Sunday 27th May 2007

We woke up nice and early this morning. We were awake before the alarm, which was set for 6.40am, and crept around quietly - so that we didn't wake Jane and Hayden (the Australian couple in our room). Our shuttle to the airport was booked for 7.15am, so we had 35 minutes to get ready. The bags were already packed, and we decided we'd shower in Vegas, so all we had to do was get dressed and have a coffee but, you guessed it, we were late - we had the shuttle driver knocking on the door at 7.15am - d'oh!

At the airport we checked ourselves in and had a MacDonalds' for breakfast. About an hour later we were on the plane, and an hour after that we were landing in Las Vegas. From the air the Strip looked pretty cool!

A shuttle took us to The Stratosphere Casino / Hotel, but we were a little early to check in so we dumped our bags and had a look around. They've got 2 new rides on top of the tower now. Before there was a rollercoaster, which has now gone and been replaced by a slingshot and spinny-thing. The slingshot fires you over the edge of the tower, dangles you out there and then brings you back in. The spinny-thing basically lifts you off the floor and spins you round really fast so that at certain points you're above the streets below. They both look excellent, so hopefully we'll get to do them before the end of the week.

After a while it was ok to check into our room. It's a bit annoying because we made 2 reservations for this week and so tomorrow morning we have to get up to check out, then check straight back in. For some reason they won't let us have the same room. We put our bags in the room, freshened up and then hit the strip.

Las Vegas seems to have changed since the last time we were here - it seems even bigger now! The casino / hotels are huge and we went in a couple. When we got to Caesar's Palace (about half way down the Strip) it was about 5pm, so we had a look around and then stopped in the Cheesecake Factory for some tea. Once again, we overdid it and came out feeling bloated!

We took a (slow) walk back along the strip and came back to the Stratosphere where we spent about an hour in the casino playing the slots and drinking the beer (as long as you're sat at a machine they'll serve you free drinks - all you do is tip the waitress when she brings it to you... bargain!) Nikki got on really well on the electronic Poker game. She was a few bucks up at one point but then blew it all - oh well.

Oh, we even signed up for another of those timeshare things again. I know its pretty sad, but for an hour-and-a-half's talking, we get 2 free tickets to a top show and 2 free meals in one of three restaurants. So we figured we'd have a night out. There's no harm in doing a little work now and again!

Viva Las Vegas!

Saturday 26th May 2007

Last night we decided that today we'd travel along the Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu. It would only cost $3 for an all day bus pass, so we thought it was worth a look. We got up and walked for about an hour along the coast to Santa Monica and caught the bus from there.

All along the PCH you could tell that Malibu is where all the rich people live. Every second car was a Porsche or something similar, and all the huge houses were built into the hills - all overlooking the ocean - with pretty spectacular views!

The bus driver dropped us in this small shopping area and told us that it was pretty much the centre of Malibu, so we had a look around there before going to check out the beach. For some reason we were both knackered and fell asleep there. When we woke up we went and got ourselves a bite to eat. We had a sarnie each (Nikki's was chicken salad and mine BBQ pork) and shared a drink and some crisps - the total was $20. Nikki said the person in front of her spent $40 (on 2 sandwiches!)

When we'd finished exploring Malibu we caught the bus back to Santa Monica and had a look around the shops there. It was pretty cool, there's one really long street with loads of shops either side and street performers in the middle - there was everything from dancers to acrobats - all in the street!

After finishing in Santa Monica we caught the bus back to Venice and took a walk along the beach. We found out today that they actually DID film 'White Men Can't Jump' here! When we got back, Nikki used up the ingredients we'd bought the other day and made us cheesy pasta... mmmmmm!

We then came back into our room and packed our bags. We have to be up early in the morning, we have a flight at 9.52am... to Las Vegas!

Goodbye Venice... we're off to Las Vegas!

Friday 25th May 2007

We were woken up this morning at about 6am - it was just like the 2 weeks with Mum and Keith! Two of the girls from our dorm we're moving onto New York and they had a flight to catch.

We got ourselves ready as quietly as possible as the other 2 were still sleeping. We almost woke them when Nikki tried getting her bag out of the locker and nearly pulled the whole row over. We then went and had some coffee and toast for breakfast.

When we got back from breakfast there was nothing that could prepare us for the shock that lay in store... Kitty had been cat-knapped. Kitty is Nikki's little pink, neck cushion (that looks like a cat) and she'd left it on the bed. We were away for about 15 minutes, and we suspected the cleaner had stole it, because the beds had been made. We set up a search and rescue mission, and our suspicions we're confirmed when we found Kitty in the cleaners cupboard with all the towels and toilet rolls... thieving swine!

After the whole Kitty-gate scandal, we put her in our locker and went out for a walk. We decided that, as the sun was shining, we'd head for Santa Monica - which is about an hour along the coast. We stopped and had a little play on the swings on the way.

This afternoon, we sat on the Santa Monica Pier and ate our packed lunches (cheese and onion sarnies and nectarines) and then had a look around the town. We then took a slow walk back along the Venice Beach Boardwalk, which has loads of people selling all sorts of things (a bit like St Nicholas Market).

When we got back to our hostel, we turned on our phones and had messages from people (Andy, Mum and Victor Wilks) who had seen us on American Idol - that was cool. We also met the 2 new people in our room. They seem quite nice - they're an Australian couple who have been traveling for about 10 days.

For tea we had mash with cheesy beans and then sat in the lounge / bar area, drinking the free coffee. Afterwards we came to bed and watched an episode of Desperate Housewives on the laptop (no TV here!), before the other girls got back. We then sat chatting with them for a while (well, one of them (Lauren), the other (Jackie Chan) fell asleep!). They seem very cool and Lauren was giving us loads of tips on what to do and where to stay on the rest of our tour.

