2 Aussie Nomads

I did a terrible thing yesterday. Awful.

I got up at 6.00am to go for a walk around deck 7. As is my custom, I went down to the International Cafe on level 5 for a pre-walk coffee. There is some evidence that a coffee prior to exercise opens up your arteries. Or something like that.

So I ordered my first unlimited brewed coffee for the day, collected it and went to sit down.

Then a horrible thing happened. As I went to sit down I felt my phone falling out of my pocket and I reacted … and spilled about one third of my coffee all over the table and floor.

Now I know that it’s unlimited, which means that I can just go and get another.

But we all know that unlimited coffee isn’t truly unlimited. I mean, at some point it will run out.

It’s not possible for there to be an unlimited supply of coffee. So me spilling my coffee inevitably means that there will be that much less for someone else.

I was devastated.

But the show must go on, so I cleaned up my mess and drank my remaining two thirds and had a punishing 45 minute walk around deck 7. In the cold.

I made an error the other day too.

I said that it was very, very cold. 2 very’s as I recall. But I was wrong.

In the overall scheme of things, the other day was balmy.

Yesterday was cold. Very, very, very cold. Maybe even very, very, very, very cold.

Bitterly cold. Much colder than the other day.

Cold enough to freeze the you-know-what’s off a brass monkey.

Which funnily enough – as I understand it – is a nautical expression, and not rude at all.

But I digress.

Yesterday we were in Glacier National Park. It was really cold. I might have mentioned that already.

I felt like a Sara Lee pastry. I was wearing layer upon layer upon layer.

Underwear, then thermals, then jeans and a long sleeved T-shirt. A hoodie. And a heavy jacket. Plus a beanie and a scarf. Then there is that extra layer of fat that I seem to be carrying around.

It certainly made going to the bathroom far more complicated than usual.

So yesterday we sailed into Glacier Bay National Park.

I can’t even begin to explain how amazing and spectacular it is … so here are some photos.

Even the pictures don’t really give you an idea of how spectacular or beautiful it is. Or cold.

I suppose that, by definition, for all of that ice to float around in the water and not melt quickly, it’s cold.

We spent the day sailing into various parts of the park with commentary from a National Parks ranger.

Looking at glaciers which are absolutely amazing.

TOTIL and I had some puzzling conversations yesterday.

8.30 (after a big breakfast): Do you think we should skip lunch today?

10.00 (going for coffee): Do you think we’ve put on weight?

10.15 (at coffee): Did you want to see if they have any of those chocolate donuts left?

10.17 (As I’m returning with a chocolate donut): Why did you only get one?

11.45: Did you want to get an early lunch?

2.45: Did you want to go to high tea?

5.15: Did you want to have an early dinner?

All this eating. They will be wheeling me off the ship like cargo 🙁

The other interesting thing in the park is the sea otters. These little critters were virtually extinct from hunting for their pelts several years ago, but now they estimate there are about 9000 in the park.

They are elusive little beggars though.

We were told that there are are also black bears living in the forest, and while I’m sure they are there, we didn’t see any.

I think I heard that they get about 90 inches of rain here annually – about 225cm or 2.25 metres. As you can see from the photos, only blue skies this week.

We sailed out of the national park around dinner time and are now sailing towards our next port of Skagway.

Forecast for tomorrow is cold again – 10 degrees C – so I’d better not pack the thermals away just yet.

More soon.

Ciao

#G&KTAKEUSA

What a gorgeous day in Juneau Alaska.

Normally at this time of year the clouds are down almost at ground level, with heavy rain.

No rain here today. Just blue skies.

It’s a beautiful day in Alaska.

The weather is very cold. It may say it’s 14 degrees but if you take the wind into consideration it’s quite a bit less than that.

We sailed into Juneau this morning to some spectacular scenery and beautiful blue skies.

Juneau is a very pretty little township.

Here’s a fun fact: Juneau is the capital of Alaska but you cannot get to it by road. The only ways in are boat or plane.

Today was our first port of call. We had planned a shore excursion to the salmon hatchery …

… followed by the Mendenhall Glacier.

The walk to the glacier was on a bear trail … I’m not sure if that is like a nude beach? It was a bit cool for clothing optional, me thinks … 🙂

Fortunately Yogi and Boo Boo were not around today.

Then dinner at a salmon bake. I’ll never be able to eat salmon at home again 🙁

Back to the ship soon as we sail out again at 9.30 tonight.

Maybe there will be more line dancing tonight? I hope not.

Ciao

#G&KTAKEUSA

I have a confession. I have done something that I’m embarrassed about. Maybe even ashamed of.

I think that my boys would be ashamed of me too. Most of them. One of them not so much. He does it all the time.

I’m embarrassed to even put it in writing in the blog.

I’ll tell you about it later.

My last post was a little rushed. We were sailing out of San Francisco and two things were conspiring against me. Firstly I was rapidly running out of mobile/cell coverage, and if I didn’t post very quickly, it wouldn’t have happened.

Secondly, we were minutes away from the mandatory safety briefing and life jacket demonstration.

So I didn’t really even get a chance to proof-read the last post before publishing it. Hopefully it made sense.

Well, hopefully it didn’t make any less sense than anything else that I’ve posted.

Sailing out under the Golden Gate Bridge was absolutely amazing. Such a spectacular and iconic sight. Once in a lifetime.

It was also very windy and very, very cold. You might pick that up from the pictures.

We are onboard the Grand Princess. This vessel is no less confusing to find your way around that it was in NYC.

I understand that the ship has a pointy end an a blunt end, and I also know that by looking out a window you get an idea of the direction of travel. Water goes rushing past from the front to the back.

From there you can work out port side and starboard side, but inside the ship it is like a mirror image of itself, end to end. There is a staircase fore and aft but none midship, so you come down a flight of stairs and have to look out a window to work out what direction to head.

The number of times we have confidently walked towards the middle of the ship only to find ourselves at one end is unbelievable.

And some staircases only go down to level 6. So we are trying to get to the dining room on level 5 and we run out of staircase. We have to go back up a level, back to another staircase somewhere else in the ship and try again.

To be honest, I’m convinced that they move the dining room every night, because I’m sure it is never in the same place 2 days in a row.

There is a high proportion of Americans on board. I guess that’s to be expected on a cruise out of San Francisco.

Normally we opt to share a table for meals, so we get to meet new people every day. In fact, I’m trying to keep a mental image of the people that we have dined with, and I’m certain that I’ve never seen them again.

Many of the people that we have met are lovely, but I have to say that there are a few … weird ones … on board.

At dinner on our first night we met Frank, a guy about our age travelling alone. He is from Phoenix Arizona.

He asked a difficult question: What is an Australian’s stereotypical view of an American?”

I wasn’t really sure how to answer that and make it sound like a compliment. I suppose – to be honest – that my view prior to coming to the States would have been overweight, loud and obnoxious. I must say though my pre-conceived view is not entirely accurate, although many of them are overweight, and many are loud. Quite a few are both overweight and loud.

