Monday 21st July
So, the alarm goes off at 8am and suddenly you wake up and realise, the day has come to return home.
It seems like we have been out here for years because I have seen so much in my time out here, but at the same time it also feels like the time has flown by.
I have been soaked in Orlando, Sunburnt in Dallas, swelteringly hot in Vegas to freezing cold in San Francisco.
I have met some really friendly people along the way and had some fascinating conversations, also encountered my fair share of scammers and loonies but survived relatively unscathed, which is more than i can say for my poor shower in LA when it was faced with me.
Saw a NASCAR event at Daytona, a Queen gig in Dallas, the bright lights of the Las Vegas strip, the glitz and glamour and sandy beaches of Los Angeles....and managed to escape Alcatraz on my visit to San Francisco.
For our final morning we decided a good breakfast was in order as we had no idea where our next decent meal would be coming from.
So less than 12 hours after our last visit we were back down to good old Lori's Diner for one final time. We had to queue to get in...not quite as long as the queue for Alcatraz, we were only waiting for 5 minutes but it proves the diners' popularity! It was a good breakfast...2 pancakes, sausages,bacon, 2 eggs, hash browns!!!
After this we had a few hours to kill before the shuttle bus was due to pick us up so we headed (or waddled) down to fisherman's wharf one final time to get a final view of the bay and breathe some sea air. My feet were really hurting today due to the amount of walking we had done over the course of the last 2 1/2 weeks. My blisters were very painful, but more so today than any other day of the trip so it was a little extra effort for me.
Jacob had a bit more souvenir shopping to do so i decided to head to pier 39 and rest my feet for a while, admire the view and soak up the atmosphere one last time.
I was approached by some Japanese tourists whilst sitting there who came up to me with their iPad and said "toooh daaaaaahhhk" handed it to me, i said "do you want me to take your photo", which is what you would normally want if you handed your tablet to someone on pier 39 with Alcatraz Island as your backdrop. "noh, noh.....is toooo daaaahk" she said.
I then realised what she was talking about, her screen brightness was too dark. I thought, ah this shouldnt be too tricky....well....first problem, the screen was indeed so dark i could hardly see the display....but secondly....all the writing was in Chinese! After trying my best for them i handed it back and appologised....beaten by technology!
Then came the dreaded walk back up to Sutter street where out hotel was located. It took 1 hr and we were concious of the time because we were being picked up at 2pm. The walk was agonising for me with my feet and i had to take it really easy. It seemed like it took days to get back to the hotel. We had to stop by a Walgreens on the way back to get a strap for my case as it had a small split down one side and knowing how baggage handers can throw them about I needed to secure it properly, had visions of watching my luggage being taken off the aircraft in Heathrow with all my clothes still on the conveyor belt.
I was well and truly knackered by the time we reached the hotel. I had 20 minutes to catch my breath before the shuttle bus turned up. We said goodbye to the hotel staff who had looked after our bags for the morning and headed to San Francisco airport. The trip didn't take as long as we thought and thus got to the airport 4 hrs before flight departure time! Still, better to be early than late.
Got through security despite hardly being able to walk at all by now. I was told by the guard "I will need to sweep your leg, do you need the private room?" I thought....what the hell is he going to do to me! I said "no thanks". It was nothing out of the ordinary for an airport search.
As time went on at the airport gate I just had to sit, normally i would keep active knowing i would be sitting for the next 10 hrs but i really could hardly walk, the pain i was in with my feet. There was hardly anything to look at in the terminal we were in though, about 3 expensive designer shops, a cafe that sold sandwiches at rip off prices and a news stand that had a limited choice of snacks and magazines.
It was at the airport that I began to feel slightly achy and unwell. I thought i would be fine as soon as i boarded the plane, i could relax, rest my feet and all would be fine.
Initially on the plane i felt better, had a great view of San Francisco from the sky when we took off, settled down to watch some of the in-flight entertainment and thought i would be ok. About 2 hrs into the flight however i began to feel achy all over and a massive headache came on. This got worse as the flight wore on, flu like symptoms. Of course there is not much you can do when stuck in a chair at 37000 feet anyway but it was such a huge effort to even raise an arm! Being in the air probably magnified the problem but i dont think i have ever felt that ill before.
I seriously thought that when we landed i would have to get straight to hospital...that's if i made it that far!
I kept watching the clock wind down on the in flight map and it was moving so slowly, I just wanted to get home! I took a couple of paracetamol and managed to drift off to sleep for about 90 minutes and when i woke up i did feel slightly better. I managed breakfast on the plane and drank plenty of fluids as i had been sweating and shivering.
I was glad when we landed back at Heathrow, i was one step closer to home where I could treat my blisters and recover in comfort!
Struggled through passport control and baggage reclaim but was glad to see my parents who i had not seen for 2 1/2 weeks. Mum questioned me as to why i was hobbling, i told her about the blisters and the fact that I nearly died on the flight home. The strange illness was down to dehydration we have concluded, i.e. me not drinking enough water in all the heat and walking about we had been doing.
Traffic was bad on the M25 on the way home (welcome back to England) but the weather was warmer than San Francisco! I kept awake on the way home somehow by telling my parents all about the last few weeks and everything that i had done, seen and heard.
It was weird to be back home, almost seemed like i had never been away, or that i had been in a time lapse. Suddenly the last few weeks seemed a distant hazy memory.
