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San Francisco
Love emanates from Union Square. Same day, different continent....
13th May 2009
Now, we realise that on our previous blog we had an entry for the 13th May, but as 'today' ended a mere 43 hours after it started, we felt it deserved another entry! Yes, like Marty McFly, today we went back in time; from being 11 hours ahead of the UK in NZ, we are now 8 hours BEHIND the UK.
So, we landed at San Francisco airport - after another very bumpy flight - just after midday. With our suddenly very heavy bags, we made our way onto the BART train and headed to Union Square, a short distance from our accommodation and the first real bed for over a month! Including time spent giving fingerprints and retina shots at the airport, then maneuvering our way through customs, this took nearly 3 hours. All of the areas we have stayed in so far have had a lot of character - by which we mean life - by which we mean they are the "cheaper" areas of the city... - but this one exceeds them all for dodgy characters! We managed to grab a couple of hours sleep on the plane and so
weren't feeling too tired, and so after checking in we headed out for a little stroll. We are staying in a very central neighbourhood (we know the
real beauty of the city isn't the centre), and the homelessness is very apparent here, infact its almost completely in your face. We spent a bit of time dodging the 3-man police patrol teams moving on various people who wanted a 'discussion' with them, and the baggy-trousered-backward-cap wearing locals, but still admiring the stunning city. San Fran is a beautiful city to look at. Steep, straight streets with trams chugging along them, huge pillored civic buildings and many water influenced monuments. We stuck our heads into Macy's Department Store before the tiredness began catching up with us and we headed back for some food, and a bed that wasn't on wheels!
14th May 2009
Attempting to right our body clocks, we woke at 10am to a carb heavy breakfast in the hostel. After deciding what we would do for the day we hired two bikes and started the trip to the Golden Gate Bridge. Going via the wharf (and away from the downtown area) we were able to see just how beautiful
San Fran is. And although we hate to admit it, having the sun shining down on us also made a massive difference; we aren't sure we could manage another jam-packed day of getting wet. After taking in the views of Alcatraz and the bridge from a distance, we took ourselves up and onto the golden beast - which is apparently 2 miles long - and dodged walkers as we flew across to the east side of the bay. Carrying on, we headed into the suburb of Sausalito ('Little Willow') where we had a deli sub and admired the views. A beautiful, and quaint little area made up of waterfront facing wooden panelled buildings! Sausalito lies at the bottom of a monstrous hill which meant a tougher return journey, which was aided by a stop off at the Warmers Hut where we sat watching sealions play and fishermen, errm, fish. We also decided to cycle (and eventually walk!) up one of the numerous steep hills here, so that we could take in Lombard Street, the worlds most Crookedest Street! If there is anything that makes you feel more like a child than standing on your peddles and going down a bendy
San Francisco
Prisoner number 8008135... hill, then we are yet to find it!
That evening we jumped aboard the MUNI train and headed out toward Delores Park where a free film night was being held. Mid journey, we experienced our first ever Metro Train style emergency stop! We sat in the tunnel for 10 minutes or so, wondering a little nervously what was going on, before a couple of cops boarded us and got us on our way! This turned out to be more eventful then the film evening, as due to the delay we arrived too late to get a decent view, and swiftly left. On the train we had met a very helpful local guy though - Hayley was a little jealous of his makeup... - who directed us to the Castro area of the city; colourful, lively and covered in rainbow flags!
15th May 2009
Ahhh dorm life. Remembering the 'joys' of sharing room with random noisy strangers, we woke at 10 again today, a little tired from an interrupted nights sleep. Nothing a couple of coffees couldn't sort out though, and we were soon on our way on our self designed Walking Tour. This led us through a very authentic
San Francisco
Everything's ensuite in this establishment! China town, a cosy little Little Italy and out onto Fisherman's Wharf. The Wharf is an area composed of the piers taking ferries out into San Francisco Bay, and numerous tacky stores. Thrown in with a couple of high class restaurants, and really, really great street performers, it was a crazy place to while away some time before catching our ferry across the bay to Alcatraz. "The Rock" is a 1.5 mile ferry journey, and upon arrival you are met with the original State Penitentiary signs - there is no doubt where you are going. The tour is a 50 minute Audio Guide, and its fair to say it's one of the best we have ever experienced. Narrated by former guards and inmates, its a great insight whilst you walk around the cell blocks, the infamous "hole" of solitary confinement, the yard and the dining hall. You can really feel the history of the place, passing pictures of Al Capone, "The Birdman", "Machine Gun" Kelly, and other famous inhabitants. We also got to see the cells of the only ever escapees, and heard some crazy stories of what went on whilst it was open. A really great tour, highly recommended
San Francisco
Broadway, Alcatraz. (B&W) by Coles and Clayts! After, back in freedom, we headed back through Little Italy for pizza, and then back to bed.
16th May 2009
Our last full day! And what a beautiful day it was, touching 30 degrees. We planned to have a fairly relaxed day today, filling in a few blanks of sightseeing. We headed out onto Market St and along to Embarcadero, where a local farmers market was being held. We bought a huge punnet of strawberries to munch on whilst we carried on along to Fisherman's Wharf, and the Pier 39 Sea Lion colony - the biggest, laziest and noisiest colony yet!! Sweltering in the heat, we stopped off at San Frans famous Ghirardelli chocolate store for an ice-cream sundae, before finding a couple of seats outside a restaurant where we sipped on wine and cold beer whilst we watched the eclectic mix of people walk past. We walked through and past a few more famous San Fran institutions, and Daniel made friends with a few homeless guys - we think its the rubbish beard he is sporting; but on a serious note, we want to say that despite the huge homelessness problem here, we have
San Francisco
Fog swallowing the bridge. only encountered polite and friendly people who are just looking for some help, their methods for earning a few dimes are ingenius. We then made a few
vital last minute purchases and headed to The Orpheum Theatre. We had enquired about tickets a few days back, but had walked away reeling from the $100 tickets for the musical, "Wicked'. However, there is a ticket lottery everyday to win 75%!o(MISSING)ff orchestra seat tickets. We decided to enter...and guess what? We won! Score! So, after months of Daniel being forced to listen to the soundtrack on H's iPod - and swearing never to watch it - we spent our final night at the Theatre...watching it! And actually, it was a really lovely way to book end our time away.
Back in our room that night, we spent a bit of time 'counselling' our interesting room mate, before trying to fight the excitedness about going home and getting some sleep.
17th May 2009
Day 140, and WE'RE COMING HOME! Packed, cleaned (but Daniel has refused to shave...) and ready to go.
So thats our lot. We don't need to tell you how much fun we've had these past 5 months - its been the best time of our lives; but, we can't wait to see you all and catch up - just promise not to ask us where our favourite place was!! Thank you so much to everyone who has read any of our blogs and shared in our fun, and thank you to all the people who have commented, either publicly or privately. They have made us laugh and miss you all a lot!
And so,
Until next time... Love
Hayley and Danny
xxx
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