San Cristobal de Las Casas – 22nd - 26th July

 

The night bus from Oaxaca City to San Cristobal was another long 12 hour stint of not much sleep; however the bus was remarkably comfortable again. We could tell that we were steadily ascending in the early hours of the morning as we all experienced popping ears and could feel the bus wind around tight, bendy mountain roads. On arrival at the bus station, we bumped into a very nice French man who was promoting his B&B & decided to have a look. For 200 pesos per night we got a private room with shared bath plus free breakfast and WIFI, so decided to take him up on his offer.

San Cristobal is a beautiful and very colourful town perched in the heart of the mountains at an altitude of around 2200m. All the houses are painted in vibrant colours and the streets are narrow & cobbled giving the town great charm. The surrounding luscious mountains give promise of exciting outdoor opportunities & really highlight just how misguided the West is in its view of Mexico being a dry, arid place full of Cacti & cowboys. The main attractions in the town are the numerous churches, which have beautiful interiors & are regularly on top of hills, giving a spectacular view as a reward for the hot, sweaty climb. The Artisan & Food markets are very interesting, offering numerous types of Jade & Amber jewellery, embroidered clothes/bags & leather goods. I managed to resist buying anything – it’s amazing how restrained you become when you know you have to carry everything on your back for the next 5 months! The food market is full of interesting smells, herbs, fruits & meats – for a few of your finest pesos, you can purchase a whole cow’s hoof, mud on the bottom thrown in free. Another bargain is the dried innards, which are hanging everywhere for you to absorb as you walk past.

We were lucky to meet two really fun girls from Belgium, Maggie & Veronique, who accompanied us for some dinners & shared the experience of our horse riding day. The five of us set out with some others to make a large group of about 15 riders. We were taken by pick-up truck to the ‘ranch’ which consisted of a broken fence and some fairly skinny looking mule-ish ponies. Size of person did not seem to matter according to size of pony, although I guess it was less distance for them to fall if something went wrong! The ride was very picturesque, taking us up through the forest and into a village, where we stopped to have a look at the market & enjoy some refreshments. The blatant lack of safety was very amusing – our group was led by a 6 year old & 12 year old both on the same pony, who seemed to find it hilarious to whack the back of people’s horses to make them go faster. I did actually find this quite funny and asked them to do it to me, which they did and we all went galloping off down the road together. After they could see I actually enjoyed going fast, every opportunity was spent having a race each time we got to some open land or road – it was quite hilarious – lack of control, no riding hats, galloping along roads on these tiny ponies – I think my DC at pony club would have had a nosebleed if she had been present. I did feel quite guilty about making mine run when we got back to the ‘ranch’ as I realized that another group had just arrived to do the afternoon ride on the same ponies and it contained some quite obese Americans – poor beasts!

The following day it was Mark’s turn to choose the activity so we went mountain biking. The first part involved a 3 mile steep ascent up the winding mountain road, which was very rewarding getting to the top but definitely caused the thigh burn! Then onto a track & the fun began – lots of grassy/rocky paths to bump along and totally stunning scenery – it reminded me more of Switzerland than Mexico, again like my comment above, it opened my eyes to what a varied and beautiful country we were in. It was a 4 hour ride, around the mountain plateau and then back down a different side – I can shamelessly say that I preferred whizzing down the bending road with the wind in my hair to the slog up, but I suppose one comes with the other. Feeling starving, we happened across a little restaurant, which had two tables inside and a sweet old lady with her two daughters who were cooking up a storm. We picked our dishes and boy were they good – beautiful homemade soup, pork loins in mustard with mashed potato & fresh orange sauce & lemon pudding to finish – all for a meagre 50 pesos each & service with the cutest old lady smile I have ever seen! We went back the next day for lunch as it was so good!

Mark and I did much walking around the town, exploring all the little streets. One of the strangest things we saw was a dog who enjoyed biting cars as they drove past. It was so bizarre, like some kind of extreme dog sport, for he would wait patiently until one came close, run out alongside it, then try to attack it – a losing battle. We hoped we would find a cure for such madness in the Mayan Medicine Museum, which I would highly recommend. It has interesting displays on the old traditions of the Mayan tribes, including all of the local remedies used to cure different ailments. The museum concludes with a video you can watch which shows how a midwife delivers the baby. It contains some interesting rituals, such as the mother kneeling in front of the father in his lap while the midwife kneels behind to deliver the baby. To speed up the process, the midwife makes the woman drink a raw egg, and then she rubs the egg over her face. As an egg lover, I found this pretty repulsive; however it seemed to work for them. The placenta is buried face up or down inside the house depending on if the couple wants a boy or a girl as their next baby. During the next part of the video, i.e. once the child is born, I heard somebody sniggering beside me & found that I could not help laughing too, so much in fact that we had to leave the room. A live rooster or chicken is held over the child and rotated in circles to ward away evil spirits - I know you should not laugh at people’s traditions, but the sight was just so ridiculous that it set Mark and I off into hysterics that did not stop until we were in the safety of the street. JG

San Cristobal food market

 

Oaxaca Jul 18th – 21st

 

The night bus from Mexico City to Oaxaca City was very comfortable & non-eventful – still so impressed by public transport here. On arrival in a somewhat cooler city at 6am, we warmed ourselves up with the local favourite – a hot chocolate. Next we took a taxi to the city centre and starting the search for accommodation. Normally this consists of walking from place to place looking for the best deal, which is exactly what we did. However after asking in about 10 suitable places it seemed that most were fully booked due to a festival that was happening in the City. Finally we found a little place for 200 pesos a room with a good view (to be honest we were prepared to take anything by then) and were finally really pleased that we had coincided with the festival.

After some sleep, we ventured out into the City - it turns out that we were ideally positioned near to a large indoor market which was perfect for lunch. We were totally spoilt for choice in terms of where to eat, being bombarded as we walked in with shouts of ‘the best mole in town,’ ‘come and eat tacos here’ etc, etc. In the end we opted for a little stand where we perched at the bar and had the most delicious ‘choriqueso,’ a mixture of chorizo and cheese served with beans, rice and tortillas. We also had freshly squeezed orange juice & coffee served in bowls – I was happy. The market was fascinating, being full of steam, exotic smells, chatter and Mexicans going about their daily life, cooking delicious fresh food, selling breads, meats, vegetables and of course making chocolate. The market became our venue of choice for many breakfasts and lunches – breakfast normally consisting of a large bowl of local hot chocolate served with a bun. The chocolate has a lovely bitter cocoa taste & is locally produced in Oaxaca, with many shops demonstrating how the cocoa beans are ground up into the thick paste, which is then combined with sugar, of chili for the classic Oaxacan ‘Mole’ dish. Oli became a serious fan of choriqueso, having it for breakfast and lunch nearly every day – we were impressed with his commitment to the cause.

Oaxaca is a beautiful city, full of old colonial style buildings and extremely colourful. I wonder how drab Mexican’s must find London when they arrive to only grey and red brick. The town square is beautiful and up on the hill there are many old cobbled streets, lovely big wooden doorways opening onto vast courtyard oasis’ which often house cafes or restaurants and lots of street music, really giving the place a nostalgic ambience. There are also numerous churches, some of which are very opulently decorated, cast with gold leafing and sculptures, leaving no doubt as to the wealth and influence that is still maintained by religious faculties. They are quite beautiful to look around and offer a welcome cool escape from the scorching sun outside. Mark and I had fun just pottering along the little streets, enjoying getting lost and seeing what sort of novel things would turn up.

