I planned on going up Coit Tower yesterday but I simply ran out of time. Accordingly, it was item number one on today’s agenda before going to look at San Francisco’s crookedest street: Lombard street. It reminded me of the start of Nacimiento road but in daylight and maybe only a couple of hundred yards long. I ended up in the Ghiradelli area and the Franklin Bowles galleries looking at Dali’s Alice in Wonderland suite, some Rembrandt etchings and a large collection of amazing work from LeRoy Neiman.
As I was in San Francisco I couldn’t just hire a bike for a quick whizz round. I simply had to try out a Segway tour. They are the weirdest thing at first but you soon get used to them (that is unless you are the woman who ran herself over with hers during the orientation and decided she didn’t want to go anymore). The tour lasted for a couple of hours, was good fun and quite informative but once I dismounted it was like I’d forgotten how to walk normally. I went for a sit down in the Boudin Bakery to recover and have something to eat before heading back to the hotel for the night.
“As a general rule, you will work eight hours a day, five days a week, with Saturdays, Sundays and holidays devoted to recreation.”
- Alcatraz regulation #20
To celebrate being free of the car I headed down to Fisherman’s Wharf and ended up in a bar called Jack’s at The Cannery. 68 beers on draft awaited me and it was Happy Hour. It turns out that most of the people in there were British. There were people from the Lake District, Manchester and Leeds. With the exchange rates as they are I think that this is going to be a common occurrence this Summer as tourists shun Europe.
I soon got talking to a family from Michigan. The son was interested in traveling after he’d finished his studies but was apprehensive at the same time. I told him that he should just go for it, it would be one of the best things that he could ever do and that I felt exactly the same way until days before I left.
After they left the bar my next conversation was with a big, bald, bearded biker from Alabama who was a really nice guy. We went on to drink a lot and I don’t have a clue what time I left. I’m fairly sure that I was way under the strictly enforced 40 drink limit though but I felt like I’d smashed clean through it this morning.
Once I was feeling vaguely human again I set off down Market Street to the wonderful shops in the Ferry building and then on to book myself on a boat for a tour of Alcatraz. It turns out that I’d picked a special day for a visit. Darwin Coon was incarcerated here and today was back for a signing of his book. It smacked a little of profiteering to me – akin to the recent glut of autobiographical books from reformed football hooligans of the 1980s. It really is quite an eerie place but outside the cells – thanks to the lack of predators – it has returned to be home to the birds that gave the island it’s modern-day name (derived from La Isla de los Alcatraces). I also learned the somewhat startling fact that 1% of the US population is in prison and of those, 40% are functionally illiterate.
Once back on the mainland I continued walking along the shoreline until I stumbled across the Sea Lions on K dock of Pier 39. There are hundreds of them, they’re noisy and they stink but they’ve been drawing a big crowd since 1990. I would say that they’re the best thing about Pier 39 which is mainly devoted to selling trinkets to tourists.
The day was pushing on so I queued for a ride over San Francisco’s hilly streets on one of the famous cable cars. I wasn’t expecting to have to wait in line for quite so long though. A good 30 minutes is apparently the norm for the Powell and Hyde route but it’s a damn sight easier than walking!
I found last nights hotel on Lake Union by using The Force and decided to treat myself to a king size bed and then, once checked in, headed down to the Pike Place Markets2 for some food and libations. I sampled a couple of local ales in the Virginia Inn before having wild Alaskan salmon with saffron risotto and blueberry mojitos in Amber (the choice of which was nothing at all to do with my crush on Amber MacArthur). I rounded off the night with a Springbank in the Whisky Bar before turning in for the night.
After breakfast and a spell in the hot tub, I toyed with the idea of staying for another night but then thought better off it and decided to try and get a haircut before leaving. I was planning to have my now golden locks shorn completely but could only find a salon where the lovely Kelly decided to do her own thing. She was hot so I didn’t argue and ended up with a shampoo and nice trim for less than £10 (without tip) which I found surprising.
Before I left however, I did make use of the Wifi to plan my route to Mount Saint Helens and onward to Astoria being devoid of any form of Washington State map as I was. I have since fallen out with Google Maps and their driving directions. Mount Saint Helens is not very well signposted from the freeway so after exiting at junction 21 and asking at the local tourist information hut I was slightly miffed to be told that I needed to head back northwards to junction 49 (especially after noting heavy traffic in that direction – damn you karma) but at the same time I was very grateful to the delightful Virginia for the pointers to Astoria and the Oregon State map that she furnished me with.
Thankfully the traffic had eased and I made a mockery of Virginia’s estimated two and a half hour time to the Johnston Ridge Observatory, partly thanks to the roads being strangely quiet off the Interstate. I expected a route to National Monument park to be busier but I soon found out what everybody else obviously already knew: anything above 3000 feet was shrouded in cloud and mist – all I could think of was John Carpenter’sThe Fog and I locked my door accordingly. Below this elevation the scenery was jaw droppingly spectacular and I enjoyed having the road to myself. I may not have had this higher up but I just couldn’t tell as the visibility was down to 20 feet in places.
Once at the summit my view was obviously severely hindered by the weather conditions. Mount Saint Helens is only five miles away from the observatory but I was merely staring into a void. The visitor’s center was mildly interesting but I still left feeling highly disappointed. I’ve been traveling for just over a month now and to wait this long for something to not go to plan was unexpected.
I headed cautiously back down the road and onto the Interstate pausing for gas before pointing crossing tthe Lewis and Clark bridge into Oregon and pointing myself west to head to Astoria. The evening sun lit the forest behind me beautifully and I had to keep reminding myself to look away from my mirrors.
