Traveling the USA: from the Pacific to the Atlantic
On the morning of September 9.2011, I flew from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. During the flight, which took about an hour, I was flooded with a wave of memories: "When I was about ten years old, I saw some movie made in Hollywood, and I really wanted to see California. I then calculated how much I need for this and voiced the necessary amount to his uncle and expressed his intention to fly there. He said that he buried this money under the ground near the house. Naturally, I did not believe in this, and for a long time California remained only a dream for me. " And so my plane lands at the airport in Los Angeles and my foot enters California soil.........
Well, now about everything in order.
It all started with the fact that in 2011 I decided to fly outside of Europe - to the USA. The preparation took a long time. I started preparing for the trip in 2010. I was interested in a program called Work and Travel. It makes it possible to work in the United States during the summer and travel around the country for another month after work. I was quite satisfied with such conditions.
At first I asked myself: should I go alone or in the company of friends? The second option suits me better. I was not the only one who liked the idea of going to the USA. My brother Kolya did not need to be convinced - he agreed quickly, but I did the paperwork, since he lives in Kharkov. Later, my classmate Masha agreed to go with us. She had already been to America under this program before and was going to go there again. Luckily, she agreed to come with us. A little later, another person agreed to go, whom I have known for a long time - this is Dasha. I made quite a few diplomatic efforts for this, and it paid off. Still, it’s not in vain that I study at the Faculty of Law (at the time of registration for the trip I was in my third year). Looking ahead, I’ll say that when all of us, except for Kolya, came to register for the program, Dasha came with her friend Nastya.
I started looking for agencies that do this. There are enough of them in Simferopol. I studied the offers of different companies, and my choice fell on the "Alliance". To those who are too lazy to read further, I will say that I was not mistaken and did not regret it at all. They did an excellent job.
In November of that year, we registered for this program. At that moment, I still could not believe that I would be away from home all summer.
At the beginning of 2011, we all went through an interview with a sponsor and in February we received a contract. We all had to work in the city of Nashville, Tennessee. An important step has been taken towards the American Dream. Despite the fact that the contract was in hand, I still had a lot to do.
In addition to the main Faculty of Law, I also study by correspondence at the Faculty of Foreign Philology (English Language and Literature). And, therefore, before the trip I had to pass two sessions ahead of schedule. I decided to pass the session at the correspondence department ahead of schedule before the interview at the embassy. I had two months to do it. And I did it!
At the end of April, I had an interview at the US Embassy. The procedure for obtaining it is different from the procedure for obtaining a Schengen visa. You need to go to Kyiv and have an interview with a visa officer, and answer a few questions in English, after which you will immediately find out the result.
My brother and I left for Kyiv well in advance. Then it was Monday - the day off after Easter. My interview was scheduled for Tuesday, and for Kolya on Wednesday. We had a free day to walk around Kiev. Until that moment, I was in Kyiv already in 2007. I even missed our native capital, because it is one of my favorite cities in the world. We walked through the main attractions. And we stopped at the Rus Hotel, where I booked a room in advance for two nights.
The next morning, Dasha and Nastya arrived in Kyiv, and the four of us went to the embassy. I, Dasha and Nastya passed the interview in a few hours. We received visas. My brother received the visa the next day. Masha's interview was scheduled for May, and she also received a visa without any problems.
Next, we were waiting for the purchase of air tickets. We settled on the next one. We had to fly to Nashville from Kyiv with two transfers - in London and in Chicago. But back to Ukraine - from New York with one connection in London. This route is due to our desire to visit interesting places in the United States, so we could get to New York from where we wanted and how we wanted. But Kolya's return flight was a week earlier than ours.
Before flying to the USA, I just had to close the session at the Faculty of Law, which I successfully did.
