California Trip Report Part 7
Well, I am sorry this final installment has taken so long to materialise. Who would have thought that after finishing university I would have LESS time… Everything is going full steam ahead for Florida, I am sorting out my Visa at the moment, and I have just returned from a weekend at Disneyland Resort Paris, which was very enjoyable, and you’ll find all the photos from my trip on my site… But anyway, the final (and VERY delayed) final installment to my trip to California!!!
Monday 5th June 2006
Today we got up at approximately 8:30am and had breakfast in the hotel. Quite enjoyed the breakfast, though I was a bit disgruntled they put the cheese right next to the meat (touching) not very good for vegetarians lol!
We went into the shop in our hotel, they were offering coach tours of San Francisco. The bus didn’t pick us up til 10am so we had a look around the area near our hotel, nothing too exciting in the close vicinity. We got picked up by bus at 10 and taken to the office for the tour company to pay up, and the tour coach itself left at 11am.
The tour was very interesting, the first place we visited was the Palace of Fine Arts. There was a story behind this building, I believe it was one of the only buildings in the area that survived the 1906 earthquake. Was very nice to look at and I took a few photos which are on my site!
From the Palace of Fine Arts we headed to the Golden Gate Bridge. This was probably the highlight of the tour, just because you have seen it so many times on tele, in photos, in movies etc. and then to see it in person is quite a surreal experience (well I thought) Again took a few photos from the visitor area, and then headed back to the coach.
The next stop on the tour was the Pacific Coast, we stopped briefly to take photos, but the bus could not stop here for long. The area looked very nice, but apparently its very unsafe water to swim in due to undercurrents. Oh well we didn’t have time to stop anyway so it wasn’t a problem.
Next we headed for Golden Gate Park, this was the longest stop on the tour, and to be honest the stop I had least interest in. Anyone that knows me will know the Gardens really aren’t my thing (well unless they have a Disney theme!!) and the area just didn’t excite me at all. We took a few photos and then headed back to the coach to move on to the next area.
We went to Alamo Square next, in all honesty I don’t remember the significance of this stop, I guess cos its kinda like a small park in a square island on the road? Perhaps it was something else, I don’t remember. Anyway we stopped here for about 10 mins to have a quick look around. It was near Mrs Doubtfires house which we passed, the driver seemed quite excited about that!!!
Next week headed to Lombard Street (the Crooked Street) but we went there Via China Town so that we could see the area. We parked some distance from the Street as coaches are not allowed near the street. It was quite a walk up the hill, but very interesting to see a street like that…. Quite Bizarre really! Took a few photos then went back down the hill, much easier back down!!!
The tour had now come to an end, we were dropped off at Fisherman’s Wharf. Here we first picked up our tickets for Alcatraz for later that day, and then walked up Pier 39, taking a look in some of the shops, and then to the end to see the Sea Lions. Jon works with Sea Lions at Longleat so was quite keen to see them here, and quite enjoyed the experience I think.
We went to grab a bite to eat at the IHOP I had seen just down the road, I had a Boca Burger which was quite nice, and then chocolate pancakes for dessert, these were really good, and I’ve never been anywhere where you have a choice of 4 syrups for your pancakes before… and the prices were cheap too! Very good!
We then continued to look around Fisherman’s Wharf, looking in the shops as we went, til we found a Starbucks, and of course I wanted to stop for a coffee! We finished our Coffee and then headed back to Pier 41 where you board the Alcatraz Ferries as it was almost time for our trip out there!
The Ferry over was pretty uneventful. We had booked one of the evening trips, so it meant we got a tour as we were walking up the hill to the prison. We were told some interesting facts about the prison and its history, what it had been used for and why. Once at the top of the hill we were given our audio tour systems, this tour probably lasted about 40mins – 1hr (I cant remember exactly) We heard about what it was like as an Inn Mate and got to step inside some of the cells.
After the audio tour we went outside for a few photos, and looked around the shop. We then went back inside for the Sounds of the Cells demonstration. This was a demonstration of the system used to open and close the cells and was very interesting, amazing to think all those tonnes of metal cell doors were opened using levers, using no electricity at all. Very impressive mechanics. After the sound of the Cells we headed back to the Hotel on the Municipal Railway Line F, a street car (or tram I would call it).
Once back at the Hotel I packed everything up for the trip home tomorrow, and then headed to bed at about 1am.
http://photos.tpruk.com/050606
Tuesday 6th & Wednesday 7th June 2006
I was up at about 8:30am, finished off the last of the packing and then went for breakfast. Again we had it in the hotel and it was very nice, had fried eggs today too which were really good 
By the time we had eaten breakfast and checked out it was 10am. We headed down Market Street looking into a few of the shops, including, much to my amazement, a shopping centre with a Spiral Escalator, had never seen that before
We headed up Powell Street, past the cable cars to union square. This is the main shopping area in San Francisco. The first port of call was The Disney Store (of course!) Where I purchased a Graduation Stitch plush, they didn’t have any of these at Disneyland, I was glad I went in, he was very cute!
Next we headed down Post Street and back to Market Street where we walked to the California Street Cable Car (are all these street names confusing you yet?). From here we took the Cable Car to Van Ness Avenue, this was kinda fun Being on a San Francisco Cable Car We walked from Van Ness Avenue to Nob Hill and took the Cable Car back to Market Street (big circle :))
From Market Street we took the Municipal railway back to Fisherman’s Wharf, and walked up Pier39 again. This time we spent a little more time in some Memorabilia and Poster Shops, Jon found some Aztec Gold from Pirates in one of the shops, he’s been looking for that for ages so of course bought some!
We went and had another look at the Sea Lions and then walked to Taylor Street, from here we took the Cable Car back to Market Street and then from Market Street took the Municipal Railway (Street Car) back to 8th Street for the Hotel.
We grabbed our bags at the Hotel, and then took Bart back to San Francisco Airport. At the airport we checked in our bags, I ate at Subway and Jon ate from Burger King, we then went through Security and waited to board the flight to Los Angeles International.
The Flight to Los Angeles was fast, a lot quicker than the 8hrs it took to drive to San Francisco, but I guess that is to be expected! We waited 2 hours in the Departure Lounge at LAX, in which I enjoyed a Starbucks Coffee (again… my last one in America this trip hehe) We then boarded the flight on time, however it was delayed 30 minutes taking off…
The flight back was uneventful, no noticeable turbulence and the food was good, the only thing was the films I had planned to see on the way back weren’t on anymore as the schedule had changed, and there was nothing on the TV I wanted to watch, oh well.. I managed to get a little bit of sleep anyway.
We were 50 minutes late into London Heathrow. We got through immigration quickly, grabbed our bags and straight through customs. Me and Jon then went our separate ways, I got my bus to Reading, and the train from Reading to Stafford. I got a taxi from Stafford Station, and arrived home at 9pm on Wednesday 7th June 2006.
July 26th, 2006 at 5:17 pm
You are so perfect to work for Disney.
I hope you have a fab time.
August 3rd, 2006 at 5:56 pm
hey colin,
when is it you start? im flying out on sep 10th on a two month contract. i cant wait to start, its something ive always wanted to do.