23rd: Caught a cab, well shuttle van to the hostel for $15. it took over an hour to get there. The hostel is located on the next block down from where the walk of fame starts so its pretty close to the heart of the hollywood action. After getting settled in I went for a walk down hollywood blvd. Just spent a couple of hours just walking this one street. I saw the capital records building, the hollywood sign, walk of fame to name but a few things. Its a crazy place with a lot of crazy people but I like how you got all the types of people from rags to riches, sane to insane all on this one street walking around. Its quite tacky with a lot of souvenir shops and its quite dirty but then there are also a couple of nice builidings as well. In all honesty I did feel quite intimidated but I think most of that was just down to reputation. In the evening had a free bbq at the hostel and sat and chatted with my room mates, a suiss girl and an american girl. After the bbq we went back to the room and just all chilled out on our beds. The room is quite nice, its a 6 bed dorm with ensuite, kitchen and sitting area and a flat screen tv. The hostel itself is like a motel, 2 floors and the drive, parking area is in the middle, like a court yard.

24th: was up reasonbly early and had my free breafast. I then went and walked down hollywood blv again, just checking out more sites and walking in a few of the buildings. I then went on a hollywood tour where we went and saw the skyline of LA, the hoolywood sign, the canyons, beverly hills and the stars houses, sunset strip, rodeo drive and a couple of other places. I then went for another stroll and then headed back to the hostel for another free bbq. In the night my room mates, suiss, american and an aussie went on a pub crawl. It was only us and the guide. The bars we went to were all different so it was a nice bar crawl. We went to an irish bar, a sports bar, a dark mellow bar and a piano bar. We got back around 1ish. Felt safe the whole time I was out.

25th: up early. And had the free cereal breakfast. Today im off to santa monica. And I have to catch the public bus. I walked to the bus stop and the street it was on was closed. Lucky enough I took down notes of another bus route and it was only a short walk away. I was meant to get of at union station but the driver told me to get off sooner as I would get there quicker, so I did. Unfortunately I didnt have any change for the next bus so I had to ask around on the bus stop for change, which turned out not to be a problem. The next bus had a couple of weirdos on it, but as we were going past venice bus I thought as much and they all did get off at venice. It was easy enough to see when I was in santa monica so jumped off and was only a two block walk from the hostel. Took an hour door to door. The hostel is a HI hostel. Its very big, loads of rooms with a pc room, couple of lounges, a library, movie room, large dining area and an outside sitting area. Once I got settled in I went for a walk around santa monica. Just the main downtown area, the promenade and pier. The downtown area has a lovely pedestrian street which accomodates all the main shops and restaurants. Its very clean and pretty. The promenade is on the same level as the downtown area and sits on the edge of a vertical drop, directly above the great ocean road and beach. There are a lot of homeless people situated along the grass of the promenade. The pier is a nice pedestrianised walk that has tourist and gift shops, bubba gump (from the film forest gump) restaurant, a couple of other restaurants and street vendors selling the tacky gifts to the street artisits/performers. The pier, which I didnt realise is the start (or the end) of the famous route 66. I had to buy batteries today as my recharchable batteries have finally died. They wont even charge anymore. They havent done bad with all those photos ive taken. Would have been better if they lasted just until I got home. In the evening I was pretty knackered after the pub crawl and the walk so just chilled out in the hostel. Writing diary and uploading photos etc. they had a $4 all you can eat pasta at the hostel.

