nearly 2 metres of snow, one night when Louse got home from work we went out the front of their house and waded around in snow up to our waists. It was a great experience!
We had to leave Whistler unfortunately a couple of days ago, it was sad to leave such a beautiful place and also sad to leave Louse and Mandy, not knowing when we'd see them again, but Louse and I made the most of our time, drinking a ridiculous amount of alcohol each day!
Kate and I spent a night in Vancouver then got the bus to Seattle yesterday to embark on our music pilgrimage, or should I say MY pilgrimage. Yesterday went around to small cafe's and saloons where bands like Pearl Jam, REM, Soundgarden play secret gigs, we saw where Nirvanas first ever Seattle gig was, we found where Pearl Jam and Soundgarden rehearsed and created there stage sets, we found the location where Jimi Hendrix brought his first ever guitar. Today was really cool, we walked the entire width of Seattle to find the only memorial to Kurt Cobain (Nirvana singer), an unofficial memorial, but as he was cremated and the ashes haven't been buried anywhere, fans went to a small park next to his house where he was found dead and turned the park bench there into a place people around the world can come to remember him. It is now a graffiti laden bench with messages all over, flowers and things like picks people have left. Was amazing being there, right next to his house where he lived with Courtney Love and was found dead in. The house is surrounded with huge fences and large hedges, but I managed to squeeze through a few bushes and scale a fence to get a shot of the house. Eerie feeling being there, but was amazing, for me anyway! After that we saw some other monuments, the Space Needle and then hiked up a hill to get the entire view of Seattle, the exact shot shown at the start of Frasier! We then got to experience why this city is known as the rainy city, we fought through cyclonic conditions to the first ever Starbucks for shelter. Kate is enjoying herself here as well, not like me though, I'm like a kid in a candy shop!
Having a great time here, we leave tomorrow for another 2 nights in Vancouver, and then we're off to Sunny (hopefully) California!
We had to leave Whistler unfortunately a couple of days ago, it was sad to leave such a beautiful place and also sad to leave Louse and Mandy, not knowing when we'd see them again, but Louse and I made the most of our time, drinking a ridiculous amount of alcohol each day!
Kate and I spent a night in Vancouver then got the bus to Seattle yesterday to embark on our music pilgrimage, or should I say MY pilgrimage. Yesterday went around to small cafe's and saloons where bands like Pearl Jam, REM, Soundgarden play secret gigs, we saw where Nirvanas first ever Seattle gig was, we found where Pearl Jam and Soundgarden rehearsed and created there stage sets, we found the location where Jimi Hendrix brought his first ever guitar. Today was really cool, we walked the entire width of Seattle to find the only memorial to Kurt Cobain (Nirvana singer), an unofficial memorial, but as he was cremated and the ashes haven't been buried anywhere, fans went to a small park next to his house where he was found dead and turned the park bench there into a place people around the world can come to remember him. It is now a graffiti laden bench with messages all over, flowers and things like picks people have left. Was amazing being there, right next to his house where he lived with Courtney Love and was found dead in. The house is surrounded with huge fences and large hedges, but I managed to squeeze through a few bushes and scale a fence to get a shot of the house. Eerie feeling being there, but was amazing, for me anyway! After that we saw some other monuments, the Space Needle and then hiked up a hill to get the entire view of Seattle, the exact shot shown at the start of Frasier! We then got to experience why this city is known as the rainy city, we fought through cyclonic conditions to the first ever Starbucks for shelter. Kate is enjoying herself here as well, not like me though, I'm like a kid in a candy shop!
Having a great time here, we leave tomorrow for another 2 nights in Vancouver, and then we're off to Sunny (hopefully) California!
Saturday, January 06, 2007
New York and Canada!
Hope you all had a good Christmas and New Year! Having a lot of trouble getting onto email over the last week, and both of our phones went completely dead a couple of days before new years, don't think our UK sim cards work here, so apologise if we haven't replied to any texts or emails lately.
Anyway, we’ve been keeping really busy, we spent 7 nights in New York which was phenomenal. We did all the sights, our favourites being Times Square, Brooklyn Bridge and the Empire State Building. We spent Christmas having a big Roast Turkey lunch inside the Grand Hyatt, then went to the Rockefeller Centre and finished with beers in the ESPN bar in Times Square which was really cool.
