May 03, 2014.
We arrived at London’s Heathrow Airport about an hour ago and have
another four hours before we board the next flight. At 2.30 this morning, we
began our vacation by boarding a Virgin Atlantic headed for San Francisco with
a stopover at London. It’s the very first time that we’re travelling by this
particular airline. I must say it’s quite comfortable and so far, the journey
has been a pleasant one….except for the horrid disinfectant they sprayed in the
cabin just before take-off. I don’t remember this happening on any of my
previous flights, but they announced that it was airline policy or something,
but isn't it harmful? It irritated my throat long after
take-off.
As always, I’d booked myself into a window seat and liked the view
of England as we prepared for landing.
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| Nearing London.... |
It was all shades of green dotted with pretty looking cottages and
farms. No wonder the best poets and writers hailed from England! It’s 4o C
here and I’m glad we’re not leaving the airport this time although I do plan to
visit England in the near future. For now, we’re just exploring the airport and
the many stores it has to offer. I notice that there are many Indians here.
May 03, 2014….again.
This changing of time zones is rather confusing. I left Mumbai at
2.30 am today and there I was, almost 21 hours later, standing in San Francisco
Airport at 16.30.
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| San Franscisco...as seen from the aircraft. |
The second part of our journey was also comfortable and the flight
attendants were rather cheerful and seemed keen on ensuring that passengers on
board kept eating. We and three others were the only Indians on board. On our
arrival, I stood admiring what I could see of SF while hubby-dearest booked us
on a Super Shuttle that would take us to our motel. Now, this Super Shuttle is
a great way to travel around here. It’s cheaper than local cabs; prompt,
comfortable and you can book online. Our driver was a friendly, young Chinese
chap who kept chatting as he drove us to our destination. Along the way we saw
what, to me, looked like a scene that had jumped out from the pages of a
storybook.
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| Streets of SF |
Pretty houses in neat little rows, flowers, clean streets,
cotton-candy clouds and a clear, blue ocean in the distance. Every house had
three garbage bins on the lawn outside…household waste, recyclables and other
trash. What a great system! And the clouds were hanging low over the
city....what a beautiful sight it was!
We had booked a room at America's Best Value Inn, a nice little motel close to Fisherman’s Wharf.
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| America's Best Value Inn |
We checked-in, had a much
needed bath and then stepped out for dinner. Unfortunately for us, SF seems to
go to bed early. It’s only 21.30 and the best we could get were instant
noodles. I’m wondering how we’re going to eat it….there isn’t any cutlery in
the room.
P.S: Nothing was sprayed in the connecting flight (also Virgin
Atlantic). Makes me wonder whether the disinfectant in our previous flight was
meant for the cabin or the people inside it???
May 04, 2014.
We were up early today but the sun was up much before us. It’s
only 19o here and it’s beautiful. We had breakfast at a little
deli across the street. People in America eat a lot of meat and when they say
ham sandwiches, you can be sure to find a lot of ham stuffed between the
bread.
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| Bagel for Breakfast |
Once we’d wiped our plates clean and the last of the coffee was
drunk, we walked downhill towards Fisherman’s Wharf and I fell
in love with the place. If you thought Fisherman’s Wharf was a smelly place
with streets paved with fish and half-naked fishermen think again.
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| Towards the Wharf |
It’s actually a long stretch with colorful shops on one side and
the cold waters of the Pacific Ocean on the other. We sauntered around,
browsing through shops and sniffing at the various aromas that floated around
thanks to the many eating places that lay scattered around. I’d set my heart on
trying the famous Clam Chowder and a tall pitcher of beer. But before we got to
that, we took our time exploring the beauty of the Wharf. Lunch was at the Franciscan, a restaurant that
offered a great view of the Wharf. I finally had my clam chowder. The chowder,
also available in a tomato based sauce, is traditionally served in a sour dough
bowl, but I declined that since most people seemed to eat the chowder and throw
the bowls away. Now, the bowls are actual, edible bread, and it seems like such
a waste to have then flung into bins. I opted for chowder in a ceramic bowl
accompanied by slices of sour dough. And beer….glug glug!
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| Clam Chowder and Sour Dough |
It was here that hubby-dearest discovered
root-beer and is now wondering where, in India, he might be able to purchase
some.
Next, we took an hour-long ride aboard a Red & White ferry
that goes all the way under the Golden gate bridge and around Alcatraz before
heading back to the jetty. It’s a very enjoyable ride and also very informative
if you listen carefully to the audio system provided by the ferry staff.
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| The Golden Gate bridge |
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| Alcatraz |
Later this evening, we rode the famous San Francisco tram towards China Town. Anyone visiting SF must hop onto the tram.