26th: Day of walking today so filled up on the free breakfast before I set off. Guy underneath me last night was a talker and was having some violant dreams cos he woke me up with all his shouting and muttering. Bit scary! So I started off walking along the pedestrianised area of downtown but there was no one there and the shops didnt open till 10. so I went instead straight to the promenade and walked to the pier. I then walked along the beach boardwalk to venice beach (home of the crazzies, homeless, druggies and anybody else who wants to be similar) it was quite along walk and I passed the famous venice muscle beach gym but there was no one working out. There were all sorts of characters from the down and out nutball, the homeless, the schwarzeneggers, talented craft makers, useless craft makers, the druggies, to people selling medical marajuana and anyone who thought they had a talent. So people were selling paintings and I think my cousin harley had more talent. They were selling everything just to make a dime. After getting to what seemed to be the end of the promenade I decided to turn around and have another blast of walking through the mayhem. I then popped up a block and walked along venice main street but there wasnt much to see but it did connect to the 3rd street pedestrian zone of santa monica. I walked through the shopping centre at one end and along the three blocks to the other end. By this time it was getting close to sunset so decided to walk back down to the pier and watch the sunset. In the evening for food I went to hooters. The waitresses were very friendly and one inparticular was very touchy haha and they sat with me for a couple of minutes and chatted (do they do this with every customer??) after food I went back to the hostel and got ready for the pub crawl. The pub crawl was ok. Met a couple of people and we went to a couple of different bars. One interesting one was the last one which was a blues bar but when the band performed they had hip hop / rap singers on the stage so it was a blues hop bar. Somehow I pretty hammered.

27th: so they day didint start off too well. Luckily no hangover because that would have just topped it off. Anyway I waited for a cab for like 45mins and it never showed. So I was going to walk to the petrol station and see about a cab number or something but there was a bus stop outside, so I waited there for a while. By this time I had missed breakfast. I managed to hail a cab and he drove me into santa monica, I had no idea where I had started off from but it took 40 mins to get to the hostel. Had about 20mins to checkout which I managed to do. Had a little walk around the downtown area again and went for some food. I then chilled out in hostel till 4 where I was meeting the 2 german people from the pub crawl who were giving me a lift down to san diego. The drive took ages. We were planning to watch the sunset at laguna beach but it took us 2 1/2hrs to leave LA so was already dark by the time we got out of there. We stopped in huntington beach for food around 7 and had a mexican. Huntington looked nice and had a surf city there. The drive down, even thought in the dark was nice and some of the house we saw were magical and majestic. Got to hostel at 9:30 and they dropped me off outside the door. I offered them cash but they said to just buy them a couple of beers tomorrow night which I agreed on. Just chilled in the evening and had another early night.

28th: today was another exploring day. I walked to the san diego padres baseball stadium, there was an area that was at the same level as the footpath and with no obstrructing view into the stadium field. So I actually got to see the team training. I sat and watched them for 10mins as there werent hitting any balls. I then walked towards the marina via the convention centre. I met a lady working there whose husband was from pontypridd and I spoke to her for like 20mins or so about a wide range of things. I then walked along the marina. There was a 'yacht' which was obviously owned by a very rich person. It was the biggest private boat ive seen and had a private chopper on the back. Then walking along the sea front there was a lovely quint little shopping village that had very pretty deco for the shops that offered everything from food to jewellery. I bought a couple of t shirts. I then continued along the promenade and passed the navy vessels that are now decommissioned and used as museums and tourist sights. There was an aircraft carrier, submarine and old sailing vessels. Further on there was a cruise ship, which was huge but I guess the same size as a normal cruise ship. Dont think ive seen one up that close before. I then walked through the italian quarter which didnt offer anything and then up broadway and into the gaslamp area. Early 1900 buildings are all now cafes and restaurants. There also seems to be a lot of bars and theatres and the nights are a comglomination of party goers and people off to the theatre and opera. The area, although some areas seem seeedy appears to be quite chiq compared to LA. The hostel is situated right in the heart of the action and is located above the restuarants. It has two floors and has the normal kitchen, internet room and lounge area. What makes this hostel a star above the rest is the activities it offers and one in particular; the night out in tijuana. Dont get me wrong the santa monica hostel offered a lot of actiivities to but werent to interesting and ones I had already done in hollywood. In the night I met the two germans from my ride and their 3 french roomates. We had food at TGIF and then went back to their room for drinking games. We then went to a sports bar as it was free entry but was empty and then to a club called sbar or something. It was a good night and seemed to be quite a few girls at the club.

