Rhod and Anna's World Adventure

Howdy y'all it's Dallas time and the title is my interpretation of the Dallas theme tune.

Dallas is most famous for one major world-changing event and still many people ask the question, "Who killed JR?"

The answer for those people is "Who gives a monkeys! It was an 80's TV program. Move on!"

The major world-changing event was of course the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on the 22nd November 1963.

I'm not normally a great lover of history which is why I have a geography GCSE but this type of history I find interesting so we set off to see some sights.

We arrived in Dealy Plaza expecting to see a Niagara Falls-style tourist trap. You know, Starbucks overlooking the grassy knoll, street vendors selling replicas of the presidential car etc etc, but we were pleasantly surprised. (Unfortunately for us we could have done with a few food outlets as we hadn't had breakfast yet!) The plaza has remained relatively unchanged since the event except for 2 crosses marked on the road about 20 metres away from each other on Elm Street. These crosses represent the number of times the president was shot and the exact locations at which he was shot. As we watched cars drive down that road we noticed that most of them either changed lanes or swerved slightly to avoid driving over them. Coincidence maybe, but I suspect most of the time it was intentional.

According to the offical reports the president was shot from the 6th floor window of the book depository by Lee Harvey Oswald. Oswald was then shot in the basement of the Dallas jail, just across the road from the book depository, 2 days later by Jack Ruby. It seemed like a crazy few days. The picture on the right is of the book depository, now home to the 6th floor museum, and the window is the second one down on the right.

The picture to the left shows the cross marking the position of the second shot which hit JFK in the head. But who is the figure hiding in the shadows on the grassy knoll?

The assassination and the events of the following days provided the world with the first example of 24 hour news coverage. So in-depth was the coverage that Oswald gave a press conference and his murder, which occured as he was being transferred to another prison, was broadcast on live TV!

Today we got one side of the story about the assassination. Tomorrow we go to the conspiracy museum to get the other side. Maybe we will find out who is lurking in the shadows!

One last question. Is anyone humming the Dallas theme tune?

The sports watched around the world are steadily being ticked off. Aussie rules, rugby league, rugby union and baseball have all been covered and now we can put a big tick in the Ice Hockey box! We arrived in Montreal yesterday and noticed a steady stream of 'Habs' fans (the nickname for the Montreal Canadiens, though why I have no idea) heading for the Bell Centre. So we dumped our bags in our room, put on the biggest jumpers we could find as that seems to be a spectator requirement and followed them in the hope of getting last minute seats. We succeeded and not only were they last minute but they were in the last row too! At least we were pretty certain that no puck-related injuries would occur, which is fortunate as I'm not sure our holiday insurance would cover medical expenses caused by ice hockey pucks.

Now the sport we have seen so far on our trip has not really compared to premiership football in my opinion. Ice hockey however is the first sport that I can place in the same league. It was fantastic! We had no idea what the rules were when we sat down but we soon picked it up. You are pretty much allowed to barge into anyone and fight with them but tripping them up with your stick is a real no no and results in 2 mins in the sin-bin. Obviously we didn't fit in because we only had the one pack of crisps each, not the full on hotdog, nachos, fries and bucket of coke. You can actually buy a ticket for these items at the ticket office saving you a massive $2 off the extortionately over-priced combo.

The game consists of 3 periods of 20 minutes but as the clock stops when play stops each period ends up taking about 35 minutes each. Each team is only allowed 5 players plus the goalie on the ice at any one time but every 2 minutes or so whilst the game is still in play the team changes players so efficiently (sometimes all 5 outfield players at once!) that you hardly notice.

The Canadians love their hockey. Nearly 22,000 people showed up last night to watch the pre-season friendly game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Tickets for the main games of the season have been on sale a while and all that are left are single seats in an arena that probably takes 24,000 at max capacity.

Sadly for the Montreal Canadiens fans both new and old that game did not end as they wanted. Toronto won 4-3 despite the Canadiens playing the last 8 seconds without a goal tender in order to have 6 outfield players on the ice. Hoefully we can catch some more games in the next few months.

Beyonce or baseball...which would you have chosen?

I hereby present the case for Miss Beyonce Knowles:

I love Toronto! There is so much going on here and to top it all off Beyonce performed a free concert in the city centre last night. Having dragged Rhod along to the recent film premier I felt guilty making him squeeze into a crowd of thousands to stand for hours to watch a star whose songs he finds ok. So I agreed that he would be better off watching the Blue Jays play baseball about a mile down the road which coincided perfectly.

