Our last day in Santa Monica, LA ...

Our last day in Santa Monica, LA ...

We booked a tour of LA via the "Rasta Bus"...

Our Rasta Bus

... however, it looked a little incongruous parked outside Louis Vuitton on Rodeo Drive

in downtown Beverly Hills ... waiting for "the shoppers" ...

Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, LA

... while we got escorted out of the Beverly Whilshire Hotel ... we only wanted to use their loos - our rastafarian driver/tour guide assured us we could use them - how precious are they?!

Beverly Wilshire Hotel - apparently has gorgeous loos, but we'll never know.

After touring through Beverly Hills, our tour took us to see some of the 'hedges and fences' of the rich and famous: "Look to your right and you'll see Bill Cosby's home, blah blah blah; and to your left is Steven Spielberg's estate ... blah blah blah; Whoopi Goldberg; etc etc.  We saw some beautiful mansions and estates perched high on the hills of the Palisades but mainly huge hedges and fences.

After driving up into the hills to the Griffith Observatory to see the sprawl of the city of Los Angeles, we were taken down to Graumann's Theatre to the Hollywood Walk of Fame to see the kooks and crazies ... sorry ... to see the stars' names and hand and footprints.  Two of my favourites - Helen Mirren and Barbra Streisand:

Helen Mirren's hand and footprints.

Barbra Streisand's Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

A couple of photos, especially for you Connor:

Monster fountains in downtown Santa Monica

And a neighbour's front yard, just down from where we were staying on 24th Street, Santa Monica!

And she's a real estate agent!

Cows, crocodiles, a cop, and a reindeer.

Now to find a speakeasy - or are they just in New York?  Maybe somewhere for a 'happy hour' drink.

Santa Monica - Malibu - The Getty Villa

Santa Monica - Malibu - The Getty Villa

I'm typing this as we prepare to leave our "home" in Santa Monica and take off for the day in the Rasta Bus - so this will be a very quick post.

A quick drive in the convertible up the PCH to the Getty Villa was yesterday's excitement.  Getty made his squillions investing in oil and built a replica Roman mansion to display his antiquities.  It is magnificent and deserved much more than the two and a half hours we were able to devote to it.

Inner Peristyle at the Getty Villa in Malibu

20 year old mummified bloke

Sarcophagus

Gorgeous mosaics

8 April - Santa Monica/Venice Beach/Malibu

This was the view from our NY loft looking toward the Empire State Building

I'm out of whack again but it will just have to do!

Louise took off early this morning for her jaunt to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon.  What an experience she'll have - her first time to both LV and the GC.  I'm not thrilled with the idea of travelling to the Canyon in a light aircraft nor flying in a helicopter 4000' down into the Canyon, but Mary is totally excited about the prospect.

Thelma and I planned to hire some bikes and ride down to Venice Beach, but the clouds rolled in and the sun that had been shining brilliantly and giving us some much needed warmth, was snuffed out.  Decisions, decisions ... has the money been transferred to our cashcards? No! Can we head to the outlets to do some shopping?  No!

So ... we hired a convertible and travelled toVenice Beach and Malibu!  Venice Beach, the land of the muscle men who look like they're on steroids, pumping iron on the beach in front of gawking tourists, used to be quite exciting to visit, however Sandy and I both found Venice Beach to be quite disgusting.  It was just a couple of years ago that John and I took Joshua to VB and it was a shame to see how it has deteriorated into a junkie, grubby, haven for beggars and the homeless.  This before we had even got out of the car, a homeless bloke was trying to engage us in conversation, "just whatever you can do to help, a twenty or a fifty" was his line!

Anyway, the weather was foul and the TV weatherman, and Pat, told us that LA was experiencing it's worst April day in seven years; unseasonably cold and windy - just like New York's weather, so we made a very quick exit from Venice Beach.

