I travelled to the greyhound station in the heaviest rain imaginable - by the time I got to the station water was dripping from my nose and every single one of my bags was soaking through. Oh dear. 5 minutes attempting to dry my socks under the hand dryer was all I had before we were boarding the bus so I had nice damp feet for the entire journey to Houston - not a pleasant experience! Once I arrived in Houston my mood was quickly brightened by the most beautiful hostel I have ever stayed in. It was the newest HI in the States and you could tell. It used to be a private residence, and I can't imagine living in such a big pile. There was a pool, the bunk beds had stairs instead of ladders, there was a library with a pool table, big airy living room, and general loveliness. Plus the day I arrived there was a 1st birthday party so there was free cake and food. WIN. After I'd washed all my rain sodden clothing and emptied all my bags to air I went downstairs and got chatting to a couple of guys, Nas, Carson and Kevin, from Germany and the US respectively. We had a few drinks outside in the gazebo, from red solo cups no less, and then two more guys turned up asking about a couchsurfing event that was meant to be on. Well we hadn't heard anything about it so they sat and had a chat and Mario, who was a couchsurfing hoster (for the uninitiated couchsurfing is a website where you offer a free sofa or bed or whatever for travelers, and in turn you can stay with travelers in their home towns. All reciprocal kind of thing) invited us to go out with him round Houston. As all four of us had no idea where to go in Houston we readily accepted, and I'm glad we did as it was a really fun night. It started at Mario's as he had to change his car - when we drove over to his house there were four of us squeezed into the back seat. This meant that I basically had to lie across the back seat and hope no police cars drove past. It caused much hilarity amongst us all anyway. Once at Mario's we had a couple of drinks, Chris who was staying with Mario donned a Darth Vader costume - which was one of the more random things I've seen here in the US - and watched potentially my favourite video of all time - the honey badger narrated by Randall. Just brilliant.

Mario took us out around Rice University so there were a few really busy bars and (yet another) cowboy bar with two stepping - I'm getting a dab hand at it I'll tell you. The worst thing about America is that the bars all shut at 2am so it kind of cuts your night short when you only go out at 12. I say it's bad but in reality it's quite good as you don't feel as knackered the next day, swings and roundabouts I guess. Once the bars shut I got to experience the ultimate Grease moment - a full on diner replete with booths, stools and jukebox. I was in Americana heaven! If you're interested I had the eggs benedict. Delicious. The diner signaled the end of the night and I was extremely happy I'd had the good fortune for Mario to drop by the hostel.

My main reason for going to Houston was actually the space centre - sadly I was there on a weekend and apparently buses don't run there on a Saturday and Sunday. What the hells that all about? Kind of scuppered my plans so I was pissed off to say the least with Houston public transport! Instead I decided to go have a look around some of the free art galleries in Houston's museum district with one of the girls from the hostel. Perhaps sounding like a total heathen I don't really get or like modern art. It's just a bit pretentious and doesn't often make sense. That's not to say I hate it all but there is a lot I just think is pointless - maybe I'm not cultured enough to *get* it. Houston didn't impress me much in all honesty, there isn't that much there and it's generally just a bit dull - my two days there was definitely saved by a fun night out and free cake. Plus, it rained, so it goes near the top of my least favourite places so far list.

Becca