east side

due to the extension of my trip, i had to cross the border into Canada and re-enter on a Visa Waiver. this proved to be quite stressful as i was rejected from entering into Canada on the first instance and had to spend the night at a Greyhound bus depot in Buffalo. second time i got through and after spending a week with family in Toronto was granted a Visa Waiver on my return to the States.

Washington D.C.
the nation's capital, the showcase of America's imperial mite! host to a bunch of government buildings, monuments, memorials and publicly-funded museums. a lot of must-see places, but most importantly, the White House, WWII Memorial, Washington Memorial (Obelisk), US Capitol (where parliament is held), Pool of Reflection (Forrest Gump) and Lincoln Memorial.

however what i liked most about Washington D.C. were the museums. although i have little to no interest in "air and space", the National Air and Space Museum was enthralling. so much interesting stuff in there i reckon i could've taken about two days soaking it all in instead of the few hours i had. other places i visited included the: National Building Museum, National Museum of American History, Natural History Museum, National Archives, all great and all free!

THE ORIGINAL WRIGHT BROTHERS PLANE

Philadelphia
Philadelphia, once the 2nd biggest city in the British Empire, is historically significant for its role in the American independence movement. hence i learnt a lot of American history whilst visiting all the sites, now immortalised, including where the Declaration of Independence was signed, the Liberty Bell rung at the announcement of independence, George Washington's house, and the parliament buildings when Philly was once the nation's capital... all good stuff.

IT'S KIND OF A BIG DEAL

aside from that, i fulfilled my dreams of running up the Rocky stairs and ate a Philly cheese steak, which was pretty shit considering it's just meat and cheese.

Boston
a free six-hour bus ride with Megabus saw me in Boston. a snow storm literally shut the city down, so i was stuck indoors for the first two days. afterwards however, just as in Philly there was a lot of history to be learnt, and this was best done along the Freedom Trail. this was literally a trail of red bricks that led you through downtown with a blurb on all the historic sites e.g. Paul Revere's house (big time American patriot), USS Constitution (world's oldest floating navy vessel), Bunker Hill monument (where the first Brits vs. American war took place)... all good stuff.

FOLLOW THE RED BRICK ROAD, IF YOU CAN FIND IT

didn't make it to the Red Sox stadium but caught an NBA and NHL game, which were sick! Americans love their sport! the stadium went off, people just kept shouting and dancing whenever the music came on! haha not to mention the 4 fights in the first 30sec of the hockey game, it was sick!

ICE HOCKEY

also visited Harvard University, America's oldest university, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a neighbouring rival. MIT was way cooler than Harvard  for the number of sweet buildings it had. all big name Architect's have left their mark on MIT including Frank Gehry, Alvar Aalto, I.M. Pei, Eero Saarinen and Steven Hall. i don't think you could find such a collection of buildings anywhere else in the world, it was amazing!

STATA CENTER, FRANK GEHRY

KRESGE AUDITORIUM, EERO SAARINEN