At the end of May 2011, the day of departure came. I said goodbye to my relatives until autumn and left for Kyiv by train, where I was supposed to meet my brother, since he traveled to Kyiv from Kharkov. After the meeting, we headed to Boryspil airport. After praying for a safe flight, I boarded a British Airways flight to London. When I checked in, I asked for a window seat. Our team was scattered throughout the plane. I was sitting in the tail alone on three chairs. The journey to England took three and a half hours. Before that, I flew only to Turkey and Egypt and only with Ukrainian airlines. A magnificent takeoff and beautiful weather opened the panorama of Kyiv. How lucky I am to see many sights from a bird's eye view. I love our capital! After climbing, the passengers were served drinks and lunch, and when we flew over the territory of Poland, common monitors turned on with a map, which displayed the flight speed, altitude, arrival time in London and, of course, the location of the aircraft. Soon we flew up to London. From the height of the capital of Great Britain, I really liked it. I tried to see the world-famous sights of London, but I couldn't do it from the plane. But I really wanted to visit Britain. At the main airport in London, we made a transfer to an ocean-going Boeing flying to the USA - to Chicago. It took about nine hours to get there. The flight was carried out by a Boeing 767, the partners of the British - American Airlines. It was my first flight on an ocean liner. After climbing, we were served drinks and dinner. On the plane, I thought about what would await me in a completely different country. But I had a huge desire to visit as many sights as possible, to get acquainted with another culture, to have a cool vacation. And now there was very little time left to Chicago. We were served some more food and the plane began to descend. Upon arrival, we had another transfer to another plane, which was already departing directly to Nashville - to my place of work. But before that, we had to go through US customs. It was fast and we headed to the plane that was flying to Nashville. It was a small plane of American Airlines, the flight time was only an hour and a half. The plane arrived there at night, but the sponsor booked a hotel for us, and in the morning he promised to meet us in the lobby of this hotel.
So, the USA. . . This is a state, the area of which is comparable to the area of all of Europe and stretches from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean, from the evergreen places that border Canada to the arid deserts that border Mexico in the south plus Alaska and the Hawaiian Islands. The first European settlement in the United States was founded by the Spaniards in 1585, and 22 years later the first British colony in America was founded (the city of Jamestown, Virginia). Also, the Dutch (New Amsterdam - current New York), the French and even the Swedes are developing their colonies in the United States. However, the United States of America itself was formed in 1776, after 13 British colonies united. After that, there were warriors and uprisings, the adoption of the world's oldest Constitution (1787) and many other events. And today America consists of 50 states, the Federal District of Columbia and has a number of islands under its control. Currently, the United States has one of the highest economic indicators in the world, has a powerful armed forces, and is a member of many political organizations.
And, fortunately, I had the opportunity not only to see this country, but also to feel it from the inside.
In the morning, Muzo was waiting for us - a representative of the sponsor, who helped with all the necessary paperwork and allowed us to call home, to Ukraine. At work, we were told to walk for three days, then come for a paid orientation, which is mandatory before starting work.
On the first day we decided to inspect the place of our work. This is a huge hotel complex under the closed sky, which, in addition to the hotel, consists of many restaurants, and various other recreational facilities, such as swimming pools, gyms, spas, etc. But this complex is famous primarily for its gardens with tropical plants, waterfalls flowing into a huge lake and a singing fountain, which I constantly admired. And all this under the roof of one hotel. In the evening we checked into a hotel where we met Sasha and Andrey. We will live with them until the end of the working part of the program and become practically family people. Although from time to time, for various reasons, we will move from hotel to hotel, but even in our thoughts, no one will change their neighbors.
The next day, my brother Kolya and I decided to get acquainted with the city of Nashville. This city is the capital of Tennessee and the capital of country music. There are many skyscrapers in the city center, where there are offices of many different companies, hotels, cafes, restaurants. The center also houses stadiums and the famous Bridgestone arena, where the NHL team Nashville Predators is based, and various celebrities come there with their performances. Not only famous country musicians were born in Nashville, but also singer and actress Miley Cyrus, the super famous singer Taylor Swift found her calling in this city. Elvis Presley, although born in nearby Memphis, began his career in Nashville.
Nashville is also rich in parks, museums and other attractions. When I arrived in the city center, I couldn't help but notice the Greek Revival building that sits at the top of the Hill. This is the Tennessee State Congress building. Nearby is the beautiful building of the district court. But in the evening a surprise awaited me - I saw a real country music festival, which was held on one of the central streets of Nashville. To be honest, fifteen minutes later I got tired of him. Some kind of monotonous this music, and one song is similar to another.
