Advertisement
Published: September 10th 2008
Saturday...we did it twice.
Once in NZ, finishing the packing, making our way down to Auckland, out to the airport then heading off on this adventure.
The second time, much more interesting and exciting, was in San Fransicso. We had arranged to meet a couch surfing couple, Alanna and Steve, for the afternoon / evening, to do a bit of sightseeing and grab some dinner. We had a great day with them, but things didnt start or end smoothly.
First we had to sort out our packs. They were checked in all the way through to Mexico City, but we had to collect them in SF and pass them on to the appropriate transfer desk. Finding the Mexicana transfer desk proved to be a time wasting exercise. We still dont know if it exists as we ended up taking our gear with us. So we were a bit late finding Alanna and Steve - sorry guys! - but were welcomed with a big sign with a kiwi on it. Good start! Then of course things went wrong again as we tried to get out of the airport, first was the wrong parking garage, we could see the right
Golden Gate Bridge
What an absolutely beautiful day!one but not how to get to it without trekking all the way back through the terminal (which we did in the end) then we couldnt follow the maze of lanes and signs to get out once we had found the car. But obviously we made it! By this time we knew we had asked the right people to "entertain" us for the afternoon, we all seemed to hit it off straight away.
Alanna had got an itinerary all worked out for us, and first stop was Twin Peaks, via the back road. What awesome views over the city! We could just see Golden Gate Bridge over the top of the Presidio park. Forgot - glorious weather too! Not a cloud in the sky, enough of a breeze to keep the temp down. Good views across down town, we could pick out with help of course the different areas of the city, the Oaksland Bay Bridge, Alcatraz...
Next stop was to dump packs and change out of NZ climate clothing into SF climate clothing before a quick drive to the packed parking area by Golden Gate Bridge. While it was awesome to see the whole thing clearly, we
felt kinda cheated too out of the typical view of it shrouded in mist!! Maybe next time we are passing through! Still, plenty of people out enjoying the sunshine and the views. An impressive feat of engineering.
From there we drove along the coast past beaches and forests (small forests!) to the edge of Golden Gate Park. We walked through part of this impressive park, huge and diverse. We'd tried to get to a free concert at a Festival for the Peaceful, but missed by minutes. Nevermind. We got to see San Fransiscos finest hippies, wanna be hippies, "regular" folk and the just plain bizarre!
We had a good dinner by the beach at a place called Park Chalet. We had to sit outside in the garden for a while as they were packed - festival and awesome Saturday weather. Tried a nice red beer (Riptide Red), drunk out of compostable cups made from corn. Then we moved inside and could use glasses for the next beer. An approaching check in time and an unwillingness to drink too much before flying again prevented us from trying too many beers.
Back at the airport, we handed in our
packs at the now open Mexicana desk and wandered through customs to the departure lounges. We didnt have long to wait before our next flight, a boring 4 hour trip to Mexico City. A much older plane, one blanket and two pillows between each three seats, unexciting food...made the already impressive Air NZ flight seem even better (it was the smoothest, friendliest flight for a long time! Even the cattle class staff were helpful and friendly!)
After the slow start to our second Saturday, things had gone really well. Until Sunday morning in Mexico City. We were waiting for our bags to come off the carousel, when a lady came up to us and said she had a message from our bags. Not about our bags, but from them. The pair of cheeky packs had decided they didnt want to follow us to Mexico City. Luckily an observant Mexicana baggage person apprehended them in Guadalajara, slapped them in chains and forwarded them to us (im)patiently waiting in Mex City. Tired, grubby...and that was just those packs...!
Once we had been reunited with our wayward gear, we picked up a ticket to Havana, filled out a tourist card, and
checked back in for another flight. We had an age to wait this time though, and they kept changing the gate number making us wander all round the airport. We did find a couple of duty frees giving out free samples of tequila and a yummy tequila based cream liqueur - pretty good for tired folk mid-morning!!!
Maybe not surprisingly, we were both asleep before the plane had taken off. I cant even remember the taxi to the runway! We are now in Havana, but all that can wait for another blog. Along with some photos. Please dont expect too much for the moment though as the connections are slow and expensive.
PS - yes a "hurricane" did come through Cuba, have a good laugh at us for that one, but by the time it got to Havana it was more pathetic than the storms we get at home. Hit some other parts of Cuba quite hard though, how hard we'll find out as soon as Havana comes out of its over-the-top lock down mode and we can leave the city. Right now all that is open is the lobby of a hotel we cant afford, but at
least has internet available.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.071s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 12; qc: 25; dbt: 0.0466s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Mel
non-member comment
Well taught luggage
Hi guys. Wow! It sounds like your adventures are off to a good start. Glad to hear that you are settled (and safe) in Cuba, but - DANG - you make me so glad that I am not doing any airplane travelling for a while! Oh man, wondering around airports, gate changes, and missing luggage! And hey, what can you expect from your gear - I mean it probably likes exploring the world as much as you two do! Any idea where they were trying to run off to?