San Francisco sunset

I love to watch the sunset, even if it's only from the back garden. A sunset in a far away place is all the better, add the backdrop of the Golden Gate Bridge and it's perfect. These pictures were taken from Municipal Pier, which is close to Fiserman's Wharf. It's a great spot for seeing the bridge at sunset. You get a good perspective and don't have to battle with huge crowds for that all important vantage point.

Wonderful Sausalito

Sausalito is easy to get to from San Francisco. You can drive over the Golden Gate Bridge or take a short ferry ride from the Ferry Building or Fisherman's Wharf. Driving in San Francisco isn't much fun for the tourist (see a later post), but a ferry ride is relaxing and you get great views of the San Francisco skyline. The Ferry Building is the best departure point. Fisherman's Wharf has lots of souvenir shops and mediocre restaurants which are overrun with tourists. The Ferry Building on the other hand has a range of interesting shops, a good range of restaurants and is worth seeing in its own right.

In the 1960s Sausalito was something of a hippy and bohemian enclave and many people lived in houseboats. The houseboats are still there, but very wealthy residents have taken over. It is hard to imagine anyone but the well heeled, being able to buy anything in Sausalito today, even a houseboat. It is sad that many ordinary people have been priced out, but fortunately the arty alternative feel to the place has remained.

It would be easy to spend a few days in Sausalito as well as, or instead of the city. The views of the San Francisco skyline are great, there are good range of quality restaurants and a choice of places to stay. The Inn Above the Tide is a small hotel, which as the name suggests is right on the waters edge. Unfortunately it isn't possible for non residents to go in for a drink.

The wealth of the town is obvious, not just by the property, but the size of some of the yachts in the marina.

A couple of hours is enough to get a taste of this lovely place, staying for a night or two would be even better. It is the top of my list of what to do while in San Francisco.

In Search of Blossom Hill

Discovering the Napa and Senoma regions on a wine tasting tour is an easy day trip from San Francisco.

Tourists have a range of options including a wine train trip, large coach tours, private tours in a limo and small group tours. The large coach trips sound horrendous. Sixty people on a coach visiting a limited range of vineyards and getting sloshed on Californian plonk. Not my idea of a good day out. The private trip in a limo seems an odd way to do a wine tasting trip. The train option didn’t really appeal either, it offers the opportunity to see lots from the train, but the chance to experience where you are visiting is limited.

To my mind the small group tour offers by far the best option, allowing interaction with other tourists, the guide and offering an opportunity to influence the vineyards visited. Choose the right trip and you can also include a gourmet meal. We were lucky to have a foodie couple on the trip, restaurateurs from Canada. They were fans of Gordon Ramsey. I sang the praises of Nigel Slater and made some book recommendations to them.

The vineyard which we will remember most was Arger-Martucci. The wine was good, but what really made it was the host. If you were to invent someone to do this sort of job, you’d be hard pressed to do better than this guy. He had a sardonic disarming wit and described each of the six wines he served with enthusiasm and knowledge. He also served the most delicious olive bread to go with the wine.
http://www.arger-martucci.com/arger-martucci/index.jsp

As well as including visits to several vineyards, the trip we chose included lunch at The Brix in the Napa Valley. This was without doubt the food highlight of the whole holiday. The Brix is in an idyllic setting, the service is attentive without being oppressive and the food sublime. Surprisingly the usually reliable Trip Advisor has mixed reviews about this place.
http://www.brix.com/

We were amused that no one we spoke to knew about Blossom Hill, a characterless Californian blend which is ubiquitous in the UK. Our guide said that lots of people from the UK mentioned this wine, but he hadn’t got a clue where it came from. I guess it is the leftovers from various vineyards, blended together by the guiding principle of not offending anyone’s taste buds and sold to UK pub chains and supermarkets.

The Napa and Senoma lack the dramatic beauty of somewhere like Paarl and Stellenbosch in South Africa, but this was a great way to spend a day enjoying a tipple, some great food and meeting some interesting people. We used Extranomical Tours and I recommend them to others.
http://www.extranomical.com/HTML_PAGES/WINE_COUNTRY_LOVERS_ITINERARY.htm

The Royalty of Jazz are at the Rrazz

I get regular emails from the Rrazz Room, a jazz venue in Hotel Nikko on Mason Street, San Francisco (just a few blocks from Union Square).
I see that Cleo Laine and John Dankworth are performing there for the next few days. It was a great pleasure to see them at the same venue last year. The years have done nothing to curb their enthusiasm and enjoyment of performing.
The most memorable song was of all things 'Tea for Two'. As a general rule, I really dislike this song, but Cleo made it sound good.
The Rrazz Room isn't my favourite jazz venue and is somewhat lacking in atmosphere, but this pair of octogenarians liven up anywhere.

