Dear all
I am getting round, slowly, to manually having my blog complete so all I need do now is to post it.
However, in the meantime, I have downloaded the majority of my Tour photos on to my Facebook profile; I will integrate some of them on to this blog once I've worked out how to.
Best wishes
S
Tuesday 18 November 2008
Monday 17 November 2008
Day 24 - Sat 08 Nov 2008
Saturday 08 November isn't the day after Thursday 06 November I hear you say? Well it is for me, with Friday 07 November 2008 never happening for me as I flew over the International Date Line during the flight to Fiji. The flight itself was not the best I've ever had either, partly made worse by the duration of the flight - it left LA at 10.30pm and got in to Fiji at 5.05am and what with a 4-hour time zone change it made for the small matter of a 10.5 hours in total. This means that instead of being 8 hours behind UK time I am now exactly 12 hours ahead of UK time which at any rate makes the time calculations easier to work out.
The inflight entertainment was also a bit poor; instead of having a menu to choose what to watch and when to watch it, all of the tv / movie schedules were on a "loop" meaning that if you missed the start of any movie you had to wait until it had completed its run and was about to repeat itself until you could watch it in its entirety from the start. Similarly, if food was taken or one decided to take a walk around the cabin to stretch one's legs then one couldn't put the programme on hold and came back to it at a later point in time; in overview, a pointless and outdated system in my eyes given the technology in use on other planes out there.
As the plane was a 747 and accomodated hundreds of travellers, it took a few hours to clear customs and retrieve my baggage, however it was a good that I'd come prepared and purchased a guide to Fiji when I was in LA so I read that whilst I was waiting in the queue when everyone around me was getting agitated. At the Information Desk I was directed to a representation of the hotel who in time directed me to a private bus that took me to the hotel, getting there by 7.30am. Given I'd only had a few hours' sleep (uncomfortable at that!) I thought I'd probably need a good relaxation day so spent the entire day outside at the hotel's pool which was warm and lovely.
However, the morning was slightly ruined by an Australian and a Kiwi who decided to play about like kids at the pool; jumping in to the pool from a high metal cabinet-like structure and throwing plastic tables in to the nearby mango trees to retrieve the fruit. Despite the mangoes tasting delicious and them buying several jugs of the local Fiji beer I found out the next day that they'd left without paying their bar tab. A fellow englishman, Jamie, seemed to be a sound lad and we got chatting to two Canadians Laura and Amy, both of them from Toronto.
The inflight entertainment was also a bit poor; instead of having a menu to choose what to watch and when to watch it, all of the tv / movie schedules were on a "loop" meaning that if you missed the start of any movie you had to wait until it had completed its run and was about to repeat itself until you could watch it in its entirety from the start. Similarly, if food was taken or one decided to take a walk around the cabin to stretch one's legs then one couldn't put the programme on hold and came back to it at a later point in time; in overview, a pointless and outdated system in my eyes given the technology in use on other planes out there.
As the plane was a 747 and accomodated hundreds of travellers, it took a few hours to clear customs and retrieve my baggage, however it was a good that I'd come prepared and purchased a guide to Fiji when I was in LA so I read that whilst I was waiting in the queue when everyone around me was getting agitated. At the Information Desk I was directed to a representation of the hotel who in time directed me to a private bus that took me to the hotel, getting there by 7.30am. Given I'd only had a few hours' sleep (uncomfortable at that!) I thought I'd probably need a good relaxation day so spent the entire day outside at the hotel's pool which was warm and lovely.
However, the morning was slightly ruined by an Australian and a Kiwi who decided to play about like kids at the pool; jumping in to the pool from a high metal cabinet-like structure and throwing plastic tables in to the nearby mango trees to retrieve the fruit. Despite the mangoes tasting delicious and them buying several jugs of the local Fiji beer I found out the next day that they'd left without paying their bar tab. A fellow englishman, Jamie, seemed to be a sound lad and we got chatting to two Canadians Laura and Amy, both of them from Toronto.
Thursday 6 November 2008
Day 23 - Thurs 06 Nov 2008
Not a particularly enthralling day for me, all things considered, as it involved a significant amount of travelling, with two flights - the first from San Francisco to Los Angeles, the second from there on to Fiji. I'd stayed up until 4am the previous evening / this morning checking emails and posting my blog as I knew the flights would throw my body clock into turmoil irrespective of what I did, so I thought I may as well get in there first and make myself tired for the Thursday.
Regardless of that, I still managed to somehow get 6 hours' sleep in the Green Tortoise Hostel's upper bunk bed in a very tight five-bed dormitory. After checking out at 11am and with the flight at 4.40pm from San Francisco International I utlised the free internet service available and completed a few more days on my blog. A shortish walk to the Montgomery Street BART station got me on to the SFO-bound train by 1.45pm and after the scheduled 30 minute ride the BART train arrived at the airport. Passing through check-in and security was a mere formality and with a few hours to wait until takeoff a bite to eat was needed.
Unfortunately the flight was one to forget as shortly after we were served drinks the fat American sat next to me decided to knock over MY drink - that happened to be an orange juice - over the table in front of me, the juice falling on to my backpack that was on the floor under the seat in front, soaking the front top part of the bag where the zips are and the front pocket where some of my valuables were with other bits and bobs. The American just said "sorry" and then got back to whatever he was doing, leaving me to spend the rest of the flight using napkins to soak up the juice that was seeping through my bag.
Suffice to say I wasn't too impressed with him but by the time I landed in Los Angeles although parts of the bad were still slightly moist the majority of the dampness had been taken up but it did have the "scent d'orange"!
