Thursday, 11 March 2010
BEAUTIFUL SAN FRANCISCO AND ALCATRAZ
Well after arriving last night we quickly showered and changed and were off out to find somewhere to eat (we were starving) ,anyway directly opposite where we are staying is a hotel called the Sir Francis Drake and attached to the hotel is a restaurant that seems to specialise in Italian food so we went for that and we wern`t dissapointed,although the waiter did try to give me the recipe for his salad dressing(does he realise that,s my specialty).Seriously the food was great and we slept well that night.
So it was another early start this morning 6.15,we haven`t got tea or coffee making facilities at this hotel in the room,what you have to do is take the lift down to the lobby and there you have what you want so you can guess it was my turn(betty does like her tea in bed).
Anyway we were out just after 8.00 to find our bearings and it was a lovely morning with not a cloud in the sky.now our day had already been pre planned we had got a two day pass for the tour bus that runs around san francisco and also we had booked a 10.am tour on the island of alcatraz,but what we decided to do was take the streetcar to fishermans wharf which is where we had to depart for alcatraz.
Now the streetcar here is something else you can just hop on the side and hold on ,all the seats are just wooden slats and the effort the driver has to put in to drive it is remarkable,he has got numerous levers to push and pull and foot pedals to control the braking i`m sure that the health and safety people wouldn`t allow them in england.
So we arrived at fishermans wharf and that is a great area ,we had to look for pier 33 which is where our boat was leaving from and that was easy to find ,now our tickets had been pre booked for alcatraz so betty was ok for getting back ,but i did notice that some guys were buying
their own and asking if they did just a one way ticket for their wives not that i would have asked!!!.Now the visit to alcatraz was something special,we were given a tour by a volunteer who you could tell was passionate about the place ,before alcatraz was a prison it started it`s days off by being a fortress to the bay of san francisco at the start of the californian gold rush and never became a prison until the 1930 s until 1963 when bobby kennedy ordered it`s closure.
The inside of the prison was pretty bleak especially the solitary confinement cells ,and it would have been a good swim if you decided that you wanted to escape.There was one of the surviving inmates in the bookshop who had served time on the rock,he had been a bank robber in new york and was sent to alcatraz to do time ,think he is one of only five who is still alive.The communal shower area and dining room were interesting and also the laundry area where al capone worked,but i could think of better places to stay in san francisco.Well we got back to fisjhermans wharf about 2.00pm and had lovely crab and prawn sandwich`s ,and then picked up a tour bus that took us over the golden gate bridge where we could take some photos and then came back across it and took us around the park area of san francisco and also the area that the hippies moved into in the sixties (i`m sure their are a few of us that can remember that era).Anyway it was a good opportunity to take some more photos before returning to union square which is where we are .Now betty has had a little doze on the bed while i have been figuring out how to download pictures(i`m doing something wrong but i don`t know what)anyway we will print this notice and try and download the pictures later.
speak soon brian.
So it was another early start this morning 6.15,we haven`t got tea or coffee making facilities at this hotel in the room,what you have to do is take the lift down to the lobby and there you have what you want so you can guess it was my turn(betty does like her tea in bed).
Anyway we were out just after 8.00 to find our bearings and it was a lovely morning with not a cloud in the sky.now our day had already been pre planned we had got a two day pass for the tour bus that runs around san francisco and also we had booked a 10.am tour on the island of alcatraz,but what we decided to do was take the streetcar to fishermans wharf which is where we had to depart for alcatraz.
Now the streetcar here is something else you can just hop on the side and hold on ,all the seats are just wooden slats and the effort the driver has to put in to drive it is remarkable,he has got numerous levers to push and pull and foot pedals to control the braking i`m sure that the health and safety people wouldn`t allow them in england.
So we arrived at fishermans wharf and that is a great area ,we had to look for pier 33 which is where our boat was leaving from and that was easy to find ,now our tickets had been pre booked for alcatraz so betty was ok for getting back ,but i did notice that some guys were buying
their own and asking if they did just a one way ticket for their wives not that i would have asked!!!.Now the visit to alcatraz was something special,we were given a tour by a volunteer who you could tell was passionate about the place ,before alcatraz was a prison it started it`s days off by being a fortress to the bay of san francisco at the start of the californian gold rush and never became a prison until the 1930 s until 1963 when bobby kennedy ordered it`s closure.
The inside of the prison was pretty bleak especially the solitary confinement cells ,and it would have been a good swim if you decided that you wanted to escape.There was one of the surviving inmates in the bookshop who had served time on the rock,he had been a bank robber in new york and was sent to alcatraz to do time ,think he is one of only five who is still alive.The communal shower area and dining room were interesting and also the laundry area where al capone worked,but i could think of better places to stay in san francisco.Well we got back to fisjhermans wharf about 2.00pm and had lovely crab and prawn sandwich`s ,and then picked up a tour bus that took us over the golden gate bridge where we could take some photos and then came back across it and took us around the park area of san francisco and also the area that the hippies moved into in the sixties (i`m sure their are a few of us that can remember that era).Anyway it was a good opportunity to take some more photos before returning to union square which is where we are .Now betty has had a little doze on the bed while i have been figuring out how to download pictures(i`m doing something wrong but i don`t know what)anyway we will print this notice and try and download the pictures later.
speak soon brian.
