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
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