Home bound at last

The hotel we went into turned out to be the famously best "boutique" hotel in Brussels. We explained what had happened and the man at reception was really sweet and gave us a good deal but it was still was ridiculously expensive in comparison to what we had spent so far. But what to he'll, we didn't wantonly venture far as it was past 1am and we were tired. The room was really nice and after contacting home to let them know they shouldn't be expecting us back soon we got into bed around 2am and fell asleep instantly. The bed was really comfortable and I slept nearly straight through until 10am. We got up and Jonny had been on the phone to megabus but found out that even if they were willing to help us the next bus that afternoon was sold out.

We went down for our buffet breakfast which was delicious and we ensured we made the most of including snagging something for lunch (after all we are our mothers daughters). Whilst we ate we debated our options to get home which was a plane or Eurostar. A plane wouldn't have worked out well though as we had lots of chocolates, alcohol, shower gel over 100ml and tweezers, basically half our things would have been taken off of us so we opted for the eurostar. It was again really expensive but we wanted to get home and this meant we could be home by that afternoon.

I had a shower, which felt great after the stress of the day before and then checked out of the hotel at midday and headed to the train station. We got there over 2 hours early but we weren't in the mood to do anything to delay us. We picked up our tickets and the man gave us Christmas cookies as a little Christmas treat which pretty much sealed our love for eurostar and hate for megabus. After security and passport control we were sitting waiting when a man showed us this photography set up they had with changing backgrounds. We proceeded to have fun with this for the next half hour. The journey itself was blissfully fast, 2 hours from Brussels to London. The highlight was a woman looking out the window whilst we were in the tunnel under the channel and commenting how dark it was for 4pm. We got the tube from St Pancreas to Richmond where Jonny picked us up to save us getting a train which would have been more than miserable and slow 2 days before Christmas. 2 hours later and we were thank goodness home!

Bon Voyage Brussels!!

It may not have been the journey back we planned but it's certainly a story to tell and we were back in time for Christmas. The trip, even with the mishap at the end was amazing!

Wheres Wally? More like wheres the megabus stand!?

So the journey home did not go to plan. We were meant to be getting the 12:15am bus from Brussels to London and then a train to Bournemouth. We started out confident because we had looked up the address for the bus stand and had found it in our map. It was only a 20minute walk but we set out an hour and a half before to be safe. The walk to the address went fast and we were there in plenty of time, however there was no bus stand there and when we asked a policeman there he had no idea what we were talking about and didn't know where the road was at all.

We then asked some passersby who were really helpful and found the address on their phone and gave us directions. It was a 20minute walk from where we were but we still had enough time at this point thanks to setting out early, though we did start to speed up the pace. We got near the address but couldn't find the exact road so glad to ask for more help. It took a while but we got to the road we had been given on our ticket but we couldn't see anyone else on this road waiting for the bus and there wasn't any kind of bus stand either.

We were desperate at this point as the bus was due to depart soon. I called mehabus customer service off my phone (I don't want to even think about this bill) and asked for help. The woman didn't even have any idea where the bus stop was and provided no help except informing us it was "kinda near central station". Central station being near where we were originally. She also told us it looked like the bus was running 20minutes late. By this time it was 10minutes past the departure time meaning we had 10 minutes to do the 20minute walk from where we had gone originally. Cue running, asthma/panic attack, water, inhaler (thank God I packed it) and reaching the road we'd been eventually to see megabus. A man told us it was further up on the left so a bit more running but still nothing.

We were too late. We started walking now that our departure time had passed by a half hour, not quite knowing what the plan was now it was nearing 1am. Suddenly we saw a megabus pass the end of the street we were walking down but after a scream and a burst of running (not quite sure what we could achieve at this point) it was definitely too late and the bus was on its way to London without us...

There wasn't another bus until the next afternoon so we knew we had to stay in a hotel but exhausted and unwilling to venture any further from this elusive bus stand (even though we still didn't have a definite location on it) we ducked into the first hotel for the night.

The calm before the storm

We has a really nice lie in this morning, safe in the knowledge we had all day to explore the markets, get souvenirs and go ice skating. When we did wake up we each had showers (not gonna lie this was much needed after the 14 hours travel and day in Brussels) and got ready. We checked out at 12am and walked into the centre for breakfast/ brunch. We found a small little shop that did waffles and crepes just round the corner from Grand Place. I had strawberries, cream and chocolate sauce on mine and it was amazing. Gemma had a nutella crepe.

After we'd eaten we started exploring the various chocolate shops that Brussels had to offer and brought some treats. One shop we stopped in "L'art du chocolat" was really nice and the woman was really helpful and offered us lots of free samples. We then walked through the markets and I got a bracelet to add to my collection as a momento.

We continued to walk around the markets and I got myself a special hot chocolate which is hot milk and chocolate  on a spoon so you mix your own hot chocolate. It was delicious! We returned to "L'art du chocolat" and finished  off our souvenirs/Christmas shopping. We headed over to the ice rink where our intention was to go ice skating however it had rained a little and the ice rink was practically a swimming pool and we were acutely aware that we were going to be sitting in a coach for 8 hours even if we fall and got soaking wet. So instead we stood watching others skate and fall over into the huge puddle that awaited. We got a burgers from a burger van nearby which were delicious and then headed to Aroma, the place we had breakfast yesterday, for a hot chocolate.

We had a great time pretending to ice skate

We spent the evening laughing at more people falling over ice skating, watching the light shows and I brought myself some chocolates for myself. We got some food at one of the markets for dinner and reflected on our trip. Then we headed to the  bus station for our return journey. This is where it all started to go wrong....

Food, Ferris wheels and beautifully lit buildings.

The rest of the journey into Brussels went smoothly and we arrived at about 8am. Our first stop was the Atomium, a big sculpture of an atom, we got there as the sun was rising which was really beautiful.

