July
5th
After
another late Amtrak train journey, accompanied
by the very loud soundtrack of a trailer-trash
bimbo and a Mexican who wanted to get into
her pants, we arrived to a warm welcome at
probably the best hostel in San Francisco.
We'd fallen on our feet again, as a result
of a 10-minute conversation on a scary bus
ride in Mexico, where we met our new hostess,
Tai, whose house we ended up staying at. Our
timing was perfect as we arrived just in time
for the Gay Pride celebrations. On the Sunday,
we viewed the spectacle that is the Pride
march, a visual feast of colour, outrageousness
and fun! The festivities included music, dancing,
cheer leading, S&M and fetish demos and
a range of weird and wonderful stalls, not
to mention the uninhibited crowds (approx.
1 million people). We even bumped into Tony
Blair who came out and bared all about his
plans to find Bush's weapon of mass destruction
(please see pic for evidence)...certainly
an experience we'll never forget (some of
which we wish we could!!).
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Graham's
new friends
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Keira
meets Tony (again!) |
Not
wasting any time, we went on a search for
some engagement/wedding rings as we knew we'd
get more for our money in the USA. Looking
like tramps, we wandered into Simayof, an
exclusive jewelers (apparently one of their
6 stores is in the Venician in Las Vegas),
where we met our favourite jeweler, Chanan,
who was friendly and helpful unlike his female
colleague who looked us up and down like we
were dog turd. Forty minutes later we were
sat on the sofa near the bar (yes, there was
a bar and TVs), having a glass of wine and
eating Ferrero Rocher, much to the surprise
to the snob/slut, having made a purchase.
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Our
favourite jeweler - Chanan
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Frisco
cable car |
While
in Frisco, we also rode (clung on to the outside
for dear life!) the world famous cable cars,
visited the crookedest street in the city,
Lombard Street, and passed through Alamo Square,
where the row of Victorian houses overlooking
the square are probably the most photographed
buildings in the city.
A visit to San Francisco wouldn't be complete
without the obligatory trip to the Golden
Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. The bridge was...big...and...red!
The island known as The Rock (Alcatraz) was
eerie as it appeared through the fog. The
award-winning tour around the cells and prison
areas was just as spooky, introducing us to
the prison life of Al Capone and other notorious
criminals. NB. Useless factoid no.2: the birdman
of Alcatraz never actually kept any birds
on the island.
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Lombard
(crooked) Street
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Alamo
Square |
To
show our appreciation to Tai we cooked her
& Ann a traditional roast dinner (bonus
for us as we do miss them), and in honour
of Wimbledon, we had strawberries and cream
for dessert. We had a really fun night, drinking,
playing cards and chatting. The following
day, hung over and with tequila breath, we
took a day trip on a zero-emissions bio-bus
to Muir Woods and the Sonoma and Nappa Valley
wine regions. The giant redwoods in the forest
were amazing and Graham (aka Captain Planet)
finally got to hug a tree. The fresh air was
welcome and we were then ready for some 'hair
of the dog'. We stopped at 4 wineries and
tasted a range of Californian wines in the
sun. A lifestyle we could definitely get used
to!
Back
in the city, we took a stroll down Haight-Ashbury
- the birth place of the alternative psychedelic
60s culture where at one time free food, free
drugs, and free love were on offer. Unfortunately,
the food wasn't free and there were no drugs
to sample but we did love the shopping and
bought some cool stuff.
On what we thought was going to be our last
day, we got up early to watch the England
v. Portugal game. We all know how this ended:
Shrek (Rooney) lost his head, and England
lost on penalties. Gutted. We didn't really
fancy another Greyhound ride that afternoon
(or in fact ever again!), so we took Tai and
Ann up on their generous offer of a 4th of
July weekend road trip down to LA via the
famously scenic Californian route 1.
