USA trip 2011 - report and pics
Aug. 29th, 2011 11:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gothikmausAll right, I'm going back to work on Wednesday and don't want to put this off any longer, so here's my holiday report, more or less in list form. Pictures are here: USA 2011.
The trip in general
- My aunt and everyone else spent 3 weeks trying to feed me on every occasion. I swear the word I heard most was "Eat!" XD
- Every time my aunt introduced me to someone, they assumed I couldn't speak English and were positively shocked to find out that I actually can.
- Also, apparently I sound "proper". Well, as long as I don't sound ridiculous...
- Another thing I heard a lot was "OMG, you're so tall!" My cousin went on holiday with his family for a week and when they came back his wife looked at me and actually said "I think she got taller." XD I swear I felt like I was inside a H50 fanfic, one of those stories where Steve goes to New Jersey and finds himself surrounded by Danny's siblings and cousins, all short, blond and loud. XD
- Talking about H50, I had no idea they were airing reruns, so the first Monday I was there, my uncle said "Let's see what's on TV" and went straight to CBS. Cue me making a strangled noise and asking in a small voice "Umh, can we watch this? I... quite like it." And it was the Sherlock Holmes episode too! I was about to explode with fangirly glee. (And every time I passed through Weehawken I thought of "Months and miles from dreams" and grinned like an idiot.)
- One of my cousins has a huge Dodge, I wonder how his wife can climb inside (she reaches up to my shoulder), while the other one has a fucking Harley Davidson and took me for a ride. Here's proof (I cut off my head because my expression was ridiculous):
- OMG so many squirrels! :3 I never see squirrels at home, and there they were all over the place. Oh, and apparently there was a stray coyote wandering about the neighbourhood too. WTH, it's New Jersey, not fucking Nevada!
Squirrel!
- The wedding was big and shiny and everyone tried to get me drunk. WTF? XD
- I've been using the phrase "Are you serious?" way too much.
- I found out that flats (I mean, apartments :P) in Hoboken are cheaper than in my town. The hell?
- First earthquake on the East Coast after about a century and I'm there to experience it. Yeah, baby. Thank God I left 2 days before Hurricane Irene arrived, there's only so much drama I can bear.
- I helped my aunt make tomato sauce. We made 136 jars. One hundred and thirty six. Man.
New York City
- I went to NYC quite a few times. The first time my cousin (the one with the bike) and her wife drove me there and it was insane. As we were driving around Manhattan trying to find Broadway, "Empire State of Mind" came on the radio, which fit the moment perfectly, so my cousin's wife went "Shut up everyone, Alex and I are having a moment here!" XD
- Also, one of the first things I saw when we got out of the tunnel was this ad:
Priceless. XD
- After that first time, I went by bus. My aunt was afraid I would get lost, but it's almost impossible to get lost in Manhattan, once you understand how the streets and avenues work. Hell, I even gave indications to other people once or twice! XD
- I wanted to visit the MoMA and the Guggenheim Museum, but in the end I only visited the former and was there for 6 hours.
- Had a cupcake at Magnolia Bakery. It was delicious, but what I really miss are bagels (why don't we have bagels here, whyyy?)
- OMG FAO Schwarz. I could spend hundreds of bucks on toys. ;_; I was this close to buying a collector's Barbie, it's not even funny.
Make your own Muppet!
The NY Stock Exchange. Just a little bit patriotic.
Jersey Shore
- I was supposed to go to Washington DC, but the trip was cancelled at the very last moment, so we accepted an invitation to go "down the shore", because one of the many relatives has a small house there. It turned out to be not just anywhere on the Jersey Shore, but in Seaside Heights, the place where they film "Jersey Shore". So many shops selling the tackiest clothes, my eyes hurt.
- I swam in the ocean, saw dolphins, ate pancakes near the beach (still not my favourite food, but, hell, I was in the USA, I wanted to have a typical breakfast) and had a big burger in an Irish pub/diner/whatever:
- On our second night we saw fireworks and went for a drink and a slice of cheesecake. Mmh, cheesecake:
- Also, fried Oreos? FRIED. OREOS. One of the girls I was staying with described them as follows: "It's like biting into a warm, fluffy pillow". I had one because everyone insisted so much and, yeah, they're not bad, but I could feel my arteries clogging even before I was done swallowing.
Boston
- I went to visit![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
schwimmerin for a weekend and had a lot of fun! We walked around downtown, Cambridge, Harvard, the harbour and went to the MIT Museum. At the harbour we saw a seagull swallowing a chunk of bread or something which was as big as its head:
- Fright Night! *insert David Tennant fangirl squee* Really, as Jenny said, the authors must have consulted with the fangirls, because, come on, gratuitous leather-trousers-clad sauntering? Eyeliner? And those jeans, man. Also, I loved that he was either drunk or drinking in every single scene and half of his lines consisted of swearing. Best line: "Fucking eBay!" XD I also had my very first dim sum, which was yummy and incredibly cheap.
Now, that's some XXL popcorn
We had no idea what that was, but it was hilarious.
Aaand, that's it. Whew, that got long indeed. I also have some pics I want to add to my online portfolio, I'll try to do that before the weekend.
The trip in general
- My aunt and everyone else spent 3 weeks trying to feed me on every occasion. I swear the word I heard most was "Eat!" XD
- Every time my aunt introduced me to someone, they assumed I couldn't speak English and were positively shocked to find out that I actually can.