Being on my own and arriving a good hour earlier I easily wound my way to the middle of the crowd to get a reasonable view about 30 metres from the stage. (So no, I didn't take this photo.) As the start time drew nearer however the crowd got tighter and by the time Beyonce made her entrance we all had a great view of the person's head in front of us. There was hardly room to breathe and what with sweaty man to my right and big-haired girl in front it was an interesting way to spend a Friday evening . Rhod would have hated it! Discomfort aside, the concert was fantastic. Beyonce danced and sang her heart out with an all female band, backing dancers and she even managed 3 costume changes in the hour! She is definitely one of the best performers I have ever seen. Luckily there was a big screen showing all the action and despite being wedged into a heaving mass of bodies I danced and sang along the whole time. It would have been even better to have some girl friends to enjoy it with but I was in my element. For me, there was no contest... Beyonce would win over baseball any day!

So I have been released from the shackels of celebrity spotting and I am off to the baseball. There will be no celebrity spotting for me as I wouldn't know a famous baseball player if he spat seeds or blew a large bubble in my face. I've never had a particular desire to go and watch baseball before but having my own seat in a crowd that isn't screaming wins easily over standing squashed in a crowd that is screaming.

By 6:30 I have listened to the advice of the woman in the ticket office, ignored it, and bought a ticket that was half the price of the one she suggested. I have a good seat just past first base about 20 rows back in the lower level of the stand. There is a lot that goes on at a baseball game and not much of it could be described as active sport. Ceremonial delivery of the balls, ceremonial first pitch, ceremonial national anthems and ceremonial saying of "Lets play ball!" So when that was all over I settled down to watch the Toronto Blue Jays play the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (Didn't one of those kill Steve Irwin?)

Overall I would assess the sport as not bad but not great. There is a lot of down time in the action which is filled by various crowd participation events such as the 7th inning stretch and some singing of random songs at other times. It is probably a game to go to with friends so that during a 3 hour game you can chat for 2 hours and 50 mins and concentrate on the sport for the 10 mins that anything happens. It wouldn't be a bad way to spend 3 hours drinking with your mates if you had enough money to buy the beer.

For those interested the game ended Jays 5 Rays 4 after a 10th innings. It took 8 innings and about 2 hours 45mins to get exciting but finally the game was won by someone from the Jays (I told you I didn't know any baseball players) hitting a home run (one of those hits that goes in to the stand.)

And one more thing. I thought that the image of people walking up and down the aisles selling food was purely a Hollywood thing. I was wrong. It actually happens. During a game the snack men will pass selling what over 3 hours amounts to a 3 course meal washed down with a load of beer. To be honest it's kind of annoying because they are often in the way but I also couldn't resist the opportunity to buy something without the hassle of leaving my seat.

I would go and see another game, but then I'm British, we slow down to look at car accidents and there's not much fun at those either.

So which one would you have chosen?

I'm not a stalker honestly but if I know of a time and a place where some A-list celebrities will be then you can bet that I'll be there too.

We are in Toronto this week staying with our friend Angela who we met on that memorable 27 hour train ride to Hong Kong all those months ago. Unbeknown to us our trip coincided perfectly with the start of this year's Toronto Film Festival. We had spent a few days in the city sightseeing but at the same time secretly hoping to catch a glimpse of a film star running into Starbucks or other such glamorous locations. When I heard that the film 'All The King's Men' was to be premiered on Sunday night we decided (or I did and Rhod got dragged along too) to join the masses and loiter with intent outside the theatre where it was showing. When you read the cast list you'll realise why I chose that film: Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins, Sean Penn and Kate Winslett among others.

It's a strange crowd that attend film premiers; some slightly suspect types with overly large cameras, others who say nothing but just stare at the red carpet even hours before the stars are due and others who talk/boast loudly to no one in particular about films they have seen recently. But all of them I'm pretty sure only drag themselves away from the DVD player and emerge from their rooms for these 2 weeks of the year to hunt down celebrities. I must be careful how much I say here as I realise that for those few hours Rhod and I became one of these freaks too!

On arrival we realised that we were missing one vital piece of equipment...a milk crate. Not for use by people at the back to see over others' heads, oh no. People as far forward as the second row were standing on milk crates just to get that perfect shot and some told us that they had been there since 7 in the morning. (The premier wasn't until 9:30 at night!) Whatever happened to the manners you learn when you're young about letting shorter people to the front or shifting up so everyone gets a chance to see? One of the milk crate hoarders, who I'm convinced was about 6 ft anyway, actually turned to a girl behind him and said, "I'm going to be up here all night so you're not going to see a thing!" Charming.

