True Colours

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The day starts with a brisk walk this time thankfully only about five blocks uphill to the Castro for another guided tour. A little aside: these guided tours we have been doing are just fantastic, they are well organised and supported by volunteers who just happen to be passionate about the area/subject and they bring what you would normally walk past to life. For example; we learned much more about the real 'wild west' and how it impacted on the city and where Nob Hill fitted in. Some interesting statistics emerge that otherwise would go unlearned such as there being more dogs in SF than children! Hence the fact that some parks devote more space to dogs than kids! Dog walking is big business it seems, $20 per dog per hour sounds like a good deal to us. But returning to today, Castro is the home of the GLBT community and we learned the history of the district and the impact that Harvey Milk had on things. More fantastic houses and some challenging hills. A futile trip downtown on the street car eventually got us to the ticket service at Union Square and then on to the cable car. Universal agreement had us walk up Lombard Street and the twisty bit at the top that is featured in movies such as XX , sore legs buy hey, WTF. Night time brought us to the Fillmore theatre to listen to someone we had never heard of Holly Williams of the Hank Williams dynasty but hey, it's the Fillmore where the famous have been before, Peter Townsend, Janis Joplin et al so it has to be worth the trip across town. Started off with a good old country mix where all good fortune was coming down on the train, my mammy was away most of the time, never knowing how grand pappy died and so on but the main event was full-on country rock, not really Philip's cup of tea but you have to admire muso's who are really good at their stuff.

Photos
The rainbow flag in the Castro District
A mansion in the Castro district owned by philanthropist who rents apartments for a relatively low rent
Fantastic mosaic on wall of the Harvey Milk Academy created by parents and kids
Cool dude 
Us on the best ride of our life ,the famed cable car
View from the cable car

Skateboarders at the top of the zig zag Lombard district

I am women hear me roar ( a wonderous mural for a women's building in the Mission district)

American Grafitti

'Riding along on my push bike honey'

Five hours and twelve miles through the suburbs of San Francisco on trusty push bikes with an energetic and knowledgeable guide has to be the way to squeeze this city into bite-sized chunks. Made more enjoyable by great weather, today's venture into Hayes, Alamo Square, Panhandle Park, Haight Ashbury, Castro, Mission, Golden Gate Park and the Civic Centre, even stopping for lunch in a car park now devoted to food trucks offering cuisine from all over the world, had our heads spinning and some new muscles aching. A fantastic way to see the place and made easier (and safer) by the numerous dedicated bike lanes throughout the city. Philip now has the tee shirt as a badge of honour but Mary got the rhubarb crisp ice cream, made while you wait, yes, made from scratch using liquid nitrogen, before wandering home. Another night, another Italian restaurant this time Piattini nearby without a queue but with stunning Italian food served in the tapas style. Surprisingly we were the only diners in a place only open a few months, it can't be that competitive surely. The gratis limoncello at the end of the night was Mary's downfall. She thought it was a limonata and drink it like it was one!( pinned by Philip)

 

If you're going to San Francisco

Arrived in downtown Mission District yesterday and the first thing that struck us as we got off the underground train that it was ffffffreezing....Not something you think of for San Francisco but there you are. The ways the locals talk about it is that it is just like Melbourne. The Mission district is an interesting mix of the very poor and run down areas with lots of homeless and the very hip and happening funky bars,eateries and shops and also stunning houses. We are surprised at the long queues for what must obviously be the latest hip joint. Today we headed off up the hill for a great tour on the establishment of San Francisco in the district of Nob Hill. There are tours run by local volunteers who have an incredible love and history of the district. Ended the day in a very stylish Italian restaurant where we stumbled across the most delicious proscuitto ever and there was no queue! Mary has also found the home of strawberries quite by accident. You know how we say 'remember when xxxx tasted like they did' well the strawbs were in that mould, stunning flavour.

