these are gonna be my final posts...
i really need to cover the last couple of days in the usa as they were slightly fraught with problems and difficulties...
my last day in san francisco passed uneventfully, went and had a massive lunch at a cute diner then pottered around the city all day, bit of shopping, but what i was really looking for was a crazy little bookshop/museum that i found last time i was in the city, but couldn't remember its name or which area it was in - hmmm, not surprisingly, i didn't find it!
had contacted lovely chad via email, hoping to meet up with him for a drink before i left, but it all got too difficult, couldn't get through to his cell, etc. so it didn't happen. so i got an early night and sorted out my suitcase ready for the morning...
so i get up and get ready and off i go to the train which is supposed to take 30 minutes to get to the airport (well, it did last time...) and waited 30 minutes for a train. i got on the train which went one stop and then developed a fault and went out of service... another 30 minutes later and i'm on the train on the way - knowing in my heart that i've missed my plane to new york...
after freaking out and being told that i can't get another flight until 11.45pm (it was 11am) or pay for a direct flight for $800 - i get a grip and decide to stay with the airline i booked and they rearranged my flights at no extra charge, but it meant that i had to wait for 11 hours in the airport...
inertia set in but the time passed quickly enough i suppose. i read a lot of shantaram and did a bit of surfing... but i think i went into a semi-coma...
so i get on the first plane to milwaukee where i wait for around two hours before catching my connecting flight to newark - i really haven't had any sleep and time seems irrelevant
arrive at newark at around 11am and head over the hotel where zoe and i are staying but they wont let me in the room as i have no printed confirmation. so i throw a bit of strop, get out my laptop and show her the email... thank god she lets me up to the room where i throw myself onto the bed for 5 whole minutes, before jumping in the shower and getting ready to head into the city - which takes another 2 hours from newark...
head up to the meeting that had obviously finished hours before, but dinushka was there and so we had a bit of a catch-up and then i headed up to 86th street to pick up my other suitcase from robin's. i knew she wouldn't be there as she had a busy day planned at search and care - but i hoped that i might catch her. i spent a while around my old neighbourhood, couldn't bring myself to get on the subway away from my new home...
finally made it back to the hotel to find a note from zoe saying that she was in the bar with steve! went there but couldn't find them... went back to the room and re-read the note and then went back down and bumped into them coming out of the lift! a lot of cuddling later, we went back to the bar and i got some food and we had a bit of a catch-up. i fell into bed to the sounds of zoe sorting out her suitcase!
we both woke with a start to the sound of our alarm call at 4.30am... not enough sleep! taxi to the airport booked at 5.30am but it didn't turn up until 6am and then charged us $35! what a total rip-off!
we meet up with the others and get coffee and bagels for breakfast and then we all pile onto the plane to find that we're all sat together... fine for most of us, but not so great for the 3 in the group who decided early on to segregate themselves from everyone else and then had a big falling out during their vacation... they're all sitting in a row pretending they don't know each other - was quite funny - except that i'm sitting next to them. you could feel the tension! oh well, most of us thought they deserved it!
so, that was it... best summer i ever had...
Sunday 12 September 2010
Monday 6 September 2010
bike the bridge day
woke up to another cloudy day in san francisco - it's usually cloudy here and much cooler than anywhere in the surrounding area.
met up with john and we took a bus over to fisherman's wharf to meet the girls - they weren't there so we nipped over to starbucks and had coffee while we waited. i thought that it looked different than last time... while john rang emilie to find out where they were i suddenly realised that we were in the wrong place! but john got off the phone to say that the girls were in the wrong place too! so we all wandered off and met up in the right place! much hugging and squawking took place!
hired the bikes and off we went... emilie was a bit nervous as she hadn't been on a bike for ages - but the first bit is quite easy as you cycle through the park that follows the bay round to the golden gate bridge. my memory of this side of the bridge had been obliterated, i had no idea it was so far to the base of the bridge! then we cycled/walked up the steep hill to get to the starting point and stopped for coffee - well i did!
emilie giving helen and john a big cuddle:
before the bridge:
the bridge:
me and my bicycle:
then we were off over the bridge - about halfway across the sun decided to come out and it turned into the most gorgeous day. poor emily took a tumble off her bike and i think it freaked her out a bit - so we stopped and gave her a cuddle. got to the other side and then it was downhill all the way to the very pretty little town of sausalito. john got there first and i was second - we stopped and waited for the others. i'd gone quite slowly so i got worried when emilie and helen didn't appear for ages... john ended up calling them and they were walking down as emilie was still a bit freaked out after falling...
gorgeous sunny, windy day in sausalito, john and i went off to find somewhere nice for lunch and the girls took it easy and walked through the town. we found a cute little mexican place for lunch - finally had horchata! been meaning to try it since i got here! was very sweet but very yum too! had a lovely al fresco lunch, lots of sunshine lots of food, lots of laughs - was just what i needed!
lunch:
pootled around sausalito - found a tiny farmer's market and we all went around tasting everything and not buying anything!!! more fantastic peaches/nectarines. then made our way back to the harbour and grabbed our bikes and queued up with loads of other cyclists to wait for the ferry.