Sunrise at the Atomium

We headed into the centre and eventually found a nice little cafe for breakfast where I had a chocolate croissant and orange hot chocolate, and it wasn't any of this powdered nonsense either! We then started on the sightseeing. The building in Brussels are amazing! There's numerous cathedrals, each as impressive as the last. We walked through a lot of the Christmas market but decided to save any shopping until tomorrow. We saw, and photographed, the Manneken Pis, the most photographed statue in Europe...Does that say something about Europe? Out of all the amazing statues the most popularly documented one is a 3ft boy peeing fountain...

We then rode the Ferris wheel which provided some great views of the city and we also visited Santa's village where we met Santa and git photographs with him and even received certificates! (We may be in our 20's but we're children at heart).

After a few more sights we got to our hostel about half 3 where we checked in and went up to our room to settle in and have a much needed nap (my body clock is severely confused right now). When we woke up a bit more refreshed we headed out yo see Brussels at night. It was beautiful! All the Cathedrals were lit up and there's a big sound and light show in Grand Place where all the impressive building change colours in time with a soundtrack. We then walked around the Christmas market and saw more lit cathedrals and got some Churros and Sausages for dinner and some hot chocolates as we watched thought show st Grand Place again.

Grand Place at night

Brussels bound.

Me and Gemma have been really excited about our trip to Brussels but it also just didn't really sink in that we were going until the day. This meant it got to the day we were leaving and I had yet to pack, we had no adapter (after I left mine in Twickenham) and Gemma hadn't yet got her Euros. Luckily we weren't leaving until late afternoon and it's only a short trip so didn't have much to pack. Our priorities in packing was warmth and comfort seeing as we have an 8 hour bus journey!

We left our home at 5pm and headed to the train station, (via Asda so Gemma could get Euros). The train ride was uneventful and we got into Waterloo on time. We got Wasabi for dinner, Gem's first time, and ate as we walked to Victoria Coach station. Victoria was packed!! We were having to push past oceans of people to check in and then get on our coach.

The coach journey started out OK, however problems arose. We picked seats based on their location to the door that would mean we could recline our seats all the way without reclining into people. Unfortunately, the seats did not recline. No sleep for us then. We arrived to Dover at about midnight and had to get off the coach into the cold to go through passport control. Once through, the coach parked up and we discovered there were up to 3 hour delays on the ferries, the driver didn't speak much English so that's all we got relayed. Suddenly we were on a freezing cold coach (doors open to allow people to get on and off for cigarettes), unable to sleep and stuck like this for a while. Luckily we got moving again after about an hour or so but then a passenger informed the driver someone was missing...

Basically all possible mishaps have occurred and we're not even half way...

The ferry was good and delightfully uneventful as well as fast. We got a drink, planned our attack on Brussels and had 5 minutes shut eye and we had arrived.

It's 5:20am (4:20 UK) and we have just arrived in Calais. (Surfice to say we will nit be arriving in Brussels at 6am).

Itchy feet

Over the last month I have been getting more and more anxious to travel somewhere. I have got the travel bug bad after my America adventure and I'm desperate to go travelling again. I just want to go somewhere new, see a new place and another corner of this wide and expanding world. Unfortunately being in my final year of university means I am very busy at the moment and I don't even have the free time to go into Central, let alone a new country all together.

The last few weeks I have been thinking more and more about a Christmas getaway. I finish my uni work on the 14th December and thought about going away for a few days to somewhere in Europe. I wanted my sister to come to but she is a teacher has a more limited amount of time off then me and is also trying to save at the moment so didn't think she'd be able to do it. I was on the verge of just paying for her ticket so she had to come! Then tonight she called me suggesting we buy tickets for a getaway and surprise our mum with them so that all three of us go away. Unfortunately mum can't get time off work though and after another hour on the phone we decided we should still go. I also told Gemma I would just buy her a ticket anyway.

So now it is decided. Me and my sister are going to Brussels for a few days. We leave on Saturday 20th December and travel via Mega Bus from London to Brussels over night (it will be just like being back in that Trek America Van) we will then spend Sunday and Monday in Brussels and will be going to the famous Christmas market, getting into the festive spirit! We've booked a hostel in the city centre where we will stay on the Sunday night then on Monday night we will get back on the bus and travel back to London overnight once more! It's costing us only £85.50 total for both of us to travel to Brussels and back by bus which is unbelievably cheap and the hostel is also only about £16 each!


I'm so excited now and can't wait for the 20th to get here so I can satisfy my itchy feet and travel somewhere new and have that thrill of being somewhere new all over again! I've just got to finish the T Junction Festival, an applied theatre show and write an essay before I can go. If this isn't motivation to get through the semester I don't know what is!!

Camp memories at home.

I did an online grocery shop this week, my order came on Monday and in amongst my usual food shop I had found and obviously ordered an individual dessert pot serving of Boston Cream Pie!! I was pretty excited and couldn't help singing the Boston Cream Pie song we sang everytime we had Boston Cream Pie for dessert at camp.

I'm also reminded of camp whenever 'Happy' plays as we did out unit song to the tune of that song so I always want to sing along with our made up lyrics of "Clap along if Julia has become your alarm clock, Clap along if you know that crossroad really rocks!"

A look back on my travels of the east coast...

A few tib-bits about America.

Be careful when crossing the road! It might be a red light for the cars but that won't stop them! It's perfectly legal for cars to turn right at red lights and they never get in trouble unless they actually it someone.

If you are getting the bus anywhere allow at least an extra hour from you scheduled time of arrival as it will arrive very late! This may just be my experience but my bus from Northampton to New York arrived an hour and a half late and my bus Miami to Orlando was an hour late! They were different journeys and different bus companies neither journey had any traffic so I can only assume Americans are very optimistic people when it comes to travel times.

A lot of restaurants and shops don't like dealing in small change so if your bill comes to $16.21 and you pay with a $20 bill they will often give you $4 change saving you a few cents. It's not much but when you're travelling every cent counts.