Last weekend, my brother and I decided to see another attraction in Nashville - this is an exact copy of the famous Greek Parthenon, the original of which is located in Athens. Its copy is the only full-size one in the world. The Parthenon in Nashville was built in 1897 for the international exhibition commemorating the centenary of the entry of the state of Tennessee into the United States, and it is about 2200 years younger than its original. After seeing the copy, I wanted to see the Athenian Parthenon.
After this walk, my brother and I decided to return to the hotel. But already at the bus stop we met friends and went with them to the shopping mall. This is a huge supermarket with many stores in one building offering endless discounts on their products. We returned to the hotel in the evening.
In the next three days, the Ukrainians had a paid orientation before work. On the first day we were taken around the complex itself. It consists of several departments. The first is called "cascades". There are two beautiful waterfalls flowing into the lake. Another department is called "gardens". There are magnificent tropical gardens. The third department, where I had to work, is the most beautiful, and it is called "delta island". It is surrounded by canals, on which tourists can ride for a fee. There is a singing fountain in the center of the island. This spectacle never gets boring, despite the fact that I looked at it quite often. And before that, I saw singing fountains only once - in 2005, in Prague. But the biggest impression on me was that this complex is located under a transparent roof, where an appropriate microclimate is maintained. And only one pool is in the open air. Another department "magnolia" is not remarkable in any way, as it is located under a completely closed roof. This hotel is also connected by underground tunnels, which are only accessible to hotel employees.
The next day we were taken to other buildings belonging to our hotel. This is a golf club, and a recording studio, and a pleasure boat, as well as a cafe in the city center, which belongs to our hotel.
Then the first days of work began. It should be noted the politeness of the Americans, who always helped us in everything, explained everything we needed. And my duties included selling pizza until the end of June, then in July I had to sell ice cream and in August hamburgers. But all this infrastructure is located two steps away from each other. Sales rules are very different from Ukrainian ones: you must always smile, ask "how are you", sometimes just talk about life with buyers. I came up with my own "fun" style of work, which was liked not only by visitors, but also by work colleagues. For this, almost until the end of the summer, I received a huge amount of working time, which means that there were practically no financial problems.
The parties were not long in coming. My neighbors invited the Americans - and we all had a good time. Later they came to visit us more than once.
At the end of June, I saw my future American friend Devin for the first time, but at that time we were practically strangers. I also started to work on the second part of the program - traveling. Back in Ukraine, I dreamed during my trip to visit the Grand Canyon. After my second paycheck in the USA, I never doubted for a minute that I would do it. But about what places I visited in America, I will tell later.
But already in July I started working with Devin. One very hot day we went to play basketball. I knocked out my friend's finger after an inaccurate transmission, and this became the starting point of our friendship. He not only did not sue me in court for damages (as they often do), but also said that everything was fine with him and did not even go to the doctor.
In July, the number of birthdays also increased. How funny and interesting they were! One of them was with Sasha from Chernivtsi. He invited many Ukrainians, including me, and his American friends, with whom he worked. The fun went on for a long time. The cake was on the face of the birthday boy. After that, we went for a swim in the pool, which was already closed. The police came to us and politely asked us to get out of it, since it was already closed. Birthdays continued until August. Each of them is funny, interesting, not like the other.
I managed to visit the American water park. And it was paid for by the company where I worked. The price also included lunch. Before that, I was in water parks: in Krakow, in Kharkov and not far from the city of Gothenburg (Sweden). But this water park was special. He was in the open air, and he had access to the shore of a picturesque lake. And nature impressed me much more than slides. And I already wanted to get to the other, rocky shore of the lake.
At that time, I still didn’t have any camera, and I asked all the beauty to take pictures of my friends, and then send me photos. I decided that the camera is already very necessary. Back in Ukraine, my mother gave me some money to buy a camera. I, having contacted my mother via Skype, said that I would buy a SLR camera. When he was needed too. We waited until the days of sales without taxes come in the USA (the amount of goods on the price tag is not final, more taxes are added to it - this is usually 10 - 15% of the cost of the goods, depending on the state and on the product). And we chose a new SLR camera for ourselves, and I also took an additional lens for myself, which makes seemingly unrealistic photos.
