Letter From America

It was my final week in the states and my mates were going to make sure I had a goodtime which I most certainly did. My leaving celebrations started on Thursday afternoon with a goodbye lunch with my work colleagues. We went to Hannigans which is situated about a 5 minute walk from work at Laclades' Landing which is in the old part of St Louis which hosts a number of bars and restaurants which face onto the cobbled streets. The turnout was great with most people I have worked with over the last 18 months coming along. On Thursday night the celebrations moved to a local irish bar called The Dubliner. We partied for a few hours in the pubs private room where we drank a variety of beverages including pints of Harp, Mudslides and Yager Bombs before heading to Jack Patricks bar which was our local when we stayed downtown. Not bad for a Thursday night out at least I was on holiday on the Friday.

Friday night involved a trip to Fairmount Park Racetrack for a night out at the nags. Again there was a good turnout with about 10 of us making the short journey from ST Louis. The crowd was a mixture of people who have not been to the races and a few who like the odd
flutter. The folks that placed a bet faired pretty well with nobody leaving with empty pockets. I hope the good luck continues all the way to next weeks Aintree Festival.

The final activity of the weekend was an easter barbeque. Steve Summers from the work was the host and he put on a good spread even though the weather was a bit on the nippy side even for us Brittish folks.

On Wednesday evening I was at The Pageant, this time Snow Patrol were playing. The show had been a sell out for a couple of months so I was glad I got my ticket when they first went on sale. Snow Patrol played for about 90 mins during this time they managed to perform all there hits plus some stuff from there new CD 'Eyes Open' and previous release 'Final Straw'. This was one of the best shows I have been to over here so it was well worth the $30 ticket price.

Located approximately 30 miles from Las Vegas in the neighbouring state of Arizona is the 'Hoover Dam'. Being an engineer I thought I couldn't be this close to one of the most famous engineering structures and not go and see what all the fuss was about. We made this trip on the Sunday morning before our return flight to St Louis so we didn't have anytime to take one of the guided tours. We simply drove over the dam parked our rental car and took some snaps and enjoyed the view. The Dam is a very popular tourist attraction and it was single file slow moving traffic from a few miles out but when we got there it certainly did not dissapoint. This was a good way to end a very enjoyable trip. I have attached to photos one of the back of the Dam and one taken from on top of the Dam.

Leg 3 of my mini tour of the states took me to Las Vegas. I couldn't very well return to Killie without a trip to the gambling mecca of the states. I also had another reason for going as one of the guys I used to work with in Glasgow was having his stag party, so eight Bravehearts made the 6000 mile trip. As it was a stag party we took part in the traditional Scottish pastime of drinking. We all stayed in a hotel called the Golden Nugget which is located in downtown las Vegas (the old strip) so we had a short taxi journey into the main strip each night. There are some spectacular hotels and casino's in Vegas and we managed to visit or stroll past a number of them including, The Bellagio (with the dancing water fountains), MGM Grand, The Luxor (pyramid shaped building), Mandalay Bay, New York New York (shaped like the famous New York skyline) & the Venetian which was basically an exact replica of; Well Venice. Check out the pictures and you will see what I mean. Didn't take part in to much gambling as you can easily drop a lot of money in short time, there were slot machines everywhere you turned including the airport. Overall I had a great time and Good Luck Stuart in your upcoming wedding.

The finale to my weekend involved a trip to see Scissor Sisters at one of my favourite music venues in Saint Louis, The Pageant. My flight back from California was delayed for two hours which meant I did not arrive at the venue untill around 9:30pm. I expected to have missed the first 30-45 mins of the show but Phil later told me they took forever to take the stage and I had only missed the first two songs. The bands performance was a little dissapointing as they played for a little over an hour although they did play all there hits in that time. Being a Scissor Sisters concert there was some unique people at the gig. It was definetly a bum to the seats kind of show if you know what I mean. I give the show four out of ten for humour and cheesy disco rock.

One thing I did have planned during my trip was a visit to Alcatraz Island. This is a very popular tour which often sells out so I had booked my tickets well in advance (only $28 dollars as well). I took a short boat tour out to the Island which is located about 1.25 miles off the coast of San Francisco. The boat trip allowed me to take some good photos of the approaching Island and also of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge that I was unable to visit during my short stay. Once on the Island the guides took us on the short walk to the prison entrance where I picked up my rather realistic audio tour. The tour itself lasted a little over two hours with the audio part lasting about 90 mins. This included audio coverage from past officers and prisoners as well as touching on some of the history of the Island and prison. The tour ended with a cell demonstration and escape tour. I was on the evening tour so as the sun dissapeared you got a real sense of what the prison was like at night. This is definetly a must tour if you are ever in San Francisco.

