Vancouver, Seattle and San Francisco

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New York was cold and wet and guess what? Vancouver was pretty much the same. Perhaps not as cold and not as wet but we didn't get to see much sun New York was freezing cold and we got quite a lot of rain and guess what? Same story in Vancouver. I think the weather in a country you are travelling too has a lot to do with your enjoyment of the place itself. I am sure if we had visited Vancouver in bright sunshine we would have a different perception of it. Anyway, thankfully I bought myself a cheap coat in NY as I really needed it in Vancouver.

Our first foray was a visit to Granville Island on a walking tour guided by a volunteer and run by the hostel. We caught a little ferry over to the island which used to be industrial but is now full of artists studios - they work their art out the back of the studios and sell it out the front from the shops. There is also a big farmers market there with lots of fresh produce from around the country.

We discovered too that it was Writers week which was exciting for us as we are both members of a book club. We got lucky and managed to snag tickets to a night of conversation with Audrey Niffenegger (Time Travellers Wife) and Kathy Reichs - she of the Bones books. There was a french author there too who is famous around the world but I hadn't heard of him - Emmanual something or other. Anyway, it was really interesting to listen to them talk about how they build a novel and how long the process takes etc etc.

There's also a big park in Vancouver called Stanley Park and we hired a bike for a few hours and rode all around it - sun was sort of shining but it was still quite cold. Also the bikes had no hand brakes - you had to pedal backwards to slow down or stop - not an easy task but we both came off unscathed.

We were also to do a tour of a suspension bridge but we cancelled as the weather was really wet - never mind, we were heading to Seattle and sunshine.......

Seattle, yes. Sunshine, sorry No.

We took the bus from Vancouver to Seattle - really only wanted to go there because of the movie - Sleepless in Seattle. Neither of us could remember much about what happened in the movie but we did get to see some of the areas it was filmed in. Apart from that not much to say about Seattle. We did an underground tour of it which was very interesting. The new city is apparently built on top of the old city so all of these underground tunnels still exist and they make a lot of money charging people to go down there.

Because the weather was pretty yukky we decided to head off to San Francisco in search of the sun. We both got soaked on the way to catch the Amtrak train - thank goodness for the emergency ponchos!! The train took 24 hours to get to San Fran and we had sit up seats. The views were great though and I can recommend the journey. Shame that it started to get dark just as we headed through the mountains.

Hurrah, hurrah when we got there though - sunshine at last. We had forgotten what it looked like. We havent learnt much about listening (or not listening) to other people though. We had decided on the HI hostel near Union Sq but the bus driver recommended the Green Tortoise which was the same chain as the one we stayed at in Seattle. We didnt care much for the one in Seattle but he really sold the San Fran one so we went there. We checked out next day and moved to the HI which was much better - lot more room in the dorm and a whole lot cleaner too.

San Francisco was great. We took a tour on the ferry to Alcatraz which was fascinating - walking into the cells that criminals had spent years of their life in - very spooky and strange. We went down to pier 39 which is the hangout of the seals - hundreds of them all sitting on the floating decks making lots of noise and smelling not so nice but great to see.

Once again we did the bike hire thing and got to ride across the Golden Gate bridge. It waw a glorious sunny day - shorts came back out again - and once over the bridge we rode to Sausalito. That place was fantastic - great cafes and shops, lovely harbour and they have an area with some outstanding houseboats. Had the best veggie panini in the world for lunch - I kid you not - trouble is, can't remember the name of the place but it was on the main drag and a bit like a big store. We caught the ferry back as we didnt have the energy or the time to ride back. All in all it was a SENSATIONAL day!!

We also mooched around Fishermans Wharf and had a few bowls of clam chowder. We got tempted many times to buy souvenirs but stopped ourselves as we cant add any more weight to the packs. Not long to go now so we have to be strong.

Of course it.s Halloween here in San Fran and everyone here goes crazy dressing up and trick or treating like nobodys business. Today on the tram we saw a couple of gorillas and lots of bloodied ghosts. We did a tour of the murals in the Mission area this morning and went down the famous Balmy Alley which has quite a number of murals.

I want to get this published before we head off to Honolulu so am going to end here. Tonight we put on our masks and walk the streets looking for crazy costumed people - perhaps i will do a PS to San Fran from Honolulu if I manage to find internet access. Happy Halloween and Aloha

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Photos

Ferry
to Granville Island

totem poles
in Stanley Park

Jimi Hendrix
born and died in Seattle?

Just before
we rode over Golden Gate bridge

We followed the
hippy trail in Haight and Ashbury

Mission area
one of the many murals in the area

Comments

[dianne Macey]

Summer in Adelaide
Hi there again, Girls, Don't put your shorts away yet, cos it is summer in Adelaide. Yeah, at last!!! When are you coming home exactly? Thanks for the postcard from Paris. I shared it around and have had a wonderful evening catching up on all your adventures. See you soon. XX Dianne