But I can’t say that I have found many to be particularly obnoxious. I can say that we have had a very pleasant experience here, particularly in California. The people have been very friendly, helpful, and accommodating.

Not gas station attendants so much. Nor rental company staff. But everyone else has been great.

So, back to the people on the cruise. There are lots of people roughly our age or older and it is nice swapping stories and understanding what life is like in the States.

Other than Frank, we’ve met a couple from Fresno, and a couple from Oakland (I thought she said Auckland initially), and a couple from Seattle. Quite a few come from around San Francisco.

There are lots of elderly people too, which is to be expected.

But there are also some quite unusual people.

There is one guy that I’ve seen a few times who wears an eyepatch. Maybe he’s a pirate. He doesn’t have a hook or a wooden leg, so I’m not really sure.

There are a couple of blokes that we saw who looked to me like ex-military. They just had that look about them.  Big, solid guys of about 60, with that military haircut.

Both wearing lots and lots of bling. Both wearing an enormous gold ring on their ring-finger with an enormous solitaire diamond set in it.

But what was really odd was they they were both getting around on these tiny, portable, electric scooters like they were disabled. Only they weren’t, because they would zip in, park their scooters, and hop off and walk away like everyone else.

Unusual.

Last night we had dinner at a table with 2 other couples and a single lady from Australia.

One of the couples seemed like real country hicks … you know the type – TV would stereotype them as a couple from somewhere like Kentucky. When asked if they wanted something from the bar to drink, he asked for a glass of milk.

OK.

I’m finding that I am starting to think and speak in American. Put it in the trunk. Stand on the curb. Call me on my cell.

There was one couple that we dined with on our first night:

Me: “How are you?”

Man: “I’m doin’ real good”

Hopefully you will never hear me say “I’m doin’ real good”. If you do, please slap me.

We purchased coffee cards prior to boarding which gives us 15 speciality teas or coffees each, plus unlimited brewed coffee.

I’ve discussed the medicinal benefits of caffeine in a previous post, so I’ve been self-medicating … and trying to confirm the meaning of the word “unlimited”.

I’ve also been taking my coffee with cream (as in “would you Ike that with cream and sugar?”)

So far so good with the unlimited brewed coffee, but I think I am going to have to back it off a bit before I get back home. I may be over-medicating.

This cruising is supposed to be relaxing.

You may recall from a few days ago that we went to Alcatraz and Lombard Street. That was a day when we hit a new all-time record and walked about 20,000 steps and my smart watch says I climbed the equivalent of 30 flights of stairs.

Yesterday was Friday, our first full day aboard and at sea all day.

Yesterday I did almost 15,000 steps and – wait for it – the equivalent of 58 flights of stairs. We have steadfastly refused to use the lifts on the ship, but 58 flights of stairs … no wonder my legs are sore and tired.

This cruise is different to anything that I’ve done before. Normally when we sail north the weather gets hotter the further north you go. Before long you are in shorts and a T-shirt. The weather is beautiful – perfect for sitting out on the sundeck.

While we are again sailing north, this time it’s getting colder as we get closer to Alaska.

According to the TV, it’s about 14 degrees outside. There are still people getting around in shorts and thongs, but TOTIL and I are wearing several layers and still feeling the cold. Up on the top deck the wind is almost cyclonic, and very cold.

Some people are still using the hot tubs up on the top deck. They must be insane.

This time we have taken a cabin with an obscured view. Even with the life raft out there, we can still see the water and we still get natural light, so it’s all good.

And it’s nice to know that there is a life raft nearby if we hit an iceberg.

OK, it’s confession time.

There is a theme each night on the ship. Tonight (Saturday) is formal night, but last night was Country and Western night.

Country and Western is not my favourite genre in music. Or clothing.

TOTIL and I went into the Explorer Bar after dinner and participated in part of a Country and Western trivia night. Then we sat through a band performing Country and Western music. There was lots of yee -ha-ing, woo-hoo-ing, boot scooting and foot tapping. 

I’ve never intentionally listened to a Country and Western band before. Maybe I never will again.

Lots of people came along wearing their best country and western outfits and got right into it.

And then they got up doing line dancing. You’ll be pleased to know – although probably not surprised – that I maintained some dignity and didn’t participate in line dancing. One has to draw the line somewhere.

Food has been excellent. Despite walking 15,000 steps and climbing 58 flights of stairs, I fear that 3 courses, 3 times a day is going to take its toll. And the unlimited coffee with cream isn’t helping.

I’ve been trying to get up early and walk 30-40 minutes around deck 7 each morning to try and minimise the damage, but I’m not so sure it will be successful.

I have a working theory that all of that chewing at mealtimes is also burning some additional calories.

I think I’m kidding myself.

Ciao

#G&KTAKEUSA

Good morning San Francisco.

Another glorious day here on the west coast. Forecast is for a top of 19 degrees and sunny, so that means that anything could happen. It’s the weather bureau’s last chance to make me wear the wrong clothes for the weather.

We packed up all of our stuff this morning, and ate all of our remaining food at our AirBNB.

We did one last load of washing and loaded up the car.

Programmed up Gina to take us to the cruise terminal for a short 11 mile drive … that took us about an hour to complete.

Yesterday, I was pondering whether the population of San Francisco was 870,000 or 7 million.

I’m now convinced. It’s 7 million and every single one of them was out in their car, in the city, doing their best to frustrate my attempts to get to the terminal.

On the way, we drove up (and down, and up ..) and down one of those classic SF streets that is steep, then flattens out for the cross road, then is steep … and so on.

The ones you see in the movies where the car comes tearing down the road, gets airborne and lands in a shower of sparks.

I wanted to give it a go, but there were 2 problems: TOTIL wouldn’t let me, and you can’t get airborne doing 5 mph.

We finally got to Pier 27 where the ship departs, and I dropped TOTIL off with the luggage while I went back into the traffic to fuel up Eric and drop him back to Alamo.

I asked Gina for directions to the nearest gas station and headed off.

Don’t you love those words “you have arrived at your destination which is on the right hand side” … and I sat there puzzled, looking at a construction crew jack-hammering up the concrete where the gas station used to be.

Sigh 🙁

Asked Gina for her next choice of gas station and set off again.

Finally found one, gassed up Eric, and set off for Alamo .. driving somewhere between a San Fran taxi driver and someone who is possessed. Maybe they are the same thing?

TOTIL wasn’t with me so the normal rules of engagement with other road users were no longer valid.

That little journey was all of about 5 miles – and took almost 2 hours 🙁

Traffic is horrendous.

Anyhow, I dropped off the car, hoofed it back to the terminal … and here we are – setting off to Alaska.

We’ve now done the mandatory life-jacket demonstration and the sail away party is about to begin.

They keep paging a Bon Voyage guest – someone onboard to farewell a passenger – and he is not responding, so we may have a stowaway 🙂

All for now. I’ll post when I can.

Ciao

#G&KTAKEUSA

There’s a conspiracy going on – I’m certain of it. In fact I think that there are a couple of conspiracies going on.