The final leg of my trip involved 1.5 days in San Francisco. I took a 50 minute flight from LA which got me into San Francisco around midday. The weather was particularly nice so I decided to explore some of San Francisco's hotspots by foot. Some of the places I visited included Fishermans Wharf, Pier 39, Chinatown and Lombard Street which is apparantely the curviest street in the world. You may have seen it in the movies it is a road with 8 rather tight s-bends and is a popular attraction for everyone who visits by car. It is a little more work for those on foot as it is located at the top of a very steep hill which is no fun to climb in 80 degree temperatures, but the view at the top was well worth it. I also took a trip in one of San Franciscos famous cable cars, well I think I did as I was squashed against the side of the car for most of the journey if I wasn't on a cable car then I definetly was a part of some world record attempt for fitting the most people in a confined space. Above are some photos from my walking tour I am posting these as I went through pain to get some of them as my feet will testify (blisters aargh).

Having arrived in Los Angeles I had a little over half a day to visit some of the sights. With LA being so vast I had to limit my choices so I decided to take the metro to Hollywood. On exiting the metro station I immediately stepped onto the Walk of Fame, which is where all the rich and famous have there names located inside a star on the pavement. I was very impressed with the some of the names I saw including Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, Kermit the Frog and Spongebob Square Pants. While in Hollywood I decided to take one of the Movie Stars Tours which involved a two hour mini bus trip around some of the hotspots in Hollywood and Beverley Hills, including Rodeo Drive, Hollywood Sign, Sunset Blvd and a drive past some of the stars homes including Ozzie Osbourne, Sean Connery, Prince (see picture above) and Tom Cruise. I was that impressed with Beverley Hills I am now thinking of buying a property there, prices start around $12 million so if you have any spare change you don't need I can add it to my fund.

One of the aims of my trip was to use as much public transportation as possible and limit driving time a minimum or zero. As part of this plan I decided to take an Amtrak train from San Diego to my next destination of Los Angeles. The journey time was a little over 2.5 hours and was very relaxing with the Amtrak trains being far superior to our UK rail network. For a start there is plenty of leg room and the trains actually run on time. The first hour of the journey was mainly along the coast which provided some fantastic views of California's surfing beaches. I also passed a town named Irvine which will be familiar to all of you from Ayrshire, unfortunately I was unable to see the Magnum Centre from the train window. Above is a few photos I took from while on the train.

Thursday past was the start of my five day trip to California. After a four hour flight which included a short stop in Houston, Texas I arrived in San Diego. San Diego is located about 15 miles north of the Mexican border and this is where I spent the first and last nights of my trip. The weather was favourable with temperatures in the mid 70's and low 80's although it did cool down quickly at night. While in San Diego I took a harbor excursion of the Bay which took me past some of the main tourist attractions including Coronado Island, Seaport Village and the North Island Naval Station which had an impressive amount of navy vessels, which is not surprising considering San Diego has the second largest naval presence in the USA. I also met up with an old work collegue who was also able to show me a bit more of the city including a car drive over the Cornado Bridge and a nice meal in the famous Gaslamp District.

This weekend was the first of three trips I have planned before I return to the UK. My first destination was Clearwater, Florida. Just like last year I was very kindly put up by my Aunt and Uncle. My parents were also visiting from the UK so it was a bit of a mini family reunion. At this time of year the weather in Florida can be a bit variable. For the most part temperatures were in the low to mid 60's which is nice but not quite warm enough to dig out the shorts and head to the beach. Instead I had a relaxing weekend which included a trip to Tarpon Springs, one of the Greek areas in Florida where we had a 'Gyro' for lunch (a kebab to all us UK folks). Unfortunately I have no photos of the white sand beaches of Clearwater but I did take one or two snaps including one of my aunt and uncles pool and one taken while in Tarpon Springs.

I have lived in the city for 16 months and until this weekend had never made it to the top of St Louis most famous tourist attraction the Gateway Arch. Improved weather and a clear sky finally convinced me to make the trip this Sunday and I was not dissapointed. As this is a very popular attraction I had to wait about 45 mins for the pod like elevator to the top. It took about 4 mins to reach the 630ft summit where a small observation deck provided you with the perfect opportunity to take some snaps of the city and the neighbouring state of Illinois. If you are interested in finding out some additional information about the arch I have posted a link to there official website.

Smuckers Stars on Ice is a figure skating show which has been touring the USA for the last 21 years. This years show 'Stars on Ice - Double Exposure' was aimed at providing the viewer with an insight into the life of a figure skater. The show was not as drab as it may sound as it features a number of past and present olympians including Britains own Steven Cousins and current US olympic silver medalist Sasha Cohen. Unlike the olympics the show was refreshing as the skaters were not restricted to set routines to old fashioned music but instead could freestyle and show of a series of skills and risky moves to a background of modern music. From the works box I had a great view of the show which lasted approximately 3 hours. I was not sure if I would enjoy this event but was presently surprised as it proved to be very entertaining.