What a great few weeks though, when I look back i realise how much we did cram in, we truly made the most of the time we had and pretty much saw everything we wanted to see in the cities we stayed in....except Orlando, it would have been nice to have seen the conclusion of the Coke Zero 400 but still that was a very minor setback. It was such an adventure to do this trip, to be completely independent in Orlando, having to work out transport, accomodation, daily schedules etc was great fun.
Meeting up with Jacob for Dallas and beyond was a blast. We had so many laughs and made some memories that we will never forget, saw some interesting things along the way...some that we would like to remember, others that we would like to forget but that is all part of the experience!
So that was it....USA 2014......here's hoping i can re-visit the land of the free and the home of the brave again.....soon! Another NASCAR trip maybe? I wouldn't say no!
Thursday, 24 July 2014
Wednesday, 23 July 2014
The Sunday sun shines down on San Francisco Bay.......not quite
Sunday 20th July
Our second day in San Francisco, and our last full day in the US!
So we were making the most of it! The alarm went off at 4am. We requested a wake up call the night before and when I told the hotel receptionist what time I wanted it for this was the transcript....
Him:- What time do you need the wake up call?
Me:- 4am please
Him:- No, what time really?
Me:- 4am!
Now we were doing this for a very good reason. We would need to be in line for Alcatraz tickets at around 5:30am and it took the best part of 45 minutes to walk down to Pier 33 where the ferry's depart from.
After getting washed and dressed we left the hotel at 4:45am. It was chilly outside and still dark. On the way to pier 33 we encountered many people who were returning home after being out the previous night!
We followed some German tourists most of the way so we were trying to keep up with them to ensure we could get as close to the front of the line as possible.
We got there at bang on 5:30....but the ticket office didn't open until 7am. There were already 50-60 people there queuing at a rough estimate. Having been told they have 100-150 'walk up' tickets each day we knew we were in pretty good shape.
About 15 minutes after we arrived a security guard came round handing red coupons to everyone in the line, this entitled you to a ticket once the ticket office opened, but you had to stay in line and wait. The woman behind us was trying to hold a space in the queue for her family but was told that they could not jump in line, they would have to join the back of the queue. When asked if she wanted a ticket just for herself, she declined. Shortly after 6am all the red coupons had been handed out which meant nobody else would get a ticket today!
One guy shouted..."I got the last ticket". It seemed to fall on dead ears however as the people in front of him already had tickets and the people behind him just wanted to lynch him because they had missed out!
Anyway when the ticket booth opened we bought tickets for the 10am trip.
We then headed for a short walk down to pier 39 where we had a lovely breakfast in a restaurant overlooking the bay, not that you could see much as it was extremely foggy.
This set us up nicely for the day. We then sat by pier 33 for a while after visiting a couple of gift shops.
To visit the Alcatraz prison (famous for being a high security penitentiary from 1933-1963 and holding some of the most notorious criminals) requires a short 15 minute ferry ride over to Alcatraz Island. Our ferry left at 9:30am.
Incredibly I didnt feel sea sick at all...and the sea wasnt exactly calm! Usually just being on a boat does it for me.
We hopped off the boat and walked up to the entrance where we were met by a National Park Ranger (Alcatraz is a US National Park). He gave us a bit of background history on Alcatraz (it started its life out as a fort). We then joined another guide for a short walking tour up the steep hills to the prison cell blocks. He gave us more of an insight into what prison life was like and told us lots of interesting stories as to what went on in the prison and all the conflict between prisoners and inmates.
When we reached the prison cells we took a self guided audio tour which gave us a fascinating impression of what the prison was like to work and live in from the 30s-60s, all the gruesome things that happened, all the escape attempts etc. The narrator was excellent (he sounded like Johnny Cash actually), really put you in the moment. Hard to imagine that all this went on in the building that you are standing in! One of the best audio tours I have done, well up there with the Kennedy one in Dallas.
We were there for about 4 hours it was that interesting, this also included a few short talks that we sat and listened to about the famous attempted escapes from the Island. The most famous of which in 1962 when 3 men made it to the island waterfront, set sail in a dinghy they had made, never to be seen again. The men, now in their early-mid 80s are still on a wanted list with a reward for fining them of a mere $3.2 million.
Just before heading back to the mainland we watched a short film about the island which was interesting, however die to being up since 4am Jacob and I could barely keep awake.
Had a bite to eat on the boat back to San Francisco and in the afternoon we toured a few more gift shops again on pier 39 where I bought some souvenirs and a jacket, once I had annoyed the lady in the shop by not being able to do the zip up and trying on each size twice!
By then it was time to head back to the hotel to catch our breaths for a while. We caught the bus back to union square, the nearest stop to our hotel. This is where we encountered a woman, sitting behind us on the bus with her husband, who would not stop moaning about everything! Why was the bus not moving, how poor the organisation was, how foul her bottled water tasted. Then when the bus got going she totally changed her tune, suddenly everything was "Awesome" The banksy artwork we saw, the cable car...everything. We were killing ourselves with laughter. By the time we got back to the hotel we only had about 30 mins rest before we headed out for our final evening which consisted of a night time bus tour around San Francisco. The bus left at 7:30pm and we had to run to catch the bus...we just made it in time. Had to stand up initially because the tour was so popular but managed to get a seat after the Golden Gate Bridge stop.