Being in town for the Guelaguetza/Lunes del Cerro festival was a real bonus. Although we would have had to have booked months in advance to get tickets for the stadium show, the buzz & electric atmosphere on the streets was fantastic. On our first evening there was a great street parade full of native dances in varied costume, huge papier mache figures on sticks, live bands and bizarrely, lots of political protestors who seemed to be supporting Marxism. Every night we had fireworks and the entertaining wooden bull, which had a Catherine Wheel attached to its bottom as it bobbed around on its stick in the crowd. The festival is traditionally held on the last 2 Mondays of July, after the death day of Benito Juárez (July 18). Beginning in 1932, when Oaxaca celebrated its 400th anniversary, groups from many regions of the state perform their wonderful native dances in all their varieties of costume. The original event, of pre-Hispanic origin, enacted reciprocal gift-giving and ceremonies in honor of the Corn Goddess.

For a change, we took a tour (even though we vowed never to take one again) to see some ruins at Mitla, the world’s widest tree, a Mezcal factory, a petrified waterfall and Zapotecan rug making. The things we saw were really interesting, but we all felt pretty stressed about being herded around, told what to do when and things not working out as they should, i.e. having to change bus three times and being back 3 hours later. Somehow, if this happens on your own, it adds to the experience and it’s funny, but tours drive me nuts!

On our last night, we went to a lovely restaurant with a balcony overlooking the square. We had tuna steaks flambéed at our table in mezcal and fresh orange, which was just exquisite. With the fireworks and a very decent glass of house wine, it was a nice way to end our Oaxacan adventure. JG.

Mark having fun in Mexico City

 

The beautiful cathedral

 

Mexico City

Is not what I thought it would be like at all. The city is modern, clean and tidy with enormous shopping centres, a highly efficient and very cheap public transport network and lots of great little bars, restaurants and tidy green spaces. The very scary picture painted by so many travel sites, books and other warnings is once more so much of a boring and overhyped subject.

Driving into the city after a fairly long bus ride from Guadalajara we were welcomed into a huge bus station, El Norte Bus Station. The place has something like 120 coach parking spaces for boarding with three classes of buses able to park and board passengers. The place was impressive. Ferdi had given us some very straight forward directions which, on leaving the bus station were very easy to follow. Unlike in London where tourists have to walk around to find Victoria coach station which is frankly quite badly sign posted, the metro here was right on the door step as you'd expect. Paying the princely 2 pesos per ride we changed tubes once and found ourselves near the road and headed off to find it. The Metro system is old French stock it seems, the trains have rubber tires- the stations themselves are large and have lots of marble making them easy clean I suppose! The presence of the police at every station was a constant reminder that there is a HUGE gap between the rich and the poor here, as also the rides. Each trip was accompanied by one or two CD salespersons that livened up the trip with remixes of their CD's and yelling down the carriage 10 pesos per CD on getting on or off, in addition to them there were countless blind beggars, junk food sellers and more.

Wondering around town was fantastic too, the streets showing off the best mix of Mexican food culture through the ample (in number and size) food vendors, new cars from Europe as well as the ancient Beetles and VW T1 vans around the place. It is quite an exciting city, lots of cultural things to do as well as the usual shopping and entertainment. We chose a couple things to do culturally and managed to get in quite a lot of random evening activities…

We'd arrived and Jen had really wanted to visit a few places. The main priority was Frida Carlo's house (museum) and then as it was around the corner, and we had learned from watching Frida a few weeks earlier, there was Trotsky's place around the corner! We headed to both of course. Frida Carlo's museum was entertaining and in some instances, as with any modernist artists, suitable bizarre. The house and the documentation was very close to the film which was a nice change, too many films it seems make their own histories as applicable. Oli in his very dark skin was thought of as Mexican and given a local person discount, a 10 peso discount, how unfair, but devious! The area between Frida's and Trotsky's house is very very nice.. and could perhaps be compared to Hampstead or Chelsea, or the Viennese 18^th/19^th districts; the large mansions, nicely tended front gardens and paths were quiet and the Mexicans exceptionally helpful in helping us find the places. Sign posting was not the best. We headed off to meet Ferdi later that afternoon at his office… www.mexlinks.com have a look if you want to learn Spanish in Mexico – he can help you out! Following an exhausting day out, we headed to a bar for a drink or two prior to heading home and taking it easy. We'd been left a nice double bed in the flat which provided a great change from cheap hotel beds… so much nice sleep to catch up on.

The next day we took it easy and planned the onwards trips, sorted out flights and mooched a little, we'd planned to head out to http://wikitravel.org/en/Teotihuacan the next day. The trip outwards was interesting; the bus ride costing 33 pesos was a good hour from the edge of the city took us through picturesque villages before dumping us at a gate on the edge of what seemed like a very large green area. Starving, we got a cab to a restaurant and then took off to see the ruins, and rebuilds. The site is fairly substantial with the primary pyramids – the Temples of the Sun and Moon being the main attractions. They are huge! Interestingly, some of the rebuilding work seems to have added a fifth level to the temple of the sun which is the larger of the two, which makes the walk up just a little easier. It is definitely a very interesting place to go to. Of course, there were a number of sales people, selling the usual crap; tourist trail junk that collects dust and nothing more: Calenders, obsidian face masks, stupid noise makers and then more usefully, large straw hats which, we did buy and then left on the bus at the end of the day. We did replace them in Oaxaca for less than a third of the price though.

Mexico City has a whole neighborhood which is essentially Venice with grass and small houses etc. The tourists, locals and internationals helpfully guided to the boat area by pretty much anyone there and then we took to some boat negotiations. The initial price for three of us was close to 750 pesos and we ended up at 200 pesos for an hour and a half. Then we headed off to a small café style place and had some outstanding meat dishes with I think cactus. The boat trip- was a little on the relaxing side- heading off around various canals approached like on the streets by a myriad of vendors on smaller boats selling everything from the kitchen sink and concrete to food and stupid fluffy toys. The banks had a number of semi wild dogs and puppies which were a joy to watch, playing around with each other in the shade of the trees. Paying for Mariachi bands was left to other larger tour groups- of which there were so many that it made little difference if you paid or not to hear their music. We did end up buying some bbq corn on the cob doused in limejuice and chili they are a great light snack. The fish finish off the cob for you!

Our travel was to continue the next day – heading to Oaxaca with the night bus.. leaving at midnight and arriving at 7am.. of the seven buses leaving we finally managed to get seats on a second class ADO GL bus (UNO is the first class hereabouts). Having been cooked a great dinner by our hosts Ferdi and Carlos, we hit the road just after ten pm and, once more, trouble free used the public transport late at night to go to an extremely busy bus terminal! It was like getting to Stansted at 7am in the morning and finding all the queues at a maximum… quite mental! Very glad we had printed off the tickets before hand.