Based on many negative comments from several friends during the (very) brief planning stage of my Tour, I'd decided not to visit LA apart to use the airport for my connection to Fiji but my first impressions of the airport weren't great either as the International Terminal B (the "B" standing for the first letter of an ex-Governor's surname, Tom Brading) was in the process of being completely renovated. As a result of this, after having picked up my baggage from the American Airlines flight from San Francisco, checked-in for my evening flight and cleared security - which took some time - I found that there was essentially only two places to eat at as the rest of the terminal was inaccessible to the public. I grudgingly bought and ate (well I had to eat something!) a rather mediocre-looking and -tasting ham, swiss cheese and egg croissant before the wait continued before my 10.30pm flight out to Nadi.
Regardless of that, I still managed to somehow get 6 hours' sleep in the Green Tortoise Hostel's upper bunk bed in a very tight five-bed dormitory. After checking out at 11am and with the flight at 4.40pm from San Francisco International I utlised the free internet service available and completed a few more days on my blog. A shortish walk to the Montgomery Street BART station got me on to the SFO-bound train by 1.45pm and after the scheduled 30 minute ride the BART train arrived at the airport. Passing through check-in and security was a mere formality and with a few hours to wait until takeoff a bite to eat was needed.
Unfortunately the flight was one to forget as shortly after we were served drinks the fat American sat next to me decided to knock over MY drink - that happened to be an orange juice - over the table in front of me, the juice falling on to my backpack that was on the floor under the seat in front, soaking the front top part of the bag where the zips are and the front pocket where some of my valuables were with other bits and bobs. The American just said "sorry" and then got back to whatever he was doing, leaving me to spend the rest of the flight using napkins to soak up the juice that was seeping through my bag.
Suffice to say I wasn't too impressed with him but by the time I landed in Los Angeles although parts of the bad were still slightly moist the majority of the dampness had been taken up but it did have the "scent d'orange"!
Based on many negative comments from several friends during the (very) brief planning stage of my Tour, I'd decided not to visit LA apart to use the airport for my connection to Fiji but my first impressions of the airport weren't great either as the International Terminal B (the "B" standing for the first letter of an ex-Governor's surname, Tom Brading) was in the process of being completely renovated. As a result of this, after having picked up my baggage from the American Airlines flight from San Francisco, checked-in for my evening flight and cleared security - which took some time - I found that there was essentially only two places to eat at as the rest of the terminal was inaccessible to the public. I grudgingly bought and ate (well I had to eat something!) a rather mediocre-looking and -tasting ham, swiss cheese and egg croissant before the wait continued before my 10.30pm flight out to Nadi.
Day 20 - Mon 03 Nov 2008
Wow, Day 20 already! Time goes very quickly when exploring new places.
At present, I'm sitting at the Crissy Field Center in San Francisco having had a breakfast of a chocolate croissant, two bananas, a hard-boiled egg and a purity.organic "Strawberry Paradise" juice drink.
Many of you may think..."yeah that's nothing special" as such. However, look out of the window where you're sat - can you see the Golden Gate Bridge from where you are? :-) Like most structures it doesn't sing nor does it dance, but it doesn't "need" to - it just soars majestically in to the sky, spanning the Bay in one swoop, standing tall in its International Orange colouring.
I woke at 8.30am this morning and turned on the television for a quick update on the weather but instead got immersed in the elections that will be concluded by the end of Tuesday I think it is. Across the entire country, 13 million votes have already been cast in advance of the day - an astonishingly high number given the number of voters that vote in TOTAL in the UK general elections. However, it wasn't so much the election itself that was of interest, it was the related Propositions within the San Francisco area that residents vote on that were intriguing.
In the ad breaks, of which there are a considerable number each hour, there were advertising campaigns for each of the major Propositions being voted upon - by a "Yes" or "No" vote - which also have cost implications for the San Francisco area.
The detailed list of the Propositions being voted upon I have not yet seen, but they include the following:
Prop 2: This is with respect to the state that animals (in particular those for human consumption) are kept;
Prop 8: A very controversial topic...the Proposition proposes the banning of same-sex unions. In San Francisco at the moment, same-sex marriages / unions are legal; however the main supporters of this bill are apparently churchgoers, although there are significant debates on both sides.
It'll be interesting to see what happens to all of these propositions come voting time; one "minor" proposition suggests the renaming of a sewage plant in the area to that of the present president, George Bush!
It looks as if Obama is ahead in the exit polls so far though there is a long time left yet before the new President-Elect can claim victory.
My plan for today is to continue my walk that I started from the hotel on Lombard Street up to the marina then west alongside the Bay front towards the Golden Gate Bridge along Crissy Fields for a while before turning back and walking through Fisherman's Wharf (including food in a restaurant there) before getting to Pier 39 where the Aquarium of the Bay is based, along with the Bay cruisers and Alcatraz tour boats.
=====
I am now sat in the restaurant at Castagnola's on Pier 47, having just eaten yet more food; the stop necessary partly to break up my day and partly because its absolutely heaving down with rain outside.
Earlier, my walk further west took me past the Crissy Fields Center and to the Sports Basement where I stocked up on a few items I will require later on in my travels. After thinking about it for a while, I decided not to get any sandals at this point in time but settled on a pair of shorts suitable for swimming, a pair of decent walking socks, yet another Lonely Planet journal to help me write up my travels and some sunscreen. Based on the rate that I'm getting through my present journal, this new one will be in use very shortly, an essential I need without having to revert to writing up my travels on receipts and other bits of paper I have in my possession.
