Trip USA - Los Angeles

Po miernom sklamaní, ktoré sme zažili v San Franciscu, prišla moja najobľúbenejšia časť celého tripu - cesta do Los Angeles.

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After a slight disappointment that we experienced in San Francisco, my favorite part of the whole trip came - a road trip to Los Angeles.

Prenajali sme si auto a vydali sa na cestu, o ktorej sme predpokladali, že bude trvať 10 hodín, no v skutočnosti sa to pretiahlo na takmer 24 hodín. Tie sme teda strávili v aute, s niekoľkými zastávkami v obchodoch, na plážach alebo útesoch s výhľadmi na oceán. 

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We rented a car and went on a road trip. We expected that it will take us 10 hours, but, in fact, it took us nearly 24 hours. We have spent them in the car, with several stops in the shops, the beach or just randomly overlooking the ocean.

Cesta bola neskutočne krásna, miestami nebezpečná, no výhľady na oceán, pobrežia, útesy a západ slnka boli to, čo sme si po celom lete tvrdej práce skutočne zaslúžili.

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The journey was incredibly beautiful, sometimes dangerous, but the ocean, coasts, cliffs and sunset were what we truly deserved after hard work throughout the summer.

Pár hodín mizerného spánku, dvaja šoféri a jedna "španielska" rodina. Mohlo za to španielske rádio, ktoré nás k tomu inšpirovalo. Každý si vyslúžil nejakú prezývku - Señor Crush (lebo áno, mali sme aj menšiu dopravnú kolíziu, no neskôr sa zmenil na Señor Wifi), Señor Protein (lebo áno, skutočne sa dá vyžiť na proteínových tyčinkách a mlieku), Señor Taco (lebo Taco Bell bolo skutočne na každom rohu a on nám to dal vždy vedieť), no a nakoniec Señorita Trash (lebo aj o odpadky sa musel niekto starať). 

Konečne sme dorazili do LOS ANGELES!!!

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A few miserable hours of sleep, two drivers and one 'Spanish' family. During the trip we have in fact turned into a Spanish family. All that just because of Spanish radio, which inspired us to do so. And so we each earned a nickname - Señor Crush (because yes, we also had a minor traffic collision, but later he changed to Señor Wi-Fi), Señor Protein (because yes, you really can live on protein bars and milk), Señor Taco (because Taco Bell was on every corner, and he needed to tell us every single time) and finally Señorita Trash (because someone had to take care of the trash as well).

So we finally arrived to LOS ANGELES!!!

Tu sme taktiež mali jedno z najlepších ubytovaní, ktoré chalani zabookovali cez airbnb.com. Dostať sa tam bol tiež celkom zážitok. Lebo rozhodnúť sa ísť peši v neskutočnej horúčave, niekoľko kilometrov s obrovskými kuframi, nie je dobrý nápad!

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Here we also had one of the best accommodation that guys booked through airbnb.com. Getting there was also quite an experience. We decided to walk in unbelievable heat couple of kilometers with huge suitcases... not a good idea!

Po tom sme si už len užívali mesto, pláže - Santa Monica beach, Venice beach, Manhattan beach a oceán. Veľmi nám pomohol uber.com! Je to aplikácia, kde si objednáte šoféra, on o pár minút dorazí a vezme vás kam chcete. Je to pohodlnejšie ako taxík. Výhodou tiež bolo, že každý zaregistrovaný má 20 dolárov jazdy zdarma a tak sme mali asi štyri jazdy úplne zadarmo. Lebo ak nemáte auto, tak ste v LA úplne mimo, lebo verejná doprava tam absolútne nefunguje.

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Then we just enjoyed the city, beaches - Santa Monica beach, Venice beach, Manhattan beach and the ocean. Uber.com really helped us! It is an application where you book a chauffeur, he arrives in a few minutes and take you wherever you want. It's more comfortable than a taxi. The advantage was also that each registered have $ 20 ride free, so we had about four rides for free. Because if you do not have a car in LA, you're lost, because public transport doesn´t work here at all.

Ďalšou časťou výletu bola, samozrejme, aj návšteva HOLLYWOOD-u. Išli sme teda do mesta, poprechádzali sme sa po chodníku slávy a videli sme aj Hollywoodsky znak. Lenže nie z blízka. Tu je čas na ďalšiu story!

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Another part of the trip was, of course, visit of famous HOLLYWOOD. So we went Downtown, we walked around on the Walk of Fame, and we saw the Hollywood sign. But not up close. And that leads us to another story!

