Meet the parents :)

I'm already in Quebec ... and the first opportunity to log on the internet since I met my parents in NY. Unfortunately (as usual :)) I've just left 7 minutes until it's 9 pm and the internet cafe will close ... ok I will not waste my time anymore :)

I met my parents at the airport, everything worked out well. They were very happy to meet me, as I was too. We had a motel close to the subway and we spent three wonderful days in NY.

Later on we continued our trip to Boston. On the way we did an overnight stay in New Port, a lovely, picturesque, and rich town on the Atlantic coast. We only arrived the next night in Boston, and there were only a couple of hours left to check the city.

Afterwards we continued travelling along the coast; visited Free Port which is another lovely town and finally found a motel close to the US coast.

The next day we travelled to Saint John (Canada) and took the cruise to Digby (Nova Scotia). The next day we visited Peggy's Cove and we spent a few hours in Halifax.

Afterwards we drove through New Brunswick to Frederickston; visited the small city and found a place to sleep close to the Quebec border.

Today we arrived in Quebec City and visited this wonderful city. We will stay until tomorrow night ... in the following days we will visit Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and we will be back in Winnipeg soon.

Sorry for these lines, they may be really boring to read ... I hope I will find time soon to let you know more about my trip and my experiences. I will only be able to upload my pictures in Winnipeg ... however, I should aready be in Winnipeg in around 2 weeks.

Have a great time & enjoy spring!!!

The best hostel ever ... ;)

Today was kind of a lazy day. Got off at nine, bought some breakfast at SevenEleven (orange juice, croissant (almost like at home), yogurt and a pancake (they are just great ... I'm already addicted) and talked to the some nice "hostelmates". Later on, I called my parents ... they are looking forward to join me in New York on Saturday.

With three nice ladies that I met at the hostel (what a lucky guy *smile*), we visited two museums: The Natural History Museum and the National Art Museum. At the Natural History Museum we saw things from dinosaurs to the hope diamond (one of the biggest blue colored one) and at the Arts museum I saw some more famous paintings.

After the museums we turned back to the hostel, for Beverly (the English girl ... or does she prefer if I say lady :)) had to catch her train in direction of Florida. Actually she is doing a one year trip around the world ... a pretty amazing thing. Probably I will met her again around San Francisco ... if it works out that we are at the same time there.

After having dinner I talked to a guy who worked in Germany for five years as an engineer; he told me that he climbed the Matterhorn (wow!) and that he likes to backpack in the Austrian alps. He also gave me lots of advices for my second trip and he even gave me his map he used to travel in the eastern part of the US as a gift. It's just amazing, people here at the hostel are so great ... the ambiance is so cool ... I could stay here for weeks!!! Actually, Margaret (one of the other girls that came to the museum) lives in Seattle ... she offered me to show me some cool places there if I manage to go there for my second trip.

And just now I could use the notebook of Toni (a very helpful guy of California) to backup my pictures on CD (my chips are already full - made already over 500 pictures) ... as you see it's one of the best places I've ever stayed at ... this hostel (and its visitors) are just amazing :)

Arriving in Washington & Say Goodbye

We left Pittsburgh around lunchtime (after we were "kicked out" by the motel ... we should have left for 12 but were still watching a movie at 12:15 *cheating*) and drove downtown. Downtown Pittsburgh is pretty nice ... very busy but still not stressful ... the city has some impressing buildings and bridges. Later on, we were looking for the library; according to my book there should be free internet access at the library of Pittsburgh. So I had the opportunity to update my blog the other day.

Around 4 o'clock we finally left the city and headed towards Washington. On the way we did a break and enjoyed a buffet at a diner (you can eat as much as you want for only 6.99 ... pretty good offer for hungry students). In the dining place we also saw lots of Amish people, it seems they have a community between Pittsburgh and Washington DC.

Finally, we arrived in Washington after 11 pm and could check-in in the youth hostel. The personnel was pretty rude and we had to move into a dorm where all the guys were already sleeping. The room was also noisy (construction work and air conditioning) and we had to get off already after 6 in the morning to move the car (for we didn't find a free parking spot). And finally also the shower didn't work ... the only thing was that the location was cool (downtown) ... however if you ever go to Washington DC skip the youth hostel ... it is not worth it!

