Fralix has built his name up in the industry of shoe repairing. Parking is available in the rear of the shop. Beware, Fralix only has one arm, so don't stare at the stump when you walk in ;) 

Another popular business in Charleston is the business of repairing shoes. On this glass window you can see the range of shoes that maybe fixed. You have on the top left a pair converse, on the bottom you have a pair of sky-blue spray painted little girl shoes. Fantastic! 

Wig stores are a popular comodity in Charleston. This is a fine example of the choice available. However, the shop is targetting young African-American women, why then is there no african faces? 

I spent most of today at the Aquarium, it was the driest, warmest place in Charleston. There I saw this fella with cool snake. Did you know that it is not an albino. It is a golden python it was bread to look that way. 

This statue is outside a church in Charleston. It is based on a picture of some black children waiting outside the church. I thought it was interesting so I took a picky. However, we put a hat on one of'em coz it was cold. 

Tonight, I watched Pootie Tang the movie. Let me tell you it is Sa Da Te and I'm going to sign your pitty on the running kein.

I give it 4.5 stars out of 7. See you won't believe it.

Here we go... the reason for my trip out here. The fasads of the buildings are charming. The funny thing about Charleston is that the property tax is charged based on the lenght of your house not the surface area. So all the houses are narrow at the front, but fairly long. This is not a good example. But the freedom flags is swaying... 

I need your help. I was walking around the many streets of Charleston and there are three businesses that seem to do well and I am considering investing on some of these. They have the Shoe Repair Store (with plants), the Wig Store and my favourite... the tackysuite store as shown on this picky. 

This is my Christmas! I celebrated it with 3 new mates from Oz. From right to left we have moi, Sam, Sarah Geoff. Sam is a graduate civil engineer, Sam is a political reporter and Geoff, he's a driller :) Goo blokes on the... ;) 

My first stop was sad Richmond. Apparently there is plenty of history around. However, I couldn't tell you. The battlefield of Gettisburg and others are inconviently located somewhere there. However, due to a lack of public transport and backpacker hostels I'll never know. This picture shows an interesting sign on the doors of the Mackers where I had breaky. Apparently all of these activities are prohibited: not wearing shirts, not wearing shoes, having a pet and soliciting? How are they all related? you tell me. 

The South

The hollidays just arrived this time. There was no forewarning. No one to say: "Ricardo, you should by your father some pants for Christamas."

My mom, she usually likes reminding me what dad wants. I think her idea is more that I buy something for everyone, coz she knows I'll just forget Christmas if I am not told.

Well this time I did. I had a vauge idea of what I wanted to do. I wanted to do 15 day rail pass across America. I say across, but I really mean 4 or 5 destinations. You see, in America people get very few days off. Me I get six. If I add those six to the 6 I get for the public hollidays around Christmas and New years and then add the weekends I get 14 days to play with.

So my itinerary turned out to be:

Richmond - hated it, no public transport and it is too close to philly to feel the need to explore it.
Charleston - got here due to a miracle from our creator. I turns out that the layd that I was sitting next to on the train had a sis that lives here. We called her and she researched the intenet for me and found a cheap place for me to stay. So here I am at the Charlston Historic Hostel. Not too bad, a little far to go to meet more Australians.
Savanah - I'll tell you about it when I get there.
New Orleans - I plan to stay new years there with a mates Girlfriend, I best give her a call.
Memphis - home of Elvis.
Atlanta - thought it would be interesting so I am bussing it there from Memphis.
and back to Philly.

Sounds good, however it all depends on the friends I meet and let me tell you hostels in America are hard to come by and that is where you generally meet your travelling buddies.

Signing off...
your faithful reporter

Ricardo