In the midst of all of this my phone died so got acquainted with some lovely young people at the apple shop who told me I needed a new battery. Left it there for an hour and came back with a phone with a new battery but the home button stuffed. It was like going into hospital with a broken leg( that the hospital had stuffed up in the first I place) and then to find out they had broken my arm as well. They promised to get me a brand new phone but not until later  in the week and put a work around on my phone in the meantime. Was I happy with this solution they asked....wrong question ! 

Anyway left the store with a lame iphone only to have it die on the way home with no chance of resusatation. So will be out of contact for a few days by phone. 

Now off to rest the weary bones from a day climbing great heights.

Philip and his friend Jame

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I booked a I tour the other day online and true to form didn't bother with details to discover that it was the Rasta Bus tour. No woman no cry I thought, let's hope Philip doesn't have to don a Bob Marley wig and that I have to sing my best karoke version of Get Up,Stand Up but no, thank god. Nothing of this nature was required. We are really not sure where the Rasta bit fitted in as there was no Bob Marley music blasting and no Kingston town accents. It was a fantastic tour with great stops, commentary and little vignettes about the drivers brush with celebrities. Philip and I found ourselves, much to our surprise, enjoying the drive around the beautiful mansions of Beverly Hills and the glitz and gloss of Rodeo Drive. We were really just ideas for our house and garden in Corrimal! Our very kind host Martha drove us the equivalent of Wollongong to Sydney so we could catch this bus. Again very grateful for the lovely Martha even though she doing all the flowers for a wedding tomorrow. We saw some other sights along the way and made some new and interesting friends. On our way home we were just about to cross the road when we heard sirens. I didn't know which way it's was coming from as the traffic was very dense only to get bawled out by two of LAPD's finest. When I tried to explain what had happened one of them said in a very loud voice that what he was saying was a monologue ( in other words shut the f....k up lady) while the other one was yelling that he was giving me an education.So I won't be doing any of that again.

We finished the night with food and cocktails at a very funky bar housed in a converted powerhouse with aerial artists and very soulful jazz, even Philip was tapping away. There were a few couples there that looked like they hadn't been going out too long and had a bit of an age difference. Enough said, San Francisco tomorrow.

Enjoying the sunshine in Santa Monica

We finally found Santa Monica beach after almost two hours on public transport. At one stage we were the only English speaking people on the bus  but nobody would have known as they can't understand a word we say. A stroppy driver was in complete contrast to many locals who have been very helpful, even had a passer-by comment on how well dressed we were! This was despite being in the same clothes we left Wollongong in. 

A bit of a hassle with the time/date conundrum and the body clocks are not cooperating too well....... So far there has been no addition to the baggage the theory working well on the first real test although I am noting where FedEx depots are.

Los Angeles is sure a city of contrasts, lots of wealth and also many homeless people who appear to be predominately black ,male and old. It is hard to reconcile this picture with the amazing architecture and obvious wealth. We were surprised to see so many shopping trolleys "parked" in the middle of town while the homeless went about their day. 

We are staying in a lovely apartment in downtown LA called my little Paris and we were greeted very enthusiastically by our host Martha, an obvious Francophile, from Cuba who offered to drive us around tonight and drop us back to Santa Monica tomorrow morning at 7.00am for a tour we are taking. Plus she sent us links to all of the hip and happening places around town. If only we weren't so tired. Another day tomorrow.....

Leaving Home

Well we are finally on the road after months of planning, and it is all down hill from here.! At least to the bus station. Our plan is to only have carry on luggage for the whole two months we are away. So far so good. I have to admit that out of sight is my "handbag" which had a bit in it.  But Philip, true to our plan, had only 7kg in his carry on and agreed to take my excess. A good star me thinks!

We decided to stay in Sydney overnight as our flight was relatively early in the morning. It was our first airbnb experience in downtown Paddington in a very quirky abode. Australia decided that it would give us a good farewell and one to remember. We had the pleasure of 1 million Sydney mossies at 3am this morning.

Hope you enjoy our blog. Watch this space.