I was lucky enough to go travelling two weekends in a row, visiting two very important cities. The first weekend of October took us to Orlando, Florida, which was booked about 10 days in advance (in our typical late fashion) and was surprisingly cheap despite us only being there for two days. Desperate to go away somewhere but only being able to go for the weekend had originally given us the idea of going to Pittsburgh, a city in the next State, but that fell through for various reasons. However a sceptical look on SkyScanner offered us very cheap flights to the Sunshine State, so we booked the tickets and impatiently waited for our newly planned holiday. Friday afternoon came around (albeit slowly) and we left Cleveland Airport with predictably mild October weather, and were somewhat astonished to step out of the aeroplane in Orlando in the ~32° heat and bright sunshine, especially with it already being 5pm. We jumped in an uber and went straight to the hotel to drop off our luggage before getting some food. Our enthusiastic uber driving was keen to have his radio on full volume and blast some heavy beats whilst driving with the windows down and the car rooftop open. You can imagine how exciting and moviestar-esque this was for us after a month in boring Kent. We sat in the back seats with our sunglasses on and absolutely loved it.
Sadly, we were only there for 48 hours before having to fly back to Cleveland but we managed to pack in so much in that short amount of time. It was truly an amazing and thoroughly enjoyable weekend. I rarely say that I'd like to revisit a place because there are so many cities and countries in the world that I haven't yet been to, but I can definitely say I'd love to go back to Orlando. Been there, done that, and I did actually get the t-shirt, but I would still go again.
We get back to Kent on the Sunday evening, and jet off again less than 84 hours later, this time to Boston, Massachusetts, for our "fall break" holiday. Our 6 am flight was not fun and it's the only time I'll ever be getting up before 4 am (or even 5 am for that matter) but it was worth it to have the whole of the first day there. Sadly, it rained for the majority of the time we were there, but we made the most of it anyway by putting on big raincoats and breaking our umbrellas in the strong North Eastern wind. They say that Fall is the best season to visit New England, and they're not wrong. We dearly missed the previous weekend's sunshine but the fresh air off the Atlantic sea felt so beneficial to both my mental and physical health, just by clearing my head with new, clean air, and the orange leaves on the trees in the low sun of the late afternoon was so beautiful to see.
Boston showed us a vibrant nightlife, which we couldn't experience because of having a minor with us (sad 😞), as well as a lively, working business hub. It also felt very touristy, despite us being there during the working week, due to many merchandise/souvenir shops and a lot of photograph taking holiday makers. The big British and Irish influence in New England was obvious and supported by the (other) strongly accented Brits, looking at the different types of "English breakfast tea" that all the shops were proudly selling with pictures of the Queen's face and her Corgis. Along with looking over the Harbour towards the Atlantic, this did make me feel very close to home. Again, the holiday was too short but it was still great to go to a new State and see a little bit more of the world.
Our next trip is in the planning so watch this space. In the meantime, here are some holiday pics to make you all jealous ☺
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| Outside Universal Studios, Orlando. |
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| Relaxing on a rubber ring in our semi-private pool in Orlando, featuring an emergency-bought bikini. |
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| The View of Boston from the 50th floor observatory deck. |
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| Me looking out to England and dreaming of all the Heinz baked beans that I'm going to eat when I get home. |
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| Boston Harbour. |
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| Boston Public Garden. This is just a bonus pic because I like how good my camera is. |
