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