Kitty's back - and this time she's going nowhere!

Thursday 24th May 2007

Oh dear, we woke up this morning and we didn't have anywhere to stay. We fancied moving onto to Santa Monica, but the only hostel there had no availability! We managed to book ourselves into a hostel called 'The Venice Beach Cotel' in...Venice Beach, although they only had dorm rooms so we had to settle for that.

We caught the bus down to Venice Beach and boy was that an experience! It was full of weirdo's. We arrived at the hostel at about 1pm. Venice Beach is cool, full of hippies. We saw Muscle Beach as well - where Arnold Schwarzenegger used to work out. We also sat and watched loads of people playing basketball - it was like the set of 'White Men Can't Jump'.

As we are trying to keep within budget more now, we took a trip to Ralph's supermarket to get some supplies. We bought tins of beans, bread, chilli, mashed potato, pasta and cheese - we're gonna have some cool meals!

Tonight we (yes! I helped) cooked some pasta in a cheese and tomato sauce for our tea, before going to bed and chatting with the girls in our room. They're all coming to the end of their trips. They went the other way around the world, and so they were able to tell us some cool places to look out for!

I have to admit, dorms aren't as bad as i'd imagined - I guess the fact that it was me and 5 girls made it easier!

Wednesday 23rd May 2007

What with all of the excitement yesterday, we figured we'd hang around in Hollywood for another day - and see which celebs would be turning up for the big American Idol result show.

After booking another night at our hostel, (which involved moving rooms), we thought we'd go out shopping and get some food to cook for our tea tonight. So we took a walk down onto Sunset Boulevard to a supermarket called Ralphs.

We came back with our shopping and Nikki made us beans-on-toast for our lunch, while I sat watching the Liverpool vs AC Milan Champions League Final. We then went out onto Hollywood Boulevard.

Yesterday, two Japanese tourists had stopped us and given us some free Access Hollywood passes, as they were going home, (these get you into some attractions - such as the Kodak Theatre, Mann's Chinese Theatre or The Hollywood Museum), so today we went to the Hollywood Museum. This place was very cool! They had all sorts of great movie things - even the entire 'Jail' set from The Silence of the Lambs!!

Hollywood was packed today. There were loads of workmen buzzing around, setting up for the American Idol result show and even more fans out celeb spotting. We stood about for a while, to see if we could lay our hands on any more tickets to the show - but couldn't (d'oh!) - we couldn't afford the $1500 to buy some! We did see a few more famous faces though. Nikki seen Simon Cowell (again) and as we were leaving, we said hello to Sir Trevor MacDonald. Later on the news we heard that 'The Hoff' was about - so it was a shame we didn't see him.

We came home and Nikki cooked us chilli for tea, which we sat eating whilst watching American Idol with some of the others from the hostel.

We're not sure what we're doing tomorrow. We might go to Santa Monica and spend a few days there, we don't have anything booked as yet so who knows?

Hollywood's been a blast... and cut!

Tuesday 22nd May 2007

I don't know if you noticed, but we never had anything to eat last night - we woke up starving!

We got up and booked ourselves into the hostel for another night (Nikki decided that, having made it through the night, we were safe here), We then went out on to Hollywood Boulevard to get some coffee and try and check our emails.

After updating the blog, we had a burger in Mel's Diner and then went to Rodeo Drive to do some shopping... yeah right, on our budget! Whilst we were there we saw John Gregory (former Aston Villa manager). We had a look round, and as we suspected couldn't afford anything so came back.

It was the middle of the afternoon now, so we went into the Kodak Theatre shopping area to get a drink and then thought we'd hang around watching people, and hopefully Celebs, going into the American Idol Final (which was being recorded LIVE today). We did see the actress who plays Susan Myers' (Teri Hatcher) daughter in Desperate Housewives.

I could see that Nikki was getting jealous of all the people dressed up and going to the show, so we couldn't believe our luck when some guy gave us free tickets, (some were going for $1500), Nikki almost snatched his hand off. So now, we were going to watch American Idol - the Final. We were both in our jeans, Nikki in a jumper and me in my Bristol City shirt... come on! We had amazing seats - we were eight rows from where the Judges sit.

The show was great. We saw loads of celebs, including Simon, Paula and Randy, Simon Fuller, Nigel Lithgo (who came and sat next to me for a bit - I asked him for some tickets to tomorrows result show but he didn't have any... d'oh!), Ryan Seacrest and of course the contestants from this and previous shows. We weren't allowed to take our camera in, but we did manage to sneak some pictures on my phone.

As we were leaving, after the show, we noticed that there was loads of commotion outside Mann's Chinese Theatre and found ourselves stood outside the Premiere of Mr Brooks. We saw a few more celebs here too, including Kevin Costner, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher. Nikki was in her element. It was like she was walking through HEAT magazine!

We came back to the hostel (having had no tea again - we'd spent too much on the burger earlier) and watched American Idol on the TV. It's broadcast LIVE to New York on the East Coast and repeated here at 8pm. Look out for us - we do make a brief appearance just after Jordin's second song. The Judges give their comments and when Simon says 'that WAS good' - we appear clapping... yippee!

Being part of the Paparazzi is fun!

Monday 21st May 2007

The plan today was to fly from Miami to LA. That was if Miami hadn't sunk over night, or if we managed to get the car back to the rental place, or even if we woke up on time. You know us - anything can happen! Thankfully, we did wake up on time and we did manage to get to the airport in plenty of time - so we flew to LA!