Got some great pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge just as the sun was going down. The best part of the tour took us over the newly rebuild Bay Bridge over to Treasure Island where I was able to get some great pictures on San Francisco Bay in the twilight.
The tour ended at Union Square at around 9:30pm but we were both ready for dinner, so we hit good old Lori's Diner again. Once again great service and great food! This was a great way to round off a great day....just one more day to go now....not even that, as we have to make the long trip back to the UK tomorrow. There will be enough time to head out for a while in the morning however, just to savour every last moment.
Our second day in San Francisco, and our last full day in the US!
So we were making the most of it! The alarm went off at 4am. We requested a wake up call the night before and when I told the hotel receptionist what time I wanted it for this was the transcript....
Him:- What time do you need the wake up call?
Me:- 4am please
Him:- No, what time really?
Me:- 4am!
Now we were doing this for a very good reason. We would need to be in line for Alcatraz tickets at around 5:30am and it took the best part of 45 minutes to walk down to Pier 33 where the ferry's depart from.
After getting washed and dressed we left the hotel at 4:45am. It was chilly outside and still dark. On the way to pier 33 we encountered many people who were returning home after being out the previous night!
We followed some German tourists most of the way so we were trying to keep up with them to ensure we could get as close to the front of the line as possible.
We got there at bang on 5:30....but the ticket office didn't open until 7am. There were already 50-60 people there queuing at a rough estimate. Having been told they have 100-150 'walk up' tickets each day we knew we were in pretty good shape.
About 15 minutes after we arrived a security guard came round handing red coupons to everyone in the line, this entitled you to a ticket once the ticket office opened, but you had to stay in line and wait. The woman behind us was trying to hold a space in the queue for her family but was told that they could not jump in line, they would have to join the back of the queue. When asked if she wanted a ticket just for herself, she declined. Shortly after 6am all the red coupons had been handed out which meant nobody else would get a ticket today!
One guy shouted..."I got the last ticket". It seemed to fall on dead ears however as the people in front of him already had tickets and the people behind him just wanted to lynch him because they had missed out!
Anyway when the ticket booth opened we bought tickets for the 10am trip.
We then headed for a short walk down to pier 39 where we had a lovely breakfast in a restaurant overlooking the bay, not that you could see much as it was extremely foggy.
This set us up nicely for the day. We then sat by pier 33 for a while after visiting a couple of gift shops.
To visit the Alcatraz prison (famous for being a high security penitentiary from 1933-1963 and holding some of the most notorious criminals) requires a short 15 minute ferry ride over to Alcatraz Island. Our ferry left at 9:30am.
Incredibly I didnt feel sea sick at all...and the sea wasnt exactly calm! Usually just being on a boat does it for me.
We hopped off the boat and walked up to the entrance where we were met by a National Park Ranger (Alcatraz is a US National Park). He gave us a bit of background history on Alcatraz (it started its life out as a fort). We then joined another guide for a short walking tour up the steep hills to the prison cell blocks. He gave us more of an insight into what prison life was like and told us lots of interesting stories as to what went on in the prison and all the conflict between prisoners and inmates.
When we reached the prison cells we took a self guided audio tour which gave us a fascinating impression of what the prison was like to work and live in from the 30s-60s, all the gruesome things that happened, all the escape attempts etc. The narrator was excellent (he sounded like Johnny Cash actually), really put you in the moment. Hard to imagine that all this went on in the building that you are standing in! One of the best audio tours I have done, well up there with the Kennedy one in Dallas.
We were there for about 4 hours it was that interesting, this also included a few short talks that we sat and listened to about the famous attempted escapes from the Island. The most famous of which in 1962 when 3 men made it to the island waterfront, set sail in a dinghy they had made, never to be seen again. The men, now in their early-mid 80s are still on a wanted list with a reward for fining them of a mere $3.2 million.
Just before heading back to the mainland we watched a short film about the island which was interesting, however die to being up since 4am Jacob and I could barely keep awake.
Had a bite to eat on the boat back to San Francisco and in the afternoon we toured a few more gift shops again on pier 39 where I bought some souvenirs and a jacket, once I had annoyed the lady in the shop by not being able to do the zip up and trying on each size twice!
By then it was time to head back to the hotel to catch our breaths for a while. We caught the bus back to union square, the nearest stop to our hotel. This is where we encountered a woman, sitting behind us on the bus with her husband, who would not stop moaning about everything! Why was the bus not moving, how poor the organisation was, how foul her bottled water tasted. Then when the bus got going she totally changed her tune, suddenly everything was "Awesome" The banksy artwork we saw, the cable car...everything. We were killing ourselves with laughter. By the time we got back to the hotel we only had about 30 mins rest before we headed out for our final evening which consisted of a night time bus tour around San Francisco. The bus left at 7:30pm and we had to run to catch the bus...we just made it in time. Had to stand up initially because the tour was so popular but managed to get a seat after the Golden Gate Bridge stop.
Got some great pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge just as the sun was going down. The best part of the tour took us over the newly rebuild Bay Bridge over to Treasure Island where I was able to get some great pictures on San Francisco Bay in the twilight.
The tour ended at Union Square at around 9:30pm but we were both ready for dinner, so we hit good old Lori's Diner again. Once again great service and great food! This was a great way to round off a great day....just one more day to go now....not even that, as we have to make the long trip back to the UK tomorrow. There will be enough time to head out for a while in the morning however, just to savour every last moment.
