Nov – Dec 2017

North America 2017

A 29-day adventure by Danielle and Co travels Read more

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Day 18
Friday, December 1, 2017 at 5:19 PM
🌙 8 °C
Altitude: 56 m
United States Manhattan Church of the Nazarene 40.756863, -73.98400140°45’25” N 73°59’2” W
Brooklyn or Bust!
December 1, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 8 °C
Today was our last full day in NYC, and so we decided to return to Brooklyn for a few reasons: 1) to walk over the bridge when it was less crowded; 2) to have pizza at Juliania’s - rated No. 1 pizza in NY; 3) to check out Williamsburg; and 4) to walk back to Manhattan over the Williamsburg Bridge.

I am pleased to announce that we achieved all four. We had a very pleasant walk across the Brooklyn Bridge this morning, and then went to Juliana’s for lunch and had delicious pizza cooked in a coal fired oven. We arrived there about 11:30 am and were able to get straight in.

We then had to get the subway back over to Manhattan, and then change to get the subway to Williamsburg - we have become old hands at using the subway and have probably taken it about twenty times over the week.

We then did a self guided walking tour of Williamsburg, which is a very up and coming neighbourhood of Brooklyn - there are in fact 30 neighbourhoods that make up the Burrough of Brooklyn. We passed some great boutiques and restaurants in Bedford Avenue, the main drag of Williamsburg, passed McCarren Park, a beautiful green space, then went passed the Brooklyn Brewery and headed down towards the East River to Bushwick Inlet Park, where we got some great views back to Manhattan. There is a real mixture of buildings in Williamsburg - old warehouses and grafitti artwork next to sinewy new glass skyscrapers. There is also lots of development going on.

After we finished wandering around the hood, we headed back to the Williamsburg Bridge, where we took the pedestrian walkway back to Manhattan. We were treated to great views both up and down the East River during our crossing. We then caught the subway up to 42nd street, with only a quick walk back to our apartment for a well deserved cup of tea and a Tim Tam. We have really done well today with our steps - so far we have just over 20,000 and we still have a bit of walking to do tonight.

Tonight we saw our last Broadway Show - "Hamilton" - and it lived up to all the hype! The show was fantastic and all three of us thoroughly enjoyed the show.Read more
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Day 18
Friday, December 1, 2017 at 5:44 PM
🌙 7 °C
Altitude: 56 m
United States Manhattan Church of the Nazarene 40.756863, -73.98406240°45’25” N 73°59’3” W
2
Juliana's - Coal Fired Pizza
December 1, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 7 °C
As I mentioned earlier, we tried to eat here last Saturday but the waiting time was about 2 hours. Today we arrived early (11.30am to ensure we got in without a wait), and we were seated immediately. We elected to share two pizzas - a Margherita with prosciutto and roasted capsicum added, and a No. 3, which is a white pizza (no tomato sauce) which has Italian sausage, buffalo mozzarella and rabe (baby broccoli). It was all absolutely delicious, and we are glad we made the effort to return today.Read more
Traveler Yum
12/2/17Reply
Traveler That looks delicious!!!
12/2/17Reply
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Day 18
Friday, December 1, 2017 at 9:46 PM
🌙 4 °C
Altitude: 56 m
United States Manhattan Church of the Nazarene 40.75689, -73.98410440°45’25” N 73°59’3” W
East Coast to West Coast
December 1, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 4 °C
Today is a travel day, and although we gain 3 hours as we head west, most of our day will be checking in and out of hotels, driving to and from airports, and some waiting around! We will do some flying too - about 6.5 hours all up. We got to the airport with plenty of time, as it takes soooo long to get through some of the security checks.

Once in San Francisco, after checking into our hotel, we just walked up to "House of Nanking" for dinner - same good food with the same brash service. Both Angus and Ian enjoyed dinner. We then did a little walk around the area and back to the hotel.