Chceli sme, samozrejme, vidieť najznámejšiu "pamiatku" LA, a to nápis Hollywood. Uber šofér nám poradil, nech navštívime observatórium v Griffith parku. Odtiaľ vraj uvidíme nápis úplne najlepšie. My, ako veľmi, povedzme, spontánni cestovatelia, sme sa tam hneď dali zaviesť. Vystúpili sme. Videli sme cestičku vedúcu nahor. Tak sme sa tam vybrali. V žabkách. Prvým znakom, že niečo nie je v poriadku, mal byť fakt, že sa tam nikto okrem nás nenachádzal. Vyliezli sme hore. Mesto sme videli... lenže z druhej strany!

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We wanted, of course, to see the most famous "monument" in LA and that is the Hollywood sign. Uber driver advised us to visit the Observatory in Griffith Park. From there we were supposed to see the sign up close. We, let´s say, spontaneous travelers, went there immediately. We saw a path leading upwards. So we chose to go there. In flip-flops. The first sign that something was wrong, should have been the fact that there was no one else, just us. We climbed up. We had, in fact, seen the city... only from the other side!

Na to, aby sme sa vrátili späť, sme potrebovali Wi-Fi. To sme nenašli. Tak sme kráčali - popri hlavnej ceste, až sme si nakoniec objednali taxík. Nechali sme sa zaviesť do najbližšieho McDonaldu, kde som si na záchode umývala nohy. A poviem vám, lacnejšie som sa ešte v živote necítila.

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We wanted to get back, so we needed Wi-Fi. We didn´t find any. So we walked - along the main road until we finally ordered a taxi. We went to the nearest McDonalds where I had to wash my feet in the sink on the toilet.  And let me tell you. I´ve never felt "cheaper" in my life!

Po pokuse šoféra oklamať nás, po nočnej prechádzke v Beverly Hills, sme sa vrátili na ubytovňu, oddýchli si a na ďalší deň nás čakala cesta do LAS VEGAS!!!

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After an attempt by the driver to deceive us, we took a walk in Beverly Hills at night. Then we returned to our place, had a bit of a rest and got excited for our next stop - LAS VEGAS!!!

Goodbye LA!

Keep making memories!

Love, Em

Trip USA - San Francisco

Druhou zastávkou na našom tripe bolo San Francisco. Tu už som sa dala dokopy so skupinkou chalanov, s ktorými sme si tento trip plánovali počas leta. A tak sme ja, dvaja chalani z Poľska a jeden z Maďarska nasadli na lietadlo a vydali sa na ďalšie dobrodružstvo.

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Next stop during our trip was San Francisco. Here I´ve got together with my real travel buddies - 2 guys from Poland and one from Hungary. We got into a plane straight ahead our next adventure.

Po veternom, ale krásnom Chicagu sme sa konečne tešili na teplejšie počasie. Ani neviem prečo, ale mysleli sme si, že tam bude teplo. Nebolo. Vystúpili sme z lietadla a opäť nás čakal vietor.
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After windy, but still beautiful Chicago we were so excited to experience sun and warm weather. I don´t even know why we thought It´s super-hot in SF. It was not! We got off the plane and the wind was waiting for us.

Boli sme unavení a chceli sme si konečne odložiť kufre a ubytovať sa. Bolo celkom zložité nájsť si lacné ubytovanie. Rozdelili sme sa ale na dve skupinky. Chalani z Poľska si zohnali Couchsurfing a ja s kamarátom sme si rezervovali hostel. Po prvotnom šoku z nie celkom prívetivej atmosféry hlavnej ulice Market street a z pochybného hostela, sme sa vybrali na prechádzku po meste. Ani tá nás, bohužiaľ, nepresvedčila o krásach tohto mesta.
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We were super tired and just wanted to put away our luggage and check in to our hostel. It was pretty hard to find cheap one here. At this point we split in two groups. Polish guys did Couchsurfing and me and my Hungarian buddy went to this not so cheap hostel in the most ghetto area of the city. After the initial shock of not entirely welcoming atmosphere of the Market Street and dubious hostel, we went for a walk through the city. Even this, unfortunately, did not convince us about the beauties of this city.

Keď ste svedkom dílovania drog, šialených ľudí, ktorí pobehujú s nožom za opaskom či pouličných gangov, ktorým sa vyhýbate ako sa len dá, prvý dojem isto nie je pozitívny. Nepomohol tomu ani nepretržitý zápach trávy, ktorý sa šíril po celom meste. A tak prišlo prvý deň sklamanie.

Nálada sa nám zdvihla, keď sme ponavštevovali Pier, China Town, Little Italy a podobné štvrte, ktoré už pôsobili o čosi živšie a ľudskejšie.
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When you witness drug dealing, mad people running around with a knife in a belt or street gangs, which you try to avoid as much as possible, the first impression is certainly not positive. Continuous smell of weed did not help either, it was spread all around the city. And so came the first day of disappointment.
The mood got better when we visited Pier, China Town, Little Italy and similar districts.