piled on, everyone had bikes, which all got lined up in the middle of the boat and we went up on to the deck for the very best views of sausalito, san francisco, the golden gate bridge, alcatraz and the amazing james bond boat that was anchored in the sausalito bay.
the bridge:
alcatraz:
the james bond boat:
arrived back at fisherman's wharf and returned the bikes. then off to ghiradelli's for ice cream sundaes for dinner... well apart from john who had coffee... emilie and helen had been recommended the musée mechanique which is a little museum full of the side-shows from the american fairs of the past. so we nipped in there and had much fun putting our money in the beautifully made machines and having our fortunes told or watching some freaky dancing marionettes. ended up getting a strip of passport photos taken of all 4 of us - well apart from john who kind of disappeared off the side!
dinner:
porkers:
me having my fortune told:
wandered off to see the sea-lions, although it was getting dark by then. i nipped off to find the loo only to go on a wild goose chase to find it and then leave our photos in there and had to go chasing back for them, so i missed seeing the sealions - boo! could still smell them though!
went to the shopping wharf where john got bored of us looking at sweets and went into a movie memorabilia shop where we followed and then he got bored of us looking at movie memorabilia! then we decided to call it a night as we were all exhausted and they were all returning to new york the next day - boo!
we took the fantastic old trolley bus - looked like it was from the 40's - back into the city and parted company... another day on my own tomorrow...
bye bye little monkeys:
vx
met up with john and we took a bus over to fisherman's wharf to meet the girls - they weren't there so we nipped over to starbucks and had coffee while we waited. i thought that it looked different than last time... while john rang emilie to find out where they were i suddenly realised that we were in the wrong place! but john got off the phone to say that the girls were in the wrong place too! so we all wandered off and met up in the right place! much hugging and squawking took place!
hired the bikes and off we went... emilie was a bit nervous as she hadn't been on a bike for ages - but the first bit is quite easy as you cycle through the park that follows the bay round to the golden gate bridge. my memory of this side of the bridge had been obliterated, i had no idea it was so far to the base of the bridge! then we cycled/walked up the steep hill to get to the starting point and stopped for coffee - well i did!
emilie giving helen and john a big cuddle:
before the bridge:
the bridge:
me and my bicycle:
then we were off over the bridge - about halfway across the sun decided to come out and it turned into the most gorgeous day. poor emily took a tumble off her bike and i think it freaked her out a bit - so we stopped and gave her a cuddle. got to the other side and then it was downhill all the way to the very pretty little town of sausalito. john got there first and i was second - we stopped and waited for the others. i'd gone quite slowly so i got worried when emilie and helen didn't appear for ages... john ended up calling them and they were walking down as emilie was still a bit freaked out after falling...
gorgeous sunny, windy day in sausalito, john and i went off to find somewhere nice for lunch and the girls took it easy and walked through the town. we found a cute little mexican place for lunch - finally had horchata! been meaning to try it since i got here! was very sweet but very yum too! had a lovely al fresco lunch, lots of sunshine lots of food, lots of laughs - was just what i needed!
lunch:
pootled around sausalito - found a tiny farmer's market and we all went around tasting everything and not buying anything!!! more fantastic peaches/nectarines. then made our way back to the harbour and grabbed our bikes and queued up with loads of other cyclists to wait for the ferry.
piled on, everyone had bikes, which all got lined up in the middle of the boat and we went up on to the deck for the very best views of sausalito, san francisco, the golden gate bridge, alcatraz and the amazing james bond boat that was anchored in the sausalito bay.
the bridge:
alcatraz:
the james bond boat:
arrived back at fisherman's wharf and returned the bikes. then off to ghiradelli's for ice cream sundaes for dinner... well apart from john who had coffee... emilie and helen had been recommended the musée mechanique which is a little museum full of the side-shows from the american fairs of the past. so we nipped in there and had much fun putting our money in the beautifully made machines and having our fortunes told or watching some freaky dancing marionettes. ended up getting a strip of passport photos taken of all 4 of us - well apart from john who kind of disappeared off the side!
dinner:
porkers:
me having my fortune told:
wandered off to see the sea-lions, although it was getting dark by then. i nipped off to find the loo only to go on a wild goose chase to find it and then leave our photos in there and had to go chasing back for them, so i missed seeing the sealions - boo! could still smell them though!
went to the shopping wharf where john got bored of us looking at sweets and went into a movie memorabilia shop where we followed and then he got bored of us looking at movie memorabilia! then we decided to call it a night as we were all exhausted and they were all returning to new york the next day - boo!
we took the fantastic old trolley bus - looked like it was from the 40's - back into the city and parted company... another day on my own tomorrow...
bye bye little monkeys:
vx
santa cruz to san francisco
hey all
gonna finish up this blog as i'm now home - boo!
let's pretend that i'm still stateside...
got up early this morning hoping for sunshine, but opened the curtains to find that it's still cloudy... decided to see how far i could walk in the time i had before i had to catch the bus/train/bus to san francisco. so up and about, packing and trying to get out the door with camera, comfy shoes, etc.