- Also, apparently I sound "proper". Well, as long as I don't sound ridiculous...
- Another thing I heard a lot was "OMG, you're so tall!" My cousin went on holiday with his family for a week and when they came back his wife looked at me and actually said "I think she got taller." XD I swear I felt like I was inside a H50 fanfic, one of those stories where Steve goes to New Jersey and finds himself surrounded by Danny's siblings and cousins, all short, blond and loud. XD
- Talking about H50, I had no idea they were airing reruns, so the first Monday I was there, my uncle said "Let's see what's on TV" and went straight to CBS. Cue me making a strangled noise and asking in a small voice "Umh, can we watch this? I... quite like it." And it was the Sherlock Holmes episode too! I was about to explode with fangirly glee. (And every time I passed through Weehawken I thought of "Months and miles from dreams" and grinned like an idiot.)
- One of my cousins has a huge Dodge, I wonder how his wife can climb inside (she reaches up to my shoulder), while the other one has a fucking Harley Davidson and took me for a ride. Here's proof (I cut off my head because my expression was ridiculous):
- OMG so many squirrels! :3 I never see squirrels at home, and there they were all over the place. Oh, and apparently there was a stray coyote wandering about the neighbourhood too. WTH, it's New Jersey, not fucking Nevada!
Squirrel!
- The wedding was big and shiny and everyone tried to get me drunk. WTF? XD
- I've been using the phrase "Are you serious?" way too much.
- I found out that flats (I mean, apartments :P) in Hoboken are cheaper than in my town. The hell?
- First earthquake on the East Coast after about a century and I'm there to experience it. Yeah, baby. Thank God I left 2 days before Hurricane Irene arrived, there's only so much drama I can bear.
- I helped my aunt make tomato sauce. We made 136 jars. One hundred and thirty six. Man.
New York City
- I went to NYC quite a few times. The first time my cousin (the one with the bike) and her wife drove me there and it was insane. As we were driving around Manhattan trying to find Broadway, "Empire State of Mind" came on the radio, which fit the moment perfectly, so my cousin's wife went "Shut up everyone, Alex and I are having a moment here!" XD
- Also, one of the first things I saw when we got out of the tunnel was this ad:
Priceless. XD
- After that first time, I went by bus. My aunt was afraid I would get lost, but it's almost impossible to get lost in Manhattan, once you understand how the streets and avenues work. Hell, I even gave indications to other people once or twice! XD
- I wanted to visit the MoMA and the Guggenheim Museum, but in the end I only visited the former and was there for 6 hours.
- Had a cupcake at Magnolia Bakery. It was delicious, but what I really miss are bagels (why don't we have bagels here, whyyy?)
- OMG FAO Schwarz. I could spend hundreds of bucks on toys. ;_; I was this close to buying a collector's Barbie, it's not even funny.
Make your own Muppet!
The NY Stock Exchange. Just a little bit patriotic.
Jersey Shore
- I was supposed to go to Washington DC, but the trip was cancelled at the very last moment, so we accepted an invitation to go "down the shore", because one of the many relatives has a small house there. It turned out to be not just anywhere on the Jersey Shore, but in Seaside Heights, the place where they film "Jersey Shore". So many shops selling the tackiest clothes, my eyes hurt.
- I swam in the ocean, saw dolphins, ate pancakes near the beach (still not my favourite food, but, hell, I was in the USA, I wanted to have a typical breakfast) and had a big burger in an Irish pub/diner/whatever:
- On our second night we saw fireworks and went for a drink and a slice of cheesecake. Mmh, cheesecake:
- Also, fried Oreos? FRIED. OREOS. One of the girls I was staying with described them as follows: "It's like biting into a warm, fluffy pillow". I had one because everyone insisted so much and, yeah, they're not bad, but I could feel my arteries clogging even before I was done swallowing.
Boston
- I went to visit
schwimmerin for a weekend and had a lot of fun! We walked around downtown, Cambridge, Harvard, the harbour and went to the MIT Museum. At the harbour we saw a seagull swallowing a chunk of bread or something which was as big as its head: - Fright Night! *insert David Tennant fangirl squee* Really, as Jenny said, the authors must have consulted with the fangirls, because, come on, gratuitous leather-trousers-clad sauntering? Eyeliner? And those jeans, man. Also, I loved that he was either drunk or drinking in every single scene and half of his lines consisted of swearing. Best line: "Fucking eBay!" XD I also had my very first dim sum, which was yummy and incredibly cheap.
Now, that's some XXL popcorn
We had no idea what that was, but it was hilarious.
Aaand, that's it. Whew, that got long indeed. I also have some pics I want to add to my online portfolio, I'll try to do that before the weekend.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-08-30 03:18 pm (UTC)And I also love how so much of this entry is dedicated to good food :D That cheesecake looks soooo good ♥
I seen a seagull swallow an entire KFC chicken leg once. It was quite funny XD
no subject
Date: 2011-08-30 08:54 pm (UTC)It took that seagull a few tries to swallow whatever it was holding in its beak, we were really impressed by the effort. XD
no subject
Date: 2011-09-01 11:08 am (UTC)Also, thanks again for the presents - I listened to the CD this weekend and I loved it <333
no subject
Date: 2011-09-01 12:52 pm (UTC)