Farewell NY, hello Santa Monica

7 April - Farewell New York!

What a wonderful week we've had in this fantastic city - we've had our senses absolutely filled to the brim having seen so many of the Masters' works at the MoMA and The Frick; we've laughed till we cried at "The Book of Mormon"; we've filled our tummies with spaghetti and linguini seafood dishes from our local restaurants ... we will never forget Kramer (although he told us his name is Tomas), standing in front of Pellegrini's restaurant in his expansive calf-length black fur coat imploring us in his broad New York accent, "Ladies, come for lunch ... come back for dinner ... free wine for you all!"  "You'll be sorry!" I replied.

Thelma and I went to explore some bars and found the magnificent Pegu Bar.  When in Manhattan ... well, we just had to have a Manhattan. "Mixologist" Audrey Saunders, has supposedly revived the art of the drink at this upstairs cocktail joint.  "Pegu" has been named after a late-19th century British officers club in Burma - why I don't know.  The barman made a huge show of producing our cocktails - something that probably needed to be videoed, but he was a bit annoyed when Thelma took a photo, even though I had previously asked if it was okay to do so ... scotty New Yorker!  The house cocktails are all made with fresh juices and ingredients and it was truly fabulous to watch them being crafted.  A special of the Pegu is the Gin-Gin Mule, spiced with homemade ginger beer, all the way to The Old Cuban, a champagne mojito and a cute play on words, they also make an infused Earl Grey MarTEAni!

Our Manhattans at the gorgeous Pegu Bar.

Louise is sated after filling her suitcase with a new winter wardrobe.  Thelma and I are yet to do any damage in that department, so roll on Camarillo Outlets in LA!

Our flight out of JFK was an early one so we were up at frog’s fart getting sorted, and packed ourselves into a yellow cab at 7 am.  Then of course come the long lines (queues) to get through security – it’s one time you wish you weren’t a few more years older, the 75 year olds don’t have to take their shoes and belts off!  There’s the usual screening, then the x-ray screening, then the pat-down by the burly officer outside the screening booth. Then comes the scramble to get your luggage off the conveyor belt, the phone and incidentals out of one box, the laptop out of another box, your shoes out of another box ... all the while being hurried along by the impatient ones following.  Aahhh! The joys of travel – but I’m not complaining, true!

The flight across the States took forever ... we flew out at 9 am and arrived here at 3.30 pm.  A 6 1/2 hour flight without food - the joys of travelling with Delta Airlines.

We’re staying in a private home once again, in Santa Monica.  It’s very comfortable but typically doesn’t have a kettle – these Yanks drink coffee and have coffee percolators and dripolators and espresso machines, but no kettles - so we’ve had to resort to boiling water in a saucepan (if we can find one – they eat out too so that’s been a challenge in two of the three places we’ve rented).

We walked into Santa Monica and watched the beautiful people down on the boardwalk primped and preened for a Sunday night pose. The weather was mild with a cool breeze blowing across the Pacific.  Totally famished, we found “Buddha’s Belly” and enjoyed some gyoza and salmon and fresh veggies for dinner had a poke around in Nordstrom’s then it was time to head home.

We grabbed the #2 Blue Bus to take us back to 24^th street. But we didn’t have any $1 notes or coins – and the machine didn’t give change and we didn’t want to put a $20 or $50 note in the machine, and the driver was getting very cranky.  I probably didn’t make his disposition any better because I wouldn’t run across the major intersection to catch the bus against the red light – Thelma and Louise did and managed to dodge the traffic – and then they dilly dallied while on the bus trying to delay it until I could get there.  The lights changed and I made the dash across the road and onto the bus – only to find that none of us had the right money!  “I’m not a taxi” he said, “I’m not paid to wait”!  Laugh!  A lovely young girl who was born in Tennessee, raised in New York, and now lives in Santa Monica gave us two $1 notes, we scrounged around in our wallets and between us, managed to get four quarters for the third fare, and by then, we were at 24^th street!  

Saturday 6 April

Louise has definitely done her bit for the economy - she's had another wonderful morning of shopping.  Thelma and I did the Hell's Kitchen flea markets and took in some amazing sights of some very kooky locals. 

