Our journey began on the eleventh of September, when we met with the rest of the trip participants at Václav Havel Airport. Impatient and excited, we said farewell to our loved ones and took off for Stockholm where we caught our plane heading for NYC. We had plenty of time when we got to New York before catching our bus to Washington DC. This gave us the opportunity to stop for some American pizza and it even left us with enough time for a quick sneak peak of the famous Times Square. However, I have to say, that our first impression of NYC (the city we were so looking forward to seeing) was fairly disappointing. Millions of strangers, rattling traffic, blinding lights and turmoil all over left our tired bodies rather frustrated than pleased and we were happy to jump on the Megabus for a couple hours sleep and head off to Washington.
We were all really drowsy when we arrived in DC and if it weren’t for the warm welcome from Mister B’s friend Jeff, who had bear claws and orange juice waiting for us, we would have carried on sleeping in the bus despite our obligation to leave. After the energizing breakfast, we were divided into two groups and we moved on to Norfolk.
Later that day, after settling down in Norfolk, we took a trip to the grand Virginia Beach oceanfront. For most of us, this was the first time we encountered an ocean beach and we all enjoyed it with a short swim and some fooling around in and out of the water. It was then time for a reward in the form of burgers for dinner and a good night’s sleep after almost two days of travelling.
Our first full day in the States was reserved for something we don’t see so much of in Europe - roller coasters! To be honest, most of us were trembling just by looking at most of the tangled constructions. I couldn’t even imagine going on some of the rides. I would say that the scariest part of any roller coaster ride is a moment of waiting for the unknown once you’ve strapped yourself in. The ride itself is both terrifying and really awesome at the same time. Anyway, when you get off the roller coaster, you thankfully think to yourself: „Wow, that was quite something. I’m happy to have survived! I’m sure it can’t get any scarier than this last ride!“ This feeling stays with you for about five minutes, then you see the next roller coaster and you‘re like „Ohhh, shoot!“ standing without moving a muscle, staring at the iron colossus, before you go through everything I’ve talked about all over again and again.
After an adrenaline filled first day we left for DC, exploring the College of William and Mary (where Mr. B did his university studies) on the way. This wasn’t our last stop cruising to DC, though, as we were hosted by some of Mr. B’s friends to a delicious crab feast in Baltimore, which was then followed by going to the Oriole Park at Camden Yards to watch the Baltimore Orioles beat the famous Red Sox of Boston in a MLB game. Late that night, we ended our journey to Washington and accommodated ourselves in the house of Mr B’s sister and her husband as another fantastic day came to an end.
The DC days had a lot in common, we would usually leave the house as the sun rose, and we would fill the morning program with visits to numerous memorials, monuments, galleries, museums etc. Second to none in our program was the impressive US Capitol and our exploration of America’s capital came to an end with an exquisite view from the Washington Monument. In addition to that, during our last day in DC, we were lucky enough to see Barack Obama (in the form of a tiny dot in the distance) leave the White House (which we had visited earlier that day) in one of his special helicopters.
I’m sure that we can all agree that time flies when you’re having a great time and so before we knew it, we were heading back to New York for the final part of our trip and on the evening of Thursday the 17th we settled down in a house near the heart of Korea Town, Brooklyn.
Our adventures in the Big Apple began straight away, on the day of our arrival as we headed for Broadway to watch the play Wicked. Unfortunately, and to our disbelief, we found out that our tickets had been bought for the following week, leaving us free for another look around Time’s Square. This time, with enough energy and enthusiasm, we were left with a completely different view of the glamorous centre of New York. Millions of people of all sorts of cultures and various origin, flashy lights and noise all around seemed to all of a sudden suit the place and the transformation of ugly New York to a gratifying metropolitan city was complete.
During our last days in America, we managed to go through all the main tourist attractions offered by New York. From the rather petite Statue of Liberty, through Wall Street, Central Park, watching a show on Broadway and much more, we made our way to finish our American trip with an unforgettable view over night time Manhattan as we gazed into the distance from the vantage point of the Empire State Building.
We spent our last day by the beach on Coney Island, slowly but surely saying goodbye to everyone and everything we have met along the way on our small adventure.
Last but not least, I would like to thank everyone who made this extraordinary trip possible.
I would like to thank all of Mr. B’s friends and sister for the the warm welcome, letting us
(a group of 22 people) stay in their houses whilst making us feel at home. And of course, a huge thank you also goes to Mr. Babiera and Mrs. Hašková for preparing this trip and guiding us along the way through America.