Puerto Vallarta 5th – 12th July

 

The bus journey from Guadalajara to PV was surprisingly luxurious and comfortable. I had imagined bus travel in Mexico to be more on the lines of bouncing around on a wooden chair in the aisle hugging chickens, and while I am sure this method of travel is possible, the buses are so cheap anyway that we took the nice one. The scenery is stunning – you travel through a lush mountain range & then slowly meander down towards the coast. On arrival in PV, we were picked up by one of the school reps and taken to our hotel.

PV is hot – high humidity and scorching sunshine, which actually is very pleasant when you can jump in the sea/pool. The school was in a beautiful old casa, with open space, a huge terrace, white washed walls and rustic furniture. The atmosphere was relaxed, with all the staff being seriously friendly and helpful. The school is located in the old town, which comprises of cobbled streets, old buildings and lots of rustic cars around, mainly in the form of old VW Beatles. It was great to be able to walk to the school, especially along the Malecon, which is a long promenade along the sea front with lots of very interesting sculptures.

Mark and I were put in a Spanish class with Myla, who was great fun & full of beans. It was just the two of us, which gave a good opportunity for lots of conversation practice and learning. Classes normally finished at midday giving time for extra study/beach/pool/walking around the town. I joined a gym for the week and did that some evenings, which was fun. Oli arrived on the Monday, so we went out for a few beers with him to swap travel stories. On Wednesday night the school organized drinks at ‘Japanice’ – a great restaurant which served free margaritas for females – lucky me. We met some great people at the dinner – particularly Joelle, Diana and Nancy, arranging to meet them the following night.

Thursday afternoon involved a cooking lesson in the school, which was interesting – Chicaquiles were on the menu, and despite the large number of chiles put into the dish, it was surprisingly mild. In the evening, we got a taxi to Joelle’s apartment, which is gorgeous & has a large pool, of which we took advantage. Oli kindly shared his fish that he caught earlier in the day and cooked us a great cerviche/grilled fish and salad.
On Friday, we convened back at Joelle’s apartment to finish off the rest of the fish Oli caught – we had some lovely cold white wine with the fish and sitting on Joelle’s balcony watching the sun set having fun with new and old friends was very special.

On Saturday we chartered a little boat & went to Yalapa, which is a beach only accessible by boat about 45mins from PV. The ride was stunning and the beach itself also very impressive. We had a very easy day, swimming in the sea, reading, playing with the very boisterous black lab who I had great fun racing into the sea to get the thrown plastic bottle & of course, eating yummy Mexican food. On the way back, the skipper stopped at Los Arches where we jumped into the water and snorkeled with the very colourful fish. Oli had fun throwing the bread just in front of my face, so I had swarms of chomping fish around – very funny. In the evening, we went to a gorgeous restaurant on the Malecon with Diana and Joelle. We were sitting outside but covered & the tropical storm that came in before the sunset was impressive – the sky was so dark with fog, it looked like the world was going to end. The food was amazing – I had an octopus & chorizo salad and red snapper, which was cooked to perfection. Oli chose the fine wine and did a good job as usual. After the meal, we wandered up and down the Malecon, then went to a bar for what I would describe as the biggest margarita in the world. I managed to drink about 1/8 of it before throwing it away – you could actually get one to share between 5 people and you would have plenty! Delicious.

On Sunday, we got the bus back to Guadalajara and stayed for one night before getting the bus to Mexico City. We met up with our Dutch friend Gergo again, which was fun, especially as he took us to his girlfriend’s architectural project, which was very interesting. JG

Sombrero!

 

Guadalajara Cathedral

 

Guadalajara 21 june-3 july

We landed in Guadalara at a very unsociable 5:30 am having left Tijuana at just after midnight. The flight was only 2 hours but the time differences were taken into consideration too of course. The excellent instructions from IMAC meant we could stumble off the plane and into a pre paid taxi that would take us to our host family. The poor cab driver a rough idea only of where we were headed so spent a good 30 minutes cruising through side streets we found the phone number in our stuff and he made a call. It was literally a block further on. We didn't do too much that day needless to say, bar eat some outstanding Mexican food and sleep. What immediately struck me was the general great health of the Mexicans; press reporting would have it that half the Mexican population was dying quickly from swine flu. Apparently not!

The next day we had to wake up a little early to get into the school for the induction, so it was a horribly early start. We took the bus into town as we'd do every day thereafter and tried to pay attention to the bus station where we got off. Not so, the next two days we got off too early, too late and got generally lost. The reasons for this were the same bus had a,b,c,d and the routes were all slightly different – although stations are pretty much anywhere when the buses stop or you ask the driver. Avoid them as a pedestrian though as they drive like the devil is chasing them. Bus drivers seem to only drive "their" bus and customize heavily.. one had flashing white lights for stopping in addition to the buzzer, as well as a strobe light in the footwell that flashed in time to his raving fifties and sixties tunes.

Anyway, getting back to the school; on the first day we headed in for the induction and were asked to sit a test. As I was an absolute beginner I read through it and then handed it in without filling it in.. what was the point in me wasting time at this point? The students were divided up and we met our teachers and bought the text books etc. Being back at school…. Bells ringing and mainly Spanish students running around learning English.. The school is based in lovely old building with covered courtyards and smallish classrooms where we'd spend 4 hours a day from 9-1 daily. Important places were located quickly, like the coffee shop and bakery. Our class colleagues were one slightly neurotic American lady who despite living in GDL for over a year hadn't managed to learn any Spanish at all and very quickly drove me nuts with frequent outbursts about grammar and learning. One Hollando who was pretty hilarious and had come to Mexico to be with his Mexican girlfriend (picked up Spanish pretty quickly) and then Jen and I. The week after there were a few changes, the American girl thankfully decided she would be better teaching herself after all…and we were joined by a 3^rd grade teacher from New Jersey and an expat US chap. Other American students at the school were a nice bunch but definitely fit into the loud American category of tourist, los Gringo's galore.

The teaching was augmented by computer programmes and just hanging out so we slowly but surely learnt enough to supplement our onward travels I hope.

GDL itself is the second largest city in Mexico, it is the home of Tequila and world party beer provider, Corona. Apart from that, it was also filled with some of the oldest churches and cathedrals, buildings left behind by the French and the Spanish. The mixture is spectacular and certainly worth visiting. The city is 1500m above sea level, putting this into perspective; in Europe most ski resorts are based at around this height! Mexico city is 700 meters higher! The surrounding landscape is full of fairly recent volcanic activity, a geologists/volcanologists dream! We arrived at the beginning of the rainy season and it showed. Massive amounts of rain poured down as the heavens opened every day at least once, somehow we avoided getting soaked on any of the days.

Part of the learn Spanish package included a city tour and a town of Tequila tour. The tour of the town was most amusing. We'd spent the day wandering around the city and had a few bottles of beer and water with a light snack. The tour included a meal we'd been told. We found the tour bus and got our seats at the front. The hostess for the tour came around and offered tequila, we felt obliged and had one or two … or four? The tour was a great drive around the city on the top of the bus, but the stop for dinner was much appreciated. A bit touristy, and with a mariachi band to join us, we were given very large sombreros to wear during the meal with the highlight dancing around after the meal- steak and beans or something similar. Back onto the bus to drive around town again, we and the rest were happily waving our hands in the air and ducking branches! We got back into town and had a great night out visiting the various bars before heading home quite the worse for wear.

