2 days in San Francisco

I just returned to London after a whirlwind 6 week trip in the states with 3 of my best friends.

The first part of our US holiday started with a stay in San Francisco. We stayed in the heart of the city – which also happened to be Crack Corner – at the Metropolis Hotel.

As we tried to save money anywhere we could, we quad shared. The 2 double bedded room did not give a lot of room for 4 suitcases, a carry-on case and 3 backpacks but we managed to not kill each other or trip over anything the 3 nights that we were there. This is probably because we didn’t spend much time inside.

Our first full day in San Francisco started with walking the scenic route to Fisherman's Wharf so we could catch our boat across to Alcatraz.

The tour of Alcatraz is self paced and has an audio guide within the main penitentiary building. The audio is presented by past prisoners of the island and is full of stories of their time there, including a daring escape!

After walking up and down and all over the island, we were hungry! Luckily we were able to find this gem of an American icon on the wharf.

I was quite excited when the waiter told me the ribs (including the sauce!) was gluten free.

Especially seeing as I didn't like seafood at this point. After trying Jess' 'shrimp on a stick' however I had to get my own!

Nicole and Jess

Me and Kyle

The afternoon was spent walking around the city and signing up to the great discounts that Safeway offer!

Our night was spent at AT&T Park where we watched the San Francisco Giants take on the St Louis Cardinals. Baseball is quite an interesting game to watch, goes a bit long though. We stayed warm with our new beanies and the best hot cocoa I've ever had.

The next day we had a bit of a sleep in, before making our way back to Fisherman's Wharf to do a cruise of the Bay (thanks to our Flight Centre travel agent for this freebie!)

Unfortunately it was a bit foggy so we couldn't get a clear photo of the Golden Gate Bridge, but this was one of my favourites.

A trip to San Francisco isn't complete without taking a ride on the historic cable car. We made our way back to Union Square and waited for around half an hour in line - entertained by the buskers and homeless dancers - before getting on.

The tram starts at the junction of Powell and Market Streets and makes it way through the streets to Fisherman's Wharf. Tickets are US$7 one way.

We also managed to find and begin our love affair with Ross in San Francisco.

For those not familiar with the store, it's a bit like TK Maxx. Nicole, Jess and I had fun trying on the discounted bargains and I picked up a pair of Sketchers for $35 (I love my Sketchers. Might be because I don't have a Prada backpack!)

A Sense of Home - July Travel Link Up

This month's travel linkup topic is Home.

It got me thinking as to what makes a place feel like home to me.

Although a lot of people have connections with the physical place, home to me has more to do with the people and the sense of belonging you get.

I love the Adelaide sceneries, the Hills, the beaches, the wineries, the most important thing about is the people that I love and who love me. My family and most of my friends are back in Adelaide, and when I go home, they are always there to support me and share in experiences.

I can say the same for the people I meet in London. Being an Antipodean in London, a lot of us have the same values - making the most of life, visiting new places, experiencing new cultures and foods, learning history of places we've never even heard about before.

I have made a great group of friends here in London, who I have shared many new experiences with.

Home is a sense of belonging.

How to link up your post

Just pop your post up over the first week of the month (the 1st - 7th July 2016) and add it to the link up widget found on Angie's, Jessi's or Polly's blogs.

No real rules – just check out some of the other cool bloggers; tweet a few of the posts out to your followers that you think they will love and make a few comments here and there.

Richmond Park

On Thursday I caught up with my Australian mate Nathan. 

It was a lovely Summer's day so we decided to check out one of the eight Royal parks that are dotted around London. 

Richmond Park is in the South West of London and dates back to the 13th Century!. It is the largest of the parks and is also a national nature reserve. 

It was a long walk from Richmond tube stop to the gate so we decided to head in the direction of the closest cafe. And lucky we did! 

About 5 minutes down the road we came across a herd of deer. 

One of the deer thought that the grass would be greener on the other side and proceeded to hold up traffic and cross the road. 

This particular deer wasn't scared of us mere humans, he came right up and nibbled my hand! He also posed a bit for photos. 

After are amazement of the deer wore off we headed to the cafe, grabbed a cider and enjoyed the sunshine and beautiful scenery. 

River Thames

Richmond Park

Richmond Park

random path

On our way back to the tube station we found a playground! 

We took one spin on the spiny-round thing before I felt ill (I don't do rides real well) and headed down to walk along the riverbank.

We of course had to take on last selfie together as today Nathan departs on a 47 day Topdeck trip before going back to the land down under as his visa is at an end (sad face)!

The Great Contiki Challenge 2014 #TGCC14

Last Saturday myself and three friends participated in the Great Contiki Challenge.

For those of you who don't know, Contiki is a travel tour company aimed at the 18 - 35s. 

We started of in Russell Square and had 5 hours to complete our task. 

The Challenge consisted of a list of clues that we had to work out, go to that place and take a photo of us with it. 

The clues came in 3 parts: easy, medium and hard.
Easy clues were things like 'ride a Barclays bike' or 'mind the gap'. 
Medium clues were a little bit more cryptic, such as 'the Covent Gardens version of Diagon Alley'.
Hard clues included 'I tried to extinguish a burning boy with my inflammable dress'.

Running around London also gave the opportunity to take some amazing photos, here are a few I snapped:

Join in the Challenge in 2015!

A Few days in Perth

On my way from home to home (Adelaide to London) I stopped in for a few days to visit my friend Ruby in Perth. 

Ruby and I were able to spend a few moments - between sleep and Ruby's work - exploring the awesome city of Perth. 

We went down to the City of Fremantle and had a lovely dinner at the Sail and Anchor before heading to the Fremantle Prison for a Torchlight Tour. 

Fremantle Prison entrance

There were a few tense moments that were a little bit scary, but it could have definitely been a whole lot scarier. 
Our tour guide, Chris, was really good and full of interesting facts about the history of the prison. 

<<<<< This bucket is all the prisoners had to use as a toilet. The bucket was left in the 2x2 cell with the prisoner, who was in there for about 23 out of 24 hours of the day. 
The bucket was a part of the prison system up until it closed in 1991.





Cell 53, of the solitary division, is the cell that has the most deaths/suicides than all the other cells. 
The solitary cells have there own exercise courtyards, and they did have the luxury of a flushing toilet until ...

... Some bloke decided to take a handstand, giving himself a swirlie, then fall over to the side - breaking his neck! 
Needless to say, the toilet was then cemeted up and the prisoners went back to using the bucket system!




We also got to see the Execution Room. Western Australia was the last state in Australia to get rid of the death penalty. Fremantle Prison was the only legal place of execution in WA between 1888 and 1984. 
During that time 43 men and one woman were hanged at the prison. 

The last woman to be legally hanged in Fremantle Prison was Marth Rendell. 

Actress portraying Martha Rendell

 According to Wikipedia (home of the most reliant facts) Martha used hydrochloric acid to kill her de facto's three children. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Rendell





Ruby and I also spent some time exploring the Swan Valley. 
The Margaret River Chocolate Factory has an outlet in the Swan Valley, which is awesome as the chocolate factory produce some delicious, delicious desserts!

We also visited Whistler's Chocolate Factory, which had an aquarium full of chocolate fish and candy coral. 

We visited many relaxing places such as the Cottage Tea Rooms ....

Pot of Rose Garden tea and a scone with jam and cream. 











..... and The Cheese Barrel ...

... Which had some delicious cheese and a relaxing view. 













While in Perth I also got to catch up with a recently-made new friend, Ameera.

This beautiful lady was part of my European tour with Topdeck.
We had a lovely meal of fish and chips on the beach down at Cottesloe.