Honeymoon - the pictures start here.

So, everything's downloaded (all 1500 or so files.....) and I've started to go through them with a view to picking out the most shareable. I've put a few on my pix.ie account so far, feel free to browse and laugh at them.



San Francisco was our first stop, after quite a lengthy pair of flights (5.5 hours transatlantic, and another 5 hours or so transcontinental). Hilly spot! Time differences meant that we were waking up bright and early at about 6am, but getting tired by 8pm or 9pm. San Francisco is a lovely city with plenty to see and do. Highlights for me here were the Golden Gate bridge (another post), the cable cars (see above) the sourdough bread that is everywhere, and eating lunch in the Zoetrope café and realising at the end that it's owned by Francis Coppola!

It's a hilly city - this picture might help you. We walked the hills the first day, heading North from our hotel (The Hilton Union Square on O'Farrell St) without realising exactly what we were letting ourselves in for!



We were to wear ourselves out consistently every day, even with the public transport pass we bought on day 2. The Hilton is very well located, but we were a small bit disappointed with being able to hear not just that our neighbours were on the phone, but all of their travel plans and details through the hotel room wall. Also the in-hotel coffee shop and restaurant were expensive but we could have expected that.

Chinatown was part of our first day's exploration. I was puzzled by some of the signs, and not just those that were in Chinese:


And there was plenty of interesting street art too


Dominating the skyline from almost every viewpoint is the Transamerica Bank Building, or the Transamerica Building. Striking in it's height and form, it looms above everything. Very interesting.



Feminists and U2 fans (it's a line in the song "Trying to throw your arms around the world") will recognise the line "A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle" well, we saw this in SF which kinda puts a lie to the whole thing:



As I mentioned the sourdough above, these below will illuminate what I meant. SF is famous for its sourdough bread, which is risen using natural yeast rather than cultivated yeast. The bread has a sour taste and a lovely dense texture which is amazing toasted. Or, scooped out and filled with soup as these guys do:




So I'll finish the post with a couple of photos of the cable cars. They are powered by cables running beneath the tracks (where the museum is), and the cars/trams each have a clutch or grip which is used to grab onto the continuously moving cables when they want to move, and let go when they want to stop. There are of course independent brakes on the tram!


There are turntables at each end of the line (certainly on the Powell & Hyde Line), where the driver and brakeman turn the car manually to go back in the direction it came from


As the cable cars pass quite closely to each other, and passengers hang off the side, it is important not to lean out


So I hope you enjoyed the first rather long post. More to come!

Latvian trip, discussion thereof, part 3. (including the best view from a loo in the world!)

Onwards with us to Sigulde on the last day we had the car, and enjoy the cable car across the valley we did, one of the attractions we missed last year. Of course it was too cold to spend any time on the far side so we just went across and came back. Cheap thrills.

Then we got stuck in the snow and had to pull the car out using our teeth and some dental floss that you should always carry just in case. Nah, it just looked like we got stuck, so I took the picture. Sorry.

Hmm, now this is the biggest grotto in the Baltics, so it is. Gudmanala - good man's cave. Some legend surrounds it, but it escapes me now and I'm in a rush off to Rome, so if I think about it when I come back I'll stick in some links for your perusification. As you can see below, it wasn't made of the hardest rock in the world. Very crumbly sandstone (engineering classification notwithsdanding)

Then after we got going again, we thought we'd forgotten something. D said Dam. What was it? said I. No, Dam he repeated, pointing. This Hydro electric scheme (or the scheme of which this dam is a part) provides up to 50% of Latvia's electricity. Impressive. So they've Kyoto sorted already then!

This is the view from the road along the reservoir. Yes, we did drive it. A little hairy at first but you soon learn which rut to follow.

The last day I spent wandering again, and found myself having lunch on the 27th floor of the Reval Hotel. Lovely views, hampered again by mist unfortunately, but the gold trim on the Orthodox Church still shone through.

I was surprised at the view from the loo, and thought you mightn't believe me if I told you so once I made sure there was noone in the bathroom at the time, I took a picture of what I think is the best view from a loo in the world.

Off to Rome shortly, more from here after that! Oh, and best of luck to Ireland in the rugby in 2 minutes.