Wednesday 27 April 2005

last night in the states


We finally made it to San Francisco. My host parents drove us over there from Madera. We got out to Peer 39 having a nice lunch with a great view torwards Alcatraz.



We then went over the Golden Gate Bridge parked on one side and walked to the middle of it watching a large cargo ship going through.


We then got to Lombart Str., the one with the switch backs ... great little streat. Next we went on the Coit tower getting a nice view of the city. My host parents left us there and headed back home and we took off for some cable car riding. We went back to the Fisherman's Warf, did a little shopping and got some Clam Showder in a sour dough bowl... yummy! The sun was setting and the batttary of my camera was almost empty. Since Arne's camera was broken we decided to head back for the Hostel, which by the way has a great location, situated at Fort Mason, pretty much right by the water. Our room even has a bay view.

Now we are sitting here in a very cosy lounge area of the hostel, recharging the bettareies and ourselfes.


Monday 25 April 2005

sunny california


It sure is good to be back in california again.
Arne and I went to my old High School, Sierra High in Tollhouse and met some old teachers of mine. One of them I had not seen for 11 years and yet he remembered me right away. We had some great chats, walked around the grounds and enjoyed the beautifull weather.


On frieday we went to Yosemite with my host mother and a friend of her's.
It was a lovely day. We biked around a bit, hiked a little and stared at huge trees with branches thicker than I am tall.




We had some rest on saturday, a little shopping in Fresno and a nice dinner at my host mother's parents. Afterwards we went to an indoor football game.



We took off for the coast this morning and went to Monterey to the aquarium, walked on the beach and drove the 17 mile drive. Another great day of our journey with lot's to see, great weather and great people.






Sunday 24 April 2005

one great ride


Finally I get to post an update again.








It has been a great trip so far. We got into Sacramento with an 8h delay at around midnight with no place to go. A bit tipsy and with a semi fake german accent we were able to convinse the amtrek people to help us. They cabed us down to Madera with 7 other people. We arrived at around 2:00 am. We had a little chat with my host family and went to bed to finally get some rest.

Tuesday 19 April 2005

last and only night in chicago


It was a great night in Chicago. We walked along Michigan Ave. and the river and ended up in Andy's on Hubbard Str., a small Jazzbar with live music.



 Not long before midnight the jet leg started catching up on us. When we were finally yawning all over the place we decided to just head back to the hostel.



Monday 18 April 2005

chicago in less than 24h


We got into Chicago 2h late, because someone on the trasin passed away last night during the ride. Coming into the city we quickly found a nice place for crashing in downtown Chicago. It's the Hostelling International and it is clean and inexpensive.



We put our stuff away and took off to see the city, walking around in some parks, watching people play baseball and staring at the sky scrapers.


Now we are off to experience some night life. Probably going to a nice little blues bar.

off to chicago


Another beautiful day in DC.

Arne had to do some sightseeing on his own as I had to meet a customer.
A bit unfortunate considering the nice spring day. We both met at the Union Station at around 16:30 and got on the train to Chicago. A huge shiny silver looking Amtrak.

When we reserved our tickets we decided to just go for the coach class not the sleeper cars. The seats are OK, they are recliners and have plenty of legroom. We got little pillows from the conductor but no blankets. This would not be a problem if the air conditioning would not run on full all the time. In addition to it being a bit chilly and noisy the air is very dry, just like on an airplane.


We had dinner in the dining car, which was quite nice. The prices are reasonable and it's a good place to start chatting with people. And so we did till they kicked us out. We met a nice young lady from Chicago. She's the programm director of http://www.wluw.org, an independent community radio station.

Breackfast was yummy, too. It had to be eggs, hashbrowns, saussage and bacon. And, of course, orange juice and coffee and some more coffee, and plenty of time to chat about, well, mostely politics again. This time with a couple of ladies from Seattle. They came up on the train all the way from Florida and are now heading back home to Seattle.

Sunday 17 April 2005

blue skies in DC


Not a single cloud all day and nice temperatures to walk around and see some sight. The cherry blossoms were still in bloom and the trees are just starting to turn green. Beautiful tulips cover many places...



DC is quite a charming city, clean and friendly for what we have seen.
We walked around pretty much all day visiting the "must see"s. We finished our day with a yummy meal in a relaxing restaurant at Dupont Circle and visiting the Lincoln Memorial at night.





Saturday 16 April 2005

Arrived in Washington DC


Arne and I had a nice flight with a little layover in London.
They checked us in for an earlier flight so we had some time to get a nice Frappucino and watching the planes take off.





The flight was quite nice, we got emergency exit seats with about 1.5m legroom. We mostly flew during the night which gave us some nice views of the city lights down below.
At around 22:30 we arrived in Washington, checked into Westernpark Hotel on Tyson Corner and had a good night sleep. It was a bit strange to find out that the room had no windows. I guess we should have found a hotel before taking off for the trip.

Friday 15 April 2005

let the journey begin


So, I have left Rostock, Germany now. I thought I could just gather my belongings and go but it turned out not to be that easy to pull the roots that have grown over the past 8 years of my life there. It's been good time there.


So what's next? The destination of my journey is not quite clear yet.
In May I will be remodeling a house with a friend near Dufftown, Schottland. Though, before that I am going to take a little trip to the US meeting some old friends of mine.
I have 6 hours left before my plane takes off for Washington,DC. A friend of mine, Arne, has spontanously decided to join me. We will be visiting DC for a couple days and leave on the 16th on a train to Chicago. After a day in Chicago the Californian Zephyr will take us to Sacramento. On the 28th we are planing to be back in Germany. After a day or so I'll be leaving for Schottland...


Train station, Feldberg, Germany