Touring Tequila was ironically much more sober. The bus left GDL and headed out of town eventually arriving at small production plant outside of the Tequila. We had a good look at how they cut the plants and processed them and to the other tourists horror were not allowed to drink anything as nationwide they had local and regional elections meaning a 48 wide booze ban! The town itself was dominated by the central Jose Cuervo plant, but it is the stuff you get across the world and is pretty grim. Other drinks we'd tried are so much smoother- but it still isn't a drink I'm particularly enamored with, roll on the nice red wine or rum!

The production of tequila was quite interesting, the core of the agave plants which grow for at least 8 years weigh about 50kgs when they harvest them. Then they are steam cooked and crushed. Each core provides enough liquid for around 10 litres of tequila! Then it's double distilled as otherwise it would kill or blind you as the methanol level is very high!

The next day we took a bus down to Puerto Vallarta!

San Diego 18th – 20th June

 

 

 

It was a long drive to San Diego from Las Vegas, all the way along route 15. Nearing our destination, we both decided it was definitely time for a loo break, so stopped off at a bar. As we were walking towards the entrance Mark and I suddenly went flying over onto the pavement – we had both totally missed a big concrete step and ended up sprawled on the pavement nursing bruised knees and stubbed toes. Mark went into the loo and then the funniest thing happened…a lady from inside the bar came out with ice and said all the people sitting around the bar had seen ‘the show’ and wanted me to come inside for some medicine to make me feel better. Hmmm…medicine was in the form Don Julio tequila served iced cold and very smooth – everyone clapped when we went in and were so sweet and funny – big thumbs up for introductions to the people of San Diego!

On the first night we just stayed in a little motel which served a purpose, although we did move nearer the car hire place to a different motel the next morning as it was in the cooler Gas lamp district. Dropping off the car near the airport was impressive as the planes flew right overhead so low and would have been exquisite for a budding plane spotter.

San Diego is a fantastic city with great beaches, an awesome marina and lots of impressive boats (it’s home to the US Navy fleet). The art work dotted around the city is interesting with there always being a sculpture that takes you by surprise. The regenerated Gas Lamp District is one of the better known areas & certainly has a nostalgic feel with lots of cafes, bars and great architecture. Most of the day was spent walking along the sea front and pottering around downtown, taking in the atmosphere and the generally relaxed pace of life.

To get to the border, we took the Trolley, a train/tram that runs through SD. Crossing the border was remarkably easy – no checks, no passport, just walking through some big iron gates and that’s it. I imagine it is not a similar story coming the other way through. They do not seem to care who enters Mexico! Once through, we hopped in a taxi to Tijuana airport & had a very chatty & friendly driver. On the way, we passed along the border wall, which had thousands of names inscribed on it, which he explained all belonged to those who had died trying to cross the border – incredible. Then a 5 hour wait at the airport, which was made more fun by meeting an American Head Chef who worked at a Club Med Resort in Mexico. Then, onto the flight to Guadalajara. JG

Viva Las Vegas – June 16th 2009

 

Viva Las Vegas – June 16th 2009
Well, it was fun waking up with the prospect of driving into the centre of Vegas on my birthday – you cannot really get more exciting than that! We had bacon muffins for breakfast, I opened a few cards which Mum had snuck out and slipped to Mark before leaving & had coffee in bed – all very relaxing. About 11am we drove into the centre of Las Vegas to the 5*Trump International Hotel, which I had booked as a little birthday present to myself. We could see it shimmering gold in the distance as we approached the strip – so ostentatious but perfect in the crazy setting that is Vegas. Mark and I were like two excitable children as we cruised down the strip, absorbing all the crazy structures & sheer cheesiness of the place – I am surprised that we did not crash the car.
The Trump is just as plush inside with the lobby harbouring outrageously large chandeliers & many shiny marble surfaces. We went up to our ‘suite’ – yes that is correct – on the 54th floor and wow, what fun walking into the room. I stayed in some pretty nice hotels when working for SCB, but the bath in this one was just fantastic – big enough for 4 people and with its own Jacuzzi – yippee! The room was huge, with the biggest bed I have ever seen – I could comfortably lie sideways as well as lengthways. There was also a 3 piece suite from which we had a fantastic view over the city. The first 5 minutes were spent racing up and down the room shouting “I do not need to use the gym because it’s big enough to run in here” and of course, the obligatory jumping up and down on the bed a few times.
Time to head out and see some sights – we were positioned right next to a luxurious shopping centre, so we walked through there and came out opposite the Venetian, which is of course famous for its recreation of Venice. It is quite hard to explain just how bizarre/hideous/wonderful the place is – they have recreated St. Mark’s Square exactly, including a blue sky inside the hotel and the canals, which have gondolas floating down them. There was opera in the piazza, Italian street entertainers on stilts and of course, all the Italian delis/shops, but all still inside the building. Many of the hotels connect to each other & nearly all of them have a large casino. In this way, it is possible to go to Venice for coffee, Paris for dinner, New York for brunch, etc – mad. Once back in the daylight, we decided to have a mojito and sat in the sun watching the world go by, which was fascinating in itself. Next, to ancient Rome through Ceasar’s Palace, and then to Paris, which naturally has the Eiffel Tower outside and is extremely Parisian on the inside with little French shops, people playing the accordion and your classic people walking around with strings of garlic/onions around their necks – realistic.
We asked one of the hotel doormen what he recommended to do in the evening and he proceeded to list off the many debaucherous things that were available in Vegas, to summarise, you can do anything you want. We decided to buy tickets to see Anthony Cools, who is the US equivalent of Paul McKenna, only a little dirtier. This was courtesy of Mum, who had given me some money to do something fun on my birthday, and the ticket also included a 3 course meal in Paris, so it was very memorable! More of that later…
Before leaving Paris we sat at the bar and shared a margarita out of a huge Eiffel Tower shaped glass and gambled on the machine which was inset in the bar – they make it very easy for you! Then off for a bit of shopping – Mark got some sunglasses & very sweetly bought me a bottle of champagne, which we took back to the hotel and drank in the bath – I felt like a movie star!
Back to Paris for dinner, then to the show – it was so funny. The audience had to volunteer to be hypnotized, and went onto the stage for 5 mins for this to happen. Then the fun began…one girl was told that she could not remember her name, so she would introduce herself in a job interview and get seriously frustrated when she could not remember what she was called. Another was told that her vagina was telling the audience all the naughty things that she had done over the last month, so she kept trying to muffle the noises by covering up, etc – it was hilarious. Another guy was told that every time certain music came on, the only way to get rid of his ‘ring of fire’ was to sit on the floor and drag his bum along…he looked like a dog with worms and had no idea what he was doing. Everyone who got hypnotized, including an older lady was convinced that a chair placed in the middle of the stage was the best looking man/woman ever and had to seduce it, going as far as they could…well that got some wolf whistles from the audience! I could go on, but I am sure you get the picture. It certainly kept Mark and I in hysterics for 90 minutes & I was very glad that Mark had stopped me from volunteering – he definitely knew something that I did not!
As we came out of Paris about 10pm, the fountain light show outside the Bellagio was just starting and was absolutely beautiful & really made everything feel very exciting. We got a taxi down to the Stratosphere, which is the tallest tower in Vegas and went up to the top for the best view of the city. There are also some petrifying rides at the top which literally hang you right over the edge of the tower…definitely not for the faint hearted!
Next, back onto the strip and randomly we bumped into some fun people from Oklahoma & Texas, who decided to join in the birthday fun, which continued in the Bellagio until about 3am. Wow – what an amazing birthday – a total whirlwind of fun, giggles, excitement and new experiences. Viva Las Vegas!

