Hi Everyone,
We've had a very fun filled few days (I couldn't track down an internet cafe - sorry guys!!!).
The last day in San Francisco we spent running around the city trying to see the last few things that we wanted to see! lol!
We started by getting a bus to the Painted Ladies. The painted ladies themselves did not prove to be a very interesting sight but it was worth the trip to see Alamo Square and the views of the city. Alamo square was very cute and the city views were fabulous (although we were to encounter better views later in the day up Coit Tower).
From there we headed back down to Montgomery to go to the San Franciscan Museum of Modern Art (SF MOMA). It didn't open until 11am so we grabbed a coffee from the Metreon centre and eat it while watching people doing Tai Chi (and with me having a rant about the fact America should spend less on defense and more on a national health care scheme!).
The SF MOMA is housed is a really beautiful, if a little odd, building. The lobby and staircase are made from black granite and the ceiling is white. There are also two huge psychodelic pictures either side of the central staircase. We started by seeing the Lee Friedlander exhibit, which I was really really impressed by. Hes an American photographer who over the past 40 or so years has taken pictures documenting American society. I really liked the Mount Rushmore photo. After that we had a look around the rest of the exhibits. The gallery spaces reminded me of Tate Modern. I was not amazingly impressed with the galleries permanent collection, I felt the artists pieces they had on show were not their best pieces (if that makes sense!). The gallery was really nice though and I'm really pleased we saw the Lee Friedlander exhibit.
After that we headed up the hill to Coit Tower. We got the escalator to the top of the tower itself. This was really cool, it had fantastic views over the city and bay, well worth doing if you visit San Fran. The gardens and houses around it are really cute too!
From there we headed down to Pier 33 to go on our Alcatraz 'Night tour', this tour left at 4.40pm and came back at 7.30pm or 8.15pm so it was more of a late afternoon tour! lol! We were a bit early so we had a coffee while we waited. We boarded the boat and took a bit of a cruise around the bay on the way to ALLLLCCCCAATTTTTRRRRAAZZZZZZ. When we arrived a guide walked us up the hill to the prison telling us about a success story of Alcatraz and a failure story of Alcatraz. The success story went on the foster 96 children!!! Apparently he just turned up on the tour one day and when a guide jokingly asked if anyone in the group had been in the prison he kept putting his hand up, they checked it out and he had! Alcatraz is the prison prisoners go to if they have tried to escape from other prisons, this meant that it had a mix of offenders, some may have been serving time for petty offenses, some were murderers etc.
We walked into the prison and they gave us audio tapes to listen too, these were actually really really good and led you around the prison. They were narrated by old prisoners and guards from Alcatraz. They would explain certain escape attempts and also different events in Alcatrazs' history. We took the tour and then spent sometime outside watching the sun go down. 'The Rock' is actually a really really pretty spot!!! We then got the boat back to the City as the sun was setting across the bay! Was lovely!!!
From there we headed to Burgermeister, which was well nice. Award winning burgers made from Niman Beef.
The following morning we got the airport door to door service bus back to San Fran airport. We had a bit of confusion while checking in cause they made us check in at the self-service desk, when I tried to check in it wouldn't let me. Then a women came over and just checked in our bags and walked off and didn't check me in. Another guy helped, it turned out that my itinery had Rob's reference number on it. The original women told me I had been moved to another flight! I was soooo scared! But it was fine, it all worked out. We went through security and I had a chat with my parents and Granny while eating some lunch. We got the plane at 1.30pm. The flight was fine, a bit turbulancy but fine. A film called Waterdragon was on, which was effectively some kind of Lochness monster film. Rob ignored it and hated it until the little kid said to the waterdragon "You're the best friend I ever had" now he thinks its awesome and cute. Hmmmmmm! Lol! The flight was 5 and a half hours long (only an hour and a half less than the flight back to the UK!). We arrived at 10pm (time difference!!!). We saw the NYC skyline as we arrived! Was sooooo pretty!
We got off the plane and headed to the subway station, Rob still thinks he saw Kofi Annan at the subway station, he definately did not unless Kofi Annan has started working for the MTA (Metropolitan Transport Authority). Rob thinks he may have decided to work for the MTA as a more slow paced job after the UN!!! lol! We got the subway to our hostel which is in the Upper East Side. Its called the wanderers inn, its really cute!!! Its in a brownstone building! Also we thought we would be in an 8 dorm and were in a 4 dorm so thats awesome! Although the women on the desk was a bit rude and then added 80 dollars of taxes to our bill!!! I'm going to check this with hostelworld who we booked though!!! Anyways, after we had checked in we grabbed a slice of pizza and then headed to bed after that!
