My final day...and catching up with the past couple of weeks!

I have been really rubbish and not written a blog for quite a while, but I blame it mainly on the all the fun stuff I have been up to getting in the way. The past few weeks have flown by and it was my last full day today as I fly home tomorrow evening, getting back early Friday morning UK time. I'm sure it will be a bit strange when I get back at first, especially as Ashling is staying out for a few more weeks to hang out with her mum and sister for a while longer, but I am looking forward to seeing everyone.

I left off just over 2 weeks ago, I am having to use Ashing's journal to remind me what we did, it has all blurred into one. We had a great time at the Harry Potter preview. When the film finished we walked past the small queue forming for the midnight screening that night, hours before it was due to start and felt quite smug! That day we also took a ride on the Staten Island ferry and had a quick look around the American Indian museum. They happened to have American Indian dancers in that day so we watched a little show with singing, drumming and dancing. We spent the next day in the city again, this time to watch West Side Story. We were lucky enough to get half price tickets in really good seats and it was a great show, Ashling loved all the dancing. After a bit of shopping we headed over to Brooklyn to Prospect Park where the NY Philharmonic were putting on a free outdoor concert with a fireworks display at the end. It was a great atmosphere, the park was packed with people with picnics and candles, it was a really nice evening.

On that Thursday we got up early to leave for Washington DC on the megabus. We got off the bus and were instantly hit by the heat and humidity, it was like being in Florida again. It is a great city to explore with historic buildings and monuments on every corner. We got a photo outside the white house, had a look around the Washington memorial, WW2 memorial, Vietnam memorial and then walked along the pool of reflection to reach the Lincoln Memorial. We also stopped by the National Archives to have a look at the original copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. It was really interesting seeing it all for real after learning so much about them on our trip to Philadelphia. We ended our first day watching Night in the Museum 2 in the imax inside one of the Smithsonian museums where the film is set. It was great as it gave us a tour around all the museums so we could decide what we wanted to see the next day! We stayed in a hostel that night in a really lively part of the city called Adams Morgan, full of bars and restaurants from around the world, including a lot of the countries we have visited! It was quite strange being back in a hostel again, but we didn't hang around for long. We spent most of our second day in Washington looking around the museums, The Natural History museum was probably the best one. Our last stop was the old post office building which has a lookout above the bell tower with great views of the city. When we returned to Rockaway, there was yet another block party, this time on the block where Ashling's mum lives.

We spent a few days on the beach, at the cinema and relaxing before our next trip into another State, this time to Boston in Massachusetts. We booked ourselves into the YMCA which gave us access to their gym facilities including a swimming pool which we were excited about! Another journey on the megabus, this time it took just under 5 hours dropping us in the middle of the city. We spent the afternoon walking around working out what we wanted to do while in Boston walking around the two major parks. We had a quick look inside the bar that the TV show Cheers is set in and also walked around the Public library which is a very grand building. That evening we stumbled across cheap tickets for an impro comedy show which was really funny, very much like whose line is it anyway. We spent our first full day walking the Freedom Trail which takes you all over the city stopping off at important landmarks that have significance to America's Independence. There were too many stops to write about it all but it was a really great walk which took us most of the afternoon. In the North End of Boston, they had a small festival taking place in the streets and the Navy Show Band put on a little show which we hung around for. We are very lucky because we always seem to stumble across free things to do wherever we are. The next day we walked for a couple of hours along the Charles River to Cambridge, where Harvard University is found. We jumped on board the unofficial Hahvahd (that's how they pronounce it, they all speak a bit funny) tour which was run by students who took us around Harvard Yard and spoke about the history and told funny stories about the University. We were not feeling up to walking back into the city so jumped on the train, but it was more like an underground tram system, even their bus stops are underground it was all a bit strange. We tried to get tickets to see the Red Sox baseball game but they were all sold out so we settled in a bar opposite the stadium to watch the game, it was a really great game and they won. Our final morning I decided I would go along with Ashling to a yoga class at the hostel to see what all the fuss was about. It was really strange with lots of loud breathing and the teacher had us doing handstands against the walls and balancing on our hands. Not sure I will be so eager to try it out again! Before getting on the bus back to New York, we spent some time by the water front watching the sailing boats and did a bit more shopping.

Monday and Tuesday this week Ashling was babysitting her cousins which mainly involves playing with them at the beach so not too much hard work. Today we headed back into the city to do some clothes shopping and to see a show. We got really cheap tickets to see Shrek the Musical and it was really good fun. The set, props and costumes were all really clever and the songs were all very funny, I would recommend it if it makes it to London. I had better go to bed now, need to get up tomorrow and pack, Ashling's mum has lent me another suitcase as I definitely won't be able to fit everything back into my rucksack, and Tom is going to meet me at the airport on Friday morning. I hope it's not raining!