Homecoming

Do you think about me now and them? ’cause I’m going home again.. This song just popped into my head this morning, as I heard it already quite a lot the last days, especially in the AE stores in the neighbourhood..

Yes, the day that I have to pack my bags - squeeze everything in it, sit, lay and jump on to get them closed - has arrived! Tomorrow, at around noon, some people will be very happy to see me standing there in Zaventem.

I finished up my work here, and went out for a last time yesterday. I had to show my ID to get a drink for the last time.. I shared a room with Elke for the last time (No offence, I liked having a roommate, but I think I prefer having my own room) I will have seen deer in the front yard for the last time (I even got to feed some baby deer yesterday night.. Very, very cute :p), and probably, I will have watched Anime for the last time with the twins too. It won’t be the last time that I go to NY though, because that’s a city that unconsciously finds a little place in your heart, makes you fall in love with it, and almost obliges you to come back some day..

Anyway, see you guys tomorrow? Homecoming Party at my place?

Last American Days…

As all stories come to an end, so is my American adventure. If there aren’t too many storms, and Lufthansa doesn’t plan a strike (as they intend to do, I heard) , I will be back on Belgian grounds Friday 20Th, somewhere around 13u local time. Hopefully I manage to find some space in my backpack to bring the sun along with me..

We had good times here, but we also had less good times..

Last weekend was a weekend to spend mostly at the Heukels Residence. We catched up on some work, had some fun with the twins… Sunday was a bit of an ‘Off-Day’ as we had some differences of opinion at the house. Martine decided to drop us somewhere at a Church Festival, where she signed us up as volunteers. Ah well, it got us out of the house at least, and the work wasn’t that hard. In no time I was responsible for the department ‘face-painting’, where I joyfully painted flowers, hearts, ladybugs, spiders and beetles on little kids’ faces. Never knew I was actually good at that. Seeing that we didn’t have any transportation back home, we stayed for the clearance, received a water melon for all our hard work and waited and waited for Martine to come pick us up again. After refusing 17 other offers from people who offered to take us home, she finally arrived and we were just in time in the car, as lightning and thunder filled the air. We have thunderstorms or cooling rains about every night, due to the very good weather during the day, so that’s kind of a comfort for the stressy situation here..

Many of you will say that I’m crazy for saying that I’m looking forward to coming home again, as this blog only gives you an insight on my weekends here. As some of you might know, the last weeks at the house weren’t exactly the merriest ones, so it’ll be nice to come home to a stress-free environment, have tons of things to look forward to… France, Italy, Germany, Lesse-river and Bram’s Pool : Here I come

I hope you guys enjoyed reading my blog, didn’t get too jealous seeing the pictures and stuff. For those of you who will miss reading my American adventures: My last update will be on Thursday probably, as I’m trying to persuade the Heukels to let us go to NY one last time, to say our goodbyes and buy some more souvenirs.. I also might give you guys some travel reports on my upcoming trips as well, so feel free to visit my blog during summer vacation!

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas…

But I realized that you would just keep nagging for some details on my trip to the city that never sleeps, Sin City, or just the city I’d like to call ‘Las Vegas’. I’m sure I made some of you guys very jealous with my last post, and all I can say is: you’ll even get more jealous when you read this report!

It all started very early in the morning, when we got up at 4 AM to be in time to catch our 7 AM flight. Going to Florida cost us $100 in overweight luggage, thus after shifting some clothes from one suitcase to another (some of us like to take half of their closet with them when they go on a weekend trip, and no it’s not me ), we were all set to go to the airport. No running to the gate this time, we even had plenty of time to stop at Dunkin’s for a yummy chocolate glazed Donut or stare at the planes for a while. The weather was nice too, so we could see a lot when looking out of the airplane windows. We saw Rocky Mountains covered with snow, a lonely road going through a death valley and even a little piece of the Grand Canyons. Some of the passengers already started building a party on the plane, and the little whiskey bottles were brought in constantly. I never saw so many people standing in the aisle during a flight, even though it was a bit of an eventful one. Somewhere around the middle, we had an enormous air hole, and suddenly the partying and yelling was replaced by silence and people quietly sitting in their seats. Lucky for us, we had a good couple of pilots, and after some shakes and bumps, we saw the Hoover dam, the lake and ‘finally’, the Strip. Amazing as it was seen from it the air, it would get even more amazing once we set foot on the ground