It was as we were getting ready for bed that I realised that I had left my Kindle on the plane - not happy Jan 😩. I have lodged a report with Virgin America, and now I wait to see if I can get it back - if not, I will have to do a claim through insurance when we get back. I was so cross with myself last night, but now I have just let it go and hope I get it back.Read more
TravelerWhat a shame, fingers crossed you get your kindle back.
12/5/17Reply
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Day 19
Saturday, December 2, 2017 at 12:42 AM
🌙 2 °C
Altitude: 56 m
United States Manhattan Church of the Nazarene 40.75689, -73.98405740°45’25” N 73°59’3” W
Street Art around Brooklyn
December 2, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 2 °C
Here are just a handful of what I came across as we wandered around Brooklyn today.
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Day 20
Sunday, December 3, 2017 at 9:47 PM
🌙 9 °C
Altitude: 36 m
United States Market Street Theatre and Loft Historic District 37.783157, -122.4063837°46’59” N 122°24’23” W
San Francisco
December 3, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 9 °C
We headed out about 10 am this morning, and decided to get a cable car down to Fisherman’s Wharf. There was a bit of a wait, and we started chatting to a couple of lovely women from LA - this made the time go faster. We finally got on a cable car and started the journey up Powell Street and down Hyde Street - we passed Lombard Street (the most crooked street), and saw some great views of the city and the Bay.

Once off the cable car, we walked around Fisherman’s Wharf, and decided to go on a tour of the Bay on a small fishing charter boat that was captained by Adrian and Patrick, and Luna their dog. There were about 16 of us on the boat, and we were taken out to and under the Golden Gate Bridge, and then around Alcatraz, before heading back to the wharf. It was a glorious sunny day, and a really fun cruise - much better than some of those big boats that are so crowded. After the cruise, we walked along the Embarcadero for a while, then cut across Sanome Street to Market Street, and then up to 3rd Street. On the way we passed my favourite chocolate shop, See’s Candies. I will be making a visit or two to this store over the week!

We got to SFMoMA about 2.30 pm, and spent the next few hours wandering through this most beautiful space. Gorgeous building and wonderful exhibitions. We saw a couple of the exhibitions - Side by Side - artists paintings of themselves with someone special. We saw Louise Bourgeois Spiders, Walker Evans photography exhibition, a Robert Rauschenberg exhibition, and then some great Warhol pieces and some other great works by Matisse, Miro, Dali, Warhol, Lichtenstein and many more.

After finishing our visit to the Museum, we popped back to the hotel for a quick refresh and change, before heading back to the SFMoMA restaurant - In Situ - for dinner. And, what a dinner it was! All the dishes were based on recipes from internationally renowned chefs. We had a number of dishes which we shared - Dadinhos de Tapioca, Apocalypse Burger, Fried Fish Cake with Ginger Scallions, Lamb Shank Manti, Fine Herb Salad, Beef and Pumpkin Mole, and then for dessert Angus and I had "Interpretation of Vanity" - moist chocolate cake, cold almond cream, bubbles and cocoa, and Ian had "Parsnip and Apple" - a dish by Dan Hunter from Brae in Victoria - the desserts were wonderful. Ian’s only complaint was that there wasn’t enough!

