Blogs from San Francisco, California, United States, North America - page 6

Early rise at 5.45am yawn yawn eventually left LA at 9.15am as the coach got caught up in heavy traffic. First stop for lunch was at supposedly Danish town of Solvang?? Will check with my sons partner to see if it's authentic and looks anything like Danish architecture, quite charming either way. Next stop a place called Hearst Castle built around 1900 by a millionaire who owned several newspapers. Apparently all the rich famous and interesting people were invited, Charlie Chaplin, David Niven etc. The house was on top of a hill overlooking the ocean so the views were great. For the first time in my life I witnessed the whole of the sea covered in a blanket of mist it looked interesting unite interesting but when you have visited places like Chatsworth nothing compares I'm ... read more

THE BASICS We spent a couple of interesting days touring San Francisco, then drove to Pleasanton, CA, where the RV and car will spend the next few months until we resume our trip sometime in January. Plans altered rapidly when I received the news on Thursday that my beloved Auntie Jean had died in Chapel Hill NC, so I promptly made air/car/hotel reservations, packed as reasonably as I could, and flew to Chapel Hill on Friday, October 19. I enjoyed visiting with my brother, from Phoenix, and a bunch of cousins and their kids. I flew back to Durham NH on Sunday, and John flies home at midnight Wednesday, after being stuck with the lion's share of the closing up preparations for the RV. THE FLUFF Our second day in San Francisco, we traveled in on ... read more

We have just arrived home at 10:30pm after an extended day of sightseeing in the San Francisco and Sausalito region. After breakfast at the guest house, and meeting our other residents Gordon and Claudia we caught the "munis" to Fishermans Wharf at San Francisco. After getting off at the wrong stop, about three stops early today as yesterday we were about three stops late, we ended up at Hyde Street Pier. Hyde Street Pier is still a working pier with a number of boat builders/repairers there as well as a number of older boats that are now tourist attractions. After a look around Hyde Street Pier we headed off to Sausalito by bay ferry. The ferry ride over was very comfortable and despite a history of sea sickness I felt fine. We enjoyed clam chowder for ... read more

Not much time to sightsee on this trip, except as noted below (visit with Jiliece). Happily, just being in San Francisco is its own sightseeing. (Disclaimer: this is only the second time I've ever been here!) Trip Basics, Day 1 Flight: Alaska Airlines 324 SEA-SJC (737, 7B middle/front, wifi). After we loaded up and closed all the overhead bins, we were allowed to use our electronic devices for a suspiciously long time. Then a maintenance manager came on the PA with the news that our aircraft wouldn't be going to San Jose after all, and apologies to "those of you who have already built your nest". We all packed back off the plane and caught the SeaTac subway from Concourse C to our new gate at North Satellite. Almost no one ever gets on the subway ... read more

This morning we bid farewell to Las Vegas. We really enjoyed the stay at The Venetian, apart from the poor service at breakfast yesterday, the whole experience was just first class the whole way. The hotel is outstanding and amazing in every way. As I type the first part of this blog we are at McCarran International Airport at Las Vegas. It really is like a scene out of Total Recall, complete with a driverless tram to get you to your departure gates and the constant monotone security announcements. We arrive in San Francisco around 3:00pm local time and we are both looking forward to the experiences that await us. We are already booked for a sunset tour of the bay and Alcatraz on Thursday and on Friday the highlight of our trip will be our ... read more

According to the Scott McKenzie song, you should wear flowers in your hair when you go to San Francisco...I had no flowers but my shampoo smelled kind of flowery...does that count?? So we hit the road up the highway, plugged in the ipod and selected our new America playlist, with a selection of great appropriate US related tunes! Now these American highways are not renowned for frequent service stations, I had obviously overdone the coffee and an hour into the journey, desperately need to "go" ! Pulled off the highway to the next "town" we saw.....drove through as quickly as possible and straight back on the highway!! Axe murderer in hot pursuit...or so we imagined. By this time, I had my legs crossed as tightly as one possible can when driving at 65 mph. At last ... read more

Decided to make full use of our transport passes, took a bus to the embarcadero and took the cable car downtown, handing off the back up and down the hills, great fun and a "must do" on a trip to San Francisco. Back to union square and with our credit card quivering, hit the shops.....could easily have gone crazy but was relatively reserved, couldn't resist a few purchases in Old Navy but managed to resist the massive Sephora store and the Benefit make up shop (for now) Grabbed sandwiches for lunch from Walgreens and a few other tasty treats... Back to the hotel via the excellent bus service, quick shower and off to Chinatown for dinner! Without a shadow of a doubt had the best Chinese food I have ever had and that includes eating in ... read more

Español / Català The great Enrico Caruso acted that night. He sang Don Jose in the representation of Bizet‘s Carmen in the Grand Opera House of San Francisco. I don’t want to set up wrong links, but about six hours later, on the April 18, 1906, morning, the city collapsed. Literally. The centre gave way and sank more than a meter. For forty seconds the San Andreas Fault moved along all its length. The worst was not the destruction caused by the earthquake, but the aftermath fire. Eighty percent of the city was devastated. The official death toll given 478 deaths, although, actually, numbers were six times higher. Of course with considerable limitations, San Francisco Daily News was the only newspaper printed that day. Hundreds Dead... read more