Anyway, when the stars started arriving it was each to their own as a frenzy ensued. It was a case of elbows in ribcages, people standing on each others' feet and cameras in the sides of people's heads as they were held aloft and snapped continuously. I even found myself joining in with a chorus of "We want Kate!" but then stopped when I saw Rhod's disapproving and slightly terrified look. As you can see from the pictures, it was the Brits who came up trumps and mixed with the plebs to sign autographs and pose for photos. We arrived so early that we even caught the stars going in to the earlier 6:30 film; Samuel L Jackson, Jamie Lee Curtis and Eugene Levy

So call me a stalker if you wish but I bet there are some of you just a little bit jealous that we were that close to the likes of Jude Law and Kate Winslett that, should we have wished, we could have reached over and ruffled their immaculately coiffed hairstyles!

Crazy! Someone has gone and built a really nice waterfall but they've chosen a location next to countless casinos, high rise hotels, a giant ferris wheel, an IMAX theatre and a Guiness Book of Records museum. And that's only the Canadian side!
Welcome to Niagara falls. The first picture is of the Horseshoe/Canadian Falls. The second picture is of the American falls. It was taken from one of the other tourist traps at the falls, The Maid of the Mist boat tour. On this tour the boat drives up to the base of the Horseshoe/Canadian Falls and stays there for a while whilst all of the occupants get soaked and try to work out how to take a picture without ruining their cameras. Answer: It would be impossible to take a picture unless you had a waterproof/splashproof camera.

But compared to the Iguazu falls on the Argentine/Brazilian border, Niagara is a tourist circus. The hotels, casinos and attractions are close enough that some offer views of the falls. The place is packed and to ensure the tourists stay as long as possible and spend their money they illuminate the falls at night in constantly changing colours. It's very spectacular but the natural spectacle is a little spoilt by the craziness behind.

I never thought I would say this but the American side is a calm tranquil place in comparison. It's a bit of a circus trying to cross the border to get in, especially if you are British and are missing a vital piece of white card in your passport. Their side of the falls is surrounded by parks and the hotels are a little further away. I think most Americans pop over to Canada to have their fun. After all, you can drink at 19 in Canada!

When you work for 50 weeks of the year you look forward to a bit of rest during your 2 week holiday. When you holiday for 43 weeks of the year you might be wondering how you relax.

The answer is to take a holiday from your holiday. Step away from the tourist trail, put the camera down, put your feet up and ponder what has gone before and what is still to come.

Luckily we have just spent 2 weeks staying with friends in Michigan and we have been able to do just that. It's been fantastic. As I've said before, travelling the world is not all ice-creams and lie-ins. I can assure you it involves seeing a lot more sunrises that you would normally choose to and some fairly unexciting days spent on buses and trains.

However, a holiday from your holiday is most certainly all ice-creams and lie-ins. Exceptional home made ice-cream to be precise.

Our fortnight was divided between Jim and Carone's house in the suburbs of Detroit and Caseville, home to Jim's parents Mr & Mrs Dutz on the shores of Lake Huron. Mr & Mrs Dutz didn't actually know that they would be visited by 2 Brits but this I'm told is the norm. Their house is so big that you could actually go unnoticed for several days. Labour Day weekend has just passed and in the States it is the deemed as "the last hoorah of the summer" before school starts and Autumn sets in. It is tradition for friends and family to meet at Mr & Mrs Dutz's house and 21 people in total visited that weekend! We spent our days out on the boat, exploring the area in a golf cart, entertaining Jakob and Siena (two of the most adorable children you could possibly meet), playing cards, drinking in the jacuzzi, (a surefire way to bring on dehydration) and playing lawn darts (a banned game in the USA due to unfortunate incidents of foot-piercings.)

With such lazy days you would think that maybe just light meals would suffice. Oh no. Not when Mr Dutz is around. He is the kind of man my dad and uncle Andrew would get on with. He likes his meals to contain meat and thanks to his wife's exquisite cooking we were being fed meat for breakfast, lunch and dinner and occasionally for a late night snack. No one goes hungry at the Dutz residence!

So for 2 weeks we have rested, played, seen the sights of Detroit, eaten and drank very well and to top it all we've even been to Caseville. Not too many tourists can say that. Unfortunately we didn't get to see the ugly woman who sells the corn but there's always a downside.

So Jim, Carone, Jakob, Siena and Mr & Mrs Dutz, thank you so much for putting us up and putting up with us for 2 weeks. We will happily return the favour anytime. Before you visit us we will attempt to get some or all of the following; a big house, a boat, a golf cart and some of those darts you throw down the lawn.