Vegas atmosphere already starts at the very gate you land. The noise of slot machines welcomes you when leaving the airplane, and from there on, it doesn’t stop. We thought that Florida was very hot, but it was nothing compared to the boiling dry heat that overcomes you when going outside. A little bus took us to the end of the strip, where we checked in in Circus Circus, and immediately changed into bikini’s and shorts. Indeed, not the Strip, but the pool was our primary destination. A nice refreshing dip in a shark and manatee-free pool was the highlight of our afternoon. After enjoying a nice Watermelon Daiquiri, some sun and an other lifeguard every 30 minutes, we decided to get ready for some casino-exploring, all-you-can-eat-dinners, and the long awaited arrival of our Floridian companion. Normally, Eline was going to land 15 minutes after us, but she accidently switched the AM and PM flight, only to arrive a bit after midnight. But if you think we went straight to bed then, you’re wrong! After dusk is somewhat the perfect time to explore the strip. Still warm enough to wear almost nothing, and a lot of lights, excitement and people to see. The first casino we visited was the Venetian, where you can take a gondola that sails you right into their mall. Once there, you can’t see if it’s day or night, as a nice cloudy sky lightens the small Venetian alleys. You can see Palazzo D’oro, Piazza San Marco, Ponte dei Sospiri.. A nice little foretaste for this summer, as I’ll be visiting Venice for the 3^rd time already. Another great casino is Caesar’s Palace, where you can find the Trevi fountains, the Colloseum and a lot of Roman Palazzo’s. The Venetian and Caesar’s Palace are some of the bigger Casino’s of the strip, so you could say that Italy is well represented… We also stopped for some drinks at Margarita Ville, saw some bands play live here and there, and stopped at some famous places like Treasure Island, Casino Royale and the local Mc Donald’s. After seeing enough lights and hearing enough slot machines, we decided to call it a day and went to our nice little Circus Circus bed.

The next day started of a bit the same. We slept a bit later, took a little brunch and went straight to the pool. Another cloudless day, and mercury was rising to unknown heights. We switched the pool for Adventuredome, a very large indoor amusement park located in our very hotel, where they happen to have the largest indoor rollercoaster, which we immediately had to try. Eline and I were on the front row, Elke and Laurens behind me. I have never heard so much screaming in my life! We also took our chance at the Slot machines. When in the neighborhood, you should definitely try the Midas Touch Slot Machine in Circus Circus. A nice little old lady was trying her look at this big slot machine, and thought it would be fine if Eline and Laurens just put their coins in because she wasn’t exactly in a lucky mood. Eline put her coin in the machine, took the handle for a swing, and coins just started rolling out. You should’ve seen the old ladies face, as she was already standing there for 10 minutes, getting nothing out of it. It got even worse when Laurens also decided to empty the slot machine. She cursed and cursed while both of them went to cash their profit in nice green dollar bills. I didn’t get lucky though, but there’s a saying that if you don’t have luck playing games… Oh well

On our way back to the hotel after some shopping, we also scored some VIP tickets to Pure, a nice nightclub at Caesar’s Palace. So we all dressed up again, and left at about 11 to stretch our legs to some funky music. The waiting line was still pretty long, but we got in for free, so that was a nice compensation to the high prized drinks over there (no good drinks under 17$, at least if you want to drink something else than ‘dishwatery’ beer). You could compare Pure with Culture Club (only way better), and with a Loungy bar on the roof of Caesar’s Palace, where you can overlook the strip while sipping a wine and dancing to the beat. Elke almost immediately had an admirer, and a girl fell completely in love with Laurens and his outfit. We all had a good time out, and got at the hotel late enough to have a long lie-in the next day.