strolled out of santa cruz and up hill onto the cliffs - people walking dogs, jogging and lots of surfer-types hanging around. the first bay was full of surfers in training - long boards and small waves. a few bays along was a bit more interesting, there was some kind of local surf competition on, bigger waves, smaller boards, crazy dudes! i watched this for a bit, but had to tear myself away to try and walk as far as i could before i had to turn back - didn't get too far, but the weather wasn't great. watched a big pack of dogs playing on the beach in the surf - they looked deliriously happy. hoped i would be later when i met up with the others - been too long away from friends...
surfer dudes:
happy doggies playing:
back to the hotel to check out - they forgot to charge me for the laundry too - yippee! decided to wheel my case to the bus station as on the way here i'd taken a cab and it cost $7 for about a 2 minute ride and the cab driver didn't even help me put my case in the trunk (no tip for him!). thought it was going to be difficult to get my bus/train/bus tickets as i no longer had my us dollar credit card - but luckily it wasn't a problem!
back onto the local bus to san jose and then the train to emeryville - bit of a long way round as i found out i could have got a train direct to san fran from san jose, but it was ok, beautiful day and i like the travelling! off the train and onto another bus at emeryville and then off to san fran. the high point of this was the drive over the bay bridge into the city - never done that before - fab views!
i just got off this train:
on the bay bridge:
found my hotel after getting majorly lost - checked in and had a little rest - then went out for some exploring. tried to call john to meet up but it went straight to voicemail...
what the hell? why am i getting so completely lost in san francisco - i've been here before for god's sake! can't seem to get my bearings at all... eventually found my hotel again and got through to john - yeay! arranged to meet him later at an amazing bar/restaurant that i visited last time i was here - called tommy's joynt. was fantastic to see john and we just feasted and chatted and drank beer all evening - i had 4 rolling rocks and was on a roll! walked back and it turns out that john's hotel is about 4 blocks from mine!
arranged to meet in the morning to go and meet the girls and bike the bridge!
nighty night
vx
gonna finish up this blog as i'm now home - boo!
let's pretend that i'm still stateside...
got up early this morning hoping for sunshine, but opened the curtains to find that it's still cloudy... decided to see how far i could walk in the time i had before i had to catch the bus/train/bus to san francisco. so up and about, packing and trying to get out the door with camera, comfy shoes, etc.
strolled out of santa cruz and up hill onto the cliffs - people walking dogs, jogging and lots of surfer-types hanging around. the first bay was full of surfers in training - long boards and small waves. a few bays along was a bit more interesting, there was some kind of local surf competition on, bigger waves, smaller boards, crazy dudes! i watched this for a bit, but had to tear myself away to try and walk as far as i could before i had to turn back - didn't get too far, but the weather wasn't great. watched a big pack of dogs playing on the beach in the surf - they looked deliriously happy. hoped i would be later when i met up with the others - been too long away from friends...
surfer dudes:
happy doggies playing:
back to the hotel to check out - they forgot to charge me for the laundry too - yippee! decided to wheel my case to the bus station as on the way here i'd taken a cab and it cost $7 for about a 2 minute ride and the cab driver didn't even help me put my case in the trunk (no tip for him!). thought it was going to be difficult to get my bus/train/bus tickets as i no longer had my us dollar credit card - but luckily it wasn't a problem!
back onto the local bus to san jose and then the train to emeryville - bit of a long way round as i found out i could have got a train direct to san fran from san jose, but it was ok, beautiful day and i like the travelling! off the train and onto another bus at emeryville and then off to san fran. the high point of this was the drive over the bay bridge into the city - never done that before - fab views!
i just got off this train:
on the bay bridge:
found my hotel after getting majorly lost - checked in and had a little rest - then went out for some exploring. tried to call john to meet up but it went straight to voicemail...
what the hell? why am i getting so completely lost in san francisco - i've been here before for god's sake! can't seem to get my bearings at all... eventually found my hotel again and got through to john - yeay! arranged to meet him later at an amazing bar/restaurant that i visited last time i was here - called tommy's joynt. was fantastic to see john and we just feasted and chatted and drank beer all evening - i had 4 rolling rocks and was on a roll! walked back and it turns out that john's hotel is about 4 blocks from mine!
arranged to meet in the morning to go and meet the girls and bike the bridge!
nighty night
vx
Wednesday 25 August 2010
the good, the bad and the ugly...
hey all
it's been a few days since my last post... have been travelling a long way down through oregon and into california. am now in santa cruz, but leaving here tomorrow for san francisco... last stop before going back to new york and then home - eeek!
well, the train trip from portland to klamath falls was wonderful - took about 7 hours - but it was beautiful - so much better than the bus - lots of room and able to move about and go for a wee when you need to rather than on the bus when you have to wait for a smoke stop...
views from the train:
met a lovely guy called chad on the train - he's studying art in san francisco and he reads a lot, so we had a ton of stuff to talk about - it was really great and we had laughed a lot. we started talking about hunter s thompson and i told him that i'd designed a book cover on him - and the spookiest thing was that he knew the book (with the US cover though) and then he showed me his sketch of the photo of him that's on the cover - so i dragged out my laptop and showed him my cover with the same photo! how weird is that! hoping to meet up with him in san francisco.
i'm currently reading shantaram which is his favourite book too - was nice to talk about art and books - we swapped books for a bit too as he was reading a book of short stories which i read a couple of - and he flipped through shantaram.