There's no such thing as squash or cordial in America and its tricky to try to describe it. I did find something similar which was the same concept but with a powder. The powder comes in sachets but don't make the mistake my friend did and use 1 sachet for 1 glass as it will be incredibly strong. Actually rather inconveniently 1 sachet mixes to make a pitcher of that drink so if you're only making yourself a glass you're left with an open sachet that will spill everywhere.

As technology moves foward so does our bathroom hygiene as automatic flush systems prevents the need to touch anything with get my hands. The system I had always been used to in England was one where you wave your hand over a sensor when you would like to flush the loo, however as I found out in America it's basically the opposite. The sensor picks you up when you sit down then when you move away it will automatically flush. The first tine it happens (especually when you aren't prepared for it) it's makes you jump. Beware though it sometimes gets confused and will just flush whilst you're still sat down.

Back to Britain

Wednesday morning I woke up early as I had had an early night but had a lazy morning before I checked out and got the shuttle to the airport at 1pm. It was 3 hours before I could check in so I sat down and tried to entertain myself with reading and games on my kindle (I got a high score with 5500 points on "Dumb ways to die"). After an hour though I was bored and hungry for lunch so I went in search of food, I found it downstairs in the arrivals hall in the shape of a diner. I had just sat down when suddenly a friend from camp, Hannah, appeared in front of me. She was on a flight a couple of hours after mine and was doing exactly the same thing as me, biding time till her check in. She sat with me whilst I had my lunch and we caught up on each other's travels until my time finally came.

Once checked in and through the time machine they call security, I set off in search of souvenirs I could spend my excess money on. I got some more chocolate and candy for my family and a classic 'I heart NY' short for myself. Not being able to buy alcohol made it a lot harder to spend as much money as I had. In a last ditch attempt to spend it I gratefully to a manicure and : and massage whilst I waited for my flight. It was really nice and a much better way to accommodate the waiting time rather then sat bored at the gate for an hour. There was a massage chair too which felt great at the time but unfortunately didn't put my back in a great place for the flight and I was fidgeting the whole way unable to get confortable. Note to self massage chairs are not advised to be used before being sat still for 7 hours.

I was really excited to watch some of the great selection of movies they had on the plane but I realised at the start of the journey my screen wasn't working and neither was the guys a couple of seats along from me. We told the hostess about this and she said she'd reset them for us and then an announcement came up telling everyone that because a few screens weren't working every screen would be reset and it would take about 60 minutes!! We shrunk Don in our seats thinking surely he said 16 minutes!? Twenty minutes later our food arrived which provided a distraction at least and then 10 minutes after that our screens came on too! My first movie was "The Lego Movie" and later in the flight I watched "The Other Woman".

I got throughout customs and baggage really fast and was able to change my coach ticket to an earlier one so I got home an hour and a half earlier then expected and surprised my mum. My mum then made me what I've been looking foward to for nearly the entire 3 months I've been away, a bacon sandwhich!! It was delicous! I was really confused as to what tine zone I was in when I git back coz I didn't feel in either American of UK time zones and ended up falling asleep mid afternoon (UK time) for an hour or so. I then stayed awake and caught up on the last episode of Casualty (getting the low-down on the the last 3 months worth of action from my mum) and caught up on the first 2 episodes of "The Great British Bake Off". I then fell asleep at 9pm and didn't wake-up until midday the next day. 15 hours of sleep! I didn't even realise I was that tired!! It's good to be home though but also quite strange and surreal. And as annoying and irritating as they can be at times, I have definitely missed my family.

Last stop New York.

So this is it this is the start of my journey home, first leg is to New York via a JetBlue flight. I got the shuttle from my hotel to the airport and was chatting to the other man in it about JetBlue and airports etc then near the end of the journey he gets out his ID badge which identifies him as someone who works for JetBlue. I had just told him my friend had said JetBlue was a cheap, dodgy airline....woops.

My check in went smoothly but security was intense. I had to take off my shoes, stand in this big machine with my hands up and it shifted around me. It was very similar to Lazarus' time machine in Doctor Who. I was then at my gate nearly 2 hours before take off, talk about eager much. The flight itself was good, the seat next to me was free but the woman sat the next one along was quite nervous as it was her first time flying but with some reassurance and clinging onto the seat in front telling herself out loud that if she dies it will be quick she made it. JetBlue was great especially as it was quite a short flight. I got complimentary drinks and snacks, clear way to win my affection, and there was plenty of space and there was music and movies (though the movies cost for short flights).

I got a shuttle to the airport and the driver told repeatedly how much he loved my accent and he kept asking me questions so I kept talking. He told me if he were my boyfriend he would always get me angry so I would shout and he could just listen to my accent, he then told me he also liked taught and then asked me to marry him. I'm going to miss being back in a place my accent isn't anything special.

I got to my room to find a memory foam bed (score) and decided to have a chilled evening in. I also found out that I had $20 short to pay for my hotel and I can only load $200 plus into my caxton card and I need to pay for my hotel so it now means I've got about $170 to spend before I leave, meaning hello duty free!!

Seaworld Orlando

My alarm wakes me up nice and early so I get ready and head down to the lobby to buy my ticket for Seaworld and have breakfast. Whilst at breakfast a nice old man sat next to me and started talking to me about my travels and told me about his reasons for being in Orlando.

I went and saw the stingrays and debated feeding them but it was $5 to do so and as I learnt pretty soon you do not need to feed them or many of the other animals to be that close. My next stop was the dolphins and all I could tell you about that is wow! You're allowed to strike them and they are so playful jumping out of the water and they can go really fast when they want to it was amazing. I had to tear myself away from them to make it to the show "Blue Horizons" in time (luckily for me this show featured dolphins). The shoe was phenomenal, dolphins are such amazing creatures, they did loads of amazing tricks. They were also accompanied by human acrobats and bids. The show included diving, swimming, trapeze, I really can't explain the show and do it justice, I really loved it! Afterwards I couldn't resist and went back to see the dolphins again.