And I’m not happy about either one of them.

The last few days have all had a similar weather forecast – 19 or 20 degrees with some cloud. It’s supposed to be somewhere between cool and cold.

The last 2 days we have gone out dressed appropriately for the forecast and sweltered all day. Not that I’m wearing a snow suit – just a long sleeved T-shirt and jeans. I also hauled around a spare sleeveless pullover and wind-breaker just in case.

And sweated. Like a fat kid in a marathon. All day.

Well, those charlatans at the weather bureau aren’t going to get the better of me for 3 days in a row. Same forecast for today, so I wore a short-sleeved T-shirt and jeans, and took a light hoodie for warmth in the unlikely event that it got cool. Dumped out all of the unnecessary stuff that I’ve been hauling around.

So guess what? It was freezing today.

And I shivered. All day.

It got me wondering whether people who study to be weather-people all undertake similar initial, core studies as psychics and tea leaf readers, and then branch out into a speciality towards the end of their course.

I’m certain that their forecasts are all equally vague, with the resulting accuracy about the same.

”Today we are looking for a high of about 20 degrees, with the possibility of clouds or sun. Maybe rain in the afternoon. Maybe not.”

Bah!

Today was a bit of a more relaxed day for us. There was not a great deal that we wanted to do, so we had a bit of a sleep-in, had a leisurely breakfast, and then headed off to the Japanese Tea Garden with a view to arriving before 10.00am.

On Wednesdays, it is free entry before 10.00am, and that is $18 USD better in our pockets.

So we got our stuff together and hopped into Eric.

I may not have specifically introduced you to Eric previously. Eric is the black Chevy Impala that we are getting around in.

A very manly car, so we gave him a manly name.

The fact that we needed to turn on Eric’s seat warmers first thing probably should have been an early warning that we were facing a cold day, but we didn’t recognise the clue.

On the way to the JTG, TOTIL was given the responsibility of selecting suitable music to play on the wireless on the way there.

Now, I would have chosen something appropriate for the outing, like “Turning Japanese” by the Vapors. But TOTIL instead chose a Spotify playlist called “Theme songs from movies”, or something like that.

When “Saturday Night Fever” came on, it reminded me that there was an advertisment on the TV last night for a cruise, somewhere in the middle of one of the episodes of LHOTP that we watched.

If you don’t know what LHOTP is, you will need to go back and read last night’s post. Sorry.

So the advertisment was for a “Disco Cruise”, starring KC & The Sunshine Band of “That’s the way, uh-huh uh-huh, I like it, uh-huh, uh-huh ..” fame.

There is a song that you don’t want to get stuck in your head! Uh-huh!

The cruise aslo featured the Villiage People and many others from that era … although I’m pretty sure that none of them ever put out a “best of” record.

If there are any young ‘uns reading along today, you’ll need to ask your Mum and Dad to explain a “record” to you.

If you are interested in the details of the cruise, I’m sure that I can get them for you. Rest assured, I won’t be going.

But I digress.

So we fired up Eric, asked Gina for directions, and set off … right into 6 lanes of parking lot AKA the morning commute.

Sigh 🙁

Now, here’s a curious thing.

If you believe everything that you read in Wikipedia, Brisbane has a population of 2.4 million people.

Likewise, according to Wikipedia, San Francisco has a population of only 870,000. I don’t know how they calculate that, but I can only assume that every one of them must have 5 cars each – kids included – because I fail to understand how so many 6-lane freeways can be clogged with so many cars for so long.

Further Googling suggests that the Bay Area – from the Napa Valley down to San Jose, and including San Francisco – has a population of a little over 7 million people, so that possibly explains it.

Anyhow, we finally made our way out of the car park and got to the JTG at about 9.30am.

It is a very pleasant and relaxing Japanese garden, and I think it reflects the fact there is a significant Japanese population in SF (… well that’s my observation, possibly not a fact).

It was very peaceful and relaxing. We stopped and shared a cup of Japanese tea.

My only complaint would be that the Japanese have a bit of a thing for gentle waterfalls and gurgling streams.  That fact – combined with the 2 cups of coffee that I’d had for breakfast and the colder than anticipated weather – meant that … well, I’m sure that you can work that out for yourself.

The JTG are set within Golden Gate Park – an area close to the San Francisco CBD that is 20% larger than NYC’s Central Park. It is over 1000 acres.

After the JTG, we went for a drive around the park and stopped to have a look at the Huntington Falls …

… and then further on to the bison enclosure.

Now, you are probably wondering to yourself why there is a bison enclosure in the middle of the Golden Gate Park … and that would be an excellent question.

If anyone knows the answer, please feel free to comment so that all of us can know why there are bison in the park.

The only real significance of this for me, was that it made me realise that I haven’t had any red meat for almost 2 weeks.

Sigh 🙁

After the JTG, the falls and the bison, we figured that was enough excitement for the morning and we would head back into town.

We left Eric parked just outside the park and waited for the 5R bus to arrive.

San Francisco has another unusual road rule, although once you’ve been to SF it probably makes some sense.

The rule is that when you park your car at the side of the road, you must angle your wheels in towards the gutter if you are facing downhill, and angle your wheels out if you are facing uphill.

Many of the streets are very steep, so this is a rule that has been introduced here.

So the 5R bus turned up, right on time … on the other side of the very busy road, and heading in the other direction.

Sigh 🙁

We crossed over to the other side until the next 5R came along.

Me: “Are you heading into town, near Union Square?”

Driver: “Nope, you need to catch that one from the other side of the road.”

Heavy sigh 🙁 🙁

Back to the original side, wait for the next bus, tap on, $2.50, and 22 stops later we were in the city.

Here is something a bit random. The picture below is an advertisment that was up in the bus.

You’ll probably have to click on the photo to enlarge it, but I’m a little bit confused about the words “… not everyone loves Simon and Garfunkel…”

I don’t know of anyone that loves Simon and Garfunkel, so I’m not really sure what their point is?

Again, if you have any ideas, please feel free to leave a comment and enlighten us all.

If it happens that you do like S&G, then I’m sorry, you are in the wrong place. You don’t belong here.

We found Union Square – not much to see there.

By this time it was well after 1.00pm and time for lunch.

We have had a bit of a multicultural day today, starting with the Japanese Tea Gardens and progressing to Chinatown for lunch.

Yelp is pretty big here, and there was a restaurant that got some very good reviews, so we went there for lunch.

Funny little place. We were squeezed in at a table with a few other people, and I’m certain that we were the only English speaking people there.

We ordered meals, they arrived in a flash, and were excellent. Stuffed to the gills with Chinese food. About $15 for 2 meals including drinks.

Everyone else in the place were speaking Chinese, so I have no idea what they were talking about.

Probably us.

After lunch we went for coffee to a little place called Blue Bottle Coffee.

There has been a couple of times in the States that we have gone for coffee and been told – “No cash, card only”.

Here is a tip – don’t ever try and work out the cost in AUD when you pay for something on card – like a couple of cups of coffee.