It’s absolutely an experience in itself and cannot be expressed in
words. The driver is very friendly and keeps talking to the passengers who are
either seated in the cabin or standing on the footboard. That’s where I stood
and when the driver seemed concerned about my safety, I assured him that I had
plenty of experience since I’ve been a regular in the Mumbai trains.
“People hold on to the posts in Mumbai trains?” a lady asked
me with a look of shock.
“In Mumbai trains, Ma’am, we hold on to whatever we can get our
hands on” said I.
Oh, did you know? There's a street just a few blocks away from our motel, and it's called The Crookedest Street' because that's what it really is...the crookedest street ever! I think it's the crookedest street in the world, maybe and it's worth walking uphill to see this road as it winds downhill.
May 05, 2014.
This morning, we left for Davis, a quiet little
university town about two hours drive from our motel.
En route, we
stopped at Sausalito to enjoy an ice-cream and purchase a lifetime’s supply of
salt water taffy in a variety of flavors.
We then took a refreshing walk in the
Redwood Forest. It is quite a surprise that such a forest thrives so close to
the city and the efforts made by the government to preserve the forest is
commendable.
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| The Redwoods |
We stopped for lunch at Super Duper Burgers and are spending the
night at the home of relatives. Tomorrow, we leave for Los Angeles.
May 06, 2014.
Early this
morning, we sat waiting at a very pretty train station in Davis.
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| Train station, Davis |
We were taking the Amtrak to LA – a twelve hour
ride along the coast. The Amtrak is unlike any other train I’ve ever seen. It’s
a comfortable air-conditioned train with a separate compartment where
passengers can sit and enjoy the view and two other coaches that serve as
dining-cars.
The attendants guide you to your seats and regular announcements
are made on the PA system announcing stations and meals. The staff is
courteous, friendly and quite humorous. If only I’d recorded the announcements!
They were extremely creative and funny. To cite an example, the person in
charge of the snack bar kept reminding people to come down to the coach and buy
their snacks. Finally when it was late afternoon, he was heard announcing,
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is the last call for those who would
like to come down here and get their hands on some bagels and hot coffee. I’ll
be taking a short break now…..by short I actually mean a really long break so
this is your last chance to grab a bite. Hurrrrrry down then,
people!”
Add to that the excellent view of the ocean and rolling hills, and
together, it all makes for an exciting train ride.
May 07, 2014.
Hubby’s cousin took us sight-seeing today and I must say that LA
is beautiful. Every house has a sculptured lawn and a huge backyard.
The property
rates here are extremely high, especially if one wishes to enjoy a clear view
of the ocean. We followed a trail by the sea and enjoyed the view from atop a
cliff.
Although there was a slight wind, it was extremely hot outside. The
long walk had me sweating and hungry. So, for lunch, we tried the burgers at In
and Out. This burger chain is quite popular for quick service and I’d say the
taste isn’t too bad either. Just a suggestion, when you ask for fries, do ask
the staff to serve it to you ‘jungle style’. Trust me, you won’t regret it.
Post lunch, we visited the Getty Museum, that not only
allows you to admire many works of art, but also offers a great view of LA.
Although the
tram ride up to the museum and the entry are free of charge, one does have to
pay parking charges for ones vehicles. A wonderful thing happened while at the
Getty. As we were admiring some works of art, i happened to hear the tune of
the hindi song 'kabhi kabhi' (from Silsila). Naturally, since it is one of my
favorite songs, I began humming along and looked around for the source of the
sound. I was surprised to see it was a senior museum employee, an American, who
was not only humming the tune but also sang it with perfect pronunciation and
in tune. Wow!
Our next stop was the Pacific Park where we
enjoyed some rides in the Ferris wheel and the Roller Coaster.
We also won
some prizes when we tried our luck at the gaming booths. All-in-all, it’s been
a good day. Tomorrow we have a date with Mickey Mouse.
May 08, 2014.
Disneyland is so very crowded…..and it’s not even a weekend or a
public holiday!
There is a wait of 25-50 minutes for each ride and that can be
really tiring. We began with the Jungle Safari,
visited the haunted mansion, then took a ride in and out of Splash
Mountain and around Big Thunder Mountain. I guess what we enjoyed best here was
Space Mountain. It is really, really fun! In the California Adventure section,
we enjoyed the Hollywood Hotel and experienced an different view of the state
in Soaring over California.
It’s been a long day and I could do with a good night’s sleep.
May 09, 2014.
Today we moved to the Palomar Hotel in Westwood. The room is
somewhat expensive, but extremely comfortable, close to Westwood Village and
well-linked to Hollywood, which is our next place to explore. For today,
however, we took it easy and just ambled around Westwood Village which
has plenty of options for shopping and dining. We did try the public transport
system, and although it’s rather simple, we ended up going in the wrong
direction and so had to be satisfied with a long ride all the way to Pacific
Heights and back.