Our flight was ok. It was only 5 hours and I slept for some of that. Nikki had found an English copy of OK! magazine at the airport and was quite happy to sit reading that - finding out about Peter and Jordan's meningitis ordeal.

We arrived at LAX Airport and started talking about how many stars we thought we'd see. Whilst waiting for our bags I left Nikki to go and check another carousel and I spotted Amy Winehouse walking by, looking for her luggage. It was just me and her - we shared a moment!

When our bags finally came round, we had a quick look round for Amy again - because Nikki had not seen her but couldn't find her so went to try and find the best way of getting to Hollywood. After being told we could catch the Metro we headed over to that.

The Metro station we got off at was right on Hollywood Boulevard - next to the Kodak Theatre. We walked up to our hostel, which is called Orange Drive Manor, and checked in. This place is unique! It's this HUGE old house and at first had a really creepy feel to it (and a weird smell - like a museum or stately home). Nikki was a little scared, but when we got shown to our room, she was ok - its nice and clean (and bright!)

We're only 1 block from Hollywood Boulevard and so we took a walk down there where we spotted a poster saying that, for the next 3 nights, the American Idol Judges and finalists were going to be making appearances - of course, we had to go. There was to be no more exploring Hollywood tonight, with celebrities about, Nikki made us hang around taking pictures!

Over the course of the next 4 hours, we did get to see the Idol finalists who finished from 3rd to 10th (didn't know who any of them were though) and we saw Cat Deeley and Paula Abdul - man she is short! She had a member of staff who followed her with a box for her to stand on for interviews!

We also met this cool guy called Jules Sanchez, who has been on TV loads. He's done American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, game-shows etc... but is still waiting for his big break. Nikki was well impressed when he serenaded her with (quite loudly for a public place) 'You Are So Beautiful, To Me'

All in all, a pretty good day. Hello West Coast!

Sunday 20th May 2007

Our wake up call woke us up at 7am this morning, because we had to move our car by 8am. We got ourselves ready and walked over to pick up the car - we planned on driving down to Coconut Grove for a few hours. The weather didn't look too great, but hopefully it would improve...

We stopped in Coconut Grove for a coffee and a bagel, in a lovely pavement café. As it was a Sunday, which we'd forgot (you lose track of time when you're traveling), everything was closed and not due to open until 11am. We had a quick look round and then thought we'd head back to South Beach as the weather was starting to get worse.

During the drive back it started raining, and raining, and raining some more. Within half an hour the streets were flooded and they looked like rivers. It got a bit scary when the car was bobbing down the road like a boat, past some smaller vehicles which weren't so lucky and had started sinking.

We pulled in to wait for the weather to pass, but it didn't! After an hour we thought we'd make a dash for home. We eventually got back to South Beach, where the weather was just as bad, and had to walk from the car park, to the parking attendant (who, for some reason, didn't fancy walking to us). The water was nearly up to our knees in places!

We headed back to our hostel on foot, and went to our room to dry off. Within half an hour the sun was back out and the streets were bone dry - it looked like nothing had happened. If it had not been for the millions of pictures Nikki had been taking, I would have thought we'd dreamt it.

Nikki wanted to look for some sunglasses, so we walked down to Lincoln St, where there are loads of shops. After half an hour of trying on sunglasses Nikki eventually settled on some Ray-Ban Aviators. We took them back to the hostel and Nikki tried them on again, only to decide that actually, she didn't like them after all (I should have known something was wrong, when every five minutes she would stop me to ask if they were ok!). Back to the sunglasses shop we went, where Nikki swapped the Ray-Ban's for some white Prada sunglasses (after another hour or so of trying on the same pairs as before). Prada! She's getting as bad as me!

We'd heard Britney Spears was playing a secret gig two blocks from our hostel. We thought about going but the queue was quite long and the tickets were $40 a piece, plus the pizza next door looked like much more fun, so we decided to stop and have a massive slice of pizza each, (which was only $4 a piece), and then sat on the balcony having a beer.

Thankfully, nobody tried robbing the internet computer tonight!

Saturday 19th May 2007

Ok, I admit it - the Flying Cloud isn't as bad as we first thought. In the day light, it's actually quite pleasant. We even met a member of staff this morning. We had free breakfast and then loaded the car before driving down to Miami - passing through Hollywood on the way.

Not THE Hollywood, another one - the one where Anna Nicole Smith was when she died. We didn't see much there. We drove through, tried to find somewhere free to park (everywhere was $5 and travelers don't pay (most travelers don't hire cars - but that's a different story)) and then continued onto Miami, which was only about 20 minutes down the road.

We drove the car directly to our Miami pad - The Clay Hotel, which is also a hostel so we didn't really know what to expect. This place is fantastic! Its a building from the 1920's and is on the corner of a Espanola Way (a spanish street) and Washington Ave. Washington Ave is superb - we're about a minute walk from Miami Ink (as we were driving past, we seen Chris Garver outside - but couldn't turn round to go back).

After checking in, we drove up to the Adventura Mall, where we knew they had free internet and Nikki wanted to spend her birthday money. Niks did buy something, she bought a HUGE slice of carrot cheesecake and sat eating it whilst I surfed the net. We had another quick look round and then came back to the Clay.

We spent the evening around South Beach. We had a walk along the beach and then looked in the shops on the way back to the hotel. Nikki even bought me a present, (I say Nikki bought it, because we didn't have enough in my wallet, so she used her birthday money), she bought me a new pair of Police sunglasses. She bartered the price down from $240 (before tax) to $185 (including tax)... yippee!!

