So after a overnight trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles (and surprisingly well rested) on the American favourite ground transport, the greyhound. Haru had to return back to Japan early for work reasons (yeah, on our honeymoon, that’s what Japan thinks of newly married couples – they should cut honeymoons short for work reasons). So half of the day was spent navigating our way to LAX, and then working out how to leave the airport and get to my Wimdu booked accommodation just off Hollywood Boulevard. I strongly suggest to book your accommodation early by searching best places to stay online to get the best offer. I think in total, I got a train, bus, group shared mini-bus and the subway. It seemed to take forever and I can see why everyone has a car or hire limousines like 2021 Rolls Royce Cullinan Chauffeur Services.
Anyway, I’ll try not to moan too much like a typical Brit on holiday. But seriously LA – sort your public transportation out, you can use virtually any other country in the world as an example on how to improve your tourists ability to get around for those who don’t drive, or just don’t want to spend their time in your city in a traffic jam.
Ahem, I digress.
So downtown LA, from Greyhound, get uber taxi to train station, train station to a train near LAX, then another bus (paid for private company, not part of the general public transport to help people get to the airport) to the airport to say goodbye, followed by another shared bus company to get back into Hollywood. It was a mess and a lot of transfers just to go to an from the airport.
So anyway, now in Hollywood, why’s a guy to do? Well the star walk of course. As that’s pretty much the only thing to do there, anything else apart from watching a movie at the Chinese Theatre requires more transportation away. I was tempted by the tours on offer by guys hanging out at the side of the street, but had the feeling if I had planned this in advance I could have gotten a better deal. Because of all the time navigating LA’s transportation structure, I was out at late afternoon by the time I got to think about any tourist attractions, and quite frankly I didn’t want to be driven around in a bus looking at some celebrities houses in the dark. Maybe that was because I don’t care about celebrities or because I didn’t want to pay $60 for a drive around at night after already spending most of the day waiting and transporting.
Tagged as:
California,
Los Angeles,
USA
After crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, we decided to continue our bus tour to the end before returning into the city centre. The bus continued in an extended part of the tour to Sausalito, somewhere I’d never heard of or planned to visit, but thought we should as it was part of the tour so had free transport there effectively. The tour used a separate smaller bus for this, as the main tour bus turned around and went back across the bridge and into the city.
Sausalito had a similar vibe to SF but on a smaller scale, and more themed around the bridge and sea, mostly noted by the sea food restaurants, some of which were on their own raised platforms over the sea. It was late morning for us, so we stopped in a cafe and enjoyed the view al la carte, something well worth doing after a long walk across the bridge.
Backstreets of S Sausalito with art galleries
There isn’t a whole lot to do in Sausalito besides a couple of art galleries and tours, so I wouldn’t recommend going there for long or putting it on a bucket list, but what it does offer is a welcome break from the city and walking or cycling across the bridge, it makes a decent lunch break, although if you’re not into sea food then the choices are limited especially compared to SF’s usual foodie choices. What you do get however is a nice overview of the city, and the bridges crossing into it. Maybe it can’t be appreciated as much on a typical SF foggy day, but I can’t find much reason to complain on a clear day. I don’t think I’d make my way there again without a good reason but wouldn’t advice against it for people who have never been before.
Sausalito Port from the Golden Gate Bridge
Before we set back on the bus into the city, we got to walk right at the bottom of the bridge and look up at it. It seems that at any angle this bridge is viewed, it’s impressive. Even the ducks seem to think of it as a nice place to live.
Ducks under the bridge
Tagged as:
Honeymoon,
San Francisco,
Sausalito,
USA
Alcatraz. I didn’t know much about it. It’s a prison out at sea based on a rock, and Al Capone was sent there. I never watched the movies like The Rock, or Escape From Alcatraz so didn’t have any expectations of the place. But still, I knew I wanted to go. I love places which have been abandoned, it fact it’s a hobby of mine to visit such places. One of my favourite places I visited was Angkor Wat, and I knew Alcatraz could turn into a favourite too.
The Rock
Read the rest! \(^u^)/ →
Tagged as:
Alcatraz,
San Francisco,
USA
So after getting the Vegas essentials out the way, it was time to take a flight to San Francisco, the place I had the highest expectations for being one of the better places for food, culture, architecture, acceptance, forward thinking and also home to Silicone Valley too. Fortunately it didn’t disappoint, and I came across few homeless beggars in comparison to LA.
Read the rest! \(^u^)/ →
Tagged as:
BART,
Las Vegas,
San Francisco,
Tenderloin,
USA,
Virgin