Once I said goodbye I went on turtle trek which is an amazing 3d story/experience about turtles and be responsible for our environment and theirs. I then headed to Atlantis where I got drenched on a pretty amazing water ride, in fact they fool you a little because it looks like an average water ride but near the end there's a bit if a surprise. I then went on a rollercoaster which was also pretty amazing I couldn't tell you how many loops, twists and corkscrew there were, it was a great coaster!

Next stop Antarctica for the penguins. They were cute and similar to Turtle trek you could go on a ride through the story finishing where the penguins were. After the ride I even got a photo with a particularly charming penguin. I passed through the sharks and saw lots of cool fish and sharks on my way to my second show of the day "A'lure, The call of the ocean". This show was also great so many acrobatics  and tricks, it was like being at the circus but with an underwater setting, unfortunately there were no animals though.

I went through the park and saw lots more animals and because all schools are back no I was able to whiz through so much so I decided I had enough tine to go see the dolphin show again. I then went on Manta, a huge rollercoaster where you are suspended horizontally and fly around upside down and everything. I then went to see another show "Pets Ahoy" this shows stars are rescued dogs, cats, birds and even a pig.

I ended my day at Shamu's stadium, first I had a look at the whales who are all really cute then went round to tale my seat for the show "One Ocean". Unfortunately there was some stormy weather in the local area so the show was delayed then after 20minutes the crowd got really impatient and started cheering in the hope this would encourage then to start the show but this had the opposite effect and they decided to just cancel it all together. I was upset not to be able to see the show but I did get to do everything else throughout the day and I really enjoyed it.

And then there was One...

This morning I checked out the hostel and got on a bus to leave Miami. All the buses in Miami had a seated dedicated in honor of Rosa Parks which I think is really sweet. On the bus I met a couple of characters as you always seem to whenever you get any bus in America but got to mainland Miami and started to look for the parking lot by bus to Orlando was leaving from. I arrived nearly an hour and a half early as the  journey didn't take as long as expected and I wanted to make sure I had enough time in case I got lost. I waited at the subway round the corner until my bus arrived.

I left Miami just as it started raining and I passed a big lightening bolt strike something about 50 meters off. Looks like Miami is sad to see me go. Being the bit of a plonker that I am I didn't think to pick up anything to eat for lunch along the journey so after having only a small bowl of cereal at 8am, it git to 1pm and I was starving and had at least another 3hours before any hope of food, an extra hour or so if I couldn't get anything until my hotel!

Things then turned worse when the bus didn't get in until over an hour late and it was pouring down! I eventually found a subway and was able to sit down and eat at last at half 5! I then had to have a wonder around to find somewhere who could call a cab for me an  I then I eventually arrived at my hotel at near 7pm after over 10 hours of travelling!! My room is amazing though! It's got a king size bed and all the extras you'd expect in a good hotel room and a microwave and fridge. The pool is just downstairs, I can see it from my room but thought I'd wait until it was sunny again to go in. I had sch a great chill night, watching bits of movies and chilling in my KING SIZE BED!! I love this hotel room.

Lauren amd Bjorn lost in Miami.

Today I woke up late after getting to bed at past 2am and getting woken up by screaming roommates at 4:30am. I had to dash down to get breakfast, making it in the nick of time as they were starting to clear it away! I went down to the pool after to decide what to do today and decided to go to the Holocaust memorial and the south-est part of the island and Bjorn decided to come along too.

We walked to the Holocaust memorial which isn't that far but in the boiling Sun it feels much longer. The memorial was hauntingly beautiful and I can't think of any other way to describe it. It was a sculpture of a hand in the middle of a fountain and the hand had people going into it. We walked around the sculpture and saw the long long list of names that were only some of the concentration camps victims. We then went down this walkway which took you into the muddle of the fountain to the base of the sculpture where there were more sculptures of people clearly in pain. It was very symbolic and there was music playing which, like I said, made it beautiful but very chilling. There was more names there too and when we left we saw some photos and captions about what happened during that awful time.

We then got in a bus to get to the bottom of the island and this is where our problems began. We didn't quite know where to get off and accidentally missed our stop and the bus started to go over the long bridge to mainland Miami! We got off at the first stop but realised we didn't know what to do next as we couldn't walk back because it was a very long way, it was very hot and besides there were no sidewalks!! We couldn't get a bus as we didn't have anymore change and we had no way of crossing the 6 or so lanes of traffic to the other side!so to make matters worse I had no water left. Luckily we both had sunscreen with us so layered that on in preparation for our stranded and vulnerable state in the sun. We wondered around a bit trying to figure our what to do when suddenly we were saved!! A woman told us we could follow a road around and under the busy road to the Children's museum where we could get money, call a cab if we wanted and all that.

Stranded between islands on a bridge...

We got to the Children's museum and they were so helpful, we decided we'd get the bus back as there was a stop right outside but first we got lunch and a drink from the subway next door. (Oh and by the way the Children's museum looks awesome I want to be a child again so it is socially acceptable for me to go). We had to wait a while for the bus but eventually got on and got back where we should have git off the bus and after quite a walk we eventually we made it to the tip of the island. It was really nice and we sat there fir a short bit then walked around, saw the view of all the beaches going along the side of the island then looped around to catch the bus back to the hostel.

It took a while but we got there in the end and it was beautiful!

We eventually got back about 4pm (despite having lost hope long ago we would ever get back alive). We had been out for only about 4hours but it felt like way longer. I chilled by the pool a bit and skyped my mum then sorted out accommodation for my last night in the states which, because it's at the airport, is so much more expensive then every other hotel! Me, Laura, Helen and Lisa went out for dinner to an Italian place for a nice goodbye meal and got Fro-Yo on the way back (yay!).

Lazy day in Miami

Last night I woke up, went to go to the bathroom, forgot I was in a bunkbed and fell out and down. Amazingly though I woke up today with no signs of any bruises or injuries, lucky for me Laura keeps her suitcase next to the bed. we can't stop cracking up about it thou50th as with was  literally asleep most of the time! We got breakfast then spent the morning chilling by the pool surrounded by more lizards. It's nice to be able to chill and feel like I'm on holiday. I've had a great time at camp and travelling but this last week is like my holiday where I can spend time by the pool, at the beach relaxing. Whilst by the pool I realised that actually I had a huge bruise just below my knee from my bump in the night.

