Old school :)

Sunday was a very fun day. We didn't end up doing the trail or hike because the weather was not great, but we went into New Haven and Jess showed me around Yale. It was so exciting to be at the historical and oh so famous Yale University!

We had a wonderful day wandering around between all the beautiful old ivy covered buildings (ivy league school, haha!). Interestingly, a common misconception about the term ivy league is that it came about because of the ivy covered walls of the schools, and their ivy planting traditions at graduation ceremonies. However, in actual fact, the name is more accurately attributed to the Roman numerals for four (IV), because there was originally a sports league comprised of four elite schools (Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Columbia) before being joined by the other four schools that make up the ivy league today.

Anyway, history lesson over :) I personally felt Yale was far more impressive than Harvard as old historic schools go. There was such an old and elegant feel to the buildings. It was like walking through Europe a couple hundred years ago! :)

Jess showed me a favourite haunt called Insomnia Cookies (pretty self explanatory). They are famous for serving warm, freshly baked cookies with milk at any time of the day or night! Very cool :)

We meandered in and out of numerous shops along the streets, one of which sold glow in the dark nail polish! I had to have :) and it works!!! We also stopped at the MASSIVE and infamous three storey Barnes and Noble Yale bookstore! It is not just a bookstore. It has clothes, electronics, posters, and so much more! It was mind boggling! I was astounded to find that most stores in America email your receipt to you rather than printing one! They're very big on "going green" over here!

On Sunday night, Jess, Jimmy and I went out for sushi which was very tasty, and on Monday morning I hopped on the bus which took me to the train which took me to the other train to get to Boston. I saw a very interesting creature (I don't feel comfortable guessing a gender because I honestly cannot say what this child was.) It was a teenager, originally I imagined it to be a boy as it was flat chested and wearing quite masculine clothing, but then I realised it had long-ish black and bright blue hair, and a lip piercing! Eish, I dunno who was more confused... The child or me!

I was overjoyed to find out they have wifi and plugs on their trains! I literally charged my phone and iPad the whole trip to Boston and spent most of it on Skype as the weather was awful and there was not much to see out the window :)

I have posted some pics on Facebook and earlier blog posts (you may have noticed they have changed order) so please have a squizz at them! It does take a long time for me to upload them, and my iPad is temporarily out of commission, so please be patient, I'll try to upload more soon! :) there will be a single post on my stay in Boston, which I will put up on Saturday when I am on the bus to camp. Eeek! I excite! :)

Stay classy c",)

The inside scoop!

Greetings from Connecticut! :) I am spending the weekend with my lovely childhood friend Jess who lives here. She is showing me the local lifestyle and I am having an absolute blast!!! Your mind will be blown with some of the details I am about to share about their convenience-orientated way of life! Mine certainly was! 

I took the train from Grand Central Station - I say calmly like the seasoned traveller I am :) - through to Union Station and then hopped onto a bus to the Hamden Town Hall where Jess collected me. The driving on the wrong side of the road AND the wrong side of the car thing took some getting used (it wasn't an issue at the back of the van because I couldn't really see the road) but I'm getting the hang of not silently panicking every time we turn the wrong way across the intersection into the lane that, logic and habit tells me, should contain oncoming traffic! Interesting fact - Americans are allowed to turn right on red! If there's no traffic coming, the red light is essentially a yield sign if you're turning right.

She has a gorgeous apartment on the second floor of an apartment building in Aspen Glen in the lovely and leafy town of Hamden. Two little birds set up home in the basket attached to her bicycle out on her balcony and had babies that are now snugly nestled in there. It is too cute! After dropping off my bags we headed out so she could show me her local haunts. She showed me Quinnipiac University, where she studies, which is absolutely beautiful!!! Their mascot is the bobcat, and the school is nestled at the foot of a hill called the Sleeping Giant. There is a plaque next to the bobcat statue with such a lovely little myth about the bobcat and the giant and why the giant is sleeping and how the bobcat watches over the sleeping giant. We walked around campus and she showed me the dorm she stayed in and their library and student centre.