Monday, 21 July 2014
I'm not trying to get out, I'm trying to get in!
Saturday 19th July
So the next morning we went down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast.
It was a quirky little north African restaurant which was a little unusual because it served American breakfasts.
Our waitress was a little eccentric but it was a nice start to the day.
Then we thought we would enquire about a day trip to Alcatraz, thinking that it would be good to go there today. When we asked about this at reception they told us that this tour was sold out until the middle of August! There was on one other way to get onto a tour, that was to queue up at the ticket office at fisherman's wharf ridiculously early the next morning for a chance at getting one of 100 first come first served tickets that they issue. We figured that if we wanted to go there, and we did, that this was the only way to make it. I find it somehow ironic that from the 1930s to the 1960s prisoners were looking for every which way to escape the prison and now people are lining up to get in!
Reception advised us that the best way to see San Francisco was to get one of the hop on hop off bus tours like I did in LA. This would take you round the main attractions in the city.... Except Alcatraz!
We opted for this tour however and it was good because it was narrated like the one in LA but this time by a real person.
It took us initially around to the Golden Gate Bridge. By the time we got there the fog was just starting to lift so was able to get some fantastic views of the bridge, alcatraz and over to the city.
The route then extended out to Sausalito, a pretty little town just over the golden gate Bridge with plenty of shops and eateries. We had planned to get some lunch there but the plan was to get back to fisherman's wharf and enquire about alcatraz trips.
So we stayed on until the tour reached fisherman's wharf. Unfortunately lady at the ticket booth could only repeat what the concierge at the hotel said, all tours sold out until August 17th but we could come to the ticket office very early in the morning to queue for a ticket, however there was no guarantee that either would get one. She advised us to get there before 6am!
So the plan then was to get an early night to be up and ready the next morning.
We took a walk around fisherman's wharf and the famous pier 39 which is littered with cafes, restaurants and quirky little gift shops. The streets around have such a vibrant atmosphere of street entertainers, music and hoards of people.
We had a look around here for a while and saw the sea lions that congregate in the bay. The place hasn't changed all that much since my last visit.... 16years ago.
The streets are still as steep as they used to beof course. Walked up 2 of these which are practically 40 degrees (not sure how accurate that guestimation is.) The view from the top was worth it though. So was the visit to Lombard Street, home of the crookedest Street. Here is a steep and windy Road that cars can actually drive down, albeit at walking pace. We walked down it to, took some pictures of the cars coming down, wow it was steep.
Shortly after we headed to a nice little restaurant done out like a British pun. Got chatting to some really nice american family again, they said how they loved our accent and asked where we were from. We had a long conversation with them about all things America and Britain.
They were from Texas.
From then we headed back to the hotel as it would be a very early start tomorrow... Wake up call at 4am!
So the next morning we went down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast.
It was a quirky little north African restaurant which was a little unusual because it served American breakfasts.
Our waitress was a little eccentric but it was a nice start to the day.
Then we thought we would enquire about a day trip to Alcatraz, thinking that it would be good to go there today. When we asked about this at reception they told us that this tour was sold out until the middle of August! There was on one other way to get onto a tour, that was to queue up at the ticket office at fisherman's wharf ridiculously early the next morning for a chance at getting one of 100 first come first served tickets that they issue. We figured that if we wanted to go there, and we did, that this was the only way to make it. I find it somehow ironic that from the 1930s to the 1960s prisoners were looking for every which way to escape the prison and now people are lining up to get in!
Reception advised us that the best way to see San Francisco was to get one of the hop on hop off bus tours like I did in LA. This would take you round the main attractions in the city.... Except Alcatraz!
We opted for this tour however and it was good because it was narrated like the one in LA but this time by a real person.
It took us initially around to the Golden Gate Bridge. By the time we got there the fog was just starting to lift so was able to get some fantastic views of the bridge, alcatraz and over to the city.
The route then extended out to Sausalito, a pretty little town just over the golden gate Bridge with plenty of shops and eateries. We had planned to get some lunch there but the plan was to get back to fisherman's wharf and enquire about alcatraz trips.
So we stayed on until the tour reached fisherman's wharf. Unfortunately lady at the ticket booth could only repeat what the concierge at the hotel said, all tours sold out until August 17th but we could come to the ticket office very early in the morning to queue for a ticket, however there was no guarantee that either would get one. She advised us to get there before 6am!
So the plan then was to get an early night to be up and ready the next morning.
We took a walk around fisherman's wharf and the famous pier 39 which is littered with cafes, restaurants and quirky little gift shops. The streets around have such a vibrant atmosphere of street entertainers, music and hoards of people.
We had a look around here for a while and saw the sea lions that congregate in the bay. The place hasn't changed all that much since my last visit.... 16years ago.
The streets are still as steep as they used to beof course. Walked up 2 of these which are practically 40 degrees (not sure how accurate that guestimation is.) The view from the top was worth it though. So was the visit to Lombard Street, home of the crookedest Street. Here is a steep and windy Road that cars can actually drive down, albeit at walking pace. We walked down it to, took some pictures of the cars coming down, wow it was steep.
Shortly after we headed to a nice little restaurant done out like a British pun. Got chatting to some really nice american family again, they said how they loved our accent and asked where we were from. We had a long conversation with them about all things America and Britain.
They were from Texas.
From then we headed back to the hotel as it would be a very early start tomorrow... Wake up call at 4am!
