Review of my US trip

I am currently waiting for my flight back to Vancouver and since my US tour is coming to an end now, I thought I would write a summary about the cities I have visited while travelling down the west coast from Vancouver to Las Vegas.

Seattle

I just don’t get what people see in this city. There are a lot of metal junk pieces everywhere that the people call art. The parks are just huge fields of grass with barely any trees and in some cases even more metal junk art.

In addition to that, there are a lot of weird people in Seattle. So many people have started talking to me for no reason and just wouldn’t leave me alone.

The most interesting thing in Seattle is probably the EMP museum (if you are into fantasy or horror movies, hello kitty, games or music).

 I stayed in the Hostel ‘Hotel Hotel’ which I definitely wouldn’t recommend to anyone. Apart from the staff not being very helpful, the rooms are located above a noisy bar and right on a very busy street so it is hard to get any sleep at night.

Portland

I hadn’t heard much about Portland before coming there, only that it was the city of roses. Since it hadn’t been the time for the roses to bloom yet, I didn’t expect much. In contrast to that, I really enjoyed Portland.

The city is very green, there are trees everywhere and you can spend a really nice time in Washington Park. They have a visitor center in the arboretum where you can get some tips on hiking routes. And hiking is a lot of fun in that area since there are beautiful trees everywhere and the paths are not crowded at all.

‘The Society Hotel’ offers some bunk beds, which at first might seem a bit shocking as they are located in a 24 people room. However, as there are privacy curtains, staying there was actually quite comfortable.

Amtrak

Amtrak isn’t a city but my train ride from Portland to San Francisco is definitely worth a mention. If you book a roomette for the night train tour, you have a small room for yourself where you have a small bed at night. The food on the train is surprisingly good and apart from the great view, they offer wine tastings and a movie room for the first class passengers (you are first class in a roomette).

San Francisco

There is so much to do in San Francisco. Getting a Muni bus pass is definitely a good idea and should be the first thing you do after arriving, since cable car rides are included and walking a lot in San Francisco is just exhausting. This is due to the hills: Even if two places look rather close on a map, you might have to walk uphill the whole time.

There are a lot of beautiful Victorian houses in the area. Nevertheless, the houses are very packed and there are almost no gardens anywhere, which is really a pity.

Ghiradelli square is always worth a stop if you like chocolate. If you are lucky, you might even get a few free chocolate samples in each of the Ghiradelli square stores.

There are many bike shops who promote a bike ride across the Golden Gate Bridge and to Sausalito combined with a Ferry ride back. However, if you don’t mind walking a lot, you can do the tour without a bike just as well. Either way, crossing the bridge is a must and Sausalito is a very nice small city.

Alcatraz is definitely worth a visit, too, but you should try to buy your ticket a few weeks in advance.

Another interesting attraction is the California Academy of Sciences, where you can go into a rainforest in which butterflies fly around freely.

If you like the ocean and nature in general, a visit to ‘Lands End’ might be interesting. There are cliffs, hiking routes and a lot of nice panoramic views.

The hostel at Fisherman’s Wharf is located in Fort Mason, which is a really great place if you like a nice view of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. There are also buses going to everywhere from there and they have a nice café where you can get really cheap dinner. But if you are not really athletic, you definitely should reserve a lower bunk bed – the upper ones don’t have a decent ladder!

Los Angeles

LA had a lot less skyscrapers than I had expected. Instead, it is very spread out. Consequently, you need about one or two hours to get anywhere by bus and taking a car isn’t that much faster.

Hollywood is a lot less fancy than you might expect and it kind of stinks of piss. Hiking to the Hollywood sign is still pretty cool, although it isn’t easy getting there – the routes are not marked too well and you cannot go to the letters directly, you can only get above or below the letters.

If you are into art, the Getty museum might be interesting.

A visit at the Santa Monica and Venice Beach should also be part of every visit to LA. Especially in Venice there is a lot going on on the streets.

Universal Studios is also a must see, especially with the new Harry Potter theme. However, you shouldn’t have a big bag with you since you cannot take it on the 3D Harry Potter ride in the castle and they only offer small lockers there.

USA Hostels Hollywood is located right next to Hollywood Boulevard but since it is closed off, you don’t hear or see too much from everything that is going on in Hollywood at night and thus you can get a good nights sleep.

Las Vegas

This city is everything that you would expect. There is always something going on, the hotels are huge and almost like small cities so that you can get lost inside. The streets are filled with musicians and street artists as well as superheroes. There is one restaurant next to another and they are all quite expensive.

At night everything is lit up and blinking.

I mostly enjoyed watching the shows. Unfortunately, even if you buy them at the tix4tonight stores that give you very good deals, going to any show is always rather expensive.

If you have the time, a day tour to the west rim to the Grand Canyon can be quite nice. The huge Canyon is quite impressive and walking the Skywalk can be quite cool as well.

It is more or less impossible to find a hostel in Vegas. However, the Travelodge Center strip is a rather cheap hotel located directly on the Strip and you can go pretty much everywhere from here.

 Even though I have seen so many interesting things in the past three weeks, I am looking forward to coming back to Vancouver. Travelling around so much is actually quite exhausting. Megabus and Greyhound are a convenient way to get around, but it is still annoying to make sure your bags fit the requirements every time.

Furthermore, I think I still like Vancouver the best. You have the sea, mountains and skyscrapers all in one place. That might be similar to San Francisco, however, I think that city is just more exhausting and Vancouver is definitely greener. Moreover, there are just too many weird people running around in the US. Thus I am definitely looking forward to arriving back in Vancouver later today...