2 coffees at $4.50 each plus tax = $10.25.

Paid on card, and converted to AUD = $14.25 for two thimbles of coffee.

But it was a nice brew. Even if it was gone in 2 mouthfuls. That’s about $3.50 per mouthful.

Sigh 🙁

Something really exciting happened on the way home today. We were standing on the corner of Kearney and California Streets in the city, and the Google Maps car drove past.

With any luck, we will be immortalised into Google Street view and it will be proof that we really were here, and not just making it all up 🙂

After coffee, we caught the 5R back out of town and found Eric waiting patiently where we left him.

While it was still early, we thought that we would go and have a look at a few last things.

The tiled stairs …

… and Land’s End.

As you can see, the weather had turned particularly cold by this time and I’d stopped enjoying myself as much as I could have, if I’d been wearing warmer clothes 🙁

Here’s a fun fact: TOTIL is getting better quality images on her iPhone 8 than I can get on the $3000 worth of Canon camera gear that I am lugging around, so credit for all Land’s End images goes to her.

After all that, we browsed a shopping centre for a short while, picked up some dinner and headed home.

Here is another fun fact: fuel in the USA is cheaper than Australia. They have two sets of prices for cash and credit card, with separate prices again for regular, Plus and V-Power, all per gallon.

Regular is about 86 RON, Plus is 88/89 RON and their top shelf superior fuel for advanced engines is 91 RON – the same as our regular fuel at home.

I’ve had a few headaches recently … probably stress-related from a combination of driving on the wrong side of the road and having TOTIL shouting at me every time I drift onto the right side of the road (which is also the wrong side of the road).

We purchased some migraine relief from the pharmacy.

Here is another fun fact: migraine relief tablets here contain caffeine.

So the next time you see me having a cup of coffee, be assured that it is only for medicinal purposes.

The title of tonight’s blog should be fairly obvious. This is our last night in San Francisco and tomorrow we are moving out.

Eric will be refuelled and dropped back to Alamo, and we board the cruise.

I’m not sure how much internet access I’ll have on the cruise, but be assured that I will blog when I can.

Probably after shore excursions.

I started the blog tonight talking about conspiracies. I have a second conspiracy theory that I’d like to share.

There is not only gender inequality (I’ve previously spoken about the lack of restrooms for men), but there is also height discrimination.

Both TOTIL and I have been wearing step counters, and she is consistently doing 10-20% more steps that I am.

I’ve worked out why – I am taller that she is, so my stride is longer, so she takes more steps to cover the same distance.

The moral of the story? If you are going to do a step challenge, make sure that you are challenging giants because they take less steps. That means that you will win.

Alternatively, if it is a team challenge, make sure that you have a bunch of short people on your team.

Ciao

#G&KTAKEUSA

It was a little bit somber here in the USA today. 17 years since the 9/11 attacks that brought down the World Trade Centers in NYC.

There wasn’t a huge deal made if it, but there were flags flying at half-mast around San Fransisco today to remember those who lost their lives.

I know that the date of today’s post is 12/09, but it is still 11/09 here in the States.

Yesterday I talked about a number of “firsts”, but I missed one. The extra one occurred when we arrived in Monterey and I had to do a reverse parallel park on the wrong side of the road.

Our Chevy Impala has park assist installed … although I don’t know how to use it. I worked out how to turn on the seat warmers, and I worked out how to get Gina talking in metric, but the mysteries of park assist still elude me.

It just seemed easier to do a reverse park the old-fashioned way, before park assist … and the result was a perfect park first time. TOTIL was impressed.

And she is not easily impressed.

It’s funny that driving a left-hand-drive car is suddenly starting to feel normal. So far, the only time that I have missed something is getting back into the car after gassing it up … twice. Both times I’ve tried to climb back into the passenger side and wondered why TOTIL is sitting in my seat.

Sigh 🙁

We had another first today.

We caught the subway into the city, on our way to see Alcatraz. I continue to be impressed by the friendliness of Californians.

The process for paying for our parking and adding credit to our Clipper cards was not intuitively obvious to us, so we asked someone for help.

Once again, this young lady went out of her way to show us the process and then watched and assisted as we added credit to our cards.

Even asking for directions in the city, the locals are friendly and helpful – a real change from our experience in NYC.

So today we went to see Alcatraz Island, which was a federal penitentiary until about 1963.

Alcrataz Island is also known as “The Rock”, hence the title of tonight’s post.

Alcatraz was the highest security prison for the worst criminals, and it was considered to be escape-proof. Even though Alcatraz Island is only about 1.25 miles from the SF mainland, the combination of water temperature and rips meant that prisoners could not get safely to the other side.

It’s most famous inmate was Al Capone.

It’s probably fortunate that Trip Advisor wasn’t around between 1934 to 1963 because it wouldn’t have got good reviews. Accommodation at Alcatraz was cramped, cold, and there was no privacy.

Solitary confinement was worse, often totally dark.

Inmates got to shower twice each week in communal showers … and they were normally only referred to by their number, not their name.

Here are some more pictures of Alcatraz … as you can see many of the buildings are damaged or being renovated.

We spent a few hours on Alcrataz Island. They have a free audio guided tour which gives you a great insight into life inside the prison.

Very well worth doing!

After Alcrataz, we had a bit of a look around Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39.

TOTIL was able to tick another item off her bucket list – she had clam chowder for lunch.

We also went and had a look at the sea lions.

Actually they weren’t hard to find … initially we followed the smell, then we followed the smell and the honking sound that they make … and then we found them.

Lucky we had finished our lunch first, because I wasn’t in the mood for eating after that 🙁

The weather here on SF is a bit hard to plan for. The forecast was fine and a high of 19 degrees C, so we dressed accordingly.

That’s twice that we have made that mistake now.

The temperature must have got up to about 25 degrees when we went for a walk to see Lombard Street.

SF is a very clean and pretty city, and very laid back. Unlike NYC, there are not as many tourist attractions around SF, and they are not as close together.

Whereas in NYC you can hop on the subway, pop up at a new station and there is always something to see, SF is more of a driving city.

Public transport is a bit less effective, and you find yourself walking through suburbs to get to see other things of interest.

So we had a bus ride and a 20 minute walk to Lombard Street, and it left us feeling a bit worn out and overheated.

While we did get a number of tips about things to see and do in SF, it seems that nobody thought to tell us that the road to get to Lombard Street was rather steep 🙁

But the climb was worth it.

After Lombard we went for a walk through Chinatown …

… saw our first cable car …

… and decided that we needed coffee. It was 3.30pm after all. There was this coffee shop that got great reviews on Yelp, and it was on the way back to the train station.

You know how in Brisbane, coffee shops around the city close at about 3.15 to 3.30 each afternoon?

So I said to TOTIL, “Wouldn’t it be funny if we got there and it was closed?”

It wasn’t (funny), because it was (closed). Famous last words 🙁

We caught the train back to our local station – Pleasantville – and collected the car.

Here’s a fun fact: trains in Brisbane are either 3-car units or 6-car units.