17th June

Ouch – sore head. Checked out of Trump – 4pm. Moved to Hooters, which was only 20 USD per night – bargain! Feeling a little delicate, we pottered around the hotels we had not visited – New York, The Luxor and The Excalibur, which is an outrageous “medieval” castle & looks like a funny fairytale from the outside. The Luxor is shaped like a pyramid and naturally has the Sphinx inside (it’s Vegas) and lifts which run diagonally up the building, which is quite cool. We had a fairly relaxed night, ready for our big drive the next day to San Diego.

Nevada Road trip 13-15th June

 

Kristine kindly took us hiking in Malibu, which was absolutely gorgeous. We climbed up through the Santa Monica mountains to get a superb view from the top over the ocean. Great to know that there is something like this so close to the sprawling city that is Los Angeles. In the evening, we said goodbye and a HUGE thank you to Kristine, and picked up our hire car from the airport. They had messed up our booking, so we got a much better car than expected for a great price, so we were feeling pretty smug as we drove out of LA towards Joshua Tree, which is where we stopped for the first night in a little motel.

Sunday

The next morning, we realised just how much the terrain had changed - the moutains we initially went through had turned into barren desert and rocky hills & the weather had climbed to about 95 F - it was a stunning change. We sniggered as we drove through Kickapoo, then kept going along the super long straight roads that make Arizona & Nevada famous. THese roads are so long and straight, that you cannot even see where they end. There is something quite exciting about being so far from anything or anyone. We stopped off to stretch our legs by climbing the Amboy Crater, which is a distinct lava field and cinder cone. It looks impressive standing alone in the wilderness, black and forboding. It was a hot sweaty hike, but worth it for the views from the top and down into the crater.

We continued driving up towards the Grand Canyon until we reached a tiny village, or should I say settlement of scattered trailers, a few battered houses and an ancient shop of Meadview. We managed to find a little hut to stay in for the night and went off for a walk in the gorgeous evening light - the views of Lake Mead were absolutely stunning, as was the whole area. You could see the start of the Grand Canyon rock formations, as well as the barren beauty that is consistent with a desert landscape. As most of the food in the little shop went off about 2 years ago, we opted for some ready meals!

Monday

The big Grand Canyon day! We are advised to get a bus along the dirt track to the site of the canyon, however at 15 USD a head, and having driven down worse I am sure in Australia, we took the car. The road was absolutely fine and the bus is obviously a ploy to get more dosh out of guillible tourists. On arrival at the Canyon centre, it is very organised and also extremely touristy. This does not however take away from the grandeur & colossal size of the Canyon - it certainly does not disappoint! One of the ropes was down, so Mark and I laid on our stomachs on the edge looking down the 4000ft into the ravine - it's quite an experience - until someone told us to move and we did our polite 'oh we did not realise it was off bounds.' There is extra stuff you can pay for like the skywalk, which is a bit of glass over the edge of the canyon. A very cool concept, however, it is ridiculously overpriced when you have already paid quite a lot to get in. The helicopter rides look really good fun, and I think will be on my to do list when I go back with some more cash to splurge. Overall, it is just such an amazing natural landmark that you will leave feeling exhilarated whatever you end up doing there!

In the evening, we drove towards Las Vegas (baby!). We had booked a very cheap hotel on the outskirts of Vegas which was more like an entertainment complex, called Sam's Town. The place was seriously tacky but quite fun, and full of interesting characters, especially in the Casino. A generalistic description would be someone in their 50s, sitting at a slot machine, fag hanging out of mouth, wearing their pyjamas (trackies and baggy t-shirts) & obese. But, they were all obviously having a seriously good time, which is the main thing. Mark and I treated ourselves to an 'eat all you can buffet' and I can see how these peeps got their muffin tops - quite an unreal quantity of food, and not just seconds, but tenths, elevenths, etc, etc. Amazing.

The Flintstones

 

Dadadadadadadada

 

Universal Studios 12th June

Feeling a little delicate after a night of turtle racing, we made our way from Venice to Hollywood to visit the world famous Universal Studios. Having never been that interesed in visiting Disney Land, and the like, I went into the day with mediocre expectations. How wrong I was proved - the place is absolutely mindblowing and so cleverly put together. Even as we walked in, I was suddenly suprised by the copper scupltures in the fountain moving and giving me a thumbs up. The place is laid out in a series of film sets and different memorabilia from different movies, for example, you can walk through London's Notting Hill and visit Hugh Grant's book shop or else walk through a quaint street in France, etc, etc. The rides are amazing. First we went into the House of Horrors, which you walk through and has scenes/characters from nearly every horror movie ever made. It is seriously clever, and Mark did not stop laughing at how much I jumped at the people coming rushing out from behind tombstones, etc. You even walked through a butchery at one point with lots of dead bodies hanging everywhere - very impressive.

Next, the new Simpson's ride, which is set in 'Krustyland' - you walk into the fun fair, and let's say that it's very interactive, with actors, etc. Then you board a SImpson's car, and get lifted up into a 3d world which is unbelievable - go now!

With a taste for the imaginative, we went on the Jurassic Park ride. Again, it's hard to describe just how brilliant and well thought out these things are, but I suppose if I did that properly, it would ruin the fun! Each ride actually makes you feel like you are there in the film and part of the action. The highlight of this ride is the unexpected super steep drop in the dark down a water chute at the end...there was a photo taken at the top and the only thing I can compare my expression to is the horror character from the film SCREAM, yup - it's a scary photo.

The Mummy ride is full of thrills - from building up the atmosphere slowly going through scary looking tombs, the lights suddenly go out, and the ride turns into a superfast twisting rollercoaster in the pitch black. WHen it abruptly comes to a halt, and you think the ride is over, it suddenly takes you backwards just as fast! Brilliant!

I won't write about everything, but other highlights were the waterworld show, where actors do a scene from the film with a great use of pyrotechnics, the terminator salvation show, Shrek 3d experience and Backdraft.

The area outside of the Studios is also fun, with a big cinema (where we watched Terminator) and loads of shops/restaurants, etc. If you like films and action, you will love Universal Studios - if I lived in LA I would own an annual pass! JG

Los Angeles collage

 

Route 1 road trip collage

 

Sacramento To LA (via Yosemite)

Heading the wrong way up to Sacramento wasn’t entirely wrong. Arriving there wasn’t quite part of the plan, the route to drive from Napa Valley to Yosemite didn’t really need to include it- with no map to read just the occasional internet lookup, the rerouting wasn’t entirely surprising. However, we did and it wasn’t too far out the way. The car we hired in San Francisco from Budget had issues with the brake pads it seemed, and as the car drove onwards and they got hotter we screeched a lot, and then had a little shudder run through the car as we stopped. Therefore, with screeching brakes we came off the motorway a couple of times to look for motels that were not too far away from our route south. Finally, we found a very nondescript motel in the ‘burbs of Sacramento which smelt of curry in the entrance hall. The ownership of motels in the West of the US- the smaller ones in particular really all seem to be in Indian hands. The beds comfy and the rooms slightly smelly of stale cigarette smoke, the decision to stay was cost and time. We’d arrived fairly late and had a fairly early start ahead of us. We also bought a map.

