Guided Tours, Family Encounters & Crazy, Crazy Futbol!!

An arty type shot from a bar in Buenos.

The alarms went off at a time in Buenos that Ric or I had yet to encounter - in the am!! We were out front @ 1030 to meet Caro & she once again had hired a car & driver to chauffer us around!! Both Ric & I were quite thirsty - not hungover, thirsty - and were grateful when Caro stopped at the historical, Café Tortoni. Apparently, a lot of important decisions have been made in this café by government figures over the years. Also, many major business partnerships & deals have been forged. The font & café logo were also stolen by Tango Fire and liberally used as the glass gobo (pattern) in Act 1 that we project..!!

A bottle of water was placed on our table & both Ric & I wanted the whole thing to ourselves!! We were parched & it was another reasonably warm day with no air con in the car!! Tortoni was a cool little experience & one I would have missed if Caro hadn’t been with us. She then drove (well, the guy did) us around to a variety of markets that were interesting. A couple were definitely designed for tourists but it was still interesting to hear other tango music being played live. I even picked a couple of pieces we use in the show, much to Caro’s impressed looks!! There were also tango dancing exhibitions on pretty much every corner & I almost convinced Ric to have his photo with one of the girls in a tango stance!!

Cafe Tortoni then Ric & I out the front of Boca Jr Stadium.

We briefly visited Boca Jr Stadium (one of the teams we were to watch later on in the day) before heading down along the river to have some lunch. It was a fairly similar set-up to Melbourne’s Southbank but also resembled Docklands in parts. We dined at a great restaurant, where I decided once again to delve into the world of Argentine BBQ meats. I ordered a ribeye steak, a sprite & some water - all in Spanish: Puedo oju de bief, gaseosso sprite y aqua por for vour! Ric also ordered in Spanish, as did the driver & then we all wet ourselves when Caro ordered - IN ENGLISH - and the waiter asked her “Que?” - what..? She was slightly embarrassed but it was very funny!! The steak surpassed the one had the other day. It was a little bloody & still slightly raw - which was fine with me & Caro kept asking if I wanted it sent back..!! It was beautifully cooked & I could feel the iron & protein coursing thru my veins with every bite!!

Before getting dropped off at Pablo’s we went to a CD store. Caro wanted to buy me a CD & also another one for Dan that they’d been discussing. I also took the opportunity to buy a couple of CD’s by Argentine band Dividos. Christan had put me onto them over our many discussions and they’re rocky but also slip into your Robbie Williams esque ballads.

Ric striking a pose in a bar - I was trying to be arty!!

We were dropped off @ Pablo’s where he supplied us with this biscuity/cake thing. It was all held together with this carmel/coffee margarine paste that you generally had on cold toast at café’s. I can’t remember the name of the spread but it’s sickly sweet & actually quite nice. After stating to Pablo that I’d eaten it at a café & enjoyed it, the cake form of it kept appearing throughout our time with him!! Pablo’s dad came and drove us the 45mins to La Plata where the game was to be played. It was a great journey to get to see more of Argentina and we all chatted together or Ric & I chatted along whilst Pablo & his dad conversed. Pablo’s dad didn’t speak a great deal of English but we were able to speak to him - which was Gold!!

When we got there, we were dropped off at Pablo’s brothers house. Maxie was great - a slightly older version of Pablo but with the same sense of humour!! When Maxie greeted us he greeted Pablo with an insultive greeting, said tongue in cheek, to which I laughed, much to the shock of Maxie!! It was a nice little ice breaker & set the mood whilst we sat back. Maxie seemed a little shocked that I understood what he’d called Pablo!! We sat back and had a beer & watched the Argentine version of ‘The Footy Show’ and chatted back & forth.

Enjoying a cafe con crema!

An add came on the TV & despite not fully understanding it, you could tell it was an add for Alcoholics Anonymous. Pablo made a joke that I didn’t need to join as I wasn’t being secretive about being an alcoholic…! It was very funny but leads me to a point I feel I need to raise. A few people have commented on the fact that all Dan & I seem to do whilst on Tour is drink. That’s not true - majority of the adventures you read here do involve a beverage but there are many days when we pack up the show, have a knock off (of the ‘matter a fact, I got it now’ variety) & hit the sack. I don’t write about those, well they’re not adventures, hence why they’re not covered in this otherwise, highly insightful window into life on the road!! Yes there are days when we hop on the bus hungover but they are Travel Days, where all we have to do is sit on the bus or a plane for 6-10hrs. It is the nights before these days where we are truly able to actually have a night off, no 12hr day the next day, no show, no deadlines, no audience waiting to come in. Despite not having any, it’s nice to let one’s hair down every now & then cause if it was all work & no play, I wouldn't be here!! *

* The above isn’t written in angry tone (which is the one thing I hate about written correspondence, you just can never be 100% sure of the tone behind it!), it’s just another one of those tangent moments that hit you when writing up an entry!!

Well, after hanging out with Maxie, his wife & their hilarious 2yo son - who was amazed by the fact that Ric & I had no hair, Maxie drove us to the Stadium. There are passionate fans etc. in regards to Australian Sports but in Argentina, one side’s supporters entered one side of the ground & the other team from the other side!! It was intense! We passed approx 5 Security checkpoints on the way to our seats. Myself & Ric copped some weird looks as we shuffled along with the crowd - two shaved whitey’s amidst a sea of olive skin & black hair!! The chants that the crowd all seemed to know were amazing. A lone voice would start & by about the 3rd word, majority of the crowd around were jumping, waving fists in the air & joining in the chorus - and this was just in the line to get in!!