29th: Got back to the hostel at 12. went for a drive through balboa park. Looks really nice and its where all the museums are, including the natural history museum. I then had a walk around the gaslamp area but there wasnt really much to see so decided to walk back to the marina and take a stroll through the village shopping area. They also had a lot of craft stalls so walked along the promenade and checked them out. Had to be back and ready at 3:30 for the trip to Tijuana, mexico. We caught the tram to the border which took around 40mins. We then walked across the border. We werent allowed to take any photos. I couldnt believe the massive difference from just walking across the border. It was like stepping back into siem reap in cambodia. The streets were dirty and full of kids begging and everywhere loked run down. We stopped in this liquor store and the prices were unbelieveable! It was $3 for a bottle of vodka and there was this plastic bottle that had 96% vodka and was only $6 for a litre!! as we were walking to the first bar we got surrounded by kids. They were trying to sell us things and just begging. I had a pack of pistachio nuts with me for the tram ride and shared them out between the 6 or so kids. We got to the first bar and it was all outside seating and it was pretty cold there. We had a few shots and a few coronas, the bottles of coronas were only $1!!! this place is so dangerous in terms of drinking. We then went for food at a mexican , the food was lovely and after that we all had a go at the mechanical bull. Which I surprisingly sucked at. Need some practice I think. We then went to another bar and then to a club. Althought the club wasnt that big and had a small dancefloor with hardly anyone dancing. We then ended a night at a strip club. Which was pretty rubbish. The girls werent that pretty and not doing much and the place was bright and not very full. So we all just basically sat and chatted for a while. I ended up going to sit on a chair with a back to it as my back was aching and then I got asked if I wanted a lapdance for $20. I said no but then she started bartering. Which I thought was funny. I managed to get her down to $8!! shame she wasnt beautiful because I would have been pretty proud of myself for pulling that off. After that we went back to catch the tram. We lost the australian guy who was hammered and couldnt find him. Then he turned up in front of us and then we lost him again. Getting through customs was a lot more security controlled getting back into the US. We had a quick bite and then caught the tram where somehow the australian guy was already on when we boarded. We had to change to a bus at some point and somehow I manahed to fall asleep on the bench. I then got woken up by one of the girls; everyone was already on the bus and just before they left they saw me sleeping on the bench! I think I was pretty lucky. Would have had a shock waking up the next morning on a bench, probably robbed and naked haha. We got back to the hostel at 2am.

30th: woke up feeling pretty aweful for the first 15mins but then felt great. I checked out at 10 and stuck my bags in storage. I walked to the train station and bought my tickets for santa barbara. Then bought supplies and then chilled in hostel for 45mins. Then walked back to station and caught the pacific surfliner (amtrak) up the coast to SB For $34. a 5hr journey. Some parts of the journey were really nice and right next to the coast but then when we started getting close to LA, near laguna I think the track went in land. The weather was miserable around LA and contined north for at least another hr or so before it cleared up again and became really sunny. Didnt see much more of the coast after that, just now and again. The hostel was literally right across the tracks. The main sitting area was like an old style american diner with the round tables and the semi circular benches. The rooms were basic but nice and clean. It was pretty late when I got to SB and went for a walk up the main street looking for food. The street was all lit up and looked very pretty and was very busy. It was a sunday so it was very busy anyway plus they had the film festival on so there were hundreds of people here for that. Had a burger and chips at this fast food place called habit. It was so cheap but really really good. I then had a walk around, everything was lit up and looked like a really nice fancy place. I then went back and chilled in the hostel. Wasnt much going on there and I couldnt really be bothered to mingle so sat with the other borings and did some stuff on the laptop. Earlyish night.