Because sitting at the pool gets a bit boring after a while, we decided to go shopping (what else to do with 3 girls and a male shopping addict?) Elke and I each bought a very lovely Alyn Paige NY dress, and even Laurens didn’t leave the building empty handed.. Now we all had the perfect outfit for our next night out on the Strip. We also had to stop at the local Abercrombie, where some of us where couldn’t resist buying that one cute top in clearance, the cool shorts… After a quick dive in the pool, we got all dressed up again. Our place to be for tonight was the Wynn, one of the newer Casino’s on the strip, and considered as one of the best places to stay. Too bad our bank account didn’t allow us that, but a friend over in Long Valley his nephew played one of the main characters in one of the musicals there, and he got us 2 for 1 tickets, which is always a welcome bonus.

Sir Galahad got us some very nice seats not to far from the stage, and we enjoyed “Spamalot”, a bit of a parody of “The Quest for the Holy Grail”, one of my favorite Monty Python movies. Mr. Cleese himself was only present in the voice of God, but I must say, I haven’t laughed like then in a long time! The Knights of Ni, Tim the Enchanter, a soon-to-be-dismembered Black Knight, a peasant named Dennis, the French taunters and a rather dangerous killer rabbit had us all cracking up in our seats..

After the musical, sir Galahad (aka Mika Duncan) gave us a little private tour backstage, where we saw some dressing rooms, the stage, some of the attributes from the show.. Another once in a lifetime opportunity!

The night was still young, so we started out with some drinks at Blush, the loungy club at the Wynn. Laurens was having a very generous mood, as he bought bubbles for all of us. There was a nice atmosphere, but a little to calm for us, so we went to Caesar’s Palace again to discover some of the other nightclubs there. Our initial plan was to go to Poetry, but as there were more people leaving than entering when we got there, we decided to make a change of plans and go to the Bank instead. With our nice dresses and suits on, we didn’t have any problem getting in, and even passed a great load of people who were already waiting there for a while. They say nice outfits and good looks get you everywhere, and in Las Vegas this is more than true! There was a bit of a foam party going on, and especially in the beginning of the night the music was great. Elke had another admirer, and if it weren’t for Laurens, I would’ve never gotten rid of some London dude constantly trying to grab my hand to move me up to the bar. I guess that under the saying ‘what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’, a lot of people just don’t hesitate to take their chances. Too bad for them, I ain’t that easy

The next day we decided to discover the other part of the strip. Bellagio, NY NY with it’s impressive rollercoaster (even better than the one we have over at our hotel), Brooklyn Bridge and the big skyscrapers, Paris Paris (because everything’s just sexier in Paris) with its Eiffel tower and other famous buildings, MGM Grand that includes the biggest bronze statue (of a lion) in the western world, and some very alive lions in the lobby .. every one of them impressive in its own way. They also had a nice Coca Cola Ville, and an M&M store that could easily compete with the one here on Times Square.. We enjoyed the nice water spectacle of the Bellagio Fountains, and kept being amazed by every step we took.

The last night was started with a lot of rosé wine, and Laurens trying to make friends with all other hotel guests in our block, just to find a bottle opener. Some surprising news from a friend back in Belgium, a funky photo shoot on Eline’s new suitcase, and a little pre party in the room were the warm-up. A nice dinner with a crazy waiter and some more rosé wine later, I didn’t feel like walking up and down the strip again, especially because it was already after midnight and we didn’t plan on really going out . So television was my friend that evening. (Crazy as it might be, one of the only times that we watch television is when we’re away for the weekend, or when we were at Eline’s den in Florida (where we saw the whole ANTL season in half a day)

After getting up again and making our suitcase, we decided to take a last hop into the water where some annoying French snobs were acting like they were King of the Pool, with their little loud iPod docks (which actually had some nice music on it) and lofty behavior. I guess they just didn’t have anywhere else to go, because they certainly didn’t look 21, and weren’t allowed in clubs or casino’s. but what’s the point in coming to Las Vegas without being allowed into the two best things they have to offer?

