greetings from Seattle and Mikes House Party

what a joruney..turned out the bus stop was directly behind the hostel but nici and I with our 20kgs bags walking around in 24degree weather got lost and mixed up thanks to the stupid map..well we nearly missed the bus but we made it

after the bus driver offered us a place to stay in India anytime we wanted..we boarded the bus and started what was to be a 3hr 45min trip from Vancouver to Seattle but of course it wasnt to be that easy..first was the air conditioning..and my jumper was underneath in my bag so i was frozen cold...nici fell asleep, the fat chinese man behind me snoring the other guy behind me tapping on his laptop and then...my MP3 player died...we got stuck in border control for 2hrs as there was a backup of buses full of people going through immigration

we made it to seattle 2hrs late and at the wrong drop of point, stef mangaged to track us down and we made our way to her awesome house on Capitol Hill..a very trendy rok n roll part of Seattle...wouldntcha know..

so after the best shower i've had since i left and a quick change of clothes we picked up some wine and flowers for our hosts for the night, Britta and Mike and made our way to his house in Queen Annes..a beautiful part of Seattle over looking the Puget Sound

I met Mike at a PUSA show, which was my 1st, 4 years ago and we've kept in contact since...and we hadnt seen each other since, so i was super excited..not only has he got a fantastic house, but his friends were the friendliest and funnest bunch of folk i've met in a while

we had a killer BBQ, the beer and vokda flowed and we had a fantastic night followed by about 5hrs solid of rok band...lots of fun drunken photos...

we got back to stef's house at 4.30am and slept until noon...stef's mom, Rose, is just the cutest thing and the most generous host! She made my favourite farmers brunch for lunch on the patio deck Stef's stepdad Sam has built..we shared lots of funny stories there for 2hrs in 90F heat...it was glorious

after we cleaned up we went driving to get some adaptors adn the like and then went down the water front and played some arcade..feeling peckish..im always hungry these days...i blame the heat..we went to Dicks...any PUSA fans will know what Im talking about, but that aside it does the best fast food in Seattle...and of course had to go to easy street records..such a fun and unique record store..i fell in love and bought a bunch of cds

stef had to go back to her house on Capital hill to pick up some stuff before heading back to her's moms house where we are crashing at teh moment, and we stumbled upon her flatmates impromtu BBQ...what a crazy bunch of rok n roll fun that was...Julie-Ann is my hero..she manages rok bands and once upon a time represented Therapy? in the US...she has some stories..

so we have a 2nd invite for the 4th of July party this Friday..

The rest of the week is filling up..dinner with Mike and Britta..outlet shopping and hairdye party with Beth in Bellingham..i love Beth..and a girls night out with Kim who we have to kidnap of Andrew before the week is out

I love Seattle!

keep on rockin'
C

Vancouver in all it's glory...oh and we hiked up a 4,100ft mountain!

the comedy club ended up being...meh..okish..best part of the night was meeting a group of new friends, Ty, Errol, Callum, Iain, Stephen..note they are all boys, because there's very few girls backpacking on their own or so it seems

We ended up in a place called the LOOSE Goose..which had rok n roll music, which I craved all week...but the group was getting divided by the lack of space so we ventured to..the royal..the hostels "bar/club" what a dump but the drinks were pretty cheap..at least they seemed at the time

woke up fresh as daises (ok thats a lie) and after some free hostel breakfast of pasteries and a gallon of juice, we went on a tour organised by the hostel to Granville Island Market..now i'd been there before but the rest of the group hadnt so i glady went along. best part of the tour was when it finished and we got to eat food and watch a street performer called..well i cant remember...after that we ventured and walked the sea wall around Stanley Park which is about 5miles plus..dotted along the way there are beachs and magnificant views of the mountains and the ocean...defo worth the walk even when we got lost trying to get back downtown

We stopped in another hostelling bar near ours adn got some cheap food and beer before calling it a night...

thursday was nici and I's day of adventuring...as we had decided, well i decided and nici was dragged along to go and hike up Grouse Mountain..now I had gotten to the main summit and hiked to another 4years ago. but this time we started at the very bottom of the mountain..did I mention it was 4,100FT? yes it was, and damn it was cold, there was a heavy fog down on the mountain and and the view from the top was crap but the hike was worth it as painful as it was...there was snow everywhere at the top..so after we cooled down from the hike we froze and got the sky lift down..nici was a tropper the whole way up and seemed to be fairing better than me..unless it was an act?! hhmmm

getting back to the hostel was painful but we laughed through the exhaustion..we were so tired that after showering we wanderred down the road to grab some subway and procceded to eat it in bed with wet hair adn went straight to sleep..which leads us to today

the weather was glorious and still is..nici, callum and I went to one of the main beaches to catch a few rains and damn did we...i got burnt BEHIND THE KNEES! WTF!? Even now its stinging like a bee sting..but it was bound to happen in Fiji...damn pasty irish skin..factor 30 just isnt strong enough

tonight we are all venturing out for some dinner and drinks, before getting an earlish bus to Seattle to see Stef and Mike and go to a party in our honour..we have great friends!