One of the kooky locals.  Although it looks like a female, it's actually a bloke. 

I've finally managed to upload some piccies - I hope you enjoy them:

Here's the cute little bloke at '14 Station' - keeping an eye out for everyone. (He's just above the word 'Station'!)

And some more subway sculptures.

AND THIS IS OUR Pièce de résistance - THE ANDY WARHOL EXHIBITION!!!
I didn't have an issue with my nose ... we were meant to be taking "funny fotos" ... but Thelma and Louise
weren't co-operating very well!!!

We happened upon an exhibition of Andy Warhol and Bugaboo, in SOHO.  I presented myself to the Door Bitch and she asked if I was on the list.  "I should be if I'm not!" I declared and walked straight in - with Thelma in tow!  What a lark.  I think she thought I was "somebody" with my pink-streaked white hair!  We rang Louise to come and join us and downed a couple of glasses of bubbles and filled our tummies with hors d'oeuvres. Talk about a laugh - three grannies in an Andy Warhol exhibition full of baby buggies.  And they treated us like celebrities!

Now this is all getting a bit mixed up - too many nights in New York without decent access to internet connections so it's all here .... pick out what you want! LOL!

Here's a pic of the Eugene O'Neill Theatre ceiling ... glorious - absolutely glorious!

Eugene O'Neill threatre - "The Book of Mormon"

At dinner tonight at a local Italian restaurant across the road Thelma chatted with some folk at the next table.  Ear-wigging she deciphered they were here from Italy, making a movie, and the star attraction, was a Mal Malinga ... a so-called Italian soccer star from the past.  "Someone" has 'googled' the name but is yet to find it! Wound up? Their card states they are stand-up comedians.

We walked up to Times Square this afternoon; there are so many homeless people we've tried to help, and out-of-work actors, but I couldn't help but make a donation to these folk from Sesame Street - Olivia and Connor, I hope you enjoy this picture!

Sesame Street characters and Nana!

The Brownstones

Friday 5 April

We started the day trying to get the blog up to date and published without too much success.  :(

Thelma and I walked the Lower East Side and found a few boutiques but didn't buy.  Louise went shopping and helped the US economy again!  Glad somebody is - I'm certainly not doing my part!

The days are getting a bit mixed up because I can't publish when I want - Thel and I went to see Carrie's, "Sex in the City's" home yesterday and it was quite gorgeous.

A glourious brownstone

One of the properties in the same street - so cute.

Carrie's apartment - "Sex in the City"

And who wouldn't want to live here?!!!  We are yet to have a Manhattan, but we've still got another 24 hours in NY to go!!!

We had a quick feed at a popular 'local' Mexican joint - it's literally a tin shed on the corner of Houston St (pronounced "How-ston) and Kenmare Streets. Lines form from early morning till late at night and you call out your order over the top of other customers, pay your money, then wait till your name's called to collect your food.  It is truly delicious and such authentic Mexican food.

Our "local" Tex Mex - brought back fond memories for Thelma! LOL!!!

We checked out the Frick Collection this afternoon - what a wonderful museum of art and an absolutely glorious home.  It was difficult for me to come to terms with the opulence of this "home" - a private art collection as a museum, considering the wealth of this bloke was in part at the expense of blue-collar coal miners.  Frick committed an act similar to the one committed by Patrick's ball-busting of the stevedores in Melbourne, a decade or so ago.  However, it was uplifting to see the works of the iconic masters Jon Constable; El Greco; Van Gogh; Degas; Picasso; et al.  It would have been lovely to visit on a Sunday when piano and violin concerts are given.  Next time!

Tonight we caught the subway line up to the theatre district and saw, "The Book of Mormon".  I don't think it is coming to Australia - so get over here ... it is absolutely FANTASTIC!!!!  I told Thelma and Louise that I am going straight to hell for seeing it - and for laughing so loudly at its sacrilegious message.  But I can't begin to tell you how funny it is!  When we left the theatre it was so cold, our noses nearly fell off - it was bitter.  Still, we enjoyed a beautiful New York spring day today - so we're not complaining.

