san francisco (part 2)

One of the main reasons for visiting the US was to visit my friend Kush, he looked after me over the time I was there. He showed me the fancy cafes, the famous gay bars. Most of the time he did have to work and so I had to fend for myself but luckily (and £50 bill later ---- oops) he was available to call. Note to self, read the rules on international sims.

He took me wine tasting in Napa, which was a very fun drive into the countryside to see where they make all the famous Napa wine. He got me tickets to go to the California Academy of Sciences for an over 21s evening. It was a fantastic experience filled with albino crocodiles (see the photos album) and an exploration of space in the planetarium. I was even encouraged by buy a CAS mug and t-shirt (which I unashamedly wear most places).

I was very fortunate to meet his friends who are all very fun loving and welcoming people. It was however, strange to be around so many Americans at once. In London, you can usually hear an American voice from a mile away allowing you ample time to steer clear. It was even stranger that, people in San Francisco also really do have their own little micro-identity, even more particular than just being 'Californian'. One taxi driver told me that in SF, being 2 hours late does not even count as late. San Franciscans seem to reject chain stores. I counted 1 McDonalds, 1 KFC and 1 burger chain (that I can not remember) that is popular on the east coast of the USA. Everywhere else, the cafes and restaurants are independent or from very small 'local' chains. It was nice to see in comparison to London where everything tastes the same but with a different big corporation name on it (generalisation perhaps but pretty accurate too).

I don't think I can talk about San Francisco without mentioning in more detail the gay village, the Castro. You know it straight away by the flag, who's size could match the Royal Standard flown from buildings occupied by HMQE2. It is huge!

The Castro itself is like another little self sufficient city within the walls of SF. You see same sex couples walking around everywhere all well dressed,  with immaculately kept facial hair and all, yes, I mean all, walking small dogs. The streets are clean (compared to the neighbouring Mission district). It is quite a polar opposite to our well loved, grimy streets of Soho. The area does not really seem to reflect that once upon a time, most things homosexual were illegal. The only reminders are the occasional wonderfully drawn murals of prominent patrons of the LGBT cause. The night life was different to what I expected too. Most people there are settled and in couples (or so it seemed to me) and although the bars were full...well...it just wasn't London.

I think that going to SF was a good first choice for breaking into America for the first time.  I would be wrong to say it was one of my favourite places to visit but I met nice people and they made it worth while. Maybe New York is next?

san francisco (part 1)

I am sat in Heathrow Terminal 2 about to jet off on my second holiday of the year (check me out) when I notice that actually I have not finished writing the blog for the first big holiday of the year - San Francisco. I have never actually been to the US of A and so what better place to start than one of the worlds most important gay holy cities. Famed for its rainbow crossing, Alcatraz (did not visit - sorry) and the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco was definitely a place to visit. 

Travelling from Termnial 2 with United Airlines, I have to say, I half expected to get dragged off the flight for double booking - the media scares you like that. In reality, it was one of the most comfortable flights I have ever had. An entire row to myself, no children and very friendly air hosts. I was even offered (and gladly accepted) second meals. Speaking of food, SF was not good for my average body mass. The food was just exceptional. Mexican, Korean, Chinese, American, Italian, Japanese, anything you can think of, they had it there and it tasted amazing - albeit a little expensive compared to lots of other places I’ve been. That is to be expected I guess considering people like Mark Zuckerberg and other tech nerds with big salaries live there. One Mexican place in particular sticks out, if you walked in to the same place in the UK then even if you are not a snob about the state of restaurants etc, you would probably have raised an eyebrow. This place was well and truly local and you could see that although very friendly, they clearly didn’t worry much about losing business from snooty tourists. They didn’t have to worry though, the burrito I got was the size of my head and (unlike the UK) actually packed with stuff that tasted heavenly - you didn’t even have to pay 80p extra for guacamole!!

Aside from the food, San Francisco has a very split personality. It is a city famed for being close to Silicon Valley, the 5 sisters and its ‘caring’ attitude towards the homeless and lost. In fact, as you walked around the city, there are homeless people literally everywhere. You can at one moment be walked through very very fancy looking houses and apartments but around the corner a totally different picture. On one occasion, I was walking down a road and there was a guy sat there injecting himself with some amber looking stuff. That said, walking around these sorts of areas should seem threatening and indeed, if I was in the same sort of area of London then I would feel threatened. But in SF, these two worlds just sort of rub against each other but do not mix or bother each other. Nobody tried to ask for money, nobody even looked your way, they just went about their own business, chatting with each other etc. I suppose if the wealthy were being harassed on a regular basis then something would be done.

It is nearly time to board so I think part 1 will end there. Part two very soon, with photos I hope if this iPad does as I want.

what's sort of travelling is not fun...

... Commuting!!!

Most of my blog page is about travel but unfortunately, I am not loaded with spare cash so it's not always possible to jet off randomly. I do however suffer everyday from a very un-fun sort of travelling, one that is common knowledge to many people living and working in London....the morning commute.

I think I want to dedicate this little piece to what is probably the most stressful part of any day.