San Francisco re-visited
Friday 18th July
So onto our final stop. The beautiful city of San Francisco with its lovely features such as fisherman's wharf, golden gate Bridge, alcatraz and much more.
Our shuttle bus would be leaving our hotel at around 10:30 to head to LAX. This meant no time for any more sightseeing.
Had a good breakfast down at the breakfast room which wasn't bug enough to swing a cat. Had an interesting conversation with an American lady about US culture and how things differ from our systems in Britain such as health care, which they have to pay for privately, as opposed to us, we moan about the NHS but really is a better system than what some US citizens have. She also explained the reasons for so many homeless people on the streets which is sad to see.
A lovely lady but we couldn't get away.
Once we did, the cases were ready and waiting and so we're we. The shuttle bus took 1 hr to reach the airport which was fine because we had planned to get there well in advance.
Got through check in fine and waited around for a few hours in the airport, not much to do here really.
We flew with virgin america, based around the West coast, didn't know much about the airline but when we got on... Wow!
So much more leg room than any other airline. Not only that.. We had seat back TV showing a range of films and LIVE TV!
Shame the flight was only 1hr!
Jacob got chatting to a friendly American from Flagstaff who was telling us all the things we could do in San Francisco... Didn't need my guide book after that!
Best airline I have flown with domestically in the US though!
Once through baggage we heckled a shuttle bus and some grumpy sod took us to our hotel near downtown San Francisco. The weather was quite cold, long sleeves and jeans weather, for the first time on the trip since touching down in Orlando!
Out hotel was on Sutter Street, ironically the same street we stayed on during my last visit here... 16years ago!
During this time I fondly remember a near little American diner not far from there... Named 'Lori's Diner'. Well.... That same diner is still going strong after all this time! So naturally we headed down there for dinner on our firsts night in the city.... It was just how I remember it being all those years ago... The food was just as great to! Got chatting to a family in there a dad and his son and daughter. He lived in the city but the daughter is at uni in Nottingham and the son lives in the Netherlands! We got chatting with them about San Francisco, US sports, UK related stuff etc, such friendly people! After talking about our professions the dad now potentially wants me to build him a website! Maybe the start of a new business venture haha.
Tomorrow we will head out and explore this city with its very steep hills, cable cars and fantastic bay area. We hope to get alcatraz but much to our amazement tickets are sold out a month in advance! We have a few options open to us so. Let's see what happens.
So onto our final stop. The beautiful city of San Francisco with its lovely features such as fisherman's wharf, golden gate Bridge, alcatraz and much more.
Our shuttle bus would be leaving our hotel at around 10:30 to head to LAX. This meant no time for any more sightseeing.
Had a good breakfast down at the breakfast room which wasn't bug enough to swing a cat. Had an interesting conversation with an American lady about US culture and how things differ from our systems in Britain such as health care, which they have to pay for privately, as opposed to us, we moan about the NHS but really is a better system than what some US citizens have. She also explained the reasons for so many homeless people on the streets which is sad to see.
A lovely lady but we couldn't get away.
Once we did, the cases were ready and waiting and so we're we. The shuttle bus took 1 hr to reach the airport which was fine because we had planned to get there well in advance.
Got through check in fine and waited around for a few hours in the airport, not much to do here really.
We flew with virgin america, based around the West coast, didn't know much about the airline but when we got on... Wow!
So much more leg room than any other airline. Not only that.. We had seat back TV showing a range of films and LIVE TV!
Shame the flight was only 1hr!
Jacob got chatting to a friendly American from Flagstaff who was telling us all the things we could do in San Francisco... Didn't need my guide book after that!
Best airline I have flown with domestically in the US though!
Once through baggage we heckled a shuttle bus and some grumpy sod took us to our hotel near downtown San Francisco. The weather was quite cold, long sleeves and jeans weather, for the first time on the trip since touching down in Orlando!
Out hotel was on Sutter Street, ironically the same street we stayed on during my last visit here... 16years ago!
During this time I fondly remember a near little American diner not far from there... Named 'Lori's Diner'. Well.... That same diner is still going strong after all this time! So naturally we headed down there for dinner on our firsts night in the city.... It was just how I remember it being all those years ago... The food was just as great to! Got chatting to a family in there a dad and his son and daughter. He lived in the city but the daughter is at uni in Nottingham and the son lives in the Netherlands! We got chatting with them about San Francisco, US sports, UK related stuff etc, such friendly people! After talking about our professions the dad now potentially wants me to build him a website! Maybe the start of a new business venture haha.
Tomorrow we will head out and explore this city with its very steep hills, cable cars and fantastic bay area. We hope to get alcatraz but much to our amazement tickets are sold out a month in advance! We have a few options open to us so. Let's see what happens.
Saturday, 19 July 2014
It's a Hoot
Thursday 17th July
Another cool day in LA. A welcome break from the searing heat of Dallas and Vegas.
After fighting through the queue for breakfast, which was just a cardboard textured waffle and a cup of coffee it was time to plan my ventures for today.
I still had the 48 hour narrated tour to jump on because I had only covered one part of the route. Jacob joined me today and just as we were getting ready to head out we were asked (by housekeeping) to move rooms due to our knackered shower.
Today we headed back up to Hollywood boulevard and jumped on the bus for the ride down to Santa Monica. We passed Fox studios, TV and film company, and many other landmarks.
