From 'The Green Wapple' to 'The Big Apple'... A North American Adventure!

Finding myself on yet another long-haul flight, I left Africa behind, as my travels took me across the Atlantic Ocean to New York, USA.

I will admit from the word go that the US has never really appealed to me as a travel destination (the only reason I was even visiting the country this year was its convenient location as the cheapest stop-over point between Africa and South America), however with ten days in the country, and three cities to visit, I put any negative thoughts I had aside (and any summer clothes!), and got myself all star-spangled and bannered - and was very pleasantly surprised!

Arriving late into New York, my first night was spent absolutely gobsmacked by my new surroundings – I was in NEW YAWK! Yellow taxis, neon signs, bagels, ice-skating rinks, roasted chestnuts, beggars, buskers, NYPD officers, steaming potholes, subway stations, fat Americans with New York accents – it was everything I’ve seen in the movies… and so much more! Undoubtedly one of the worlds most photographed, filmed and best known cities, New York is divided into five boroughs – The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the focus of my trip, Manhatten. 

With a population of around 1.7 million people, Manhatten Island is New York City's most densely populated borough, with around 27,000 people per square kilometre – compare that to Adelaide's average of 650/km²!!!

Sam and Lindsay

Coincidentally, Sam and Lindsay (who were on my African tour) had also made the trans-Atlantic journey after their part of the tour ended in Tanzania, and we met up late on my first night – considerably more rugged up, and much cleaner than our previous time spent together. With an obvious first stop for pizza, we spent the evening wandering the streets, checking out the designer shop-fronts of Fifth Avenue, the surprisingly seedy pawn-shop façade of Broadway, the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Centre and SoHo District, before making our way to Times Square – New York’s own giant neon tanning-booth.

Up early the next day, and eager to immerse ourselves in our new surroundings, Sam, Lindsay and I put aside any intentions to see the city’s famous sights, and instead got down to real business… shopping. With some of the world’s best-known retailers (think Macy’s, Tiffany’s, Apple, Woolworths The Fresh Food People, Michael Kors, Toys’R’Us... now don’t laugh, but this is some SERIOUS shopping here!), Times Square, Broadway and Fifth Avenue, the city has everything and anything a traveller could possibly want or need… and more! While I would like to sit here and tell you my two months in Africa gave me some perspective on what’s important in life, and I managed to resist the urge to join the ridiculous consumerism, that would be a total and complete lie… to the tune of over $1000 in just one afternoon! EEK!

With my wallet already much lighter than on my arrival, and only one day in the Big Apple down, it was time to escape the ‘Fifth-Avenue-Effect’ as we made our way about four hours south, to the U.S. capital, Washington D.C.

Founded in 1791 as the national capital of the US, Washington D.C. does not belong to any state, but rather falls under jurisdiction of the US Congress. A beautiful, well organised and clean city, D.C. has wide tree-lined streets, countless parks and a well-planned green corridor which connects the major government buildings, museums, monuments and memorials which draw millions of tourists each year. Unsurprisingly, it's a sensational city to visit!

With slightly less than favourable weather (and a drastic change from our time in Africa only days earlier!), we spent two nights rugged up in D.C., spending our days wandering the city’s impressive memorials and Smithsonian buildings, checking out the smaller-than-expected White House, Capitol Building, Lincoln Memorial, National Air and Space Museum, National Botanic Gardens and Arlington Cemetery, and spent an afternoon shopping (I thought we were escaping this!) in the city’s picturesque Georgetown district.

Ben's Chilli Bowl...

No doubt obvious to anyone who has read at least one of my blog posts, an integral part of my travel across the globe has been the appreciation of local food, and D.C. provided us with a broad range of local culinary delights. With absolutely no intention to tip, our dining options were limited, however we came up with some real variety - including McDonalds, Starbucks, Louisiana Chicken (the waitress had to do two trips… one for my meal, and one just for the half gallon/2L soda!), Ben's Chilli Bowl (hot chips served with chilli, cheese sauce, mustard and ketchup, and topped with a layer of melted cheese), and a range of street vendor delights – hot dogs (x4), cheese fries (x2), deep-fried cheese hot-dog (x2). A real culinary overview I think.

With my wallet yet again emptier than on my arrival, and my waistband now under considerable strain, we were yet again heading to New York, where we met up with CouchSurfing host Andrew. A drastic change from my previous accommodation downtown, Andrew lives with three housemates in a fifth-floor apartment just outside The Bronx, and I spent the next couple of nights discovering there’s a lot more to NYC than Sex and The City might have you believe.

Partying New Yawk Style

A primarily Spanish-speaking district, the area was a drastic (and might I say welcome) change from the neighbourhoods I had previously seen, and while there wasn't an Apple store in sight, there was certainly a lot to do, and a lot to see. Dropping my bags off on my new bed (I think I took the cat's couch! Sorry!), and with Sam and Lindsay still in tow, Andrew and his housemate Susanne decided it was time for us to see New York by night, and we headed out to a local bar, before making our way downtown to get our party on.

Central Park

Up late the next day, I spent the morning wandering aimlessly in Manhatten, meeting up with Sam for Breakfast at Tiffany’s (well, in front of Tiffany’s at least!) and more shopping at Apple, before checking out Central Park at night, and finally saying goodbye to Lindsay and Sam as they made their way north into Canada. My aimless wandering continued after lunch with Susanne the next day (New York is good for aimless wandering!), as I explored Little Italy, The Meatpacking District, Greenwich Village, The High Line, Lower Manhatten, World Trade Centre Memorial, and (view of, I was too lazy to go out the) the Statue of Liberty, before making my way back to Andrew’s place for one last night in New York.

Up early the next day, I was yet again in the air (finally, after two delays, and then the plane engine caught fire on the runway…) as I made my way south to the sun, sand and plastic surgery of Miami, Florida, for my last two days of English speaking, before the fifth and final continent of my journey – South America!