Blogs from San Francisco, California, United States, North America - page 203

Well - San Fran seemed to be over so quickly - what a great city though. Alcatraz was great to see - we did a night tour in torrential rain which made it rather spooky and cold - very eerie place. Very cosmopolitan city, fab shopping, bars, restaurants etc. - down by the piers you can get bowls of clam chowder in bread bowls for about £3 and any kind of fresh seafood you want. The Golden Gate bridge is a bit of an anti-climax really - it's just like any other bridge !!!! The hills are something else though - but that means you don't see any of the massive lardy yanks there as they're too lazy to tackle them. Riding the trams up and down the hills is great - but the queues for ... read more

On June 1, on week from tomorrow, I will complete my last day of work at ICG Commerce and be on my way to London. I'm planning on keeping a blog of my travels through Europe and Southeast Asia. Here is my approximate schedule: Europe *London: June 2-5 *Budapest / Vienna / Salzburg: June 5-12 *Germany: June 12-27 *Northern Italy: June 28-30 *Sicily: June 30-July 6 *Amalfi Coast: July 6 - July 13 *Meena's wedding in Boston: July 13-16 *Chicago: July 16-17 Southeast Asia *Vietnam (starting in Saigon) / Cambodia (Angkor Wat): July 19- August 2 *Thai Islands; Koh Samui for the full moon party and scuba certification class - August 2 - 17 *Thai mainland / Bangkok: August 17-24 ... read more

Guess who wanted to go to this place? Katie: Yes it was me, bout time I put my two cents in on this page. Beautiful gardens as you can see from the pics. Was right in the in middle of San Fran at Golden Gate Park.... read more

Hello all! Today we saw some more ethnic neighborhoods of San Francisco. Our morning was consumed by our visit to Chinatown, one which resulted in empty wallets (from the plethora of touristy shops selling buddhas to lanterns to swords) and full bellies (via the House of Nan King, one of San Fran's most famous Chinese restaurants). We then traveled to see a bucket drummer; that's right, a man who uses large white buckets (and various other ecutriments) as drums. This was fascinating and more enjoyable than you'd think. From there we scooted on over to the Mission (mainly Hispanic) district where we took in the fabulous street murals that flavor that part of town. While some may call them glorified grafitti, they are trying to send a message and spread beauty, both of which they do. ... read more

We started out our day with a trip the Alcatraz Island and the infamous prison. We acquired audio tour headsets and walked around the cell blocks, with our trip narrated by the voices of former guards and prisoners. The audio tour even included appropriate background noises such as whistles and shouts. Can you say creepy?? It was very moving, though. The kids seemed to really enjoy hearing the details of famous prisoners and fabled escapes. Alcatraz was followed by lunch on Fisherman's Wharf, and most of us tried out some fish and chips or other seafare. We were then delighted by the exhibits in the Aquarium of the Bay, which features an underground tunnel where you are surrounded on three sides by water and various sea animals. Even the oldest kids (myself included) were fascinated by ... read more