That was it - we were way over budget now ($90 per day) and so when we got back we sat on the communal balcony drinking our beer. That was really cool, because we could watch all the hustle-and-bustle below. At one point this boy, who looked about 14, came up to us and asked if it would be ok to take some money from the internet computer in the communal area. We thought he meant that someone had left a dollar or two on top and he wanted it. We should've known we were wrong when he asked if we were police. When we said no, he thanked us, told us we were good people who were going to heaven - then pulled a screw-driver from his shorts and started to BREAK IN TO THE MACHINE. We didn't know where to look, so we got up and left him to it...

Miami - our second home!

Friday 18th May 2007

We got up early this morning, because we had to go and collect the car from Dollar Rental Car before driving down to Fort Lauderdale. We planned to set off as early as possible... yeah right!

At the Dollar rental desk, everything was going well - we were dealt with quite quickly and we'd been given a free upgrade from an economy car to a mini-van. We signed where we were told to sign and left. As we were leaving, Nikki said "Is it a work van we've been given?", thinking that a mini-van was going to be a Transit van (bless her).

When we got back to our hotel to collect our bags and check out, Nikki noticed that the rental agreement was in her name, but I was gonna be driving. D'oh! I went to ring Dollar, spoke to 3 different people... and got nowhere! So, we had to go back...

Back at Dollar, the lady was really rude. When she put my Drivers License number in wrong, and I mentioned it, she said "oh, close enough!" After Nikki got mad with the staff, we set off on our road-trip... over 3 hours after waking up!

About 2 hours into our road-trip, we decided to stop at Vero Beach, (which is about half way between Orlando and Fort Lauderdale), so we got out, had a wander on the beach then went to get some lunch in Taco Bell. I can't believe we've never been in there before - the food was lush, and the total price was less than $3 - bargain! On the way back to the I95, we stopped in Wal-Mart (they send their love Mum) to get some supplies. We bought some drinks, 2 bananas and a tub of Häagen Dazs. We also got a pair of flip-flops each (my Mum will be so proud!).

We got to Fort Lauderdale at about 6pm tonight, in the middle of a massive thunder storm. We found our hotel (the Flying Cloud), which had NO STAFF - our room key was left in an envelope by the pool. We dumped our bags and went out for a look around.

Fort Lauderdale seemed quite nice. We went and sat on the beach in the rain - and Nikki tried to take some pictures of the lightning. She took about 300 pictures and NOT ONE had any lightning in - brilliant!

I admit, for the first time, I felt like a traveller tonight. Our hotel is weird! Its quite a fair size but its grubby, a bit rough and looks like the motels you see in the movies. Nikki wasn't too keen, so i'm glad we're only here for one night.

We got in the car, drove to the supermarket and got ourselves some frozen meals and a six-pack of beers, before coming back to eat and then go to bed!

Road trips are cool!

Thursday 17th May 2007

Today was our last day in Orlando, so we didn't plan on doing much. Firstly we missed breakfast, so we got up and went to the shops to buy some postcards, then we came back to the hotel and lay by the pool reading and chatting, oh, and we had last night's leftover pizza for our dinner.

At about 4pm we made a few phone calls home - we spoke to all the Grandmas: Nikki's Grandma Iles and Grandma Coombe and Ben's Granny Vera. We also got to speak to Nikki's Mum and Katie. Niks also rang Nicola and Wayne (hi guys), to see how things were in sunny ol' England and catch up. It was nice for us to speak to everyone - as we've not seen them in ages!

At about 6.30pm we came back to the room and got ready for our last night in Orlando.
We decided to go to Chili's - a restaurant which does lots of Mexican food. We had steak fajitas, chilli, salad and chips. Plus I had 5 pints, not beer but free refills of Dr Pepper (easily beating last nights total of 3!) To finish, we treated ourselves to a HUGE chocolate thing... it was amazing. We did feel a bit guilty, but then saw two American girls on the table next to us eating one each. After all that I was a bit hyper, couldn't believe the whole meal only cost $30 (£15).

On the way back to the hotel we stopped in the 'George and Dragon' English pub, for a nice pint. I had a Carlsberg and Nikki had a Fosters. They had a good singer and it was fun sitting outside listening to the music. Florida weather and an English pub - what a combination.

Mmmmmmm, free refills!

Wednesday 16th May 2007

Yippee!! Me and Nikki got another $70 today, all for spending a few hours looking round a timeshare - eating free cookies, muffins and doughnuts and drinking coffee... not bad - i've done worse!

This timeshare was really nice. We got shown some really nice 2 and 3 bedroom apartments and a bungalow. The thing that could have swung it for us, was that when we entered the apartment, there was a woman in the kitchen... baking cookies. If she'd have been included in the price, we'd have signed there and then!!

As it was, we took our money, a bag full of fruit and got our free taxi back to our current hotel. We then spent the afternoon surfing the net, looking for the next place to go on our trip. We're supposed to be checking out tomorrow and our flight to LA is not until the 21st - so we've got a few days to fill.

We managed to book some accommodation - we're going to spend another night here in the Continental Plaza. Then we're going to get a car and drive to Fort Lauderdale for 1 night before going back to Miami for 2 nights.

Now that was sorted, I was able to relax. Before that, Nikki was saying 'don't worry - we can always sleep in the stairwell'. I don't know if she'd been in the sun for too long, or that she'd eaten too many free muffins, but there was no way I was doing that! So we spent the afternoon, chillin' out, in Wet 'n Wild.

Tonight we went to The Olive Garden for a meal. This is a really nice Italian restaurant that we visited a couple of times when we were in Orlando last time. We know we're supposed to be on a budget but, seeing as we were $70 richer today, we thought we'd treat ourselves.

