Swapping Hotel Rooms

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Hi All

Back online again this time at the Hotel Nikko. This morning was time to make the swap from the Crowne Plaza (very nice indeed) and move to the Hotel Nikko in O'Farrell St. I have to admit I did have a small amount of trepidation after reading some reviews about the Nikko but it is a really nice hotel. We arrived early and were put even further upstairs than originally planned and the room is really nicely appointed and spacious.

We wandered around the town again and then made our way back down to Market St where we grabbed lunch at Maccas!! From there we tried getting a taxi down to Flax to purchase Art supplies (unsuccessfully) although we did find Pears and did really well. An interesting factor was as we went further towards the shop we were looking for, there was a not so subtle change in attitudes towards people going into shops. We went into one shop and it had a Security Guard and they would not allow bags into the shop although I did refuse to hand over my bag because it had my purse etc and they let me in but don't get me wrong, the guard was really nice when we explained what it contained. The shops in that area were certainly a lot less obliging in terms of allowing freedom for customers to take coffees etc into the shops. Also the area became a little less salubrious.


We then slowly headed back towards the hotel. We got as far as across the road and were trying to decide what to do with ourselves when we were accosted by a homeless women who was most adament that she could help us find where we were looking for and when we said that we were okay we got the whole I am behind in my rent and need money etc., At this point we quickly headed off for the hotel. This has been one of the more confronting issues we have noticed in San Francisco. That is not to say that they are dangerous just a bit desperate......but it is clear that you should not give any money to these people .....even the hotel makes comment (and not just the Nikko) that there are bodies/organisations that it would be more appropriate to give the money to.

Last night dinner was at Lefty's which is a bar on Powell St. A nice little place for dinner and drinks on a small budget if you choose and the food was quite nice and the staff friendly.

Okay so not really much to tell, today we are getting ready for the conference and settling in. We will keep you informed day by day. For those who are not aware also, we will not be contactable by mobile after tomorrow as we have had to borrow a phone (although it does have my sim card in it) because the GSM was not compatible to the US systems (and this was even with us checking with Telstra and initiating International Roam before we left) so if there is something you need us to do or let us know about please email us.

Bye for now

Nicola and Mark

ps Here is a photo of the toilet in the hotel....we have, I think, previously mentioned the differences in the toilets.

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Photos

The Hotel Nikko
Our room on the 18th floor is very comfortable and we are quite happy with the accomodations.

Toilets in the US
Being quite used to the double flush and the deeper bowl. Notice the handle on the side - and watch out for the suction!!

San Francisco Crowne Plaza
Again a very nice hotel - well appointed too.