i got off the train in the dark at klamath falls and was a bit worried as chad had been telling me that there is still quite a KKK following in klamath falls and there was a full moon so i was a bit spooked - but it was totally fine and i ended up getting a cab to my hotel with some other people who were going there.
up and about the next morning - glorious sunshine and fresh air - was gorgeous! off to the shuttle bus station and an hour and a half on a shuttle bus to medford to meet the greyhound bus to sacramento.
downtown klamath falls:
no greyhound station here, this is the little shuttle station:
mountains:
arrived in sacramento in the evening after a not-so-comfortable journey on the greyhound - although the scenery was beautiful. lots of trees and mountains with snow along the way. stayed at the youth hostel in sacramento which is a gold-rush house built in 1895 - a palace really - my room was very pretty although someone had seen fit to paint it the most lurid shade of orange - bleurgh!
my pretty room:
the sacramento youth hostel:
up the next day and onto another train for 3 hours - i love the trains here. pootled along (they don't go very fast) through industrial california through lots of waterways which were gorgeous in the sunshine. off the train at san jose and onto another bus to santa cruz.
lime flavoured crisps - very salty and limey - probably delicious with some tequila cocktails:
do you know the way to san jose?
checked into my nice hotel with pool - did some much needed laundry - then went off to explore santa cruz on a gorgeous hot sunny afternoon. went to the boardwalk with the funfair that is featured on the lost boys - but it wasn't too spooky - too many people about! felt a bit lonely and didn't go on any rides - no fun on my own...
walked to the end of the pier where there were lots of seafood restaurants but ended up getting fish and chips and sitting at the end of the pier watching the sun go down, with surfers and kayakers in the distance and the call of the seals (who live under the pier) and the sea-gulls - was glorious but got chilly when the sun went down so came back to the hotel and chatted to jo for a bit on facebook!
santa cruz from the pier:
pretty posing seal:
the view from my fish and chips:
moon rising in santa cruz:
twilight fairground:
today has been a bit of a mixed bag really - got up late and wandered downtown (away from the beach) - thought it was all a bit hippyish, but there are some great shops here and ended up buying some really lovely shoes (like i need another pair!) and also visited the farmers market where i got lunch and lots of samples of the lovely fruit and veg on display - fabulous peaches/nectarines here!
then wandered back through town and was just about to buy another dress (like i need another!) and went into my wallet to give her my credit card to realise that i'd lost it - panic stations! i'd only left it in the bloody atm machine. of course it wasn't there when i went back, so i rushed back to my hotel to cancel it... am very very cross with myself... what an absolute eejut!
had wanted to go and do the cliff walk to take some photos but the weather had taken a turn for the worst and the mist had come down, so abandoned my walk as it seemed pointless... went and got some cheap food and went to see a movie in a cutie little cinema... not a great idea as the movie i decided to see was the new todd solondz 'life during wartime', jeez, should have chosen something else - was a bit too weird for me...
the nick - a gorgeous little cinema:
so am back at the hotel and gonna try to get up early tomorrow (a mammoth task for me) and do the cliff walk as i'm leaving on the bus/train tomorrow at 11am... right, time to set the alarm...
nighty night
vx
it's been a few days since my last post... have been travelling a long way down through oregon and into california. am now in santa cruz, but leaving here tomorrow for san francisco... last stop before going back to new york and then home - eeek!
well, the train trip from portland to klamath falls was wonderful - took about 7 hours - but it was beautiful - so much better than the bus - lots of room and able to move about and go for a wee when you need to rather than on the bus when you have to wait for a smoke stop...
views from the train:
met a lovely guy called chad on the train - he's studying art in san francisco and he reads a lot, so we had a ton of stuff to talk about - it was really great and we had laughed a lot. we started talking about hunter s thompson and i told him that i'd designed a book cover on him - and the spookiest thing was that he knew the book (with the US cover though) and then he showed me his sketch of the photo of him that's on the cover - so i dragged out my laptop and showed him my cover with the same photo! how weird is that! hoping to meet up with him in san francisco.
i'm currently reading shantaram which is his favourite book too - was nice to talk about art and books - we swapped books for a bit too as he was reading a book of short stories which i read a couple of - and he flipped through shantaram.
i got off the train in the dark at klamath falls and was a bit worried as chad had been telling me that there is still quite a KKK following in klamath falls and there was a full moon so i was a bit spooked - but it was totally fine and i ended up getting a cab to my hotel with some other people who were going there.
up and about the next morning - glorious sunshine and fresh air - was gorgeous! off to the shuttle bus station and an hour and a half on a shuttle bus to medford to meet the greyhound bus to sacramento.
downtown klamath falls:
no greyhound station here, this is the little shuttle station:
mountains:
arrived in sacramento in the evening after a not-so-comfortable journey on the greyhound - although the scenery was beautiful. lots of trees and mountains with snow along the way. stayed at the youth hostel in sacramento which is a gold-rush house built in 1895 - a palace really - my room was very pretty although someone had seen fit to paint it the most lurid shade of orange - bleurgh!
my pretty room:
the sacramento youth hostel:
up the next day and onto another train for 3 hours - i love the trains here. pootled along (they don't go very fast) through industrial california through lots of waterways which were gorgeous in the sunshine. off the train at san jose and onto another bus to santa cruz.