Thus, I decided to move out. David was also leaving the same day, for he was going to visit his friend in Jacksonville, Florida. Luckily, I had found two other hostels in Washington and so it was time to check them. As we arrived at the first location, we had to find out that the location was closed because of a previously fire. However, the second location I found is pretty cool. Close to the subway ... parking for 5 bucks a day ... nice people and clean environment. After check-in we went visiting some of the famous tourist spots downtown ... from the White House to the Capitol (and so on ...). David seemed to be a bit sad, for he couldn't visit all the places he was looking for. So we finally had diner at 5 pm before he left the Washington looking forward towards his stay in Florida.

I went back to my hostel; could do my first laundry since Winnipeg and met lots of friendly people ... we were talking in the living room until 2:30 in the morning ... unfortunately I got into a debate about the US (and I had to stop it for it didn't make any sense anymore); however, I spent a fun night at the hostel :)

A fun day at Cedar Point (Sandusky)

Monday, we planned to visit Cedar Point - one of the biggest roller coaster parks of the US. The park was pretty close to our motel (actually, Motel 6 is great ... lots of comfort for only around 20 bucks/person!), thus we already arrived there shortly after 10. The weather was just great ... lots of sunshine and warm temperatures.

As we entered the park I got a bit afraid by the different roller coasters. Some looked pretty scaring .. especially there was one (Top Thrill Dragster) were you accelerate withing 4 seconds from 0 to 120 mph (around 190 km/h) and afterwards you make a big loop. First we tried a free fall (I almost died a first time ;)); later on a first roller coaster (I wasn't able to open my eyes) and then many more. Yet, as more you do as less afraid you get ... and finally David could also convince me to try the Top Thrill Dragster ... pretty crazy ... but at least I will not get afraid so fast anymore :)

Top Thrill Dragster (from 0 to 120 mph in only 4 seconds)

I think the park is a must see if you travel between Chicago and Washington. A day ticket costs around 39 bucks (US), but as soon as you manage your fear you'll have lots of fun.

At night we decided to head Pittsburgh in order to be able to reach Washington earlier. So we finally arrived around 10 o'clock (pm) in Pittsburgh and were looking for another Motel 6. After check-in we enjoyed another dinner at a great dining place (pretty cheap 6.49 for Country Fried Steak with two side meals *smile*). After dinner we went to bed and were happy to look forward for a short visit of Pittsburgh (and later on Washington) the next day.

Chicago - Cleveland

Hi ... I have time to write a couple of lines; however I've just 20 minutes (internet account at the library of Pittsburgh) and I will see how far I can go ... :)

On our first day in Chicago we slept in; David and me we were pretty tired. We got off for lunch time and decided to go downtown. First we bought some food at Dominick's (a store like Safeway) and headed downtown later with the elevated train.

I was pretty impressed by downtown; lots of tall and impressive buildings (neoclassical and lots of modern architecture). We also had to go to the post office to pay my road toll as well as David bought his bus ticket for grey hound.

Afterwards we went to the Millenium Park ... very beautiful and a great opportunity to take beautiful pictures. After having lunch we went to the Navy Pier ... a very touristic area with a nice view on the lake as well as the skyline. At sunset we went to the John Hancock Center, one of the tallest buildings in Chicago and had the opportunity to have a look on the city out of the 94th floor.

At night we should have dinner at Little Italy. Unfortunately, we weren't able to find it and thus we ended a second time at Dominicks (grocery store) and bought a huge pizza for just 5 bucks. By eating our pizza in the store we met two ladies of Mexico and Spain and by chance they stood in the same hostel as we did.

The next day we got off earlier in the morning, for we were planning to have a sightseeing trip in the loop downtown. This trip was organized by the tourism office of Chicago and is free. As we arrived at the tourism office we had the great opportunity to have a city guide for one hour for free. Actually, Chicago has a great tourism office ... they are friendly and offer lots of opportunities (for free!) to discover the city. So after our short sightseeing trip with the city guide (she showed us lots of impressive buildings and gave us some information on the history of the city) we took the train to discover the buildings around the loop (a guide explained the architecture and history of the buildings you could see by taking the train and driving through the loop). After a short lunch in the Millenium Park we went to the Arts Institute of Chicago. The Arts Institute of Chicago has lots of paintings and sculptures of different time periods. The Arts Institute is a must see ...

At night we met the two ladies for having dinner together ... we had to try the special Chicago pizza (a big crust and lots of toppings) ... was good; however, I still prefer a pizza of a real italian dining place. Later on we went to bar with live Jazz Music ... was great and pretty cheap for we got a free drink and we didn't have to pay an entrance fee.

The next day it was already time to leave Chicago. Honnestly, I really like the city ... there are many beautiful parks, the buildings and the lake are very impressive and also people seem to be nice. As we left Chicago we headed towards Cleveland to find a hostel close to Sandusky for we planned to visit a roller coaster park ...