Subway trains in NYC are typically 8-car units, while in SF, they are 10-car units.

This blog might be a lot of things, but it is informative. Stuff that you probably couldn’t find on Google 🙂

Speaking of Pleasantville, here are some more pictures of houses in our street, as promised yesterday.

So that pretty much brings us to the end of the day.

I’me feeling more confident driving now, so we don’t rely on Gina as much.

We decided to go for a bit of a spin to the beach before dinner … and ended up hurtling towards San Jose at 70mph … took a wrong turn, switched freeways/interstates without realising it, got stuck in the flow …

So we woke Gina up, asked for some help, and made it to the beach eventually.

We don’t normally get to walk on the beach and watch the sunset, so we took the opportunity.

Weather had turned a little chilly, as you can see. TOTIL still had a wonderful time, as you can also see.

She is smiling, and there is no risk of skin cancer.

It was a beautiful afternoon on the beach despite the temperature.

I made the mistake of taking off my shoes and going for a walk in the water. I’ve never had frostbite before, but I think I came close today.

All toes still attached I’m pleased to report.

We have ended the day with another first. We have turned on the TV for the first time in the USA – in almost 2 weeks.

TOTIL switched on the box and started scrolling through the channels.

You know how in Brisbane, we can switch through the channels and not find anything to watch? No difference here in SF.

TOTIL started scrolling at channel 715 and got to channel 1130 and found nothing of value.

Then she stumbled across old episodes of “Little House on the Prairie.”

Sigh 🙁

Now I wish we’d never bothered switching the TV on. You’d think with all those channels they’d have some quality material, like Fawlty Towers, or Get Smart?

Ciao

#G&KTAKEUSA

Today was a day of firsts.

We had decided to take a trip down to Monterey, Carmel, and towards the Big Sur. Altogether this was about 2.5 hours drive south of San Francisco.

When you are driving on the “wrong” side of the car, and the “wrong” side of the road, you know that everything that you are doing is opposite from how you would normally do it, so you find yourself actually processing every action before you do it to confirm that you are doing it correctly – backwards – to normal.

And then your mind starts playing tricks on you. You hear Gina issue an instruction like “In 1000 feet, bear left” … and your mind processes that to “In 1000 feet, bear right”, because you know that everything that you do is opposite to what you expect.

Then in a moment of panic, you realise that left means left and you don’t have to convert that to the opposite, so you try to create in your mind a list of instructions that don’t need converting.

Some things are done opposite. Some are done the way that they sound.

And Gina only gives me one chance of hearing that instruction.

And when you are trying to process these instructions at 70mph while you are hurtling down the highway, with your fellow road-users flying by, it’s pretty daunting.

At the same time, TOTIL is screaming instructions like “look out for that car!”, and it gets a bit exciting.

Sigh 🙁 No wonder I’m feeling a bit stressed.

I just mentioned Gina. If you don’t know who Gina is, you will have to go back and read yesterday’s post.

So I started today by saying that today was a day of firsts.

The first first was that I had to fill the car with gas for the road trip.

I’ve said before that Californians are very friendly and easy-going … but they don’t trust you as far as they can throw you when it comes to filling your car with gas (fuel). You have to pay first, then fill.

Which brings me to my second first for today … I met my first Californian that I didn’t like. He was the gas station attendant. Actually I suspect that with the name Mohammad, he possibly isn’t a native Californian. I actually thought that he looked and sounded more Mexican than anything else, so perhaps he was having an identity crisis.

I’m not really sure.

Regardless, I couldn’t get a sensible answer out of him.

I figured that I needed to pay before filling, so I went into the shop an asked him how to proceed, and he shrugged his shoulders like he didn’t understand plain, simple Australian, and he waved me outside to fill up.

So out I went. Took the nozzle off the bowser, put it into the car, pressed buttons feverishly and nothing happened.

And then Mohammad comes out, shrugging his shoulders with a “what’s the matter … are you stupid?” look on his face.

I finally got him to understand that I wanted to pay cash – that paper stuff in my wallet – and he took $50 from me and went back into his little booth and turned the bowser on.

Honestly, if Siri was that difficult to get through to, where would the world be?

So the car is all gassed up and Gina took us on a merry ride down towards Monterey.

Which brings me to my third first for the day. Gina and Google Maps have obviously got a thing going on, because about an hour into the 90 minute trip to Monterey, she suddenly announced that “the traffic conditions ahead have changed … I’m calculating a new route.”

Really? That’s pretty progressive.

So today, life really was a highway for us.

We sat on various highways all the way from home to Monterey, effortlessly sweeping from one highway to the next freeway to the next motorway.

It’s even better if you are going in the opposite direction to everyone else, so you watch 6 lanes of car park coming towards you while cruising along towards your destination.

On-ramps, off-ramps, highways, interstates, freeways, on and on.

California is an enormous configuration of criss-crossing highway infrastructure that all interconnects, and you can slip from one to the next so easily … and all without dropping below 70mph.

If you have aspirations to be a test pilot, you can go even faster.

If you think that you are Tom Cruise in Top Gun, you can probably break the sound barrier.

The car’s instrumentation told us that it was a balmy 52 degrees Fahrenheit outside. Or maybe that’s a chilly 52 degrees … I’ll have to do the calculations and work it out.

About an hour south of San Francisco, there’s this funny smell in the car, and I’m thinking … “did she …? Would she …? That’s disgusting!”

TOTIL was obviously thinking the same thing about me, because she says “can you smell that?”

We were passing through a place called Gilroy CA – where garlic is grown … and the smell of garlic in the air is incredibly strong.

We got to Monterey mid-morning and went for a stroll down onto the wharf.

Here’s another fun fact about California. In NYC, tax is charged in different ways, on different purchases, and according to the value of your purchase – if it is charged at all – in what can only be described as an arbitrary process.

In California, tax appears to be charged at a consistent 9.00% on every single thing you purchase.

We stopped in at a coffee shop on the wharf and bought 2 coffees at $4.50 each.

So here is a spot quiz. How much did we pay? If you said $9.00 you’d be wrong! We paid $9.81 including tax.

From there, we drove down to Lover’s Point, just a short drive south of Monterey.

It was here that the wind picked up, it got very cold, the clouds rolled in, and I was concerned that maybe it does rain in Southern California … but it didn’t.

We then drove down along the 17 Mile Road and stopped at Pebble Beach …

… and on to a beautiful little seaside community of Carmel.

The Big Sur is a very pretty and scenic drive along the coastline. We’d come this far, so we decided to go a little further and drive some of the road along the Big Sur.

So glad that we did – we saw some spectacular and rugged ocean views from various points along the road.

I understand from a number of people that approximately 12 months ago there was a landslide on the Big Sur and the road has been closed – only re-opening a few months ago.

After seeing some of the Big Sur and taking photos, we decided to head home. I had my fourth first for the day.

We stopped in Castroville CA – the artichoke center of the world. Evidence is displayed below. I’ve never been to the artichoke center of the world before.

I didn’t even know such a place existed.

