Morning all!
It was great to have such a nice host. Jeana gave up her bedroom for me last night so that I had my own room with Nate staying at the same time too. How nice is that!? A night spent chatting in a relaxed environment and be made to feel very welcome. Great!!!
It was really quiet when I got up this morning as both Nate and Jeana had left to start their day. It meant that I could have a slow morning and catch up on blogging. I haven't had the time in the past couple of days to sit down and think about what to write/what I have learned so I got a little behind.
The terrain has certainly changed since starting my journey, so many more hills and green-ness (not that I think that is a real word but I'm going to go ahead and use it anyway). I like it. It reminds me of going through the Lake District or the Loire Valley.
So I decided to have a 'typical' American experience of sitting out on the back porch whilst doing my blogging. Good job it's not a school day or they would have a lovely view of me typing away in my sheep pyjamas....nice!
I took a drive around some of the streets in Columbus and saw a variety of nice houses along the way. I like how there is such variation in the style of housing here. A lot of the places that I have travelled to can have similar white-board houses with the porch on the front. Not that I wouldn't mind having a porch in a house of my own and sit there on the swing while people watching....or being nosey as some people might call it.
There was a cool 'slip and slide' going on in one of the parks. Being a big immature kid, I was severely tempted to go and have a go. Didn't think that my cream t-shirt would look presentable afterwards though, and let's face it...no-one needs to see that ;-)
Columbus is Ohio's capital city and it has the second largest university in the country - 55,000 students. So it's certainly lenient on the wallet in certain area, which was nice for me.
On Jeana's recommendation, I went to Jeni's ice cream......YUM!!! Artisan ice cream in flavours you couldn't dream of. I treated myself to a cone of goats cheese and red berry. It was like cheesecake in ice cream form. They will even give you a little spoon for you to try some of the flavours if you are unsure what to get. Most people would be tempted to have more and I certainly can't blame them. I would now recommend Jeni's too!
Next door was Northstar cafe where I went to have a nice salad. Good service and a friendly atmosphere. The kitchen is open so you can see what's going on in there while you sit waiting for your food. Another good recommendation from my host.
So it was time to finally head off on my journey to Indianapolis...I even passed by a Springfield on the way. Do you think that Marge would invite me in for a cup of tea?
I arrived safe and sound at my next host's house, Sue. Such a warm and lovely lady. There was another couch surfer who would join us later that evening, Jennifer. She is travelling around the country taking shifts in the restaurants who have a high service rating to write a book on the industry. Her website is iamWaitress.com if anyone wants to check it out.
Sue very kindly made some dinner. Her late husband was Indian so suffice to say, the cooking was wonderful. Spicy but flavoursome. I've asked her to jot down the recipes for me so that I can see if I can get hold of the ingredients back in France and pounce on unsuspecting victims at home for my experimentation in trying to master the dishes ;-)
I talked with Sue for hours. So easy to talk to. She has been a host for 4 years now and has done a lot of couch surfing herself. She hosts people from all over the world and often stays in touch with them. It seems that they learn from each other and that she takes something away from the experience too. A kind soul who tries to pay it forward a little by graciously inviting people into her home.
Hours later I crawled in to the giant comfy bed that was mine for the evening....aaaahhhhhh.
Night all!
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