The Steep Hilled City

A long and tedious flight from Hawaii - mainly due to a badly behaved child and 2 parents who did nothing but shout at each other in some foreign language. Supposed to take 4 hours and 44 minutes but actually took just over 5 hours plus of course they don't feed you so unless you want to spend lots of dosh on a dodgy looking sandwich you go without. Luggage took forever to arrive on the belt and then it was about a mile walk to the shuttle. Still we arrived at our hotel about 10:30pm last night (2 hour time difference so we are now 8 hours behind you all). A lovely room and a bath (our first since Christchurch). We dash out for food and a couple of beers to unwind over and then a nice relaxing bath before falling into bed after midnight (new time), after a quick earthquake rehearsal in the event of one occurring. (There was a 4.2 the day before we got here).

Lazy morning walking down by the wharf, tis cooler here - long trousers required but very sunny. Have a breakfast overlooking the sea lions on pier 39 and then head back to the hotel for the basics of laundry and internet access. (which is free to hotel guests - you just need a pass to the 5th floor). Chinese New Year is a big thing here as San Francisco has the largest Chinatown in the U.S. We head up there early but the place is already packed. The parade starts about on time and includes the city mayor, lotsd of local school kids and bands. As it is the year of the pig / boar...all the kids are dressed in little pink piggy costumes which is mildly amusing, they do look quite cute ! After an hour, the parade is still going on but we need food and so walk through the crowds back in the direction of our hotel for some much needed sustanance. Watching the highlights later on T.V. we learn that over 100,000 people were there for the parade, all peaceful and friendly sorts on the whole which is nice. Also been watching pictures of a big landslide that occurred a couple of days before the earthquake here in the city...tis all go here ! Boston looks cold as they currently have flooding and the MidWest has severe snowstorms and tornedoes....glad we are missing that bit out.

Today, Sunday 4th March, we have been on a walking tour of the city...bit tired now, these hills are killers. Started with a cable car ride into the main city centre and a walk to the City Hall, Symphony Hall, Opera House and United Nations area. Then up some big hills to see the houses where Mrs Doubtfire was filmed...you know the nice Victorian ones. Back down the hill and into the city again to visit a music shop...didn't buy anything. Then the cable car back to the wharf and a short walk back to our hotel...pretty exhausting. Out for dinner to a small Irish bar that does a great Sunday roast - yummy !

Off to Alcatraz today, take the ferry across and then climb the steep hill to the cellblock for an audio guided tour which is fantastic. Takes about 45 minutes and is very informative. We walk around the island for photo opportunities of the Bay Bridge and the city, then it is back on the boat and back to the wharf. Back at hotel by 3pm for a rest before dinner. Promisingly have just watched the weather and snow is forecast for Boston on Wednesday - we arrive Thursday ! Weather here is very hot and sunny still but is supposed to break tomorrow.

Tuesday is wine tour day - might not update this tomorrow as might be a bit worse for wear - it's ok I'm still sober ! We started off by going to Oakland and then on to Berkley and on up into the Napa Valley. First stop was a small family run winery where we had a guided tour and tried 4 wines, the white was ok but the others not to great, a bit too sweet or dry. On we went to another winery down the road where the wines were similar to the previous ones, the tour was good though. Next stop was Sonoma, we love it here - it's great - surrounded by hills, the main town is a plaza with old fashioned wooden buildings, some historic barracks and the mission building. We found a great place for lunch - Mary's Pizza Shack - had ravioli for lunch which as it turned out came with bread, a caesar salad and a plate of ravioli and homemade tomato sauce - beautiful, the best pasta I have ever eaten !!! Back on the bus to our third and final winery, a Tuscan style building on top of a hill surrounded by waterlands and the vines, rather obviously owned by an Italian family. The 3 wines we tasted here were great, so we had a glass of the last one on the patio, as the sun was starting to set :-)  Back to hotel via the Golden Gate Bridge as the fog rolled in at great speed over the mountains and bridge - very eerie. Dinner at our local (the Irish bar) where they now recognise us as we go in...it is a tiny bar !

Very quiet day yesterday - last laundry run, packing etc ahead of today's flight to Boston, where it is supposed to get warmer from tomorrow so fingers crossed, they have been wrong with the weather evey day here ! Best run our airport shuttle awaits us.