lime flavoured crisps - very salty and limey - probably delicious with some tequila cocktails:
do you know the way to san jose?
checked into my nice hotel with pool - did some much needed laundry - then went off to explore santa cruz on a gorgeous hot sunny afternoon. went to the boardwalk with the funfair that is featured on the lost boys - but it wasn't too spooky - too many people about! felt a bit lonely and didn't go on any rides - no fun on my own...
walked to the end of the pier where there were lots of seafood restaurants but ended up getting fish and chips and sitting at the end of the pier watching the sun go down, with surfers and kayakers in the distance and the call of the seals (who live under the pier) and the sea-gulls - was glorious but got chilly when the sun went down so came back to the hotel and chatted to jo for a bit on facebook!
santa cruz from the pier:
pretty posing seal:
the view from my fish and chips:
moon rising in santa cruz:
twilight fairground:
today has been a bit of a mixed bag really - got up late and wandered downtown (away from the beach) - thought it was all a bit hippyish, but there are some great shops here and ended up buying some really lovely shoes (like i need another pair!) and also visited the farmers market where i got lunch and lots of samples of the lovely fruit and veg on display - fabulous peaches/nectarines here!
then wandered back through town and was just about to buy another dress (like i need another!) and went into my wallet to give her my credit card to realise that i'd lost it - panic stations! i'd only left it in the bloody atm machine. of course it wasn't there when i went back, so i rushed back to my hotel to cancel it... am very very cross with myself... what an absolute eejut!
had wanted to go and do the cliff walk to take some photos but the weather had taken a turn for the worst and the mist had come down, so abandoned my walk as it seemed pointless... went and got some cheap food and went to see a movie in a cutie little cinema... not a great idea as the movie i decided to see was the new todd solondz 'life during wartime', jeez, should have chosen something else - was a bit too weird for me...
the nick - a gorgeous little cinema:
so am back at the hotel and gonna try to get up early tomorrow (a mammoth task for me) and do the cliff walk as i'm leaving on the bus/train tomorrow at 11am... right, time to set the alarm...
nighty night
vx
Sunday 22 August 2010
i am outta here!
hey all
well, sitting in a nice 'dinerant' (cross between diner and restaurant!) here in portland. hanging around waiting for my train to leave at 2.25pm - it's much cooler here today and yesterday. i'm glad to be leaving - don't know what it is about this place, but i haven't really liked it.
things that haven't helped: stinking cold, crappy hotel, strange vibe in the town - it seems quite smug - and the homeless/drug problem is small but obvious. it's very wealthy here and the gap between the haves and have nots is very noticeable. pretty town, very friendly people, but i'm just not getting it... time to move on!
anyway, should probably give you the lowdown on the last couple of days - but i have slowed down a lot due to feeling pretty crappy and full of cold!
the first day i got here i spent wandering around the town, initially looking for a chemist so that i could buy some tylenol (paracetamol!) - jeez, there are no bloody chemists downtown! eventually found one only to discover a rite-aid moments later (rite-aid is cheap!)
stopped at starbucks in town square and watched the world go by until my drugs kicked in then continued wandering - but found nothing of particular interest...
in the evening i found my saviour... the living room theatre... a lovely cinema (reminded me a bit of the curzon soho) with nice restaurant attached, i had dinner there and watched a lovely movie (cairo time) which was most relaxing - this was the high-point of my day! oh, the coolest thing about this cinema was not only did it show interesting films alongside the mainstream, but that you could actually have your dinner in the cinema - i didn't - i had mine in the restaurant, but i took my hot chocolate in to the movie!
the living room theatre:
yesterday i got up a bit earlier, but have been sleeping in to rest and help my cold get better! jumped on the light rail into town and went to the saturday markets which were great, lots of arty stuff and nice food. pootled around there for a few hours - bought some jewellery - chatted to a few stall-holders - had some food. then went off and found a nice bit of town which included a shop called 'fat fancy' which is a second hand clothes shop for the larger lady - beth ditto shops there - they had a pic of her behind the counter. the woman in there was so sweet - we ended up chatting and she gave me a list of places i should go - none of which i went to, but i would have if i'd had more time! they have a cool way of sizing in there - no numbered sizes, but they judge by eye and put similar sizes together under their own system of names: plush, diva, - oh, i can't remember what they were - but i thought it was great!
saturday markets:
cool knitting shop:
then jibbed my fare on the light rail up to washington park which is on the edge of the city and houses the international rose test garden. well i got there and it was a bit late, and no one around and i realised that the rose garden was miles away... then i turned round and there was a bus which just happened to be going through the park to the rose garden! yippee! the rose garden was quite quite beautiful, on a hill overlooking the city, with mount hood in the background.
gorgeous roses, all the hybrids are tested here and the good ones are kept and the others are destroyed (shame!) but there were beds and beds of gorgeous colours and smells and just beautiful beautiful roses. i had an hour there before the last bus took me back down to the light rail station and then back to the city...
at the rose garden:
these beauties may end up being destroyed:
was a nice day really!
next stop klamath falls, where i'm going to break my journey for the night before continuing on to sacramento...
