Just travelin' around, enjoying life & seeing the world.
San Francisco, California – February 17-21, 2008 San Francisco is one of my favourite cities in the world to visit. I had only been there once before in 1995, so a revisit was long overdue. In the winter of 2008 I had a short break between jobs, so I booked a discount flight/hotel package through Expedia.ca. The package was not ideal but it got me into San...
Exploring San Francisco The day started out cloudy. I had breakfast at Lori’s Diner at Powell and Sutter Streets… …then went back to hotel for my camera and other daypack essentials. I took shots of the Grant Hotel exterior and of Powell Street. Getting my directional bearings, I walked down Powell Street to Union Square and got some shots: I visited...
A Wet Day in the City Rain and steady drizzle all day today…. <yuck!!>. I had breakfast at a small place called Jasmine’s Restaurant at Bush and Mason Streets, then returned to the hotel for a short pit stop before heading out for the day. Leaving the hotel, I hopped the Powell-Mason cable car from Powell Street, my destination the Cable Car Museum at the...
Lombard Street, Lots of Chocolate, The Castro & Haight-Ashbury Rain showers first thing this morning. I had breakfast once again at Lori’s Diner at Powell and Sutter Streets. The sun came out at about 9:30 a.m. and, thankfully, the weather remained clear for the rest of the day. After breakfast I took the Powell-Hyde cable car to the top of Lombard Street, then...
Homeward Bound I got up at 3:30 a.m. to get ready for the Lorrie’s Shuttle bus to the airport ($14.00), which was arriving at 4:20 a.m. My flight out of San Francisco was departing at 6:45 a.m. I checked out of the Grant Hotel (same nasty old Asian clerk at front desk again – obviously the night clerk) and waited outside the hotel on Bush Street for the airport...
London, England – November 15-24, 2009 Ahhhh… London. My most favourite city to visit in the entire world. This was my second solo visit to this incredible city, albeit a bit of a whirlwind (better too short than not at all I guess). I was able to get a rock bottom-cheap return flight via an Air Transat charter. As I was later to find out, Air Transat...
Arriving in London Dinner and breakfast were served during the 7-hour flight from Toronto. We finally reached London Gatwick at about 06:30 local time. The weather was pouring with rain during landing. I passed through Customs, collected my luggage and finally found the Gatwick Express train after much searching (I had the good sense to buy a prebooked return ticket...
My First Full Day in London I woke at about 7:30 a.m. (after a 12 hour sleep… much needed) and indulged in the Euro’s usual hearty breakfast. It’s a beautiful sunny day today… perfect! I left the Euro at about 9:00 and caught the London Underground to St. Paul’s station. I arrived at St. Paul’s Cathedral and toured the Churchyard and grounds...
A Wet Day I slept late this morning, still a little tired from the somewhat late night last night. I just caught the Euro Hotel’s last breakfast serving of the morning, just before 9:00 a.m. The weather is wet today, but not steady rain. After another very satisfying breakfast at the Euro, I took the Underground to Charing Cross station and went to Trafalgar...
Oxford Street Shopping & Spicy Szechuan Very tired this morning – I didn’t wake up until 9:30 a.m. and didn’t get up until almost 10:00. The Euro stops serving breakfast at 9:00 a.m. on weekdays, so I missed out. That’s OK, as I wasn’t feeling that hungry this morning so I decided to grab something later while on the go. Good weather today; mostly...
Off To See Henry I was up in time for breakfast at the Euro this morning, and enjoyed the usual hearty and delicious fare. It was pouring rain today but was supposed to clear up later in the afternoon. After breakfast I got myself ready and left the Euro at about 9:30 for a day trip to Hampton Court Palace, one of the residences of King Henry VIII in the early...
A Day For Wandering On weekends, breakfast at the Euro Hotel is served from 8:00-9:30 (as opposed to 7:30-9:00 through the week). I had a good, long, much-needed sleep (10½ hours!), showered and just made it into the dining room by 9:30 as the staff were clearing everything away. I enjoyed another excellent Euro brekkie. It was a beautiful sunny morning. I thought it...
Covent Garden & Beyond I slept until about 10:00 a.m. today. Very noisy neighbours here at the Euro, stomping around and yelling at each other in the hallway. Unfortunately my room is at the top of the stairwell in the middle of the floor, so it’s very central to all activity. I was too late for the hotel’s breakfast, so I went out for breakfast at a small...
A Day in St. Albans, A Night with Priscilla I was up in time today to catch brekkie at the Euro. Unfortunately it’s pouring rain today, and is windy and cold. I finished breakfast at about 9:00 a.m., during which I was thinking carefully about how I should spend my last full day in (or around) this city that I so love. I decided to take a day trip to St...
Homeward Bound I woke with a jolt this morning to the cacophony of several different alarms (phone, travel alarm, iPod) all going off at 04:00. What an ungodly hour… It was raining this morning as I showered and packed my last few items; I was ready to go by 04:35. I noticed that the cab (from Plaza Cabs) was already waiting downstairs so, having checked out of...
From Paris To Berlin This trip journal is slightly different in that we start our adventures, not in Toronto, Ontario, but in Berlin, Germany. In the fall of 2012 we took a two-city trip to Paris and Berlin, spending roughly 8-10 days in each of those locations. Paris was on the agenda first, then Berlin. This journal starts as we leave Paris for Berlin. Berlin was...
A Small Introduction to Berlin We were up at about 8:00 a.m. to enjoy an amazing HUGE breakfast at the Arco Hotel: obviously Germans actually eat more than a sprig of parsley and a cappuccino in the mornings – what a change from Paris! Extremely plentiful and absolutely delicious. After breakfast we walked up to Wittenbergplatz (one of the cities largest...
A Day of Memorials We started our day with another excellent breakfast at the Arco Hotel. Our day’s touring began by setting out for Nollendorfplatz to see the memorial for gay Holocaust victims. We couldn’t locate it so I went into Bruno’s to get directions from the interesting guys there; they were very helpful. Bruno’s Mascot With information in hand we...
Hitting The Museums We started our day fairly early, with the usual delicious breakfast at the hotel. Back in our hotel room we packed our day bags and cameras, and caught the U-Bahn from Nollendorfplatz to the S-Bahn at Friedrichstrasse. From there we walked to Museuminsel (Museum Island) to begin our day of Museum surfing. Many of Berlin’s prominent museums...
A Day of Underground Bunkers and Museums We started the day with the usual excellent and hearty breakfast at the Arco Hotel. After breakfast we caught the S-Bahn / U-Bahn to the Berliner Unterwelten at Brunnenstrasse 105: Ticket office for Berliner Unterwelten (underground) tours The Berliner Unterwelten is a company providing tours of Berlin’s WWII underground...