USA-Mexico-Canada Tour - October 1st - 12th

October 1st, the ride to Halifax, NS took me all day. New Brunswick and Novia Scotia are so beautiful in the fall when the leaves turn red and yellow. I got to Halifax around 6:30pm. After I checked in at the hostel I went out for a run...it was quite chilly but I needed some excercise after all that time on the bus.

October 2nd, Halifax, NS is a cool little city, right on the water, some hills, old buildings and awesome nightlife...tons of bars and restaurants. The evening I went out with two other German guys that I met at the hostel, we went first to the Shoe Shop bar, then the Lower Deck where we met a couple of guys from the Canadian Army and they just returned from Afghanistan to Canada a few days before that. It was quite interesting to hear their stories...after that we went to another bar and then straight to bed around 3am...

October 3-4, my next stop was Quebec city. Probably one of the nicest towns in Nort America, nice old buildings, little castle, small tiny streets and lots of artists on the streets. The evening I tried to rest and had some drinks at the hostel bar with fellow travellers from Belgium, India, France and sure another German...

October 5th, another person, a girl from Belgium, and I rented a Tandem for the day. We hooked up over breakfast and decided to cycle to a waterfall about 12km outside of the city. It took some time to get used to a tandem bicycle but after a while we had a lot of fun cycling. The waterfall itself was quite amazing and there we also met a few other people from a hostel that I knew from last night at the hostel bar. So we decided to go for a small hike together. In the evening we met each other to check out the nightlife of Quebec.

October 6th, after a few hours I got to Ottawa, ON around 4pm, I checked out the city and found out pretty soon that there isn't much to do beside to look at all the government buildings...well I thought you might not want to see another old building on my blog so maybe that picture will inspire you a little bit more! - The world needs more CANADA- eh!

October 7th, well somehow these two girls from Switzerland followed me all the way from Quebec to Ottawa and then even to Toronto we were on the same bus. So we decided to check out Toronto together and then go for some Chinese food. I was suprsied how big Toronto is...but somehow it didn't really impress me...I guess I saw a lot more bigger cities in my last few weeks on the road. But still it was good to see the city at nighttime.

October 8th, my morning in Toronto I spent having breakfast with the two Swiss girls and later I met Mayuko who I met in Montreal a few days ago, she lives in Toronto and so she was a great tourguide for me. I had only a few hours before I took the bus to the Niagra Falls, ON. On the pictures you can see the Horsehoe Falls, which is the waterfall on the Canadian side.

October 9th, today I didn't have a lot of plans. I walked a little bit along the river and then went back to the hostel where I planed some more of my upcoming time on the road, then in the late afternoon I took the bus across the border to Buffalo, NY in the USA, then to Cleveland, OH and from there a bus to Chicago, IL.

October 10th, Chicago, IL - it took me all night to get there. Once I got there friend's of a friend of mine in Vancouver picked me up and took me to their place. There I refreshed myself and then went with their daughter to downtown, she showed me around and we also went up the Sears Tower...one of the hightes buildings in the world. Chicago felt like a small New York to me even though with a population of over 9 million people it's the third largest city in the USA.

October 11th, the Honduran couple I stayed with spoiled me with a lot of good food from their homecountry, Christina and Ramon are such amzing cooks! I also had the chance to hear some of their stories how they came to the United States and how difficult it was for them to get a citizenship. Beside eating a lot of good food I explored more of Chicago on my own. Around 8pm it was time for me to say good bye and go back to my life on the bus...

October 12th, after a night on the bus I still had a day on the bus ahead of me. While riding the bus I met a dance group from Sri Lanka, a few members of that group talked with me for a while, they were touring in the northern part of the USA and they perform at different cities. They told me that they won several awards and that they've been to Germany as well. One of them you can see in the picture above. Then after 23 hours on the bus I got to Winnipeg, MA. There I had the chance to stay at a house where some other German volunteers live. That same evening we did a little bike tour through the downtown area and some parks so I got a little bit an overview of the city.

USA-Mexico-Canada Tour - September 20th - 30th

September 20th, I started the day with the Holocaust museum...everytime I see what my country' did just 60 something years ago I feel kind of bad, even tough I know it wasn't my fault. I just hope we learn from our history and not do the same mistakes again in the future...
In the afternoon I looked into some other muesums and took a tour of the Washington Monument (in the picture above). Later I met a german guy who also stayed in the same hostel as I did, we went out for a couple of beers and talked about our experiences with the USA....

September 21st, after I spent the last few weeks in big cities it was time for some countryside 'sightseeing'...yeah and the best place to do that is Chambersburg, PA. My friend's family lives there on a cool farm with a lot of cows. I got to know his family and the place where he grew up, also I had the chance to relax, eat lots of good food and see some of the things out there.

September 22nd, today started with a huge breakfast and then I got a tour of the farm and and the machines they use. In the evening we had dinner and then went out to play some mini golf.

September 23rd, did you ever get lost in a corn field? well that happened to us today. We went to a corn field labyrinth and tried to make our way through the corn...after several tries we got through. But it was fun and it was good to spent time with them and enjoy the sunny weather!

September 24th, time to say good bye to the live on the farm...today I spent pretty much all day on the bus. I arrived in New York City in the late afternoon. What a change from Chambersburg...I found a place to stay in the Bronx. There I spent the evening with my host, she also volunteered for a while in Seattle and it was good to hear her stoeries.

September 25th, it felt great to be back in NYC, I've been here 2 years ago for a short weekend. Finally I had the chance to get to know the city in a few days. I took the subway to Manhattan, there I checked out the World Trade Center site, they already started cinstruction for a new building and it didn't look the same as 2 years ago. I spent all day and evening in lower manhattan.

September 26th, Central Park and the Metropolitan Muesum of Art was on my list for today, the park is allright but the museum is amazing! Later the day I went to the UN building...the security was crazy there...too many cops in one place, there was a UN general conference at that time that's why everything was under tight security. In the evening I met an 'old' friend, she lives here in NYC and I got to know here the last time I was there. We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, the old harbour and then to the 'Village' which is a trendy place with lots of little bars.

September 27th, my time in NYC was over...so I took the bus up to Boston, MA. I had to sit beside an old fat sleeping women...one of the not so much fun experiences...
In Boston I met Min, a friend that I knew from Vancouver. She now studies at the Boston University. We had dinner together with another friend of here.

September 28th, we spent the afternoon in downtown of Boston. I was suprised how many young people there are on the streets. It's a city with a lot of schools, colleges and universities...
I got to know Haruka and Adrian, both friends of Min. Later in the evening I took the bus back to Canada...

September 29th, 6:30am I arrived in Montreal, QC. Good to be back at 'home' in Canada, even tough most people here speak french...I spent the morning walking around in the old part of Montreal, slept in a park and then checked in at the hostel around 2pm.

September 30th, free breakfast at the hostel - I had a dry bagel and half a cup of coffee...but I met some other travellers while I was eating my bagel and we decided to go out together. we ended up to sit in a catholic church and listened to a mess in french...I didn't understand one word. After that we had a great lunch at a French restaurant. Then we all went our own ways, I hiked up a little hill in the city from where I took that picture. Chinese BBQ pork for supper and then I headed back to the bus terminal.


More pictures:

Part I http://picasaweb.google.com/manueldanner/USAMexicoCanadaTour2007

Part II http://picasaweb.google.com/manueldanner/USAMexicoCanadaTourII