For lunch I've just had a Pacific Red Snapper with rice and vegetables of the day; very delicious at $16.22 (tax included). The Pier itself is actually in the middle of a marina, so its as if one is on a boat in the middle of all the others, though given the amount its rained recently I'm more than happy to be inside than out on the deck of a boat.
Given the nasty weather there seems little point in going on a boat tour on either a Blue & Yellow Cruise boat or one to Alcatraz today; as its turned 4pm a leisurely walk down the many Piers seems like the best idea.
=====
I am now sat in the Coventry Motor Inn where Anthony and I stayed last night and where we've stashed our bags whilst I went out for the day and Anthony went on an organised trip to Monterey and Carmel. My day overall was quite good though the weather was absolutely appalling and did put a bit of a damper on things. After lunch I walked further east, keeping on the seafront where possible, unfortunately the weather continued to stay bad all afternoon and didn't really ease off at all, subsequently making those wooden piers - such as part of the famous Pier 39 - treacherously slippery.
On Pier 45 I came across quite a surprise find - a WWII submarine - the USS Pampanito - a National Historic landmark. Of six war patrols it went on it sunk 6 enemy ships and also rescued 73 allied POWs; quite a significant achievement it appears!
The submarine service represented only 2% of the US Naval personnel but incredibly enough accounted for the sinking of 55% of the Japanese ships sunk during the war.
A short walk in the rain - thankfully, the North Face shoes and waterproof I'd purchased in New York were doing a sterling job of keeping me dry - took me to Pier 39 which - as well as giving good views of Alcatraz and, way across the Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge - is the home to some of San Francisco's sealions which gather in their hundreds on floating rafts where they huddle for warmth as well as being where they take a sleep, clamber over each other and have "play-fights" as well as being ever so noisy with their almost-continuous barking.
Strangely enough, scientists believe that the sealions come to rest in the Bay as opposed to anywhere else because the water in the Bay is too saline for the sealions' main predator - the great white shark - to swim whilst the rafts ensure there is a low yet solid surface for the sealions to be able to "haul" themselves up on. They definitely seemed at ease with their surrounding environment.
Given it had reached 5.30pm by then and the light was rapidly fading, I walked back to the hotel and waited for Anthony to return back from Carmel after which we got a taxi across town to the Stratford Hotel on Powell Street, which is very close to Union Square as well as have a cable car track on it too.
It was useful to have got a taxi as San Francisco is built on hills and it would have been a tiring task carrying bags across town. Once checked in at the hotel, we went to Cafe Mason, a diner on Mason Street where I had salmon with potato whilst Anthony had Linguine Gamberi. However it wasn't the best food I'd had although the bottle of local Anchor Steam helped the food go down. Overall it didn't appear the most professional outfit either with apparently nine staff doing a variety of jobs (which appeared to involve a degree of duplication) bar the one front-of-house lady who's sole role was to welcome in customers and then show them to their table. Furthermore, despite the fact that the dinner sitting was still very much in full swing, the tables - including ours whilst we were eating! - were being prepared for the breakfast sitting the next morning; suffice to say, a "reasonable" tip (which in San Francisco they recommend as 15%+) was not forthcoming from us.
At present, I'm sitting at the Crissy Field Center in San Francisco having had a breakfast of a chocolate croissant, two bananas, a hard-boiled egg and a purity.organic "Strawberry Paradise" juice drink.
Many of you may think..."yeah that's nothing special" as such. However, look out of the window where you're sat - can you see the Golden Gate Bridge from where you are? :-) Like most structures it doesn't sing nor does it dance, but it doesn't "need" to - it just soars majestically in to the sky, spanning the Bay in one swoop, standing tall in its International Orange colouring.
I woke at 8.30am this morning and turned on the television for a quick update on the weather but instead got immersed in the elections that will be concluded by the end of Tuesday I think it is. Across the entire country, 13 million votes have already been cast in advance of the day - an astonishingly high number given the number of voters that vote in TOTAL in the UK general elections. However, it wasn't so much the election itself that was of interest, it was the related Propositions within the San Francisco area that residents vote on that were intriguing.
In the ad breaks, of which there are a considerable number each hour, there were advertising campaigns for each of the major Propositions being voted upon - by a "Yes" or "No" vote - which also have cost implications for the San Francisco area.
The detailed list of the Propositions being voted upon I have not yet seen, but they include the following:
Prop 2: This is with respect to the state that animals (in particular those for human consumption) are kept;
Prop 8: A very controversial topic...the Proposition proposes the banning of same-sex unions. In San Francisco at the moment, same-sex marriages / unions are legal; however the main supporters of this bill are apparently churchgoers, although there are significant debates on both sides.
It'll be interesting to see what happens to all of these propositions come voting time; one "minor" proposition suggests the renaming of a sewage plant in the area to that of the present president, George Bush!
It looks as if Obama is ahead in the exit polls so far though there is a long time left yet before the new President-Elect can claim victory.
My plan for today is to continue my walk that I started from the hotel on Lombard Street up to the marina then west alongside the Bay front towards the Golden Gate Bridge along Crissy Fields for a while before turning back and walking through Fisherman's Wharf (including food in a restaurant there) before getting to Pier 39 where the Aquarium of the Bay is based, along with the Bay cruisers and Alcatraz tour boats.
=====
I am now sat in the restaurant at Castagnola's on Pier 47, having just eaten yet more food; the stop necessary partly to break up my day and partly because its absolutely heaving down with rain outside.
