Arrived safely and it's time for the first installment:
The Journey
Didn't get off to a smooth start as we missed our shuttle bus to Terminal 5. Not our fault as it didn't come to the hotel door like it did the night before when it dropped us off.
Decided to get a taxi rather than wait for the next to allow time to chill and grab some breakfast before our long journey. Was a good job as we hadn't accounted for the vastness of Heathrow. All these years of watching hapless passengers missing flights on "The Airport" we really should have known better.
So breakfast was replaced by a Boots meal deal. Either way neither was needed as less than 2 hours into the flight we were served a meal.
Flight itself wasn't too bad, we broke things up with TV and a few films. Managed to sychronise loo breaks with a nice German man on our row!
Arrival in the US of A
Well our first experience of the country was a little traumatic! First we had to go through an interrogation with some security guy ominously wearing black gloves. Little Michelle's guy was nice and chatty whereas mine was clearly on a power trip. Not what you need after a long flight.
After that I was singled out for a spot check on my luggage, but unbeknownst to me Little Michelle wasn't she was asked to leave the airport. So we had a hideous 10 minutes where I was waiting for Michelle and she was waiting outside, both of us thinking the other had been taken off somewhere for interrogation.
Hotel Whitcomb
The hotel is nice with a beatifully ornate lobby. I'm not clever enough to know the proper style, but it feels like something from an 80's mini series. Our room is at the end of a very long corridor which reminds us of the film "The Shinning" - no sign of twin girls on tricycles though so I reckon we are ok!!
After dumping our stuff we headed out into town, to familiarise ourselves with our new surroundings.
Headed up to Union Square for a coffee next to the ice rink and watch the world go by. San Francisco certainly has it's fair share of weirdos / vagrants / people carrying their lives in a trolly / social problems - delete as appropriate.
Union Sq Photos
At one point some bloke literally howled in our faces disconcerting at the best of times never mind when your body is crying out for sleep.
Headed back to the hotel and watched 49ers V Chigago Bears to try and stave off sleep for as long as possible. Can I just say what a pointless game couldn't believe the size of the players and the guts on them! No wonder they need an ad break every 2 mins it's so they can get their breath back!!
Good to hear from you, we really enjoyed the first instalment and had a good laugh.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to the next one.