Summer Tour - San Francisco to New York

 We did not have very long in San Francisco but we did manage to visit the Modern Art Museum which had some interesting sculptures as well as a focussed. - if not especially large - collection of paintings. 

I must admit I have never been a particular fan of modern art in the Jackson Pollock/Mark Rothko sense but  on this trip I was  - despite my best efforts - appreciating it rather more than I had previously - particularly the use of colours and form (although I still find that I have to concentrate very hard to make much sense of some of it…..).

The museum itself was a very modern affair and had an excellent outdoor space where some of the sculptures were housed to good effect next to the dazzling glass and concrete and blue skies of downtown SF.

We also managed to book tickets to see Alcatraz. I had been before on my previous visit but A was keen to see it and it did not disappoint. The journey by ferry to it remains one of the most scenic in the World and the guided tours and audio guides provided really bring it to life. It helped that the sun was shining brightly which took some of the rough edges off the fact that it used to be a high security prison with no successful escapees - see photos below including A the sole occupant of a very blustery exercise yard. 

One added bonus was the unexpected purchase of a cycling top with the Golden Gate Bridge depicted in bright colours which was on sale in the Alcatraz visitor shop (and in fact was in the discounted items rack so presumably the other visitors may also have thought that this was a rather unusual item to have in a prison gift shop). Even better was that I found one that actually fitted me and I have been wearing it on my rides around Dubai ever since.

Our route back to the hotel took in various Cathedrals and also Chinatown which allowed us to take some photos showing just how steep the roads are in San Francisco.

Our last night in SF was celebrated in the Hurricane Bar in the depths of the Hotel - apparently something of an institution in the Fairmont and reached along a corridor displaying photos of every incumbent US President on their visit to the Hotel since 1907 when it was completed (apparently a mandatory obligation on any trip to San Francisco) as well as quite graphic pictures of the hotel and surrounding areas after the devastating earthquake and fire in 1906 shortly before it was due to open.

The centrepiece of the Hurricane Bar was a boat in what presumably used to be the main hotel swimming pool in which the resident band played a selection of popular songs - despite the rather cheesy decor (and the rain pouring from the ceiling at the end of each set) it was a really buzzy nightspot and we both had a good time.

Our journey from West Coast to East Coast was uneventful (save for having to unpack and repack our bags at checkin due to being over the weight allowance which was very strictly enforced  - we had actually weighed the bags beforehand but using the 23kg limit referenced on the American Airlines website rather than the 50lbs that was being applied by the check in staff which seemed to make all the difference…..) with our first glimpse of Manhattan being a nighttime view (see photo below).

So we have reached the last day of post a day November but due to my bad timing I have not yet managed to complete my exposition on our round the world trip in the Summer so there may be some bonus posts to complete the record - stayed tuned!

Summer tour- Hawaii to San Francisco

Our last night in Honolulu was spent on the beach admiring the sunset and the pristine waters. It was an interesting visit to what is a pretty remote place although I think it suffered a little in comparison with our experiences in Japan - not so much the scenery - Hawaii is a beautiful place - but more in terms of the  general ambience and the desire of the locals to make sure that you have a really good time.

The second stage of our hop across of the Pacific was from Honolulu to San Francisco - classified as an internal flight this time despite the distance so no ESTA issues (in fact the one that we had issued is good for 5 years apparently although I will definitely be checking this should I be venturing back to America).

We arrived to a foggy San Francisco and checked in to what was probably the swishiest accomodation on our trip - the Fairmont Hotel perched at the top of Mason Street with the City laid out below hiding in the late night gloom (see photo below).

I had visited SF some 25 years before on our Honeymoon (we had gone to Las Vegas first and then driven up through Death Valley and Yosemite) but I had forgotten how picturesque the CIty and the Bay area was. 

