San Francisco
November 3 - 4 - 5
2011
KEEP TRACK OF JERRY
Jerry writes on the
‘Jerry’s News’ page.
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Report for each city
ITINERARY AMERICA 2011
October 19, 2011 (Wednesday)
Dublin - London - New York
October 20 - 21, 2011
NEW YORK REPORT click for more
October 22 - 23, 2011
WASHINGTON REPORT click for more
October 24 - 25 - 26, 2011
CHICAGO REPORT click for more
October 26 - 27, 2011
DENVER REPORT click for more
October 28, 2011
GRAND JUNCTION click for more
October 29, 2011
DURANGO click for more
October 30 - 31 Nov 1, 2011
FLAGSTAFF click for more
November 1 - 2, 2011
LOS ANGELES click for more
November 3 - 4 - 5, 2011
SAN FRANCISCO click for more
November 5, 2011
San Francisco - London - Dublin
November 6, 2011
Return to Dublin
SAN FRANCISCO
4th November 2010, San Francisco, California
Well, what a contrast. San Francisco is an amazing city!
But, first things first. After an exhausting, horrendous train journey of 13 hours we arrived into Oakland Railway Station and transferred to our hotel in San Francisco arriving at 11.30pm.
The Long Train
The first 3 hours of the train journey up along the coast and the trip through the Cascade Mts. was interesting, but, the other 9 hours were boring and dull.
Lots of flat farmland and crops being picked be Mexican labourers and some uninteresting ranch country did nothing for me at all.
It was the same for my fellow travellers and the consensus was that it would have been better to come to ’Frisco by bus (about 5 hours) or plane (about I hour).
Cascade Mountains
First View of the Pacific
Scrubland, Northern California
San Francisco Vista
Slept very well and had a good breakfast and am just back from the first part of the city tour which was great. City Hall reminds me of Les Invalides in Paris, Most impressive.
The view from the Twin Peaks was superb and I even purchased an enamel painting from a young artist there which is excellent. I know the place for it in my living room already!
City Hall
Catholic Cathedral
Catholic Cathedral Entrance
We then continued to The Golden Gate bridge, which I think is ‘de riguer’ for anyone coming to San Francisco. Lots of pics taken, which will indicate how much I thought of the city.
Golden Gate Bridge
There’s a lovely, lived in. feel to this city which I like. We’re on a lunch break now with the visit to Alcatraz to look forward to in the afternoon, which I’ll write about later!
GALLERY - 30 images
Alcatraz
Alcatraz in the distance
The trip to Alcatraz was interesting. It was used as a federal prison for only 29 years, but, its reputation far exceeds that. Although only a little over a mile off shore it might as well have been a thousand to the inmates, they were so isolated.
One of the things that struck me was the cramped conditions that the inmates had to endure. 5x9 was the dimensions of each cell. Not enough room to swing a cat, if you had one to swing. Yes, it was a tough regime alright.
GALLERY - 10 images
Basic Cell : Nine by Five
Visitation Block
Warning Sign - Alcatraz
Final Dinner
We went to the final dinner last night to Alioto’s, a seafood restaurant, which was exceptional. It wasn’t cheap but when you get good food served well you don’t mind paying a little extra.
Some of us then went to Tiernan’s, an Irish pub which quite frankly was awful! The only thing Irish about some of the ‘Irish Bars’ is the fact that they serve Guinness and other Irish drinks.
There was a guy on keyboards and singing, murdering a lot of middle of the road pop songs. Keyboard, sound system, and big ego, was all he had going for him.
Home to bed and breakfast this morning and that’s just about the end of this odyssey. Reflections to come later!
Jerry
5th November 2011
San Francisco Airport, California
When I said in my previous blog that reflections would come later, I forgot that I still had almost a full day in San Francisco to wait before my flight to London and then on to Dublin.
I decided to finish my stay in this city by taking a cable car ride from Fisherman’s Wharf to Market St. via Mason and Powell Streets.
San Francisco Trolley Car
This was a brilliant experience and one that I’m glad I did not forego. Sitting on the outside of the cable car and riding through Chinatown and Little Italy was a great way to finish my American Odyssey.
GALLERY - 4 images
Last thoughts with rain at San Francisco Airport
As we left for the airport the rain started which is appropriate. I rained on the night we arrived into JFK airport in New York and it rained as we departed from San Francisco airport.
This has been an eye opening experience for me. I’ve visited places that I’ve always wanted to visit and also visited places I never ever wanted to see.
The two cities that I really liked were Chicago and San Francisco. For some reason I felt very comfortable and at home in both these cities. There was a great feeling of humanity in both places.
I really enjoyed Denver, The Rockies, the San Juan Mts., Monument Valley and The Grand Canyon.
For very different reasons I also enjoyed New York and Washington, both cities I’ve been in before.
Meeting old friends and inter reacting with them was heartwarming. Will I come back? Almost certainly, because despite what I did not enjoy overall it was a great adventure!
Jerry
and more
5th November 2010
San Francisco, California
Sitting in the hotel room in San Francisco, bags packed and ready to get myself organised for the long trip home!
The trip to Alcatraz was interesting. It was used as a federal prison for only 29 years, but, its reputation far exceeds that. Although only a little over a mile off shore it might as well have been a thousand to the inmates, they were so isolated.
One of the things that struck me was the cramped conditions that the inmates had to endure. 5x9 was the dimensions of each cell. Not enough room to swing a cat, if you had one to swing. Yes, it was a tough regime alright.
We went to the final dinner last night to Alioto’s, a seafood restaurant, which was exceptional. It wasn’t cheap but when you get good food served well you don’t mind paying a little extra.
Some of us then went to Tiernan’s, an Irish pub which quite frankly was awful! The only thing Irish about some of the ‘Irish Bars’ is the fact that they serve Guinness and other Irish drinks.
There was a guy on keyboards and singing, murdering a lot of middle of the road pop songs. Keyboard, sound system, and big ego, was all he had going for him.
Home to bed and breakfast this morning and that’s just about the end of this odyssey. Reflections to come later!
Jerry
5th November 2011
San Francisco Airport, California
When I said in my previous blog that reflections would come later, I forgot that I still had almost a full day in San Francisco to wait before my flight to London and then on to Dublin.
I decided to finish my stay in this city by taking a cable car ride from Fisherman’s Wharf to Market St. via Mason and Powell Streets.
This was a brilliant experience and one that I’m glad I did not forego. Sitting on the outside of the cable car and riding through Chinatown and Little Italy was a great way to finish my American Odyssey.
As we left for the airport the rain started which is appropriate. I rained on the night we arrived into JFK airport in New York and it rained as we departed from San Francisco airport.
This has been an eye opening experience for me. I’ve visited places that I’ve always wanted to visit and also visited places I never ever wanted to see.
The two cities that I really liked were Chicago and San Francisco. For some reason I felt very comfortable and at home in both these cities. There was a great feeling of humanity in both places.
I really enjoyed Denver, The Rockies, the San Juan Mts., Monument Valley and The Grand Canyon.
For very different reasons I also enjoyed New York and Washington, both cities I’ve been in before.
Meeting old friends and inter reacting with them was heartwarming. Will I come back? Almost certainly, because despite what I did not enjoy overall it was a great adventure!
Jerry
Folk Leads Publications 2008