Boy did we treat ourselves! We thought we'd go for the reasonably priced pizzas - but not because they were reasonably priced but because of the small print: "Comes with free house soup or garden salad - unlimited refills". Our eyes we're definitely bigger than our bellies, because after 2 bowls of soup, a huge salad, 4 large bread sticks (which were more like loafs), 3 pints of Dr Pepper, 2 grapefruit juices and a pizza each - we couldn't move - well we could, but it involved Nikki rolling me out!

We'll sleep well tonight - and it's not just because we're in a bed and not the stairwell!

Oh, Happy Birthday Emma x

Tuesday 15th May 2007

Me and Nikki woke up quite late this morning, and missed breakfast, so we got ready and walked over to Universal Studios.

We went into the Studio parts first and did all the things we missed the last time... I even had my picture taken with Marilyn Monroe.

It was REALLY hot today and we couldn't wait to get into the Islands of Adventure, and to ride the water rides. We did all the rides again and, like Universal Studios, got to do the ones we'd missed before - we had a brilliant time!

We walked back this evening, had showers and both admitted that we were pretty warn out, so instead of going out, ordered a Chinese and ate it in our room, whilst watching American Idol and then the film 50 First Dates.

Oh, we also signed up to do another of those timeshare tour things tomorrow. Fingers crossed we'll get the free breakfast and another $70.

You can keep Mary Poppins, Marilyn Monroe was hot!

Monday 14th May 2007

Today we went back to the Premium Shopping Outlet, to give Nikki a chance to spend her birthday money. We got up, had some breakfast, did some surfing on the net then made our way to the I-Trolley.

We spent a few hours looking round the shops. Nikki bought herself a French Connection t-shirt for $18, and almost got some wicked Adidas trainers but decided she'd look around first.

When we'd finished shopping, we walked over to Publix (a huge supermarket) and bought ourselves some 'budget supplies': sandwich stuff etc... and some milkshakes! Then we caught the I-Trolley back to our hotel.

We wanted to spend the afternoon in Wet 'n Wild but, as we were walking to the hotel, it started to get quite windy and we wondered if one of the predicted thunder storms was on it's way. We thought it would be better to stay by our pool instead.

No sooner had we sat down and had some lunch, and then lay on the sun-loungers, the sun started shining, so Nikki fell asleep and I had a swim. When Nikki woke up, she said she wanted to have a swim as well, but couldn't be bothered to go and put her bikini on. So, like in infant's school, she got in, in her pants and vest!

Tonight, we got ready and went to City Walk at Universal Studios. It's this massive area full of bars, restaurants and a cinema. We wanted to watch a film, so got tickets for one called Disturbia, got ourselves a large coke and large popcorn (which was covered in butter), and settled in to watch a nice film.

WRONG! We absolutely s!%t ourselves - the film was brilliant, but very scary (anyone who hasn't seen it, go to the cinema and watch it).

Afterwards we had a look around some more and were too scared to take the 10 minute walk home, and so got a taxi instead.

Scaredy cats!

Sunday 13th May 2007

Me and Nikki went to SeaWorld today. We went there the last time we were in Orlando, 5 years ago, but couldn't remember much about it.

I'm glad we did go again - it was brilliant: much better than I remembered. Last time we didn't see any shows, but this time we saw most of them - the dolphin one, the seals and otters one and of course Shamu - The Killer Whale, which I thought was superb!

We stayed at the park until about 6.30pm, when we decided to head back. We were stood waiting for the I-Trolley (the bus that takes you the entire length of International Drive for $1), when 2 arrived together. I said to get on the first one, but Nikki said to get on the second one. Needless to say, we got on the second one - and it was the wrong one! It was the trolley that went SOUTH, we thought it was a mistake when we noticed that every other passenger was a Japanese member of SeaWorld staff! We were on the one that takes them back to their hotels... d'oh!

The last stop south was at the Premium Shopping Outlet, which is full of designer shops, with goods at cheap prices. We didn't really have time to shop, so we'll go back tomorrow. However, Nikki was hungry and so we did have time to eat. We both had a Chinese from the buffet food court and it was lovely!

We finished our meals, and caught the I-Trolley (the one i'd said about an hour before) back to our hotel, before getting into bed and watching some TV.

From now on, Nikki decides what we eat - I decide which transport we get on - got it!?

Saturday 12th May 2007

Today we were booked in for a tour of the Westgate Palace - a timeshare place owned by the same people as Mum and Keith's. So we got up at about 9am, went to the pool (where we can get free internet) and had a webchat with Mum and Keith, then walked on over to the hotel...

All the way there, I had to remind Nikki that we were only going to being nosey - there was no way we were going to buy one of these places - and that if we were lucky, we'd get our free breakfast and $70!

Sure enough, 90 minutes later, we walked out with full bellies and $70 in our pocket... WooHoo!

As we were getting back onto International Drive, Nikki decided that she quite fancied owning an overseas property and so dragged me into a real-estate office. Shortly after, we were being shown around a two-bedroom apartment in Orlando... will Nikki never change?

After Nikki had got the property bug out of her system, we came back to the hotel and lay by the pool before getting ready and going out for some food. Nikki said she'd take me to Hooters as a treat. For anyone who doesn't know, Hooters is a place where they only have waitresses - young ones, who walk round in vests and hot pants... game on!

We shared a burger and chips, with a pitcher of beer and then walked home and came to bed.

Fancy coming to Hooters anyone?

Friday 11th May 2007

We had to get up early this morning, because we were checking out of the Westgate apartments and Mum, Keith and Emma were going home.

