Jez and Lou's California Trip

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2008-01-27T23:09:00.000-08:00

Hey all,
We haven't had much time to get on the net to write this blog. We are currently in Venice Beach, in Los Angeles, CA having a great time. We are leaving to goto Las Vegas tomorrow via hire car (cheaper than plane or bus). Just booked our accommodation - Caesar's Palace tomorrow night and Stratosphere Tower Hotel the next. We didn't plan on staying at these places, but the 'last minute travel websites' offered some amazing bargins!

After Wednesday we're not sure for certain we are doing, we will probably stay there for a few more days then head back to LA then onto San Fransico again reasonable quickly.

Will write some more when we get some time on the net.
UPDATE: We have added some more photos

Art, Riding and Dinner

2008-01-22T22:49:00.000-08:00

San Francisco Museum of Modern art. Good art gallery, lots of good artwork. I (jez) did the audio tour, while Lou wandered around hugging flamboyant (yes...in that way) art lovers who she seemed to know somehow).
Rode from Fisherman's Warf east towards the Pacific and over the Golden Gate Bridge. Fantastic view!! (See photos)
Dinner with Adam, a local San Franciscan we met at the bar the night before, at a local San Franciscan restaurant. Dave (another guy who had a massive night with us the night before) didn’t show up which was strange because him and adam were meant to watch ‘The Game’ (NFL footy) all Sunday at the bar. Great food! Best prime rib I have ever tasted.

Day 4: Staying at (S) Nob Hill and a massive night that ended in bar gambling and a new jacket.

2008-01-22T22:42:00.000-08:00

We missed breakfast at the hotel for some reason so we headed to Carls Jnr Burger for brunch.. we couldn’t order the Breakfast Burrito which my brother Rob had recommended so we got the Six Dollar burger meal..the burger was full of jalapeños so Jez liked it a lot! They like their spicy toppings in America thats for sure.. i’m not quite sure about it yet.. we walked around afterwards and Jez bought some more spicy beef jerky.. eek!! We went to look in a computer shop for Jez and then Macys shoes for me eheh

We checked out from King George hotel around 12ish and headed to a new hotel near Nob Hill on Hyde Street called Nob Hill hotel, where we got a tiny room and bathroom because it was an original 1920s style hotel.. the room was painted maroon and gold with a half canopy bed.. the lift was decorated similarly with mirrors and cherubs and roses.. a little scary to ride because it was so old but fun anyway.. this was the only part of the city which survived the 1906 earthquake and subsequent fire but I am not sure if this building was built shortly after as only one building survived.

We decided to check out the new area where we were staying ( Nob hill is meant to be the expensive side of town) and we walked up Hyde street which runs all the way to Fishermans wharf. We were looking at a restaurant close to our hotel which was closed for a private party and the owner/chef came out and invited us to come back at 7ish for free food and drinks to celebrate the restaurant’s first anniversary.. we decided to go to the bar on the opposite side of the street (called Hyde out) and then to head back for the free drinks later. We got to the new bar and instantly got chatting to the bar chick called Nicole about American beers.. we tried a few India pale ales and i believe I tried one called hemp ale which is grown by hippies somewhere in California.. it was really good!! The guy next to us started talking to us and suggested bass ale to Jez.. then we started chatting for ages and realised that the people were also heading to the same party across the street.. Free drinks were awesome.. we got Heinekens and sierra Nevada and plates of pasta.. yum!! Anyway we made quite a few friends.. Dave was one of these guys and he kept reminding us that he had left his phone at home and that he was going to get in big trouble with his wife when he got home coz he was out so late with us.. he decided to take Jez to his car to give him his jacket as a present for his Aussie friend!! He drive an Audi TT! Everyone was so friendly and everyone seemed to know everyone else in the bar.. the locals seem to hang out at their local bar and make lots of drinking friends.. its great! They even celebrated our presence by giving everyone shots called Kangaroo balls! Jez also got into a game of dice happening at the bar gambling away quarters.. I think the game was called 1-4-24... while I was busy putting dollar notes into the juke box. We then watched Dave (who was quite smashed at this point) do a trick for us which involved sucking up water with just an olive, a match a cup and a bowl.. we watched this three times very amazed for some reason!! Ehe