Earlier, my walk further west took me past the Crissy Fields Center and to the Sports Basement where I stocked up on a few items I will require later on in my travels. After thinking about it for a while, I decided not to get any sandals at this point in time but settled on a pair of shorts suitable for swimming, a pair of decent walking socks, yet another Lonely Planet journal to help me write up my travels and some sunscreen. Based on the rate that I'm getting through my present journal, this new one will be in use very shortly, an essential I need without having to revert to writing up my travels on receipts and other bits of paper I have in my possession.
For lunch I've just had a Pacific Red Snapper with rice and vegetables of the day; very delicious at $16.22 (tax included). The Pier itself is actually in the middle of a marina, so its as if one is on a boat in the middle of all the others, though given the amount its rained recently I'm more than happy to be inside than out on the deck of a boat.
Given the nasty weather there seems little point in going on a boat tour on either a Blue & Yellow Cruise boat or one to Alcatraz today; as its turned 4pm a leisurely walk down the many Piers seems like the best idea.
=====
I am now sat in the Coventry Motor Inn where Anthony and I stayed last night and where we've stashed our bags whilst I went out for the day and Anthony went on an organised trip to Monterey and Carmel. My day overall was quite good though the weather was absolutely appalling and did put a bit of a damper on things. After lunch I walked further east, keeping on the seafront where possible, unfortunately the weather continued to stay bad all afternoon and didn't really ease off at all, subsequently making those wooden piers - such as part of the famous Pier 39 - treacherously slippery.
On Pier 45 I came across quite a surprise find - a WWII submarine - the USS Pampanito - a National Historic landmark. Of six war patrols it went on it sunk 6 enemy ships and also rescued 73 allied POWs; quite a significant achievement it appears!
The submarine service represented only 2% of the US Naval personnel but incredibly enough accounted for the sinking of 55% of the Japanese ships sunk during the war.
A short walk in the rain - thankfully, the North Face shoes and waterproof I'd purchased in New York were doing a sterling job of keeping me dry - took me to Pier 39 which - as well as giving good views of Alcatraz and, way across the Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge - is the home to some of San Francisco's sealions which gather in their hundreds on floating rafts where they huddle for warmth as well as being where they take a sleep, clamber over each other and have "play-fights" as well as being ever so noisy with their almost-continuous barking.
Strangely enough, scientists believe that the sealions come to rest in the Bay as opposed to anywhere else because the water in the Bay is too saline for the sealions' main predator - the great white shark - to swim whilst the rafts ensure there is a low yet solid surface for the sealions to be able to "haul" themselves up on. They definitely seemed at ease with their surrounding environment.
Given it had reached 5.30pm by then and the light was rapidly fading, I walked back to the hotel and waited for Anthony to return back from Carmel after which we got a taxi across town to the Stratford Hotel on Powell Street, which is very close to Union Square as well as have a cable car track on it too.
It was useful to have got a taxi as San Francisco is built on hills and it would have been a tiring task carrying bags across town. Once checked in at the hotel, we went to Cafe Mason, a diner on Mason Street where I had salmon with potato whilst Anthony had Linguine Gamberi. However it wasn't the best food I'd had although the bottle of local Anchor Steam helped the food go down. Overall it didn't appear the most professional outfit either with apparently nine staff doing a variety of jobs (which appeared to involve a degree of duplication) bar the one front-of-house lady who's sole role was to welcome in customers and then show them to their table. Furthermore, despite the fact that the dinner sitting was still very much in full swing, the tables - including ours whilst we were eating! - were being prepared for the breakfast sitting the next morning; suffice to say, a "reasonable" tip (which in San Francisco they recommend as 15%+) was not forthcoming from us.
Day 19 - Sun 02 Nov 2008
I awoke at a decent time at the Whitcomb Hotel considering the relatively-late night but what with re-packing my bags as we were changing hotels, an early check-out wasn't what was required.
Also, as the next hotel's check-in was not until 3pm and the Whitcomb had a computer room where I could access various emails and I needed to keep myself updated of where I stood with various bits of information, I stayed in the computer room until 2pm at which point Anthony returned from a walk he'd taken to the shops and then we walked down the road to catch a bus to as close as we could get to out hotel for the next night.
At this point, I invite all those people who complain about the quality of buses in England to come visit San Francisco! The buses here are long, for sure (those that "bend" in the middle) and hence fit in lots of people but the daily charge of $1.50 to use them is a fair price as they are reasonably old (they still have "pull cords" running down each side of the bus that is supposedly the technology in use to bring to the attention of the driver that a stop has been requested). Furthermore the seats appear "small" width-wise whilst the seats themselves are solid wood with no give in them whatsoever whilst the buses are difficult to stand up in when they are moving, even whilst gripping the handrail to keep from falling over when the bs brakes or when the accelerator is applied.
For $1.50 a day's travel across the city appears to be a decent deal.
After utilising this method of transport and checking-in at the hotel it was turned 4pm but we decided to use our bus ticket again, to get another bus up to the Golden Gate Bridge; with hindsight this was a much better than walking there because despite plenty of photos being taken it was very foggy by the time we arrived and with it also getting dark there was only about 30 minutes' opportunity to take photos before there was not enough light to do so. However, the lights on the Bridge itself assisted identifying the outline of the bridge for some night-shots - including what I believe are some of my best photos to date, particularly some "black-and-white" ones and some "colour-accented" ones (where, for instance, the yellow in a particular photo is picked up whilst everything else in the scene is a "neutral" black and white).
The Bridge itself was shrouded in fog when we arrived but still looked majestic; if nice weather comes along in the next few days a walk over to the other side may be worth doing.
=====
A bus back to the hotel - via an inadvertent detour on the bus going in the opposite direction that we wanted to go in! - pre-empted a walk to what I'd call a "proper" American diner (like the ones in films such as Pulp Fiction or Goodfellas) called Mel's Lombard to complete the day.