i promise..photos to follow very soon. i have to play catch up..plus i need to empty my memory card!

keep on rockin'
C

i hate airports...oh and im in VAncouver

well, see now, we left NYC at 11.45 NYC time..and after a slightly confusing check in with American Airlines, Nici and I went to grab food, now after the incident with the poached chicken in chinatown the night before i swore i wouldnt have any chinese food for a while but it was the only healthy option, and thats saying alot!

airports are so fucking expensive, and the amount of walking one has to do just to find a toilet is stupid....did i mention the same crappy shops over and over and over again in every terminal? i swear everytime i go into an airport with all the waiting and queuing a little piece of me dies.

so eventually nici and i get on our flight for VAncouver via Seattle. We fly with American Airlines so its' like an internal RyanAir flight but with much more leg room..we have two of the worst movies ever...Penelope (i ONLY watched it for JAmes McAvoy-yum) and 27 dresses (what a pile of shit) nici and I went slightly demented on the flight, took over 5.30mins and with the time differences ands tuff...euughh

so then after a 3hr wait over in Seattle, we get some food and a beer to calm the narkness...i fall asleep on the airport floor under a bench..because it was the only comfortable looking spot in the whole place..i left my hoodie in NYC...sorry mam..so it was cold. we get on this TINY propeller plane in Vancouver, I didnt think it would make it of the runway but we did eventually...so exhausted, jetlagged and wanting a bed to sleep in..we get through customs pretty ok, until i get called for a random search..i mean COME ON! I've been travelling all day, nici has to wait around for me...im trying not to laugh but the border partrols are well vicious for lack of better word

anyho..this leads me to today...i really need to ring home but the time differences are weird..so mam and dad i'll call you sunday from Seattle ok?!

we are heading downtown VAncouver today, before heading to a free comedy club tonight with the hostel...need to upload photos but cant work this computer out so bear with me..ok!?

good

keep on rockin'
C

last day in NYC

last night we spent the evening in Hampton Bay at a place called the Beach club, and got home at 5..30am this morning..now waking at 09.15am and going sighseeing for the day..SLIGHTLY hungover mother...dad emailed me...i had 2 drinks..ahem...was not such a good idea..but when in Rome..

so the train takes 2hrs to get into the city and nici and i were on our own to navigate our way..we did well...we made it to the statue of libety no problem, cept that to use the museum and go up the statue you have to book a week in advance, its safe to say 99% of the people like us didnt know this...man was i pissed off...

we made our way back to dry land and as we did, i swear to god the heavens opened and dumped an olympic size swimming pool on us...we got soaked to the bone, shoes, underwear the lot..all i could do was laugh, mascara running down my face...delightful i looked...we were brave troops though and carried on..eventually making our way to the 9/11 site..its alot different than it was after they cleared the area...the size of the sitewas crazy huge...i mean the scale of it, was mind blowing...really sad and put things in to perspective...

we got lost trying to find the Brooklyn bridge despite its size all the surrounding buildings were totally in the way...but we found it because we are class..and it was defo worth it..although a bit of a trek to get to it...we decided to walk to the first pillar, touch it and walk back...and we did..hurrah!

next was china town..and again we got SLIGHTLY lost...i blame nici's map reading skills..all i can say about china town was..well never EVER EVER agree to eat poaked chicken on the bone...nici bought a bag and we got lost AGAIN...it was the theme of the day

my street cred and my sense of direction both are amazing finally got us back to Penn station and home to lauaras to where we are now...and with all this said...im off to sleep..or to eat the marshmellows from my box of lucky charms!

keep on rokin'
C

The Hamptons..dont'cha know

we got up yesterday and met with Carla, a native NYCer and Eoin who was over visiting her from Ireland. He flew the day after us, I swear the Irish are taking over North America. We booted it down the highway in Carlas Cherokee Jeep and on route we pulled over and stopped to pick strawberrys in a field. True story, we had a great laugh and saw a very unfortunate Bambi deer run into a fence at a fast speed.