Mon 31st: today was another typical sightseeing day. I walked down to the beachfront and walked along the promenade, it was a little chilly today so took my jacket but by 11 it was boiling out. I walked over to the marina but there was nothing that stood out there. I then walked back and went to the pier. The pier was similar to santa monica, althought a lot smaller and didnt have the pacific theme park or any rides for that matter. It had a couple of gift shops, a few restaurants and cafes and an aquarium. After a walk around there and a stop for a bite to eat I headed off in the other direction down the promendade to the park. But it was quite a long walk and when I could see the park I couldnt be bothered to go much further so turned around and came back. I then went up state street (the main street) and looked around the shops. It was an extremely long main street with all popular shops and mixed in between cafes and restaurants. Just giving the feel of a really nice place to live although a little expensive. Actually spent a couple of hours just walking up and down the street it was that long. After my nice long walking day I went back to the hostel for a siesta. I then took my book and walked back to the pier and read on the bench watching the sunset for just under an hour. In the evening I decided to get some proper food as ive had way too much fast food. So I went for an indian. It seemed pretty cheap but when I had the extras and a beer it came to like $20. so instead of going for a couple of drinks I was annoyed that id spent too much on food so went back to the hostel and chilled there.

Tues 1st: bus was at 11:40. so after I checked out I walked up the main street to grab supplies for the 8hr bus ride. Cos the street was so long and subway was near the top (subway is the cheapest fast food place, and prob the healthiest so ive been living off that mostly) by the time I got back to the hostel I only had like 30mins to chill out. The bus journey was ok. There wasnt many people on the bus so had the 2 seats to myself and had quite a bit of leg room to. We went through and stopped at a load of towns, around 9 or 10 id say. But one place was beautiful. It was called solvang.

The architecture of many of the facades and buildings reflects traditional Danish style. All the schools, churches, public service buildings are all designed in danish architecture.There is a copy of the famous Little Mermaid statue from Copenhagen, as well as one of Danish fable writer Hans Christian Andersen. A replica of Copenhagen's Round Tower is in the city centre.The city is home to a number of bakeries, restaurants, and merchants offering a taste of Denmark in California. Its an incredible beautiful town and really does give you the feel that you are in scandinavia as literally everything is danish (apart from the transport).

Got to San Fran around 8pm. There seemed to be a lot of people walking around and the hostel was just a couple of blocks off the main street so thought it would be ok to walk it. It took me around 25mins to walk it and didnt get any hassle. In the evening I had a walk around the hostel, they have a proper cinema room, a library and a large chillout area with free pool and foosball next to the kitchen. Had an early night.

2nd: city tour with hostel in the morning. We walked throught the financial area. Then through china town, italian quarter and down to the waterfront. I then stayed with a couple of the people on the tour and we went for food and continued our walk along the waterfront and then walked back to the hostel up market street. Then had an hour in the hostel and met up with one of the people off the walking tour and we went for another hr walk. In the night I went for pizza and went to the hostels wine and cheese evening. But it was only a small glass of wine. Met up with people from the walking tour and played pool and foosball with them. After that had an earlyish night.

3rd:epic walk around everywhere.i set off at 10am and walked down to union square and then through the financial district where the architecture is best. I then walked through china town, which was getting ready for chinese new year so there were banners everywhere. I then walked up the steep roads up to nob hill where there were some large buildings, hotels and a church with really good architecture. You could see right down all the upanddown hills and the trams on them which was cool. The door on the church was magnificent. Gold plated with figurines all over them, amazing craftsmanship. I then walked over to, and then up the famous lombard street and then up to Russian Hill. I then snaked my way through cow follow but there wasnt much to see and headed for SFU. SFU seemed really pretty and there was a huge cathedral on the uni grounds. I then carried on to the golden gate park. I was pretty knackered at this point and when I got there there were homeless and druggies everywhere. So it wasnt that great. I sat down on the grass bank for 20mins to have a breather and then headed out. I walked up the known 'hippie' area known as haight ashbury, again a few druggies hanging around here but that was expected. I walked through alamo square but there was literally nothing there and then walked back to the hostel through fillmore and the tenderloin. Got back to the hostel around 4. had a siesta. In the night we went on a free pub crawl organised by the hostel. We went to 4 bars the first 3 were quite small and quiet. I already knew some people on the crawl as I met them on the walking tour so we hung together and my room mates came out and we met some other people. The last place was a club, again very small but we had a good night and my room mate and the aussie girl got hammered. So we spent most of the time there holding them up and forcing water down them. The club shut at 2 so we walked back to the hostel. Me and aussie girl anne stayed up a bit longer, didnt get to bed till 4.

