On the road - North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississipi

The road trip has been great so far. We left New York on Monday morning and we were on the road till today afternoon. We just arrived in New Orleans!

We are sitting on a terrace in the French Quarter in New Orleans, listening to the rain and the sound of the forming night ahead of us (and a Harley passing by). Getting ready for a live music evening. But before giving you the details on New Orleans, here are some snap shots of the last 4 days on the road.

Today, it has been exactly 1 week since we arrive in the US. We have been on the road for 4 days now passing through the country side of Virginia, North and South Carolina.



Day 5 - we passed through Philadelphia and Washington



Day 6 - Virginia and North Carolina

We stopped at Natural Bridge in NC, where we found a toy museum and some interesting pieces of art.

Middle East Crisis Map







I loved the country side of Virginia, North and South Carolina. It's so green everywhere (or may be it seemed too much after living in Dubai for 4 years) that it makes you calm, relaxed and just enjoy the scenery.

Moving South, our next check point was Atlanta. We stopped for an hour to visit the World of Coca-Cola. Check it out if you have time.

There was an interesting video we watched at the beginning of the tour. For those who haven't seen it, here it is:

We stayed the night at Auburn, Alabama. The receptionist at the hotel we checked in had a great southern accent. Romain loves it so he kept asking his questions just so the guy can talk and talk. He (Romain) has been enjoying the South especially when he talked to locals. As he says, 'they are like poets'. 

People have been very welcoming in every state we've been so far.


I'll stop here as we are heading out to a night in New Orleans' French Quarter!

On the road - Philadelphia and DC

We left New York yesterday morning heading to Philadelphia for a quick stop at the National Art Museum where the Rocky Balboa statue is, just next to the Rocky Steps where the famous scene from the original movie was shot.

As we are on a planned schedule for this road trip, we have limited time to spend in some of the cities. We still had approximately 450 km till the next check point, so we continued to Washington, DC to see the US Capitol, Washington monument, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Veterans memorial, the White House, the Treasury House, the Department of State. When you see them on TV you think there is little chance you might see them some day. Yesterday it felt weirdly nice to stand there. These places have great historical significance and it is indeed worth spending some time reading about it.

My personal favourite is the statue of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States. The Memorial has 2 inscripted speeches by Lincoln - The Gettysburg Address and his Second Inaugural Address. It is also the place where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I have a dream" speech in '63. The very expression of the face and body of the statue represent the character of the 16th President.

The statue of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial

US Capitol

All in all for 1 day we have crossed 5 states – New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, DC and Virginia. Yesterday was our first day on the road. We used the time to read and share some historical and interesting facts about the cities we visited as well as the states we crossed. We also did a quizz on US history and it is quite educational.

Here's one for you: Which are the 13 founding states (or colonies at the time) of the US?

NYC - continued

NYC is famous for a lot of sightseeing places and indeed one should do all of that. To me the culture of the city is more fascinating. When you go on a trip, especially to a place you’ve never seen; you always have a checklist of things to do. (Something like the book ‘1001 things to do before you die’). One thing I wanted to do in NYC is run in Central Park. Early Saturday morning I woke up with this great enthusiasm and motivation, despite the fact that I had to take a 40 min train from Brooklyn to the park. At the end of my run I noticed some signs for a 10k race taking place that morning and minutes later I saw the first group of the fastest runners. The race was organized by the New York Road Runners and it was women only. Apart from thousands of women running the race that morning, the park was full of people running, biking, walking their dogs, etc. Amazing, I saw more people running that walking! It is inspiring and even more motivating for me.

View from Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, Central Park

the race

Heading toward the metro, I enjoyed the early Saturday morning in Manhattan... and I saw this:

Later on I joined Romain, Jenny and Remy in Brooklyn to go for lunch at the best pizza place in NYC - DiFara pizza. It is a small family owned place where Dom DeMarco himself makes every single pizza. He is an artist of pizzas! Check it out!

Picks of the day – Booklyn Bridge in the evening!

To read more about our last day in NYC, check out Romain's blog. We are also on twitter #UScoast2coast and sharing our impressions on facebook. Being on the road has been great so far!

NYC

We spent 4 days in NYC and it was unforgettable. The second day was dedicated to taking the ferry to Staten Island and visiting Downtown Manhattan. The day began with a nice ferry ride to Staten Island which gave us the chance to see the Statue of Liberty. I would recommend this ride as it offers not only the view to the Statue, but also the morning skyline of lower Manhattan.

After another Starbucks coffee, we went around the Financial District with the distinctive buildings of Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the well guarded NY Stock Exchange. I must say I am fascinated by Manhattan’s streets and buildings! You can get surprised at every corner.

Wall Street

NY Stock Exchange

Next stop was Ground Zero and the construction site of the new Freedom Tower (to be completed in 2014-2015). There has been a lot written and said about this place. I think a moment of silence is appropriate here...

Passing through the City Hall Park and by the HQ of NYPD, we entered Chinatown where we had lunch.

We continued north to Little Italy, NoHo and East Village. All these areas had common residential architecture with the famous fire staircases on the outside. Someday I will give it a try!

Time for a break - we went to a very famous chocolate shop - Mark Brenner Chocolate Bar on 845. This is a stop you should check when you need energy to continue strolling on the streets of NYC.

stylish way to serve coffee

Here are some images from the day in lower Manhattan. I will let them speak for themselves.

Graffiti

Streets of Manhattan



Quote from a famous Michael Jackson song - guess which one!



Before the trip I read somewhere in a magazine about shoe tossing (or 'shoefiti'). It originates from the US. There are a lot of explanations for this - to notify that this is an area where drugs are used or sold; to commemorate a murder of a gang member. Read more about the shoefiti, it is intersting urban and suburban cultural activity.

Shoefiti



A father buys his son an ice-cream after school

We did a lot that afternoon but mostly walking in East Village and Chelsea. In the evening we went to Comedy Cellar, a great place for live stand-up comedy shows. I highly recommend you go for a show when you have time. The first one starts at 7.30pm. 

Picks of the day – Max Brenner Chocolate Bar and Comedy Cellar!

Coming up, day 3 and 4 in NYC, Philadelphia and DC.

...and 13 hours later we arrived at JFK. Beautiful morning in NYC! The weather is just perfect! The greenery, blue sky and fresh air - couldn't ask for more!

Had a great day - started with refreshing walk in Central Park with Romain. I am going to have difficulty finding words to decribe the beauty of this city. One thing I am looking for is my run in Central Park tomorrow!

Further south, we wandered on the streets of Manhattan and looked for the Running Company, after Angeline's recommendation.

After a short afternoon nap, we went out for another walk in Brooklyn (where our hotel is) to find a place for dinner. Decided to go for Latin cuisine!No pictures of the food but the portions were big!

I very much like the streets of Brooklyn with its little coffee shops, rstaurants and vintage boutiques! Great place! Looking forward to a full day in Manhattan!

P.S. Follow us on twitter #UScoast2coast

USA, here we go!

A year of planning and preparing has come to an end! Counting the hours before our US road trip starts!

Good time to get back to documenting trips and experiences!

All set for the trip!