It's great to be able to blog tonight without the line dropping out.  We have had some very poor experiences with the internet here in NY - just one of the downsides to living in the heart of the city centre, I guess.

Thelma and I have just come in from having dinner - a gorgeous seafood pasta with a glass of red at the joint across the road - at 12.30 am!  It truly is the city that never sleeps!  But for me, that's where I'm headed - for some sleep.

Till my next instalment ... stay well and happy.  Hugs to all.  xo

(I've tried to post other photos ... no luck.)

Thursday 4th

We walked the High Line this morning - on a gorgeous New York spring morning. The High Line is located in the old Meatpacking District which was once a fairly desolate part of the city but now it's a "must see" and obviously on everyone's 'to do' list.  The Line is a 30' high stretch of abandoned railroad track that has been transformed into a long pathway of beautiful trees and shrubs. It has brought a bit of greenery and life to an otherwise dull brick and concrete jungle.  Some magnificent artworks are interspersed along the pathway.

We stopped at a café and had a lunch made by immigrants from Yemen.  When I chatted to them about their life before working the café, they were surprised that I knew where Yemen was - no Americans know of it, he said.

We came across six black American youth doing some hip-hop in the subway this morning - fascinating stuff.  Louise was mesmerised and quite exited.  We gave them a good donation, and then they were quite excited!

We had a brief look at The Rockefeller Centre - I would have liked to take the girls up to The Rainbow Room, but it apparently closed a couple of years ago.  We watched the people on the skating rink and bought a few pieces from the giant Lego shop.

On our way to the MoMA we passed by Radio City Music Hall.  Some HUGE burly blokes were out on the balcony parading themselves.  And a huge crowd had gathered down in the street cheering for them.  Turns out they're the wrestlers who will be "performing" soon here in NYC.

Then the second highlight of the day - the MoMA - Van Gogh, Picasso, Rodin, Kandinsky, Matisses, Suerat, Andy Warhol, Munch, all magnificent and all in such a beautifully designed space.  Great for the senses and the soul.

Then on to Macy's - not much bought here again though.

We had to go back to our Sex in the City bar for a couple of Cosmopolitans seeing as we didn't do it yesterday after seeing Carrie's 'house'. 

Should have called the trip, "Miranda, Samantha and Carrie" ... then again!

Tonight we went up our street past an exhibition - Andy Warhol and Bugaloo - they asked if I was on "The List" ... I said "Pobably no" ... it must pay to have bright pink hair streaks, they obviously thought I was a Somebody! LOL!!!  "Come in, have some champers" was their call ... so we did!!!

We got some fabulous photos taken in a booth - but I don't think I'll be able to share them till I get home and get a handle on how to share a .gif file.  Great fun and a huge hoot.

From there we had a fabulous meal of seafood paella at a local restaurant.  I must admit, there have been some fantastic meals enjoyed here in NY.

Ground Zero

It was absolutely freezing yesterday morning (as this post still hasn't been posted, we're now talking about three days ago!) - the temperature was around 5C but the wind came roaring through at ~ 31 kph.  We rugged up in down jackets, hats, gloves, spencers and long-johns (well, I did anyway!) but the gap between the long johns and ski socks froze my legs.  Many people we passed on the street were wearing ear muffs, but they looked a bit daggy.  Louise tried on a pair down near the 9/11 site, but Thelma and I said we wouldn't walk with her if she bought them.

We started off the day catching a train across to Brooklyn then walked back into NYC on the Brooklyn Bridge - how magnificent it was.  Built way back in 1883 it never ceases to amaze me how anything of this magnitude can be accomplished - it is truly sensational.  It took 14 years to build and many workers died in the process.

Brooklyn Bridge

Louise and Thelma at the entrance to Brooklyn Bridge from Brooklyn side.

Louise and Lorraine - freezing!

New York city skyline from the Bridge.