We then went to the beach for a couple of hours then took a bot of a walk along the boardwalk but there wasn't much to see in easy walking distance and it was getting hitter so we headed back yo the hotel. We walked back via the streets but it was weird as fir some reason half of Miami has building work going on so it was like we were walking through a building site! We stopped and got a strawberry smoothie then went back to the pool at the hostel and the sun got hotter and brighter so we laid on sun loungers relaxing by the pool for a couple more hours.

Me, Laura and Helen then got the bus to the mall to get dinner and for them to do a bit of shopping. I didn't buy anything but it was fun none the less. We got back and met up again with our mates from th  night before, played some more cards and hung out together with a few additions this time. I headed back to the room about 1am to find our new roommate had arrived and she's really cool, totally chill and with the flow. Exactly what we need after a night with a girl waking us at 6am to ask where the light switch is!! We went back down to play another couple of rounds of cards before eventually heading to bed.

And then there were three...

I woke up a little past eight today and was so refreshed (especially considering I had been up till 2). The bed was so comfortable, it's a memory foam one and is perhaps the most comfortable place I've slept all summer! I booked my travel to and hotel for Orlando, I'm staying at a day's inn by the airport that has a free shuttle. The price for 3 nights is more expensive then the 4 nights at the hostel in Miami but I get a king size bed in a room all to myself and it includes a hot breakfast, besides there are no hostels in orlando and it was the cheapest option close to the airport.

Once we were all up we went and got breakfast which is just frosted flake cereal, Orange juice and bananas then got ready and headed toward Washington Avenue. We went in a bunch of shops and saw a lot of Palm trees and quiet a few little lizards who would jump out of the way when you walked down the street. We went for lunch at a little cafe which had great music, great food and a really nice natural fruit milkshake which I had.

So many cool palm trees

We then walked down a couple of blocks to get to South Beach, it's really nice and we had some fun messing around a bit and cooling off a little walking along the water but we didn't have swim stuff or towels so decided to head back to the hostel where we could change and chill by the pool. It was quite a walk back and we were so hot but we got back eventually and were knackered. We then chilled by the pool and went for a dip in the pool.

We then took our young Joseph to the airport. We decided to get the bus to the airport with him so we could see him off. It was emotional and there were tears and about 50 hugs and goodbyes before we actually let him leave.Then there were three. We then got the bus back to the hostel and got dinner, mine was actually just my leftovers from B Dubs the night before. We then met a couple of cool guys who we hung out with for the evening, socialising and playing cards until about 1 when sleep eventually won out and we crashed.

2 weeks, 14 people, 12 states, 2645 miles, thousands of memories.

Last day of the trek which means my time in the states is nearly at an end. It didn't start great as i woke up feeling really dizzy, the room was spinning and I didn't know why (no alcohol had been consumed). Luckily it stopped and I felt better after a while. The drive to Miami wasn't bad and we arrived just before three.

We spent our last few hours together as the whole group on south beach. It was cool but no one had their beach gear on them and didn't have much time. Also if I'm honest I prefer Panama city beach, it was so much cleaner, clearer and just stunning! We then headed to say the first of our goodbyes. It was weird saying goodbye as we've only known each other for 14 days and its gone so fast but it was sad. It was certainly an adventure and we had a lot of laughs. We were all promising to stay in touch particularly with those who lived really close to each other (for example Emily lives 2 miles down the road from me- unfortunately she's going to Milan for a while first).

Suddenly there were only 10! We were the ones staying in Miami for at least tonight so we decided to all go out to dinner together. We went to a place called Buffalo wild wings, also known as "B Dubs" which Laura had been going on about for a while, it was really good and I ordered so much and I'm not even sure how! It works a little like Nando's in the fact you pick chicken wings or off the bone and then have a variety of sauces to have with it and wow do they have a selection!! It's a sports bar type place and they give you tablets to play live interactive online poker with other customers or trivia. Encouraging the technology invasion and decreasing sociability at meals every step of the way.

Then it really was time for all the goodbyes as Liz (being the stella tour guide she is) dropped us all of at our accommodation. We went down to 7, then 5 then 4 when me, Laura, Helen and Joe got out at our Hostel. We waved goodbye to Liz and that trusty can which was basically our home for 2 weeks. The hostel the four of us are in is really nice, Joe is only staying the 1 night but the rest of us are here until Saturday. We're in a 4 bed room so it's only us and 1 other person. I'm on the top bunk as well. It's weird to not be with the whole group but I'm so glad I'm still with some of them as it eases the transition, gives me company and reassurance. Tomorrow we will start hitting the town and beach.

Bye guys, it certainly was something!!

Island of Adventure Orlando.

Day 2 in universal and just as excited as day 1! First stop was universal studios to get the rock it rollercoaster done that we didn't get done yesterday. There was no wait at all and we were so excited. We got on it and it was great but suddenly it stopped at the top of a drop.
We were stuck at the top of this drop for a good while but we got going again and it was a phenomenal. We went on the Revenge of the mummy again with the guys who weren't there yesterday which we were more then happy about. We then got on the Hogwarts express. It was amazing. There's a mirror set up so it appears people are really walking through the wall. We ere on the train at 10:45 on the 1st September, 15 minutes before students would have got on train for the start if the year! (There were people waiting for 11am exactly). On the train there's a film played of all this action happening along the journey. We got off the other side and was in Hogsmeade, Island of Adventure.

I was freaking out in Hogsmeade! There was Honeydukes and everything. First ride we went on was the dragons for the Triwizard tournament, it was vert cool with loads of loops and corkscrews. I didn't know which way was up most of the time! We got lunch at The Three Broomsticks and I got a classic Shepards pie, the first I've had since being in America and it was delicious. We went on the Hogwarts ride which is inside the castle and needless to say I was freaking out again and we didn't have to queue at all as we went on as single riders.