The ride took about 90mins to get down there but it was well worth it as we were greeted by the amazing view of sandy beaches, hot babes in their skimpy bikinis, blue sky and sunshine! After stopping for a few minutes to take in all these wonderful sights we headed down onto Santa Monica pier. From here we had great views of the Sierra Nevada on one side to Venice beach on the other. The pier was full of quirky gift shops and seafood restaurants and a healthy number of fishermen catching a variety of fish.
After walking this we headed back in the bus to our next stop, the famous Venice boardwalk. (which is concrete)
Again, much like the walk of fame, not as glamorous as you would think but still a vibrant happy place with Rollerblades, bikes and skateboards everywhere. The place had a reggae, Bob Marley feel about it with the street entertainers. Headed into the beach for a few minutes, lovely sand.
All that walking made me hot and in a need of something cool and refreshing. I didn't fancy the sea so headed to a food kiosk and opted for.... A frozen banana, coated with chocolate. We were somewhat worried when waiting for it as we were watching the chefs prepare the wide range of food options available and whilst doing so happened to notice a plume of feathers raining down onto someone's pizza that was being cooked! I bet chicken was off the menu after that!
Anyway after some slight concern our frozen bananas were actually very nice, so refreshing, will have to try that at home!
Didn't realise how far the boardwalk went but we had to. Walk back to catch the bus back to Hollywood which would be a good 2.5hr bus ride back. The traffic coming back was horrendous. LA traffic is Bad. We moan back in the UK but LA is much worse.
Once back at Hollywood however we decided to have dinner. There was a hooters opposite the bus top... Perfect!
Our waitress was stunning and the food was almost as good. My key lime pie was great!
So that was it. LA was over! Actually could have done with one more day here to visit the Griffith observatory which gives great views over he whole city including the Hollywood sign and would have liked to have visited the petersen motor museum.
Onto our final stop in San Francisco tomorrow, it's all flying by so fast.
Another cool day in LA. A welcome break from the searing heat of Dallas and Vegas.
After fighting through the queue for breakfast, which was just a cardboard textured waffle and a cup of coffee it was time to plan my ventures for today.
I still had the 48 hour narrated tour to jump on because I had only covered one part of the route. Jacob joined me today and just as we were getting ready to head out we were asked (by housekeeping) to move rooms due to our knackered shower.
Today we headed back up to Hollywood boulevard and jumped on the bus for the ride down to Santa Monica. We passed Fox studios, TV and film company, and many other landmarks.
The ride took about 90mins to get down there but it was well worth it as we were greeted by the amazing view of sandy beaches, hot babes in their skimpy bikinis, blue sky and sunshine! After stopping for a few minutes to take in all these wonderful sights we headed down onto Santa Monica pier. From here we had great views of the Sierra Nevada on one side to Venice beach on the other. The pier was full of quirky gift shops and seafood restaurants and a healthy number of fishermen catching a variety of fish.
After walking this we headed back in the bus to our next stop, the famous Venice boardwalk. (which is concrete)
Again, much like the walk of fame, not as glamorous as you would think but still a vibrant happy place with Rollerblades, bikes and skateboards everywhere. The place had a reggae, Bob Marley feel about it with the street entertainers. Headed into the beach for a few minutes, lovely sand.
All that walking made me hot and in a need of something cool and refreshing. I didn't fancy the sea so headed to a food kiosk and opted for.... A frozen banana, coated with chocolate. We were somewhat worried when waiting for it as we were watching the chefs prepare the wide range of food options available and whilst doing so happened to notice a plume of feathers raining down onto someone's pizza that was being cooked! I bet chicken was off the menu after that!
Anyway after some slight concern our frozen bananas were actually very nice, so refreshing, will have to try that at home!
Didn't realise how far the boardwalk went but we had to. Walk back to catch the bus back to Hollywood which would be a good 2.5hr bus ride back. The traffic coming back was horrendous. LA traffic is Bad. We moan back in the UK but LA is much worse.
Once back at Hollywood however we decided to have dinner. There was a hooters opposite the bus top... Perfect!
Our waitress was stunning and the food was almost as good. My key lime pie was great!
So that was it. LA was over! Actually could have done with one more day here to visit the Griffith observatory which gives great views over he whole city including the Hollywood sign and would have liked to have visited the petersen motor museum.
Onto our final stop in San Francisco tomorrow, it's all flying by so fast.
City of Angels
Wednesday 16th July
Today was the first real opportunity to explore the wonders of Los Angeles, the city of angels as they call it (then what we're we doing here?).
There was so much to see here and the sheer scale of the place is just mind blowing.
I had looked at how I might get around the city by public transport system but I shortly realised that it would not be possible to fit everything in easily and it would just be a major hassle.
To solve this issue I opted for a hop on hop off city tour of Los Angeles. I bought a 48hr pass which gave me access to the bus routes. This tour covered all of Hollywood and the surrounding area, Beverly Hills, right into Downtown and also Santa Monica beach and Venice Boardwalk.
I was extremely glad I took this tour as not only did it save my badly blistered feet from walking long distances but it was a narrated tour. Each passenger had a set of headphones through which to listen to it.
This was fascinating as it gave me a real insight into the history behind all the buildings. For example it turns out that a little run down chicken restaurant just across the road from our hotel is where Brad Pitt started his acting career, promoting the restaurant outside dressed as a chicken!