We then went to Marshall's (their version of Meltz) where my attention was first grabbed by the fact that I was allowed to take SEVENTEEN items into the changing room at once! They have a grid on the wall upon which you can hang many clothes at once (obviously necessary when one can take so many into the changing room!) and then three hooks labelled "possibly", "definitely" and "tomorrow" which I thought was quite cute :) I got some amazing gym clothes and really cute denim shorts for laughable prices, then went to a pharmacy and here started the crazy experiences. I bought Chapstick which is the American lip ice, and used the self checkout and swiped my own credit card! I was so excited Jess started laughing at me :) as we left the store, we stopped and Jess turned to a machine on our right. It was simply an upright rectangular box (very originally named Redbox) with a screen on the front - their DVD rental system! We simply chose the movie we wanted, put in our dollar and change, and pop! out comes the DVD we want from the side of the box! Mind blown. Once we got home, we had a lovely workout at the gym in her complex before watching TV. Another interesting thing is their TV remote - so many buttons! Took some getting used to!

This morning we headed to Hammonasset beach (Jess's favourite beach) and on the way there I saw the largest flag I have ever seen! Simply enormous. Anyway, their beaches are so strange! Very hard, sharp sand, murky ice cold water and no waves! But it was such lovely weather, there were plenty of people who took advantage of it and came out to catch some rays! We had a lovely time tanning and reading until the mid afternoon, both got a little too crisp, I braved the shards of sand and the numbing water for a quick dip (thanks polar bear!) and then we headed home to change before going out for a bite to eat. As the afternoon progressed our sunburns have developed into very interesting shapes (spots we obviously missed when applying sunblock!) and we both look like we fell asleep on the sun and someone played pranks on us! I have red kneecaps and feet - very attractive :) 

We went to an Australian restaurant called Outback that makes the most amazing raspberry iced tea and burgers! It was so tasty! They brought us bread to start off with and the butter they brought with it was white! Apparently it's actually creamy-butter-ish type stuff. So odd! :) one of the very nice things about American restaurants is that most of them offer free refills on non-alcoholic beverages! So if you order a soda or juice they will refill it as many times as you want until you leave! The service is so jacked up here! As soon as you're done eating, if you say you don't want dessert or anything more, the waitron, as if by magic, immediately produces your check (I have to be very careful to not say bill or they have no idea what I'm talking about!) and you're set! 

We left Outback feeling very full and satisfied and went past a bank so Jess could cash a check (American spelling!). They have DRIVE-THRU banks!!!!!! We drove up to an ATM, she did everything from the comfort and luxury of her front seat and off we went! I cannot explain my reaction. There are no words. Jaw on the floor and eyes as wide as saucers doesn't even begin to describe me. Jess also explained that they have drive-thru pharmacies too. It's really a different world over here! She thought my reaction was hilarious :) 

After that interesting experience, we headed to a place called Joyce Leslie, which is sort of their equivalent of Mr Price but only for girls. Jess and I bought three bottles of perfume between us for $10!!! I could hardly believe my eyes. They had so much nice stuff for such great prices, I could easily have blown a small fortune in there :) we also went to Target, another pharmacy, to buy some more sunblock and I had my first experience with price scanners. They're located around most retail stores so that people can check the prices of things they want instead of trying to hunt down a sales person! Brilliant idea, if you ask me! For dessert we had chocolate frosties from Wendy's. I'm pretty sure I temporarily left this planet. It was a taste and texture sensation! 

So here we sit, watching Wreck-it Ralph, a little crispy and overheating a fair bit, but very satisfied after a fantastic day of exploring Hamden. I am having the time of my life and really enjoying this insider's experience of life in America! Jess is a fantastic host to have, as she and I have very similar interests so she is showing me all the sorts of things I would enjoy to do and would never have known to do as a tourist! Tomorrow we're off to see the city of New Haven and Yale University (yay!) and then do a lovely trail walk and a hike up the Sleeping Giant. More news soon and pictures should be up by tomorrow!!!

Stay classy c",)