I ordered a ham steak with three poached eggs and potato which also came with...two pancakes (!); what was entitled a "Lumberjack" on the menu...whilst Anthony picked out a considerable half pound burger. My food was very good but oddly enough it was the potatoes - often the "forgotten food" of a meal when its included as essentially a side dish - that was the highlight although that doesn't mean the rest of the meal was bland by any means whilst Anthony's burger was the best he said he'd ever had.
To burn off some of the excess calories consumed from the pancakes a walk down Union Street - the "main street" of the Cow Hollow District renowned for its preserved Victorians that now house art galleries, antique stores, boutiques, fine dining and world-class spas - was deemed necessary. The street reminded me of the nicer parts of Oxford; indeed the entire street would not have looked out of place there.
Whilst on this walk, I noticed something slightly strange; even though it was not foggy at ground level, due to the low clouds / fog, the sky was a mix of black and grey...something I don't ever remember having seen in England before, with the clouds essentially being "lit up" from the lights in the San Francisco streets. This eerie sight made for some rather unusual photos.
Also, as the next hotel's check-in was not until 3pm and the Whitcomb had a computer room where I could access various emails and I needed to keep myself updated of where I stood with various bits of information, I stayed in the computer room until 2pm at which point Anthony returned from a walk he'd taken to the shops and then we walked down the road to catch a bus to as close as we could get to out hotel for the next night.
At this point, I invite all those people who complain about the quality of buses in England to come visit San Francisco! The buses here are long, for sure (those that "bend" in the middle) and hence fit in lots of people but the daily charge of $1.50 to use them is a fair price as they are reasonably old (they still have "pull cords" running down each side of the bus that is supposedly the technology in use to bring to the attention of the driver that a stop has been requested). Furthermore the seats appear "small" width-wise whilst the seats themselves are solid wood with no give in them whatsoever whilst the buses are difficult to stand up in when they are moving, even whilst gripping the handrail to keep from falling over when the bs brakes or when the accelerator is applied.
For $1.50 a day's travel across the city appears to be a decent deal.
After utilising this method of transport and checking-in at the hotel it was turned 4pm but we decided to use our bus ticket again, to get another bus up to the Golden Gate Bridge; with hindsight this was a much better than walking there because despite plenty of photos being taken it was very foggy by the time we arrived and with it also getting dark there was only about 30 minutes' opportunity to take photos before there was not enough light to do so. However, the lights on the Bridge itself assisted identifying the outline of the bridge for some night-shots - including what I believe are some of my best photos to date, particularly some "black-and-white" ones and some "colour-accented" ones (where, for instance, the yellow in a particular photo is picked up whilst everything else in the scene is a "neutral" black and white).
The Bridge itself was shrouded in fog when we arrived but still looked majestic; if nice weather comes along in the next few days a walk over to the other side may be worth doing.
=====
A bus back to the hotel - via an inadvertent detour on the bus going in the opposite direction that we wanted to go in! - pre-empted a walk to what I'd call a "proper" American diner (like the ones in films such as Pulp Fiction or Goodfellas) called Mel's Lombard to complete the day.
I ordered a ham steak with three poached eggs and potato which also came with...two pancakes (!); what was entitled a "Lumberjack" on the menu...whilst Anthony picked out a considerable half pound burger. My food was very good but oddly enough it was the potatoes - often the "forgotten food" of a meal when its included as essentially a side dish - that was the highlight although that doesn't mean the rest of the meal was bland by any means whilst Anthony's burger was the best he said he'd ever had.
To burn off some of the excess calories consumed from the pancakes a walk down Union Street - the "main street" of the Cow Hollow District renowned for its preserved Victorians that now house art galleries, antique stores, boutiques, fine dining and world-class spas - was deemed necessary. The street reminded me of the nicer parts of Oxford; indeed the entire street would not have looked out of place there.
Whilst on this walk, I noticed something slightly strange; even though it was not foggy at ground level, due to the low clouds / fog, the sky was a mix of black and grey...something I don't ever remember having seen in England before, with the clouds essentially being "lit up" from the lights in the San Francisco streets. This eerie sight made for some rather unusual photos.
Day 18 - Sat 01 Nov 2008
After waking at a surprisingly early time for me (8.30am!; yes that's early for me) I did a quick channel-hopping on the tv to grasp what programmes they have in the States and to see what they have to put up with.
Suffice to say, its the first time I've seen a James Bond movie - GoldenEye to be precise - being shown on a national television station at that time of day. There were also many channels about the upcoming general elections, which include all sorts of Propositions to vote on as well as the comparatively "easy" vote for John McCain or Barack Obama. Unexpectedly enough, there were also a fair few channels advertising sports equipment and diet / skincare products - all invariably being endorsed by stars such as Cindy Crawford.
As when I was in New York, when I visit a city for the first time I tend to want to explore it on foot, even if in the case above it led to an eventual six to seven hour walk! I personally think its the only way to really discover and get to know a town or city fully and it tends to give one a much clearer idea of the geography of the place and a sense of scale that you don't initially realise when using public transport, particularly any Underground system. However, once the geography "above ground" is understood more clearly I tend to start using the public transport to get around, which in a way helps to "join the dots" too.
Today, a walk (via the local laundrette to deposit all of my dirty clothes where a "wash and fold" service for $14 was provided), northeast up Market Street to then cut north through Chinatown and North Beach (by going up the northern stretch of Broadway) saw us arrive at Fisherman's Wharf before lunch with it hammering down with rain all morning.