Before I boarded the tour I took a stroll down the world famous Hollywood boulevard, home of the Hollywood Walk of Fame! This features a long road with pavements (or sidewalks) each side that are littered with stars on the ground representing hundreds of different actors, actresses, musicians and comedians. I was a little bit disappointed with this. What should be a road with palm trees either side and nice cafés and restaurants to complement in fact is packed with Street vendors and performers, hundreds of gift shops, men dressed up in superman/spiderman costume, homeless people and our rapper friends trying to flog their homemade CDs.
Once I boarded the tour I enjoyed a ride around the most famous parts of Hollywood such as the sunset strip where many famous musicians and comedians were discovered. This led us into Beverly Hills where I could just about see the homes of some of the celebrities through the trees.
This part of the route room around 2hrs and brought me back to where I began. After this I headed to madame tussauds museum as I was entitled to free entry which was incorporated into the bus tour. Packed full of wax models of various celebrities, some more accurate than others but it was well presented and something different. At least I can say I saw some celebrities today.... Even though they were just wax models.
In the afternoon I headed back out on the same route because it was so nice to have that cool breeze on a nice sunny day but stopped at the La Brea Tar Pits this time along the miracle mile.
This was quite an interesting area to visit. Natural asphalt has been bubbling to the surface here for millions years (and still does to this day, that much is evident by the smell) and was also a watering hole for animals. Unaware, they headed into the water and became stuck in the sticky asphalt beneath them and drowned, hence this is a popular area for excavators to dig up fossils.
By the time I had finished here I had planned to head to the petersen motor museum but time wasn't on my side and I had to go back to do some washing.
After my day out I could have been forgiven for thinking that all the excitement for the day was over... How wrong I was! After taking a shower the water would not stop no matter what I tried, it was still gushing out water. So just after midnight I has to call out the hotel receptionist. He came in to try and fix it but the handle had completely broken so the only way to stop it would be to get in behind the panel. The receptionist made about 5 trips back and forth, each time with the wrong tools for the job, he then drafted in some help from some random guy who was equally perplexed. In the end they did get the panel off and managed to turn the water off but not exactly what you need or expect. What is it with me and water/plumbing?. He apologised and decided to give us the night free of charge, to be honest, he handles the situation very well. What can I break next to get another night free? I'm joking of course
Today was the first real opportunity to explore the wonders of Los Angeles, the city of angels as they call it (then what we're we doing here?).
There was so much to see here and the sheer scale of the place is just mind blowing.
I had looked at how I might get around the city by public transport system but I shortly realised that it would not be possible to fit everything in easily and it would just be a major hassle.
To solve this issue I opted for a hop on hop off city tour of Los Angeles. I bought a 48hr pass which gave me access to the bus routes. This tour covered all of Hollywood and the surrounding area, Beverly Hills, right into Downtown and also Santa Monica beach and Venice Boardwalk.
I was extremely glad I took this tour as not only did it save my badly blistered feet from walking long distances but it was a narrated tour. Each passenger had a set of headphones through which to listen to it.
This was fascinating as it gave me a real insight into the history behind all the buildings. For example it turns out that a little run down chicken restaurant just across the road from our hotel is where Brad Pitt started his acting career, promoting the restaurant outside dressed as a chicken!
Before I boarded the tour I took a stroll down the world famous Hollywood boulevard, home of the Hollywood Walk of Fame! This features a long road with pavements (or sidewalks) each side that are littered with stars on the ground representing hundreds of different actors, actresses, musicians and comedians. I was a little bit disappointed with this. What should be a road with palm trees either side and nice cafés and restaurants to complement in fact is packed with Street vendors and performers, hundreds of gift shops, men dressed up in superman/spiderman costume, homeless people and our rapper friends trying to flog their homemade CDs.
Once I boarded the tour I enjoyed a ride around the most famous parts of Hollywood such as the sunset strip where many famous musicians and comedians were discovered. This led us into Beverly Hills where I could just about see the homes of some of the celebrities through the trees.
This part of the route room around 2hrs and brought me back to where I began. After this I headed to madame tussauds museum as I was entitled to free entry which was incorporated into the bus tour. Packed full of wax models of various celebrities, some more accurate than others but it was well presented and something different. At least I can say I saw some celebrities today.... Even though they were just wax models.
In the afternoon I headed back out on the same route because it was so nice to have that cool breeze on a nice sunny day but stopped at the La Brea Tar Pits this time along the miracle mile.
This was quite an interesting area to visit. Natural asphalt has been bubbling to the surface here for millions years (and still does to this day, that much is evident by the smell) and was also a watering hole for animals. Unaware, they headed into the water and became stuck in the sticky asphalt beneath them and drowned, hence this is a popular area for excavators to dig up fossils.
By the time I had finished here I had planned to head to the petersen motor museum but time wasn't on my side and I had to go back to do some washing.
After my day out I could have been forgiven for thinking that all the excitement for the day was over... How wrong I was! After taking a shower the water would not stop no matter what I tried, it was still gushing out water. So just after midnight I has to call out the hotel receptionist. He came in to try and fix it but the handle had completely broken so the only way to stop it would be to get in behind the panel. The receptionist made about 5 trips back and forth, each time with the wrong tools for the job, he then drafted in some help from some random guy who was equally perplexed. In the end they did get the panel off and managed to turn the water off but not exactly what you need or expect. What is it with me and water/plumbing?. He apologised and decided to give us the night free of charge, to be honest, he handles the situation very well. What can I break next to get another night free? I'm joking of course
Wednesday, 16 July 2014
California Dreamin
Tuesday 15th July
The sun rose over the Las Vegas strip but our stay in Sin City had come to an end. We had booked a 2pm shuttle bus to the airport so still had a few hours to kill in the morning.
