G'day

Hello there,

Sorry that I've been a bit slow at updating but we've been pretty busy this week.


USA

We had a couple of days in San Francisco after getting back from Las Vegas, which we used to see a few more bits and pieces, and take Kier and Kubi out for a thankyou dinner. We had passed a great looking restaurant down in the buildings where the Sausalito ferry docks, which we booked before going to Las Vegas. We were all, I think, excited about our posh night out.

We went to the Slanted Door, where we were treated to excellent service, great food and the finest wines known to humanity. Heartily recommended if your budget allows.

The day after I enjoyed climbing up to the top of the Twin Peaks and looking out over the Bay, the Pacific, and a fair bit of California. I was wandering down into town, when I looked up to see a couple of funny looking birds circling overhead - Eagles! I think anyway, being no twitcher, but I will have pictures soon.

So I think it only remains to thank our ever-congenial hosts for a wonderful time, and to hope we can return the favour at some time - Cheers!


Sydney

So we made it. Our flight was much better from the States so I cannot honestly continue my ranting at the staff of United; although we did get charged for our bags again.

I'd love to tell you what great sights we've seen and how we're bronzed and toned from our non-stop beach lifestyle, but sadly I cannot.

I've spent much of the last week filling in forms as we sort out medical registration, job stuff, bank accounts, phone contracts and try and find a place to live and a car to drive. And we seem to have walked into the most unseasonable weather in Sydney this year - we had a months worth of rain in the last week!

Despite our travails, we have managed to see a fair bit of the city, which is beautiful and at least warm, if a little damp.

We are staying in Coogee, at a lovely little place called the Dive Hotel. The staff have been lovely to us and we will feel sad to leave when we do finally get some accomodation sorted. It has been great to get up in the morning and, if the weather is not too bad, go off and have a swim and snorkel before breakfast.

Finding a flat has been a bit of a pain; we think we're nearly there, but we're not going to count our chickens yet. We certainly should be able to afford something big enough to have a spare room, so start saving your pennies and come and visit.

The weather has been better yesterday and today, and we finally got some beach time in this afternoon. Great to be in the sun (only a little burnt) and to see the fantastic fish life in Clovelly Bay - near where we hope to live in the not too distant future.

So, thanks for listening, and see you soon!
Sean

(Vauxhall) Viva Las Vegas

And so it came to pass, that Jo & Seán headed off to spend 40 (ok, 3) days and 40 (ok, like, whatever) nights in the desert.

But there's no fasting in Las Vegas, just endless buffet meals and stretchy lycra pants; yeah, baby, yeah!

So there we were, the gambling capital of the world. On a budget, and suffering from a cold. We know how to party.

Luckily for us, our flexibility about days off meant a cheap deal from lastminute.com and a frankly ridiculous room at Caesar's Palace. Not that we complained about our King-size bed, 96" TV (approx.), spa swimming pool/bath etc. etc.

Never been to Vegas? It's difficult to explain what it's all about. It doesn't get much easier to comprehend when you're actually there. But I feel sure it's an experience everyone should try at least once in their life. This was my second.

The last time I was here, I was a young strip of a thing, backpacking around the USA, and guarding every penny as closely as I could. I remember coming in to Vegas on the train, late at night, with the neon sliding suddenly into picture as we turned the last corner around the desert rocks. I walked off the train into 40 degree heat despite it being 10 at night - almost knocked flat as I stepped from the air-conditioned carriage and into downtown Las Vegas. Heady days indeed.

This time didn't match the visceral impact; we left the airport in pleasant temperatures and daylight hours. But, Vegas has changed and still seeks to amaze and confound. It succeeds.

The strip has changed radically and is unrecognisable from 15-or-so years ago. The newest casinos then - Mirage and Excalibur, are dwarfed by the newer generation of Caesar's, Bellagio, Venetian and TI, which are unbelievable in their scale. They may not have much heart, but they are truly breathtaking.

Vegas as a purely gambling resort is long gone, but it still keeps the punters happy while offering a huge number of diversions, from shopping to parachuting, through golf, Hoover Dam tours and having your picture taken with Elvis.

We attempted to see as much as Vegas had to offer in our short time, and enjoyed ridiculous food portions, and as many free shows as we could. Our favourite probably was the water show at Bellagio - hundreds of dancing water jets and pyrotechnics to the sounds of Frank Sinatra.