(time is up ... I hope I will get some more time ... )

Finally, we arrived in Cleveland for sunset. Cleveland is a nice small city with a small skyline and couple of restaurants and bars. Yet, we were looking for a cheap place to have dinner and didn´t find anything convenient (ok it was already late at night). We went back to our motel room we booked before arriving in Cleveland. On the way there we were looking for a dining place and found a Perkins restaurant ... David was driving and we got a bit confused on how to get to the parking lot. We made a U-turn on a place it was prohibited ... and guess ... a couple of minutes later we saw some flashing lights in the back of our cars. I had the great opportunity to make a new experience: Getting investigated by an US police officer :) (ok, David was investigated and not myself). Yet were lucky and didn't get a fine. As we arrived at Perkins the diner was already closed ... and also a couple of seconds later the Police officer was already back again. We were already a bit afraid what will happen next ... yet, the officer was just giving us some advices were we could have dinner at this time (late at night). So with the good advice we finally found a 24h diner ... enjoyed good and cheap food before we went back to our motel. Arriving at the motel we saw two police cars in a short period of time and we could notice that the police checked the licence plate of our car (are we registered now?). I start getting paranoid and expected to get further visit of a police officer. However, nothing happened anymore and I got a good sleep!

More on Sandusky and Pittsburgh as soon as I will find another internet cafe ...

Welcome in Chicago :)

As I see, I get lots of interested visitors on my blog ... David offered me to use his notebook; thus, I will let you know some things that happened recently :)

We left Minneapolis yesterday morning. On the way to Chicago ... and by enjoying free lunch (sandwiches of Starbucks) ... I suddenly got the idea that we could visit an American Swiss town in Winsconsin named New Glarus. By checking the map I found out that this town was close to our way to Chicago and so we decided spontaneously to visit this town instead of Milwaukee.

First we had a pretty hard time to find this town, for the street (due to street work) was closed and we had to use a by-pass. Arriving in New Glarus the first thing I saw was a Swiss Flag ... a long time since I haven´t seen one. There we visited the bakery and some other souvenir shops; yet, most of the stuff they sold wasn´t really Swiss. However, at least I found Rivella and Aromat. In another souvenir shop I talked to the shop owners in Swiss German ... was funny, the family moved 25 years ago to the US and they made their living with this shop! We also found some authentic New Glarus beer that we know to enjoy in our hotel room :)

Afterwards we headed towards Chicago ... by entering the city we missed the right exit and had to pay a toll fee ... however, a problem was that we didn't have coins. Thus we didn´t pay the toll (80 cents), and had to send it today by mail (the stamp and the enveloppe were actually more expensive!). In Chicago David did a great job as a map reader ... however, we still needed a map to find the hostel. And then I had a red light ... the light changed from green to yellow and then to red ... no no I didn´t have an accident again. However, it seemed that it was already red when I crossed the light and I saw three flashing lights ... now, I´m not sure if it was the lights of the cars standing on the intersection or if it really was a flashing light. I will see as soon as I´m back in Winnipeg if I got a nice letter of Chicago police. For sure I was a bit upset, yet I still hope it was a EINBILDUNG. After a while we finally found the hostel. But we still had to find a solution for parking the car. The hostel is clean and the room prices are pretty cheap (30 bucks a night per person). For the car we also found a solution ... there are some streets were you can park for free and so we're able to save 12 bucks / day.

After check-in we were looking forward to visit Little Italy ... yet we were too spontaneously and landed instead in Downtwon Chicago. For it was almost 11 pm nobody was anymore on the street. Thus, we decided to return to the hostel and had some dinner at PittaPit. We seemed both a bit negative minded ... however I think it was the normal feeling you'll have the first night ... especially if you arrive at night in a city you don't know.

Today was a great day and all the bad feelings are gone once more ... however more about today will follow on a later point in time ...

Greetings from Chicago!!!

An exciting day in Minneapolis

My cultural shock is already gone ... I spent a great day in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

I woke up around 8:30 in the morning, yet I could sleep for another hour. Around 10 o'clock David and I were ready for discovering the city.

Boarding the bus we were asking for a day pass ... and you know what ... the bus driver didn't know how to issue a day pass; she told us that she never had done that before. After a call to the transit head office she found a solution and for six bucks we got our 24h pass.

A couple of minutes later we already arrived in downtown. I was pretty excited about all the tall buildings, the business people and in general the nice environment. Really different on how I saw Minneapolis the night before. I took plenty of pictures ... I felt like a countryside guy that spent his first day in a big city (ok I've already been to Paris and London).





