Miami, Florida

Hi guys,

As many of you know we had our wedding anniversary this week and we spent it traveling from Franklin to Miami and it took most of the day. We left at 11 am and arrived around 10 pm in miami. The rubbish car we had been given was not the one we were supposed to have and I had moments where I though it would stop ( it seemed to have technical issues when selecting gears and would not drive forward at times). 

Miami has veen very interesting indeed, it is such a multicultural place with heaps of Latin American and Cuban restaurants,  stores and people (of course). We ate ar a restaurant where the waitress only spoke Spanish, and this was far from Little Havana. Little Havana gave us a taste of that is remaining of our trip.  I enjoyed the place heaps and I am excited for South America.  

We also visited visited Wynwood area of Miami, where the walls are full of graffiti,  the open galleries are full of art made out of recycled trash, and where er found Kush. Kush is a bar / restaurant which served local food and beer and it tasted awesome.  

We also made it to the Florida Everglades, where ee went on an airboat on the River of Grass. I loved it and wish we could spend the whole day on the boat. 

 Also we finally ate at one of the most touristy places EVER,  BubbaGump Shrimp Factory. It was delicious!  

At our last day we checked out the Vizcaya Museum and gardens before Ubering to the Airport in Fort Lauder dale. 

Off to Peru now, write soon

Xo

Smokey Mountain, North Carolina

Hi all,

For our last meal in Charlotte in NC we stopped at one of the recommended breakfast / lunch places from the AirBNB place. They specialised in chicken salad and I was so happy to eat a healthy meal as it seems hard to find in the states. The below photos are from the place, a cool old looking place and the amazing salad breakfast I had.

From the breakfast we drove to my great uncle Pete and great aunt Judith in the Smokey Mountain in North Carolina. Luke drive for the majority of this trip so I was able to take in the view from the road. The drive took about 3.5 hours and it was great to finally see some mountain views. I have always loved the mountains. 

We have stayed with my family for four nights in an old log cabin in the mountains.  They are about to build their new home on the same street and it was interesting to hear their plans. Uncle Pete took us for a full day of driving over the mountains and into some towns in the state of Tennese. The views were fantastic and I understand now why it is called the Smokey Mountain. 

 We have enjoyed our time here and we have been introduced to southern foods which has been very interesting. Biscuits and grits for breakfast was defiantly new. And my great aunts lasagna was very tastey. We leave now for our last few days in the states, we are going to miami for 4 nights.  

Write soon

Xo

Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

Hi again,

So we are currently about to continue our journey from Charlotte to Franklin, about a 3 hour drive.

The drive from Savannah, G to Charlotte,  NC took around 4 hours and this time Luke drove for nearly half of the way. Driving on the right side is something he has only done a few times before (in Denmark and Norway) and I think this is the longest duration he has done. It went very well and it was great with a break from the driving seat.

Charlotte is not exactly what we pictured,  but it would be very hard to picture any place where you haven't been before.  It didn't seem to be much in the city centre so we decided to keep around the place we stayed. We stayed in an AirBNB for the very first time and it went very well.  We stayed in a bedroom in a young couples home although only the man seemed to be around. We got our own bathroom next to our room but we didn't spend too much time in the house.  It was a very lovely looking house but we were in Charlotte for the experience of the city and surroundings.

Charlotte  had plenty of micro breweries and we visited two while we were there  they had some very interesting beers ( a root beer type ale for instance). There was a food truck outside the first one and we had very different food from there (Luke had deep fried mac and cheese with pulled pork and I had waffle big mac burger).

We also visited an old Plantation (rice and cotton) where we took a step back into history and the terrible truth of slavery. I am interested in history and museums but it is often filled with upsetting facts. The museum had an African American dressed up as a slave and she was our tour guide throughout the Plantation house. I found this so wrong on her behalf but she wasn't offended by it at all.