4th:checked out and sorted stuff out. Walked up to the fillmore (one of the best gig venues in the world.i then walked to the fillmore west, but couldnt find it. I then walked back through town, through fillmore and the tenderloin. I went back to the hostel and had a siesta in the library and then went and watched batman begins. Then went to the thai restaurant round the block with anne. I then caught the bus over to the hilton at fishermans wharf and met meryl in the hotel. We didnt go out as it was pretty late and she was a little tired, and so was I after the pub crawl.

5th: spent the whole day with meryl. We went straight to pier 33 and queued up for alcatraz. I booked my tickets in advance and went for the 9:30am ferry. Alcatraz was a preety cool place. A lot of the buildings were barely standing and the ones that were the majority of them you couldnt go into. But we could go in the main cell block and this is where the audio tour was carried out. The audio tour really made the trip worth while and you heard from both the guards and the prisoners. We were there for 3hrs. Then walked to pier 39 and checked out the shops, we ate at the hard rock cafe and then went and saw the sea lions. We then rented out bikes and rode up along the bay, up through the marina and the parks and up over the bridge. It was a truly magical experience riding over with the sunset and looking over to the city and alcatraz in the bay. We then walked back through china town and the italian quarter right to market street. We then caught a tram back over to fishermans wharf, walked up to italian quarter and had food and then back to the hotel.

6th: had to get up early for my flight to boston. As we took off there was also a plane taking off on the runway next to us, which was really strange.The scenery was breathtaking. We flew up over san francisco and saw the city, the bridges, alcatraz the whole bay area. It was stunning. We then flew over the mountain ranges, saw the valley lakes and the snow capped mountains as faras the eye could see. Met tracy at airport. Went back to hers, met brandin and we all watched the Superbowl. Packers vs pittsburgh steelers.

7th: tracy came home at lunch and took me to the bus stop. I caught the bus to Harvard Yard. Walked around the area for a couple of hours (its just a shopping area with a few cafes) I then walked into the suburbs and got completely lost, but that was the plan. When I found my way back to the Yard I then went into Harvard University and walked round there for 1/2hr or so and then caught the bus back. In the evening tracy and I went to the cheesecake factory and met her two friends Steph and Katie. After food we came back home and watched The Departed.

8th: had a pretty chilled out day today sorting out the NY hostel, my money, photos, blog and a few other errands. I then went out for lunch and then had a walk around watertown (the town where tracy and brandin live). After being out for 3hrs I returned back to the house and carried on doing all the boring stuff. In the evening we went to a bar down the road, I met brandin's sister and we had food and then did a pub quiz. We came third. I wasnt much help as pretty much all the questions were american related. There was one european geography question, and I got it wrong. In the night I stayed up and watched the 3:10 to Yuma.

9th: this was the first of tracy's days off so we drove to cambridge and then caught the T (subway) to Park Street. We walked through their main parks and then up newbury street (a famous shopping street in boston where all the big names are). We then went into the downtown area. There were a few skyscrapers but it was surprising how small the downtown area actually was. We walked pretty much the whole area in under an hour. We went over to the haymarket area and had food in this upmarket food court that was situated in the old market building. After seeing the sights of boston we headed back to Cambridge and had a quick walk around the Cambridge shopping mall. In the evening we went to a restaurant the 3 of us and had some chicken wings and kinda watched the hockey (loads of fights). When we came back me and tracy watched prince of persia.

