Day 43 - 47 To Columbus, Louisville and Saint Louis

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Tuesday Corinne took me to the bus station and off I went to Columbus, Ohio. Columbus was just a stop so I did not have to sit on the bus for too long or arrive too late. I did not see much of Columbus but the bit I saw, I did not like very much....

Wednesday I carried on to Louisville, Kentucky (pronounce Loo-e-ville). It's on the Ohio river and I really liked what I saw. Actually wished I could stay a day but that was not how the plan worked and on it went to Saint Louis, Missourie.


St Louis is on the Mississippi, with half the city in Missouri and the other half in Illinois. It's a pretty city and has the most amazing arch, the Gateway Arch. It is the symbol of St Louis and was built in 1965 as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States.



Close to the arch, on the banks of the Mississippi there is a monument of Lewis and Clark, who led an expedition from this area to the Pacific coast.
Lewis and Clark

Went up that arch. Was quite the experience... Lots of queueing as the summer school holidays have started! As it is an arch and not a straight tower, the "elevator" is actually more of a cable car with several pods. Each pod takes only 6 people and believe me you get very cosy with your fellow travellers in those pods! The arch is …. m high and can move up to 16 inches in strong winds. I am sure I felt it moving while up there. Probably just my imagination but still scary. Sadly the windows up there are quite dirty, so the photos are not that clear.

 The old court building from the Gateway Arch
From the arch

Park by the river

Part of one of the bridges over the Mississippi. Vehicles go over the top and trains where the arches are.

Along the Mississippi

The old court building

Me walking with a statue of a female lawyer

Went to an Italian restaurant and had the most amazing pulled pork or as it was called on the menu: "Pulled pork made from smoked pork butt". Boy did it give me heartburn!!

Went to the zoo today. Saw several animals I have not seen before but seeing the sad look on some of those large animals made me feel pretty sad myself. Several of them were doing that thing where they pace or walk in circles. Especially the rhino was a sad sight. These are animals that should be roaming freely on the plains of Africa...

The butterfly enclosure was pretty nice.

One of the more interesting insects






There were two of these, walking in a circle, over and over...



A swamp hog


This poor Rhino was doing the pacing-thing...

At least I saw a bear at last.






This photo is for Riaan

View from my room - The Mississippi with Missouri on this side and Illinoi on the other side.


Tomorrow, Sunday, it is on to Memphis, Tennessee.







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