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Published: January 31st 2007
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View from the Golden Gate Bridge
Looking along the coastline and Fisherman's Wharf across to the city in the hazy distance. Firstly i must apologise as i realise my blogs go on and on and on a little more but there is sooooo much to squeeze in that i cant even write about half of it! Believe it or not this is the condensed update... That said, here you are, enjoy....
So from the hectic and freezing urban jungle that is New York we took the 6 hour flight to laid-back California. The whole time we were in NY we saw people taking helicpoter trips over Manhattan thinking 'how amazing would that be! Shame we are budget travellers, doh'. Someone must have heard us as once our plane took off from JFK airport on the clear Friday morning it circled right around the whole of Manhattan and we got a bird's eye view of the lot. Just wish i had my camera to hand but it was packed away in the overhead compartment, ah well. We flew over Iowa, Wyoming and Nebraksa, all of which seemed to be made up of nothing more than snowcapped mountains and frozen fields for hundreds of miles. So... San Francisco, where do i start... For a city with a large business district life here seems
Coastline at Night
View towards the city from pier 14. pretty slow and laid-back. San Fran is built over a few huge hills, kind of like a giant pyramid. The steepness of some of the roads is a joke, almost 45 degrees in places, i kid you not! Everyone here parks with their full wheel-lock on so that if the handbrake goes they will roll into the curb and not straight down the street. They all seem to have an unconcious habit of this as even on the level roads they still have the wheel-lock on! Everywhere is so picturesque and with it being a really hilly area there viewpoints all over the city that give postcard views of the ocean, the city, the mountains, Alcatraz island and the bridges.
We are staying at a really cool hostel called the Green Tortoise, if any of you every visit San Fran you should look this place up. It is right broadway which in this city is not a street full of theatres but instead strip bars, although its not as seedy as it sounds! It is right in the heart of San Fran with Chinatown and Little Italy surrounding us. The hostel has a huge ballroom communal room with a
Alcatraz!
Inside one of the Alcatraz cells, offically pretty damn hard to get out of. Some guy still managed to starve himself enough to get through these bars and cause a riot! massive kitchen for all to use (even get your own fridge space and little shelve!), live acts and drinking games in the evenings, and free internet and a sauna which is a must after a day strolling up and down the hills. In the middle of Cinatown there is a square called Portsmouth Square where all the old Chinese men play cards. Its really foggy here most days which i have been told happens year-round. The tallest buildings here you can't see the tops of in the mornings until the afternoon sun shines through. They have a really nice waterfront with 43 piers each running different boat tours and little cool interesting eateries and shops. Even found a magic shop where you can buy a tirck then go out the back and be taught it, nice. Went to see the Sea Lions on pier 39, there is tons of them all relaxing over each other, keeping an eye out for the Herring that brings them there.
Visited Alcatraz which was ace, got to see all of it - Al Capone's cell, the recreational yard and the cells that got broken out of. We had this headset that guides you
Golden Gate Bridge
Me and Cheryl after an up-mountain cycle, well worth the effort though! through the whole lot so you don't have to read anything which was handy! Eaten in some really nice classic 50s American diners where you get fresh milkshakes and they give you whatever doesn't fit in the glass in the big metal mixer cup, mmmmm! On the way home one night we found the ghetto, that much is for sure (homeless central, prossies, gangs on street corners... a wee bit sketchy), was going to go to a dnb and dubstep club there later in the week but due to a lack of funds and common sense decided against it! There are so many homeless people here its shocking, every single street the whole city through, i have to say 'sorry dude' to all of them now coz i think i was a bit too generous in the first few days, what a sucker. Visited the SF Cartoon and Animation Museum which was really cool. They have loads of the original storyboards, strips and artwork from Peanuts, the Flintstones, the Jetsons, the Simpsons, Popeye and most of the Disney movies. You can even see the pencil sketches underneath and sometimes tip-ex on a lot of them, shows that even the best
Haight Street
One short bus journey takes you back to the hippy 60s, didn't wanna leave this town! mess up! From there we headed to The Haight, a little town near to the Golden Gate Park. This town was the epicentre of the 1960s hippy movement where acts such as the Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin lived and many famous songs were written about. Not much has changed there, definately still full of hippys and cool little shops, old-skool skateboard shops, tattoo studios and cafes. There was an amazing didgeridoo player outside one of the shops with a massive crowd watching and some people painting big canvas paintings in shop windows, kind of a live art exhibition. Its a bit like Albert Road without the hairdressers and fast-food and with a splash of tie-dye!
We got chatting to a hippy at the traffic lights (like you do) before the park who convinced us to go meet his friends and see the drum circle on 'Hippy Hill'. After chatting we found out he had hitchiked here from Boston with his dog and was heading to Arizona (for no particular reason....) and also living in a hippy village under some bushes in the park! When we got to the drum circle we found about 70 people playing drums, trumpets,
Lombard Street
Apparently the most crooked street in the world, and most fun to drive/roll down! clarinets, poi-ing and dancing, seemed like we were back at Glasto! Chilled with them for a while and chatted about our travels before we took a stroll around the some of the huge park before the sun set. Monday morning we rented some mountain bikes and took the long scenic cycle through the maina and along the beach up to the Golden Gate Bridge. The ride across it wasnt too windy, we had been blessed with blazing sun that day and i even came home with a bit of a tan (redness on my forehead). The view from the bridge was amazing with the ocean and Alcatraz in the foreground and the skyline and mountains in the background. You could even see Sea Lions diving for fish and eagles circling for the same munch! We decided that rather than take the cycle path to a near town we would ride (split equally with walking) up the nearest mountain for some more good views. Was worth the hike though because the cycle down was a proper rush, really fast and more importantly effortless! Took the longest cable car (tram) ride that we could find too which was needed after all the bloody hills. Also found somewhere to buy Strongbow! Raaaaah! On too tight a budget to take full advantage of it though but its nice to know its there when we need it!
Saying that though we are beginning the long roadtrip to LA tomorrow at midday. We have a few nights booked at an original 1920s style home in Hollywood that has acres of gardens to relax in (should we want to get away from all the bright neon lights) and is not far from Hollywood Blvd where the 'walk of fame' is. Not sure how long we are staying there before heading down to the coastal part of LA, but long enough to go and ride the Superman rollercoaster at Six Flags, woo-hoo!! Free beer night avec le beer drinking contest in the hostel tonight, exciting! Until the next time.... take care ya'll x
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elchivo
non-member comment
aiiight!!
lo m8 u look gd in that cell, like a shaved Kong! Av a gd time bro c ya Chi luv 2 Chez