All in all, it was certainly the cherry on the cake when it comes to our little trips around America. At least now I already have a bit of a tan to make all of you brain drained students a bit jealous! for more pictures, you can also check my picasa account. just click the link on the right hand site of the blog.

Cheers!

The last (but certainly not the least) trip

Well guys and girls, You won’t be hearing much from me this weekend, as I’m off to Las Vegas in a couple of hours.. Lot’s of fun, spectacle, sun and sloth machines are awaiting me! I’ll be staying at Circus Circus, but we’ll try and visit some of the other hotels on the strip too. City that never sleeps, Here I come!

Guess who has her picture in an American (Beer) News Paper

Today, the Ale Street News came in. It’s the same newspaper I told about in my post on the Ultimate Beer Tasting we went to in April. It has 90.000 subscribers in the United States and Europe and is probably well known in the world of Brewers and Beer lovers. (That means that most of you guys will have never heard of it, but still!)

And guess who’s picture is in it? Yes, ours! apparently the editors liked to show that there were also young belgian people at the tasting.. And not everybody can say that they had their picture in a paper

weekend at home

Sorry guys, this weekend no exciting update on travels all around the US. this weekend, we stayed at home in Long Valley, and catched up on some work, some laundry, … nothing exciting really. I accompanied Martine running some errands, got my shoes fixed (they were a bit worn out after all that running around the past few weekends), and went on a date while Elke and Laurens went to see ‘Sex and the City’. The date was fine, the movie was fine.. the weather was fine.. All in all a nice weekend!

Feeling hot hot hot (in Ft Lauderdale & Miami)

Because of the continuous bad weather over here in Long Valley, we were glad that Eline invited us over for a couple of days. Because we wanted to enjoy it as much as possible, we got up at 4 in the morning to leave for Newark. It was the third time in 10 days we visited this airport. The flight to Fort Lauderdale went pretty smooth (except for the problems at the check in, the long waiting line at the security, and the big sprint to the gate. We feared that our luggage wouln’t be on the plane anymore, but felt some relieve when we saw them arriving at the plane). Eline was already waiting for us at the airport exit, and we took a cab to NE 17th Terrace and 8th Street, our new home for a couple of days. By the time we got there we already got rid of sweaters and shoes, and we quickly changed into bikini’s and shorts/skirts to go to the beach. On the way there, we stopped at the mall to have a quick lunch. When we arrived on the beach, the first thing we did was taking a dive into the refreshing Atlantic Ocean. We didn’t splatter around much, because all of the sudden we saw some black shadows a couple of meters further.. at first we thought it was just some seaweed, but when it started to move around, we ran out of the water as fast as we could.. You should know that Eline told us the week before that she was in Miami when all of the sudden a shark appeared at the beach, so we immediately thought that those were some sharks too. But there wasn’t any reason to panic, because it was only a group of harmless manatees (also known as sea cows). We were told that they don’t hurt anybody, unless they are attacked. Well, the scared the hell out of us!

It must’ve been Murphy’s law, but that afternoon (our first afternoon there), it rained for the first time in over a month. We decided to leave the beach for a while, visit an Irish pub and walk to another beach, Las Olas. The sun came out again, and we splattered some more.

