Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! We'd hoped to see some trick-or-treating in action now that we're here in suburban Allentown, Pennsylvania. Alas, the kids in this neighbourhood trick-or-treated during the weekend instead. Terribly practical!

Niagara Falls - Boston

As Iff already posted, we were on trains for a LONG TIME before we arrived in the Canadian Niagara Falls. I'm so glad we went to the Canadian side first. Before we even left the train, we were impressed by how nice the customs/immigration officials were. The guy who had to deny a couple entry because they lacked a visa was actually apologetic about it. He kept insisting that they could come right back as soon as they got the visa. But the amazing thing was that the couple were given a free lift back to the US! That's Canada for you.

It was dark by the time we got off the train. I was disappointed by that at first; we'd expected to arrive well before dark so we could see the falls. But it turned out that they light up the falls at night! I know it's a waste of electricity, but it's so pretty!!! Plus we realised that only from the Canadian side can one view both the American and Canadian falls (without getting on one of the boats). It was wicked to see the falls lit up that night and then to view them in the daylight the next day. Those are some pretty powerful falls!

In addition to the lovely falls themselves, there were a couple shopping opportunities which I loved. There's a whole Hershey's store which was very near our hotel. It's AMAZING. I managed to buy only a bag of peanut butter filled Hershey's kisses (much to Iff's delight). Ah, the self discipline! And we found a used book store (Page One Books on Main Street) absolutely overflowing with books. I was beside myself. The owner is really cool, and if you're ever in the area please go there and help him stay in business. You could spend a whole day just looking through the endless stacks of books there. We practically did!

Everyone we encountered on the Canadian side was just so nice. We stayed in a cheap but lovely hotel. (It was sheer luxury to have our own room and a proper bed to sleep in after three nights of cheap seats on the trains!) We walked throughout the town for hours, checking out the falls and whirlpool but also strolling through the residential area (behind the touristy area), where we saw dozens of fluffy black squirrels darting amongst the trees. We had the most gorgeous garlic nan we've ever tasted at a little Indian restaurant. There were a lot of cheap tat stores and a seemingly infinite number of cheap tacky motels, but overall it was a lovely place. We had a great time in the 24 hours we were there!

Then it was time to head to the US Niagara Falls. We had to pay to cross the bridge over there (on foot!), grrrrrrrrr. The border control guy was nice, but that's where the charm ended. As is typical of so many American places, there wasn't the same welcome to walk around, just lots of big roads where we were by the falls. Plus there was nothing to see on the American side of the falls that we hadn't already seen from the Canadian side (and from a much better vantage point there). So we just hurried to our hotel, which was disappointing. It was more expensive than our one on the Canadian side, but we were kept up all night by loud people next to us. The next morning (at 5:30am!) we couldn't even walk to the train station because the area was so rough. By the time we got on the train at 6am, we were happy to leave and ready to sleep all the way to New York Penn station.

On our way to NYC we were delayed by an incident. First the conductor just told us we'd stopped while local police were doing something in the area. Then we were told the FBI were involved. Finally the conductor told us someone had placed obstructions on the railway which would have had disastrous consequences had the police not foiled the whole thing. We'd started moving again at that point, and every single person on the train was looking out the windows trying to see what had happened. We just saw two men talking to each other beside the railway...who knows what happened!

So we were late getting into NYC, but we had enough time to walk around a bit and grab some New York style pizza. Yum! Then we boarded another train bound for Boston. We got there uneventfully and were met by Iff's sister Lib's old friend Jen, who is very kindly letting us stay with her while we're here. Tonight the three of us had dinner at a Tibetan restaurant which was really tasty. We're enjoying Boston so far and will post about it next...

Seattle - Niagara Falls (CAN)

Bonjour!

We're back in Canada! OK - so we're only just across the border, but that's further than a couple from South America got! They didn't get a visa so they couldn't even come into Canada at all!

Anyway, we left Seattle 4 days ago. We meant to leave sooner, but Amtrak were booked up. Luckily, Bart and Lauren managed to put up with us for a couple more days (again) and so we weren't forced to sleep on the cold, hard, Seattle streets. Bart and Lauren did their usual wonders in the kitchen and kept us well fed. Now that we've left we can admit that Amtrak WEREN'T full at all - we just wanted more of their food. Ha. That was a joke by the way.

So we reached Chicago after 2 days. Normally I'd be first in line for a shave after 2 days on the road, but these days I'm slightly less frequent a shaver. I'm so hairy, the Sasquatch would be taking pictures of me. I'm sure the photos don't do me justice. It's also been a few months since I last had a haircut too! Anyway, we spent just long enough in Chicago to have a wander about and sample some of the local pizza. Any place that has its own style of pizza is worth a visit in my eyes. We`ll be stopping back there on our way down to Texas too! The Chicago style pizza is about an inch thick and looks more like an open topped pie. It`s about an inch thick of cheese, sauce, toppings (or perhaps fillings would be more appropriate?) and crust. Lovely.

Anyhow, we're now in Niagara Falls. We spent about 5 hours sitting about in Buffalo waiting for a train out here when we realised we could get a bus here in about an hour. Ah well, we have a train pass and the train was therefore free. Cheap is good, free is best!

Anyway, from here we head eastwards to Boston, Washington DC, Allentown and finally back to Ohio (a mini circuit) before heading off down south to St Louis and TX. One of these days I'll get around to posting more pictures - although I've said that before...

Back in Seattle - home o' Starbucks!

So we're back in the "Land of the Free" - no, not Sweden, but the United States.

We've been back for a few days now and finally managed to get ourselves sorted out travel-wise, so I now have something to report.

We've been staying chez Bart and Lauren in the meantime and have satisfied all our cravings for "incredibly bad for us" junk food as well as partaken of some of their gourmet fare to which we have now become accustomed. Going back to hostel food may take some adjustment...

Lauren's now pretty big - less than two months to go now before their sleep patterns are shattered by the arrival of Kirsten. They seem to be taking it all in their respective (in Lauren's case, rather truncated) strides. The big news from our perspective was when they offered us the vacant GODPARENTS positions. Wiki describes godparents thusly:

"Traditionally, the godparents were counted informally responsible for ensuring that the child's religious education was carried out, and for caring for the child should he/she be orphaned."

We'll be keeping our fingers firmly crossed that Bart and Lauren last at least until Kirsten is 16 or so...

Anyhow, we were happy to accept this position of responsibility - especially as it means we get more leeway to come by and visit under the pretext of checking on her moral upbringing!

Today we booked ourselves a 30-day train pass and booked ourselves some trips including Washington DC, Boston and Philadelphia - so we may be coming to a state near you soon!

The land of the free and the home of the brave

Hello again.

It's been a while since the last update, but then it's hard to update the blog when one is stuck in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Anyhoo, we're in San Francisco for a day while the boat refuels and loads and unloads cargo - expect a full update when we get to Seattle - but in the meantime, rest assured we're still alive and updates will follow.