"We're going where the sun shines brightly / We're going where the sea is blue"
During the summer, I went to America for the first time. I planned an ambitious trip - 3 cites and an island in only two weeks - but it went well and I saw some incredibly places. Here are the photos.
Seattle
Seattle was a really nice city, and the people I met there were very friendly. There are almost no tourist attractions to speak of, but the city has a young population and seemed to me like a great place to live. There is also an average of 1.27 coffee shops for every person in Seattle.
1. Nick and Nick's apartment building.
2. The very first Starbucks - one of only three tourist attractions in Seattle.
3. Nick + lady friend- Tiffany is really really nice. Boy's done good.
San Francisco
San Francisco was really interesting, and I wish I had had more than one day to go around it. I stayed with some friends of a friend right down in the south of the bay area who turned out to be the nicest and most accomodating people I have ever met. I didn't have time to take a tour of Alcatraz because it takes half a day, but I did do a ferry boat tour of the bay in the morning and spent the rest of the day kicking around the area near Telegraph Hill.
I finished the day by meeting another friend of a friend at Berkeley and he was kind enough to give me a tour. Then, we went to a local pub and got drunk on ale, at which point we became best friends and talked about nothing for the whole evening. It was the perfect way to end the day, and he turned out to be a really nice guy too.
1. The Golden Gate bridge.
2. Alcatraz!
3. San Fransico Train Station. - The most beautiful train station in the world. Maybe.
4. The oldest coffee shop in San Francisco - outside. - Old Italian dudes sitting outside smoking - always a good sign.
5. The oldest coffee shop in San Francisco - inside. - The food and coffee were great, the service slow, the staff rude - I miss coffee shops in Japan.
6. San Fransico.
7. Berkeley - The Life Sciences Building - Berkeley was beautiful, such a nice campus.
8. Berkeley - Inside The Life Sciences Building - T Rex.
9. Berkeley - Inside The Life Sciences Building - Terradactyl.
10. Berkeley - The Camponile.
Wisconsin
I went up to Lake Michigan to go camping with a friend and watch a baseball game - the latter was a mistake I never plan to make again.
1. Lake Michigan
2. Miller Park Baseball Stadium
Chicago
Chicago was without doubt the best part of my trip. I stayed with Dennis, and ALT from near my village in Japan, who has gone back home to live in Chicago again. While living in Japan, I never saw Dennis as much as I would have liked because he was a very independant and motivated person and tended to do most things on his own - during his one year stay, he visited Okinawa, Tokyo, Kyoto, Hokkaido, Ishikawa and many others places, more than most Japanese people have done in their entire lives. I stayed with him for two and a bit days in Chicago, and it really helped to make Chicago the best part of my trip.
Together, we saw the exhibits at Millenium Park, we went to the Chicago Art museum, the Science Museum, the Planetarium, we saw live Jazz at The Hot House, got pizza at Gino's East, checked out The Picasso and took a river boat architecture tour through the center of the city, all in two days.
The architecture of Chicago is incredible, and thanks to careful planning and beautiful design, the high-rise sky scrapers become a beautiful feature of the city as opposed to an oppressive mass of uncoordinated eyesores.
1. Millenium Park - The Crown Fountain - 1
The two Crown Fountains each have massive digital displays on two-sides, showing a slide show of people's faces. Water constantly pours down from the top of the fountains, and occasionally it squirts out the mouth of the people displayed. It is a public art exhibit that is not only beautiful, but allows children to play and brings people together in one of America's biggest cities.
2. Millenium Park - The Crown Fountain - 2
3. Millenium Park - The Crown Fountain - at night
4. Millenium Park - The Cloud Gate
5. The Buckingham Fountain and the Chicago Skyline
6. The Chicago skyline taken from the Chicago Field Museum
7. The Chicago Art Gallery
8. The Picasso
9. The Chicago Ferry Boat Architecture Tour
Hawaii - Kauai
I travelled to Hawaii by myself, and was a little aprehensive because I had no idea what to expect. A series of delayed flights and detours found me flying from Chicago to Minneapolis, Minneapolis to Seattle, Seattle to Honolulu, Honolulu to Kauai, all in one day, and when I arrived at my hostel, I met a Russian guy from Canada called Borris, a Canadian JET from Gunma prefecture called Jeff and a Czech guy from Australia. Together, we set off the following day and took in some of the sights and I paired up with Borris for the rest of my stay. Mornings involved waking late, driving to somewhere on Kauai to go and take in the sights, and then spending all afternoon at the bar of the Hyatt Hotel pretending to be guests, swimming in their pool and lounging around on the beach.
Kauai is an incredibly beautiful island, and the least developed of all of the Hawaiian islands (Jurassic Park was filmed here, it's that undeveloped). Plenty of locals made it feel less toursity than I had expected, and the incredibly beautiful landscape just one reason it is very popular with honeymooners.
