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Published: June 20th 2010
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Hello Everyone and hello San Fransisco,
It's been almost 5 days since we arrived so I thought I'd fill you in on everything that's happened so far. Hope I don't ramble too much in these blogs, (as I have a tendency to do that), but if you stick with it, you may be rewarded with a cringe worthy tale or two!
After staying over at a Heathrow hotel on the Monday night, we headed to the terminal 5 in the morning with nervous stomachs and 2 cripplingly big Back Packs. Unfortunately we didn't get off to a great start when were delayed for 3 hours and then found out we didn't have seats next to each other. I managed to find myself sandwiched between a french men who fell asleep the moment he sat down on the plane (and took liberties with the elbow rest), and an elderly Indian woman who kept putting her feet on my legs!
12 hours, and 5 movies later ('Invictus' was good in case you haven't seen it) we touched down and went through the strict San Fransisco passport control, including finger/thumb scans and a deeply probing Q and A session! We jumped
straight in a taxi and took in the breathtaking view of San Fransisco at night- it's huge! We weren't expecting the scale of the city and the number of intimidating buildings that dominate the skyline.
We're staying at USA hostels, which was already jumping with Karaoke in the hostel bar when we arrived at 9pm (somebody was murdering 'Brass in Pocket'). I resisted 'showing them how it's done properly', and we opted instead to go straight to bed and fall into a jet-lagged coma.
Upon waking at 6am, it was surreal to step out, into a city that seems to have come straight from a movie set. It's a beautiful place and we spent the first morning walking around, gawping at the tall buildings and eating a massive sandwich. The hostel is really comfortable and our room has all the mod cons (microwave, fridge and TV)...the only thing that will take some getting used to is the shared toilet, especially when you have to queue at 4am to use it! There is a massive shared kitchen and they have FREE pancake batter that you can use in the morning (although we've tried to alternate this each morning with
porridge, so I don't have a sugar induced heart attack before I leave the States!). There are lots of organized events, like pub crawls and themed parties...but they do feel a bit forced! We've learned that it's easier to meet people using the international language of pool!
The hostel had a games room downstairs, so Clio and I have played a few games in an attempt to meet people and luckily it works. We've met some lads from Oz, a German girl and fellow Brit called Rich. Everyone's in the same boat so it's easy to get talking to people. Sometimes this can be a curse , especially when you're not in the mood for chatting and someone asks you questions whilst you're washing your undies. On the whole though it's good fun and it's great to get advise from people on where to go.
During the week we've taken in some tourist attractions. The first was Alcatraz, which was well worth the visit. The place is a total contradiction...as the boat pulls up to the Island, even in the sunshine, it has a stark and ominous feel, like Shutter Island. However the views of the Pacific and
the Golden Gate Bridge from the island are completely stunning. The inmates, would've been able to see this from their cells and it adds a cruel edge to their situation. The prison is preserved exactly how it was before it closed its doors in the 1960's. The audio tour takes your through all the interesting stories of prison breaks, murders and the famous inmates (including Al Capone). There was even an ex-inmate doing a book signing whilst we were there. After a quick picnic on the island, we jumped on the boat back to the mainland.
We had our first proper night out in a local bar on Friday which was entertaining. It's easy to get talking to locals...as soon as they hear your accent you have a room full of new friends for the night! We got very drunk and chatted to people about the World Cup (the Yanks love International Soccer, they just don't like domestic soccer) and we met loads of random characters. One guy let us read the film script he'd written called 'Vampires vs Werewolves' (seriously). I can't remember the full story but I'm sure you can guess what happens! When we got back
to the hostel, I managed to fall over in the room and cut my stomach on the sink (!), before locking Clio out of the room and passing out on the bed. She had to get reception let her in! Needless to say we felt pretty rough the next day and the sight seeing took a backseat!
We're right back on it today though, with Golden Gate Bridge and the Hippy district on the agenda.
Sorry there's not any photos yet, the PC's aren't great here...we'll upload them as soon as we can.
Next stop Yosemite! Hope you're all ok back in England and enjoying the footy (!)
Ali and Clio
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Heather
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I really enjoyed your post from San Francisco, and am so glad that you're enjoying California so far! My blog is looking for travel reviews, photos, etc, to share. If you have the time, check it out at dirty-hippies.blogspot.com, or email me at dirtyhippiesblog@gmail.com. Continued fun on your travels! Heather