Blogs from San Francisco, California, United States, North America - page 2

Premier jour complet a San Francisco... Etant donne qu il y a des tonnes de choses a faire dans cette magnifique ville, j ai finalement decide de faire tout (ou presque) : j ai opte pour une passe illimitee qu ils appelent hop-and-hop. Le concept est fantastique pour les touristes exaltes comme moi! (ou juste TRES motives) Et assez simple : le bus rouge sur 2 etages fait 4 ralays qui couvrent toute la ville et les principales attractions. Donc, de 9h am a 18h, je peux embarquer et debarquer ou je veux, et repprendre le prochain bus pour continuer mon circuit personalise! Genial!!!! Donc, aujourd hui, je suis allee voir le Civic Center, le Golden Gate Park, Haight, puis l autre circuit m a faire voir le Ferry Building et La Petite Italie, et Chinatown. ... read more

What an epic day!!!! Started at the bike hire shop at 8am. Made our way to the Golden Gate Bridge. Pretty amazing! Made our way across checking out the views if the city and Alcatraz, but also constantly reminded of the suicidal aspect this bridge has...there are phone boxes with notices on them saying to call for help and counselling and reminding people that if they jump it may result in death. Arrived in Sausalito at 10, so stopped for breakfast. Quite a cute seaside town, but nothing compared to what lay ahead. From there we made our way to Mill Valley and checked out the huge redwoods. So amazing and the houses that are built amongst them...incredible! From there we headed to Tiburon. A very tough ride. Blair ended up biking beside me to push ... read more

Le depart de Quebec s est bien deroule! Aucune attente a l aeroprt! L avion a eu 1h de retard au depart de Chicago, donc je suis arrive tard a l hotel (vers 18h). Mais j ai tout de meme pu me promener un peu autour de mon hotel. Je n ai pas pris de photo, surtout parce que j avais les bras pleins de baggages! Demain, je ferai une longue journee, et les photos seront nombreuses!... read more

I have spent the day in San Francisco today, and just thought I would write a quick update. Getting here yesterday was uneventful - good flight with plenty of food and wine and films, and then the 'Supershuttle' from thet airport to the hotel which is nice - decorated in 'retro style' - I have green and black checks on my carpet! I was asleep by 20:00 (8h behind UK, so actually 4:00am), so I woke up pretty early and ready to go and explore! After some very good (although GIANT portion) of French toast, i caught the old fashioned cable car to Fishermans Wharf which is one of the main tourist areas with lots of restaurants and shops. The cable cars are quite scary, as the streets are so steep up and down - I'm ... read more

Day 2 in San Francisco really was a “where do we start?” type of day, despite having an itinerary we didn’t want to stick to it for some reason, instead walking past various cute places and popping in despite the fact we wanted to be at a museum over an hour ago. And this continued until we finally arrived at the Golden Gate Park, several hours behind schedule and no way to fit everything we wanted to in during the afternoon. (Has anyone actually made a plan and not ended up totally overwhelmed and actually stuck to it?!) So, we’ve made a list of everything that we really need to see despite the inability to stick to a plan, I think we would be truly disappointed if we didn’t somehow fit all of this in. The ... read more

So, (three days ago) I arrived off the almost 19 hour plane journey from Edinburgh, Scotland, not the most thrilling of ways to spend 19 hours I have to admit. Jetlagged myself and travel partner Sarah made our way to our hotel for the next week, The Omni San Francisco Hotel a 30 minute trip which had great views over the San Fran bay then through the city. As a first time visitor to the grand USA so far it was everything I had imagined! One thing that did surprise me was the trams (cable cars) I was kind of expecting something a little more retro, not entirely sure why! So excited to explore further, we have an intinery but even through the quick evening walk around the area and drive to the hotel we had ... read more

Made it to San Francisco. I'm a bit jaded. 12 hour flight + 3 hours to get through customs + hay fever was not a good combo. From the airport, got a train into town (after we figures out how to get a ticket!! Haha an experience in itself). Train reminded me of the movie "ghost". Pretty cool. Then, all of a sudden a huge (tall) black man came barging into our carriage and starting shouting "hello ladies and gentleman, I am here to sell you a street magazine. I am a volunteer with the homeless and am just after some lunch money, have just been released from 20 years in jail..." At this point I was thinking, QUICK Blair give the man $1 for the frick'n paper! Haha, first American experience. Now have flu symptoms ... read more

They said it couldn't be done. Well, what they really said was that Steve could do it - no problem - but there was no way Anne Marie could. What you say? Pack for 45 days covering 28,000 miles in just one 22" inch rolling suitcase - well, one suitcase expanded to its very greatest. Well, the negotiations with said suitcase began about a week ago when Lauren's room turned into the staging area - plenty of stuff went in, not a lot came out. Steve is fond of reminding me that we were not going to a third world country but......how about I really needed that cute pink top???? So yesterday the negotiations got serious and the zippers strained, the editing began (only the pink polo, not the pink tank top), friendly advice suggested I ... read more