OK here’s the last of my holiday blurb. I’ll stop boring you all with it after this 😛 Also, be warned, there are a lot of pictures on this page. If you have a slow connection (or are using IE) I’d recommend going and putting the kettle on, go make yourself a nice cuppa then bring it back with you 🙂

The apartment

I don’t think I really mentioned where we were staying. A friend from work recommended trying to get apartments through a few web sites she has used in the past, renting accommodation directly from the owners. We did this last year when we went to New York and, although that apartment was a good size and great for transport, the apartment itself wasn’t great.

So we booked an apartment I had seen for San Francisco that looked great and had great reviews, but decided if this one turned out like the New York apartment, we’d be going back to hotels.

But it was nothing like the place in New York. The apartment is located in the Marina district, so it’s the northern area of San Francisco and quite close to the Golden Gate bridge. In fact, we could see that from our window 🙂

The Palace of Fine Arts as seen from the apartment, lit up

The view from the other window, San Francisco skyline

The building itself is beautiful, with quite a grand entranceway. The apartment is on the top floor, so we did have 4 flights of stairs to contend with. But the owner had warned us of this in advance, advising us that there was a washer & dryer on site. So we halved our luggage! The apartment was a good size with loads of light, as there are huge windows all around it giving great views. There was a lot of storage space (mostly unused because we packed light), a very well equipped kitchen and most important to me – a very good shower! (I hate showers that just dribble water on you)

The entranceway	Kitchen into the main living area
Living area into sleeping area	Bathroom

We unfortunately never had a chance to meet the owner, but we spoke a lot via email and during the visit, she kept in touch making sure everything was OK and we didn’t have any problems. She had someone meet us at the apartment when we arrived to show us around. Very well organised 😀

And a few blocks away are two streets that are packed with shops & restaurants so if you decide you want to stay local you have plenty to choose from. There was actually a folder in the apartment full of restaurant menus with reviews from previous visitors, which was very useful.

If you ever fancy going to San Francisco, I highly recommend you give this place a try!

OK, holiday pictures! I’ve grouped them by each days blog (and labelled each section to match).

More Travelling

The only picture I took this day I think!

Fisherman’s Wharf

The Pampanito – a WWII submarine	The Pampanito – a WWII submarine
I think it’s a floating restaurant… looks cool though!	Fisherman’s Wharf
The carousel at Pier 39	The sea lions at Pier 39

Alcatraz

Approaching Alcatraz	Approaching Alcatraz
Looking back to San Francisco from the boat	The cell block
The tour included audio from former inmates	A cell
Isolation	The Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. – highly recommended!

Union Square & Castro

Union Square	Union Square
Cable car in Union Square	The Castro

Golden Gate Park & California Academy of Sciences

I have really had to restrain myself with the pictures in this section – because I took loads of the Japanese tea gardens – they were just so beautiful! And this is one of the few days where the sun came out 🙂

Golden Gate Park	Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park	Japanese Tea Gardens
Japanese Tea Gardens	Japanese Tea Gardens
Japanese Tea Gardens	Japanese Tea Gardens
Japanese Tea Gardens – lots of koi carp	Japanese Tea Gardens
Japanese Tea Gardens – lots of koi carp	Japanese Tea Gardens
Japanese Tea Gardens

Nothing to See Here

The Palace of Fine Arts	The Palace of Fine Arts
The Palace of Fine Arts	The Palace of Fine Arts

Whale Watching

Out on the water	Some bridge…. 😛
Sea birds	My attempt at taking a photo of a diving humpback whale

OK, I hope you enjoyed those and I haven’t bored you too much!

Have fun and see you around!