Hogsmeade

Next stop was Jurassic park which also marked the start of us getting soaked! It started with one rode where you got quite wet as you went down a drop, then the boys decode to stand in the middle of the splash zone and got drenched! We then headed a park over and went on another water ride and I can't stress how wet we got. We were drenched, it was so funny.

Just a bit wet...

We then headed to the superhero section and went on the Amazing Spiderman, Doctor doom and the Hulk. Boy they were intense rides! The doctor doom one was a vertical drop ride but what we didn't realise until it happened was that it shot you upwards really fast too. The hulk was awesome too and one of my favourites, though saying that I have a lot of favourites. We headed back to Universal studios on the Hogwarts express after that (well me and Emily quickly went on the Hogwarts ride again). In Diagon Alley we got dinner (BANGERS AND MASH!) at the Leaky Cauldron and we also got Frozen butterbeers. I was feeling really homesick with all the London views and English food. After dinner we went on Escape from Gringotts as Emily hadn't done that yet. Our last ride was Transformers and finishing as we started, it broke down. Luckily it was when we were right at the end so it didn't ruin the ride at all it just delayed our getting off by a little bit.

Frozen butterbeer

Universal studios Orlando!!

Today I was like an excited child who was about to go to Disneyworld for the first time. Oh wait that's literally what I was! Well technically I'm doing Universal. Unfortunately we had a slight delay this morning when we found out our food boxes had acquired some unwanted water overnight but once we'd cleaned them all out and packed up we were in our way. We had decided to get an early start so we could upgrade our tickets and have 2 days at the parks. Make the most of the magic whilst we can.

We dumped the stuff at the camp site and headed to Universal. First stop Universal studios! It was only me, Sinead, and Helen who were upgrading to 2 days but it meant we were able to whip through doing all the rides we wanted. The studios park is more about 3d simulation rides and there are only a few rollercoasters. We went on despicable me where we, for a short while, became minions and went through minion training. Then we did transformers which was the same concept but much more intense and really good. We did twisted which is a tornado experience but was a bit of a let down I thought but when we came out of it there was a parade passing which was cool.

We then went on the best ride of the day... The revenge of the mummy. This was a really cool rollercoaster and its in the dark so you have no idea where you're going and a major plus was it was only a 5 minute queue!! On the whole we were really lucky with the queues, most were only 30-45 minutes. We then headed to the highlight for me. Diagon alley!! This was so cool I was literally freaking out! It was so cool. We went on Escape from Gringotts which had a really long queue which wasn't surprising as it is very new. The inside of the bank was really cool and the ride was fun. We tried on some robes and looked around the shops including Weasly wizziling wheezes where I got a chocolate frog. We came out and had our second lucky strike of the day when we saw the Dragon on top of Gringotts breathe fire!!

We saw the start of the evening show which had cool fireworks and water fountains the before we had to leave. Unfortunately we didn't have time to do the biggest rollercoaster "Rock it" but that's exactly why we did 2 days! By the time we got back I was exhausted and crashed straight away.

Ginnie Springs

It really was heartbreaking to leave Panama City beach. I definitely want to return one day, maybe with my mum and sister, they would adore it!

We had about a four and a half hour drive down to Ginnie springs but changed back time zones so lost another hour. We had lunch on route and then didn't arrive until late afternoon. We set up camp for the last time this trip and headed to the water. Ginnie Springs is known for tubing so that's what we were gonna do but unfortunately by the time we got down there we only had an hour which wasn't enough time to do the whole run so we decided to just go for a swim instead. It was quite weird to swim as its fairly deep and you are just taken along by the current but it was great to cool off in the water.

Back at camp we made a campfire and a bbq and started cooking dinner which was a bbq, peppers with dip (Liz is intent on getting everyone their veggies) and roasted asparagus with honey. It was good. Unfortunately half way through the cooking the lightening which had been quietly happening for a while was joined by thunder and rain. We got soaked! We were holding tarps up over the food and lights half hoping it would pass pretty swiftly but when it didn't a few of us put up our big tent over the bench and our food to keep us out of the rain but by the time we'd done it we were sodden!! It could definitely have been much worse considering it's hurricane season so all in all we got off lightly!!

DIY shelter.

Panama city beach

Today I woke up to the best view of the the beach and wasted no time getting ready grabbing a croissant for breakfast and getting down to the beach! The beach just continued as far as you could see in either direction. The sun was shining, the water was a perfect temperature and we were ready to just relax in the sun.

What a view!

In the afternoon we all decided to go on a 3 and 1/2 hour boat ride that took us the gulf of Mexico and let us go snorkelling. It was so much fun. It wasn't too hot with the ocean breeze so we could relax in the sun on the ride out. Snorkelling was great fun. We were able to jump in from the boat and saw loads of cool fish, hermit crabs and sand dollars. Some of the group even saw some little stingrays! Emily even got in and went snorkelling which we were really proud of her for as she doesn't know how to swim and has never been in the ocean higher then her ankles but today she got on a life jacket and went for it!

On the way back most of us were tired and very relaxed and were beginning to fall asleep when suddenly one of the crew and Tom soaked with ice cold water using this supermarket pump but it felt more like we'd had a whole bucket dumped on us! We then had a shell call competition to see who could make to loudest and longest call in a shell (Tom won), hula hooping, the macarena and we even spotted a couple of dolphins just before we docked!!

We went to a place called "Dicks last resort" for dinner. It's famous for the terrible service by the rude and crude waiters. It was so much fun but definitely only suited to people who can take a joke. It wasn't a tidy place and there was a lot of shouting but we were laughing the whole time by the no nonsense sarcastic waiters. They also make hats for everyone with a line about you. I got off VERY lightly but they were all funny and we had a good laugh about them. The service and food was actually really good though and I would love to go again for the comedic service. Before heading back to the hotel we stopped at a little fun fair and I went on the fastest twizzler ride I've ever gone on!!

