Blogs from San Francisco, California, United States, North America - page 192

DAY 1 (in a comedy Geordie accent..errr I mean mine) They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step...Well if the Lloyds bank machine at London Bridge is a portent for what lies in store..I'm going to have to watch what I spend...it ate my card as I was making my way to gatwick...the b******... so I found an apple store...IPOD NANOs $199 dollars...that's not too much different although it is the 4GB version..the security guy is eyeballing me now..cos I've been on this machine more than ten minutes... he's coming over...phew he's passed..just had an argument/friendly discussion with a couple of guys in a hat shop...looking for a travelling hat..thinking about getting a red SF baseball cap...and that's where the argument began...that's a football hat sir..Err...Call me old fashioned I said ... read more

Finally I get to see the famous fog that San Fran is known for. Yes my sister mentioned she heard the fog horn blaring all night. But once the fog had rolled away we were able to see the bay, the suspension bridges and Alcatraz. It was exactly as I remembered it 6 months ago when I first flew in here on route to Vancouver. So we hopped on the bikes and rode up and around the golden gate park, admiring the gardens and architecture We found some New Zealand gardens, yep those trees and plants look and sound very familiar! I found an HSBC to withdraw some money, however it was in Chinatown and was a Chinese run bank. Very different the Chinese culture, I was welcomed by a lady at the entrance and shown ... read more

My trip has started. I landed in San Francisco and made my way to the hostel. It was nice but is surrounded by strip clubs etc. A free meal was given at the hostel and I had an early night. I had a full days sight seeing the following morning. I booked myself onto the Alcatraz trip for the next day first thing. I wandered through Fisherman's Wharf, which is a touristy old fishing part of town that is now dominated by seafood stalls and restaurants. I also saw the famous Pier 39 seals (or sea lions) that have made the pier their home. I then took one of the famous cable cars up one of the famous hills. They work by a cable moving under the road, which I didn't realise was the case. They ... read more

I decided today that I would not do anything too time consuming as I would be catching the BART later that afternoon to get to my hotel by the airport, so I decided to spend the day walking around Golden Gate Park, which is right at the bottom of Stanyan Street, so I wouldn't be too far from the house. It was an abosultely scorching day and I decided to go to a place called Strybing Arboretum, and more specifically the botanical gardens, as it was free and wouldn't involve any real sort of time commitment. There's not a lot more to say about that really, I just spent the day wandering through the park, sweating. Two things, though. The first is somebody could make a fantastic study of the homeless and general clientele of Golden ... read more

After the debacle that was Wednesday morning I decided to try and get out of the door nice and early today. All polished and shiny I managed to get downtown to the San Francisco Museum Of Modern Art (SFMOMA) at 09:50! Which was particularly brilliant as the museum didn't open until 11:00, woo-hoo! So after all my efforts I had over an hour to kill, I went and got some breakfast, which I'd neglected in my rush to get out that morning, and twiddled my thumbs for a time in the Yerba Buena Gardens opposite the museum where they were setting up some sort of temporary stage for something. My feelings on modern art, if you don't know, are generally that it is very, very shitty. Very. So I have to say that I was a ... read more