1 If you’re wondering why Astoria sounds familiar to you it’s probably because that this is where The Goonies was filmed. All together now: “Hey you guys!”
2 This is the location of the first ever Starbucks.
I spent yesterday afternoon strutting around downtown Vancouver to reacquaint myself with the city and take in the recent developments. I had almost forgotten about the courtesy that drivers show pedestrians over here. If you even vaguely look like you could be thinking about the possibility of maybe crossing the road then the traffic will stop.
I strolled around Canada Place for a while looking at the adjacent building work going on for the 2010 Winter Olympic main media centre and the float planes coming in and going back out again. Someone told me the other week that there were in fact only two seasons in Canada: winter and construction and this seems to be holding true. It was at this point that I was strafed by a squadron of seagulls and decided to call it a day.
This afternoon I hired a bicycle with the plan to go around Stanley Park but I got a little carried away and ended up passing through False Creek, Chinatown and Gastown before going back along the waterfront to Stanley Park and the aquarium. I’m not sure exactly how I feel about aquariums and zoos – I think that I probably fall on the ‘for’ side of the fence. The downside of captivity of wild animals is balanced against the fund raising, preservation and breeding programmes that are in place these days.
I’m unsure as to what a weekend in Toronto is actually like as it seems that everybody leaves when Friday comes around. Last weekend was spent watching a friend win his first two races of the Ontario Formula Ford Challenge season at Mosport raceway and this weekend I had the pleasure and distinct privilege of being introduced to “Cottage Country” for the Victoria Day holiday. The landscape around Georgian Bay is simply stunning.
Continue reading ‘Good times!’
Just as it says on the t-shirt.
I spent lunchtime in Central Park where “passive activities like reading, relaxing, sunbathing and daydreaming are encouraged” and then this afternoon walking around the American Museum of Natural History.
My New York City Pass has finally paid off over the past couple of days with free audio commentary at the Empire State Building and a free pass to the Hayden Planetarium today (with narration by Robert Redford no less). I think I really needed about five hours to walk round the exhibits to give everything the attention it deserved. The last hour was certainly rushed.
Walking around New York with a bag slung over my shoulder sent me back 11 years to my Southwestern Summer but I think the least said about that the better. A large part of my wanderings have been spent in mushin which has really helped to to relax and unwind. As I thought would happen, all my fears and doubts faded away once I was actually on the plane over here.
I didn’t really think that I’d enjoy myself quite this much. Big cities tend to put me on edge somewhat but I haven’t experienced that once while I’ve been here. Admittedly, I’ve not seen much outside Manhattan and Brooklyn but I’ve really liked everything that I have seen.
Standout moments will have to be the “Top of the Rock” observation deck at the Rockerfeller Center, Central Park, the Natural History Museum and randomly talking to a bewildered Jewish grandma over a sandwich on her first visit to a Subway one busy lunchtime.
I decided that yesterday wasn’t the day for looking out of tall buildings so it turned out to be my day of culture with a walk up 5th Avenue (pausing to browse the Apple Store obviously) to Museum Mile and the Metropolitan and Guggenheim museums.
I managed to get myself admonished in the Guggenheim within five minutes thanks to some contradictory signs apropos photography. The outside was also not photographable as it is covered with scaffolding for exterior restoration at the moment which was disappointing. Inside the Frank Lloyd Wright designed building was stunning though. There was some impressive Kandisky and Klee in the Nierendorf collection but the main installation along rotunda spirals was Cai Guo-Qiang: I Want To Believe (and no, it’s not related to the X-Files).
I reached the top of spiral just as my patience with pretentious and sullen arty types was running out but I timed it perfectly to see the full three minute film of Cai’s 2005 Black Rainbow: Explosion Project for Edinburgh being played.
Any artist that gets away with using vast amounts of explosives is fine in my book. He’s also on the creative team for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics so be prepared for something special.
Well that’s it. I depart tomorrow morning on my three month trip around the World and I just “worked” my last day. Actually, it was more like a half-day as I spent this morning with assorted other geeks at the Guardian tech podcast‘s coffee morning in Home House. Thanks in part to the French rapping and American accent I didn’t realise that Yann Seznec was Edinburgh-based but he was in attendance and I got talking to him about his brilliant Wii Loop Machine that I saw online by chance the other day.
God forbid I actually ever leave Edinburgh for good as the leaving parties (yes, plural) for what is essentially just an extended holiday just about broke me. No longer is youthful vigour on my side: back-to-back nights out last weekend left me a little emotional, being over-tired and over-served as I was. A big thank you to my friends for giving me such a great send-off and my employers for letting me go.
I’m all Web 2.0′d up so as well as reading this here blog you’ll be able to keep up with:
Or see everything aggregated at friendfeed.com/nev/
I’ve decided that I’m too old for a rucksack, not old enough for a suitcase, I don’t have a steamer trunk so my large wheeled holdall is the bag for the job. I guess I’d better get packing!
I pointed out in a previous post that, between myself and a few friends, we had plans to travel East, South and West and I wondered if I knew anyone who was heading North in order to cover all points of the compass.
I don’t know him but nevertheless, I think that he deserves a mention. Ben Saunders is attempting to set a new record for a solo expedition to the North Pole. On foot. Unsupported. He’ll be pulling all of his supplies (all 60kg of it) on a sledge and consuming just shy of 6,000 calories a day.
That last bit doesn’t sound too bad.
