Waiting...

Since I wasn't happy with my new phone plan (for some reason I could not make or receive calls) I went to the phone shop once more to find out whats wrong. They couldn't help me so I decided to cancel the plan. Unfortunately, they couldn't cancel it in that shop, instead I had to call the costumer line. Still the staff of the phone shop was very friendly and they let me use their phone to call the phone company. I was in the waiting line for about 25 minutes when they suddenly hung up on me, so I had to do the whole thing again. It worked on the second try and I could finally cancel my phone plan.
The whole thing took about 1,5 hours, which was quite annoying.

On the way to the ferry, I just missed the bus I had to transfer to, so I had to wait once more for about 45 minutes.
The ferry ride was quite nice, there was a beautiful scenery and I chatted with some guy who grew up around here and came home for the weekend to visit his family. After I arrived, I had to take another bus. The whole journey from Downtown Vancouver to Downtown Vistoria took me about 5 hours. So to sum up, my day consisted of a lot of waiting.
 

After checking in, I went to some grocery stores to buy some food. Apart from that, I haven't really seen anything from Victoria yet so I can't really say much about it. My first impression so far is that it's a nice small city, but nothing too spectacular.

UBC and sushi

After getting the stuff I had left at the SWAP office, getting my new credit card and getting a phone plan this morning, I took the bus to the UBC - the University of British Columbia. Just like everything in Vancouver, it was surprisingly beautiful. There were colorful flowers and trees everywhere and you had a beautiful view of the sea and the mountains.
There was also a beach nearby. However, the way there was a bit exhausting, since there were a lot of steps and as I went down a bit further away from the main beach, I had to walk a while along the coast. There was no real path there, just a lot of big stones which made it hard to get to the real beach. It was still fun and the weather was nice, so I enjoyed the walk. However, getting back up to the campus area was the real challenge since this time, I had to walk the steps back up.
My new phone plan turned out to be a bit disappointing, since I didn't have any reception in that area. I'll have to keep an eye on that and maybe change it again tomorrow or so.
In the evening I met with Nienke, my former roommate here in Vancouver. It was nice seeing her again and we ate some sushi in the same place where we had eaten before.

Back in Vancouver

After a not so pleasant flight (it was pretty cold in the plane and the person sitting behind me had really long legs which were pressing into the back of my seat and sometimes kicking me), I am finally back in Vancouver. Just like last time, I was quite impressed by the airport, as it is really beautifully and interestingly decorated.
Coming back to the Samesun hostel is almost like coming home. I even got the same room I had had before. However, I needed to choose another bed now since my former bed is currently occupied. The funny thing is that the person currently sleeping there arrived the day after I left and stayed there until now, so that I got to meet her today.
After checking in, I went out to get some food. Since it was the first real meal I had had here the last time I arrived in Vancouver, I decided to eat some Poutine again. Although I bought it at the same shop, I liked it even better this time. Next I bought some groceries and after bringing them back to the hostel I went out again to walk the streets a little.

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...

Wasting time and money in Vegas

This morning, I took part in a 'Crabs' lesson at the New York New York casino. The game is actually quite interesting. Unfortunately, I wasn't very lucky at playing Crabs. I tried it for a few rounds but I lost every one of them. In the end, I decided to play some Poker on a slot machine instead as those machines are a lot cheaper than the table games. I didn't do too bad here, but I got tired of it eventually and ended up wasting my money on some other slot machines. All things considered I don't really like casinos and I feel kind of uncomfortable in them. But I guess it was an interesting experience.
I went back to the hotel in the afternoon and decided to spent my day organizing stuff, packing and doing some laundry.
I also watched some TV. The channel CW offered some shows which I was more or less familiar with, so I stuck to it.

In the evening I had some chicken at Popeyes since I felt like eating chicken and the name caught my eye. They had mashed potatoes and a cookie with the meal. I had expected the cookie to be sweet but as it turned out, it was rather some kind of roll which just looked like a cookie.

When I arrived back at my hotel, I spoilered myself by watching a new supernatural episode on TV.