Travelling days are always a tad monotonous as usually everything that we want to see during our time in each city has been done.
I am not as sad to leave Las Vegas as I was Orlando because as I had previously mentioned, it had its spectacular sights that are a must see but you never felt 100% safe with people throwing CDs at you and demanding money or slapping prostitutes cards in front of your face all the way down the strip. Every city has its fair share of weirdos but as the main tourist pull is the strip it is all concentrated to that area.
I would go back as part of a trip but not especially and next time would include a trip to the grand canyon which would take a full day and have you back in Vegas for the evening when everything comes to life. The excalibur itself was quite nice, away from the hustle and bustle of the main casino, not the best view but hey, we weren't there to look out the window.
We spent the morning browsing the souvenir shops, couldn't really go that far out because we had to be conscious of the time.
We ventured back into New York New York and had lunch, I couldn't resist a final quick gamble on the fruit machines before we left... Determined to hit the jackpot... But not doing so.
Before we knew it 2pm was here and it was all aboard the bus to McCarran airport, seemed like we only just got there despite the eventful few days we had!
Took us ages to grapple with the self check in service email. Delta you have successfully failed to create an easy usable experience for your customers.
The airport itself also contains lots of slot machines in every terminal building for those who just have to gamble from the moment they arrive until the moment they leave. Not for me, I had done enough.
Our aircraft was only a 2x2 seater with it only being a 1hr 5min hop over to Los Angeles. The time flew by (no pun intended) and we were soon on the ground in LAX. The weather here was significantly cooler at 80F with a nice breeze that was a welcome break to the heat in Dallas and Las Vegas.
Once we were reunited with our bags we headed for the super shuttle station (sounds more fancy that it was) to get transport sorted to our hotel in the Hollywood area.
The shuttle bus took 1hr 45 minutes to get to the hotel as LAX is located out of the city centre and our hotel was in Hollywood. He did have to drop others off as well bit that's the first time the shuttle ride has taken longer than the flight itself!
The hotel itself is OK, nothing special but within walking distance of the main attractions in Hollywood sounds a great location.
After walking the streets looking to find somewhere to eat baring in mine we were unfamiliar with the area, it was late and we were aware of dodgy characters we only looked for a brief while before settling for an IHOP (international house of pancakes) not far from us. Very nice it was to! Had a Philly cheese steak.
Tomorrow we head out to explore LA, home of many a celebrity, who knows, we may even see one!
The sun rose over the Las Vegas strip but our stay in Sin City had come to an end. We had booked a 2pm shuttle bus to the airport so still had a few hours to kill in the morning.
Travelling days are always a tad monotonous as usually everything that we want to see during our time in each city has been done.
I am not as sad to leave Las Vegas as I was Orlando because as I had previously mentioned, it had its spectacular sights that are a must see but you never felt 100% safe with people throwing CDs at you and demanding money or slapping prostitutes cards in front of your face all the way down the strip. Every city has its fair share of weirdos but as the main tourist pull is the strip it is all concentrated to that area.
I would go back as part of a trip but not especially and next time would include a trip to the grand canyon which would take a full day and have you back in Vegas for the evening when everything comes to life. The excalibur itself was quite nice, away from the hustle and bustle of the main casino, not the best view but hey, we weren't there to look out the window.
We spent the morning browsing the souvenir shops, couldn't really go that far out because we had to be conscious of the time.
We ventured back into New York New York and had lunch, I couldn't resist a final quick gamble on the fruit machines before we left... Determined to hit the jackpot... But not doing so.
Before we knew it 2pm was here and it was all aboard the bus to McCarran airport, seemed like we only just got there despite the eventful few days we had!
Took us ages to grapple with the self check in service email. Delta you have successfully failed to create an easy usable experience for your customers.
The airport itself also contains lots of slot machines in every terminal building for those who just have to gamble from the moment they arrive until the moment they leave. Not for me, I had done enough.
Our aircraft was only a 2x2 seater with it only being a 1hr 5min hop over to Los Angeles. The time flew by (no pun intended) and we were soon on the ground in LAX. The weather here was significantly cooler at 80F with a nice breeze that was a welcome break to the heat in Dallas and Las Vegas.
Once we were reunited with our bags we headed for the super shuttle station (sounds more fancy that it was) to get transport sorted to our hotel in the Hollywood area.
The shuttle bus took 1hr 45 minutes to get to the hotel as LAX is located out of the city centre and our hotel was in Hollywood. He did have to drop others off as well bit that's the first time the shuttle ride has taken longer than the flight itself!
The hotel itself is OK, nothing special but within walking distance of the main attractions in Hollywood sounds a great location.
After walking the streets looking to find somewhere to eat baring in mine we were unfamiliar with the area, it was late and we were aware of dodgy characters we only looked for a brief while before settling for an IHOP (international house of pancakes) not far from us. Very nice it was to! Had a Philly cheese steak.
Tomorrow we head out to explore LA, home of many a celebrity, who knows, we may even see one!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)