over and out for now
vx
well, sitting in a nice 'dinerant' (cross between diner and restaurant!) here in portland. hanging around waiting for my train to leave at 2.25pm - it's much cooler here today and yesterday. i'm glad to be leaving - don't know what it is about this place, but i haven't really liked it.
things that haven't helped: stinking cold, crappy hotel, strange vibe in the town - it seems quite smug - and the homeless/drug problem is small but obvious. it's very wealthy here and the gap between the haves and have nots is very noticeable. pretty town, very friendly people, but i'm just not getting it... time to move on!
anyway, should probably give you the lowdown on the last couple of days - but i have slowed down a lot due to feeling pretty crappy and full of cold!
the first day i got here i spent wandering around the town, initially looking for a chemist so that i could buy some tylenol (paracetamol!) - jeez, there are no bloody chemists downtown! eventually found one only to discover a rite-aid moments later (rite-aid is cheap!)
stopped at starbucks in town square and watched the world go by until my drugs kicked in then continued wandering - but found nothing of particular interest...
in the evening i found my saviour... the living room theatre... a lovely cinema (reminded me a bit of the curzon soho) with nice restaurant attached, i had dinner there and watched a lovely movie (cairo time) which was most relaxing - this was the high-point of my day! oh, the coolest thing about this cinema was not only did it show interesting films alongside the mainstream, but that you could actually have your dinner in the cinema - i didn't - i had mine in the restaurant, but i took my hot chocolate in to the movie!
the living room theatre:
yesterday i got up a bit earlier, but have been sleeping in to rest and help my cold get better! jumped on the light rail into town and went to the saturday markets which were great, lots of arty stuff and nice food. pootled around there for a few hours - bought some jewellery - chatted to a few stall-holders - had some food. then went off and found a nice bit of town which included a shop called 'fat fancy' which is a second hand clothes shop for the larger lady - beth ditto shops there - they had a pic of her behind the counter. the woman in there was so sweet - we ended up chatting and she gave me a list of places i should go - none of which i went to, but i would have if i'd had more time! they have a cool way of sizing in there - no numbered sizes, but they judge by eye and put similar sizes together under their own system of names: plush, diva, - oh, i can't remember what they were - but i thought it was great!
saturday markets:
cool knitting shop:
then jibbed my fare on the light rail up to washington park which is on the edge of the city and houses the international rose test garden. well i got there and it was a bit late, and no one around and i realised that the rose garden was miles away... then i turned round and there was a bus which just happened to be going through the park to the rose garden! yippee! the rose garden was quite quite beautiful, on a hill overlooking the city, with mount hood in the background.
gorgeous roses, all the hybrids are tested here and the good ones are kept and the others are destroyed (shame!) but there were beds and beds of gorgeous colours and smells and just beautiful beautiful roses. i had an hour there before the last bus took me back down to the light rail station and then back to the city...
at the rose garden:
these beauties may end up being destroyed:
was a nice day really!
next stop klamath falls, where i'm going to break my journey for the night before continuing on to sacramento...
over and out for now
vx
Friday 20 August 2010
yesterday... all my troubles seemed so far away
hey all
well, here i am stuck in the arse-end of portland - what was i thinking when i booked this hotel??? it was cheap i suppose but i'm miles away from town and the hotel is crap - but clean.
to make matters worse, i seem to have caught a stinking cold...
ok, back to yesterday... got up early and walked down the seattle waterfront to the ferry terminal, grabbed a coffee and got on the 9.35 to bainbridge island. the day was grey and cloudy - seattle is like this in the mornings, and the afteroons are gorgeous and sunny.
the ferry was fairly empty and really windy out on the deck! i love being outside on boats, so i stayed outside all the way there and back - i was freezing cold though!
me on the ferry:
the ferry takes 35 minutes to get to bainbridge and when i got there i got off, turned around and got back on! well, time was short!
back to the city and dashed off to buy matt a coffee - now i should probably explain that matt is the guy who rescued 3 strangers from seattle airport the other night after our continental flight was delayed for 3 hours in new york and we arrived in seattle too late for any kind of public transport. so matt scooped us all up and paid for a cab to his car and then dropped us off in seattle, he actually took me to my hotel! it was a great introduction to seattle - very very nice people!
so, matt took me to his favourite coffee place 'stella' just across the road from the seattle art museum - we had nice coffee - my second of the day - and then matt used his trusty iphone to check when the next bus was coming to drop me back to my hotel! very cool!
checked out, but my call to the bank never came up on the bill - yippeee! and then i wheeled my case about 10 blocks to the greyhound bus station... this is where things took a bit of a turn for the worse...
the station was a nightmare, loads of people - no announcements, no screens with info, the most disgusting toilets i've ever seen in the usa. so i queued up and got my bag checked - then got in the queue for the bus and waited. started to feel sick while in the queue (i thought it was a bit too much coffee and no food) - and the bus was an hour late - feeling pretty grim by the time we got on.
bus was full too - i ended up sitting next to a nice guy who was off to see his girlfriend. he was nice and not too chatty. i really thought i was gonna puke and so decided to have a little sleep - the first stop, i went rushing out to use the bathroom only to find that the bus station was closed...