From the Brooklyn Bridge we walked through the Financial District to see Wall Street, and the New York Stock Exchange but unfortunately not only can you no longer go onto the floor of the Exchange, but there are barriers up along every side of the building with security guards and NYPD blokes stationed about every five metres.  It is such a shame.

Federal Hall, had an extensive museum dedicated to post-colonial New York and exhibits on George Washington's inauguration.  The building was the original City Hall where the first US Congress convened and Washington took the oath of office as the first US President in 1789.  A huge statue of GW stands in front of the building; loads of kids from all around the States are visiting here on their Spring Vacation - they will have a few Aussies in their pics - I couldn't help but prank some of their photos.

A quick Century 21 Shopping store stop - not much purchased unfortunately, then next door to a great café/nosh up shop for some Rahmen noodles - very hot and spicy and good for clearing any possible head cold.  Fed and fortified we moved on to find the huge cast iron bull - necessary for a photo op for one who has just finished a stage of her stocks course.  There was a huge line of people waiting to do the same, so we sneaked in a couple of pics from the other end! LOL!

Now I think I have forgotten what else we did, I'm playing catch-up here and we've walked and seen so much - but ...

We went down past the 9/11 memorial site -


This is a huge mural made from pennies that children collected.  They were melted down and this mural was made depicting the fight to save lives, the rubble, the heroes and the names of all those killed.

In the evening we made our way up to the Theatre District to see the play, "The Madison" starring Edi Falco (Mrs Tony Soprano, in the TV series, "The Soprano's").  I thoroughly enjoyed it - although it's amazing how many people whispered (quite loudly) through various parts of the play, and a row of young things just in front of us laughed and laughed at quite inappropriate times ... it wasn't a comedy as such.

We made our way home on the subway with an interesting bloke who had a big bucket with a lid, a guitar, well, most of a guitar, and his imaginary friend.  It is very sad to see so many homeless people here on the streets of NY, so many who have been either psychologically or physically injured as a result of drugs or war, and there are many amputees too.

Thelma and I went out to a wine bar and enjoyed the company of the waiter who told us he is actually a model and working in the bar part-time and "between jobs".  Just like so many here.  The bar was used in the show, "Sex in the City" and for those of you who are fans - it was the bar that Steve and Aidan bought - the gorgeous one with mahogany timber throughout.

Steve's Bar - with the beautiful mahogany timber ceiling

New York - what a great city!

The obligatory shopping walk this morning, still looking for my Josef Seibel boots without any success.  We got the subway uptown, some buskers boarded and sang some beautiful harmony but unfortunately some students took videos but wouldn't pay a tip so the buskers got off at the next station. Shame as they were so good. We wandered through Broadway and SOHO uptown and ventured up to Central Park which was gorgeous.  Unfortunately as we walked by the lake, the weather turned nasty and we had to hot-foot it to a subway for some warmth and shelter. 

Just before the unseasonal weather came in.

(Louise has unfortunately caught a cold from this but with lots of TLC and rest, she'll come through OK.)

We walked Madison and 5th Ave and saw the Dakota Building and Strawberry Fields.  It was quite moving and I had a feeling that Yoko was looking down at us from her apartment up high above the leafless trees overlooking "Imagine".

"Imagine" in Strawberry Fields.

Looking toward the city from opposite the lake.

We found our way back to Mulberry Street - and although the subways are a bit of a challenge for Louise and myself, with the help of some landmarks, like the parking lot, we're doing pretty well.

Multi level parking lot!

This is a very small plot nearby our loft apartment - drive in, your car gets hauled up one, two or three floors, and lowered when you're ready to pick it up.  A great storage system - no doubt invented by "Howard Storage"!

It's Up to You, New York New York!!!

Well, here we are in Yonkers!!  Woo Hoo!!! We had a "red eye special" to NY ... but I'm getting ahead of myself:

We finished our time on the west coast with a trip back up the Highway to SFO after enjoying a couple of nights in Monterey.  If you're ever in the vicinity - make sure you have a feed at the Monterey Fish House - it is truly magnificent.  The venue is not so salubrious, but the food is fresh and absolutely sensational.  Although a reservation at home usually means you're seated within ~ 15 minutes, here we waited for over an hour and a half.  Thelma gave the very Australian outback whistle to the maître de but I'm not totally convinced everyone in the restaurant appreciated it. LOL!  However, we eventually got the service we deserve (!) and were very well looked after by a gorgeous bloke, called Josh - you've gotta love anyone with that name!