Walking through downtown we also discovered the modern light rail of Minneapolis. Yet we decided to first take a bus heading St. Paul.

There we first visited the Capitol ... the Capitol is a building in which are located the court, the house of the senate, the house of representatives, and so on. The building is open to the public and we visited the entire building. The building was actually built after 1900; however, it looks much older (neo classical architecture) ... the building is really beautiful and everything is very well maintained. A must see in St. Paul!!!




Later on, we went to the Museum of History, and we saw exhibitions on the first settlers in Minneapolis, a classical local house and its story and also on the Olympia games of Nazi Germany in 1936. Finally, we visited the Cathedral in St. Paul, which was also built after 1900 and took over 9 years to be completed.



We took the bus back towards downtown ... but we were both hungry and so we decided to skip the Art Museum and enjoyed Mexican food instead. The food was really tasty and much better than the Mexican food I had in Grand Forks. David was also pretty surprised to see lots of his compratiots. In general; a huge part of population is speaking Spanish here.

At night we took the light rail to go to the Mall of America.


There we checked dozens of shops ... and I finally ended with a new belt (of H&M, my favorite store) and a new cool T-Shirt. The mall is supposed to be the biggest one in North America ... it is pretty impressive for it also includes a fun park (including roller coaster, underground aquarium and much more). And according to North American shopping culture the most heard question today was: "How are you doing guys?"




After ice cream at Dairy Queen we decided to get back downtown. On the way to our youth hostel we decided to make a short break at Starbucks (Starbucks is actually as expensive as in Switzerland). Yet, after getting a tea we had a positive surprise ... employees of Starbucks offered us free Sandwiches (the ones they couldn't sell); thus, we will have a free tasty breakfast tomorrow. That was a good experience to end this exciting day (free food for students *smile*).

Tomorrow we will leave Minneapolis for Chicago ... I hope I will be able to update my blog continously (if I will have an internet access). However, I don't know when I will be able to post some pictures.

In terms of cultural shock ... we arrived at night, and I was impressed by the size of the city (and actually it's still a small one ... Chicago, Washington and New York will be much bigger) ... on the other hand, I didn't like the way people talk (they seem to be harsh ... but only for a short snatch) ... the way people don't seem to trust each other and also the kind of ambience (you don't feel too safe at night). However, by taking some precautions I don't see any further problems and I didn't make any bad experiences at all ... it's probably just people and news that scary each other.

First day: Traveling to Minneapolis

I was pretty late with preparing my stuff - I emptied the fridge before midnight, prepared my luggage around 1 in the morning (by talking to my roommmate) and finished writing mails at 3 in the morning. Thus I still got a couple of hours to sleep ... I had to get off after 9, picked up David and we finally headed the US around 11 in the morning.

We had a short break at Grand Forks, it was already around 3 o'clock ... had some food at Arbys before we continued for Fargo.

railroad crossing in Fargo

World Famous Theater in Fargo :)

Rules, rules, rules ...

Fargo is a nice small town, bigger then Grand Forks, with some picturesque buildings. After Fargo the weather changed suddenly from sun to rain ... yet the weather changed again after a couple of kilometres. The countryside between Fargo and Minneapolis is amazing. Small lakes, small hills, green nature ... so beautiful and different to the Manitoban countryside.

A crazy Mexican guy ;) (and also my travel partner)

A crazy Swiss guy ;) (and captain of starship Cavalier)

Lakes, lakes, lakes ...

We also did a small stop in a town for taking some gasoline ($2.69 US / gal compared to $1.09 CAD / l). Finally we arrived for around 9 pm in the suburbs of Minneapolis. The highway got larger and larger ... and after a while we also discovered the amazing skyline of Minneapolis. By chance and after a couple of error (without using a map!!!) we found the youth hostel and we even didn't have to pay for the parking. We got a private room for the first night ... pretty comfortable for our luggage is in safety. Also the lady working at the desk of the youth hostel (located in an old house) is very friendly and helpful *suprised* ... thus, I think we were lucky guys.

After check-in we decided to go uptown, to visit some bars and to have some food as well as a drink. We first went to Mc Donald's ... yet I felt bad to eat another burger, and chose a pretty good Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad. Later on, we were looking for having a beer ... unfortunately we didn't have our passports and we were refused to stay in a bar. Thus we returned back to our youth hostel ...

So far concerning Minneapolis, I have kind of a cultural shock ... Winnipeg is pretty different ... but more about that later on ...

