mybigadventures.com

I still had to go to school today - until 2:30 PM, at least. So, I left Ben at home with a tiny little list of jobs to complete…

Arriving home, I discovered Ben lolopping on the sofa with the laptop - ‘surfing the net’. Prompted into action, he leapt (slowly) up and we got on. We did some last minute printing, some last minute shoving-things-into-bags, and created some contact details for our neighbours. After a brief chat with Pete and ‘her in doors’ (next door), we made ready for the taxi. Having arranged a pick-up for 5:30 PM, we assembled ourselves and all of our baggage on the drive, ready for the off. Because we are slightly OCD, we took pictures of ourselves setting the alarm and locking up, for peace of mind and, obviously, for posterity.

Bundled into the taxi, we made it to the train station a full hour before our train, so we had a bit of time to people-watch. Dani bought some chocolatines from Sainsbury’s local for tomorrow’s breakfast, along with some Maltesers, so we sat and scoffed while we waited. The train was marginally late and it took us a little while to get settled (what with all our baggage), but otherwise the journey was fine.

Upon arriving at the airport, we skipped the queue for the shuttle (to transfer) and got a taxi for the same price of £7 to the airport TraveLodge. After check-in, we did have a few issues with the key card for our room, so we ended up moving rooms. The hotel is undergoing a refurb, so the decor was a little bit rubbish. Nevertheless, the room was fine and we settled in our room to eat some  sandwiches and crisps. After watching a bit of TV, we headed down to the bar for a pint. Headed back up to the room and settled into bed - the room had been pretty warm, but had cooled a bit by now. We had pre-booked the shuttle bus booked for 9:00 AM tomorrow (for the big adventure to begin, so probably time to get to bed. Cheerio, ta ta!

Wow this is it, my very first blog. Welcome to my website, as you can see its still a work in progress but I'm trying hard. Hoping to start and get some photo's up this weekend so at least theres something to look at rather than lots of broken links! Thats about all for now but will hopefully have a bit more to say next time round! Better go play geek for a bit longer so I can get this  website on the road. Enjoy!

Woke up early again. Ben put some photos on Facebook while I snoozed for a bit. Then we got up, to face the world. Went across the street from breakfast, to a patisserie/cafe type place for breakfast - called Dolce Amore. We had their signature bagel: scrambled eggs, bacon, cheese, tomato and avocado, with a mango and strawberry garnish. It was very tasty - about $8 each - with a glass of fresh orange juice.

From here, we went to catch the tram on California Street (the day pass was $14 each). We got off at Powell to catch a connecting tram. Wandered around a little, to find the right tram stop and then waited. But, when they arrived, the trams were so full we couldn’t get on. Waited a bit, watching as a few packed trams went past, then decided to walk along the route, intent on catching one as we walked. We passed along ‘Taylor Street’ and looked in a bike rental place. Ended up walking all the way to Fisherman’s Wharf, as trams seemed few and far between.

When we arrived at the Wharf, we walked along to Ghirardelli Square, which we had missed on our tour of San Fran, yesterday. Went to the Ghirardelli chocolate shop for an ice cream - Ben had mint-choc chip, and II had chocolate and butter pecan, both with a chocolate dipped waffle cone. It was a little confusing ordering them - we had completely missed the menus as we came in, so we had no idea what they sold!

We sat on some steps, people-watching and scoffing. It was cooler today, although the sun tried to make an appearance. Walked along the path to a pier, and walked out along it. Stopped to take pictures of a catamaran (part of the America Cup) which was sailing around the Bay. It leaned over dramatically, virtually lifting out of the water! Which, for such a huge boat, was quite a feat. While we watched, a flock of what appeared to be pelicans flew past. We also saw a seal, wiggling around in the water. Stood and watched for a while and then headed back along the walls. Pretty good for sightseeing!

We were ultimately headed to Alcatraz, but we stopped off for a drink on the way at ‘Jacks Cannery Bar’ . We both had a beer and sat people-watching for a while. From here, we got a tram, having walked a good distance along the wharf, and headed towards the Ferry Building stop. While travelling, we thought we would stop off at the cable car museum, as the trams around here are amazing, so stopped to have a look.. A little disappointed to find it was only a room with memorabilia in - part museum, part shop. We bought a nice poster of a cable car at night, then headed out. We thought we’d look inside the Ferry Building, and it turned out to be a host of little boutique shops, mainly selling food. Had a little look around and then headed to Alcatraz.

It had dropped colder, so we stopped in the Alcatraz cafe for a cup of tea. We waited till about six - our boarding time - and were surprised to see a lot of people already queueing. Seemed odd, but showed our tickets and joined the line. Had an obligatory photo taken, in front of an image of Alcatraz, which you could buy later for ‘only’ $22. Got aboard the boat and set sail. The fog had crept in, so the coastline looked quite eerie.

The Rock’ itself is huge and home to lots of different birds, some of them rare. We had a bit of a tour up to the prison, with a guide, then it was an audio guide inside. Had a good look around all the cells in the different sections, taking a few pictures of Brugges (on tour) - he did a lot of posing just inside the cell bars. It is all starting to decay, but gives a good indication of how grim it was. I was too cold to stay outside long, but Ben took lots of pictures of the Bay in the twilight. It looked really good, with the fog looming over. We had to rush a bit to get the return ferry, but made it and headed back to shore.

We tried to get a tram, but they just drove past as they were packed, so we ended up walking all the way down Battery Street, until we reached California Street. Got the tram from there - the day ticket is worth it, just for the uphill stretch! Got back to the hotel and phoned a pizza delivery place - Ben had quite a chat with them, working out their menu! We ended up with a massive pizza - we had ordered ‘medium’! We tried (and failed) to eat it all. They even sent paper plates for us. As we had only arrived at the hotel at about 10 PM, we fell asleep soon after the pizza!