My hat from "Dicks"

From gators to the beach!

It was sad to say goodbye to New Orleans. It was a great place and so nice to be in a hotel but it didn't take long to get over it and find a new love as we headed to Panama city where we would be by the beach and in another hotel (after deciding to take money out the food kitty to fund it).

On the way out of New Orleans we went to Honey island for a swamp tour. This was another highlight of the trip. Before we even got in the boat we saw some huge alligators these guys had just caught and shot except one wasn't quite dead yet and flipped around snapping at the guy. It was terrifying. Nevertheless we then hopped into the boat to go out to the gator infested swamp. It was reassuring to hear though that no one had ever actually does from a gator attack in Louisiana, a fair few limbs have been disposed of though. The gators were a good size and they got very close to the boat. Our guide Brian fed them so they jumped clean out the water. It was terrifying but extremely cool. We also saw turtles handsome cool dragonflies.

The drive to Panama city was a long one. It was a 5 hour drive but it felt longer after the swamp tour. I had a really great sleep and read my book most of the way. We eventually arrived at 8pm and it was already dark. The hotel is unbelievably nice!! Especially considering it's only $25 a night and the money was just taken out of what we'd already given to the food kitty. Our room is on the 6th floor and has a beach view! The pool is great and there's a hot tub, both of which we tested as soon as we got here. We also decided to run into the sea as we are literally are literally door to door with the beach! It was great, I literally can't describe how amazing it is! I can't wait for tomorrow!

New Orleans. Food, market and culture.

I got the longest lie in I've had in 3 months today!! My alarm woke me up at 9am, I got breakfast then chilled at the pool for an hour or so. It was great! It was only 31 degrees today, so much cooler then it has been. The perfect temperature.We went for brunch together at about noon to a place called "The ruby slipper". I had a banana and raisin french toast type thing with bacon and sausage. It was amazing. I am really loving New Orleans food!

We then split up and went to do our own thing around town. A bunch of us headed to the French market and looked around the various stalls and we met quite a character at one who was 'reading' people's faces. We then headed towards the river passing a jazz band playing on the way. The Mississippi river was cool but to be honest a rivers a river. We went to Jackson Square and saw some beautiful architecture and there was more jazz music. I then got my first ever tarot card reading from a famous voodoo tarot card reader. It was a bit of fun and quite interesting.

Mississippi river

Jackson Square

We headed back to the hotel and I went swimming on the pool then did some laundry and ordered a pizza in for dinner with Laura and Lucy whilst the rest of the group went on a ghost tour. It was so nice to chill. I even get an early night!

New Orleans A.K.A beds and air con!!

Today was our longest journey of the trip with a 7 hour journey down to New Orleans! But we're all pretty excited because New Orleans means 2 nights in a hotel which means air con!! It has been so hot at nights! Even with no covers and a vest top, it's still too hot!! The first half of the trip flew by mostly because we were all asleep for at least 2 hours (most people even longer) of it and I've got to say it was probably one of the best sleeps I've ever had in a van/car.

Travelling can really take it out if you..

We took a few stops and then arrived in New Orleans a little after 4pm. We took some time to chill which was great! I took some time to have a swim, have a shower and get ready. The hotel is amazing! It's 2 people to a room and we've all got double beds! Such luxury!! I'm sharing  room with Helen and our room is in a great location, steps from the pool on the ground floor!!

Pretty excited about the room!

View from our room!

We headed out to the town and had a very brief look around on our way to our restaurant for dinner. We ate at Oceana which I can only imagine is THE best restaurant in New Orleans. I had gator fir a starter. That's right I ate alligator and it was a delicious! My main was called "Taste of New Orleans" it had some fish things, sausage, jambalaya and rice, again it was delicous. I was stuffed by the end but Liz highly recommended the Banana fosters ice cream pie for dessert so me and her split it. It was worth it. It was covered on fruit and I can't even describe how amazing the meal was but I would come back to New Orleans for that meal alone!! Once we were back at the hotel I took a bit of a dip with Lucy and Gemma before heading to bed for the night. It's crazy how much difference a hotel makes compared to a campsite!

Memphis. Home of the King.

It wasn't as early a start today and once we were up we had a 3 hour drive to Memphis. There's a lot of driving to do and we've covering a lot of miles. This is a very fast paced trip and we're constantly on the go so there's not much time to chill by the pool but it's great because we get to do so much and I have time to chill on the beach in Miami after the trek.

3 hour drive? Bring it on!!

We arrived in Memphis at around 3 and had lunch then walked across the parking lot to Graceland, home of the king! We got tickets to get a tour and see all his cars, planes and more! The house was awesome and the decor was very one of a kind. We saw his grave which is in the meditation garden behind the house. It wasn't his original gravesite but his father decided to move both him and his mother there a few years after Elvis passed away. We also saw all his awards, records and jumpsuits (there are loads of them all!).

We saw a big selection of Elvis' cars all of which are very stylish. I loved the Cadillac's in particular. We then saw 2 of his planes. The most impressive was the Lisa Marie, named after his daughter and nicknamed Houndog 1. The plane was amazing. There was a living room, conference room/dining room, another lounge area and Elvis' bedroom. There was also 2 bathroom on board the sinks of which were covered in flakes of gold!

Once we got back to camp we cooked dinner. We did a classic bangers and mash meal. It was good to have a classic English meal and I believe it was the first time Liz ever had it!  It took a while to cook so we weren't done until 9pm but then Liz had a surprise for us and a pink limousine rolled up to take us down down the road for dessert! The dessert was good! I had a chocolate fudge brownie sundae and it was pretty big but was only $5!

Nashville y'all.

It was a slow morning after a late night so we decided to get breakfast at Maccy D's on the way to Nashville. It was a shorter drive today, it took about 3 hours and we only took 2 stops so arrived just before 1:30pm, however thanks to a change in time zones whilst driving we gained an hour back. It was 32 degrees today so once we'd unpacked and had lunch we took a dip in the swimming pool. It was the best temperature, nice and cool, without being too cold! I then had a shower and felt great. Unfortunately after 10 minutes I was back to feeling hot and sticky!