On a bright and breezy first morning, A and I took a bike ride through the Golden Gate Bridge Park to Sausalito passing the site of the SF Expo (some of the  buildings still standing from both the 1915 and the 1939 editions) and the over the bridge itself before heading down to the  harbour where we had lunch before loading our bikes onto a ferry and heading back to Fisherman’s Wharf.

The views back towards the main conurbation highlighted the steep inclines rammed with houses and buildings that characterise the city and also the contrast between the surrounding  green hills and escarpments and the sparkling blue waters of  Bay. 

We also passed Alcatraz Island and so decided that we would try to pay a visit. However, we arrived at the departure gate  just in time to miss the last ferry of the day which was a bit annoying but it gave us time to explore Fisherman’s Wharf and choose a restaurant for our evening meal. This we spent at The Crab Shack - a great example of how good food could be in the US if it is done well!  

Summer Tour - Hawaii Part 2

Although for the most part Hawaii was intended as a convenient way of bridging the journey from Japan to mainland USA and for some R&R, I did manage to do a bit of exploration of both the surrounding coastline and the local museums.

Hawaii is basically a series of volcanoes and Oahu definitely had some very striking vistas particularly along the coastline as the photos below testify.

The Honolulu tourist board run a series of  tram tours  which included one which took a trip up the coast (passing the house that Barack Obama was born in) which took around 1.5 hours and included various stops at vantage points along the way. The volcanic activity had created a harsh, barren landscape on the seaboard side which provided some stunning views. 

By contrast the low lying  inland areas were quite green and pleasant with the various lakes and mountains breaking up the landscape to create a vivid series of contrasts when framed by the clear blue skies and bright sunshine.

One of the real highlights was the clearness of the air - unsurprising I guess given the fact that Hawaii is 1000’s of kilometres from the nearest major landmass with the attendant light and air pollution and this was also captured by the local artists in the museums and art galleries I visited.

This included the Bishop Museum - which rather reminded me of a smaller version of the British Museum (particularly with its Blue Whale centrepiece and mixture of oak panelling and native artefacts). The Honolulu museum of Art was also very well endowed, residing in a colonial style low rise building with lots of little courtyards and passageways which made for a very pleasant afternoon’s exploration.

Summer Tour - Hawaii Part 1

 After the ESTA related stress of getting to Hawaii and the heavy duty sightseeing in hot and humid Japan, we took things nice and easy in Hawaii, staying at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel (made famous in the Joni Mitchell song Big Yellow Taxi) and a mainstay of the Waikiki beach front.

Accordingly, we spent most of the week or so we were in Hawaii on Oahu lounging by the pool and trying to catch some surf (sadly the waves were relatively benign while we were there) and generally relaxing. 

Hawaii was a massive contrast to Japan both in terms of food, culture, service levels and cost - tipping was expected for everything usually starting at 18% for even the most basis counter transaction whereas in Japan tipping was not expected and if you did tip is was very well received.

It was also very heavily populated - our hotel was among a number that crowded around Waikiki Beach  - and as one might expect was very popular with tourists from mainland USA.

We did not do much travelling around but we did make the trip to Pearl Harbour which was a relatively short taxi ride out of town. The mood and ambience was very different from down-town Honolulu with the wreck of SS Arizona (completely destroyed during the Pearl Harbour attack by Japan) now a war memorial reached by a short boat ride out to its former berth where it took a direct hit to its munitions store sinking it almost immediately with huge loss of life. 

Part of the superstructure is still visible above the waves and end section contains an enclosed area with board containing the names of all of those who lost their lives. Very sombre.

Whilst it is still used by active warships, other parts of the naval base have been converted into a submarine museum and an aeroplane museum which were very well put together and made for a fascinating  and sobering day of exploration. One of the more interesting facts that we learned was that a number of the warships that were sunk during the attack were subsequently salvaged from the seabed and repaired fit to return to service in the war.

Particularly interesting was the WW2 Submarine that had been opened to the public. Even the Captain’s cabin (pictured) was tiny and I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been to be cooped up inside whilst patrolling deep beneath the sea.