Finally I get round to updating my blog again! I have had a lot of peeps asking about when I’m doing the next update and yes people I know it’s been long overdue but today is finally that day!

The next destination on my journey is the trip across the border of Canada to the U.S. My first official stop is actually Buffalo but obviously nobody enters the States without going through the dreaded daunting task of Customs first unfortunately, particularly if your a non-American citizen!

The short journey ride to Buffalo consisted of waiting around for a Megabus that wasn’t very mega at all with it’s timekeeping, directly from Niagara Falls. Only a couple hours late my bus arrives with some much needed air con and free wifi! I give a good friend of mine a phone call back home using Whatsapp, I would be lost without Whatsapp seriously!

I arrive at customs and the search is fairly vigorous and intense, these guy’s are not to be reckoned with! I am getting quizzed on all sorts and “what could a Facilities Specialist provide to these American shores” stood out for me particularly lol! Plenty my friend, plenty! Dogs are sniffing my bags and where I had sat exactly on the coach as well made me feel slightly ever so nervous for no apparent reason! Surely my journey to the States isn’t over before it’s even got started!?

Finally after ten or so mins of some tough interrogation methods, showing my travel itinerary as proof I’m going to be leaving at some point and finally thumb/finger prints, my charm seems to of eventually paid off….. “Welcome to the United States Of America William Henry Hamersley”! Your allowed to stay here up until September 15th, or we will come looking for you…

Soooo finally the long awaited Amtrak train journey to Chicago is underway! This is also a lot longer then I first expected! It’s very stop start and there sadly isn’t any wifi that works but this fortunately works out for the better as I get to meet my first American traveller on American soil, Alexis. Not Sanchez! Instantly we get on as we are both heading towards Chicago but Alexis is on a three day train journey to Texas across the whole country to see her family! They like to travel long distance on the road/tracks it seems here and my fifteen hour altogether journey now seems like nothing at all with what poor Alexis has to deal and put up with over next few days!

We finally pull in at Chicago and me and Alexis decided to go get what Chicago is known for…..pizza! The train station looks like it could do with an upgrade to be fair and a bit of a clean up, I expected something a bit more extravagant a lot like all the big beautiful buildings that already are based here, let’s call it vintage! We eventually find a lively pizza place where people are cueing out the door and looks quite busy but it isn’t the thick crust we were hoping for! Never the less the pizza is something else I have to say and in fairness we were both desperate for a better meal then the horrible ready made sandwiches that the train was providing us! It was time for a few selfies and say Goodbye to Alexis as she had a different train to catch :(.

I hail down my first yellow taxi to get me to my hostel! Exciting times! Yeah you guessed it, the HI Chicago Hostel! Had to be didn’t it!? Cheaper then most and more value for your buck. I jump out and grab which seems to be my most valuable life source throughout the journey so far ……Starbucks Latte Coffee (don’t forget to tip!).

The hostel is nice n clean, very welcoming and a lot going on already! There was a gathering at around 18:00 to introduce all new arrivals to the current bunch which I found very beneficial indeed, it’s here where I got to meet which I thought was a German guy but who actually turned out to be Dutch instead called Reinder! Remarkably well spoken in English and very mature for his age, he’s also my roomie and we both decide it be a good idea to do the walking tour of Chicago to get a better feel of the city itself the next day. We came across as you can probably guess a lot of big ass buildings and how remarkably clean Chicago/ Millenium Park really is. Apparently if you want to bottle and sample up the water from the river you have to get this approved by every American state first! Fitness is a big thing here I have noticed as well, lots of joggers and cyclists and an active vibe to the city throughout!

Remarkably and I still can’t believe this to this very day I met somebody on the arranged tour via my hostel who asked me if they knew a guy called Tom Hamersley (my brother) as we happen to look a lot alike! They didn’t even know my full name, just the simple fact I was English! What are the chances!!? To say I was a bit dumbstruck would be an understatement, both of them were from Ealing and met Tom and his new fiancé Lisa in Bolivia a few weeks back and let’s just say the Hamersley witty charm from where they had met one of us before, they recognised in myself also! I couldn’t also believe they were also heading in similar direction to me on their travels for the next couple destinations either but in fairness I didn’t want to weigh them both down being as they were a couple, two’s company and three’s a crowd an all that but it was just a complete shock of all people based in the world I could come across someone who has already met a member of my family, who neither of us had knew previously! It’s a small world indeed!

The tour was fun and the bits that stood out for me most were the metro subway that was based with a track around the city called the “L” train. This is a cheap reliable way also to get round the city, cabs are very cheap here though also to. Look to use them at any given opportunity or simply hail one down like they do in the movies. Don’t be mislead by different colour taxis, they are all same price! There is also a prison in middle of the city where you can see prisoners from a high height above! Very Gotham ill say!

After the tour we decided to go check out two huge walls in middle of Millenium park which a famous artist designed over a thousand different face images that change throughout the whole day and after about five mins water spits out from the mouth of the image, something you have to kinda see to get an idea of what it looks like at the time. We also saw the big massive art attraction known as ‘Cloud Gate’ which is also known as the ‘Big Bean’ (see pics above) and to be honest attracted a lot of attention for tourists and even married couples also. It was worth a look and was particularly good for selfies!

We also were hungry so needed to find a proper pizza restaurant with proper pizza and I’m not talking Chicago town pizzas that you find in Icelands supermarket back home I’m talking…..

Yes a picture can speak for itself! Me and Reinder could only manage a few slices each so we thought best make it worth our while and take the rest home with us for sloppy seconds the next day! Too good to throw away and we waddled away with a lot of pizza dough that’s filled us up for prob rest of the day! I can confirm that was probably the best pizza I’ve ever had and if your going Chicago make sure you visit ‘Ginos’ or ‘Giordanos’ pizza restaurants and a tip to save money is do half and half large size between you, not each!

Next up was the ‘Hancock Centre’ where you get to go up to the 94th floor and the views are incredible! I managed to blag a student price with Reinders remarkable traveller youth charm work working on the ticket sales staff there.

We both agreed to do the ‘Tilt’ which is where you get put into single shafts and get tilt over the city 94 blocks up, it’s not for the faint hearted I tell you that much! Goes on for about a minute and is well worth doing if you want to overcome any fears of heights but do not let go or you will smack against the glass which is supposed to be designed to take up to as much weight as an elephant apparently. I didn’t wanna take that chance of leaning my body weight on the glass as would of fell with some force! #Vertigo.

So after a long day it was time to rest up. I went out for a few beers in the town and I.D. seems to be a big thing here in the U.S. so take it wherever you go, no matter how old you are! It just isn’t worth the hassle of arguing your valid case believe me. Keep it somewhere safe at all times. Jazz is huge here and we found a bar playing live music full of hen do’s so let’s just say the ratio of women to me that night was slightly a tad more in a mans favour ;).

Next day was Sunday and to my absolute horror I did not realise this was the day I was meant to be checking out and heading for a 23 hour Amtrak train trip over to Boston! I fortunately realised this three hours before my train was due to depart but had booked an unnecessary extra night at the hostel, for no reason! So I had to get my next hostel booked ASAP which I had not got round to doing in advance. Luckily I managed to find somewhere for the day I would arrive in Boston.

So it was goodbye to Chicago and as I said my Goodbyes to my roomies I managed to take my last pic from outside my yellow taxi window of a lion statue with an oversized ice hockey helmet on! Yes that’s right, Chicago was still buzzing from winning that all important Stanley Cup it seemed and that trophy size is just plain ridiculous!

Here’s a shot of the statue and a video below with me taking on the ‘Tilt’. Enjoy! On to Boston!