Our travels through Cannery Row and Fisherman's Wharf were very 'touristy' and not truly worthy of much of our time, but we ventured slightly south through Pacific Grove and enjoyed lunch at a local restaurant and tried to spy some famous folk ... but only spotted some "maybe" rich folk dolled up to the nines.

We headed north "up the guts" of Highway 101 to SFO and after a couple of dodgy calls from the nagavator, we did manage to return the hire car successfully and in one piece.  We arrived at some ungodly hour in the morning, something like 5.30 am (truly, I didn't know there was such a time!) and we had to drag our luggage though subways up hills and down to get to Manhattan Luggage Storage.  The woman manning the Luggage Storage was, "not a morning person" as she said.  She seemed annoyed to have to deal with us customers being more concerned about feeding the birds.  "I look after the birds ... not the people as the birds of this city can't look after themselves!" she declared.  I wonder how the boss might feel about that attitude. We weren't impressed.

We headed uptown to Harlem to find the A.Z.E. Church or the other Black American Faith Church (not very PI but sorry!) only to find that being Easter Sunday, and with so many tourists wanting to get inside to hear their wonderful music, they had select seats available for the blow-ins and the majority for their usual congregation.  This was fair enough, but unfortunate for us, seeing as we'd come so far and with such little sleep. Although the 'security' bloke tried to move us on ... we stayed and stayed outside on the steps (I pretended to sing along to the words I didn't know), and eventually they let us in, so we filed upstairs to some seats in the bleachers.  The music was fabulous, truly black soul music and it stirred up some feelings in me from long ago. The 'warm-up preacher' got the throng moving and grooving with some repetitive yee-haa's, and there were lots of "fire a volley's" (and you non-Salvo's reading this won't understand ... so ask me when I get back!)

The women were dressed to the nines - this photo doesn't really do justice to this woman's outfit - but believe me, she looked magnificent as did all the worshippers (except us!).

We walked and walked and sorted out the subways (sort of), checked in at 3 pm into the loft and got settled, then went out for dinner at a local Italian place for a great feed of calamari and scampi linguini. 

We are quite taken with the advertising here - don't worry fella's - we're not taking them up on their offers.

Monterey to Carmel-by-the-Sea
Good Friday

It's all full steam ahead with the Americans - there's no stopping for Good Friday or Easter, which is good for us - Thelma and I are off to have a manicure/pedicure shortly, while Louise is going to look for a leg massage.  Ooh! Newsflash ... I just heard on the telly they have Easter sales happening ... woo hoo!

We took to the road again this morning heading down Highway One to enjoy the sights of "17 Mile Drive" which links Pacific Grove and Carmel.  It meanders its way through the wealthy private resort of Pebble Beach, and it is a gorgeous drive showcasing some mighty spectacular scenery with magnificent homes and golf courses overlooking the ocean. The likes of Clint Eastwood and the rich and famous live here ... we simply drooled.  Neon signs, and billboards are forbidden, street signs are only on blocks of 4x4 timber with a pointy top, painted white with green writing that stick up out of the ground - no overhead street signs are to be seen, anywhere.  Payphones, vending machines, and newspaper vending boxes are all shingled ... very OTT and very precocious.

On the road from Monterey, heading south toward Pebble Beach

We had lunch at a little café in Carmel-by-the-Sea.  And check out our fellow diner - this beast was sitting at the table next to me and snarled as I sat in my seat.  I tell you, I cannot get used to the fact that dogs are allowed into restaurants and coffee shops - who knows if they have parvo or worms? Or Rabies?!