Our big spend was the Jubilee! show at Bally's. Girls, girls, girls and covered patchily in rhinestones. And feathers. Apparently the costumes were amazing, but I was distracted.

I think I gambled. I am poorer, but only financially.

The old downtown is now the Fremont St. Experience. The heart and soul of the original Vegas is now a covered pedestrian walkway. It still had more soul, but its corporeal body was eviscerated.

So, I've seen Vegas again, and it was different. I was sad about some of the changes, but still found the experience fantastic. If you've always wanted to go, then go. If you're not sure, then go. If you're not interested, then why are you still reading? You know you want to. Go.

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San Francisco II

Hello again,

We're nearing the end of our time in the USA now, so we thought we'd describe some of what we have got up to here, before we submit to the hell of long-haul air travel on a shitty airline.


Downtown

For our first day in SF, we were taken downtown by our hosts Kieron and Kubi. However, shopping requires fuel so we hopped on the bus and had brunch at Bambino's on Cole and Carl (don't I sound authentic?). Seafood is the thing here in SF, so I had a bowl of lovely clams and mussels. Yum. Shame my glass of wine never arrived.

Next we hopped on the MUNI - a kind of combination bus/tram/tube type thing that sped us into the centre of SF and the shops. We strolled around Macy's, Saks 5th Ave and other American shopping institutions. We were a bit disappointed as we expected everything to be really cheap compared to home, but this didn't seem to be the case. Bah.

Rounded off the day with a ride on the F car (a streetcar, not named desire) to Castro. Had a Fat Tire in Harvey's, a bar named after famed gay rights campaigner Harvey Milk .

Rained. Quite a lot.


Golden Gate Park and Haight/Ashbury

Second day of our stay in SF and we were let run free by our minders. We managed a whole bus ride all by ourselves. Got off at Haight/Ashbury but it was too rainy and cold for there to be many old hippies cluttering up the pavement. Small mercies indeed.

I got a bit excited to see Escape from New York Pizza, for me a mythical place which I remember visiting as a 19 year old and having the yet-to-be-seen-anywhere-else Pesto Pizza. Well, they're still there and they still have Pesto Pizza. I advise you to try it if you're there.

Onward we strode and into Golden Gate Park. We visited the touching National AIDS Memorial Grove, which had an understated and peaceful air.

Next up was the de Young Museum, which we accidentally broke into avoiding the entry fee and bag searches. We didn't mean to, they just left the cafe entrance open. There was a great collection of modern and older American Art. Jo liked Georgia O'Keeffe and Dale Chihuly. I liked a painting of a cellist but I can't remember the name of the artist.

We rounded off our visit to the park by looking around the Japanese Tea Garden, where we had a cup of green tea and a fortune cookie.

Jo's Cookie: You are kind-hearted and hospitable, cheerful and well-liked

Seán's Cookie: You are very expressive and positive in words, act and feeling

So, there we are.

Wandered back to Haight where we discovered the delights of the Magnolia Brew-pub. Smashing.

Rained. Quite a lot.



The Presidio/Golden Gate Bridge

More intrepid bus journeys and we found ourselves at the Presidio, an ex-military base turned National Park. A great way to walk down to the bay from the City, with views over the Bay and the Islands, including Alcatraz.

The bottom of the hill found us at the somewhat bizarre and totally fake pseudo-Roman Palace of Fine Art. Then a stroll along the promenade through Crissy Field and we stood at the base of Golden Gate Bridge. It's quite big, you know. Took a load of pictures and will put some up once we have them developed.

Didn't rain.


Coit Tower/Alcatraz

Well, a tourist's work is never done, and off we went again. We tried to tour the towers of SF, but we were stopped at our first attempt. Despite the suggestion of our Lonely Planet, the Trans-America Pyramid doesn't let in visitors. We did get a great spiel from the security fellow, who explained the photographic opportunities of every other tall building in the city, with the aid of laser pens and much enthusiasm. He needed to be in showbiz. The surrounding Chinatown was interesting, anyway.

Instead we struggled up the hill to the Coit Tower, at the top of the Greenwich Steps. Trust the sun to finally put his hat on when we had a mountain to scale. Hrumph. Still, we were rewarded with great views over the Bay which made it worthwhile.