They drove us up to International Drive, which is where our next hotel is (Continental Plaza). On the way we stopped in Ponderosa for some breakfast. All you can eat for $4.99... brilliant!

Once we'd finished our breakfast, we decided to try and check into our hotel. They let us in early and so Mum, Keith and Emma helped carry our bags to our room. Our hotel is quite cool - but the room smells a bit musty! Oh well, i'm sure we'll stay in worse places on this trip! Plus they have free internet - so it's not all bad.

When we were settled, it was time for them to leave because they had to drive back to Miami for their flight home - this is when things got... wet! My Mum, bless her, started to cry, and cry, and cry... and then so did Emma! Mum was crying because she's worried about us - she thinks we're going to miss flights etc (anyone who knows what we're like, will probably think she's right).

Now we'd checked in we decided to go for a walk, before spending the afternoon in Wet 'n Wild. As we'd bought the Orlando Flex ticket last time, it was free to get in... WooHoo!

Later, we went to get some things from the shops when we were stopped by a lady asking if we'd like to go and have a look around some Westgate apartments (timeshare). We were going to say 'no', as this is what Mum and Keith own and where we've been staying for 2 weeks, but when she offered us free breakfast and $70 cash, we were happy to go along!

This evening, we got a Chinese takeaway and sat eating it in our room whilst watching TV and sharing a bottle of Stella.

Bye Ali, Keith and Emma... we'll miss you!

Thursday 10th May 2007

Today was Mum, Keith and Emma's last day in Orlando and so we decided that we'd spend it at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.

When we arrived, we figured it would be better to go straight into Universal Studios (which is a huge movie themed park, where you 'ride the movies') and go into Islands of Adventure in the afternoon (this is more of a theme park, with rollercoasters), when we thought the queues would be smaller.

We had a really good time at Universal. Emma had not been since she was about 13, and so she couldn't remember any of it. We did all the rides and shows. Rides like... Jaws, ET, Earthquake and Shrek 4D.

This afternoon, we changed parks, and went into Islands of Adventure. The two parks aren't far apart - they're both in one HUGE area - it's just like crossing the road!

Islands of Adventure was brilliant - although i'm not sure Mum and Keith would agree - they DIDN'T go on ONE RIDE... the wimps!

Me, Nikki and Emma went on almost everything - our favourites were the water rides. The rapids were the wildest and wettest we have EVER been on - we were soaked (especially when Mum paid 25¢ to squirt us from the bridge!)

We came home and packed our bags, because tomorrow we move on. Me and Nikki are going up to Orlando for a week (yippee!) and the others are going home, back to work or something... whatever that is?

Traveling or working - Hmmmmm..?

Wednesday 9th May 2007

Today, there was another free BBQ put on by the Westgate complex, so we decided that we'd have another relaxing day. The flavour today was Reggae!

After lunch, which was lush - Jerk Chicken etc, me, Nikki and Emma took a drive to International Drive to do some shopping.

Me and Nikki bought souvenirs for some of you guys at home and also some things for ourselves - hey, we may be on a budget but we can still treat ourselves sometimes! Emma also bought a few things.

When we got back to the apartments at about 6.30pm, we got ourselves ready to go out as we'd already planned that we'd all take a drive to Downtown Disney for a meal. This is a huge area full of shops, bars and restaurants.

We decided to eat in the Rainforest Café and the food was fantastic. Plus the place was really cool, so me and Nikki had a really good time. When we'd finished we took a look around all the Disney shops and then came home.

Downtown, where all the lights are bright, Downtown...

Tuesday 8th May 2007

We woke up early this morning and drove to Busch Gardens, which is in Tampa. I was once again in charge of driving and Keith was in charge of directions... we got lost... d'oh!

Busch Gardens is a large theme park, that is a mixture of large rollercoasters and a safari park. We arrived at the park at 11am and headed straight for the rollercoasters! After the episodes at MGM on Sunday, Mum and Keith didn't want to ride anything, so we made sure that they 'enjoyed' a water ride or two - dragging them on the log flume and river rapids. We all got soaked, especially me, Nikki and Emma!

After a full morning of nagging, Mum decided she was ready to face 'The Kumba', which at one time, was the fastest rollercoaster in the world. In all my life, I have never heard such bad language - especially from my Mum - she sounded like Roy Chubby Brown for the minute or so that the ride lasted! 'That's it, no more!' she said - or was it..?

Me, Nikki and Emma continued to go on all the rides, and tried to drag Mum and Keith on every one. When we rode the Cheetah Chasers (like the Mouse), I got straight off and asked them to join me. Mum said she would give it a go. She hated it, and started crying half way round. The photo was hilarious! Shame we couldn't afford to buy it.

We had a fantastic time at Busch Gardens and when it was time to come home Nikki said she wanted to be in charge of directions and so sat in the front with me. We got home in half the time it took us to get there... Good ol' Wifey!

Petrol to Busch Gardens: $16, Ticket to get in: $68, Mum's face riding the Mouse: PRICELESS!

Monday 7th May 2007

We decided that we'd spend today around our complex, so when we eventually left our apartment we went to one of the 13 pools, where there was a free BBQ for the guests (well, we're classed as owners - because Mum and Keith own a timeshare - but you know what I mean).

After filling ourselves on free food and drink me, Mum and Emma went to play basketball, whilst Nikki and Keith hired out bikes. We had loads of fun - and when we had a game of 'Killer', Mum was the winner - or Champion as she kept reminding us.

