Leaving on a Jet Plane...

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Ok, this is my very first blog documenting my trip to South Korea so bare with me until I get familiar with all the different options. My partner in crime Aaron (who will further be known as Kovats) and I started the trip flying out of Toronto at 6:30am to Seoul, South Korea via San Francisco via Chicago. It was going to be a long day. It required being at the airport 3 hours earlier, which meant being there for roughly 3am. Oh well, we managed to make it on time and were some of the first people to clear customs that day.

Our first of three flights scheduled for that day was to Chicago. Never having been to Chicago myself, it was neat to catch a glimpse of the Sears Tower through the two different layers of fog/clouds/haze that blanketed the city. This flight went quickly and according to schedule.

The connecting flight to San Fran only had a 2 hour lay-over, so the wait wasn't too bad. This flight lasted about 4 hours and we arrived in San Fran around 1pm Western time. This was when we realized that the plane that we were supposed to fly to Korea was undergoing an engine REPLACEMENT. That's comforting to know. Thus, the airline put us up in a hotel in San Fran for the night and we still had the better half of the afternoon to explore - so we did!

We started our adventure in San Fran by taking the BART (San Fran subway system) to the tourist area by the harbour. Once there, we hopped onto the famous Trolley Car and winded our way up and down the steep hills of the city. This was quite the experience. The Trolley Car is a lot different from the streetcars used by the TTC in Toronto. For starters, they are fully open in the front section with poles for people to stand on the edge and hang out. We didn't try this because as two Trolley Cars pass one another, it looks as if they come within inches of each other...no thanks. We took the Trolley Car to the end of the track and it landed us in the area known as the Fisherman's Wharf. Here we could see various different land marks that are well known. It was a little foggy out, but we could make out the Golden Gate Bridge. Not too far away across the bay was the famous island prison, better known as Alcatraz. This was pretty cool to see, although I had always imagined that the island was a lot further away from the mainland. Finally, we saw the well known Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory. All in all, although we were delayed a day it was well worth the wait.

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Photos

Departure
4am - I'm on the left, Kovats is on the right. We're about to depart Pearson Airport and Canadian soil for a long time...

Plane Pic
View of a suburb just east of San Fran

San Fran Intl.
This one's pretty self explanatory.

Trolley Car
Here's a picture of the famous San Fran Trolley Car's that travel up and down the hilly landscape of the city.

Cave Man Technology
This is a picture of the Trolley Car at the end of the track. Instead of a loop to turn around, the Trolley Car is pushed on a circular platform that rotates the Trolley Car about 45 degrees.

Sculpture Man
We saw this man by the Bay making a few rock sculptures by balancing rocks. They looked pretty cool, so I took a pic.

Nothing but up...
This picture was taken from the front of a Trolley Car. It is one of many pictures illustrating the steep hills found in the city.

Golden Gate Bridge
Although it was foggy, you can still see the outline of the Golden Gate Bridge. It would have been nice to see on a clear day, but this just gives me an excuse to return to the city.

Alcatraz
Here's the infamous island prison. It seemed weird actually seeing it in person, but it was definately there.

San Fran Bay
This picture is from out on a pier looking back at the city. You can see the sign for the chocolate factory to the right.

Crab Sign
We saw this sign at the beginning of the pier.

Comments

[fiona copley]

no title neccessary
hey charles, I think the blog deal is a great idea. i loved seeing your pix and hearing about your adventure. keep updating as u go so i can hear and see more. i plan on doing something similar when i finish skool (2 years from now no big deal) i dunno yet if i will teach in asia or volunteer in africa but i will do something neat. enjoy yourself. be safe and keep scarboro posted on you doings. emily and i have transferred from Dal and are now attending University of Waterloo. closer to home and cheaper. so far we like it. ok byeeeeeeeee --fi--

[Dr. Banks]

If only Guildwood could see you now!!!
Good to hear the trips going well.... ME LOVE YOU LONG TIME!!!!