The next days in Florida would be pretty much the same. In the mornings, the weather was great and we could swim in Eline’s (almost) private pool, in the afternoons there usually was some rain, but it was still hot! We went for a little boat trip on the canals of Fort Lauderdale (also known as the Venice of America) so we could see all the great mansions at yachts. We even saw the house where the bad guys from Miami Vice lived! We also did a little trip to Miami, where we visited South Beach (situated at Miami Beach, an island in front of Miami), looked at the great Art Deco buildings on Ocean Drive, and strolled around Lincoln Avenue, the nicest shopping street in Miami, that has a lot of great outdoor cafés. Ocean drive is a bit comparable with the streets near the beach in Belgium, where everyone has to show of his new car, new girlfriend, new sound system.. But bigger and more decadent. We are in the United States, after all.. We also heard that there was a rappers convention nearby, so that can also explain the abundance of extra ordinary people. We also visited the worst Mc Donalds ever (and believe you me, after two months here in the US of A, I have a lot of reference material..) The cool thing about Miami, is that they have a sort of monorail downtown. It takes you round town so you can see everything without your feet getting tired…

It was nice to warm up a little bad, tan a little bit, relax a little bit.. (relaxing and tanning isn’t a very good combination though, my shoulders still look a bit red..), and it was with sadness in our hearts that we spent our last afternoon at Eline’s Pool. One of her neighbors, who had a bit of a thing for Laurens, actually, offered us to give us a ride to the airport. We gladly took up this offer, and left in time, because we didn’t want to repeat that sprint we did in Newark. Upon our arrival, we realized that there was no need to hurry, because our flight had been delayed. There was a complete ground stop at Newark airport because of a storm, and there were already 3 plains before ours going up there. Lucky for us, we were still at the gate. The ones on the flights before us weren’t so lucky. One plane even had its passengers waiting in the airplane for a couple of hours before they let them off. Finally, a couple of hours later they let us on the plane, and with a little detour we flew back to Newark. We took a cab, and at 4AM in the morning, we were glad to be in Long Valley again.. where, surprise surprise, it rained.. again.

Drowning (in NY, again)

I know that I haven’t been spoiling you guys with updates lately, but since I’ve found some spare time, so : here we go!

The week before we left to Canada, Eline asked us if she could come over and stay for a weekend to visit NY, and to cool down a bit. She arrived Thursday afternoon, and we went to pick her up at the airport. What we forgot to ask, was each others cell phones, so we thought it would be difficult to find each other on Newark. Luckily, belgians have a sixth sence for spotting each other abroad, so after 10 minutes we were all back in our car. Due to certain circumstances, we decided not to go to NY that day, but stay in Long Valley. Eline had a taste of the yummy brownies Martine makes (Yes, I’m taking that recipe home with me!), and we showed her around a bit. At night, we visited the local brewpub to have a taste of all their beers, Not bad, but not great either, if you’re used to the Belgian ones!

Friday was the day that Eline would see the NY skyline for the first time, but as we were driving in our car to the ferry, the weather was getting worse, and worse.. By the time we arrived to Weehawken, there was about nothing left to see due to rain and fog. Our initial plan was to visit Statue of Liberty that day, but what’s the point if you won’t even be able to see the top of it? We decided to go to midtown, where we bought the first umbrella we found) and showed her the NY public Libray (the one you see in ‘Day after tomorrow’), the Empire State Building, Macy’s, Rockefeller Center,… All in the rain. My umbrella stopped being waterproof after about 2 hours (Thanks for nothing, H&M!) and we all had little swimming pools in our shoes. We decided to dry up a little, and went to the Guggenheim and MoMA, the Museum of Modern Arts. That last one is really a must! Soaked and tired, we returned to Long Valley

Saturday was as sunny as Friday was rainy. We took Eline downtown to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, Ground Zero, NY Stock Exchange on Wall Street, Little Italy and Chinatown, 5^th Avenue and Central Park. If you want to visit Statue of Liberty, and you don’t have any tickets reserved, than prepare for a long waiting line! Luckily it was pretty sunny and we could wait in line in our T-shirts. Both the islands are worth while, you haven’t seen New York if you haven’t seen this!

On Sunday, Eline had seen enough and she went back to her sunny Florida, because she had some clean up to do to prepare for our weekend over there.. We slept late, visited Chester Mall on the way to the airport, and left Eline at her gate. When we got home again, we prepared for a baking experiment. We were supposed to make the Liège Waffles, but that didn’t go as smoothly as planned. The first waffles were great, but for some unknown reason it always went wrong after the 16^th waffle. So we had to clean the iron and start all over each time. I couldn’t eat or smell the damn waffles for the rest of the week!

last big roadtrip..

