Walking In Memphis

I put on my blue suede shoes, got off the bus and made my way to the only hostel in Memphis, it is part of a local church outside of town, there was no religious feeling to it but you had to complete one small chore every day. This part of the United States really is a cradle for many genres of music and I started my musical pilgrimage by visiting Sun Studios, the place that discovered Elvis Presley among many other stars and recorded the first Rock and Roll song. I was lucky enough to be in Memphis on a Sunday, when soul legend turned reverend, Al Green, hosts the Sunday service at the church which he founded himself. The gospel was more of a two hour long, energy filled concert and standup comedy routine than a religious sermon and was quite possibly the best experience so far on this trip. After this I went to see Graceland, the former home of Elvis to see what all the fuss was about. To be honest the house itself wasn't as grand as I would have thought but it was interesting to see what kitschy decor you could buy if you had unlimited funds in the seventies. Next up on the weird and quirky tour I saw the Peabody Ducks, a very strange tradition dating back to 1930, where every day at 11:00 AM a group of ducks are first led down from their penthouse room in the Peabody Hotel before they are then marched back up at 17:00 after a day of lounging in the lobby's fountain. Hoards of people gather round to witness this short and peculiar act every day and I don't know why, but I actually saw it twice.

I had to wait in Memphis, as my new creditcard was being sent here and spent my evenings drinking beers by the Mississippi river then eating catfish and drinking more beers listening to rock and blues in different bars and clubs on the famous Beale Street with fellow backpackers. The creditcard did finally arrive so I decided to tag along with Anna, a German girl I met in Chicago, another German called Lisa and Filip a Swedish speaking Fin, as Anna drove us all to Clarksdale. I was really lucky to find somebody with a car, as these parts of the Mississippi Delta are virtually inaccessible without a private vehicle. Clarksdale is a kind of Mecca for Blues lovers worldwide but when we got there it felt like everything in the small town had shut down.

We did manage to find an incredible place to stay at the "Shack Up Inn." Formerly a cotton plantation we rented a shack which once used to house the slaves. It is a surreal place with old American cars, farming equipment and random artefacts scattered around the grounds but definitely one of the coolest accommodations I have ever stayed in. On our second day in town, it felt slightly more opened up as we had an option of two Blues clubs, the first one, owned by Morgan Freeman, wasn't quite our cup of moonshine, so we went to "Red's" instead which hit the spot more accurately. This juke joint was no more than four tinwalls and a roof and walking in you hit a wall of musky odours that are probably left best undescribed, but the beers were cheap and we could listen to a one-man-band play his harmonica and cigarrbox-guitar whilst complaining about all the woes in his life. The following morning we decided to drive south so first we dropped northward bound Filip off in Jackson as the girls and I headed for Natchez.

Torainto and the Windy City

Since starting this trip over a month ago I have been extremely lucky with the weather, with summer temperatures and clear skies throughout, bar a day or two in New York. However that changed once I got to Toronto where black clouds and torrential rain awoke me on my first day in the city. I chose to stand up against the elements and did my usual walkabout, a few hours later I was soaked to the bone but had managed to see a lot of the downtown area. There are loads of skyscrapers in Toronto and judging by the construction sites on practically every corner, this will be a very crowded skyline soon. It's not all high buildings though as the city offers some very charming parts as well, notably the hippie street-stalls and shops of Kensington Market and the different ethnic neighbourhoods scattered around.

On my second day here the skies had magically cleared up so I decided it was a good day to visit Niagara Falls which are only about an hour and a half away by bus. Waterfalls are one of those things in life that never grow old or get dull for me, and Niagara didn't disapoint either. The mighty falls were very impressive and it was a new experience to get up close and personal as I took the boat ride on "The Maid of the Mist" which takes you as close as is possible to the walls of water and mist which despite wearing a plastic poncho got me pretty soaked once again. When I came back to the hostel a delicious turkey feast was waiting and lasted long into the night as Canadian Thanksgiving happened to occur during my stay. This was a good way to end my short tour of "America's Hat" and the next night I got on a series of delayed and detoured buses that finally brought me to Chicago after almost 17 hours.

I have visited many nicknamed places but never has one smacked me straight in the face quite as quick as the Windy City. Cold temperatures and what felt like gale force winds accompanied me for my whole stay here but I still had a great time and I like the city a lot. It is another one of those cities where you walk around with an arched neck constantly looking up but whilst Toronto's buildings seem fairly modern, Chicago's architecture feels more unique and historically important as the first skyscrapers in the world were once erected here around the turn of the 20th century. I spent three days walking through the different areas, with the iconic railroad tracks and rattling sounds of the "L-Train" following me around overhead and viewing the famous skyline from different angles but now it is soon time for me to leave as my nightbus will hopefully get me to Memphis by tomorrow morning.