I've already photographed downtown Nashville myself. The center itself was 30 minutes away by bus. However, my travel there was free, and I had to go there very often. I remember the trip with Sasha and Andrey, then we tried real American pasta. Many times we went there with Kolya for various reasons.
Once Devin agreed to take me and show me his apartment. There were three rooms, but he rented them. He treated me to the most delicious espresso I've ever tasted in the States. But we also drove with him to the auto repair shop. He wanted to change the wheel on the car. How similar are Ukrainian and American car repair shops! While the car was being repaired, we went shopping. And suddenly Devin got a call: the masters convinced him to change all four wheels. On the way to the city center, there was a beautiful view of the pedestrian bridge. It takes about 25 minutes to get to this bridge on foot from my hotel, but you need to go there first along the autobahn, and then off-road. Julia agreed to go with me. She comes from Cherkassy, and during the summer we became very good friends with her. The view from the bridge is very beautiful - it's worth it to go there.
I was lucky to play bowling in America. This pleasure is cheaper per person than it comes out to me in Ukraine. This game contributed to the creation of a new team, which included me, Kolya, Devin and Yulia, and we called ourselves "Dream team".
Already in August, an announcement was posted at work where everyone could take part in a golf tournament. The tournament was supposed to take place on September 6, just the day before my flight to Las Vegas. To participate in it, it was necessary to put up a team of four people, and a dress code was also needed. The cost of participation was very small. With a dress code, I will solve my problems later, and the whole team eventually agreed to play. Devin was chosen as the captain, since he had already played golf three times before, all the other participants had less experience: none of us had ever played golf.
Training started right away. More precisely, she was alone, to which Kolya did not appear. It was the first time he and I were not together at an event. I had no idea that it was very difficult to hit the ball with a club. But then we laughed a lot and decided that it would be for our happiness to at least finish in the tournament. After that, Devin took us to the rocky shore of the lake. After I was swimming, I looked at the other side and saw a water park. I then stood on that coast on which wanted to get.
A little later, the four of us got together, but went to play a completely new game for me - disc golf. According to the rules of this game, it is necessary to throw a plastic plate into a basket, which is located about a hundred meters from the place of the throw. Whoever makes the fewest attempts is the winner. After the game, we went to a picnic hosted by Devin's friends.
Summer is coming to an end, it's time to travel. The second part of the program was already fully booked, all tickets and hotels booked. But there was another trip. Julia really wanted to go to the amusement park, which is located on the shores of Lake Erie in the very north of Ohio near the Canadian border. She managed to persuade Devin to go there by car, and I joined them. This was the second time that Kolya did not go with me.
But before the trip, interesting things happened.
The head of our food department led a seminar, organized a dinner and answered our questions. It was my friend Gideon. He also showed us the presidential suite of the hotel, which costs $5.000 per night, and told me personally that this suite is waiting for me when I become a good and highly paid lawyer. God grant that this happens, and then I will definitely take it off.
I wanted to film singing fountains on my video camera, but my camera broke. And I had two options: either take pictures of all the sights, or buy a new camera. I chose the second option, but I decided to shoot the fountains after Ohio.
Our plan was to drive there all day, ride the rides the next day, and drive back to Nashville at night. We booked the hotel and entrance tickets in advance via the Internet. In the morning we left. Our path lay in the proud Sandusky, in northern Ohio. We had to drive through the states of Tennessee, Kentucky and, of course, through all of Ohio. The state of Kentucky is rich in attractions and they are not far from the highway. We drove past the Corvette Museum. This brand of car is manufactured in this state. Too bad we didn't get to see it from the inside. However, millions of tourists come to Kentucky not for this museum, but to see the world-famous Mammoth Caves. This is the longest chain of caves in the world - hence the name. And they are located in the national park of the same name. These caves were formed about ten million years ago. And I managed to persuade Devin to turn off the main road and drive up to the location of the entrance to one of the caves. Mammoth Caves is the common name for a chain of caves, and there are many caves themselves. I walked along a bit and unfortunately didn't get inside as it would have taken a long time and the path ahead was long.