1. Waimea Canyon
2. Poipu Beach at the Hyatt Hotel - It became my second home.
3. View from the back of the hostel - Everywhere is like this on Kauai. Everywhere.
4. The Hostel - Kauai Beach House - It was a tree house with a TV - I loved it.
5. Kilauea Lighthouse
6. Waterfall
7. Me :)
8. Sunset over Poipu - This was my last photograph of the trip, and I think the one that I like the most.
Seattle
Seattle was a really nice city, and the people I met there were very friendly. There are almost no tourist attractions to speak of, but the city has a young population and seemed to me like a great place to live. There is also an average of 1.27 coffee shops for every person in Seattle.
1. Nick and Nick's apartment building.
2. The very first Starbucks - one of only three tourist attractions in Seattle.
3. Nick + lady friend- Tiffany is really really nice. Boy's done good.
San Francisco
San Francisco was really interesting, and I wish I had had more than one day to go around it. I stayed with some friends of a friend right down in the south of the bay area who turned out to be the nicest and most accomodating people I have ever met. I didn't have time to take a tour of Alcatraz because it takes half a day, but I did do a ferry boat tour of the bay in the morning and spent the rest of the day kicking around the area near Telegraph Hill.
I finished the day by meeting another friend of a friend at Berkeley and he was kind enough to give me a tour. Then, we went to a local pub and got drunk on ale, at which point we became best friends and talked about nothing for the whole evening. It was the perfect way to end the day, and he turned out to be a really nice guy too.
1. The Golden Gate bridge.
2. Alcatraz!
3. San Fransico Train Station. - The most beautiful train station in the world. Maybe.
4. The oldest coffee shop in San Francisco - outside. - Old Italian dudes sitting outside smoking - always a good sign.
5. The oldest coffee shop in San Francisco - inside. - The food and coffee were great, the service slow, the staff rude - I miss coffee shops in Japan.
6. San Fransico.
7. Berkeley - The Life Sciences Building - Berkeley was beautiful, such a nice campus.
8. Berkeley - Inside The Life Sciences Building - T Rex.
9. Berkeley - Inside The Life Sciences Building - Terradactyl.
10. Berkeley - The Camponile.
Wisconsin
I went up to Lake Michigan to go camping with a friend and watch a baseball game - the latter was a mistake I never plan to make again.
1. Lake Michigan
2. Miller Park Baseball Stadium
Chicago
Chicago was without doubt the best part of my trip. I stayed with Dennis, and ALT from near my village in Japan, who has gone back home to live in Chicago again. While living in Japan, I never saw Dennis as much as I would have liked because he was a very independant and motivated person and tended to do most things on his own - during his one year stay, he visited Okinawa, Tokyo, Kyoto, Hokkaido, Ishikawa and many others places, more than most Japanese people have done in their entire lives. I stayed with him for two and a bit days in Chicago, and it really helped to make Chicago the best part of my trip.
Together, we saw the exhibits at Millenium Park, we went to the Chicago Art museum, the Science Museum, the Planetarium, we saw live Jazz at The Hot House, got pizza at Gino's East, checked out The Picasso and took a river boat architecture tour through the center of the city, all in two days.
The architecture of Chicago is incredible, and thanks to careful planning and beautiful design, the high-rise sky scrapers become a beautiful feature of the city as opposed to an oppressive mass of uncoordinated eyesores.
1. Millenium Park - The Crown Fountain - 1
The two Crown Fountains each have massive digital displays on two-sides, showing a slide show of people's faces. Water constantly pours down from the top of the fountains, and occasionally it squirts out the mouth of the people displayed. It is a public art exhibit that is not only beautiful, but allows children to play and brings people together in one of America's biggest cities.
2. Millenium Park - The Crown Fountain - 2
3. Millenium Park - The Crown Fountain - at night
4. Millenium Park - The Cloud Gate
5. The Buckingham Fountain and the Chicago Skyline
6. The Chicago skyline taken from the Chicago Field Museum
7. The Chicago Art Gallery
8. The Picasso
9. The Chicago Ferry Boat Architecture Tour
Hawaii - Kauai
I travelled to Hawaii by myself, and was a little aprehensive because I had no idea what to expect. A series of delayed flights and detours found me flying from Chicago to Minneapolis, Minneapolis to Seattle, Seattle to Honolulu, Honolulu to Kauai, all in one day, and when I arrived at my hostel, I met a Russian guy from Canada called Borris, a Canadian JET from Gunma prefecture called Jeff and a Czech guy from Australia. Together, we set off the following day and took in some of the sights and I paired up with Borris for the rest of my stay. Mornings involved waking late, driving to somewhere on Kauai to go and take in the sights, and then spending all afternoon at the bar of the Hyatt Hotel pretending to be guests, swimming in their pool and lounging around on the beach.
Kauai is an incredibly beautiful island, and the least developed of all of the Hawaiian islands (Jurassic Park was filmed here, it's that undeveloped). Plenty of locals made it feel less toursity than I had expected, and the incredibly beautiful landscape just one reason it is very popular with honeymooners.
1. Waimea Canyon
2. Poipu Beach at the Hyatt Hotel - It became my second home.
3. View from the back of the hostel - Everywhere is like this on Kauai. Everywhere.
4. The Hostel - Kauai Beach House - It was a tree house with a TV - I loved it.
5. Kilauea Lighthouse
6. Waterfall
7. Me :)
8. Sunset over Poipu - This was my last photograph of the trip, and I think the one that I like the most.