My shift patterns are pretty strict and I either start at 8, 9 or 10. This means that I can catch fixed trains and you'd think would have a pretty robust routine that would lead me walking into work smack on time if not before. Wrong! Unfortunately, my area is covered by Great Western Railway. Anybody who speaks to me knows the of the utter contempt in my voice whenever I mention that company. There is a reason of course, mainly the £3550 they charge for an annual season ticket from my home to London Paddington. From July 2017 till January 2018, the trains were old, cramped and delayed. From January 2018 they are new, cramped and delayed.

It actually baffles belief but since the start of the new year, my trains have been on time 6 times only. The rest have been cancelled or delayed from 5 mins to 1hr 30 mins. As I have an annual ticket, I am not entitled to compensation. Instead, they assume that I want to renew my annual pass and will make it a bit cheaper for me to do so if the punctuality % is below a certain amount however, the 3.4% increase in January will likely cancel any savings I make out so either way, I am stuck.

 On what planet can a company have such poor performance yet continue to increase charges? SO why post this rant? Is it important? Yes! The UK has some of the worst performing yet most expensive railways in Europe (opinion based on experience). It is maddening that rail users have to continue to pay too large a chunk of their monthly salary (https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/jan/03/rail-fares-cost-commuters-up-to-14-of-their-income-says-study) to private companies for such a shitty service. End of rant.

travel update

Trip Advisor - 13% so far.

Result - much more to go!

gran canaria (winter pride) 2017

It has taken me some time to write this blog as I have been unsure how to approach it. I don't think there is any point in recalling the details of exactly what I did as to be honest, 80% of it consisted of early mornings for travel, tourist food and alcohol. After all, it was Winter Pride and I had been attempting to get to Pride in Gran Canaria at least once before turning 30. That said, I am sure that if I was writing this at 19, it would probably include many more redactions than this one does.

What  I will say is that it was a great little break where there was no rush or requirement to go and see interesting things (even though walking up the volcano would have been very interesting), it was just the opportunity to sit around with some good friends and...well....drink. The Yumbo Centre is certainly something of a Mecca for the gays but it was nothing like what I expected. On the Friday night, we walked past a restaurant that we had seen the previous day, tonight it was full of German pensioners all listening to folk music and dancing. As you walk literally 10 seconds around the corner and see the main stage for the pride event with guys walking around wearing thongs. In some cases, these older pensioners were sat outside the gay bars and watching what was going on around them with a drink. I guess you had to be there but I was shocked.

The last point I think is the visit to the gay beach. Everybody watches porn and everybody has a stereotype of what an ideal body looks like. Lets not lie, in the gay community this is amplified 10 fold and if you do go by most mainstream 'adult viewing' then all gays are sculpted out of the very best marble (obviously this is not the case for everyone nor is it everyones view but let us be honest, it is a gay problem). Anyway, being on this beach could not have been further from the stereotype. The marble adonis was actually non-existent instead being replaced by guys from all the extremes of age, body type etc. It was an eye opener. I sound very naive here I know but it was a first for me.

Either way, a good time had by all and we didn't even need to mention me drunkenly climbing a fence a causing a gash in my arm and leg that is still visible now 4 weeks later. Fun times!

naples and pompeii 2017 (part 2)

I think that most people would have gotten the impression that I was not blown away by Naples. I am not sure that Johnny would agree mind, don't get me wrong, it is so worth the visit just to say you have experienced it but yeah, it's just dirty. That said, for me, the highlight of the trip came on the Sunday when we made our way to the ancient Roman town/city of Pompeii. 

Pompeii was established sometime between the 7th and 6th century BCE in the south of Italy and became a colony of the Roman Republic in around 80 BCE. In 79 AD, the volcano Mt Vesuvius erupted and gradually buried the town in metres of mud, ash and pyroclastic debris where is remained perfectly preserved until about 200 years ago. You can access the whole archaeological site for about €13 however, on Sunday, it is free (bonus!). It's important for those of you who want to visit here ensure you have a whole day. You also need to know that in order to get to Pompeii, you have to ride what has to be the most dodgy train I have ever been on. There are some photos in my shared Google Images folder so I won't add another here however, that isn't the worst part. It takes about 40 mins to get from Naples central station to Pompeii and on the way there, you pass through several very sad looking stations, some of which you don't know the name as the signs have been covered in...yes you guessed it....graffiti.

So back to the city. Inside some of the ruins are museums where they have kept casts of some of the ancient inhabitants of the city who were not lucky enough to escape (a note that I read in Pompeii says that actually only around 200 people perished, the rest managed to escape). It isn't how some people think where you can go and stand next to the dead humans, they have all been moved. Those in the museum are casts that have been filled with plaster due to all the biological material rotting away. It makes sense anyway, like they would let tourists (with all their bad habits) stand next to actual people. Pretty disrespectful if they did. 