We headed into town at 4pm and took some time to wonder around the shops and look at the amazing selection of cowboy boots and hats on sale ($300+ for a pair of boots) and we dropped into a few bars to hear some good old country music. We ate dinner at the Wildhorse Saloon and got line dancing lessons there. Unfortunately this was quiet tricky for me as I'm not able to put any weight on most of one foot but I gave it a go anyway. There was then a band playing who were good and dis some good songs (country of course). The food was good but the drinks outshined the food for the sole reason you could pay a little extra and get it served in a glass cowboy boot you could then keep. I headed back to camp quite early so I could charge devices and then get an early night. When I got back at 8:30pm it was still 27 degrees and the coolest it's supposed to get all night is 22 degrees!!

Thank you very much

White water rafting!

It was such an early start today but it was worth it as today was the day we went White water rafting on the Ocoee river! We had to be all packed up ready to load the trailer at 6am then had breakfast packed up were gone by 7am. It was a 5 hour drive to our campsite which was at the place we went white water rafting. It wasn't the most plush campsite compared to the ones we've had the last few days but the weather was boiling!

White water rafting was amazing! The Ocoee river is the most popular place for white water rafting in the world and its a grade 4 out of 6 (with 6 being you will die here). It was a 5 mile stretch and we were in the water for an hour and a half! I didn't fall out the boat (though I did fall into it a few times). There was a half way mark were you could jump out and swim/float down the river a bit which was really fun. I would definitely do it again! We got some great photos we all pitched in for so it only cost us $6 each for them all!

Back at camp we were starving so the group cooking started dinner straight away whilst some others went out to the shop getting a surprise for Emily as it was her birthday so we decided to have a bit of a party. We had dinner and decorated our area with some balloons and had a cake for her. We then  hung out and was able to chat and play games with the other 2 groups who were also doing treks and staying there. It was a great night and so much fun the only down side is that I accidentally stepped on one of the nails used for the tent and it hurt so bad. I now have a nasty bruise right on the bottom of my foot which makes it a bit tricky to walk normally.

Love these guys!!

1 day, 14 people, 410miles, 3 trolleys of food and 2 lost phones.

5:45am and we are up and away! Breakfast and packing up all our tents and putting everything in the trailer Tetris style and we are off! It's a day of travelling as we head further south. We stopped for groceries along the way to restock. We take it in turns to cook dinner and you can choose what you cook. The people who aren't getting dinner will restock the breakfast and lunch foods, that was my group as we cooked yesterday so won't be cooking again for another few days. It's quite bizarre shopping for 14 people for 3 days. It's A LOT of food!

Once we'd finished the shop and put all the food into our boxes and coolers and reloaded the trailer we had a quick look in a goodwill then set off once again. The next stop we made was a flea market we passed and decided to have a browse through. It was really cool and there was so much stuff! If I didn't have luggage limits to worry about I would probably have left a few bucks shorter. We then drove a short while to a rest stop to have lunch. This involved unloading our lunch box and cooler and using paper plates to make wraps or sandwiches and cereal bars and salad. There was a bit of drama as we left as one of the guys had misplaced his phones. After a long while of searching it turned out they were on the bonnet of the van the whole time!

We arrived at the camp site around half four and was told a storm would be passing through in 20 minutes so we unpacked the trailer and set up our tents plus a big one over our food area, finishing moments before the first few drops started coming down. It was a fast passing storm but with some rather spectacular thunder and lightning. We git a bit of free time whilst the people on cooking did dinner so we headed to the "family fun centre" and watched Tom and Marezk battle it out in pool, air hockey and basketball. Dinner was chilli and my group was on clean up so we had to head to the main house to do dishes which was surprisingly fun. We got back and had smores around the campfire and introduced Emily and Marezk to their first ever smore (how they've cone this without one I have no idea). I then had a shower and got an early night as it was an even earlier start the next day with the alarm set for 5:15am!

Museums and Baseball

Thursday morning we got up at 7:30am, showered and all had breakfast which is a great selection of fruit, oatmeal, yogurt, cereals, bagels and juice brought with the money we all put in to buy meals for the group. We then headed into the city for a free day to explore a bit more of the city. Ashlea, Helen, Paul and myself decided to stick with the free stuff. Our first stop was of course The White House. It was really cool to see but it was a bit of an anti climax as it wasn't as big as I expected. I think I always thought The White House and the capitol building were much closer together. Even so it was cool to see such an iconic building and we sported snipers on the roof guarding the place. Outside there was a man protesting something or other about the president. He had a poem wrote over his chest and was simply standing quietly with his middle finger up facing The White House.

Next stop was the American History museum. We spent such a long time on the ground floor looking at the history of transport in the country that by the time we were done we were to hungry to continue up to the next floor. We ate our packed lunch in the shade on a bench in a small park and fed the birds and squirrels. Next stop was the Natural History Museum which we really enjoyed there were some great exhibitions especially the bugs and dinosaurs! Last stop on the museum run was the Air and Space museum, another cool museum. The highlight in this one was definitely the space section. We saw space suits and rockets and footage of launches. We were chuffed we had fit in so much but we didn't actually finish any of the museum's and just focused on the parts we were really interested in.

Natural History Museum

At 3:30 most of us met up and headed to our first ever baseball game! The game was amazing! We were supporting the Washington Nationals who were playing the Arizona Diamondbacks. Liz had brought us face paint so we were able to really get into the spirit and we learnt the chants too. We got some amazing food there, an integral part of any baseball experience. Our seats were great and the atmosphere of the whole stadium was phenomenal! The nationals won and most of us decided we would keep the Nationals as our team. Liz even got a photo of us pitch side after the game (we may have used the international card). We then got certificates for our first ever baseball game. It rascal much fun and a great way to spend our last evening in Washington DC.

Go Nats!