What future for Blackpool?

Blackpool is a bit like marmite, you either love it or hate it. In my early childhood we went to various coastal resorts in England. I have happy memories of Scarborough and Margate. One year we went to Blackpool. I insisted because I saw it as the iconic seaside resort. I remember the rain, not been allowed on some of the rides at the theme park (too dangerous and they would make me sick) and the Tower.

Times change and in my later childhood we went to Greece or Spain. In recent years Blackpool has become a place to go for a short break, a day out or a conference. I was last there for an afternoon and went on 'The Big One', a roller coaster ride. I was terrified, but determined to finally go on one of those rides that were out of bounds to me as a child. It was good fun. My brother takes his daugthers for short breaks sometimes and they love it.

In some respects Blackpool is great, but in too many respects it isn't. I have felt a great sense of nostalgia when visiting as an adult. There lies the problem because it just hasn't changed with the times. Recently Pontins announced they were closing, because of plummeting numbers.

In recent years the conference trade has provided some revenue, but now even that seems to be going. In any given year the Tories, Labour, the Lib Dems or the TUC provided some trade. Not this year. The conference season has begun with the TUC in Liverpool, the Lib Dems are off to Bournemouth, Labour to Brighton and the Tories are in Manchester.

Northern towns are now the destination of choice for big conferences in the north rather than Blackpool.

The Super Casino idea seemed to offer possible saviour, but that doesn't seem to be on the agenda any more.

The only trade left seems to be stag parties, birthday parties and short breaks.

I have never stayed in really good accomodation in Blackpool and some has been appaling, so it isn't hard to see why it is in decline. It is a shame though, that this once great playground can't keep the best of what it once had and that it hasn't devoloped to meet the needs and aspirations of modern travellers.

A walk around Pacific Heights

Pacific Heights is home to some of the wealthiest people in San Francisco. At the lower end of the market there are homes costing a few million dollars, at the uppper end you're talking many tens of million dollars. Residents include wealthy business people, lawyers and celebrities.

It is interesting to walk around, look at the homes, enjoy the public parks and take in the views of the ocean.

Some streets in the area are enclaves for the mega mega rich, but the area is more varied than its image suggests and it does include some more 'modest' homes. 'Modest' needs heavy qualification and means the merely large rather than palatial.

As we walked along we were amused to be asked the way by someone. We wondered whether we looked like millionaires or domestics?

It is possible to go through the area on a tour bus, but it is limited to a certain route. Do it on foot it is much more fun.

Premium flying at reduced prices: well sometimes

Up until recently I was feeling very pleased with my record of flying in the comfy seats at less than many fellow passengers were paying.


In the space of a few years I have become known as Mr Upgrade to some of my friends.


First there was an upgrade from premium economy to business class on a flight with Virgin. This came out of the blue, no pressuring the nice woman (she was a woman) on the desk about availability up at the front, it was just offerred.


Then came the best and most memorable upgrade, from business to first with South African Airways. It was all the more enjoyable because we nearly missed the flight altogether. Our lateness had caused a mix up on a very busy flight and we arrived at our allocated seats to find someone sitting in them. It was a young couple who were very much in love (and making it obvious to everyone's annoyance). They were offered an upgrade to first class if they moved, but told they would not be able to sit right next to each other. Just as I was thinking why didn't you ask us, they declined, because they could't bear to disintagle themselves from oneanother. We were asked the same question and we calmy replied that we would accept. I wanted to cartwheel all the way to first class and this was before the copious amounts of champagne.


Last year there was a price war between Virgin and BA. I got a third off the price of a normal ticket. I was able to do this because I had noticed that periodically airlines have sales drive and drastically reduce prices for a limited period and kept a look out.


The next big trip is to South Africa and Zambia with a friend. We decided to book the time off work and wait for a sale. The sale came a few weeks ago. Not quite as good as we would have liked, but we booked. A few days later the sale improved. Arrrrrgh. So annoying.


The lesson is be as flexible as you can about when you travel and keep watching those prices. By doing this it is possible to have a reasonably good understanding of how low prices can fall for your chosen route and come to a judgement about whther it is a good time to buy your ticket. I knew tickets were likely to come down further, but we were keen to book.


Part of me says put this occasion into context, the other that I really should have known better.