10th: today tracy took me to her home town of foxboro. We passed her house, which was considerably small for a family of 5. we spent the afternoon at the patriots park. It is where the 66000 seat stadium of the new england patriots is home. They have also the club shop and hall of fame /museum but there is also an area of shops and cafes. We had a look at the stadium but couldnt get in and then had alook around the shops. We stopped for a mexican for lunch and then went and watched a film; no strings attached. It was ok, a few funny scenes. After that we went back home and in the evening we went for a few drinks down moody street in waltham. I met some of brandins family and t/b's friend. We had some food and a couple of drinks and then went to a bar and had a few more there. A load of kids came in wearing not much and it got pretty crowded, but then we went home as everyone was working the following morning.

11th: we had a morning in the house and then we went to MIT and met Brendin, thats where he works. He then took us around the MIT area, walking in and around the buildings, showing us the architecture. After a couple of hours we left and went to target to get a souvenir t shirt for me and then back to watertown. I had a quick walk through the town centre to get some money and then back to the house. We then chilled out a bit and watched the shining. In the evening we went snow tubing. The three of us and katie and steph (who I met on the monday night). The tubing place was over an hour drive away. It was the first time that the others had done this to so it made it all the more exciting. It was an organised event for over 21's and all 600 tickets had been sold. It took a while for us to get signed up and everything, we had a quick drink and then hit the slopes with our tubes. The tubes were very similar to your typical tubes but these were of a canvas material and the bottom of the whole had a material across it. There was one hill, not too steep, and it was split into runs. There was a gentler slope and a more adventerous slope. The gentler had 5 runs and the adventerous had only 2. there was a pulley lift for the small slope and a conveyor belt for the larger. We all went on the smaller one first. Them all pairing up and me going solo. I got the guy to spin me all the way down. I went down on my front. The second time I was allowed to do a running start. We then had a beer and went for another go. Then had another beer and went up to the large slope. Again I went on my front and got the girl to spin me. At the bottom where it flattens out there is a marshall who tells you to start breaking before you reach the end. Well I did, but it didnt stop me flying past the end of the track, theres then a mound with a guy on top as a last emergency stop. Well I flew up that so fast that the guy jumped out of the way. I then took off and then caught the other side and took off again, hitting the flat the other side and managed to stop right at the end of the ski field and ice. About 5m from the car park and a one on one with a jeep. The girl at the top of the slope made a comment like 'wow he really got air' or something. They then decided to close the run with brandin being the last person, as he was last in our group. Everyone thought it was due to me flying down there too fast. And they did here the marshalls saying that I went too fast and its to icey now. So we came to the conclusion that I closed the ski run due to my crazy run. We all had a good laugh at it and they all thought I was a bit crazy. We then went for more beers and chilled out for a while. After that we went home. The place closed at 11:30 so we were home by around 12:30. it was an excellent night and a great way to finish the trip as im sure this will be my last night out.

12th: we had the morning again in the house and brandin made us scrambled egg and pancakes. Leland (brandins sister) came over and gave me a load of free clothing. She works at puma and gets loads of stuff and apparently needed to get rid of a lot of it. So I got 2 pairs of trainers, 6 pairs of socks, 2 t shirts and a watch. Cramming them into my bag was a problem and I had to throw out my two pairs of flip flops. We then drove to the airport and they timed it perfectly. In fact when I got to the gate I checked that they hadnt started boarding as there didnt seem to be many people. But it turned out it was a small plane. So I only waited in the airport for 2 mins. The flight was around 45mins. My bag was first out on the carousel, by some considerable time. I met the most informative friendliest traveller information guy ever at the info desk and told me everything I needed to do and go to get to the hostel. He just didnt tell me it would take me 2hrs!! when I got to the hostel I was the only one in the room. 10 bed dorm. I went for food around the block and then decided to read downstairs while I waited to see about the clubbing activity in the night. I started reading around 8:30 and fell asleep around 9. I dragged myself up to the dorm (3 people had arrived) and went to bed and read for 30mins. Then fell asleep.