On the walk home we stopped at the supermarket to get some food since we had a microwave in our hotel room for the first time.. we got some honey battered mini corn dogs and pepperoni pizza and some milk (lol) to try out.. and yes it tasted as bad as it sounds!! The milk was quite sweet even though they don’t add any sugar.. but it tasted really sweet we couldn’t really drink it.. but it was a good end to the night with lots of unhealthy food J

Day 3: Headaches and Alcatraz

2008-01-20T11:49:00.000-08:00

Woke up at 6:30am feeling terrible after about 3 hours sleep. For about 30min we lay there trying to build up the courage to get. At one point Lou point blank refused to get out of bed saying she would go to Alcatraz next time she was passing San Francisco. Eventually we got up but by then we were running very late and had to call a Taxi instead of getting the Cable Car that we had planned to do. Oh, we had a quick breakfast too .-Bagels and Jam

Alcatraz was really good but really cold. The view from the island of San Francisco was fantastic. After Alcatraz we went back to Boudin for some more clam chowder. Tasty stuff!

Day 2: Tour, beer and blues

2008-01-20T11:48:00.000-08:00

We decided to do the tourist thing and go on a bus tour around San Francisco. Although being a slightly cliché thing to do, we did find it very informative and helped us get our bearings. We took lots of photos which are available in the photo section. After the tour we walked around Fishermans Warf. It’s a touristy area in between Darling Harbour in Sydney and Docklands in Melbourne. We didn’t find it that exciting actually. One notable place was a large bakery called Boudin (French for something). They specialised in sourdough bread which tasted fantastic. One of their best dishes is the Clam Chowder in a sour dough bread bowl, which we ate and liked so much we had the next day also.

Walking back from Fishermans Warf to our hotel is about 3miles. On the way home we dropped into a local brewpub to ‘lift a few’ (US lingo, not mine). There we met a really nice local dude who we talked to for about 3 hours. The beers at this pub were fantastic! They made 5 different styles, the best was the IPA which tasted similar to Little Creatures with a more hoppy body. He recommended a few good places to go out and see around town. Many beers later and after saying goodbye to him we went to the local Italian restaurant which was very nice and then up the hill to the local “Saloon Bar” which he had also recommended. The Saloon Bar was fantastic! Live blues and nice beer. By now it was very late and we decided to walk home. Somehow we made it to our hotel room around 3am in the morning fell asleep, unfortunately knowing we had to wake up at 6:30am to go on the 9:00 am Alcatraz tour we had booked the previous day.

Day 1: Arrival in San Francisco and a little shopping.

2008-01-20T11:47:00.000-08:00

We arrived in SFO airport after a fairly turbulent trip. I didn’t sleep at all on the plane thanks to the awesome on board entertainment –stacks of new movies, TV shows and CD’s to listen to. Lou had a little sleep i think. Customs was fine and quick apart from the little freak out we had when we read that we had to declare ‘all food items’ because Lou decided she couldn’t go without Vegemite for 3 weeks and had brought some with her.

Hotel was fine, nice and clean, free wireless etc. We were both really tired but decided to go for a walk down to Union Square straight after unpacking. Union square specifically refers to a little park thing –very similar to Federation Square and not that exciting. However, people generally refer to Union Square as a collection of 6 big blocks or so full of nice shops which was a bit confusing at first. Some that come to mind are Macy’s, Apple Store (the flagship one), Nordstrom, FCUK, Virgin megastore etc. When Lou learned of this she was very excited indeed.

For dinner we went to an All American Diner thing where the waitress was called Mrs Louisiana Somethingorother. I had a ‘broiled’ hamburger thing and Lou had something similar. Halfway through our meal, and to my shock, I read on the wall “US Surgeon Generals Warning: Food products used in this establishment have been shown to cause birth defects and/or cancer”. We didn’t order desert. Later on we found that sign commonly around the place, especially on the pervasive Hot Dog stands on every corner.

Everywhere you go there is free wifi, so it looks like we can post and check emails fairly frequently while having breakfast etc.

Welcome to our travel blog

2008-01-14T18:07:00.000-08:00

Since we are not there yet we dont have much to say.
Here is something I (ok ok Wikipedia) prepared earlier.

California (IPA: /ˌkælɪˈfɔrnjə/) is a state located on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, and Arizona to the southeast, as well as by Baja California in Mexico to the south. The most populous U.S. state, California's capital city is Sacramento, and its four largest cities are Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, and San Francisco. California is known for its varied climate and geography, as well as for its ethnically diverse population. The state is divided into 58 counties.