This page is home to the bits of travel blog that don’t fit neatly into the other categories.
- Japan 2015by RobDay 1 Tokyo I had a cunning plan for sleeping on the plane: partially deprive myself of sleep the night before, so that I’ll be super sleepy on the flight. Instead, it just compounded the existing tiredness with an almost sleepless night on a jumbo jet. We arrived at the ‘luxury capsule hotel’ near Shijuku station (the busiest station in the world) and immediately began jumping through the various bureaucratic hoops that may allow me to actually sleep tonight. (By the way, some may assume that ‘luxury’ and ‘capsule hotel’ are mutually exclusive. They’re not: this one has a spa… Read more: Japan 2015
- What I did on my holidays (part 5)by RobThursday 6th November We woke early to catch a 7am bus to Philadelphia. This was especially difficult for Neil, Mini Matt and Andy who had been in a bar basement until 4am listening to a jazz band who claimed to have a member of the Fugees (although this was debatable). The Bolt Bus left from a stop a few blocks north of our hostel to make the hardly-scenic journey through industrial New Jersey into Pennsylvania. Interestingly, the bus somehow managed to conjure up a wifi connection for the whole two hour journey, even when we were underneath the Hudson River… Read more: What I did on my holidays (part 5)
- What I did on my holidays (part 4)by RobWednesday 5th November Despite Fox’s kind offer of a free breakfast, a 7.30am start at the filming of their Morning Show did not appeal after the late night in Times Square. Instead, we got out of bed an hour or so later and I headed out to the local store to pick up a copy of the New York Times. To my dismay, the news stand was empty of everything but the New York Post (the local equivalent of the Sun, a copy of which I purchased in 2007 when their headline described the Manhattan steam pipe explosion as a “Midtown… Read more: What I did on my holidays (part 4)
- What I did on my holidays (part 3 – election night special)by RobTuesday 4th November Since our arrival in New York there had been a low frequency buzz on the streets about the election. It seemed like every conversation we tuned into on the crowded sidewalks contained snippets of “Obama”, “McCain” or “Palin” (poor Biden). It’s difficult to imagine an election in the UK creating such a level of interest, although I suspect this is no ordinary US election. Despite this level of public interest, there was actually very little in the way of election publicity in the city. New York is one of the most reliably Democratic states on the electoral… Read more: What I did on my holidays (part 3 – election night special)
- What I did on my holidays (part 2)by RobMonday 3rd November After an overdue lie-in, we headed out into Manhattan in search of a hearty bagel and John’s friend LJ. LJ had survived the marathon on Sunday and would be transferring to our hostel for her last few days in New York. Filled up with eggy, cheesy, Canadian hammy, bagely goodness, we once again made the long walk to the southern tip of Manhattan, this time to Castle Clinton in Battery Park. The fort was built in the early 19thcentury to defend New York from the British during the war of 1812, although now it is a ticket booth… Read more: What I did on my holidays (part 2)
- What I did on my holidays (part 1)by RobSaturday 1st November 2008 At an eyeball-achingly early time, Andy, John, Matt, Matt and I dragged ourselves to Heathrow Airport via seemingly half the tube network. We’d checked in for our flight online the previous evening and only had hand luggage, so were afforded the luxury of minimal queues to board Virgin Atlantic flight V003, bound for New York JFK. The flight was actually the most comfortable I’ve ever experienced; the food was more than edible (starter, main, bread roll, dessert, wine and even a cheese course), there was actually leg-room and the back of the seat in front contained… Read more: What I did on my holidays (part 1)