We eventually made it to a public beach, with parking permits only parking..which cost $300 for a year according to a local we asked. But dammit with the sun in the sky and an aching to dip our feet in the ocean, we parked in the shade on the grass and hoped for the best, which was not getting a $100 fine. Sure between 4 of us it would only cost $25 to park the jeep if caught, i suppose its the Hamptons and thats probably a steal.

The beach was beautiful, nothing out of the ordinary as such,the people? Tall, lean, tanned machines, bar the token fat guy and us pasty Irish people..Eoin ruined my sand face and nici only buried me up to my knees..its alot harder than it looks.

After Eoin swipped the Lacrose stick of a local, he told us about a place we should eat on the side of the road called Cyrils. Omigod, this place was RAMMED and packed to the gills. The queue for the toilet was huge and when we were told there was a "porta potty"out back to use, a girl commented that it smelled bad, when in fact it smelt like roses, i shit you not, no pun intended!

We had a lethal drink called a BBC, which was a special brew of drunkiness, and before going to Cyrils, where it was fake boobs and Dior sunglasses left right and centre, we stopped at another roadside place to grab some local seafood

We got back to Laura where we parted ways, and got dressed to impressed...and went to a place in Hampton Bay called the beach club..well that was an exeperience shall I say. Also when you are giving your number to a guy in a club in the US, you need to give the RIGHT international dialling code 0011353....

Dammit!
Keep on rokin'
C

Manhattan

Oh, see now I know why people fall in love in New York and I dont mean in the literal sense..what a city. Such culture and buildings, and the buzz around it 24hrs a day..its just amazing. You feel so alive and awake in New York, anything is possible.

We took a train journey from Sayville, Long Island into Manhattan yesterday to meet with Nici's aunt Anne who was our tour guide. From the second we met, she was all facts and stories about the city. We started of in the Empire State building, well a restaurant underneath where I had great mac n cheese, with chicken and mushrooms and peppers, oh man I'd go back for more...we didnt bother going to the top of the Empire State building, queue was too long, so we started walking down 5th Avenue, so much to see and do..St Patricks Catherdral, Radio City Hall, FAO Swaratz, Trump Tower etc, check out my facebook account for photos.

Had a few NYC moments as Anne, Nicis aunt said. We had the BEST tour guide ever, there wasnt a thing that lady didnt know about NYC and she wasnt afraid to speak her mind or ask for things when we went places..not to mention I only got to buy her a beer and she paid for everything else that day...

What I thought was water from a bottle thrown on the back of my dress was in fact bird poo..yes a bird took advantage of my good mood yesterday and pooed on me..nici laughed so much i wasnt impressed...but it turns out the bird pooed on her too...hahaha...so hopefully that will be good luck

Now not that i have big boobs, infact the opposite but we were walking down the street yesterday and a guy was clearly looking at my chest while walking towards me and then proceed to look at my face, oh the guilty look when he realised I caught him..we couldnt stop laughing...Anne called it a New York minute..

We had a cosmopolitan in the Hard Rock Cafe...can I just say..ROCKET FUEL!

Oh man so much happened yesterday we had some great laughs including at the end of the night when we were singing "Crazy" by Patsy Cline into salt shakers, which i drunkingly brought home with me...

Oh and the end of the night, well Nici and I were to get the 11.26 to Sayville but we got on the 11.33..and we would have had to wait at Babylon station for 40mins at 12.25 waiting for the train...drunk, hungry and tired, we fell asleep on the train after writing our postcards, yes i really was drunk...got of at teh station and i mean the lighting, thunder and rain bucketed down, I've never seen anything like it..it was madness..well there was some taxis outside and we got on to Sayville for $40 which was abour 25mins away in the car..turns out the taxi driver was a real NYCer and his name was Vinny! I even checked his ID...How typical NYC!

right need breakfast, I'm slightly delicate!

Keep on rokin'
C

New York, New Yerk

well it did at 4.45am this morning...greetings from London Heathrow Terminal 5 Its like the lost city of Atlantis, cept its not under water...yet...come on Global warming!

So the journey has been gran so far, cept we are both very tired and our seats arent together on the flight so i cant annoy Nici, lucky cow..the woman who started talking to me on the London flight this morning probably wished she hadnt...hahaha I pity the fool....