Indeed, it is with sadness in my heart that I have to announce that we made our last big trip by car this weekend. we’ve reached the 12000 miles on our odometer (we’ve started somewhere around 9000, so that makes more than 3000 miles -or almost 5000 kilometers, for you belgians over there-)

But I have to say, it was the best we made ! Friday morning we left for a 369 mile ride to the Niagara Falls, on the border of the USA and Canada. it took us about 6 hours to get there, but the weather was great, the roads were practically empty, and the driver (me) was in a very good mood! We arrived about 3.30 PM on the American side of the falls, where we immediatly made the plunge (or the elevator ride) down to visit the bottom of the Bridal Vail. We received a very fancy yellow raincoat and some matching sandals, so we would be able to walk on the stairs without falling into the water, or becoming all wet. It’s weird to stand next to the water that falls down with an almost breathtaking power. The noise is enourmous, and you feel like an insignificant little creature on moments like that.. It’s a must-do!

The island that separates the American Falls and Bridal Vail from the Horseshoe Falls (aka the Canadian Falls) is called Goat Island (although there isn’t a goat to be found). It has a restaurant and some fast food shops (we’re still in America, remember), and you have a nice view on the rapids that precede the falls. We strolled around a bit, glad to be out of the car for a while. When we took about 200 pictures of both falls, we decided it was time to move over to the Canadian side. We passed the borders very smoothly (they rather see you leave than come, I suppose) and drove to our little Red Carpet motel on the other side. We installed in our very nice room that had 2 differend kinds of wallpaper, non matching beds, 2 differend kinds of chairs and 3 big mirrors! Some of us was very happy to see those, I can tell you!

After installing our stuff, we headed for Fallsview Blvd, the place to be near the falls. We ate at Vinnie’s and saw the falls by night (they’re illuminated by colored spotlights). although we were standing on at least 200 meters of the falls, you were still amazed by the sound of the falling water (I know, I’m still a bit impressed)

Saturday we took a ride on the Skypod, to go all the way up and enjoy the view from the whole area around the falls. Another 200 pictures were taken, and then we went all the way down to the river to take the Maiden of the Mist, a boat that was going to take us passed the American Falls, and quite a way inside the Horseshoe Falls. I was already amazed by standing so close to the American Falls, but standing in the middle of the Horseshoe Falls made me even more impressed. Everywhere I looked I saw water coming down at an amazing speed. Everywhere were little water sprinkles, and you could only see, hear and feel the Falls. You coulnd’t even see the sky at a sudden moment, because of the fog the water made.

Afterwards, we dried up a little bit in the park next to the falls, enjoying the last sun that we were going to have for the rest of the weekend. the plastic blue raincoats we got on the Maiden of the Mist came in very handy to lie on the grass. at about 3PM, we decided that it was time to leave for Toronto. On the way to our car, we went up to main street, and we must say that we had the impression that we were already in Las Vegas. They made such a big business out of the falls. You have these horror houses, all kinds of museums, places to gamble, places to play stupid games.. My god, the Canadian side was far worse than the American side (except for the view of course!)

It was nice to have roads with kilometer indications (makes you feel a bit like home), and driving next to Lake Ontario was very lovely. before we knew it, we could already see the CN tower, the pride of Toronto. Finding our Hostel (that was located in Chinatown, by the way) was very easy, but getting rid of the car for a couple of days for a decent price and in a decent place took us about an hour. We were glad we didn’t have to use it for a day and a half!

