San Francisco... a city with so much character

We spent 3 nights in Fisherman's Wharf in San Fransisco, which is about a 30 min drive from the aiport.

San Francisco is a nice city with so much character.

They have rolling steep roads where cars park perdendicular so that the cars won't roll. Their famous cable cars are so pretty, there are 3 different routes and cost $6 per trip. You can hop off at various stops. There were long queues for the cable cars.

Ever seen the movie 'The Rock' with Sean Connery? Alcatraz or 'The Rock' can be seen from Fisherman's Wharf. Alcatraz was a federal prison from 1933 until 1963 and now tourists can go visit the island. Similar to Robben Island near Cape Town, tourists catch a ferry and can tour the island. This is a very popular attraction so you need to book at least a week in advance. The time I wanted to book it was sold out.

Fisherman's Wharf is a nice area. We arrived there on New Year's Eve so walked to the pier to watch the fireworks. Was a great fireworks display, there were even fireworks shaped as red hearts and colourful smiley faces :) There are many shops and restaurants. Pier 39 is very popular, there are nice views of Alcatraz. There are also sea lions to see.

Apparently, the Chinatown in San Francisco is the second largest one. The shops were huge and so colourful.

We were fortunate to get a tour from one of Athol's friends. He took us to Alamo Square which has a lovely view of the city. There are also the famous 7 'Pale sisters' which are seen on postcards.

There is also a pier with old boats (such as schooners) which you can tour.

We went to the Golden Gate Bridge, a really beautiful sight!

I really like San Fransisco, the only thing is the fear that an earthquake could happen at any time. They had a massive one in 1906 (8.1 on the richter scale!) and a smaller one in 1989 (6.9 on the richter scale!) which killed many.

Los Angeles... a large diverse city

We spent 5 nights in total in Los Angeles, this was the second leg of our holiday but was split into two parts as we went to Seattle for 2 nights to meet some Locks from Vancouver.

Athol had caught the flu on our trip from Las Vegas to LA so spent a lot of time in bed. We stayed at in Marina Del Rey which is a suburb close to LAX (about a 15 min drive) just South of Venice Beach, which is just South of Santa Monica. There is a beautiful marina.

Santa Monica was beautiful! The sunsets are spectacular. 3rd Street, which is the second road parallel to the beach road, is an awesome street. It has shops, cinemas, restaurants, musicians playing in the street, etc. just such a great vibe. Athol and I spent an afternoon with our niece and nephew, we took them to see Monsters Inc. 3D at the AMC cinemas in 3rd Street.

Hollywood was ok, it was not as glamorous as I thought that it would be. Hollywood Blvd has the stars on the pavements, shops, Graumans Chinese Theater (with the hand/foot prints of celebrities), restaurants, wax museum, etc. You can see the famous Holywood sign from the Highlands center. It is about a 30 min drive from Marina Del Rey.

Beverly Hills is very nice. Their streets are lined with large palm trees.

The famous Rodeo Drive is in Beverly Hills, this a where celebrities and very rich people shop. Ferrari's, Aston Martins, Bentleys, etc. are very common is this part of LA. We were on the look out for celebrities. Athol's brother saw Toby Macguire (spiderman) and Kelsey Grammer (Frasier) along Rodeo Drive.

LA is a large spread out city. A bit like Johannesburg in a sense. They don't have much public transport so is better to have a car. You can go to Malibu which is probably about an hours drive North West. Universal Studios is just North of Hollywood. There's Disneyland in Anaheim which is probaly about an hour or two South of LAX. Some parts like Venice Beach had very bad roads. So while some suburbs are great others are not so great. There is lots to do and see in LA but everything is far afar. I actually think Cape Town is more cosy and beautiful :)

Las Vegas... Disney for adults

We left to Las Vegas on Tuesday 18 December 2012 and stayed at the MGM Grand for 6 nights - this was the first leg of our 15 night holiday (Americans would call it a vacation) along the US West Coast.

We flew Delta Airlines via Atlanta (approx. a 3 hour flight from Boston to Atlanta then a 4.5 hour flight from Atlanta to LV). The time difference in Nevada (the state in which Las Vegas is in) is 3 hours behind Boston and 10 hours behind South Africa.

We met up with Athol's brother and the family who were on holiday here in the US, it was great seeing them after 6 months.

'The Strip' is the long main road in LV which is made up of grand hotels, restaurants, shops and casino:-
-New York! New York! is the Big Apple themed hotel with a mini Statue of Liberty, the NYC skyline and a rollercoaster

-MGM Grand is the big green hotel which is shaped in a cross

-The Palazzo is a fancy hotel with high end shops and had a big waterfall and Christmas display

-The Venitian is a beautiful Italian themed hotel with shops around a 'river' with gondola rides (you will even get serenaded by the rower). With fake blue skies and many shops/restuarants. Outside there is an icerink with a huge Christmas tree

-There is a mini Paris with an Eifel Tower (you can take an elevator to the top)

-These are only a few, there are tons of other hotels/resorts like Caesars Palace, Treasure Island (have a regular fire display), The Luxor, Mandalay Bay, The Flamingo, The Bellagio (have lit musical fountains), etc.

A Disney for adults!

There are premium shopping outlets nearby, which are a shoppers paradise.

North West of The Strip is 'Old Las Vegas' which is more old fashioned, a bit more run run and dingy but more like the Vegas we see in movies. Fremont Street is closed off for pedestrians only.

The LV airport is the only airport that I've seen with slots machines by departures/arrivals and by baggage claim :)

It seems LV is becoming a place for kids as well, there is lots for kids to do. For my niece's 8th birthday we went to The Adventure Dome which has amusement park rides, the kids loved it! I went on the indoor rollercoaster twice with the kids which was fun - there were 2 loops and it went in the dark for a while in the 'mountain'.

Food is generally expensive. Buffets are popular.

There are shows every night at the various hotels. Tickets are pricey, cheapest tickets are around $100 per person.

Hotels are cheap, you can get 4/5 star hotels for around $60 a night along The Strip.

LV is close to the Grand Canyon, if the weather was better we would have loved to go there. It is about a 4 hour bus ride one way so quite a trip.

So overall, I was blown away by the grandness of Las Vegas, it is like Times Square or Picadilly Circus on steroids :) there are so many lights and things to see and do. Even for someone like me who doesn't gamble and drink, this place is really awesome for a holiday even is you just walk around :) definately the Entertainment Capital of the World!