Sacramento really is a town of distinct haves (downtown and the area and have nots – cheap motels off freeway…) so in the area of the have not’s we decided to have breakfast. I made a decision to get breakfast – lovely McDonalds all have one level of service and same food- tea and coffee etc. Not this one. The experience was perhaps the worst possible service in a McDonalds I have ever had. Los Idiotos centrallos. I only wanted tea with Milk and not coffee creamer…but instead there was a really pathetic attitude of on no, surely not, milk etc.. etc.. I had words and frankly we haven’t been back to a McDonalds since! So if any McDonalds executive might happen upon this page, read it and weep, your restaurant in Sacramento Stockton Blvd sucks, with the very worst of the service I have experience so far around the world, you might even want to consider retracting their franchise. Long live Starbucks and the attitude of if isn’t right, we’ll make it right!

So anyway, on the road again towards Yosemite, the car climbing slowly up the hills from the fairly mundane flats. Driving through the flats through are hundreds of door sales for the various fruit farms there what treats at such low prices! $3 for 1kg of cherries, makes me happy that.

Eventually we headed off the larger roads and into the almost wilderness and the clouds began to make an appearance. The road windy and steep made our car work hard for its gas but the scenery was breathtaking. We had to reroute ourselves as the signposting was taking us to an eastern entrance to the park and that wasn’t quite what we wanted so saw more backcountry that we’d though- which really wasn’t a problem! We arrived into the Yosemite Valley eventually and it was pissing with rain. Plans for a long walk dissolved quickly with the rain. The valley is amazing though and really worthwhile visiting- negative aspects are the crowds of people- perhaps only that weekend? The soaring cliff faces make for fantastic waterfalls and made me wonder if I was set to perhaps see as many waterfalls as I could possible do this year.

Yosemite … very expensive place to go.. book early and go camping it seems to be the best way of doing things. The roads were pretty full up as were the hotels and valley centres, perhaps a nice trail walk would get you away from the crowds. Worth the drive through – it is amazing; with the rain pissing it’s being revisited.

Onwards, and downhill.. cruising through the landscape again, from the steep mountain passes and river valley systems back into the rolling hills and sunshine! With the drive down the coast the next day we opted for a longer evening drive once more and found a motel in Merced. Great value at $45 per room per night after a little negotiation with.. an Indian! Bar the motel, there were a few other motels, a train line, a freeway and well.. not much more. We headed south west from there the next morning and found the best example of a traditional diner in our entire US trip – Hollisters finest Diner called “Jerry’s” . Great service with a smile, meat mixed with pancakes and syrup and oodles of free coffee for Jen and her mom. They even did free refills for tea!

Feeling pretty full and ready for a snooze, but with no time to lose, we headed west again – headed for route 1 and the coast. The scenery again changing from flat lands to the dry mountain landscapes following the ocean, created by the fault line activities over the past millennia. The road changed too, from large scale freeway to normal size double roads hugging the coast line with a constant mountain view until we reached Carmel by sea. This is a quaint little seaside town with glorious white sand beaches built on one steep hill ending in the crystal clear pacific ocean. No one was swimming despite it being well over 30 Celsius as the water was bloody freezing!!! What a great place for a nice break in the driving.

From there we continued with route 1 and drove until we reached Big Sur, which in winter has great surfing waves apparently, not that we saw any though. The area is home to sea otters – and as much of the coast line is protected it is apparently possible to see them. Not sure if we did see one from the car. The Big Sur featured some smaller hotels and a very cool restaurant bar which featured a live band and in river seating for those looking to chill out. A short break later and onwards we drove. The coast road dipping and diving, climbing and curving around the coast line, the inlets and bays. To our amusement and possibly of many other foreign drivers, there are, as in Australia, a host of “historic” bridges.. perhaps 60 years or so old, frankly I don’t know why they bother!

As we continued into some flatter lands near San Simeon, we saw quite a number of cars parked and decided to pull over and have a look why. The air was filled with a stench not quite unlike poo, fairly unpleasant really, but with the seabreeze it was ok. Wandering over to a sign we were pretty pleased to see that there was a colony of male (and presumably female) Elephant seals who are seasonal visitors to the area. The bigger ones were giving a great show, competing for space and dignity in very awkward looking sumo wrestling style combat movements. The sea and the beaches were full of heaving seals which were amazing break from the road. The road once more beckoned and we headed south to San Simeon where it was definitely time to find some accommodation. What we didn’t see properly was the William Hearst Castle and it was shame. The place had closed sadly, but provides an amazing view into the opporunties that the very wealthy have, but also how easy it is for them to lose it. The exhibition at the base of the grounds displayed a lot, and while some of the building was very gaudy, it was still pretty nice- and would have been amazing to be living in. The charges for the tours aren’t exactly cheap. I reckon they should turn it into a 18 Star hotel instead, at least that way the poor can walk around it for nothing if they decide to visit the bar and have a drink J.

Having found a nice motel we popped open a bottle of very nice red wine - a Cabernet Frank from the McKenzie-Mueller winery that had been purchased and had a glass or two each on the coast line watching the sea and the sunset. Spotting a cloud of spray in the air, I was pretty excited by the possibility that there were whales to be seen from the shore. The sprays were soon joined by flukes and breaches as a school of whales we presumed must have been feeding. Sadly the light was to dim to take any photos but the sight was definitely one for the memory bank. Jen’s mom then kindly took us out for dinner and we had some great conversations into the evening. At around 1 am, we were joined by some Raccoons which provided hilarity as Mary took to chasing one to have a closer look, they then scampered up the tree and hid. Occasionally they’d have a little peak out to see if we were still there.

Getting closer and closer to LA….

But first we found Santa Barbara, and it was a much needed break for all. The car journey had been fairly long and we’d definitely felt the wine we’d been drinking the night before, thankfully automatic cars do make things a little easier so a quick walk around and a break was appreciated! The town is incredibly neat and tidy, each area is maintained with love and attention to detail it seemed. The shopping street had the required number of Starbucks, I think there were around 100. We spent far too little time there sadly, it warrants a return and some time surfing nearby! The car return time was creeping up on us and then we hit LA we think. The outskirts through the hills might have been LA.. not sure. Through the hills we toured until we randomly came across the turn off for Santa Monica and somehow managed to squeeze into the road. No signs as to which way to go, so we took a chance, turned right and eventually arrived at the beach! The motel we were looking for was closer to Venice Beach than Santa Monica but the distance between the places is minimal. The next trick was to get the car back to Hollywood drop off. Have a look at a map if you’re bored and count the number of traffic lights between Santa Monica and Hollywood, driving there was deadly and we arrived well over an hour late. Turning off from a busy road before a junction was no easy feat but we bullied our way across and slid into the car rental. Made that sound easy didn’t I. First we actually found a different one in Beverly Hills- that seemed to be an option, but we were told would cost us another $200 for returning there. That one was pretty nice, the place looked like a millionaires garage complex…every flash car under the sun. I think our PT cruiser just didn’t quite fit in.