13th:woke up at 8. probably the longest sleep ive had in the whole year! And I felt like a train hit me. Tried to have a shower but there was queues so just got ready and went for breakfast at McD's and then jumped on the subway and headed for manhattan. First stop was the world trade center grounds. Couldnt see much as it was a mass of cranes and all covered over. I then went to the 9/11 memorial and passed the cathedral outside (st pauls I think). I then walked over and back along the brooklyn bridge and then down the river side along the piers and the old ships and then up wall street. I then walked down trinity street and after lunch went to the american indian history museum. But I wasnt impressed with that at all. It was all to do with horses and clothing, boring!!

I then walked through battery park through clinton castle and up to the skyscraper museum. It was $5 admis fee so didnt bother going as I had other free things to see. I then caught the staten island ferry as its the one that passes the statue of liberty, took some photos of her and the manhattan skyline and then caught the ferry straight back to manhattan. I then walked up broadway, through the financial district, little italy, soho, noho and then caught the subway back from union square to the hostel. In the evening I went for a chinese and the pub evening was cancelled so just chilled in hostel and wrote this blog and sorted out photos.

14th: up at an earlyish time. Wanted to see a few more sites in new york before I left for the airport. Jumped on the subway and got off at Penn St station in the Garment District. First stop was Madison Square Gardens. Unfortunately I couldn't go in as they were holding a dog show there. So took some photos and headed over to the Empire State Building. It cost $25 to go to the look out platform on the 86th floor. I thought the price was a little steep but when I got to the lookout floor it was so worth it. You are just so high up its almost impossible to imagine how they built it. Let alone the decade in which they did it. You are just so high up and the only thing seperating you from nothiness is a thin railings. You are so high up and just overlooking everything. It truly is a worthwhile experience and you are just in awe of the building, the view and the general design of manhattan/new york. I then went to macy's. the largest department store in the world. Had a quick walk through the building and then walked over to the NY Public Library (the one that appears often in the film A Day After Tomorrow). I then walked over to see the Chrysler Building. The next stop was Grand Central Station. Which was an amazing building. The thing that really surprised me was that it was so clean. Inside is just huge and theres marble everywhere. It's a beautiful building. I walked through the upper deck and through the mini shopping centre they have in there and made my way to times square. I spent around an hour at times square, walking around the blocks and checking around the shops etc. I then went to the main square of Times Square. I sat here for 5 mins and just took it all in. watching the people and the large electronic billboards. As it was valentines day they had this area devoted to women. There were boxes of life size Ken (as in Barbie & Ken) dolls, but there were actually real models and the girls could go up and have free photos with them. The banner read; every girl needs a ken.. All way to cheesy for my liking. So I went and found a subway and grabbed some food. I then went for a walk around the area and came to the Rockafellar Centre and saw the famous ice skating rink. I then walked up to central park and walked through there to the AMNH. Central park started off being very smelly (mainly due to the amount of horse and carriages at the entrance. And due to thesnow melt the roads were very mushy and dirty looking. So overall impressions werent great. But as I continued walking through I could see that it would be very pretty in the fall / summer seasons. By the time I got to AMNH it was like 2:30. so I had a walk around the entrance but throught I didn't have enough time to see everything so didn't pay to go in. I then caught the sub back to the hostel. I chilled out there for a while and went on the internet to check what terminal my flight was. It came up as it was cancelled. So I had a look at other flight websites and they all came up showing it was cancelled. For some reason I decided to go early to the airport to miss the rush hour but due to it being cancelled I decided to go even earlier. It took about 2 hours to get to the airport along the subway. When I got there after explaining my flight was cancelled she went and saw if she could get me on an earlier flight. She came back and said that she could put me on one that left in an hour. That was fine with me and I asked if I could get a seat with extra leg room. She couldn't but did put me in a row to myself, basically 4 seats all to myself. By the time I went through security I managed to eat 2 burgers and then they started boarding. The flight home was great. No one next to me and I watched three films. Didn't manage to get any sleep but did get a lot of whiskey!! Got into london around 7am and was met by my father, sister and uncle.

And so the epic journey lasting exactly one year, travelling solo across 13 countries (and mexico if u include the pub crawl) had come to an end.

Ryan. Out.