It was a great end to a wonderful day.Read more
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Day 20
Sunday, December 3, 2017 at 10:03 PM
🌙 9 °C
Altitude: 36 m
United States Market Street Theatre and Loft Historic District 37.78306, -122.40641637°46’59” N 122°24’23” W
Cruise around San Francisco Bay
December 3, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 9 °C
We cruised around the bay on the Bass Tub with Adrian, Patrick and Luna their dog.
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Day 20
Sunday, December 3, 2017 at 10:19 PM
🌙 9 °C
Altitude: 36 m
United States Market Street Theatre and Loft Historic District 37.783092, -122.40645637°46’59” N 122°24’23” W
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More Photos of San Francisco
December 3, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 9 °C
So many photo opportunities as we explored the Streets of San Francisco.
Traveler What a beautiful sight.., yummmm!
12/5/17Reply
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Day 20
Sunday, December 3, 2017 at 10:26 PM
🌙 9 °C
Altitude: 36 m
United States Market Street Theatre and Loft Historic District 37.783126, -122.40649237°46’59” N 122°24’23” W
San Francisco MoMA
December 3, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 9 °C
Gorgeous space with some fabulous works of art.
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Day 20
Sunday, December 3, 2017 at 10:30 PM
🌙 9 °C
Altitude: 38 m
United States Market Street Theatre and Loft Historic District 37.783266, -122.40674437°46’60” N 122°24’24” W
More from San Francisco MoMA
December 3, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 9 °C
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Day 20
Sunday, December 3, 2017 at 10:32 PM
🌙 9 °C
Altitude: 32 m
United States Market Street Theatre and Loft Historic District 37.783189, -122.40674137°46’59” N 122°24’24” W
Side by Side Exhibition
December 3, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 9 °C
Dual Portraits of Artists - this presentation focuses on paintings of pairs of artists.
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Day 20
Sunday, December 3, 2017 at 10:34 PM
🌙 9 °C
Altitude: 32 m
United States Market Street Theatre and Loft Historic District 37.78309, -122.40670537°46’59” N 122°24’24” W
Andy Warhol
December 3, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 9 °C
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Day 20
Sunday, December 3, 2017 at 10:36 PM
🌙 9 °C
Altitude: 38 m
United States Market Street Theatre and Loft Historic District 37.783228, -122.40676837°46’60” N 122°24’24” W
Dinner at in situ
December 3, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 9 °C
We had a delicious dinner at the Michelin star restaurant attached to SF MoMA. Great dishes from top chefs from around the world, including our own Dan Hunter from Brae. We enjoyed all the dishes it was a real treat and the service was fabulous.Read more
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Day 21
Monday, December 4, 2017 at 9:55 PM
🌙 12 °C
Altitude: 38 m
United States Market Street Theatre and Loft Historic District 37.783313, -122.40670237°46’60” N 122°24’24” W
San Francisco, Saulsolito and Muir Woods
December 4, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 12 °C
Today we were up early to head down to Fisherman’s Wharf to meet up with Dylan’s Tours. We began with a drive through the various and individual suburbs of San Francisco. We drove through North Beach, little Italy and then China Town, which is small in size but densely populated. We then went past the Fairmont Hotel, Nob Hill, Russian Hill, Lombard Street, The Tenderloin district, Civic Centre, Hayes Valley, Lower and Upper Haight, the Marina, The Castro and Pacific Heights, which is known as billionaires row. We saw the beautiful City Hall, Opera and Ballet precincts. We were able to stop in the Mission District, and walk down a laneway that was covered in magnificent street art. We stopped in lower Haight for a snack, and I went and looked at a couple of interesting stores - one a music store, and one a clothes and accessories store.

We were then treated to several views of the Golden Gate Bridge, a drive through the Presidio, and a drive up to Twin Peaks, where we had great views of the city, surrounding suburbs and the Bay. We then got to see some of the “painted ladies”, Alamo Square and some great examples of the variety of housing styles in California.

After this, we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge to Saulsolito for lunch, and then headed up towards Muir Woods where we had the opportunity to stroll through the forest of beautiful giant redwoods. After leaving Muir Woods, Charles took us up to Marin Headlands to view the Golden Gate Bridge and the city from another perspective. Great views, but it was very very windy.

This evening we had dinner with the Green’s at Mel’s Diner, not far from our hotel, and then we walked through the Yerba Buena Gardens to look at the Martin Luther Memorial.Read more
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Day 22
Tuesday, December 5, 2017 at 10:16 PM
🌙 9 °C
Altitude: 32 m
United States Market Street Theatre and Loft Historic District 37.783137, -122.40670937°46’59” N 122°24’24” W
More Photos of Day 21
December 5, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 9 °C
Here are some additional photos of our day tour.
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Day 22
Tuesday, December 5, 2017 at 10:24 PM
🌙 9 °C
Altitude: 43 m
United States Memorial Court 37.781479, -122.42206537°46’53” N 122°25’19” W
Klimt, Rodin and so much more!
December 5, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 9 °C
Today we utilised Uber big time. We started off being picked up from our hotel and going across town to the Legion of Honor Museum, located in a park in Sea Cliff, to see the Klimt and Rodin Exhibition. The exhibition was great, as were the rest of the pieces on display in the general area. After finishing at the Legion of Honor, we caught an Uber to the Californian Academy of Sciences located in Golden Gate Part, where we went through a number of the exhibitions including the Aquarium, the Swamp, The Amazon Flooded Forest, the California Coast, the Coral Reefs of the World, the Rainforest and the Living Roof.

After having lunch in the cafe, we caught an Uber back to the hotel - Ian had a bit of a rest while Angus and I did a bit of retail therapy. I got some Chanel perfume and cosmetics from Macy’s - who have an additional 15% off at the moment - and Angus got some caps from Lids, and then some clothes from Old Navy (JP - Angus loved the store).