Back on the road heading a short distance south, we saw the Lone Cypress, a tree that stands alone on an outcrop of rock and has stood the test of time for than 250 years. (The pic doesn't do it justice as the top railing of the fence blocks the water surrounding the rock island. You'll just have to trust me!)

Braving the chilly breeze along Big Sur

John and I saw Janet Seidel at Hamer Hall last week in her show, "Doris and Me".  Janet mentioned that Doris Day lives in Carmel-by-the-Sea and part-owns the Cypress Inn there, so I just had to call by to see if she was in.  It turns out that she lives, "up in the Valley", but I was invited to take some photos by the gorgeous receptionist - a far cry from the cow who was managing our reception at the salubrious La Quinta Inn, our current 'home' for two nights.  When 'Louise' asked for some tea bags, she was told they only served coffee 24/7; Louise explained that we drink tea, and mine-host told her she could buy teabags at the local Safeway!

Warming myself by the fire in Doris Day's Cypress Inn

Doris Day's Cypress Inn "reception room"

Off for a meal at the famous "Monterey's Fish House" for dinner.  The LP guidebook says that "Hawaiian shirts seem to be de rigueur for men", not sure what it is for women, but we'll be in our jeans and jumpers - it is still quite cold here.  I think we'll have to wait till LA to get some warm weather.

Off to New York tomorrow evening, so this will be my last post till then probably.  Happy Easter all!

Sausalito to Monterey

Farewell San Francisco:

Yesterday we picked up the hire car and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge and back into Sausalito to check out the little village of 400+ houseboats that occupy a vast area of Sausalito.  

The mailboxes for the floating homes in Sausalito.

(The name of Sausalito comes from the Spanish sauzalito, meaning "small willow grove", and I wonder if this is how my friend Willow got her name.)  The residents prefer "floating homes" and not houseboats apparently, a bit like splitting hairs, I reckon.

Some of the gorgeous floating homes (houseboats) in Sausalito.

From Sausalito we found our way back onto the main highway and turned off at Stinson Beach.  This is from all accounts a very beautiful and sought-after area by San Franciscans to escape the hurly burly of city life.  It is just a short distance from SF and affords a beautiful stretch of sandy coastline that sweeps north for several miles.  Unfortunately, on this day, the fog rolled in and a light drizzle was our welcome.  It certainly didn't stop many other tourists (or were they locals?) from engaging in some beach-type activities that we'd see on our beaches in the height of summer or at least warm and sunny weather.  Some very hardy or foolish types this lot.

We stopped by Muir Woods on our way out from Stinson Beach, however, we didn't leave the car, just had a quick look at some of the magnificent trees leading into the entrance gate.  It is the spring break here and there are thousands of Americans on "vacation" from various parts of the country all enjoying the west coast it seems.

Being our last night in SF, Sandy and I planned a night out at the local Thai restaurant (we haven't helped the American economy at all in this respect), however I was knackered and fell asleep in the comfy leather armchair, and Mary ended up cooking up eggs, spinach, and a little bacon and some leftover bolognaise sauce from the night before and we had another early night. 

We left a very cool San Francisco this morning; we were cleaned up, packed up and out and on the road by 9.30 am.  San Francisco was a lovely stay - 'our home' was quite cold, and although we did have central heating - we found it a bit of a challenge getting just the right temperature, with three pre or post-menopausal women "enjoying" various stages of the heat/cold spectrum!

Leaving SF, Sandy drove and I navigated - all done brilliantly till NavMan told us to go one way - the wrong way - and caused a little confusion, but not to worry, we ended up seeing some absolutely gorgeous San Franciscan homes, high on the hill around the avenues.  The Avenues are bordered on the north by Lincoln Park and the Presidio, Golden Gate Park on the south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west.  The homes are on individual allotments and surrounded by beautiful green lawns - manicured to within an inch of their lives.  The area is often covered in fog due to its proximity to the cold Pacific Ocean, but today it was pretty clear - it is a charming neighbourhood to drive through.