We stopped at a little Mexican cafe for a very late lunch, and we had another first – our fifth for the day – artichoke enchiladas.

Tasty – yes.

Unusual – definately.

Would I have one again – hmmm, probably not.

So we headed home via a different route, just for the variety. Another beautiful and scenic route through redwood country.

And so we arrived home, to Fleetwood Drive, Pleasantville. (It’s not really Pleasantville – it just reminds us of the movie.) I’ll try and post some more neighbourhood photos tomorrow to prove my point.

What a great day!

Other than a bit of chilly weather for an hour or so in the middle of the day, the weather was sunny, clear, and gorgeous.

We got to walk on a beautiful sandy beach at Carmel and feel the sand between our toes, and the sun on our faces.

We spoke with one of our boys for a while thanks to the magic of internet, 4G, and Messenger.

We had a great drive through a beautiful part of the world.

We didn’t get to visit the Googleplex, but I can live with that disappointment.

We did get to visit the artichoke centre of the world, and eat artichoke enchiladas.

Which brings me to the final – sixth – first for the day. For the first time since we arrived in the USA, I didn’t walk more than 5000 steps for the day, because we spent the day in the car.

We will address that tomorrow, undoubtedly. We are taking the train into town.

Having a blast. Roll on Tuesday 🙂

Ciao

#G&KTAKEUSA

There will be a quiz in the blog tonight, so please pay attention.

Today was our first full day in San Francisco.

As per yesterday’s post, it seems it never rains in Southern California. The day started bright, clear and sunny.

And quite cold, compared to the 32 degrees that we were having in NY. Today’s maximum was forecast to be about 19 degrees, so we dressed accordingly.

Our planning wasn’t as good as it could have been … mainly because we were pretty tired after a 27 hour day yesterday, so we left the planning until today.

There are a number of things that we are quite keen to do in San Francisco, and some are pre-booked. We hadn’t yet got our Clipper Cards (that allow us to travel on the SF public transport system), so we thought that we’d take a drive instead.

We were quite keen to find an outlet mall and do some shopping. We knew that there was a large mall (like DFO for our Brisbane readers) somewhere down near San Jose.

A bit of Googling and we determined that it is the Great Mall Outlet Center at Milpitas .. about a 30 minute drive south.

So we asked Gina for directions to the Mall.

You may not know Gina. Gina is the name of our GPS. She is very polite and very precise but she has a few … character flaws.

Probably her greatest flaw is that she thinks that her job is to just give me some support, because she assumes that I have a basic knowledge of what I am doing and where I am going.

Gina is very wrong about that.

Not only do I not know what I am doing or where I am going, but I am also driving on the wrong side of the road and it is freaking me out.

Only yesterday, I needed to do a U-turn at the end of our street, which ends at a T-intersection. I stopped the car, thought through what I needed to do, and where I needed to end up, and completed the manoeuvre successfully. Whew!

So today we are on the US 101 South, doing close to 70 mph (that’s “miles per hour” for you young ’uns) in a 65 mph zone, and cars are flying by me like I am standing still.

I can only assume that posted speed limits here in California are a recommended speed, rather than what is actually expected.

Fortunately there are often at least 6 lanes, so I can happily plod along in the far right-hand lane, while these other maniacs try and break the sound barrier 5 lanes away from me.

Another of Gina’s character flaws is that she is unfamiliar with the metric system, used almost everywhere in the world except the USA.

So we finally got off the highway and are on surface roads, and Gina gives these ridiculous instructions like “bear right onto the C348 in 1000 feet.”

How far is 1000 feet?

Actually it’s not that hard to work out when you think about it. There are 30cm in a foot, so that is 30,000cm.

There are 1000cm in a metre … no, that’s not right, 100cm in a metre, so divide 30,000 by 100 to get metres …

And Gina breaks into my thought process with “please make a U-turn” …

Sigh 🙁

Anyway, we finally got to the mall nice and early to beat the crowds, and beat the crowds we did!

We arrived an hour before the mall opened.

Sigh 🙁

So we went for coffee. Now at home we actively avoid Starbucks because … well, because we have certain coffee standards, and Starbucks do not meet the standard.

We were a little limited for coffee options at the not-yet-open mall. Actually we only had one option – Starbucks.

And sometimes bad coffee is better than no coffee. TOTIL will be horrified when she reads this, but that’s the way it is.

And here is the funny thing .. it wasn’t too bad.

After coffee, we found that the mall was actually open, but most of the shops were shut. So we had a nice wander around, getting our bearings and planning our attack on the shops.

Now, I did say that there would be a quiz tonight, and here it is.

Look at the pictures below, and tell me …

… who do you think is having the most fun?

Along with my Universal Law of Shaving, there is another piece of wisdom that I would like to impart to our young male readers.

There are three little words that make our significant others go all weak at the knees. Those three little words are “seventy percent off”.

So TOTIL was happy, and I carried the bags.

Actually, we got some good bargains and picked up a few things that we both really needed, so it wasn’t all bad. It was a nice day out.

On the way back home, we stopped for a little cultural enlightenment.

First we found …

… the Facebook offices, and then we found …

… a building with Google written on the wall. We had hoped to find the Googleplex but think that Gina gave us bad directions.

Or it is entirely possible that I asked the wrong question.

After that little bit of culture we headed back to SF to see the Painted Ladies .. a number of painted and restored old houses near the city.

So that’s about it for tonight. We got home at about 6.30pm and met our AirBNB host John.

Parking near where we are staying (Daly City) is challenging because – like NYC – one side of every street is closed for 2 hours every week for street cleaning. So we had to find a parking space on the “correct” side of the street … just like everyone else in the neighbourhood.

Tomorrow we are off on another drive down a bit further south, to Monterey and maybe Big Sur … it all depends on what time we get going in the morning.

Today was supposed to hit a maximum of 19 degrees. Down at the mall it must have been closer to 30 degrees.

When we got back to town and looked at the Painted Ladies, it can’t have been more than about 12 degrees.

Tomorrow I’ll take a mini-wardrobe to ensure that I have suitable attire for all possible weather conditions.

At least I won’t need an umbrella though, because it … “seems it never rains in Southern California …”

That’s all for tonight.

Ciao

#G&KTAKEUSA

… actually, it was a 777-300, but it was westbound, and we did end up in Southern California. Well, certainly California.

And it’s not raining.

Today we checked out of 177 Seasame Street, Brooklyn.

It was very sad, because we have both fallen in love with NYC. It is such an energetic, vibrant city, and feels like the whole world is living within the one city.

It is a cacophony of noise, smell, taste, and energy. One exciting place where you feel both energised and worn out at the same time.

By the time we finished packing last night, had some dinner, and put out our last minute things for our flight out to San Francisco this morning, it was late … maybe a bit after 11.00pm.

And then it was early. The alarm was set for 5.00am but my internal clock woke me at 4.50am.

Do the math … 11.00pm to 5.00am = not enough sleep.

Today we solved one of those great problems that has plagued mankind for years – how can I get more hours in my day?

