Sunny San Francisco!
Posted by Sarah O'Neill , Tuesday 14 February 2012 10:58
We had a brilliant experience on the AMTRAK, it was a long journey, but very confortable! We had plenty of room, plug sockets for the laptop and plenty to watch! The views were really picturesque, and it was an amazing way to see the country! At ten ish the lights were turned down, pillows and blankets given out, and our chairs reclined so we could sleep! We had quite a good night's sleep, and arrived in San Francisco at about 9am.
We got a taxi to our hotel, and found out it was the big Gay Pride Parade that day. Luckily we had arrived just before all the roads were shut off, so we could get to the hotel. We were able to check in early which was great, so we dumped our bags, had a quick shower, and then headed out to see what was going on! It was a beautiful day, and the parade atmosphere was great! There were absolutely loads of people lining the streets, so many that you couldn't really see the parade, but we caught glimpses, and saw lots of 'colourful' people around, even a few naked ones! We had an explore of the city, rode a trolley, and did a LOT of walking!!!!
The next day we went on an open top bus tour in the morning, which would get us to the right place to go and visit 'The Rock', aka Alcztraz! We had pre-booked our tickets a few weeks before to make sure we got to go, as it's one of Ben's favourite films! That day was MUCH colder than the previous!!!! But by time I had realised this, it was too late to go back and get more clothes, so spent the time on the open top bus freezing (and whinging)! We saw all the sights, including the Golden Gate Bridge, although by the time we got there the famous fog had descended! But it looked picturesque anyway! I have a great picture of me next to it, looking very cold!!!
We got to the coastal area called Fisherman's wharf, where we would catch the ferry to The Rock, and had some lunch and wondered around. I also bought a San Francisco touristy fleece to warm me up, and keep me warm on the ferry! This seemed to make the sun come out!!!
After a nice lunch, we headed to the right pier to catch our ferry. We had to queue for a while, and then had a very touristy photo taken with a fake backdrop of The Rock, and then we got on th short ferry ride accross. We were greeted by a park ranger guy who gave us a quick talk and idea of what we could see. We went straight to watch a video about the island, which apart from being famous for being a prison, was also inhabited by Native American Indian Protestors, which there was evidence of throughout. We went through to the old shower room, where we were given our audio tour headphones, and began the audio tour. The tour was excellent! It captured the place really weel, with a guide's commentary but also sounds from the prison, tales from old prisoners, and stories of what happened. We went through the whole place, and heard many interesting tales. After a great afternoon we headed back to the bus to get back to our hotel to meet up with some friends we had made travelling. When we had been in Fiji, staying on Barefoot Island (the most remote island we stayed on), with only four other guests at one point, we met Michele and Casey who were from San Francisco! It got weirder when we talked about which hotel we had booked, when Michele said she worked in the bar at that very hotel!!!! So, we had got in touch with them and arranged to meet up! We got back just in time, and had a great time with them. We had a few drinks and some nibbles, and it was so good to see them again. We made sure they promised to visit us if they ever came to England!!!
On Tuesday we packed up our stuff and headed out for breakfast at an all American diner! Then we headed back to the hotel, grabbed our bags and got a taxi to the AMTRAK station. We got on a train to Los Angeles!!!!
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