Our next stop was already in the state of Ohio - in the city of Cincinnati. At the beginning of the summer, I met a man from Ohio. And since I know geography, I was the first to talk to him about Cincinnati, and we became friends right up until the moment he got off the bus. But I never thought that I would be there. In appearance, this city is similar to Nashville: the same skyscrapers, but I liked the bridges. I haven't bought a golf uniform yet, and there's a dress code. I wanted to do this in Cincinnati, but when we arrived, almost everything was closed, and I did not like what I saw. But then I saw a new city.
Outside this city, we stopped in a recreation area, where we had dinner.
A few kilometers later we were stopped by the traffic police. She checked our documents, everything was in order. We took pictures with them and left. The courtesy of the American police should be noted. Our traffic police will never ask the driver how he is doing. And communication with the American traffic police even raised my spirits.
Finally we got to the city of Sandusky and using the navigator we easily found our hotel.
The next day after breakfast we went to the park itself, which is called Cedar point. It is rightfully considered the best amusement park in the United States. There are many huge roller coasters, a free fall tower, various other attractions, as well as a huge beach. This park is bordered by Lake Erie.
The first half of the day we rode on all possible slides. After that, we went to the beach and swam in the lake, and then walked in the park. But I was already tired of the slides, I could not ride them for a long time. And we agreed to meet with Yulia and Devin after a while, as they continued to ride, but I got into the train and calmly rode around the park. We were in the park until its closing.
And then all our plans right up to my flight to Las Vegas were violated. But maybe it's for the best. We planned to drive back to Nashville at night. But we were very tired and after dinner we decided to stay at the hotel and leave in the morning. And it started to rain heavily. We had dinner at McDonald's. There I met other students from Russia and Ukraine. They worked at this amusement park, but they were not as lucky as me. They could not travel the way I did due to lack of funds.
We arrived at the same hotel, where, as if specially for us, there was a three-bed room.
In the morning, I managed to persuade Devin to deviate a little from the route on the way home and stop by Cleveland. So we did. But since I missed one day at work, I called my manager Amir and told him about everything that happened to us. Already in Cleveland, I got to the fighter air show.
When we left this city, we stopped at a huge shopping mall, where I bought myself golf clothes. Then we had dinner and went to Nashville. On the way it started to rain again. And we had to go at night. So that it would not be boring, Yulia turned on Ukrainian songs and we sang the famous songs of the Okean Elzy group as a duet.
We arrived almost a day later than planned and I almost immediately went to work. On the same day, I was informed that the golf tournament was canceled due to rain. But it's okay.
The day before flying to Las Vegas, almost everyone who stayed in Nashville went to a buffet-style buffet, where you need to pay money for entry and you can eat as much as you like. Only for a drink you need to pay separately. Western Europe is full of such establishments.
I also Skyped my agency in Simferopol and thanked them for the excellent organization and the wonderful summer that I spent in the USA. But there is still travel time ahead.
Our neighbors Sasha and Andrey flew to Ukraine on September 6th. WI-FI broke down on my phone and Andrey gave me his iPhone, which I returned to him after returning to Ukraine.
In the evening I walked around the resort again.
Already early in the morning, my brother and I were at the Nashville airport and were waiting for the flight to Las Vegas. From Nashville, we were supposed to fly to Denver, where we changed planes to Las Vegas.
Given the time zones, we were already there at noon and went to our hotel, which is called "Riviera". Hotels there are relatively inexpensive, as the main profit comes from casinos and various shows. Only here you can settle in many hotels only if at least one person is 21 years old. It is from this age that you can play in a casino in the USA, as well as buy alcoholic products. The age requirement for this hotel is 18 years old.
Las Vegas is the capital of the US gambling business, one of the largest gambling cities in the world. The city was founded in 1905 and at that time it had nothing to do with gambling. A few years later, such a business began to flourish. But in the thirties there was a ban on gambling. And only after the Second World War, Las Vegas really began to become the capital of casinos and other similar establishments. In the sixties the city was ruled by the mafia and built many hotels, among them the hotel where we stayed. Mafia is a thing of the past these days. There are a large number of hotels in the city now, and each of the hotels is attractive in its own way.
