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Published: December 30th 2013
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After a long hiatus, it is finally time for another instalment of James’ World Travels™! I can’t believe that it has been almost 2 years since my last overseas holiday. That is simply scandalous. Life is not meant to be spent in one country - however awesome that country may be.
Alright well this trip didn’t get off to the most auspicious start. My flight was supposed to leave at 7:35pm on the Sunday, and after relaxing in the sunshine at the beach for a few hours, I came home at 2pm to find a message saying the flight had been delayed until the following day! In the end the flight was delayed by 22 hours but didn’t cause too many problems.
One of the main reasons I was nervous about the delay was I had booked in for a tour to Alcatraz but ended up making it to San Francisco with 6 hours to spare. I arrived and headed to the hotel, dumped my stuff and went exploring on what was a picture perfect day. I wandered down along the piers and explored Fisherman's Wharf before jumping on the boat out to Alcatraz.
We started the tour which was quite interesting but myself along with a lot of others were drawn out of the building and entranced by a pretty spectacular sunset over the city and the Golden Gate Bridge. I chatted to the tour guide who said that they only really get sunsets like that 2 or 3 times a year.
The following day dawned in famous San Franciscan style – misty. I saved the bike riding for the following day and did one of the other ultra touristy attractions and caught one of the old cable cars up the hill and into down town. Despite the city only having 800,000 people, it has a ‘big’ city feel to it and it did make me a bit nostalgic for London as I wandered around the shops. Especially around the amazing markets down at ferry building and I can see why so many people rave about the city.
The next day was perfect for cycling and I was up at the crack of dawn to make sure I got out there before the fog rolled in. I cycled down along the waterfront and got some
great shots – including one or two in my ‘lovely’ outfit made up of presents from the Crew from my birthday. The ride over the bridge was pretty surreal and the views were incredible. I cycled a loop up around the Marin Headlands, back over the bridge, up to Lincoln Park and through Golden Gate Park back to the waterfront. And after that, I will be quite happy if I don’t see a bike again in a while.
For the next day, I was off out on a day trip out to explore Yosemite and I was blown away. I have seen some pretty stunning scenery in my travels and this was right up there. I would love to come back and spend a week or two hiking around and exploring. There's not much more to say about this place that the photos don't explain. After one final evening stroll around Lombard St – the ‘crookedest street in the world’ with 8 hairpin turns in one block, I was packed and ready to head to Sacramento.
The time had finally come, the reason for this whole adventure - Laurel and Michael's wedding. Afficionados of
this blog will recall Laurel from previous entries as she is the ultimate example of a friend you meet while travelling. As a Kiwi travelling through Europe, I met Laurel (an American) in a hostel in Romania and we happened to be travelling on to Budapest on the same night train. We became great friends and she came and joined me and my friends for an Orphan's Christmas in London from where she was living in Sicily. Then Hannah and I went and stayed were her in Sicily and again I visited her when I moved back to NZ and she was living back in California. Laurel has a quirk where she ‘collects’ various amazing people from all over the world as her friends so I feel privileged to be part of that group.
I had absolutely no plans for what was going to happen once I got to Sacramento though I thought Laurel would be pretty busy with the wedding the following day (aren't they usually such peaceful affairs?). So it was a bit of a surprise when after I was picked up, we went straight to the wedding venue and I was offered the choice
Alcatraz #2
With the city in behind of helping setup the wedding! But from 'If you lose my scissors, you will eat blood' to wreath conspiracies, it was just such a fun day, and it was a great way to meet some of Laurel's friends.
By the end of it all, it looked pretty amazing and a group of us newly minted wedding decorators went out to dinner to recover/celebrate our efforts and Laurel regaled us with stories of what she loved about all of us. All in all, it was great for keeping us modest.
The wedding day dawned and one of Laurel’s other ‘adult supervisors’, Lisa and I escaped while the crazy make-up/hair/female wedding stuff was getting organised. A pitcher of beer is a much more civilised way to get ready for a wedding. We returned once most of the madness was over and headed over to the venue and helped with some of the small last minute things before the ceremony kicked off.
The bride and bridesmaids looked stunning and drove the groom to shaky hands and a grin that never left his face. The ceremony also included 3 short speeches from other married couples
in various stages of their relationships (newly weds, married for 10ish years with young children, and married for 30+ years with kids who have left home) with tips for the new bride and groom which I though was a brilliant addition.
After that, the reception was a lot of fun, especially as I was at the ‘fun’ table – complete with drinking games during the speeches and a pyramid of beer cans. I was lucky enough to meet some of Laurel’s other friends including Emily. Emily is a little firecracker and over the course of the night we got into a debate over the commercialism of the English Premier League, I performed magic tricks in keeping her away from her phone and gliding her around the dance floor, and I extended her holiday tradition of having interesting experiences with Santa Claus.
The following day I was somehow hangover free but we still went down for a breakfast burrito and didn’t do a lot over the day. Laurel and Michael returned in the afternoon and it was great to hang out with them and I can see what a great couple they are.
Alcatraz #4
The cell block For my last day in Sacramento, Laurel took me around on a tiki tour of Sacramento and I got to see the ‘wild west’, Capital building, as well as various other spots like where her and Michael re-connected, and had their first kiss. Newly-weds aye? Then all too soon it was time for me to catch a bus back to San Fran and back on the plane back to NZ just in time for Santa to visit. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! May your year be filled with lots of travel.
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