Thursday, 18 August 2011

• Exhaustion...

  Yes, that is the best way to describe how I currently feel. Exhausted.

  There are many, many pictures to come soon, but for now I am still in California. It is 8:00 local time (which is 11 PM Jersey Time) and my flight is at 12:40 PM, which means the shuttle is to pick me up from the hotel (where I am typing this entry) at about 10:30. As I have some time to kill, and a free computer with 'net access...Hullo, Xanga. :)

  Here is a brief account of my trip. Sadly, no pictures. They will come later.

  Monday, the flight was supposed to depart at 5:45. I planned to leave Mum & Dad's at about 3, heading for Newark Airport. I check the flight times online and saw that the flight had been delayed roughly an hour. This resulted in me missing the connecting flight out of Cincinnati. After calling the airline (and not panicking, the Hitchhiker's Guide clearly says you should Not Panic) I moved the Cincinnati to Cali flight to the next morning.

  The flight finally departed at 8:55, and arrived in the (very nice and modern) Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport at about 11PM. The airline was nice enough to put me up in a Residence Inn, which is actually an Extended Stay type place operated by the Marriott. So there was a stove and a fridge and a microwave in my room. Too bad I was only staying in it for barely a night. I slept maybe 4 hours and then got up at 6 to catch the 7AM shuttle to catch a 9:20 flight. The 7AM shuttle really didn't arrive until about 7:25, but I made the flight okay, no problem.

  I got to California at 11AM local time. Yay West Coast. Got my bag with no problem (was worried it would be lost, because, hey, why not?) and took the shuttle to my hotel. Checked in, called Mum to tell her I had arrived, and then went out for lunch. I had a quesadilla at some random street-side Mexican to-go place and walked around the wharf. Took pictures of the distant Alcatraz and also some sea lions that apparently hang out there every year.

  Went back to the hotel and took a shower (I was feeling filthy by this point) and changed into fresh clothes at last. I thought about going to several museums, but most of them closed at 5, and it was already 3 so I didn't think I'd make it before they closed. I asked the nice guy at the desk how I could get to Chinatown. "Oh," he said, "You can walk. Just go that way, down Columbus, and it's about 11 or 12 blocks."

  So I walked. I stopped to take pictures of a Cathedral that I passed along the way (just made it to that, they closed at 4) with white steeples. Then I walked around in Chinatown, bought a few trinkets and some other trinkets, and a scarf they call Pashmina. (I had bought one in NYC's Chinatown a few years back, but lost it. This one is blue with butterflies in it. Will post pictures once home.)

  Had sushi for dinner at a nice restaurant about a block from the hotel. Went back to the hotel, drew some drawings, and went to sleep.

  Day two, I went to several museums. First rode the Cable Car to the Cable Car Museum (fascinating place!) and then took the Muni to the Asian Art Museum, which happens to be right across from the impressive building that is City Hall. Got pictures, of course. Then I took the bus to the Cartoon Art Museum, which was basically a waste of time, and then took the Streetcar to a place called Mission Dolores, which is the oldest Catholic mission in the United States. (I like history).

  I took the Streetcar (the historic F Line) back up Market to the Embarcadero, which is a road that runs along the water, all the way back up to Fisherman's Wharf, where the hotel is. Once there, I had Clam Chowder in a Bread Bowl for dinner and then went to a place called the Musee Mechanique. (I dunno how to make accent marks on this computer, but there should be one over the second e in Musee). It was the kind of place that would definitely fit in Atlantic City or Coney Island, filled with lots of old mechanical games and attractions.

  Today, I rode a bike across the Golden Gate Bridge (boy are my legs tired), then took the ferry back from Sausalito. I had sushi again for dinner and then hung out in Starbucks for a bit afterward and finished by book. Now, all there is to do is wait for about 2 hours until the shuttle comes.

  Pictures to come, perhaps on Saturday or sooner?
  

  • 11:20 PM
  • 24 Views
  • 8 eProps
  • 9 Comments