When Kolya and I checked into a hotel, we found a map with the sights of Las Vegas. They are mostly found in hotels. Basically, all the world-famous hotels are located on Las Vegas Boulevard, called the Las Vegas Strip. We decided to immediately go to the northern part of the strip to the "Stratosphere" hotel and move gradually to the south of the strip, where the "Mandala Bay" hotel is located. We decided to visit the most interesting hotels. The boulevard itself stretches for about five miles.
We approached the Stratosphere Hotel. It consists of over a hundred floors. On the roof of this hotel are some of the scariest rides in the world and an observation deck. We bought tickets for them. To go upstairs, you must go through a security check, much like at the airport, after which a high-speed elevator delivers to one of the upper floors. The site offers a view of the whole of Las Vegas. And you can see not only the luxurious hotels of the strip, but also the houses of the residents who serve tourists. Not all of them look rich. You can also see the desert. The city itself is located in the Mojave Desert, and its water comes from a reservoir that does not dry out due to the rapid flow of the Colorado River. We climbed to the top floor, where the rides were waiting for us. It took me a long time to decide to go to the first of them, but I went. It is a carousel that spins above the ground at a great height. It offers good views of the city and the desert. When the carousel was already spinning, the fear completely disappeared. On the next ride, I was tilted almost 90 degrees above the ground at the same huge height. At the third ride, I didn’t buy a ticket initially, since I had never ridden a free-fall tower. Emotions after visiting this hotel went wild. We moved on. We pass such famous hotels as "Circus circus" where I took a picture with a clown, and this hotel hosts the world-famous Cirque du Soleil show; hotel "Riviera", where we stayed; hotel "Wynn", which is famous for its boutiques and expensive restaurants inside. And so we got to the hotel "Venetian". It is an exact copy of some of the sights of Venice. This hotel has its own Piazza San Marco, its canals, its gondolas, and even the sky. When you move from one hall to another, the lighting changes and you move from morning to evening. This hotel is simply huge, and you can find out what time of day it is outside the window only by looking at the clock. We moved down the strip and passed the Paris Hotel, which is famous for its replica of the Eiffel Tower. Next to it is another part of Italy - this is the hotel "Cesar Palace". But he rather represented the Roman part of Italy. The famous movie "The Hangover" was filmed in this hotel.
Speaking of movies, there were a lot of them filmed in Las Vegas.
The Treasure Island Hotel is famous for its free pirate show, which takes place three times a day. But before this show, Kolya and I went inside this hotel. The casino is just huge. But this is a separate topic of Vegas. Constant lighting is maintained there, there are no clocks. The maximum concentration goes to slot machines. Some people sit in the casino for more than a day without noticing it. And even if you win something, in order to get to the cashier to receive your winnings, you will pass by many other slot machines. But this is the principle of all casinos, not only Las Vegas ones.
The show itself, to be honest, is not very interesting. But this is not the only free show. Hotel "Mirage" is famous for its show - a volcanic eruption. Another free show, in my opinion, the most spectacular, takes place at the Bellagio Hotel - a show of singing fountains. It takes place every fifteen minutes from eight to twelve at night. I have seen singing fountain shows in Prague and Nashville before, but I have never seen anything like it in my life. Water flew 30-50 meters up and their diameter is also huge.
After this hotel there are smaller hotels compared to the previous ones. However, each is beautiful in its own way. The Luxor Hotel is a replica of the Egyptian pyramid and Sphinx, while the New-York Hotel has a replica of the Statue of Liberty and a roller coaster. But I didn't get to ride them. At the end of Las Vegas is the Mandala Bay Hotel.
We walked a few miles and it was past midnight. We returned to our hotel by minibus and, tired, went to bed. After all, in the morning we had a trip to the most beautiful place on Earth - the Grand Canyon.
Kolya and I chose different travel options. You can go to the western or southern part of the Grand Canyon. I ordered a longer route for myself and drove south. Kolya had a flight to Washington in the evening, then he had to go to New York, and from there fly to Ukraine. That morning I broke up with my brother for the third time, and we met already in Ukraine.
This excursion was a one-day bus tour. I have a lot of experience with one-day and multi-day bus tours, so a fourteen hour tour is a pleasure for me.