back on the bus - but not feeling as bad. gorgeous gorgeous scenery, mountains and very green, lots of trees - and sunny as you like!
i thought i was gonna be on the bus until around 11pm cos we'd left so late, so was surprised when the bus pulled in to sunny portland at about 6.30pm... very pretty here, but when i realised where my hotel was, i was less keen. didn't help that the hotel is near the convention centre where lady gaga was playing last night - eeek! loads of girls dressed up, etc. this didn't help me feel better about staying there...
i can't even open the curtains as there are no nets, and i'm on the ground floor... boo - am not gonna hang around - am off into town in a bit, but i'm feeling pretty bad and full of cold - and i have no paracetamol... why did i book here for 3 nights?!
ok, hope to be a bit more full of happy tales later!
vx
well, here i am stuck in the arse-end of portland - what was i thinking when i booked this hotel??? it was cheap i suppose but i'm miles away from town and the hotel is crap - but clean.
to make matters worse, i seem to have caught a stinking cold...
ok, back to yesterday... got up early and walked down the seattle waterfront to the ferry terminal, grabbed a coffee and got on the 9.35 to bainbridge island. the day was grey and cloudy - seattle is like this in the mornings, and the afteroons are gorgeous and sunny.
the ferry was fairly empty and really windy out on the deck! i love being outside on boats, so i stayed outside all the way there and back - i was freezing cold though!
me on the ferry:
the ferry takes 35 minutes to get to bainbridge and when i got there i got off, turned around and got back on! well, time was short!
back to the city and dashed off to buy matt a coffee - now i should probably explain that matt is the guy who rescued 3 strangers from seattle airport the other night after our continental flight was delayed for 3 hours in new york and we arrived in seattle too late for any kind of public transport. so matt scooped us all up and paid for a cab to his car and then dropped us off in seattle, he actually took me to my hotel! it was a great introduction to seattle - very very nice people!
so, matt took me to his favourite coffee place 'stella' just across the road from the seattle art museum - we had nice coffee - my second of the day - and then matt used his trusty iphone to check when the next bus was coming to drop me back to my hotel! very cool!
checked out, but my call to the bank never came up on the bill - yippeee! and then i wheeled my case about 10 blocks to the greyhound bus station... this is where things took a bit of a turn for the worse...
the station was a nightmare, loads of people - no announcements, no screens with info, the most disgusting toilets i've ever seen in the usa. so i queued up and got my bag checked - then got in the queue for the bus and waited. started to feel sick while in the queue (i thought it was a bit too much coffee and no food) - and the bus was an hour late - feeling pretty grim by the time we got on.
bus was full too - i ended up sitting next to a nice guy who was off to see his girlfriend. he was nice and not too chatty. i really thought i was gonna puke and so decided to have a little sleep - the first stop, i went rushing out to use the bathroom only to find that the bus station was closed...
back on the bus - but not feeling as bad. gorgeous gorgeous scenery, mountains and very green, lots of trees - and sunny as you like!
i thought i was gonna be on the bus until around 11pm cos we'd left so late, so was surprised when the bus pulled in to sunny portland at about 6.30pm... very pretty here, but when i realised where my hotel was, i was less keen. didn't help that the hotel is near the convention centre where lady gaga was playing last night - eeek! loads of girls dressed up, etc. this didn't help me feel better about staying there...
i can't even open the curtains as there are no nets, and i'm on the ground floor... boo - am not gonna hang around - am off into town in a bit, but i'm feeling pretty bad and full of cold - and i have no paracetamol... why did i book here for 3 nights?!
ok, hope to be a bit more full of happy tales later!
vx
Wednesday 18 August 2010
busy busy busy!
hey all
it's been a busy one today... again...
got up and out at a reasonable hour for a change - then off down to pike place market for a little bit of shopping - didn't buy anything though! popped into seattle sneaker city and looked at lots and lots of converse... want the electric blue ones - but they're still 50 bucks! then went into left bank books - great little crazy bookshops for all the minorities you could ever dream up: feminists, anarchists, feminist anarchists, etc.
sneaker city:
left bank books:
the original starbucks:
got myself an organic smoothie (trying not to drink too much coffee!) then went to beecher cheese shop for lunch - yummy famous mac and cheese - sat at the counter and watched them making the very cheese i was eating!
my pot of mac and cheese with the cheese being made in the background:
then off to sam (seattle art museum) - there were two special exhibitions on that i wanted to see - one just called 'kurt' and the other an andy warhol photographic exhibit. i stupidly joined the gallery tour for the kurt exhibition but it was painful - some old lady talking about kurt cobain like he was a god or something... was very weird and made me feel slightly uncomfortable so i wandered off on my own. great photos - including 2 taking at reading festival 1992 - nirvana's last gig in the uk - and i was there... made me feel sad and frustrated and depressed...
sam:
some mediocre art on show - the best thing was the photos really. i was looking at a piece when an elderly couple came up and one of them said to the other, 'so, did he overdose then?' and without thinking i turned and said 'no, he shot himself in the head', and the guy said, 'yeah, i suppose that makes sense.' and i wondered what the hell they were doing there.