At Fisherman's Wharf a walk further westwards to Hyde Street Pier, coming across the only floating National Park as its where several historic ships are docked. Given the horrendous weather, however, the Golden Gate Bridge (to the west) was just a faint outline in the distance and Alcatraz Island (to the northeast) seemed to be many miles away sat in the middle of the Bay. A look around and on the old ships may have been an interesting experience but given Anthony's umbrella he'd bought earlier in the morning had already broken on him and even with my waterproof jacket doing a grand job at keeping me dry, my jeans were getting soaked and so a lunchtime stop to eat was required. Moving off the Pier and heading back east along the seafront we came across a friendly restaurant called Pompei's Grotto, apparently serving up a variety of foodstuffs.
Given a friend at the wedding had recommended I try some clam chowder I plumped for a lemon sole with vegetables which came with a bowl of clam chowder as a starter, which I really enjoyed. In terms of comparison to other foods, I'd liken it to having a similar consistency to chicken soup and it tastes similar to it too. The sole was ok, though I'm not too keen on the tendency there is here in the States to fry / grill their fish; steamed tastes better in my opinion, reason being that I don't believe fish should be "crunchy" at all, which invariably is how fried / grilled fish turns out.
However, the dessert of warm chocolate sundae with cream and vanilla ice cream with hazelnut I couldn't complain about in the slightest, whilst a bottle of the local Anchor Steam beer ensured the meal went down smoothly.
As we'd slightly dried out when in the restaurant but the weather wasn't particularly easing off, we decided to walk back to the hotel to re-energise before a night on the town. Along the way, we walked up one of the hills in the centre of the city, where at the junction of Lombard Street and Hyde Street we came across the "peak" of the hill at which point there's a slight anomaly in the road; as its a 40 degree slope going downhill its a one-way road and for safety reasons it snakes from side to side so as to slow traffic and is known as "the crookedest street in the world" because of these eight switchbacks down the hill.
After arriving back at the hotel and spending considerable time drying everything out using the hotel-provided hair drier, we went to the concierge-recommended John's Grill in the Union Square area but unfortunately it was closed due to a private party however Les Joulins - a live jazz venue - was open across the street and as a big lunch had been consumed earlier on, a Seafood Platter was ordered along with a Budweiser. The food was really very good, the white wine sauce that was coating the Platter being the sort that you request extra portions of french bread and butter so as to soak it all up.
Afterwards we walked to a club not far away from the restaurant and after bargaining half price entry for $10, which I personally thought was a bit excessive but was still $30 cheaper than Ruby Skye - the club I preferred but at that price ($40, about 27 GBP) it wasn't really a feasible option just for an entry fee.
With hindsight and after three drinks, Anthony eventually came round to my way of thinking that the club really wasn't particularly good; I'm sure it was good-quality hip-hop and reggae music being played but its not quite the sort of music for me to want to get on to the dancefloor as its generally too slow a beat for my liking.
We stopped via Ruby Skye at around 2pm to see if the entry fee had been reduced at all but despite the 4am closing time the entry fee was still an extortionate $30, which was even more surprising given the number of people who appeared to be leaving the club at that time of night.
The short walk back down Powell Street - where the cable cars run in the daytime - and then down Market Street completed the evening.
Suffice to say, its the first time I've seen a James Bond movie - GoldenEye to be precise - being shown on a national television station at that time of day. There were also many channels about the upcoming general elections, which include all sorts of Propositions to vote on as well as the comparatively "easy" vote for John McCain or Barack Obama. Unexpectedly enough, there were also a fair few channels advertising sports equipment and diet / skincare products - all invariably being endorsed by stars such as Cindy Crawford.
As when I was in New York, when I visit a city for the first time I tend to want to explore it on foot, even if in the case above it led to an eventual six to seven hour walk! I personally think its the only way to really discover and get to know a town or city fully and it tends to give one a much clearer idea of the geography of the place and a sense of scale that you don't initially realise when using public transport, particularly any Underground system. However, once the geography "above ground" is understood more clearly I tend to start using the public transport to get around, which in a way helps to "join the dots" too.
Today, a walk (via the local laundrette to deposit all of my dirty clothes where a "wash and fold" service for $14 was provided), northeast up Market Street to then cut north through Chinatown and North Beach (by going up the northern stretch of Broadway) saw us arrive at Fisherman's Wharf before lunch with it hammering down with rain all morning.
At Fisherman's Wharf a walk further westwards to Hyde Street Pier, coming across the only floating National Park as its where several historic ships are docked. Given the horrendous weather, however, the Golden Gate Bridge (to the west) was just a faint outline in the distance and Alcatraz Island (to the northeast) seemed to be many miles away sat in the middle of the Bay. A look around and on the old ships may have been an interesting experience but given Anthony's umbrella he'd bought earlier in the morning had already broken on him and even with my waterproof jacket doing a grand job at keeping me dry, my jeans were getting soaked and so a lunchtime stop to eat was required. Moving off the Pier and heading back east along the seafront we came across a friendly restaurant called Pompei's Grotto, apparently serving up a variety of foodstuffs.
Given a friend at the wedding had recommended I try some clam chowder I plumped for a lemon sole with vegetables which came with a bowl of clam chowder as a starter, which I really enjoyed. In terms of comparison to other foods, I'd liken it to having a similar consistency to chicken soup and it tastes similar to it too. The sole was ok, though I'm not too keen on the tendency there is here in the States to fry / grill their fish; steamed tastes better in my opinion, reason being that I don't believe fish should be "crunchy" at all, which invariably is how fried / grilled fish turns out.