The trip started in Las Vegas. I saw the strip again: during the day it is not as beautiful as in the evening. As soon as our bus left it, I saw the life of those people who serve casinos and tourists. These are ordinary residential areas in appearance, however, it is not recommended for tourists to go there at night. Immediately outside the city begins the Mojave Desert. It stretches across several states. In the recreation area we stopped for breakfast. After a quick meal at McDonald's, I captured beautiful views of the desert.
Before the Grand Canyon, our bus drove past another Nevada landmark - past the Hoover Dam. This is a great building both in size and significance. Prior to the construction of this dam, the Colorado River regularly flooded the area. And only US President Henry Hoover solved this problem and built a dam.
Soon we left Nevada for Arizona, and after a while the scenery outside the window changed. The desert was left behind, the forest began. I was even surprised, because Arizona is a desert state.
Before the main goal, there was one more stop for lunch, which was included in the cost of the tour. But after a while we finally arrived.
I have been waiting for this trip for so long and it exceeded all my expectations. It's hard to put into words what I saw, but I'll try.
The Grand Canyon is a gorge more than 400 kilometers long, and in some places it reaches 30 kilometers wide, up to 2000 meters deep. Included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The Grand Canyon was carved by the Colorado River. About seventy million years ago, there was a movement of the earth's crust, as a result of which the plateau rose, and the river changed the angle of its flow, thereby increasing its speed. After this point, she began to wash out the rocks. First, limestones (top rock) were washed out, and then sandstones with shales, and after them the river reached granite. And today the Grand Canyon contains the richest geological material. This is what explains the presence of multi-colored rocks. But the river did not flow smoothly, leaving many cliffs. I was far behind the group, climbing almost every cliff at first to take as many photos as possible. Some of them were not easy to climb, but the photos there turned out to be very beautiful. But I had to speed up a little and caught up with the guys from St. Petersburg. Turns out we live in the same hotel. Then we walked together and took pictures of each other. A vulture sat on one of the rocks. I thought it was a good sign and took a picture of it.
There is a so-called time trail in the Grand Canyon South, with every step forward you move ten million years. Scientists calculated the age of the rocks and I stood on a stone that is one and a half billion years old, although some consider this trail only a tourist attraction. But the fact that the Grand Canyon contains four geological eras of the Earth is a fact.
It's a pity that I spent so little time there. This is perhaps the most unique natural place on Earth. I didn't want to leave there. But ahead of me were waiting for new places that I also wanted to visit. Thank you, Grand Canyon, for the irresistible, wonderful impressions you made on me! During my departure, I was lucky to see a moose. On the way there was another stop for dinner at McDonald's. It was quite a long way to Las Vegas and our guide showed us films that were filmed in Vegas.
I also managed to see the Hoover Dam at night. The backlight is very beautiful. Upon my return to Las Vegas, I sent the guys photos, as their camera was simply dead. Then I went for another walk on the strip for a bit. Already closer to midnight I returned to the hotel. I need to get up at four in the morning, as I had an early flight to Los Angeles. Although the distance was short, but in order to spend more time in LA, I chose air transport.
On the morning of September 9.2011, I flew from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. An hour later, I arrived.
The settlement was founded in 1781 and was called El Pueblo de Nuestra Señ ora la Reina de los Á ngeles sobre El Rí o Porciú ncula (Spanish: Village of the Virgin Mary, Queen of the Angels, on the Porjuncula River). Now the Americans have slightly reduced the name to the first two letters - LA. The settlement remained small for a long time, and was even a Mexican territory. And only after the defeat of Mexico in the mid-19th century in the US-Mexican War, Los Angeles finally became American. A little later, he received the status of a city. And today it is one of the world's largest industrial and financial centers. In addition, it is the world capital of the film industry.
It is unrealistic to see the city in one day and I decided to see only some of its areas. From the airport, I took a bus to the well-known Hollywood area. I got out right next to the famous Kodak cinema. Most people associate this area only with the film industry. But in fact, the world-famous film studios are located in other areas of Los Angeles. But there are the world-famous Avenue of Stars, theaters. In the month of February of each year, the Oscars are held at the Kodak Cinema, when the stars of world cinema rise along the red carpet behind their statuettes. This cinema also hosts world film premieres. Next to it is an observation deck that overlooks the hallmark of Los Angeles -