This afternoon, I drove (yes, I drove again - Keith had been drinking the free beer at the BBQ) us to a place called 'Celebration'. This is a town (which is quite big - probably about the size of Keynsham) that has been built by Disney. It's quite surreal there... it's a bit like a mix of the Stepford Wives and Desperate Housewives. Apparently, the residents have certain rules they must follow. For example, they have to keep their grass at a certain length!

Nikki loved it and decided that she wants to live there. When we found a property paper, we found that quite reasonably sized condos are only about $175,000 - so, who knows..?

Mum, Keith and Emma were going to a show on the complex that had animals and magic, but me and Nikki didn't go because we're trying to stick to our budget and the tickets were $14 each.

Instead, I took Nikki to Oldtown, which is this cool place in Kissimmee that has been made to look like its from the 40's or 50's. Nikki had a good time and even spent some of her birthday money (which, for anyone who knows what Nikki is like with money, is a big deal!)

We bought ourselves some burgers - which were 2 for $4 and came back to the apartment. Before writing this and coming to bed...

Traveling is fun - every day's a holiday!

Sunday 6th May 2007

Today, after waking up at about 10am, me, Nikki and Emma decided that we'd go to Wet 'n Wild - the water-park. I've been to Florida 5 times now, and have never been there so I was quite looking forward to it!

Mum and Keith dropped us off at about 11.30am and the queue to get in was massive. We finally got in and set about finding a sunbed. Wet 'n Wild was huge - much bigger than I imagined, so finding one was no problem.

We spent the day having 'fun in the sun'. At one point, I was swimming in the large wave pool, when I thought I could hear my name. I ignored it and continued swimming but when it got louder, I popped my head out of the water to find Nikki on the side screaming at me to get out. There was a storm coming and everyone had been told to run for cover - I was the only one in there... d'oh!

After about half-an-hour, when the crazy storm (lightning, thunder etc) had passed, we made our way outside to meet Mum and Keith. On our way back to the apartments, Keith stopped at a Dollar rental car and added me to the car insurance so that I could share the driving... was he drunk? Has he heard about my driving record?

For dinner, I drove me, Nikki and Emma to a Chinese take-away to get some food. We took it back to the apartments and it was lovely. Plus it came in those little cardboard pots that you see on the TV - which i'm sure made it taste better!

Watch out Orlando... Ben's on the road!

Saturday 5th May 2007

We woke up at about 8am this morning, because we planned to go to Disney's MGM Studios. We all got dressed, had our breakfast and set off.

We got to the park at 11.30am (my mum must have been going crazy inside - this was the middle of the day for her!). As we were trying to figure out where to go first, we were approached by a member of staff who asked if he could make us 'Honorary Citizens of Walt Disney World'? We said yes, and he asked which ride we'd like to go on first? Within minutes he'd walked us right to the front of the (1 hour) Aerosmith Rockin' Rollercoaster ride... Rock on!

Mum and Keith LOVED this ride... NOT! They both got off cussing and cursing - saying they'd never do it again. Whilst they were moaning, we dragged them to the Hollywood Tower of Terror - by now, Keith was going as grey as his hair (he he).

After almost plummeting to his death on the Tower of Terror, we promised Keith that that was the last of the 'big' rides - it was only 12pm after all!

We wandered round the park, looking in shops, having our photos taken (well, I was) with the likes of Buzz Lightyear and Woody, when we decided to go our separate ways. The girls wanted to go and watch the Beauty and the Beast stage show and me and Keith wanted to go and see the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show. I'm glad we did - this show was amazing. We both loved it!

We'd arranged to meet the girls in the centre of the park, under Mickey Mouse's hat. As we were getting closer, I saw her... not Nikki - but Mary Poppins. Of course, I had to have my picture taken with her... so I did!

It was getting late now, and the kids (Mum and Keith) were getting tired. We promised them that once we'd watched the 'Fantasmic' show, we'd go home. I think they were glad we stayed because the show was superb. It was a great way to round off a great day!

Mary Poppins... what a gal!

Friday 4th May 2007

Mum and Keith came into our room at 8.30am this morning, because it's Nikki's birthday and she wanted us all there when she opened her cards and presents. Even though we're miles from home - she still did really well - getting loads of cards and money, as well as some presents from me and Emma.

At 10am we checked-out of our Miami apartments and set off for Kissimmee. We were planning to drive up the East Coast, driving through places like Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach - to see if we (me and Nikki) liked the look of anywhere to stay on our way back to Miami in a weeks time. We thought that the journey would take about 4 hours...

8 HOURS LATER we arrived at the Westgate Resort in Kissimmee. How Nikki managed to stay so calm, traveling for that long, on her birthday - i'll never know!?

We sorted our things out, did some washing and then went out to celebrate Nikki's birthday... what a disaster!

She chose to go to Cattleman's Steak House for a meal - where it all went wrong! Firstly, we all ordered starters and mine didn't turn up. When the waitress was about to bring out the steaks, I mentioned my lack of food and she bought out the alligator tail i'd ordered - delaying the main course. Then, when the steaks finally arrived, my steak (rare) was given to my Mum, and her steak (medium) was given to me - which I covered in Peppercorn Sauce. When my Mum cut into her 'rare' steak she was almost ill. So back they went... d'oh!

Throughout all the madness, Nikki and Emma really enjoyed their meals (now there's a first).

All together now: "Happy Birthday to Nikki..."

Thursday 3rd May 2007

Me, Mum and Keith decided last night that we'd get up early this morning and go for a swim in the sea. So, at 9am, we got ourselves ready and went out. Nikki and Emma said they'd follow shortly after.

After swimming for about half-an-hour and then chilling out on the beach, we went inside for some breakfast and then left for a day in South Beach.