However, the dessert of warm chocolate sundae with cream and vanilla ice cream with hazelnut I couldn't complain about in the slightest, whilst a bottle of the local Anchor Steam beer ensured the meal went down smoothly.
As we'd slightly dried out when in the restaurant but the weather wasn't particularly easing off, we decided to walk back to the hotel to re-energise before a night on the town. Along the way, we walked up one of the hills in the centre of the city, where at the junction of Lombard Street and Hyde Street we came across the "peak" of the hill at which point there's a slight anomaly in the road; as its a 40 degree slope going downhill its a one-way road and for safety reasons it snakes from side to side so as to slow traffic and is known as "the crookedest street in the world" because of these eight switchbacks down the hill.
After arriving back at the hotel and spending considerable time drying everything out using the hotel-provided hair drier, we went to the concierge-recommended John's Grill in the Union Square area but unfortunately it was closed due to a private party however Les Joulins - a live jazz venue - was open across the street and as a big lunch had been consumed earlier on, a Seafood Platter was ordered along with a Budweiser. The food was really very good, the white wine sauce that was coating the Platter being the sort that you request extra portions of french bread and butter so as to soak it all up.
Afterwards we walked to a club not far away from the restaurant and after bargaining half price entry for $10, which I personally thought was a bit excessive but was still $30 cheaper than Ruby Skye - the club I preferred but at that price ($40, about 27 GBP) it wasn't really a feasible option just for an entry fee.
With hindsight and after three drinks, Anthony eventually came round to my way of thinking that the club really wasn't particularly good; I'm sure it was good-quality hip-hop and reggae music being played but its not quite the sort of music for me to want to get on to the dancefloor as its generally too slow a beat for my liking.
We stopped via Ruby Skye at around 2pm to see if the entry fee had been reduced at all but despite the 4am closing time the entry fee was still an extortionate $30, which was even more surprising given the number of people who appeared to be leaving the club at that time of night.
The short walk back down Powell Street - where the cable cars run in the daytime - and then down Market Street completed the evening.
Day 17 - Fri 31 Oct 2008
Today saw my last day in Las Vegas, the end of a surprising but decidedly entertaining and eye-opening trip to this gambling Mecca. Although not even close to the Bellagio Hotel in style or class, the Stratosphere served its purpose as a place to lay my head for one last night before the flight to San Francisco. Given not a huge amount of sleep had been had in the last five nights, to wake up in either a five-star hotel (Bellagio) or a more-budget hotel (Stratosphere) is neither here not there in a way - in both cases a decent night sleep was had and the "high" beds / thick mattresses and a minimum of four pillows were very cosy. The difference between the two is akin to the differences you notice when walking through the two english cities of Oxford and Slough.
Slough appears to have all the same type and number of shops as Oxford, including the major retailers, but it doesn't appear to have - on closer inspection - some of the "more individual" shops that Oxford does. Similarly, Slough town centre is not in a state of total disrepair by any means, but it doesn't quite compare with Oxford as it has very few historic buildings and has more eye-sores than eye-pleasers. When walking through Oxford the easiest way to describe it is that it is quite "peaceful" on the eyes with many beautiful old buildings that ooze character and history and it is only when walking around towns such as Slough and Reading that one realises something is "missing in character" from them.
Even Oxford's town centre has been "standardised" to the apparently same masterplan as every other town centre in the country- which identical paving through the pedestrian areas and "standard" lighting and even bins, but with its historic buildings it tends to preserve a degree of the individuality that a lot of other town and city centres seemed to have lost, particularly with the last 10-15years "globalisation" that has seen the world get smaller and the major (and also not-so-major) high street names appearing in EVERY town in the country.
In a similar way, the Bellagio is head and shoulders above most of the other Las Vegas casinos and hotels, although I didn't visit The Wynn whilst The Venetian did look as if some considerable thought had gone into its design. However, the Bellagio doesn't have the elaborate setup like the Venetian does, or the rather fake-looking statues that are at Caesar's Palace but it doesn't need those "gimmicks" to show its class. Like most hotels it does have something different to offer guests, but the dancing fountains in the massive pool out the front of the hotel that bring visitors from all hotels to watch in amazement from early evening-time and the vast outside swimming pool with its saunas and sunning areas are much more class than mere gimmicks.
The Stratosphere has a decent-sized casino and the tower with its astonishing rides but after having stayed in and gambled at the Bellagio, the second night at the Stratosphere just didn't compare at all. I can see myself visiting Vegas - and the Bellagio in particular - as a yearly detox from work and the normalities of every day life...Vegas is indeed an incredible place.
A breakfast at The Courtyard Buffet at the Stratosphere comprised of scrambled egg, bacon and potato waffle and although it was decent for $11.87, it could have been better. With Chris feeling slightly better after his illness and more in touch with reality, Anthony and I left him with a late check-out at hotel as we departed to the airport for our flight to San Francisco. The taxi driver appeared pleasant enough but I am quite sure that we were overcharged at $35 for the trip to the airport; although the traffic was fairly heavy, I am convinced he could've just driven straight down the Strip instead of the highway parallel to that which had roadworks on.
As it was an internal flight, it took hardly any time at all getting checked-in and through security although once we were through there we were faced with a flight delay, if only for an hour. Only in the States, however, could you walk up to a Gate to speak to a representative of the airline to ask for more information on the delay to find that...the staff were busy setting up an ad hoc bowling alley with a plastic bowling set, after which an announcement came over the tannoy informing passengers that if any of them would like to bowl down this makeshift alley and achieve a strike then they would be rewarded with a free drink or movie when the plane eventually departed!