As the weather was still pretty good, we took a walk to the waterside, passed past the CN tower (where Elke crawled herself in every position to get the perfect picture) and made reservations for the next day. Yes indeed, we planned to go eating in one of the highest buildings in the world! Instead of a room with a view (wich we hadn’t at the hostel) we went for a table with a view (a 360° view, to be precise). That night we planned to go eating at the Hard Rock Café, but we ended up in Richtree, a restaurant that has a really original concept. you have differend kinds of corners where you can find different kinds of food (from Sandwiches over Steaks, to Pasta and Belgian Waffles or Pancakes!). You get a Richtree credit card, that you slide at every corner where you get food or drinks. When you’re done, you can just check out at one of the cashiers, and that’s it! You can also have Take Away there. And indeed Staf, there’s only one word I have for the food : YUMMY! and if I’m not mistaken, I can make somebody else very jealous by saying that we were able to see the Boston Celtics play live on the big screen..)

After dinner, we continued our tour around town, and ended up in Yonge Street. You’ve probably never heard of it, but it’s the longest street in the world, according to the Canadians (actually it’s not. the Pan American Highway is the longest, so they kinda lie about it. But, they also lie about the CN Tower being the highest building, because that’s also not true anymore! Canadians are in fact big fat liars! (not as fat as an average American, but still, liars!)

at the crossing of Dundas Street and Yonge street, you have this crossing I’d like to call: Little Times Square. It has a lot of advertisement screens, and it suddenly seams to be the middle of the day. Very nice to see, not as many people as on the real Times Square, and a very nice artist who made pastel drawings of Girl with a Pearl Earring (I consider this one of my favorite paintings, for a strange reason..)

We also passed College Street, the place to be if you’re young and wild. Especially around little Italy. It wasn’t very far of our Hostel, but we didn’t really try out the clubs and stuff. After spending tons on gas, we were kind of on a low budget. (And who wants to party with a bunch of liars anyway?)

Sunday was a very bad day. It was cold, it was more wet than at the Niagara Falls, and the wind blew terribly hard, especially at the water side. We took the ferry to the islands that were laying about a mile inside Lake Ontario, which was supposed to give us a great view of the Torontonian Skyline, but there’s something about bad weather that spoils every picture you take. We took the ferry back, searched for some decent food, found nothing but a Mc Donalds, and decided that we would continue our walk inside buildings. And what better building to walk in than a shopping mall? we visited Eaton Centre, found Laurens a very nice white jacket (that fitted perfectly with the white pants he already bought in Belgium, in the same store), and went on a desperate search for the perfect Starbucks Brownie (nowhere to be found, just like everything else we are looking for)

Then it was time to get ourselves prepared for our fancy dinner at the CN Tower. When we were getting ready, it was raining like all hell break loose, but luckily it stopped when we were about to leave the hostel. Otherwise we would’ve taken a cab or something, and taking a cab right in front of your hostel maybe does look a bit snobbish, no? I know for sure that people would’ve laughed with us!

Anyway, dinner was delicious, except for the piece of metal wire that Laurens found in his fish. The manager gave him the meal for free, so we forced Laurens into buying us desert instead. After dinner we enjoyed the magnificient view, stood on the glass floor (it was cracking a bit under my feet, that was a bit scary! Didn’t know I gained that much weight) and took the elevators down again. Another once in a lifetime experience to add on my list.

Monday was another car-day. we ate breakfast, met an Australian guy that was going to New York by bus that same day, and it was going to take him 14 hours to get there. We were lucky that it was only taking us 8 to get to Long Valley. Getting into the US was bit more difficult than getting out, but after declaring our apple, banana and M&M’s at the friendly customs, they let us back in. The trip home went very smoothly and the weather was dry. We were glad to be ‘home’ again!

This last roadtrip was the best of them all, but I’m already looking forward to new experiences. Eline is already coming over Thursday afternoon, and with a party animal like that, we will certainly undergo the most exciting adventures on -yet another- touristic trip around the lovely city we’d like to call New York..

Naked Cowboy

Wednesday we had a couple of free hours after visiting the incentive show at the Hilton. So what did we do? Hang out in Central Park, visit some shops (The Apple Store, Nike Town,… ).. And bumped into the naked cowboy! I couldn’t withhold the pictures of course!