LA has public transport that works. Thankfully. We found the right bus – all the way down Santa Monica Blvr right to the beach again- the end of the car adventure was.

We were very kindly picked up from the Motel by to be Mrs Khristine Roberts and taken back to her flat after a quick and excellent Italian meal opposite the motel which was kindly sponsored by Mary Gray J. Once we arrived at the flat we immediately crashed and woke up 12 hours later or so, pottered back to the Motel- again an excellent bus service- and from there we headed into town. Not exactly sure what we did on the first day, it seems like we might have spent a lot of time on the buses again. The second day we emulated the first to a certain extent. Only the afternoon was much more amusing.

The tour bus around LA was perhaps one of the funniest bus rides I’ve ever been on. Celebrity this and that, eats here, farts there was constant and how much this cost and that didn’t was almost as common. The bus ride did deliver though, we saw Larry Flynnt getting out of his car into his wheel chair; only recognizing him by his RR’s number plate: Hustler. The highlight of the tour was tea and coffee at the famous Chateau Marmont which was very nice and welcoming and calm. The city is mental to say the least, mental but fun.

Tour highlights included the farmers market which is a huge shopping mall and carpark, the hustler media centre, the Hollywood blvrd and more very random stuff inclusive of the chicken restaurant Brad Pitt worked at while like so many of the aspiring actors/waiters. We got off shortly before the end and wondered down Santa Monica blvrd again- it’s a bloody long road if you don’t know! Found a Mexican bakery and tried some utter repulsive deep fried somethings which I am sure doesn’t exist in Mexico!

So.. notes on the tour. Drinking on the street and I assume on the bus is possibly illegal. Go to a pub first, it will only make it bearable, or… don’t go at all.

LA back and forth in the cars and buses, we took Khristine out to an Ethiopian restaurant that evening which was in part a thank you and a new exotic food for Jen’s mom also as a thank you as she’d paid for so many of our breakfasts and dinners. The usual great food, full of spices and jeerba all located in Little Ethiopia in LA, I think the London restaurants know how to serve the food with more panache, but the food was just as good!

Having spent so much time exercising only our bottoms and sitting abilities we hired bikes for a ride down the huge beach. Cycling past marina’s and loads of people taking it easy was great. Definitely not the place for skint people who’d like a boat, so cycling past as quickly as possible was a must. There is a pretty amazing chain in the US called Ralph’s and they do great hot lunches, a bit like in the UKs Sainsbury and Co, but city centre and hot… and more choice with free top ups of the drinks and so on.. (why do we only get ripped off in the UK and not get great food at supermarkets like this?- I could rant for hours.) We popped in and bought some lunch, and headed to the beach to find a place to eat it. Just north of LAX we found a nice spot shaded by the palms with a little grass. There are three runways at LAX and it looks pretty amazing to see three planes take off at the same time… We got back to Santa Monica later that day and headed for a last evening with Jen’s mom, Mary. It was pleasant, relaxed and easy, I didn’t get the impression that Mary was all too keen on leaving the holiday mode behind though. The next day we took to pottering as one does. Up the beach to the pier where we went on a fun mini rollercoaster and ship thing before heading to the end of the pier to listen to a crooning electric piano playing dude who sang lots of sad/quasi romantic songs. They must be easier to write than the more fun stuff as so many people seem to write and sing it…. Yawn.

Further pottering around the Santa Monica and then our good byes to Mary! To mark the occasion we headed to a bar called Brenans to watch a final NBA playoff game between LA and Orlando (Jen wasn’t aware of this when we left the house though) and then the infamous TURTLE RACING. This is possibly one of the funniest things I have seen and if you want to get an idea of what goes on, look it up on YouTube. Jen and I paid for a racing turtle, aptly painted british racing green (or is that how they come?) When our round came, Jen in a fairly drunken state took the turtle and placed it into the pen. Sadly our Turtle who we’d named William the Conqueror didn’t win. But we had managed to get a lot of fans all shouting Go William! Jen’s bending over straight legged (a requisite method for putting down a turtle) brought on a lot of whistles too.. hehe. The evening was pretty funny, but Kristhine regretted it the next day as some of us other may have too. Except we went to Universal Studios!

MT

Napa Valley highlights

Napa: The first of many to come.

Napa Valley 6th June

What a day! Napa valley is huge.We only visited a couple places, fewer than in Oz and NZ, but that was simply as it was gargantum and this makes it nigh impossible to get around too quickly. We headed into Napa looking for the closest free wineries on the list. They have a nasty habit of charging for tasting which, if you make good wine, really shouldn't be the case I think. On the main road into the Napa Valley we turned off at a large sign indicating we might be able find a map of the valley and perhaps some indicators as to where we should visit. Have a look here: http://www.napavalley.com/visitorsinfo/Napa_Valley_Winery_Map.pdf

We got more than we wanted – some vouchers and the map. So we marked out a few places we thought might be visitable and headed off. The importance of Napa Valley is of course that this is the home of the cold press production methods. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winemaking if you'd like to know more. The first place we visited was small and reminiscent of the small places in Australia, friendly dedicated teams who really enjoyed their jobs. The winery Bouchaine was lovely. The wines fresh and clear, as I was driving I tasted only two while Jen and Mary had a a little taste of them all. They recommended that we try their neighbors, McKenzie& Muller. I highly recommend them. They are an appointment only place which we were lucky to get a slot for. They still utilize the traditional French method of wine production which allows the wine to continue fermenting in the bottle… making the wines more flavourful and stronger. Good idea to decant this wine too as it frequently pours bits into the glass. The tasting was great and we ended up buying some of their white wine Chardonnay produced in the NZ method- half in oak, the other half in stainless steel vats which makes for a nice clear taste apparently. The red wines were more to my taste rich and full bodied. The winery doesn't ship to anywhere in the world sadly, duty tariffs and their production were just too small… But.. it was certainly worthewhile going there. Jen and Mary were definitely feeling the wine when we left and I headed north to the next place. The road north through Napa is a little souless and touristy in the worst sense. The large wineries with large budgets too often have bus loads and huge car parks and concentrate not on their wines but on the paraphernalia. Employing people who have obviously got sales targets… the really big international ones on the other hand just have people who don't really care it seems- which is fine as there is no pushing. We had to go to Sutter home which is about three quid a bottle in the UK- and taste their US specials, which tasted pretty much identical to the other stuff I've had from their house in the UK. Jen and Mary however, found glasses (yes, reading glasses in a winery shop – perhaps to find the wine glass) and fooled around which provided entertainment for at least half the bar and me. Other wineries which we stopped into provided some decent food tasting options which had to taken advantage of and made us forget that lunch might have been a good idea.