Write soon

Xo

This is the Latta Plantation we visited just outside Charlotte

The below photo is taken in Sycamore Brewig co in Charlotte

Savannah, Georgia, USA

Hi everyone,

We have learned the hard way, how expensive it can be to hire a car in the US. The price we paid online didn't cover the TAX, insurance and a few other things so the cost doubled for hiring the car. The great news is that the petrol is cheap, although it took me a while to realise that the prices are in gallons and not litres.

For the first day if driving, we decided that it was easiest for me to drive the entire way as I am used to driving on the right side of the road. It was about a 4 hour drive from Orlando to Savannah and we had a little stop for lunch in Jacksonville. We chose a small road side diner and felt it was a very American experience.

Savannah surprised me by being a very beautiful city with lots of history and old buildings. We visited the History Museum and the River Street a tourist trap, where we ate food with a 20% mark up from normal prices. The mark up is woth it as the food was amasing ( at the Shrimp Factory) and the view of the ships in the river was nice too. We also took a free walking tour of the city where we learned more about the history behind the beautiful buildings.

Savannah is the first planned city in the US, dated back to 1733. The city has 24 squares with parks and monuments. It is full of old American history and made it's money through slave labour on rice and cotton plantations.  It has also been nominated as the most haunted cities in the US and there are plenty of ghost tours for the interested (not me). Last but not least, my favourite old movie was filmed here - Forest Gump.

Write soon

Xo

Orlando, Florida, USA

Hi All,

After a few days of terrible jetlag (feeling sleepy during the days and awake during the nights, and feeling nauseous and shaking as a result),  we have finally got our bodies into a normal rythm. Our trip so far has been great. The second night in Orlando we went to an NBA game where our seats turned out to be better than expected. I think Luke enjoyed it the most but as I do like sports I really enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

The day after we had a full day to do what we felt like on the day. We went to the International Drive which turned out to be a tourist place, with the Orlando Eye, Sea Life and plenty of more museums and stuff. We decided to enter an Escape game, where we had one hour to solve a number of puzzles to unlock the exit door. We joined a family of 5 and it was a bit hard playing a group game with strangers. But it was an amazing game and we absolutely loved it. We will gather a group of friends and do one in Australia when we get back for sure :) we did ALMOST escape but next time we know what we are in for and we woll be ready to escape.

Our last day in Orlando was reserved for a full day in Harry Potter world at the Universal. I felt like a kid on Christmas Day! I could spend so much more time there and I really want to go to the ultimate (real) Harry Potter world WB in London. I wasn't able to buy half of the stuff I wanted. I would have if we were not in the very beginning of our trip, if I had space for things in my backpack, and if we were not going to walk up the Inca trek in Peru with my bag on my back. I did buy some stuff though, some lollies from the movies and a leather passport holder with a Hogwarts Express logo and a time turner necklace. I would love this is real gold sometime in the future.
                                                 
Will write to tell you more soon

Ps most photos was taken with my camera and as I write this on my mobile, the photos would be limited.

Xo

Americas Trip

As many of you already know,  my husband and I have prepared for months to go on a trip to the Americas.  The time has finally come and we are excited to be in Orlando for the first part of our trip. We arrived only a few hours ago and we are absolutely exhausted.  It took 20 hours from when we left our home until we checked in at the Hotel in Orlando.

I believe that I am well travelled as I have been many places and been on many different airlines.  I have to admit that i am NOT a fan of American Airline. Uncomfortable seats (apart), not enough food (all was sold out but snacks like chips and chocolates etc) and they also ran out of juice by the time they got to our row. I have also never ever been ill on a plane until today. Felt like I was on a boat and I went white as a ghost. But I am not the one to dwell on negatove things. So on the positive side, this was a he short flight and we had a very pleasant flight from Bne to Lax (12 hours) with Quantas.

So far we haven't seen anything of Orlando and we are planning of sleeping until we wake up (might be afternoon before we wake up tomorrow). We have plenty of time to explore on Satursday. I am looking forward to the NBA game tomorrow, I think Luke is very excited to see one of the best player on the world.

I have a countdown and am super excited for Sunday when we will visit Harry Potter World ( at Universal)

Will write again soon with an update on our trip.

Xoxo