Have a nice week, greetings from Minneapolis!!!

Farewell Parties & Good Bye

I'm pretty late with this entry, it's already after 2 in the morning and tomorrow (or better today) my road trip experience will start. Thus, I will just give you a brief overview of my past week.

Monday a week ago I met David for planning our road trip to Washington. Was a pretty funny experience, we checked many web pages ... booked a hostel in Chicago and figured out what cities we wanna visit. At night we had dinner together and watched a movie.

Tuesday and Wednesday I attended a Salsa class with Melanie ... we're already getting better :) and it makes lots of fun. However, by having a look at the intermediate level I could see that lots of effort is needed to get there.

On Tuesday I also met Stephen, he invited me for beer and chips ... and we had lots to talk about. Wednesday after Salsa I went with Melanie and some of her friends to Corydon ... we enjoyed good gelati and had a drink in a nice bar (Cafe 22) later on.

On Thursday my friends of university organized a Karaoke night ... lots of fun again ... we sang for over 3 hours ... from Rammstein (I invented a new scaring German edition ... I still hate Rammstein) to Elvis (Love me tender ... once more :)).

Friday we had BBQ together at university. Brian was a perfect cook (as usual) and I enjoyed an unforgetable night with all my friends. Later on we moved to Arthur Mauro (student residence), played a couple of games and finished our exciting night in the early morning hours. Feel free to check some new pictures in the picture gallery!!!

Saturday we went to the Empire ... Salsa floor was cool (however I was too shy to dance; the dancers there have a very good level and I'm still a beginner), but I found the main floor boring. However, I went there mainly to meet all my international friends.

On Sunday we met for a DVD night at university college (residence) ... we were watching Ray ... a good movie ... however the extended edition seems to be pretty long and everybody was pretty tired (from the nights before).

Today I was preparing for my upcoming trip (tomorrow) and at night I enjoyed amazing Chinese food at North Garden ... the food was really tasty! Unfortunately, it was pretty sad to say good bye; especially, to good friends you don't know when you'll see them again ...

Later on I continued cleaning up and preparing my stuff ... and now it's already time for bed :)

Tomorrow, as mentioned before, my first trip will start. I will be back in Winnipeg for beginning of June ... hopefully with lots of stories and pictures. I actually also changed the date of my plane tickets ... I will be back in Switzerland for August 1, 2006!!!

Day Date From To Distances / km
1 May 2, 2006 Winnipeg Minneapolis 738
2 May 3, 2006 Minneapolis Minneapolis
3 May 4, 2006 Minneapolis Milwaukee 541
3 May 4, 2006 Milwaukee Chicago 147
4 May 5, 2006 Chicago Chicago
5 May 6, 2006 Chicago Chicago
6 May 7, 2006 Chicago Detroit 456
7 May 8, 2006 Detroit Sandusky (Cedar Point ) 182
8 May 9, 2006 Sandusky (Cedar Point) Pittsburgh 292
8 May 9, 2006 Pittsburgh Washington 387
9 May 10, 2006 Washington Washington
10 May 11, 2006 Washington Washington
12 May 12, 2006 Washington Baltimore 66
12 May 12, 2006 Baltimore Philadelphia 157
13 May 13, 2006 Philadelphia New York 151
Total Trip 1 3117
1 May 14, 2006 New York New York
2 May 15, 2006 New York New York
3 May 16, 2006 New York Boston 352
4 May 17, 2006 Boston Boston
5 May 18, 2006 Boston Portland 169
5 May 18, 2006 Portland Saint John 472
6 May 19, 2006 Saint John Digby Ferry
6 May 19, 2006 Digby Halifax 227
7 May 20, 2006 Halifax Halifax
8 May 21, 2006 Halifax Fredericton 437
9 May 22, 2006 Fredericton Quebec 579
10 May 23, 2006 Quebec Quebec
11 May 24, 2006 Quebec Montreal 252
12 May 25, 2006 Montreal Montreal
13 May 26, 2006 Montreal Ottawa 199
14 May 27, 2006 Ottawa Toronto 451
15 May 28, 2006 Toronto Toronto
16 May 29, 2006 Toronto Toronto
17 May 30, 2006 Toronto Sault St. Marie 858
18 May 31, 2006 Sault St. Marie Thunder Bay 702
19 June 01, 2006 Thunder Bay Kenora 489
20 June 02, 2006 Kenora Winnipeg 208
21 June 03, 2006 Winnipeg Winnipeg
22 June 04, 2006 Winnipeg Winnipeg
Total Trip 2 5395
Total 8512