USA

United States

Day 26 - Thr 4 May 06

Denver -> Sleeper to Chicago

Awake early in my huge room - the bill has been pushed under my door - for $325, that made getting back to sleep a bit tricky, but I managed it until about 09:00. On check out it was the same lady who had shown me the room, and she said it was a mistake - phew! Then it was a repeat of yesterday - I popped into the library to use the Internet, I tried to do the US Mint tour, but there were no spaces left.. Then it was down to the Art Museum, but it's pretty much shut at the moment as they are re-building it. However the toilets are fun, as you wash your hands a speaker hidden in the overflow start to play " Row, Row Row Your Boat". I tried three sinks and got quite a harmony going. Mad!

B&F Building

Downtown I popped into a camera shop and got a 1Gb Xd card for $88, and then visited the B&F tower which is based on the tower in St. Mark's in Venice. You can't go up the tower, but downstairs is a night club, which the owner let me have a look around.

I've been the States a few times, and I've never seen a two dollar bill. In fact I had begin to wonder if they existed. The US Mint confirmed that they do, and that they are legal tender, but they haven't been issued since 2003 (people didn't like them), so I headed for a bank and queued up and asked for one!

Then it was off to Barnes and Nobel to get a book, I settled on "Baghdad without a Map". I have now exhausted what you can do in downtown Denver without a car! I re-visited the Italian restaurant I ate at yesterday for lunch, and only then did I realise that I hadn't eaten since then - it was a big pizza!

I love a bargain, and hate being ripped off, so when I saw a 1Gb Xd card for $44 I has gutted - okay that included a $10 mail in refund, but even $54 is quite a saving over $88. So I went back and returned the card I bought earlier and got the cheaper on!

The train was supposed to depart at 19:25, but didn't get in to Denver until 21:30, but it's good to be back on the train. What you lose in freedom, you gain in certainty. I don't have to worry about how to get to Chicago, that is taken care for me. My American Odyssey is nearly over, just one more sight to see - Niagara.

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