We stopped at Rockaway Beach for a coffee at Nick's.  This is the restaurant where John bussed and waited tables during his late teenage years earning sufficient money to put himself through university and enabling him to buy his home in Pacifica, so it has very special memories for us and it's a place we always visit when we are in SF, and today was no exception.

Rockaway Beach, near Pacifica, looking south.

Lorraine with Thelma and Louise at Rockaway Beach

We stopped at a (Lonely Planet recommendation) café for lunch in Santa Cruz for a bowl (for me anyway), of minestrone soup - nobody does soup like they do here.  With our tummies satisfied we headed back on the road towards Monterey.  Mr NavMan wouldn't accept the street number, and of course the street goes for miles and miles and of course, we ended up at the far end.  It turns out that the military has a base here and, "often the data from the satellites gets scrambled", according to the frontdesk man.

Thelma and Louise have gone out for a walk into town while I catch up on the blog and Skyp-ing - lovely to hear from you Pat, and JB, and Melanie, Mike and the kids.  Sorry I couldn't play cricket with you, Connor - I just couldn't get hold of that ball through the computer. How gorgeous is that?!!! Gosh, I miss them!

Happy Easter to everyone back home in Australia!

Well, here we are and it's Tuesday and we've shopped ourselves silly already - well two out of three of us have just about single-handedly fixed the US economy.  Shoes; jackets; shoes; coats; 'Not Your Daughter's Jeans'; did I mention shoes?!  There's nothing quite like a bit of retail therapy.

We walked and walked and walked yesterday, somewhere between 10-13 km we reckon trying to find the Josef Seibel boots I've been after since before we left Australia - no success either :( It turns out we could have taken our #71 bus and got there in about ten minutes.  Nevertheless, we did work our way through several areas we were keen to 'walk' like Nob Hill, Russian Hill, Japantown, and Chinatown and thankfully we found a lovely café and had a yummy lunch of salads and paella - a bonus and well deserved!

Mary found details of a coat shop online and we navigated our way there to make a trolley-load of purchases - down and feather jackets and more shoes! We struggled home with our packages; it was a bigger struggle for some!

Today we took things at a slower pace - we caught our #71 into town and with some advice and quick driving from our bus driver (in order that we could get in front of the streetcar we needed to catch), we made a quick skip over on to a streetcar (not named 'Desire') to the Embarcadero and the ferry terminal to take a ferry to Sausalito.  And what a gorgeous little town it is, nestled into the side of a mountain across the bay ... and guess what ... it's full of gorgeous little boutiques ... and we helped the economy there too with cashmere jumper purchases, ready for the cold of New York next weekend.

Another night in tonight with our Mare doing the cooking - Sandy and I are the quality control supervisors - sometimes referred to at "the kitchen bi#ches".  LOL!

We'll pick up the hire car in the morning, and possibly head north to the Sonoma Valley and check out some of the Californian wines and maybe go via Stinson's Beach and Muir Woods.  More to come!

Speak no evil, hear no evil, see no evil, and of course do no evil!

Two bag ladies returning from a big day of shopping!



More SF compliments!

I forgot to mention ... they're so full of compliments here ...

Walking up through Haight Ashbury yesterday afternoon, through the cold wind ... my eyes watering ... trying to wipe away the tears ... I guess my gaze was not where it would normally be ...

And there, walking towards me - three trannies - one wearing such tiny, weeny, short fluorescent pink shorts and his artichokes were being somewhat squeezed ... nearly squeezed out of those short shorts in fact.

Truly, I wasn't staring ... but after we'd passed each other, I heard:

"Nice hair - love the pink hair .... ... ... WENCH"!!!!! 

Hmmm ... actually, I'm not so sure he was paying me a compliment.  LOL!

Our Victorian house - it very comfortable and we're enjoying playing at being "locals"; we've worked out the right trolleys and buses to catch to get into town and where to catch them, and shopping for supplies at Safeway - not much changes!  Here's our "home" at Waller Street, SF. (Sorry I can't get it up the right way.)



747 Waller Street, San Francisco - our "home"

Off now to explore Fisherman's Wharf and do a little bit of shopping!