kurt:
the warhol exhibit was much better and cheered me up a bit. lots of his passport photo strips - which he used to construct the larger screenprints of celebrities that commissioned him - i think that's how he made most of his money as he did them for a lot of very rich and famous people! the coolest thing about it was that in the last room they had a photo booth where you took your own strip of photos and then you cut one out and put it up on the wall! what a great idea! my pic is up there now!
had a mooch around the rest of the museum, the collection there is quite good - quite diverse with a lot of american stuff which i think is good for an american art museum! saw work by jeff koons, mark rothko, diane arbus, georgia o'keefe, warhol, jasper johns, jackson pollock - in a really lovely galleries.
nipped back to my hotel to wait for the bus to pick me up as i decided to go on a 3 hour tour of seattle - sometimes it's gotta be done, especially as i don't have a car! the tour was great - very informative. we went all around the city, and wow, this is a very beautiful city! amazing waterfronts, beautiful houses, pretty tree-lined neighbourhoods, steep hills with fab views, cool quirkiness, friendly people and all clean and litter-free! this just may be the perfect city... i could easily live here...
to top it all off we went up onto queen anne's hill to see the famous seattle skyline and we were very lucky to be able to see mount rainier - not often visible due to clouds and haziness. it was amazing and didn't look real - not sure if it's visible in my pics...
me and seattle skyline:
after the tour finished i decided to jump onto the monorail and go up the space needle - hmmm, full of annoying rude tourists, unfortunately. i ended up sitting down and having a coffee and just trying to pretend the other people weren't there... back on the monorail downtown and walked back to my lovely hotel. unfortunately gotta pack - boo! don't really wanna go, wish i had more time here - but looking forward to portland!
space needle from the bottom:
me up there:
i'm gonna try to take the ferry over to bainbridge island and back tomorrow morning - but gotta be back and at the bus station by 12.15... must go and pack and sleep!
would love some messages if anyone gets the chance - missing having people around for company...
vx
it's been a busy one today... again...
got up and out at a reasonable hour for a change - then off down to pike place market for a little bit of shopping - didn't buy anything though! popped into seattle sneaker city and looked at lots and lots of converse... want the electric blue ones - but they're still 50 bucks! then went into left bank books - great little crazy bookshops for all the minorities you could ever dream up: feminists, anarchists, feminist anarchists, etc.
sneaker city:
left bank books:
the original starbucks:
got myself an organic smoothie (trying not to drink too much coffee!) then went to beecher cheese shop for lunch - yummy famous mac and cheese - sat at the counter and watched them making the very cheese i was eating!
my pot of mac and cheese with the cheese being made in the background:
then off to sam (seattle art museum) - there were two special exhibitions on that i wanted to see - one just called 'kurt' and the other an andy warhol photographic exhibit. i stupidly joined the gallery tour for the kurt exhibition but it was painful - some old lady talking about kurt cobain like he was a god or something... was very weird and made me feel slightly uncomfortable so i wandered off on my own. great photos - including 2 taking at reading festival 1992 - nirvana's last gig in the uk - and i was there... made me feel sad and frustrated and depressed...
sam:
some mediocre art on show - the best thing was the photos really. i was looking at a piece when an elderly couple came up and one of them said to the other, 'so, did he overdose then?' and without thinking i turned and said 'no, he shot himself in the head', and the guy said, 'yeah, i suppose that makes sense.' and i wondered what the hell they were doing there.
kurt:
the warhol exhibit was much better and cheered me up a bit. lots of his passport photo strips - which he used to construct the larger screenprints of celebrities that commissioned him - i think that's how he made most of his money as he did them for a lot of very rich and famous people! the coolest thing about it was that in the last room they had a photo booth where you took your own strip of photos and then you cut one out and put it up on the wall! what a great idea! my pic is up there now!
had a mooch around the rest of the museum, the collection there is quite good - quite diverse with a lot of american stuff which i think is good for an american art museum! saw work by jeff koons, mark rothko, diane arbus, georgia o'keefe, warhol, jasper johns, jackson pollock - in a really lovely galleries.
nipped back to my hotel to wait for the bus to pick me up as i decided to go on a 3 hour tour of seattle - sometimes it's gotta be done, especially as i don't have a car! the tour was great - very informative. we went all around the city, and wow, this is a very beautiful city! amazing waterfronts, beautiful houses, pretty tree-lined neighbourhoods, steep hills with fab views, cool quirkiness, friendly people and all clean and litter-free! this just may be the perfect city... i could easily live here...
to top it all off we went up onto queen anne's hill to see the famous seattle skyline and we were very lucky to be able to see mount rainier - not often visible due to clouds and haziness. it was amazing and didn't look real - not sure if it's visible in my pics...
me and seattle skyline:
after the tour finished i decided to jump onto the monorail and go up the space needle - hmmm, full of annoying rude tourists, unfortunately. i ended up sitting down and having a coffee and just trying to pretend the other people weren't there... back on the monorail downtown and walked back to my lovely hotel. unfortunately gotta pack - boo! don't really wanna go, wish i had more time here - but looking forward to portland!
space needle from the bottom:
me up there:
i'm gonna try to take the ferry over to bainbridge island and back tomorrow morning - but gotta be back and at the bus station by 12.15... must go and pack and sleep!
would love some messages if anyone gets the chance - missing having people around for company...
vx
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