May 10, 2014.
It was a day spent along the Walk of Fame today.
Hollywood is a buzz of activity, with look-a likes and costumed heroes
fishing for photographs with tourists. There are stars on either side of the
street…even Woody Woodpecker has a star to his name! People offering bus tours
wait on every street corner, but one does not really need to take a bus. I’d
suggest tours only for those interested in seeing where the stars live. It’s
easy to find your way around if you can get hold of a good street map.
Everything that’s interesting is spread out on either side of Hollywood
Boulevard.
We visited Mme
Tussauds (entry $23 per person), The Ripley’s Museum ($17 per person) and the
Chinese Theatre. It’s just nice walking down the street and watching the flurry
of activity that goes on around here. We saw three Michael Jacksons, two puny
Iron Men and even the Statue of Liberty posing with smiling tourists.
May 11, 2014.
The morning was spent at the LAX. Today, we flew United to the New
York in the East Coast. Again, there’s a change in time zones and we lose time.
We left after breakfast, reached New York for dinner and somewhere along the
way, lunch was lost in transit. Weeks ago, we had logged-in to airbnb.com and
had booked ourselves into a nice looking apartment that was just what we
needed. Unable to find a Super Shuttle that was free, we had to take a cab to
our hotel, which happened to be right in the middle of a Harlem neighborhood.
Now, I’d been told that Harlem wasn't a very safe neighborhood and I
was a little wary when we got out of the cab outside our apartment block.
It was past sunset already and the streets were almost deserted save for a few
guys in hooded tees standing at street corners. We hurried up to our room and
were glad to see that it was a clean, well-kept place and much better and
brighter than the photographs on the site. From the window, we get a nice view
of the George Washington Bridge and the city spreading out into the distance.
It reminds me of Mumbai.
While on the subway, I saw something that made me
smile. Sitting beside me was a Hispanic lady and standing in front of her
was her young son. He was exactly what they show on TV…multiple tattoos,
pierced eyebrow and ears, braided locks and pants which hung ridiculously low
on his hips. Soon, someone vacated a seat and he perched himself beside his
mother. As I sat watching him from the corner of my eye, an old gentleman
entered the coach and looked around for a seat. People ignored him and kept
talking or reading while I wondered whether I should get up an offer my seat
(when I did that in Italy, the old lady was offended). Even as I was
considering getting up, the young, tattooed boy, at one glance from his mother,
jumped up and offered his own seat with a smile. I could have hugged him then.
This incident, and my pleasant experience living in NY taught me one important
lesson….appearances can be deceptive.
May 12, 2014.
The morning sunshine brought with it a whole perspective. The
streets weren't deserted anymore and the neighborhood was much
more cheerful than it looked when shrouded in darkness. It wasn't bad
after all. In fact, it was like walking down Colaba Causeway in Mumbai.
The streets were lined with eating places, discount stores and super markets.
As advertised on the site, the subway is just a block away from where we had
set camp. Buying ourselves a metro card (around $2.50 per ride), we took Line 1
and, getting off at Penn Station, walked past Macy’s towards the Empire
State Building. Although the Chrysler Building is much prettier and the One
WTC is much taller, the 1472 ft tall Empire State Building is still a favorite with
the tourists.
There are two
observation decks – the one on the 86th floor is an open-air
deck, while the one on the 102nd floor is an enclosed space.
Getting up to the observatory requires a ticket of 25$. This ticket and a free
audio guide are available inside the building and security guards guide you to
the observatory from where you get a good view of the city right from uptown
Harlem to downtown Manhattan. From up there, it seems like a great distance
from one end to the other, but we were to learn otherwise. Having heard that
the ticket lines were extremely long, we were tempted to purchase a ticket form
the bookies standing at various places outside and across the building (it
costs around $2 more) but buying tickets from inside the building and getting
to the observation deck took us not more than five minutes.
Next, we walked to the Grand Central Station and
waited awhile to admire The Glory of Commerce, a monumental sculpture that
adorns the façade of this breathtaking building.
Inside, it is like a great ballroom with grand chandeliers
and historic bars and restaurants. The vaulted ceiling depicts the nine
constellations backwards. This was the painter’s idea as he wished to portray
the stars as God sees them. We headed next towards the intersection of Broadway
and Seventh Avenue, better known as Times Square which is lit
up like a Christmas tree.
Here, one can find many department stores that promise to empty
the wallets and also many theaters where one can enjoy a
musical. Here, too, as in Hollywood, Iron Man, Lady Liberty and Elmo willingly
posed for pictures.
It’s been a
long day and we’re tired. We haven’t planned anything for tomorrow yet.
May 13, 2014.