Me and Nikki said that, instead of catching the bus, we'd like to walk along the boardwalk to get to South Beach. Mum and Keith said they quite fancied that too and after much fussing Emma (reluctantly) agreed to join us.

We gave Mum, Keith and Emma a tour of South Beach - the Versace Mansion etc, and stopped in a really cool café opposite the beach called 'Good Mood Food' for some lunch - this was lush and we all had fun!

After taking a walk along the beach and looking in all the shops, we headed back. Me and Nix walked again (you have to do these things when you're on a budget) and the others caught the bus.

Back at the apartments we decided that we'd spend some time by the pool. Mum and Keith didn't get in, but me, Nikki and Emma had fun - racing, and doing things like handstands and the lift from Dirty Dancing. Poor old Emma must have been getting tired because I only had to give her a little 'shove' and in she fell... all good fun.

About 2 hours later we decided that we'd better go in and pack as we had to be up and out by 10am tomorrow morning, to make our way up to Kissimmee for a week (possibly longer for me and the Wife!). Plus, I had to wrap someone's birthday presents!

Kissimmee... here we come!

Wednesday 2nd May 2007

We knew we were going to be waking up early today (we were off to the Everglades, and my Mum was ringing at 8.30am) - but it was still a surprise for Nikki to answer the phone at 7.40am, half asleep... to her Dad!

Apparently, everything is ok back home. Nikki spoke to her Dad, Mum and Katie - so that was a nice way to start the day.

After breakfast, we all piled into the car and set off for Everglades Safari Park where we were planning to go on an airboat ride, through the swamp, and hopefully... see some gators!

The girls didn't believe us, but me and Keith knew exactly what we were doing when we went too far along the Florida Turnpike and had to turn back through suburbia. They should be thanking us for the excursion!

We got to the park and after a couple of minutes boarded the airboat that was going to take us out. We were out for about 20 minutes, when we came across a 'Gator Hole' so our guide stopped for us to take some pictures. We saw a few small gators and when he tried to restart the engines, they wouldn't start!

So there we were, sat in an airboat that wouldn't move, a few meters from some long grass where a 10ft gator called 'The Monster' lived... waiting for help. The thing was - we were just out of signal range. He tried to move us on one engine and luckily radioed someone who came straight out.

Safely in the new boat, we made our way back and saw some really cool wildlife and some mean looking gators - all within a few feet!

Back at the park, we were given a talk on alligators and crocodiles and then me, Keith and Emma got to hold a seven-year-old one called Snappy... brilliant!

Tonight, we decided that we'd have another picnic in the garden. When it started getting dark we made my Mum and Keith get into the hammock. Once safely aboard I gave them a 'gentle' rock... until they fell out - ooopps!

Thank goodness for that rescue boat - we didn't fancy swimming back!

Tuesday 1st May 2007

Today, we had a lazy day by the pool. Just relaxing in the sun.

At lunch the Westgate Resorts staff put on a free BBQ for the guests, which was really nice - there was loads of food and drinks (which suits us!)

In the afternoon, Nikki came inside to make us all banana milkshakes, I joined her to cool down and the Liverpool vs Chelsea game was on - so I watched that until we were ready to go out.

We all drove up to the Adventura Mall, where Nikki and Emma went to a special screening of Dirty Dancing whilst me, Mum and Keith had a shop about - I had to look for someone's birthday presents... can't remember who's though!

When the film finished, we made our way back to the car and Nikki was very quiet. I asked if she was ok? and she replied with 'where are my presents? did you get me anything?'... guess we'll know on the 4th!

So far... I've had the time of my life!

Monday 30th April 2007

Our apartments are really cool, here in Miami - the sofa bed is not! It'll have to do now though - i'm not getting into the bed after Emma's been farting in there!

My Mum woke us up this morning at 8.45am to tell us she was cooking breakfast. Emma answered then fell asleep without telling us - and then my Mum rang us again at 9am (thought we were supposed to be on holiday - this is like the army!)

We decided that today we'd take a boat trip around the bay to go 'Movie Star Home' spotting (well, my Mum mentioned it as she was standing over us, as we slept and then when we finally went outside told us it was booked - bless her!). That was booked for 1.30pm.

Before our boat ride, we went to the supermarket and bought loads of food as we planned to have a picnic later in the day.

The ride around the bay was really cool. Nikki got in a mood because i didn't earn enough to buy her one of the houses (I don't earn ANYTHING any more). She told me that 'Its not fair - I deserve to live in one of these houses!'. We did see some land for sale... for $7 million.

Afterwards we looked round Bayside Market Place. Everyone had fun - Emma and Mum had a row, Nikki said she was hungry and Keith bought a hat - it was just like home!

We had our picnic outside our apartments and then sat in Mum and Keith's room chatting. Me and Nikki then went in to the lobby (where we'd found a free Wifi connection - rather than paying for the one the hotel provides) to update the blog. We'd not been able to do it while we were on the boat.

Nikki caught up with EastEnders on the BBC webpage and then we went to bed.

As we were getting to our room, this drunk woman approached us asking 'Have you seen the sand castle? It's all lit up!', so we banged on our apartment door to get Emma and the camera and set off... at about 11.30pm.

Do you think we could find this sand castle..? No! We could not. We walked the wrong way up the beach for about 20 minutes before Nikki and Emma got scared and begged that we go back - so we did. We then saw people taking pictures of something (Nikki thought the flashes were lightning) and wandered over. This sand castle was HUGE, we could've climbed in - but we didn't trust Emma to get too close - someone had spent hours making this.

We took some pictures, walked back to the apartments, where we had a little play in the hammocks, and then decided we'd had enough for one day...

Family... you gotta love 'em!