Well, today we had a 27 hour day. Yay for us.

We left NYC (Newark) at 9.10am, took a 6 hour flight and landed at San Francisco airport at 12.10pm.

It was an uneventful, although very full United flight. No chance of sleep though, because a baby about 2 rows behind screamed all the way from EWR to SFO, like an undercover police car pushing its way through NYC traffic.

So here it is – 8.15pm at night – and it feels like 11.15pm … and I know why 🙁

We picked up our hire car at the airport .. and it’s a (almost) new black … Chevy … Impala.

Today we had some unpleasant realisations. Actually, I suspect that most most unexpected realisations are unpleasant, but I’ve never really thought about it.

The first unpleasant realisation was that after driving a right-hand drive vehicle for such a long time, habits are deeply ingrained.

So getting into a left-hand drive vehicle means that you have to force yourself to do things that every fibre of your being is sreaming at you that you are doing something wrong.

Like turning across an intersection.

And you keep doing things habitually that you are so used to doing naturally.

Like looking to your left to look in the rear view mirror (… it’s on the right)

Like reaching out with your left hand to pull the gear select into Drive (… also on the right)

Add into that the road rules that are not familiar …

Like stopping at an intersection where all 4 directions have a stop sign … and having to keep track of up to 3 other cars to work out the order that they arrived at their stop sign, because that’s the order everyone gets to go. (Thanks Jill for warning me about that).

Like being allowed to turn right on a red light after stopping and looking.

And then add into that the fact that nothing is in metric. What temperature in Fahrenheit is good for the climate control? How far is 1 and 3/4 of a mile?

So the first unpleasant realisation is that everything that normally comes so naturally and easily and almost sub-consciously, is now sending your brain into cognitive overload.

Sigh 🙁

You tell yourself it’s just the same, but in reverse … but it’s not.

The second unpleasant realisation is that we are now living in an earthquake zone. I hadn’t really considered that until I was reading about how the authorities had to strengthen the bridges to make them more earthquake proof.

Nice.

In NYC, every time we went through a subway tunnel under the river, I had visions of the movie Daylight.

The movie synopsis describes the plot: “Disaster in a New York tunnel as explosions collapse both ends of it. One hero tries to help the people inside find their way to safety.”

A great movie to watch with your young kids.

That is something to worry about every time you go through a tunnel. What happens if a petrol tanker crashes and explodes into flames and the tunnel collapses and I’m stuck in here under the river?

Have you ever wondered why I actively avoid the Clem 7?

But no tunnels here in California (that I have found). No, now I have to worry about bridges collapsing in an earthquake 🙁

But there is one other, very unpleasant realisation that I’ll tell you about soon.

There were also some pleasant realisations.

First observations of California is that it is very friendly, laid back, and casual.

NYC is everyone honking their horn because they are in such a hurry. SF is people stopping and waving at you to go first. I’ve not heard anyone honking their horn yet.

NYC is police cars, and police officers, parked or standing on every corner. SF is just relaxed. We’ve only seen one police car so far and it was getting fuel.

NYC is people too busy to talk to you or be polite. SF is people going out of their way to be helpful. We were shopping in Safeway (like Woolies or Coles) and were told that we could get a roast chicken on special if we scan our club card.

Us: “We don’t have a club card”

Lady behind us in the queue: “Come with me to the checkout and you can scan my club card to get the discount”

NYC is people ignoring you or pushing you out of the way. SF is people stopping, looking you in the eye, smiling, and saying “have a great day”.

Chalk and cheese.

So after getting some groceries, we went for a drive down along the beachfront.

Where NYC is rushed and busy and dirty, SF is relaxed, and clean(er) and friendly.

Hey, even the GPS in the car says “Please turn right at the next street.”

We drove a little further, and guess what we found … ?

Which brings me to the final unpleasant realisation.

As we stood on the lookout, admiring the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge, we (both TOTIL and I) were looking down at the beach far below and thinking what a great picture of the bridge that we could get from down there.

But what’s this? There are people swimming down there. And they don’t appear to be wearing any swimmers.

Hmmm. A nude beach.

OK. Let’s just enjoy looking at the bridge from up here.

So on that happy thought, it’s time for bed. It feels like it’s been a loooong day.

Tomorrow we start exploring California.

Ciao

#G&KTAKEUSA

 

I made a mistake in yesterday’s post. A huge one. A great big clanger.

I said that my new favourite car is a Ford Escalade … but I was wrong.

It takes a big man to admit that he is wrong. It’s not a Ford Escalade, it’s a Cadillac Escalade.

There are actually 2 clues that tell me that it isn’t a Ford. Firstly, the badge on the front isn’t a Ford badge. I should have realised that when I inserted the picture into the post. The second, and perhaps more obvious clue, is that it’s not broken down at the side of the road.

So, my apologies.

Here is another fun fact: yesterday I commented on the fact that cars were not allowed to park on one side of the road because of garbage pick-up. Well, today it was garbage pick-up on the other side of Seasame Street … and guess what happened?

I learned something new from my friend Jack Reacher last night … yes, I know that “he’s not a real person”, but it doesn’t mean that he can’t teach me stuff.

I learned that odd numbered streets run east to west, and even numbered streets run west to east. So combine that with a few other important facts, and I think that I’ve got NYC figured out:

• Street numbers increase the further north (uptown) that you go, and decrease the further south (downtown) that you go;
• Avenues (which run north to south) are smaller in the west and get bigger the further east that you go;
• Streets to the west of 5th Avenue – sorry 5th Ave-en-oo – are West 43rd Street, and streets to the east of 5th Ave-en-oo are East 43rd Street;
• Combine all of that with that bright light in the sky that rises in the east and sets in the west, and it all becomes very simple.

Today was much cooler, and heavily overcast … so no bright light in the sky to give me directional guidance.

Sigh 🙁

Back when some of our boys were in school, one or two of them thought that they were really cool to wear their trousers down low on their hips.

Well, some of the African American men here in NYC have taken this dress code down to a whole new level. While you don’t see it all of the time, we have seen guys getting around with their trousers so low that they were at the bottom of their butt cheeks.

You could see most of the boxer shorts that they wore underneath!

How they even managed to walk around without losing their trousers is an absolute mystery.

Today was our last day here in NYC, and I must say that I am feeling a little sad. We purchased a NY Sightseeing Pass before we left Australia, which gave us access to 10 attractions. We certainly got our value out of that.

In fact, today was a pretty relaxed day because we have already done almost everything on our list. There were just a few things remaining.

We started the day in the usual way – as subway ninjas.

We hopped on at our local station – Kingston-Throop Av – and rode the subway to East 23rd Street to go and see the Flatiron Building. It’s a really unusually shaped building, in that it is triangular.

The photo doesn’t really show just how triangular it is.

On the way there, though, we passed by a pharmacy. You will recall from a previous post that one of us forgot to pack a razor. So we stopped at the pharmacy and a purchase was made.

Then we saw a Home Depot, and stopped in there too. It’s just like Bunnings, but much more my style of shopping that Saks 5th Avenue.