A quick visit to the frankly daft Lombard St and on to the tourist heaven (or hell) that is Fisherman's Wharf. Took the opportunity to have the local specialty, Cracked Dungeness (!) Crab. Very tasty, and enormous.

We spent the evening touring the island of Alcatraz, learning much about the history of "the Rock". We'd booked the more expensive evening tour as recommended by our hosts, and it didn't disappoint - the cell blocks and outlying buildings full of dark shadows, relieved only by the sweeping beam of the lighthouse, while we heard tales of Al Capone and the Bird-man of Alcatraz.

Following the tour, we met up with K'n'K and made for a Chinese Restaurant they liked, which had all the stylistic pretensions of a transport caff. There was an irrelevant menu - the proprietors decided what you were having on the basis of some basic questioning regarding preferences, which you barely understood due to the thickness of the accents. It was the best Chinese I've ever had.

Didn't rain. Mostly sunny, even hot.


Sausalito

Typing fatigue is setting in now, so I'll be brief. Following a minor sartorial hiccup the boys were able to come and join us for a day out. We took a ferry across the Bay to Sausalito, a very pretty village across the bay from the city. Jo bought loads of salt water taffy (not made with salt water, strangely enough), and we watched a man stack stones, which is more impressive than it sounds.

No rain again, we're on a roll.


And that's enough for now. Our next entry will be about the Neon Nirvana that is Las Vegas. See you soon.

Thanks for listening,
Seán

San Francisco

We flew out of the UK on the 1st of January after a long drive from Suffolk to Heathrow (thanks to our chauffeurs Matt and Heather).

We were flying with United Airlines, who had appeared to have the biggest possible luggage allowance. We turned up with 2 enormous suitcases and a bag of diving gear each, after being assured by the staff on a phone line that we were entitled to do so. Unfortunately, their ground staff hadn't been told. We had a lengthy discussion with various members of United's staff, who told us we were wrong and refused to acknowledge that we had been told we were ok with this luggage. We were charged £140 for our diving bags. Bugger.

The flight was worse. We were lucky to be sat together at all, after being told at check-in no pairs of seats were available (much thanks to the check-in girl who must have done something very clever by the time we arrived in the departure lounge). Embarkation was chaos, as the stewards and stewardesses stood around while the passengers tried to guess where their seats might be, and fought for luggage space. Repeated tannoy announcements told us to get on with it, while the more intellectually and physically able passengers directed their co-passengers to their seats (row = number, seat = letter - how difficult is this?) and stowed their luggage. Once we were all set we taxied off, having missed our take-off slot by 30 minutes, to the sound of a steward loudly complaining to his colleagues that someone had had the cheek to move one of his bags on top of the other one to make more space.

I could go on at some length about the disaster that is customer relations and United Airlines, but will try and limit myself. I do have to express outrage that we had to pay for any drink containing alcohol, including the wine for our meals. I think I should also mention the amazing response of the stewards to the significant turbulence we encountered. In the first instance this consisted of loud serial proclamations of "Shit! ... Shit! ... Shit!" as we bumped along - clearly heard by occupants of the rear of the plane. Secondly, on our final descent in high wind, thick cloud and driving rain, we were encouraged to hear another of our fantastic staff explain to his colleague: "oh yeah, this is bad ... look at the weather ... we're being held back ... you know, the pilots can't see a thing ... this is when they earn their money ..." etc. This monologue certainly soothed those passengers already looking green from the fairground-like gyrations the plane was performing.

And that isn't everything. I broke a nail. I'm suing.

Still I can relax now. We have ate, drunk and slept well with our hosts in SF, Kieron and Kubi. The weather hasn't been too kind to us so far, being about as rainy as it could get, but we hope for improvement. We have the low-down on the best shopping, the best travel cards (which you are not able to buy in any of the stations or on the transport itself - I wonder if United Airlines are involved) and the various tourist attractions worth checking out. Indeed I can sit here and type this while Jo has a snooze and our hosts search the shops of our locality for our tea. What good eggs they are.

And that's it for now. Thanks for listening.

Seán x

"A meal without wine is like a day without sunshine." -- Jean Anthelme Brillat Savarin, never employed by United Airlines

Bowling

On the 17th of December we went to Bloomsbury Bowling lanes with a few friends to say our good-byes. Thanks to everyone who came and made this such a fun night out :-)

If you'd like to see some photos of this evening go here

We hope to see you all in Sydney!

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