Yesterday we got up (a little later than expected... my sedatives always make me need a long sleep the next day!!!) and we walk the 4 blocks to fifth avenue. We got the bus down to the Empire State Building. The subway would have been quicker but I thought the bus was good so Rob could see a bit of the city! Plus, on the way down I SAW JERRY SEINFELD!!! He was standing on the back of a paramount pictures lorry outside the Met!!! It was sooooo cool! Such a cool spot, their filming something in a building across the road from the Met... have to find out what that is!!!
After all that excitement we headed up the Empire State, this was really cool, although it was a bit of a misty day! I don't like how the Empire State just funnel you around different rooms as well!!! From there we headed to Greenwich Village to go to a cafe called Grey Dog for lunch. This was a really cool place, I really liked it! It had a really nice atmosphere and served really nice food at a very reasonable price... definately recommend that one! After that we walked down Bleeker to go to Magnolia Bakery, Rob started elbowing me really really hard I was like WHAT? I looked up and walking down the road right past us was SIMON PEGG!!! Wearing some really really nice glasses! He blantantly saw we were staring at him cause my mouth dropped wide open!!! HES SOOOOOOO FIT!!! Such a cool spot, Rob just stopped and looked around and stared at him and couldn't say anything except what sounded like 'ohurrr' for the next minute!!! lol!
We then went to Magonlia bakery and had AMAZING cakes... as per usual!!! lol! We sat in the square and eat those. From there we headed over to see the Tiles for America 9/11 memorial. Then we headed into Brooklyn. We wandered around Brooklyn heights and had a coffee, then we went into the second hand book store that when my dad went in the man behind the counter said "Is this your first day here? Can I just take this opportunity to apologise for our president" lol! We got 5 books for $3.49!!! I got two about Bush... one by Maureen Dowd which is very interesting!!!
From there we walked down the Brooklyn Prom and then over the Brooklyn bridge!!! We headed into the square by the courthouse where they filmed the new Bravia advert! After that we headed back into Greenwich Village and went to Corner Bistro! This was really cool, but not as good as last time! After that we headed to a place called Peculiar Pub, which was really cool and sells more than 500 beers!!! lol!
Today we got up and headed to Central Park around lunchtime (Rob did laundry in the morning). We grabbed some picnic stuff and sat and had a picnic! Such nice weather today, the evening was 16 degrees and it was hotter during the day!
From there we headed to the Whitney where we saw the Bienntial exhibition, I have to say I've always liked the Whitney's exhibits but I was not impressed by this one. There were some nice pieces but apparently this exhibition has been known to be a bit hit and miss!
After the Whitney we headed over to grab some dinner, we walked staight past Zelda from Sabrina the Teenage Witch on the way!!! lol! We headed to Comfort Diner, which I really like! Rob eat the epic piece of chocolate cake, which when I was there last time I asked for a small piece of and the guy laughed at me! lol! He finished it off! I thought he was going to through up but he managed it and proclaimed that throwing up was cheating! lol!
After that HUGE meal we walked to Grand Central Station, which is sooooo cool! Rob was very impressed! He proclaimed that it was "More palacial than Buckingham Palace" (Lis!!! lol). Then he took it back and said that might be a little silly! lol!
We then got the subway to the Rockefeller centre, we wanted to do this so that Rob could see the city from above by day (Empire State) and above by night (Rockefeller Centre). I actually prefer the Rockefeller centre because it has nicer displays and more space at the top, unlike the Empire State where you get push around weird rooms that they try to sell you more and more stuff in! lol! We watched a couple of short films about the centre and then went up to the 'Top of the Rocks'. The view was stunning, it looks sooooooo lovely at night!!! We spent about an hour up there and then headed back to the hostel!
The plan for today was to go to Coney Island and then to the New York Public Library and the UN building, then to St Mark's Place for dinner but unfortunately, Rob isn't feeling very well so hes in bed! We'll have to see what we end up getting up to today! Luckly I have my Bushworld book, which I AM LOVING reading!
I hope everyone is well!!!
Lots of Love,
Sarah xxx
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