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
MOVING ON TO SAN FRANCISCO
hello, well we loved the Donny and Marie Show last night. We didn`t know how it would go because it was the first show after Marie had lost her son. I don`t know how she did it but she managed to hold it all together. She had a standing ovation when she cameon stage, everyone was on her side. When we arrived at the Flamingo Hotel Theatre we were shown to our table. It was a table of six and the other four people were already settled in,two couples from New Jersey. They turned out to be great fun and immediatly ordered us a drink. I think the show was the best I`d ever seen the dancing was brilliant and Donny and Marie are great entertainers so big thanks to Paul Jo and Faye for that lovely surprise. After the show we had a drink at the Double Piano Bar in the Paris Hotel.
Well after packing we had a walk up to the Monte Carlo Hotel and back to Caesars Palace. We found a shop that sold globes and Brian must have spent half an hour trying to explain about the time differences. We even miss a day out when we go to Fiji. well my head hurts! Jenny and Trisha will know what I mean because it takes some explaining to sort out my holidays! Bri has just said that we are 8 hours behind you in England and 9 in France.
The flight went well this afternoon and hotel is not as bit as the Ballys in Vegas but its lovely with some nice little touches like sweets and cookies in the bedroom. Theres a lot of noise out at the moment it sounds like a protest bris gone to have a look. I`ll let you know whats going on he`ll be back in a minute. I am starving so looking forward to finding somewhere to eat. Travelling days I find are tiring but once I get in that lovely hot bath I feel revived.
If anybody wants to look at our itinary its on feb 23 we couldn`t work out how to put it separatly.
Bri is back and apparently they are Tibetans demonstrating to free Tibet should be interesting here..
Well after packing we had a walk up to the Monte Carlo Hotel and back to Caesars Palace. We found a shop that sold globes and Brian must have spent half an hour trying to explain about the time differences. We even miss a day out when we go to Fiji. well my head hurts! Jenny and Trisha will know what I mean because it takes some explaining to sort out my holidays! Bri has just said that we are 8 hours behind you in England and 9 in France.
The flight went well this afternoon and hotel is not as bit as the Ballys in Vegas but its lovely with some nice little touches like sweets and cookies in the bedroom. Theres a lot of noise out at the moment it sounds like a protest bris gone to have a look. I`ll let you know whats going on he`ll be back in a minute. I am starving so looking forward to finding somewhere to eat. Travelling days I find are tiring but once I get in that lovely hot bath I feel revived.
If anybody wants to look at our itinary its on feb 23 we couldn`t work out how to put it separatly.
Bri is back and apparently they are Tibetans demonstrating to free Tibet should be interesting here..
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
THEMED HOTELS IN VEGAS
Well to walk down the strip in las vegas and walk into the hotels that line this road is really something else,most of the hotels are themed such as Paris,this hotel features a scaled down version of the eiffel tower, at the side of it is a replica of the arc de triomphe and all inside are various bistros,cafes,boutiques and french restaurants.It really is tastefully done,but the first thing that hits you with all the hotels as you open their front doors are the slot machines,card tables,roulette wheels and anything else that relates to gambling,and regardless of the time of day or night there are people playing something.Now bearing in mind these hotels are usually four to five thousand room buildings and the floor space dedicated to the gamling is always the ground floor and they are huge.We did venture on to the slot machines today and needless to say we lost(that now means we have lost a euro in the casino in monte carlo and a dollar in the bellagio in las vegas )i hope they are not counting on our money.The Venetian hotel is obviously themed on venice ,it has it`s own st marks square and a little canal system complete with gondolas and little bridges crossing the canal,there is an abundance of designer shops in this hotel.We went back to the Belaggio for our lunch ,now this is a beautiful hotel and their buffet is to die for you can find anything you want be it hot or cold and it is waitress service for any drinks.To sum it up it is a playground for adults with everything in excess,you could really over indulge here .Paula you would do really well here with slimming world class. In fact Paula betty is sleeping her lunch off as i am writing the blog.Well we collected our tickets from the Flamingo hotel earlier on for tonights show with Donny and Marie Osmond and are looking forward to that,we will try and take a few photos if allowed.We are taking a flight to San Francisco tomorrow so will try and post when we get there.Thanks Rob for the photo of rubery!.Monday, 8 March 2010
Day 1 in Vegas
Good morning feel so much better today. Well we took Chris`s advice and went to Bellagios for a buffet breakfast and we were starving. There was everything you could imagine so thanks Chris. We then made our way down the strip. Every hotel had a different theme The shops were fantastic in fact each hotel must have been as big as Merryhill! I couldn't`t find my way round still don`t know where I am! We were missing our curry so found a lovely Indian Restaurant tonight and then back at Ballys we had live entertainment sort of a Fleet wood Mac sound, Talking of entertainment the strip was full of advertisements for girls who could be with you in half an hour????? was that to do the cleaning? Well it`s 11 15 and Brian is snoring! are we getting old! I think everyone else is just going out. Will give a better report tomorrow goodnight bet x x
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