If you're going to San Francisco...

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Our flight today was at 10:35 from Heathrow, terminal 3. We were breakfasting by 06:50 and by 07:30 we were waiting for the hopper bus to take us back to terminal 5 where we would then board the Heathrow Express train to terminal 3. It seamed a bit of a palaver but added to all the fun of the fair!! One glass walkway (to which Roisin was now hopping and skipping across having put thatdemon to bed!!) and one, rather full, glass elevator later we were at the bag drop having checked in on line 24 hours earlier. Speaking of which, have you ever seen a grown woman hopping at an international airport wheeling a 22kg suitcase along side her??!!

The security checks went (almost!) like clockwork. Rucksack and camera case in the trays provided. My net book was out of its case and also in a tray. My mobile phone, keys and even my belt went safety inside my rucksack. I passed through the scanner like a ninja, setting none of the alarms off (unlike Mrs H!!) My camera case arrived a minute or so later but my rucksack had been pulled for 'further examination'!! This entailed emptying the contents including my Dictaphone (don't ask!!) and my book entitled '44 years with the same bird' I was waiting for the officer to say: 'Is that true?? To which my reply was going to be: ‘No, it just feels like it!!' (Only joking. You know I only put that in for comedy effect!!!) The book is actually about one man's love for a football club and the ‘bird' refers to the Liver bird on the club crest.

The contents from my bag and the bag itself were then swabbed with what looked like one of those wet wipes. I was going to ask him to clean my glasses while he was at it but I wouldn't want to miss the flight!!!

On board the 747, the Senior Cabin Steward was very hospitable and cordial as were all the crew. They are so professional when they make announcements reading from a script. Our man obviously was saying his introductory speech from the heart as he seemed to be making it up as he went along:

'You should see land until we cross the sea. As we climb to our cruising altitude you will probably not see much. Just some blue and probably a bit of white!!!'

VS019 left only 10 minutes late and 10 minutes after that the customary headphones where being handed out to be used in conjunction with the in-flight entertainment console.. Immediately after came the fresh orange, the menu card and the bottle of water.

Roisin spent most of the flight playing on her iPod and listening to the Saw Doctors on her MP3. I settled down to watch 10 hours worth of movies. When I say ‘settle', this was difficult as every 20 minutes the cabin crew seemed to be bringing either food or drink around…and it would be rude of me to decline!!! At one point, about 6 hours into the flight, they even gave you a choice of sausage roll or pasty!! Its not as if someone could just nip out to Greggs!!

Our cruising speed was 568mph and altitude of 37,997feet. I wonder why we never climbed an extra 3 feet to round it up to 38,000. If the captain and his crew want to get on in life, surely they have to think about going that extra yard!!!

The flight path took us over Greenland and the Hudson Bay. Down through Canada and entering US airspace over Montana. We arrived in San Francisco bang on time at 13:10 local time.

Landing card and passport in hand we waited in line to cross through the immigration. There were countless row up on row of booths. It looked like the check out at Asda or Wal-Mart!! There was even a wide aisle!! I couldn't see a booth for 10 items or less though!! However, unlike the Asda and Wal-Mart more than 3 booths were manned!!

‘Right hand, four fingers. Now thumb. Left hand four fingers. Now thumb. Take off your glasses and look in to the camera.' Our processing was done with the utmost courtesy. We must have had the most vigilant officer as he commented: ‘Hey, you're wearing the same shirt on your passport photo as you are wearing now!!'

‘Any excuse to stop you entering the country,' I thought. I just smiled and said: ‘It's my lucky travelling shirt!!'

‘That works for me,' came the reply. He stamped our passports and let us through.

After collecting our luggage we took the BART, an underground/over ground rail system, to Civic Centre where we headed to street level and Market Street. In my excitement to get my bearings, I stopped the first person we saw and asked: ‘How far's the Nob Inn??!!' I quickly cringed as I'd realised what I'd said and to whom I was speaking. Roisin quickly corrected me: ‘Forgive him, he mean's how far's the Nob Hill Inn, father!!' The priest wasn't sure but pointed in the general direction. We decided to play it safe and wait for a cab.

20 minutes later we were still waiting. Only 2 taxis had passed, both with fares. We decided to walk closer to our hotel to see if we could pick up a taxi at the next major junction. Still nothing. We then took the decision to walk uphill along Leavenworth for a block to try our luck. Finally, we were in luck. A cab pulled up.

Now, those of you who read our blog last year on Abu Dhabi should remember the Hodgson's scoring a marvellous goal against the Taxi profession when our taxi driver tried to rip us off by not having his meter on. Today, I am loathe to report, the taxi profession equalised with what can only be described as a scrappy goal with a hint of off-side.

The taxi driver asked where we were going. When we told him he replied if we were sure we wanted to do this as it is only about 2 or 3 blocks further on. Last time I looked at the map, I counted at least 10 blocks but you would expect a taxi driver to know the city better than you. I thought that I must have mis-counted the blocks so we headed off, up hill, suitcases in tow!!!

I was right. It was about 10 blocks UP HILL. Once we realised this we tried to hail a cab but word must have already got around. We gritted our teeth and pushed on. I may write to the producers of ‘the Biggest Loser' or ‘the Worlds Strongest Man' and suggest a new activity. Lugging 50lb suitcases 10 blocks up a San Francisco street!!!

The only tenderloin I am familiar with is a cut of prime steak. Tenderloin is also a district of San Francisco most people try to avoid. It is a magnet for drunks and homeless types. We pushed our cases through this district unbeknown at the time. The mad woman who jumped out shouting: ‘Booga-booga' at no one in particular should have given us a clue. Other than that we were not bothered or given a second glance and we never once felt threatened. Come to think of it, there were many people we spotted pushing shopping carts full of their worldly goods. Perhaps everyone just thought we were just two more statistics!!!

We finally made it to the Nob Hill Inn, checked in and shown to our room.

‘I think there was some mistake. We booked a room not a broom cupboard' I said to the porter.

‘This room is one of our cosy and traditional rooms sir!' came the reply.

He must have been an estate agent in a previous life because for ‘cosy' and ‘traditional' I read ‘tiny' and ‘run down'!!! The literature in our ‘room' referred to it as an alcove bed. Yes, but I didn't think we'd be sleeping in the alcove!!! The room was so small there wasn't enough room for 2 adults AND 2 suitcases. We ended up storing the suitcases in the bathroom!!!

The Huntington Hotel was lierally 2 minutes away. This was the Palace we stayed in last time. We knew where we'd be having our evening meal tonight.

At 7:30 pm we decided to call it a night. It was 2:30am in the UK after all. It wasn't long before we'd both drifted off with thoughts of what had become a very eventful day.

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Comments

[Andrew]

They swap you stuff for cocaine. They really like swabbing iPads as presumably they are a perfect size and shape to 'chop up a line'. Mind you, you would need drugs to cope with being in a hotel room for long with that wallpaper....Andrew

[Maxine]

Very cool :)