MontReally Annoying!

After my tour of the North-East my feet were killing me due to tremendous amounts of walking and unsupportive footwear so it was nice to get back to New York and feel like I didn't have to walk around and look at stuff constantly. Perhaps I got a bit too relaxed as I somehow managed to punch in the wrong pincode for my creditcard three times and hence got it blocked. As you can imagine this lead to all sorts of complications and after calling my bank they confirmed they could only send me a new card in two weeks time. Luckily I had some cash and could get some more off my grandfather which will hopefully get me through the wait. Due to limited choice in public transport, I decided to skip my planned visit to Boston and instead opted to use the far cheaper train direct from New York to Montreal. The 12 hour trainride was very scenic travelling through the fiery autumnal landscapes of Northern America.

Montreal is a really nice city offering a wide variety of different vibes, from the European historic feel of Old Town to the urban highrises and the peaceful parklands of Mont Royal. Another interesting aspect of the city is that you can pretty much walk underneath the entire place using an intricate system of underground tunnels. After enjoying three nights and two days in the frenchspeaking part of Canada I am now on a bus which will take me southward to Toronto.

A Tale Of Two Cities

The bus from Philadelphia dropped me way out in the outskirts of Baltimore and it took me almost two hours to get into the city due to poor public communications. Once I got into the city I walked to the restaurant where Eric (yes same one as in New York) works, grabbed a few beers and then made our way to his house. Baltimore happens to be Eric's hometown and he was therefore very excited to show off everything it had to offer. The first day his friend drove us to Annapolis, a small town roughly an hour away which was once the capital of the country and to this day is capital of Maryland state. It was a very quaint little place, with cobblestoned streets and small stone-cottages by the harbour, but it did have a slightly artificial feel to it. The rest of the time in Baltimore had a completely different feel, those of you who have seen the TV show "The Wire" will know what I'm talking about, those of you who haven't do yourselves a favour and watch it! We walked all around the city, to the dodgiest areas, where people queuing up for methadone clinics or sitting on the stoops of their houses would just look very confused to see two white guys walking down their street. Baltimore isn't just boarded up houses, drugaddicts and desolate housing projects though, as crossing one street can take you from American Ghetto to American Dream neighbourhood. Eric really had a jampacked schedule planned once more as we hung out with his friends in sketchy stripclubs, punkbars, trendy pubs down by the waterfront, went Duckpin Bowling, and much more. My favourite excursion of all though was the visit to "The National Great Blacks in Wax Museum." As the name suggests it is a waxmuseum depicting the history of the African American population, highlighting many greats such as Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, Barack Obama and of course the founders of FUBU-Jeans... After four days of walking "Charm City", I thanked my brilliant tourguide without whom I would have seen considerably less and been completely lost, and caught the MARC-train to Washington D.C.

Arriving in the nations capital I was surrounded by police sirens as there had been some kind of crazed attacker shot on Capitol Hill, I found my hostel and then went out to meet Preston (another friend I made in Uganda.) Of course I managed to time my visit with the chaos Government's Shutdown, something that hasn't happened in almost twenty years, this meant that all Museums and National Parks were closed, but I could still see most monuments even if some where from a bit of a distance. I spent two days walking by what is probably the most famous home in the world and all around the different statues commemorating different Presidents and Wars. Even if it is a very pretty and clean city, I have to be honest and say that I'm not a big fan. With all it's history and iconic landmarks it still just lacks personality and soul, probably due to the fact that everybody seems to have moved here from different parts of the country. I am now sat on a bus which should take me back to New York City. Arriving in the nations capital I was surrounded by police sirens as there had been some kind of crazed attacker shot on Capitol Hill, I found my hostel and then went out to meet Preston (another friend I met in Uganda.) Of course I managed to time my visit with the Government's Shutdown, something that hasn't happened in almost twenty years, this meant that all Museums and National Parks were closed, but I could still see most monuments even if some where from a bit of a distance. I spent two days walking by what is probably the most famous home in the world and all around the different statues commemorating different Presidents and Wars. Even if it is a very pretty and clean city, I have to be honest and say that I'm not a big fan. With all it's history and iconic landmarks it still just lacks personality and soul, probably due to the fact that everybody seems to have moved here from different parts of the country. I am now sat on a bus which should take me back to New York City.