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

Day 1 We left our house at 5:45, but before that sadly we take Luna down to Nan’s house because she could not come with us. We checked in at the airport and put our bags on the thingy. We then went to the Qantas first class lounge and had something to eat. I had a cheeseburger and Zoe had calamari. We got on the 13hour plane ride, that left at 9 o’clock (Melbourne time) it was smooth sailing except for one part where the plane hit an air pocket( turbulence). We got a lot of food. We pretty much just watched movies the hole time. we landed at 5:15 (San Francisco time), we all just wanted to get home! We got a taxi out of the airport and we arrived! My first impression was it ... read more

" All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveller is unaware." Pearson International Airport, Toronto, is huge and one might say ..so what! But it is that big and that impressive that it is worthy of comment. And it is "home" to Air Canada which has also latched onto the airline industries subtle extortion game. Bear in mind that we were checking in on an international flight to a destination in the USA. Well, here's the thing. They found it perfectly normal and commercially acceptable to charge $25.00 per bag checked in. An absolute first for me! Got over it and of far more importance than figuring out the meaning of "extortion" was the destination on that day. San Francisco! The mere mention of this name evokes a treasure trove of memories for many. These ... read more

It’s Sunday morning and last minute preparations are in progress. I’ve tried to limit the number of suitcases we will be taking with us but Karen expresses no interest in my effort. Leaving directly from the San Francisco port, we will not be taking any flights and because of this, she feels the need to pack everything. It reminds of the time we cruised from SF to Alaska for 10 days with 10 bags, one for each day. With limited room in our stateroom, we were forced to keep four suitcases out on the balcony. I can only imagine what our cabin stewards thought. When we put out our luggage the night before disembarkation, I spread it up and down the corridor so no one would know we had so much stuff. On this trip we’re ... read more

Hugh has to work in the morning and so we chill for a bit, he moves the car at 11am because we only get 2 hours parking and we leave the apartment around 12.30 to go out, but we have not just one parking ticket but two! One for parking in residential overtime and one for parking on grades! What the hell is that. Ask the concierge and she says you can't just move the car round the corner, it has to be at least a block away, but no one knows what parking on grades is! I look up parking in the centre and find a parking place for $18 a day. Wasn't expecting that expense! We get lunch at a little jacket potato place and fill up on jacket with prawns and salad. Yummy! ... read more

My uncle, David Gschwind, lived in San Francisco for some 30 years or so. When the Joe DiMaggio playground in North Beach was being revamped in 2015 and accepting donations for donor tiles, I ordered one in his name to recognize the time he spent in the city. The first photo was taken when the playground officially reopened on 14 Nov 2015, while the remaining photos that show his specific tile were taken on 19 Dec 2015.... read more