Kate's highlight was standing alongside Ryan Seacrest in the middle of a major intersection in Times Square. He was doing a bit for E News, and shopping in places like Century 21, Macy's, Bloomingdales, and she was wishing she could shop in places like Tiffany's, Cartier, and Victoria’s Secret.
Hated having to leave, brilliant city, everything is done big, and that includes the food. On the plane over I said I couldn't wait to try their big pizzas so I got one as soon as we arrived and I could only get through 3 pieces which is a disgrace for me, but this thing was gigantic. Would love to see what the Extra Large is like! We also saw the Friends building on our last day after hearing it's exact location on the TV the night before! Had a great time in New York, it’s a place we both really want to come back to one day.We flew to Vancouver, Canada on the 29th, just spent the night and caught the bus to Whistler first thing the next morning to meet Louse and Amanda. Such a beautiful place! New Years was good fun, a Canadian couple Louse and Amanda lived with in Vancouver came up and we pre-drank a heap at home and then all went to a club till early hours of the morning. I knew I had a good night when I woke up in the morning with a cut on my nose and lip and no one having any idea how it happened! Got some great pics, especially a few classics of Louse!New Years Day snowed all day, absolutely bucketed down. It was amazing! To put it in perspective, in Falls Creek, for the entire season they had 54cm, we had 72cm in the space of 24 hours, it was like being in a movie.Yesterday Louse and Amanda took us up the mountain for the first time, Kate and I having a crack at snowboarding. They were great teachers and it didn't take us long to get the hang of it. Louse spent the whole day with Kate and in the end he had her up on her own and she was able to board for a while without falling. I had an absolute ball, and surprisingly, I wasn't rubbish like I thought I'd be, by the end Louse and I were doing runs in 10 minutes!
We are paying for it today though, Kate and I are in agony, feels like we've both just played a game of footy! We're going back up the mountain either tomorrow or the next day!Anyway, we'll be in touch again shortly, still here for another 4 days, can't access my gmail at the moment but will be able to when we get to California so I'll jump online then.
Anyway, we’ve been keeping really busy, we spent 7 nights in New York which was phenomenal. We did all the sights, our favourites being Times Square, Brooklyn Bridge and the Empire State Building. We spent Christmas having a big Roast Turkey lunch inside the Grand Hyatt, then went to the Rockefeller Centre and finished with beers in the ESPN bar in Times Square which was really cool.
Kate's highlight was standing alongside Ryan Seacrest in the middle of a major intersection in Times Square. He was doing a bit for E News, and shopping in places like Century 21, Macy's, Bloomingdales, and she was wishing she could shop in places like Tiffany's, Cartier, and Victoria’s Secret.
Hated having to leave, brilliant city, everything is done big, and that includes the food. On the plane over I said I couldn't wait to try their big pizzas so I got one as soon as we arrived and I could only get through 3 pieces which is a disgrace for me, but this thing was gigantic. Would love to see what the Extra Large is like! We also saw the Friends building on our last day after hearing it's exact location on the TV the night before! Had a great time in New York, it’s a place we both really want to come back to one day.We flew to Vancouver, Canada on the 29th, just spent the night and caught the bus to Whistler first thing the next morning to meet Louse and Amanda. Such a beautiful place! New Years was good fun, a Canadian couple Louse and Amanda lived with in Vancouver came up and we pre-drank a heap at home and then all went to a club till early hours of the morning. I knew I had a good night when I woke up in the morning with a cut on my nose and lip and no one having any idea how it happened! Got some great pics, especially a few classics of Louse!New Years Day snowed all day, absolutely bucketed down. It was amazing! To put it in perspective, in Falls Creek, for the entire season they had 54cm, we had 72cm in the space of 24 hours, it was like being in a movie.Yesterday Louse and Amanda took us up the mountain for the first time, Kate and I having a crack at snowboarding. They were great teachers and it didn't take us long to get the hang of it. Louse spent the whole day with Kate and in the end he had her up on her own and she was able to board for a while without falling. I had an absolute ball, and surprisingly, I wasn't rubbish like I thought I'd be, by the end Louse and I were doing runs in 10 minutes!
We are paying for it today though, Kate and I are in agony, feels like we've both just played a game of footy! We're going back up the mountain either tomorrow or the next day!Anyway, we'll be in touch again shortly, still here for another 4 days, can't access my gmail at the moment but will be able to when we get to California so I'll jump online then.