The town/city is just so well preserved, you can not help but feel you are walking through the ancient place itself. Everywhere you look there are temples to all the important gods, temples to the emperor (Vespasian). The bank, shops and villas are all available to visit where you can sometimes see preserved mosaic floors and even political slogans on the walls. There is plenty for all to see so don't worry if you get irritated with tourists, you can avoid them and come back later. Due to the fact that it is also an active archaeological dig site, not everywhere was available, including the very sizeable amphitheatre. The tour guides are quite useful, they break the city up into poor area, rich areas, the forum etc. Surprisingly, information signs are available in English if you can not be bothered to spend €5 on an audio guide. Tour guides are also available for €25 but nah, not for me.

The final thing to say on Pompeii. In the distance, you can see Mt Vesuvius casting its shadow over the whole landscape from the distance. It is said that the eruption was so powerful, it blew a large chunk of the top of the volcano off leaving behind that caldera that exists today (and that you can go and visit). All in all, a very successful and fun trip. I returned on Tuesday ready for a quick turn around on Wednesday. Thursday then leads to another 4am start as I head to Gran Canaria for Winter Pride 2017.

For more photos of Naples and Pompeii, feel free to view my Google Photos album. here.

naples and pompeii 2017 (part 1)

Yay to the return of my travel blog, mainly because it means yay to being able to go and explore somewhere new. This time I had a travel buddy in the form of Johnny. He's an academic at the University of Reading and like me, just enjoys getting away for a little bit of exploration. Naples was the place of choice mainly because it such a cheap ticket and accommodation was decent. The added attraction was the chance to (finally) go and see Pompeii. Those of you who know how much I love Roman / Classical history, in fact anyone who loves classical history in general, know how important a trip to Pompeii is. 

Before this trip though, another very important occasion occurred. My (not so) little brother, Joseph, finished his basic training and joined my old regiment, the Grenadier Guards. Needless to say I am so so proud of him and seeing him 'pass off' the square was well worth the 4am start to drive from my dads house up to (not so) sunny Catterick. I have to say, the place has not changed one bit since I was there 10 years ago. It was an intimate family affair and only my military friends would really understand any information about it so I will just leave it there by saying I wish him all the best in his future career. Mandatory photo was also needed.

So after a great day in Catterick, I had to return home, finish packing and get ready for another 4am start to get to London Gatwick on a 6am easyJet flight. I had been warned by a few people that Naples was not the nicest place in the world but I always like to made those sort of judgements myself. Naples airport is fairly small and border security is not that tight so we were waiting for the bus into town within 30 minutes of landing. Driving into the town centre was a typical Italian experience. Horns blaring, the bus swerving in and out of traffic but i'd never experienced a time when the driver had to slam on his breaks hard causing smacked heads and one poor lady (who's husband told me had recently had a hip replacement) to fly and land on her bum. As I was gazing out the window nursing my mild whiplash, you could not but help notice the shear amount of graffiti and litter everywhere. One Italian guy on the bus who noticed me looking at it even said 'welcome to Naples'. I have to say that this was a common theme in Naples. I have mentioned in earlier posts about how the Italians seem to have a really lax approach to graffiti but Naples was on another level entirely.

We were fortunate that Johnny found a really nice apartment right off the main high street where we were met by the very chirpy Neapolitan landlord who told us all the good spots to visit, the best places to eat and how to get around etc. Despite a 4am start, we did decide to go for a wander and see what the city had to offer. As usual, I'm always interested in the history of a city I visit, especially those in Italy that have millennia worth of it. Founded roughly in the second millennium BCE by Greek sailors, allied to the Roman Republic during the wars against Carthage and eventually a Roman colony. Now though, the city really did just look like a mess. Churches had their doors covered up with green boarding, presumably to stop the graffiti that decorated the rest of the outside from ruining the probable decorations they had. Even buildings such as the main post office had giant penis pictures on them.

One thing Naples did have (aside from Churches) was Castles - quite a few actually all within the central area. Unfortunately though, they did not seem to get much for the money they wanted for entry. In the one castle we did go to - Castel dell'Ovo - was in such a great position for views up into Naples and around the coastal area. Most of the castles and even the Royal Palace again just seemed to have works going on, litter everywhere and generally not much information for those who are interested in learning things.

So for the food. Naples is the birth place of Pizza (apparently) so of course, that is something we had to go for. I like to try and stay positive but I have to say that it was just disappointment after disappointment. I got the feeling that even if we avoided the traditional tourist trap restaurant, due to the fact we were not locals, there was very little interest in anything. It was a regular occurrence to just be sat down and wait for quite a while just to get a menu. Waiters just seemed to look impatient when talking to you and most importantly, the pizza was crap. Maybe i'm just used to dominoes and what we did have was traditional but the food was just bland, watery and basically, very meh! Such a shame. One perk though was learning what a Connolo was (thank you to the Great British Bake Off) and yeah, very unhealthy so obviously yummy.

In Naples, you do get a very local feeling. It is quite hard to explain or I am not eloquent enough to explain but when walking around, you would not think you are in a particularly tourist attractive place. The main roads are all connected by tight alley ways with very local shops, people just stood around smoking and drinking. Mopeheads wizzing past people and past all the washing that you see randomly hanging out of windows. It was a much more closed environment than some of the other Italian cities I have visited.

For more photos of Naples and Pompeii, feel free to view my Google Photos album. here.