The Grand Canyon and Zumanity

I had to get up pretty early today as my tour bus to the Grand Canyon was scheduled to leave at 7 AM. On the way to the Canyon I learned that my hotel and the whole Las Vegas Strip isn't located in Las Vegas but in a small city called Paradise.
We had about 4 hours to spent at the West Rim of the Grand Canyon. The first stop was at Eagle Point, where the skywalk was located. Looking down and taking pictures of the edge of the canyon was always extremely scary, as there were no railings. Even though I had to pay 22 USD just for walking on the skywalk, I didn't want to mis this opportunity. However, being on the skywalk was actually a lot less scary than I had expected. I even lay face down on the skywalk and looked down into the abyss.
There were also some Indian tents and other kinds of housing to look at at this viewpoint.
After a while, I went on to the Guano Point. It was possible to hike or rather climb a little in that area, which I did in order to get a better view. Afterwards, I had lunch, which was actually quite good and healthy: Salad, chicken, corn and a roll.
All in all, the Grand Canyon is unimaginably huge and there were actually a lot more plants than I had expected. I thought that there would only be sand. But it was quite the contrary, everything looked quite green. Even on the way to the canyon there were trees (mostly Joshua trees) and other plants everywhere. Granted, they were desert plants but it was still different from what I had expected.
On the way back we had a short photo stop at the Hoover Dam. I wasn't too impressed by the dam though.

Since I was still pretty energetic this evening (probably because I had drunk a coke on the bus ride back to the hotel), I decided to go to the 9:30 performance of Zumanity. Zumanity is an adult cirque du soleil show, which fascinates with sensual and erotic acrobatic acts combined with great music and a lot of comedy.
The show was absolutely intriguing and I really loved it, although I was kind of glad that I didn't sit in the first few rows, because the people sitting there were integrated into the show. As I had really enjoyed the music, which was a mix of rock and sensual melodies, I ended up buying the CD.

Straying through Vegas

Breakfast in my hotel was only until 9 AM, so I had to get up a lot earlier than I would have liked after having been awake so long yesterday. Consequently, I was rather tired all day long.
Since I didn't have any plans, I just walked around the Strip. I went south to see the big Luxor hotel pyramid. On the way there, I stopped in the big m&m Shop, where I could watch a short and fun 3D movie in which the red m&m had lost his 'm' in a poker game.
The pyramid and the sphinx statue were quite impressive, but the way was a bit further than I had expected so I was happy that I could take a tram back to Excalibur, the hotel next to Luxor. Unfortunately, finding the exit of Excalibur turned out to be quite a challenge and I ended up getting a bit lost in the casino area. All in all, I got lost several times in the big casino hotels in this area today. I didn't really feel like playing my first table game in a casino thus I only wasted about 5 USD on slot machines.
There is always a lot going on on the Strip, the streets are filled with people in costumes, musicians and promoters for restaurants and shows. The big hotels on the Strip are like small cities; apart from the casinos, you can find theatres, restaurants, fast food shops, souvenir shops, statues and more inside.
I got a bit annoyed from getting lost in the big hotels this afternoon (mostly in Excalibur, but also New York New York and Luxor), since I was only looking for some nice place to eat. In the end, after having found the way outside, I just went to a burger shop and had another cheese burger. The burger shop was called Shake Shack and I think someone in Vancouver had actually recommended it to me. Although it was quite expensive, the burger was pretty good, maybe one of the best ones I have had so far in the US.
Afterwards, I got a scope of Nutella ice cream, which was very delicious. Then I already went back to the hotel to relax.

  

50 Shades of Vegas

Today I said 'Bye bye Hollywood Hills' and 'Hello Las Vegas'!
I spent most of the day in the Megabus bus, which was quite crowded. I was very lucky with the front seat that I had reserved: Out of all seats that could be reserved, the seat next to me was the only one that was empty so I had a little more space to put my stuff. The view from the front of the car was also quite nice and I enjoyed watching the landscape.
As soon as I arrived in my hotel, I unpacked and took a shower. It feels kind of weird to have a whole room just to myself after more than a month of sharing rooms in hostels.
I was ready to go out around 8 PM. Since I wanted to see a 50 Shades of Grey Parody that was supposed to start at 9:30 PM, I quickly went out to buy a ticket. On the way there I got myself a huge slice of pizza for dinner.
The theater was a bit hard to find since everything was really huge and there were things to do and to see almost everywhere. I still managed to get to the theater (which was located in the Hotel Bally's) on time and got a nice seat in the 4rth row.
The play was very entertaining. The actors were singing and dancing while presenting the first book of the series in the context of a bookclub of three middle-aged women. There were a lot of suggestive word plays as well as explicit conversations. One line of the first song that Anastasia sang was for example 'I got a hole in me that needs to be filled'.  The only a little disappointing part of the play was the actor of Christian Grey, since he didn't look as sexy as one might hope. Nevertheless, he was an amazing actor with an amazing voice and his not so perfect appearance together with his rather funny and almost feminine movements added to the parody of the play.
When I left the theater there was still a lot going on in the streets although it was already after 11 PM. I lingered a while to watch the end of a fountain light show before I decided to go back to the hotel.