Ďalší deň konečne vykuklo aj slniečko a mali sme namierené, kam inam, na Golden Gate Bridge. Ten sa skutočne oplatilo vidieť, ale dovolím si tvrdiť, že je to jediné lákadlo tohto mesta. Tiež sa nám páčilo v Golden gate parku. Večer sme sa previezli povestným Cable car. Stihli sme tiež Russian Hill a Lombard street. Tieto časti sme si užili a konečne sme sa cítili ako na skutočnom tripe.
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The next day the sun finally showed up and we headed to the one and only Golden Gate Bridge. It is really worth seeing, but I would say that this is truly the only attraction of this city. Also we quite enjoyed Golden Gate Park. In the evening we tried Cable Car. We also managed to go to Russian Hill and Lombard Street.

 

Strmé uličky San Francisca sú čarovné. Mesto malo čosi do seba cez deň aj v noci (to už sme sa ale báli o vlastný život).

Po pár pivách, stretnutiach s divnými domácimi, šváboch v izbe a po sprche, ktorá sa nachádzala na konci tej najstrašidelnejšej chodby, sme zhodnotili, že sa to oplatilo vidieť a zažiť, no už by sme sa tam pravdepodobne nevrátili.
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Steep streets of San Francisco are truly magical. The city had something special to offer during the day as well as at night (to be honest by this time we were afraid for our lives).
After a few beers, meet-ups with strange natives, cockroaches in the hostel room and after the shower, which was located at the end of scariest hallway ever, we assessed that it was worth to see and experience, but we wouldn´t probably return.

Next stop? LA!

Keep travelling!

Love, Em

Trip USA - Chicago

Leto sa skončilo. Aj pracovne aj dovolenkovo. Po tom, čo sme si odmakali dva mesiace v detskom tábore vo Wisconsin Dells, sme si konečne mohli užiť cestovanie, kvôli ktorému sme tu všetci pôvodne prišli.

Ako sa však ukázalo, v kempe nám bolo skvele, ja osobne som revala ako malé decko, keď prišiel čas odísť.

Po slzách a rozlúčkach ale prišlo cestovanie a našou prvou zastávkou bolo krásne Chicago.

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Summer is officially over. After we worked for two months in camp in Wisconsin Dells, we were finally able to enjoy traveling - the real reason why we all came to USA.

However, at the end of the camp we were all sad it´s over. I was crying like a little kid when it was time to say goodbye.

After tears and heartbreaking goodbyes we started our trip and our first stop was lovely

 CHICAGO

Keď ste dva mesiace zatvorení v malom mestečku, ktoré je obklopené krásnou prírodou, jazerami a turistami, každé iné miesto sa vám zdá o čosi viac veľkolepejšie. A tak sa môže veľmi ľahko stať, že keď vystúpite z metra v Chicagu, zostanete stáť s otvorenými ústami. Lebo západ slnka odrážajúci sa v  zrkadlových stenách mrakodrapov je jednoducho nádherný!

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When you spend two months in small town surrounded by beautiful nature, lakes and tourists, every other place you see after that seems like a big deal to you. And so It´s very possible that after you get off the subway in Chicago, you might stand with your mouth open when you see the sunset reflecting in mirrored walls of skyscrapers!

Chicago bolo mesto plné krásnych výhľadov, mrakodrapov. Drinky na 95-tom poschodí či Skydeck na 103-tom nám ukázali celé mesto v plnej kráse v noci aj počas dňa.

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Chicago is city of views and skyscrapers. Drinks at 95th floor or Skydeck at 103rd floor showed us the whole city in its beauty - night and day. 

I keď sa hovorí, že si to najlepšie treba nechať na koniec, v mojom prípade to prišlo hneď na začiatku. Videli sme veľa miest, prešli sme cez množstvo štátov a oblastí, no Chicago ostalo mojím najobľúbenejším od začiatku až do konca.
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Even though they say, you should save the best for last, in my case the best came as first. We have seen a lot of places, we went through lot of states and areas, but Chicago remained my number one throughout the whole trip.

Má všetko, čo si viete pod pojmom moderné mesto predstaviť. Život, kultúru, krásne a predovšetkým čisté prostredie, ľudí, atrakcie, jazero s čírou vodou, pestrý nočný život. Toto mesto mi učarovalo a určite sa tam chcem ešte vrátiť! A aj keď sme denne nachodili priemerne 20 km (poctivo zrátané mojou spolucestovateľkou), užili sme si každý jeden krok.

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The city has everything you can imagine. Life, culture, beautiful and clean environment, interesting people, attractions, lake with the most clear water, exciting nigh life. I felt in love with this place and I want to go back there for sure. Even though we walked approximately 20 km each day (fairly counted by my lovely travel buddy), we enjoyed every single step along the way.

Keep discovering!

Love, Em