Tonight we went Zazie for dinner, a lovely French restaurant, where we had a wonderful meal. We caught an Uber there and back, so a total of five Ubers today a McNicol record!Read more
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Day 22
Tuesday, December 5, 2017 at 11:10 PM
🌙 8 °C
Altitude: 32 m
United States Market Street Theatre and Loft Historic District 37.783154, -122.40657537°46’59” N 122°24’24” W
Dinner at Zazie's
December 5, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 8 °C
Tonight we went to a lovely French Restaurant - Zazie’s - for dinner. It was a small restaurant, full to capacity, with great service and fabulous food and wine. We toasted my sister - who celebrated her birthday on 5 December - with lovely bottle of Pinot from the Napa Valley. Angus had the coq au vin, Ian had a pasta dish, and I had the bouef bourgignon. We all had dessert - Angus and I had a chocolate concoction, which was lovely, and Ian had Deux pots - a small creme brûlée and a chocolate pot with cream. We then had coffee - me a macchiato and Ian a huge bowl of coffee. We had only seen coffee served in such big vessels in France for breakfast, but to his credit he did finish most of it. Then an Uber home - we quite like the Uber now that we have taken a few, but it has put a dent in my steps tally with only about 13,000 today.Read more
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Day 23
Wednesday, December 6, 2017 at 10:01 PM
🌙 12 °C
Altitude: 32 m
United States Market Street Theatre and Loft Historic District 37.783121, -122.40669137°46’59” N 122°24’24” W
Alcatraz
December 6, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 12 °C
Today we set off just before 9 am, to head down to Alcatraz Landing near Pier 33 for our trip out to Alcatraz. We spent a couple of hours on Alcatraz. We did the opposite to most of the crowds, and walked around the gardens and parade ground, and made our way up to the cell blocks via stairs - it was much more peaceful and enjoyable, and less crowded.

By the time we started our self-guided tour, the crowds had lessened considerably. We made our way through the various cell blocks, the library, visiting area, isolation, administration area, exercise yard, and dining room. During the tour we heard accounts of the harshness of “The Rock”, and the attempts to escape (most were unsuccessful). We also got to meet prisoner #1259, William G. Baker, a former inmate at Alcatraz who had written a book and was there to sign them. He ended up on The Rock because he had escaped from other penitentiaries. He is now 80 years old, and “out to pasture”. I asked him if he had another book in him, and he said he has sketched out an outline, but he said he is busy signing books and traveling, so needs to allocate the time. His first book took him 2 years to write.

We headed back across the Bay, and had lunch at Boudin, and then we did a quick wander through Pier 39, before walking back to our hotel, with a stop at See’s Candies to stock up and sample a couple of things😃

As Ian is a little under the weather, he had a rest at the hotel while Angus and I went to the movies to see Justice League. We had an early dinner at a local diner, and a quiet and early night. We walked about 23,000 steps today and we are all a bit tuckered out.Read more
TravelerGreat shots. Hope you’re feeling better soon, Ian.
12/7/17Reply
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Day 24
Thursday, December 7, 2017 at 9:08 AM
☀️ 13 °C
Altitude: 38 m
United States Market Street Theatre and Loft Historic District 37.783212, -122.40679437°46’60” N 122°24’24” W
Alcatraz - more photos
December 7, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C
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Day 24
Thursday, December 7, 2017 at 4:17 PM
☀️ 16 °C
Altitude: 32 m
United States Market Street Theatre and Loft Historic District 37.78317, -122.40671437°46’59” N 122°24’24” W
Downtown and Little Italy
December 7, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
We had planned to revisit Haight Ashbury and the Castro today, but I had a bad night last night and am still not feeling 100%, so we decided to stay downtown and just wander around the streets. We decided to get Angus a Daniel Wellington watch for his birthday, and there is a store downtown, so we visited the store and Angus chose a watch. He really likes watches, and is getting a bit of a collection.