Today we took Line 1 all the way downtown and hopped aboard the Staten
Island Ferry for a trip around the harbor. The 5.2 mile journey from
Manhattan to the Staten Island neighborhood of St. George is a free-service and
it’s quite the usual thing to see a horde of tourists lined up waiting for the
ferry which departs every twenty minutes. Neither of us was too keen on going
to Liberty Island or Ellis Island, and we were happy enough with the ride which
provided us with a good view of Liberty Island and of the Manhattan
skyline.
Then, following our map, we walked towards the financial district
and Wall Street with its famous Charging Bull which could hardly be seen thanks
to the many tourists that surrounded it. We walked on, stopped at China Town
for lunch and soon came to the Trinity Church which, at the
time of its completion in 1846, was the city’s tallest building. The church has
a very serene cemetery and an arresting stained glass window over the altar.
After spending some time in the quiet of this magnificent church, we walked on
towards the WTC Memorial pools, titled Reflecting Absence, or known
more simply as the 9/11 Memorial.
Entry to this memorial is free, and it is suggested that one
should reserve a pass online in advance to avoid the crowds that visit this
site. Online, in spite of being a free entry, one has to pay a small ‘donation’
of $2 per pass. If, like us, you do not book passes in advance, don’t worry,
passes are available on site, for a compulsory donation of not less than $5 per
pass. The pools constructed in the footprints of the original WTC buildings are
massive and the names of all those who had lost their lives are inscribed on
the boundary walls.
That done, we headed past the Flatiron Building towards Union
Square. The 20-storey Flatiron building, built in 1902 has a unique
triangular shape and, until 1909, it held the title of being the world’s
tallest building.
Union Square is pretty, with little fountains and people playing chess
under the shade of the many trees. There was also a mixed group of people of
different race singing ‘Hare Rama, Hare Krishna’ to the accompaniment of Indian
musical instruments.
We stood
listening to them for a while and then walked on towards the Museum of
Sex. For a ticket of around $17, tourists get to see a small exhibit of
paintings, models of animals mating and a display that serves to glorify Linda
Lovelace, the eternal porn star. There’s also a store where one might purchase
some…er…toys, but I’d say the museum isn't quite worth the charge.
If you skip this, you won’t miss anything.
My feet are killing me right now, but it’s been a lovely day!
May 14, 2014.
It was another long walk today. We visited the Museum of Modern
Art (MoMA. Entry, $25 per person) and spent a long time admiring the
works of Picasso, Andy Warhol and Van Gogh, among others. Next, we walked all
the way to Central Park and then proceeded to walk right across
it from 59th St to 110th St.. This park, which
comprises of more than 800 acres of meadows, ponds and woods, is said to be the
lungs of the city and once we entered the park, it was very difficult to
imagine that we were still in the city.
Apart from
cycling lanes and shady paths to walk or jog on, the park has seven water
bodies, a castle, tennis courts, a baseball park, and twenty one playgrounds
for children, a carousel, picnic areas and wide expanses of green grass and
tall trees. If we had more time to spare, we’d have loved to spend an entire
day just lying on the grass and enjoying the beauty around us. Unfortunately,
we leave for Mumbai tomorrow and have to go and pack our stuff. So, we take our
time walking across the park (approx’ 4 hours it took us) and then took the
subway back to 181st St. where we were staying.
May 15 -16, 2014.
We had booked Air India for our flights back to India as it was
the only direct flight available. Travelling by Air India drove home the lesson
that I shouldn't be quick to judge others when my own
people were behaving like ill-mannered hulks. It is a proven fact that we
Indians will be on our best behavior in the company of tourists or in a foreign
country, but the moment we’re alone with our own kind, we forget even basic
etiquette. The flight home was full of Indians, who were not only loud but also
spent what seemed like hours in the restrooms totally unmindful of those
waiting outside. Not only that, most of them left the place soiled and the
basins clogged making the restrooms unfit for use. In front of me sat a teenage
girl, in a high pitched voice trying endlessly to impress the boy seated beside
her. To add to my woes, the entertainment service on board was not working so I
had fourteen hours of doing nothing ahead of me. The stewardesses were rude and
behaved more like archaic headmistresses with not a smile to spare. The
stewards were far more polite and cheerful. Having nothing to do, I found the
journey to be rather boring and was glad when we walked out of Mumbai airport.
This was a short but power-packed vacation and we left with the
hope that we would someday return to explore more of the country.
P.S: If anyone’s planning to stay a-while in New York, the subway
is by far the best way to travel within the city. Maps explaining the various
routes and lines are available free of cost at any tourist information desk.
Don’t let the many numbers and alphabets frighten you, once you get started,
it’s all very simple. Just remember to save your Metro Card which
is valid for a year. It can be refilled at any subway station and, if you do
lose it and require a new card, it’ll cost you a dollar.
Pics' by Misha & Akshay
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