The wineries that really made also made dents into the taste buds were Charles Krug (not related to the Champagne people), St Clement; and for quality of wine and just sheer ridiculousness Il Molino which is an Italian Castle rebuilt in the US and frankly pretty amazing, but mad. Jen and Mary were pretty well oiled by the end of the day as they'd tasted a LOT of wine as one does… so a meal in an Italian was absolutely necessary. Another hallmark of the good wineries was the fact that they loved to talk about their wines and entertain us as we entertained them. It is something that was absolutely noticeable throughout the entire trip and all the wine tasting in New Zealand, the US and Oz.

 

San Francisco!

The low cloud cover made for amazing photos, but also made our first day a little cold... not very Californian

San Francisco by night - view from the Intercontinental cocktail bar

San Francisco 30th May till 5th June 2009

Sooo….. Hawaii was pretty sweet as it goes. The beaches, the bikini's, the surfing, the .. yadda yadda yadda.. are you bored yet how awesome it was? So sadly, it had to end for this trip and we had to head back to the airport. We decided on taking public transport, something we haven't really done since umm. Malaysia. Bugger me, what a kick in the teeth. The buses took an astonishing 2 hours for less than 30 miles, but we did only have to pay $1.25 each. I think we saw every single military base on the island. Having initially got up at 630 am, we had wanted to make a quick trip to see the USS Missouri, part of the floating museum in Pearl Harbour, but the getting up early only made sure we got to the airport in time for an early check in. The 52 bus is great otherwise though, and the services around Oahu are superb if you have a lot of time. The buses even have bike racks on the front for two bikes! Great!

Our accustomed easy living at the airport was sadly also a little broken, but a sign of things to come it seemed. The entire airport is undergoing extensive modernization, and like Heathrow terminals one through four, it is much needed. The lounges were rubbish not even the free wireless internet we were used to. Paying for it really does count as lounge services- Oneworld you are let down by the Qantas lounge in Hawaii for the moment. So onto our flight, a code share of Qantas; run by American airlines. I thought the stingy screens and in-flight entertainment systems were crap on Qantas and Air New Zealand. It turns out the AA doesn't even provide food for a five hour flight! I'm sure we didn't book a Ryanair flight… So.. don't fly with AA, they suck.

Arrival in San Francisco was great though, finally off the plane, we found our bags quickly and then awaited pick up, not for too long and we found ourselves chatting to Geraldine and Joe and being driven to the Californian In and Out, feeding on some great burgers and shakes, devoured by us as we hadn't eaten anything since our north shore breakfast. This arrival couldn't have been better, meeting with Geraldine and chilling out at her place avec some very long haired and friendly cats with some outstanding wine was a perfect introduction to Palo Alto. The next day we had some lunch after a lazy morning walking around, then headed off on bikes around the Campus of Stanford University. I don't think I would ever leave it if I went to university there. The grounds were enormous, the facilities amazing and like a lot more in Palo Alto, it was so pleasant to be in, it could almost be a fairy tale. The town itself is home to Facebook, Google and a couple other well know landmarks of the internet, we didn't see any of them in Starbucks though. Staying with the Shen family was superb and really made our trip beginning very special, catching up with Geraldine's parents who I'd last seen around 15 years ago as well as meeting her grandparents also made the trip a very pleasurable experience and well, thank you very much to all Shen's, and Joe. You were terrific. The next day we hoped onto a Caltrack into San Francisco where we met with Jen's mom who was out for her annual holiday!

Central San Francisco is a lot of fun, and really helped tone up our neglected legs. The steep short walks and long walks around the waterfront made for outstanding interval training, making then nice and painful for the next day or two. The sites were great to see, Union Square, 5^th Street, the Pier all gave us a great impression of the city and as a whole being on a budget here means a revisit is absolutely necessary. We met Mary in a Starbucks just off Union Square and she had already done a good deal of walking so we decided it was high time to have a snack- some breakfast/brunch was necessary. Staying in Starbucks wasn't an option and we spotted a Cheesecake Factory ontop of Macy's on union square. Jen had been raving about the massive portion sizes they served so we headed up to check it out. People were just starting to be sat at tables, and whilst it was empty, it seemed to be essential to wait for at least 15 minutes before being sat. This gave us time to have a look at the very substantial range of cakes on offer- not just cheesecakes but also enormous chocolate cakes which were at least 1 meter high and covered in rich chocolate fudge icing. I had a piece of course. I didn't finish it though and had the doggy bag packed with half a ton of cake to drag back to my hotel room fridge. The hotel jen and I stayed in was perhaps an Indian version of Fawlty towers; based in San Fran, but the smell of curry pervasive into every nook and cranny was slightly different from what I would bet Fawlty towers would have smelt like- assuming mildew and mould. The door was kept locked at all time and we had to wake the family up by ringing on the door bell at all time, confusing me a little – surely a coded door entry would have been a good idea- or at least better than waking up all during the night? The room itself and the hotel were in a great location and very reasonably priced. Don't go if you hate the very delicious smell of curry though.

We were back to union square several times over the next few days, not least as it was definitely time for Jen to treat herself to a new haircut! This turned out very nicely indeed!

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/idiotproof.com/SanFrancisco#5345220397752501362

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/idiotproof.com/SanFrancisco#5345218722263639378

San Francisco's first impressions on me brought back memories of university papers which described and attempted to analyze the homeless within the city, engendering their plight or what ever else people can dream up that will ensure they are paid for research. Not some of the most interesting stuff I read I'd have to say. However, the hundreds of homeless, alcoholic and drug addicted bums lying around the various shelters, green areas and beaches are seemingly just a part of the furniture in the city giving it a very distinct odour in many instances… it's pathetic that this extraordinarily rich nation cannot afford to properly look after its outcasts and provide them adequate shelters and support- perhaps it's on Obama's list of to do's?

We ate and drank well, then rented bikes to explore the city and bay area. DO THIS If nothing else, it was the best use of $30 for a while. The bike trip took us around the bay and across the bridge, the along the shores. We cycled a little further than planned - the cycle routes and sunshine making it a very enjoyable trip indeed. Just across the bay we arrived in Sausalito which has a number of very "nice" little bars, restaurants and café's making it imperative to stop for lunch and then an ice cream. From there we cycled west a little and around the various inlets to end up in Taburon for just after five pm. The ferry took ten minutes to get us back to pier 7 and provided terrific views of the city and the bay bridge on the way over. The next day was actually similar – headed out to Castro and the rainbows which was enroute to the big park in San Francisco that I can't remember the name of… We walked a pretty long way in getting there… thankfully there was another bike shop which rented bikes. The park was a great ride and we eventually found the beach after having a look at the very lazy buffalo's the various bizarre windmills (out of place or what?) and the very nice park. On the beach we took a little break and enjoyed watching the people, ships and birds on the beach before heading back up the hill towards the bike shop and our bus home.

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/idiotproof.com/SanFrancisco#5345220117989392946

We topped off our visit to San Francisco with a visit to the lounge bar at the top of the Metropolitan Intercontinental hotel where we sampled a few of the signature cocktails. To our surprise while staring over the city and bay, we were joined by a live Jive/Swing band and what looked to be regulars who came to dance and gave us a show! Having spent the evening watching a spectacular sunset from the top of the building we headed back to our hotels. The next day we had scheduled to pick up the car and drive up to Napa Valley and do some more wine tasting.

MT