We then headed up Grant and Kearny, and made our way to the City Lights Bookstore where we bought a couple of books. Afterwards, we walked up Stockton to Tony's Pizza, and decided to have lunch there as it had been recommended to us by Charles our tour guide, and others, as a great place for pizza. It was delicious. They have about six ovens - wood fired, coal fired and convection in a range of sizes. Tony has also won the world championships for his Margherita in Naples, and he only makes 73 of these each day. We were fortunate to be able to order one. The reason he only makes 73 a day is that he uses a special flour, and one box of this flour produces enough dough for 73 pizzas.

We then headed back to our hotel for some R & R via the Blue Bottle cafe for a coffee - well worth the detour. Tonight we had dinner at Cafe de la Presse, a French restaurant, which was very nice. When we got back to the hotel, we Skyped the grand parents so they could wish Angus happy birthday and I think they were both happy they got to speak with him.Read more
TravelerWishing you a very Happy Birthday, Angus. See you when you get back! xo 😀
12/8/17Reply
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Day 24
Thursday, December 7, 2017 at 10:42 PM
🌙 10 °C
Altitude: 32 m
United States Market Street Theatre and Loft Historic District 37.783136, -122.40653937°46’59” N 122°24’24” W
Lunch at Tony's Pizza
December 7, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 10 °C
Since we were wandering around Little Italy and North Beach, we thought we would try to get into Tony’s for lunch. I had tried to go there on previous visits to San Francisco, but the waiting times had been ridiculous - today we walked straight in and got a table. We were not disappointed-, the pizza was excellent, especially the Margherita.Read more
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Day 24
Thursday, December 7, 2017 at 10:46 PM
🌙 10 °C
Altitude: 38 m
United States Market Street Theatre and Loft Historic District 37.783199, -122.40672937°46’60” N 122°24’24” W
Street Art from today's wandering
December 7, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 10 °C
During our walking around the city and surrounding neighbourhoods, we spotted lots of interesting street art.
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Day 25
Friday, December 8, 2017 at 5:21 PM
🌙 14 °C
Altitude: 32 m
United States Market Street Theatre and Loft Historic District 37.783188, -122.40661337°46’59” N 122°24’24” W
Exploring Haight Ashbury
December 8, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 14 °C
We made our way up Haight Street exploring the myriad of stores and looking for interesting street art - also a great venue for people watching.
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Day 25
Friday, December 8, 2017 at 5:25 PM
🌙 14 °C
Altitude: 38 m
United States Market Street Theatre and Loft Historic District 37.783244, -122.40669737°46’60” N 122°24’24” W
Alamo Square
December 8, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 14 °C
We caught an Uber to Steiner Street so that we could take photos of the beautiful San Francisco "Painted Ladies" houses from Alamo Park, with the city of San Francisco as a back drop. There were a few people there with the same idea, but it wasn’t too crowded.Read more
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Day 25
Friday, December 8, 2017 at 5:33 PM
🌙 14 °C
Altitude: 32 m
United States Market Street Theatre and Loft Historic District 37.783172, -122.40657337°46’59” N 122°24’24” W
Angus turns 18
December 8, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 14 °C
This morning we went to Sear’s Fine Food for breakfast. We all had pancakes - Ian had the Swedish Pancakes with crispy bacon, and Angus and I had the buttermilk pancakes, Angus with strawberries and me with bananas. Tonight we will be going to an Italian restaurant to celebrate further.Read more
TravelerYum!
12/9/17Reply
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Day 25
Friday, December 8, 2017 at 7:12 PM
⛅ 12 °C
Altitude: 38 m
United States Market Street Theatre and Loft Historic District 37.783242, -122.40673237°46’60” N 122°24’24” W
Exploring the Castro
December 8, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
After wandering around Haight-Ashbury, we headed over to the Castro District, which required some backtracking and climbing up and down some fairly steep inclines and declines. I think I preferred walking up hill, as it put less stress on my legs. We passed by Bueno Vista Park and some lovely examples of the "painted ladies". The Castro District was an interesting area, with rainbow flags everywhere - they even had rainbow stripes on a couple of the cross walks. We went past Harvey Milk Plaza, and some very interesting stores. There were so many stores dedicated to pampering pets - predominantly dogs - and we went past two hair salons for dogs in the Main Street as well as a puppy day spa. There was also a broad range of cuisines available. After wandering around for awhile, we decided to call an Uber (we love it) and headed back to our hotel via a Japanese cafe for a light lunch, as we will be having a nice Italian meal tonight to celebrate Angus turning 18.Read more
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