More in my price range, too.

From there, we hopped back onto the subway and went to see the final thing on our list – the Chrysler Building. Another beautiful old building that was completed in the 1930’s.

Here’s another fun fact: the Chrysler Building has it’s own zip code, because of the quantity of mail that is sent and received from the building each day.

After that, we really had nothing left that we really wanted to do, except for a bus trip around the city that was scheduled for 4.30pm this afternoon.

So from the Chrysler Building, we had a bit of an aimless wander around the city, back to Grand Central Station.

There are a couple of things about NYC that make navigation extremely challenging – you keep seeing the same things over and over, and the city just goes on and on and on.

There are Starbucks and McDonald’s on nearly every corner. There are T-Mobile stores that all look the same, and Walgreen Pharmacies everywhere too.

After a while, your mind just starts to play tricks on you.

You also see these little parks/seating areas that seem to pop up in different places, and they all look the same too.

We stopped at a coffee shop and paid too much for a disappointing lunch and 2 disappointing cappuccinos, then went in search of a Target to pick up a few items that we needed. By this time we were starting to wander aimlessly, so headed to Macy’s for a bathroom break.

We were told that the best pretzels were at Auntie Anne’s (pronounced Ant-ie Anne’s). Finding one was a challenge because Google Maps kept taking us back to Macy’s, which had us quite confused.

Macy’s is a huge department store – much like Myer or David Jones – but on steroids. It takes up the whole block between 6th Avenue and 7th Avenue, and West 34th Street and West 35th Street … with 10 levels of shopping!

The reason that we couldn’t find Auntie Anne’s is because it is INSIDE Macy’s on the 7th floor.

Along with a McDonald’s, also inside Macy’s.

And then we had our own little miracle on 34th Street – we had an Auntie Anne’s cinnamon pretzel.

One of the things that you see around the city is lots of homeless people, sitting on the sidewalk begging. It’s not uncommon for them to be holding a little hand-made cardboard sign saying “Homeless”, or “Ashamed and embarrassed”, or “Returned veteran”.

While I don’t want to make fun of the homeless or disadvantaged, there are also some pretty weird ones out there. Like the guy with the sign that said “Family killed by aliens. Need $$$ to buy a ray gun”.

OK …

Or a really fat guy with a sign that said “Hungry”. He can’t have been hungry for long.

After our pretzel, we had about 90 minutes to kill before our pre-booked bus tour of the city.

It was still really heavily overcast, and I was keen to head back down to Times Square, seek out the Wonder Women, and pray for more rain …. but TOTIL didn’t think that was a good idea.

So we just meandered our way around the streets.

Another really interesting thing about NYC is that many things are underground. Obviously the subway is underground, but many of the shops have a whole floor level underground.

Something that I found really fascinating was when we went to Broadway to see Beautiful. You walk into the theatre at ground level, and then go down about 3 flights of stairs to the mezzanine level and the stage. You certainly don’t have a sense that you are that far underground until you go back up and look down into this enormous hole in the ground.

Another quirky thing about NYC is that the locals have a love affair with electric scooters, electric skateboards, and electric bikes.

In the last post, I outlined my Universal Law of Shaving. I’m sure that this is something that will be taught to young men in schools one day.

There is a minor flaw to the ULoS though … once you haven’t shaved for a week or so, you really need to shave. The  ULoS says that you can only shave when you don’t need to … so you find yourself in a situation where you need to shave, even though you don’t need to shave. It’s pretty complex.

Regardless, I’ll be shaving tonight otherwise I’ll need to find somewhere else to sleep 🙁

Back to the topic of tonight’s post (… yes, you thought I’d forgotten :))

We haven’t walked 500 miles, and 500 more. But by my calculations and thanks to modern phone/watch technology, I figure that we have walked something over 80km in the 7 full days that we have been here, plus a 10km bike ride.

To wrap up tonight’s blog, here are my top tips for a trip to NYC (in no particular order):

1. Leave the RM Williams belt at home

Yes it might look great and you are really proud to have one, but everywhere you go – every attraction – you go through a scanner. The RMW belt sets the alarms off and you get a pat down.

2. Use plenty of wet wipes

Nothing is particularly clean here – even tables in cafes. You regularly find yourself needing to wipe things down.

3. Use plenty of hand sanitiser

I shouldn’t have to explain this, but once you’ve touched the handrail at a subway station, you’ll want to wash your hands.

4. Install a compass app on your phone

Everything works on direction. “Enter via the SE corner”. “Go west along East 43rd Street”. Even if you’ve got a good sense of direction, you’ll struggle above ground, and you’ll be totally lost below ground

5. Become a subway ninja

There is no better way to get around. Buy an unlimited pass.

6. Finding restrooms and bathrooms is not too hard

Despite what they say, there are plenty of clean bathrooms around. Just go to Macy’s.

7. Keep to the right

I shouldn’t have to explain that either. NYers get quite upset if you walk on the wrong side of the sidewalk.

7. Don’t stop in the middle of the sidewalk to take pictures

As above. It makes me cranky too.

8. DO go to Times Square

Some travel guide sites say to stay away. It’s worth it just for the people watching and all the flashing lights. It’s really worth it if you spot the Wonder Women and it starts to rain 🙂

9. Look left-right-left

Yes, I know that years of conditioning has taught you to “look to the right, look to the left, and look to the right again”. That is what your instinct tells you to do.

I made that mistake once, and was nearly run over by a black Chevy Suburban (… I’m telling you, they are everywhere!)

10. Set up a OneDrive account and set your phone to automatically upload pictures

If you do this, then as soon as you hit WiFi again, all of your pictures will be automatically uploaded to the cloud. If you lose your phone, you don’t lose all of your photos.

11. 5 second rule

We have an established rule at home called the 5 second rule where you figure if it has been on the ground for less that 5 seconds it is still safe to eat.

It doesn’t work here. If you drop something on the ground, particularly in the subway, walk away from it. Don’t even think about it. The rats will eat it pretty quickly anyway.

12. Tipping is easy

Yep, easy. Just add 15-20% if you have received good service, or you want to ensure good service. I’m told that they pay tax on projected tips anyway, so by not tipping, you are making them pay tax on money they didn’t earn.

Besides, it’s not real money anyway 🙂

13. Plan your day carefully

Work out what things are near what other things, and plan your day carefully. Despite that, expect everything to take longer than you plan.

14. Avoid street vendors

Different people have different experiences, but the locals don’t eat from street vendors for a variety of reasons. We did once, and regretted it.

15. If you enter the subway on the wrong side of the street, you’ll be going the wrong way

Make sure that you are catching an uptown train if you are going uptown, otherwise you will be disappointed.

 

That’s about it for NYC. We’ve had a blast and we hope you have enjoyed following along.

Tomorrow we fly to San Francisco. While I’ll be sad to leave NYC, I’ll be glad to get to SF, get into a hire car, and give my legs and feet a well-deserved rest.

Ciao

#G&KTAKEUSA