Several passengers had a go, after about five or six it was obvious it was a bit "too" easy to get a strike and with interest waning on that front the staff changed tack to asking general knowledge questions for the same "prizes". Eventually, we were ushered through the Gate and the flight departed. On this flight the future of plane travel was partly-sampled as their in-flight entertainment system included such gimmicks as being able to type messages from your seat on the plane to any other seat on the plane, whilst I also got to play a game of Doom! Once the system is fully-running, one will be able to check emails on board the plane and buy whatever you want using the in-handset card reader.
The flight itself took hardly any time at all and flying over the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges on the way in to San Francisco airport was a nice experience. The security at the airport seemed as slack as any internal flight through USA, with a walk through the entire airport to get to the Baggage Claim Carousels which, as far as I could tell, everyone and anyone had access to, although understandably the area is supposedly under 24 hour surveillance.
A walk to the BART for a half hour trip to the Civic Centre Station near the Whitcomb Hotel was cheap and efficient at only $5. After checking-in and getting our bearings, we had an amazing meal at Lalita, a seafood/thai bar. A massive Calamari Platter for starters was top quality, before an also-delicious Sautee'd Crab with vegetables, along with a bottle of Bud. On the way back to the hotel, a significant number of Halloween-celebrating cyclists zoomed past, all dressed in a range of outrageous and colourful outfits; considerably more participants in the celebration than I've even experienced in England.
Slough appears to have all the same type and number of shops as Oxford, including the major retailers, but it doesn't appear to have - on closer inspection - some of the "more individual" shops that Oxford does. Similarly, Slough town centre is not in a state of total disrepair by any means, but it doesn't quite compare with Oxford as it has very few historic buildings and has more eye-sores than eye-pleasers. When walking through Oxford the easiest way to describe it is that it is quite "peaceful" on the eyes with many beautiful old buildings that ooze character and history and it is only when walking around towns such as Slough and Reading that one realises something is "missing in character" from them.
Even Oxford's town centre has been "standardised" to the apparently same masterplan as every other town centre in the country- which identical paving through the pedestrian areas and "standard" lighting and even bins, but with its historic buildings it tends to preserve a degree of the individuality that a lot of other town and city centres seemed to have lost, particularly with the last 10-15years "globalisation" that has seen the world get smaller and the major (and also not-so-major) high street names appearing in EVERY town in the country.
In a similar way, the Bellagio is head and shoulders above most of the other Las Vegas casinos and hotels, although I didn't visit The Wynn whilst The Venetian did look as if some considerable thought had gone into its design. However, the Bellagio doesn't have the elaborate setup like the Venetian does, or the rather fake-looking statues that are at Caesar's Palace but it doesn't need those "gimmicks" to show its class. Like most hotels it does have something different to offer guests, but the dancing fountains in the massive pool out the front of the hotel that bring visitors from all hotels to watch in amazement from early evening-time and the vast outside swimming pool with its saunas and sunning areas are much more class than mere gimmicks.
The Stratosphere has a decent-sized casino and the tower with its astonishing rides but after having stayed in and gambled at the Bellagio, the second night at the Stratosphere just didn't compare at all. I can see myself visiting Vegas - and the Bellagio in particular - as a yearly detox from work and the normalities of every day life...Vegas is indeed an incredible place.
A breakfast at The Courtyard Buffet at the Stratosphere comprised of scrambled egg, bacon and potato waffle and although it was decent for $11.87, it could have been better. With Chris feeling slightly better after his illness and more in touch with reality, Anthony and I left him with a late check-out at hotel as we departed to the airport for our flight to San Francisco. The taxi driver appeared pleasant enough but I am quite sure that we were overcharged at $35 for the trip to the airport; although the traffic was fairly heavy, I am convinced he could've just driven straight down the Strip instead of the highway parallel to that which had roadworks on.
As it was an internal flight, it took hardly any time at all getting checked-in and through security although once we were through there we were faced with a flight delay, if only for an hour. Only in the States, however, could you walk up to a Gate to speak to a representative of the airline to ask for more information on the delay to find that...the staff were busy setting up an ad hoc bowling alley with a plastic bowling set, after which an announcement came over the tannoy informing passengers that if any of them would like to bowl down this makeshift alley and achieve a strike then they would be rewarded with a free drink or movie when the plane eventually departed!
Several passengers had a go, after about five or six it was obvious it was a bit "too" easy to get a strike and with interest waning on that front the staff changed tack to asking general knowledge questions for the same "prizes". Eventually, we were ushered through the Gate and the flight departed. On this flight the future of plane travel was partly-sampled as their in-flight entertainment system included such gimmicks as being able to type messages from your seat on the plane to any other seat on the plane, whilst I also got to play a game of Doom! Once the system is fully-running, one will be able to check emails on board the plane and buy whatever you want using the in-handset card reader.
The flight itself took hardly any time at all and flying over the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges on the way in to San Francisco airport was a nice experience. The security at the airport seemed as slack as any internal flight through USA, with a walk through the entire airport to get to the Baggage Claim Carousels which, as far as I could tell, everyone and anyone had access to, although understandably the area is supposedly under 24 hour surveillance.
A walk to the BART for a half hour trip to the Civic Centre Station near the Whitcomb Hotel was cheap and efficient at only $5. After checking-in and getting our bearings, we had an amazing meal at Lalita, a seafood/thai bar. A massive Calamari Platter for starters was top quality, before an also-delicious Sautee'd Crab with vegetables, along with a bottle of Bud. On the way back to the hotel, a significant number of Halloween-celebrating cyclists zoomed past, all dressed in a range of outrageous and colourful outfits; considerably more participants in the celebration than I've even experienced in England.
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