Welcome back my dear reader chum.

You now find me operating wirelessly on the train to New York City. Beyond exciting.

So what's happened so far today.....(lets get that over with before we get on to a more fuller picture from yesterday). Don't worry - I reckon I can do it in a paragraph. There's not a lot to report....

Well alarm clocks set so we were up in time to make it to the station. Then the usual scrabble packing clothes, finding passports etc and we were away to the metro travelling from Silver Spring to Union Station. On arrival it was to Au Bon Pain for a breakfast bagel - delicious. Then joined the queue for boarding the train. I was mostly having a go at Darren for not getting seat reservations...transpires you can't so that shut me up.... Incidentally my dear travelling reader chums - it seems you also cannot check in your baggage on this route - so I had to clamber on board with giant luggage. Not an attractive look. Trains are so much easier to get on in Blighty. I'm already panicking that I will take a mashoosive tumble when we get off...

Then it was all aboard (business class thank you so very much) and we're now about 30 mins in to our three hour journey.

The train has the wifi's - which is amazeballs. Which is how I am doing the blog - wireless keyboard, iPad and trusty charger.

So now as you join me live lets finish off yesterday's Red Line Metro Day Out...

You'll be glad to know that so I don't forget any Blog Gems - I now take notes, so as not to miss a micro moment of my holiday...

So to start off, it was a late start. We aimed for Union Station to do a 'dry run' of this mornings antics - so we'd be sure to know where to go. We found our boarding area, and then as we tried to overlook the platform we were told by some security guard that we were in a restricted area. Oopsy.

So platform found, we went for breakfast (about 1215!) Lovely 'breakfast crepe'. Sausage patties are the future. I'm so over sausage links now...

Outside of Union Station is the Postal Service Museum. As it's part of the Smithsonian empire, its free to visit - so it'd be rude not too. So todays pictures are of an old airmail plane on show and the outside......

INSIDE if you are a massive geek (which I am not) there's loads to see - We found some british stamps - and Darren then found some 1948 Olympic Games stamps (see photo from yesterday's blog entry). I also then made Darren stay and watch a film about how the postal service works. It was fascinating (not a geek honest) and we also found out what the numbers mean in Zip codes and also about the 31 character post code.........really not a geek.

Then back on the Red LIne to Dupont Circle. That station really brings home how slow the escalators are in the Metro here. They creep along. Holborn is positively rapid by comparison. We had a coffee and watched the hotties walk by.

Then after a stroll around it was back on the Red Line to Bethesda. I LOVE it there. As we were walking to the Apple Store (and also getting a bit lost) we witnessed what I originally thought was some kind of police chase.

We heard a crash, squealing tires (that's how they're spelled here!), and smoke as I thought a car was speeding away. Transpired it was an elderly couple who'd reversed at high speed up the pavement, knocking over parking meter, and narrowly missed an office building. Oh dear. On the plus side this 'fender bender' appeared to have no casualties and other than a knackered offside wing everything was okay.

As we walked towards town obviously the emergency services had gotten (do you like my American accent?) wind of the situation and were making their way hastily to the scene of the accident. It was then I noticed that the fire trucks here have revolving 'disco lights' on the front of their truck. To quote Darren the firecrew "were not calendar-ready"

Darren was then looking for Christmas present ideas in Barnes and Noble - then we were off to the Apple Store. They were out of iPad Mini's! However i had a play on the demo models. V much like. Also v much like the Air when it comes to replace my iMac i think...

After a delicious ricotta tartine with figs and honey at le Pain Quoditien it was back on the Red LIne to Chinatown for cocktails at Gordon Biersch. Then off to trendy U-Street to Ben's Next Door for a blackened chicken sandwich (and a coke - well, I'd had a couple of cocktails and didnt want to push it!). Love Ben's next door. Lively crowd, and a million TV's behind the bar showing sports (and adverts for medication mwa ha haa).

Then it was final metro trip back on the Red LIne (changing at Fort Totten from the Yellow line travel fans) to Silver Spring.

You'll see that I was tired (and full!) so didnt do much of a blog entry yesterday - so hope this longer version makes up for it. Right - better sign off for now as I've hardly spoken two words to Darren since we got on the train. Mind you, there's scenery to be looked at now.

If you're lucky my dear reader, there'll be a bit of New York for you tonight (or tomorrow depending on when you read this), given most of my dear reader chums are currently 5 hours in the future.....I still get confused, but Darren is pleased I've finally stopped saying well it would be X.XX o'clock in the UK right now.....he does however still have to do my currency conversions....