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Tree
hugger (finally)
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Wine-tasting
crew |
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On
the dock of the bay |
Street
art |
July 24th
A
day later than expected, we left the fog of
San Francisco behind for our second US road
trip, but this time, we didn't have to do
the driving. Our hostess became our chauffeur
as we hit route 1. On the first day we stopped
a number of times, Keira was blown away (almost
literally) by the views. We parked up for
a picturesque lunch by the McWay Falls, a
beautiful and unique stream of water that
falls into the sea. Whilst taking some pics
of the local bird life, Graham was suddenly
attacked by what seemed like a prehistoric
pterodactyl who had been eyeing up his tasty
looking Dorito. Tired and exhausted from the
hard life of sightseeing and drinking beer,
we retired to a campsite within the Big Sur
region for more beer. Even when it comes to
campsites, size really does matter in the
US. Each pitch has its own driveway, room
for at least a couple of big tents, a picnic
table with benches for 10 people, a barbecue
and a campfire container, where at home we
would have 10 tents crammed together. Quite
a few beers later, and after some 'smores'
(toasted marshmallow and chocolate sandwiched
between 2 Graham crackers, that reminded us
of warm wagonwheels), we wandered down to
the beach for some stargazing with Tai and
Ann. Due to the lack of light pollution, the
night sky was amazing - full of sparkling
stars, planets and UFOs. Yes, in true 'Independence
Day' weekend style, the aliens made another
abduction attempt. But this time we were ready
for them and during the battle that ensued,
we even managed to capture one of the tentacles
as a souvenir (please see pic). In celebration
of our victory and in the absence of fireworks,
we had a spontaneous 'light-off' with Tai
and Ann. If you've never heard of a light-off,
it basically went something like this: In
an attempt to locate each other in the pitch
black, a torch was flashed 'Morse code style'
and the other couple flashed back in response.
This went on for some time with the flashes
(or light shows) becoming more and more elaborate
and ridiculous, with spinning, running and
jumping, both solo and 'duet'. We haven't
laughed so much in ages -Keira could hardly
breath and nearly peed herself. The next day,
hungover (again), on the way to Los Angeles,
we stopped to observe the hundreds of elephant
seals in their natural habitat on the coast.Later
that day we arrived in LA, said our goodbyes
to our Frisco companions and hello to the
LAliens - this is the term we used to describe
them as they appeared to be a mixture of human
and alien, with the following characteristics:
miserable, rude, ignorant, obnoxious, and
unhelpful... welcome to LA!
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McWay
Falls
|
California
Coast |
LA is all about the money
And if your face fits
Packed with plastic surgeons
Who can modify your bits.
Almost everyone we spoke with
Including the tourists too
Urgently needed treatment...
To say 'please' and 'thank you'.
Shallow, ignorant and rude
Driving round in flashy cars
In need of personality transplants
All blinded by the stars?
So let me just recap
LA is all about the wealth
I wouldn't stay too long
It's really bad for your health!
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Bird
life on Route 1
|
Campsite
Big Sur |
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Another
alien encounter
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Beach
light show |
Our hostel was well located, right in the
centre of Hollywood Boulevard. From there
we took a whistle stop tour of the city which
included sights such as Johnnie's cafe - famous
from Pulp Fiction; Venice Beach - home of
Muscle Beach and steroid-pumped show-offs
with small lunch boxes; Malibu Beach - of
Boobwatch/Baywatch fame (at which point the
theme tune was blasted through the tour bus
speakers - cool!); the Walk of Fame - here
we met many stars ('resting' actors) and fresh
from the World Cup, Wayne Rooney (see pic);
the obligatory Hollywood sign - nothing to
write home about really (oops, that's what
we're doing!); tour of stars' homes, including
Jack Nicholson, Elton John, Robert Redford,
Britney Spears, etc.; a stop at Rodeo Drive
- shops for the stars. We couldn't visit the
home of movies without going to see one so
we saw two at the Chinese theatre (where all
the stars' hand prints and signatures adorn
the entrance). We saw Superman Returns and
relived our childhoods during the classic
theme tune and also Nacho Libre which was
funny. Although we enjoyed the US, LA left
a bitter taste in our mouths and we were glad
to finally leave to our island in the sun...
Fiji!
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Elephant
seals
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Ann
and Tai are the ones on the left |
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Pulp
Fiction cafe
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Muscle
Beach |
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Us
and Wayne Rooney
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Spot
the Hollywood sign
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Leonardo
Di Caprio's pad
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Where
the rich and shallow shop |
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Chinese
Theatre
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Star
spotter |