So far Nici has been asked if she's spiritual and if she's bored by the weirdo that searched her bag this morning and we've spotted Simon Le Bon from Duran Duran too...well I did, nici had no idea who he was to see..I was very tempted to run up to a PA system and start singing " her name is Rio and she dances in the sand"

What else..ooh yes Emo, two litres of Morgans Spice Rum or whatever that shite you were drinking on saturday is only £15.00 for TWO bottles and the same goes for Jim Bean Gil.....I bet your raging..well maybe not!

so it's offically day One, or day One .5 in NYC....its hot outside, Luke and Obiwan are fighting in the sitting room and we are gonna go and eat some pancakes!

Nici and I had uneventful flights over, cept that I had what looked like one of the original golden girls, Estelle beside me on the flight and she had some overly deaf old woman....so we land and laura isnt there and we have NO idea of her mobile number because we are really well organised...but then 20mins later she comes strolling in to our rescue!

So we finally met Rich, who is just beyond lovely and cool, and we drive..and of course me being the excited tourist that i am, getting excited by Taco Bell, wooden houses and yellow school buses..we get back to Lauras flat which is uber cool and we met her dogs, Obiwan and Luke...see I wasnt going mad

We went to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner, where I ate my body in french fries, mini ruby burgers and salad...oh and beer...and i had the best nights sleep ever..until i woke up.

so now i'm hungry and waiting for laura, we are going to shop in long island today and tomorrow 6 flags amusement park..and then finally friday NYC CITY!

WOOP!

T MINUS LESS THAN 24HRS TO GO

This time tomorrow..i'll be hopefully in terminal 5, giving the checkin people an extra long lecture about NOT losing my fucking backpack as I need clean underware and the like for the next 6months..i swear if they lose my bag on the first day of my trip..heads will roll

so the bank have lost my money, it was transfered from my mamas account into mine and its gotten lost in cyber space..and i need to go to town but cant leave the house until they call me back..what else can go wrong, honestly..me and banks do not mix!

had yet another wonderful leaving party..the dublin one was epic and no hangover, but the exhaustion the next day moving home and not sleeping the nights before really played its toll on me, i dont think i've had a full nights sleep unaided or gotten to sleep before 2am in the past few months, last night was around 3am by the time i got to sleep and then awake around 08.30 this morning..and people wonder why i drink red bull?

the party this weekend was amazing..my parents spent a small fortune on food and drink, and my dad even organised a marquee for the garden but we got lazy and only half put it up...got to bed at 7am yesterday and dozed for the day on and off in between cleaning and eating....im completely wired but im blaming the trip

cant even have a shower because im waiting for the wank, i mean the bank to call..so now off to throw some rocks at passing cards and birds to vent my anger

keep on rokin'
C

tminus today...freedom

it starts today..at 5.30pm..6 1/2 months of freedom, no work, no rules, no regulations, just waking up and doing what I want to do, going where I want to go, wearing what I want to wear, simply sleeping in, or climbing a mountain, skydiving, or reading a book, going to the beach, or exploring a city.

It's been a year and 2days in the making and now it's finally here

Keep on rokin'
C

i need 10ccs of salt..stat

morning, top of the morning to you...oh what a weekend...you learn some lessons for life and you repeat those ones you said you never would...

friday was...friday was good and then it got scary and horrible and went south, very fast...a lesson learnt for life...saturday was a drunken haze of exhaustion swanning around dublin with naomi followed by a long night of sleeping which was badly needed..running on empty makes my heart go pitter patter..ouch...sunday was lovely, a very chilled and relaxed day in the park alone reading and reading and getting my body used to what im gonna be doing for the next 6months...i like those alone days with my mp3 player and a city backdrop to wander around in, makes me appreciate my life alot more than i give it credit for...worked my last show at vicar..until december that is, and had a few pints after..yes i know i gave in to the no beer diet..again..stumbled home around 4am and had a delighful wake up call at 9.19am yesterday despite it was a bank holiday monday..THANKS DAD!

Spent the last day of the 3 day weekend in the good company of great people that consist of catherine, ed, and elvis, i mean phil...turned into a bit of a session that lead us to the westbury for cocktails..im afraid to check my bank account..i think ed and i were the last ones standing, and the radisson were having none of it last night letting us in for a drink..im soo glad they didnt, because my my how amazing do i feel today? almost as great as i look...

now where is my 2nd jambon gone?! 3 days to go and im outta here...can i get a woot!
sitting at work, listening to fiona apple, hungover but happy, the sun is shining i have great friends and family, so much to look forward to on the trip and so much to look forward to come back to...i am a very lucky person..now if only i had me a josh homme..hhhhmmmmm

keep on rokin'
C