Pondering my next selection from the bar!

There were policia everywhere but most noticeable were the ones in riot gear, separating the two ‘sides’ of spectators. It wasn’t just a ‘for show’ presence, oh no. There were two rows of fully suited up officers, followed by two whole bays of seating (think Bay 13 MCG size), then another row of armoured officers, then another 2 bays & then yet another 2 rows of officers & the other spectators began!! ‘Spirited Conversation’ between spectators must be common place for Ric noticed that to get to the field from the seating banks, you had to, literally, jump across a wide moat, that was quite deep & ran the entire circumference of the pitch. There was also no a drop of alochol either permitted into or for sale in the stadium.

Giz lapping up the atmosphere in La Plata Stadium.


The game itself was quite an experience. Us Westerners have seen countless hours of footage of crowds at football matches and have an idea that it is loud, that the supporters are passionate & that it is fast paced - you have no idea!! The chants that we’d heard in the queue to get in were doubled in effort & by number. This time there were also drums & whistles added. There also appeared to be choreography that involved the waving of arms and flags. It was quite an amazing atmosphere and all created by just under 30,000 people. Easily outdid any MCG crowd I’ve been a part of that can be up to 3 times larger!!

It was also a game of pure passion as there was no scoreboards of any kind in the stadium - let alone digital ones that could offer instant replays. If you weren’t watching & something happened, bad luck!! I think that this only added to the excitement of the spectators. Boca Jr ended up winning 2-1 over Gymnasium but it could easily have been around 5-1 as Boca hit the post 3 times!! After the game, we & the other Gymnasium fans were kept inside the ground for around 40mins whilst all the Boca Jr fans exited & had time to get to their cars and depart… I hate to think what would have happened if we’d all been seated together!!

Ric & I enjoying the game.

It was an unforgettable evening & a great way to cap off our Argentine experience. Ric has already started considering coming & meeting Tango Fire on tour somewhere else along the line over the next year or so. The first destination possibly being Sydney over our Aus/NZ leg! We’ve also discussed the possibility of heading back to Argentina at some point too.

As a foot & final note to the Argentine chapter of “Tango Techie Tales”, I must state, for the record, that Argentine women are some of the most beautiful creatures on the planet - second only to the fantastic female friends that I am extremely lucky to have in my life!! (Phew - saved myself there!!) They are amazing (both my friends & Argentine women) & both Ric & I got sore necks from the constant looking!! We said nothing to any of them at any point, sure that our lack of dancing skills & highly undesirable bad Spanish would be our downfall… Then on the Sun as Caro was dropping us off at Pablo’s, she stated that in Argentina, you are able to walk up to a girl in the street and basically ask her out!! Any girl you deem attractive with no need to shout over loud music, buy a couple of drinks. A lot of Argentines meet & then date by just walking up to complete strangers in the street - it is apparently mainly done by guys but girls get guys to do it with ’looks’!!

Beware! Bald Blundell Boys running with packages!!

Obviously not enough research was done by either Ric or myself before entering Buenos!! But you do have to think, it is kind of romantic. I mean, how often have you seen someone you fancy in the street, let alone a bar, made definite eye contact & smiled, maybe even winked & then just walked on…?

The Best Tax Write Off Ever, Living Well Above My Tax Bracket!!

This is out of place, not in the right order but it’s something that I want to get out of my head before I forget it. Tonight was my last night in Vegas & also my last night of traipsing around the US after 3 months. I decided to go all out & treat my self to that time old tradition of “Dinner & A Show!” I bought a package from The Bellargio that gave me the choice of a set menu at my choice of one of their restaurants & also tickets to see “O” by Cirque de Soliel. I had heard about “O” & knew that it was all performed in or around water - they actually use a 1.5 million litre tank - but nothing more. I had never seen anything to do with Cirque. Not a performance, TV program, DVD or even noteworthy snippets!! I’d looked at some of the other shows that were around (there’s about 3 Cirque) & none of them really appealed to me. Cirque it was!!

Even being a theatre nerd, I had avoided contact with Cirque due to the fact that the shows are generally way above my price range but also due to the way in which I’ve been told that they copyright & use material from people when they audition for them. From what I’ve been told, when you send them in a tape of what you can do or they film your act when you do audition it then becomes theirs!! You’re not allowed to perform that piece ever again - even if you don’t get into the show!! I don’t want to take anything away from enjoyment people have received from Cirque so I won’t continue on with that tract at this point. I too now have experienced the magic & sheer wonder that is Cirque & have marvelled at the imagery, stage craft & feats they are able to produce.

I chose to have dinner @ Sensei, which had an Asian flavour. It was pretty damn decent food. Would have liked to see an actual menu to see what kind of prices we were talking but it’s prob better I didn’t. I had another great dose of red meat. It was a beautifully cooked slab of cow!! Any fat on it literally just fell off the meat when poked at with a knife!! I had a very classy bottle of red with dinner too. It was called The Outsider and came from the Linne Calodo winery in California. It was mainly Zinfadel grapes with a touch of shiraz..!! It was a really nice drop & I’m glad as it was the most I’ve ever spent on a bottle of plonk - especially for one - but it was selected after much back & forth with Joseph who was “you’re Wine Server for this evening”. He was great, we talked about Aus wines & he seemed impressed by my really basic knowledge of Argentine wine & that I‘d tasted Hungarian vino!! We eventually decided on The Outsider. He kept topping me up as my meal progressed & chatted etc! I’m guessing he knew that I was dining out of my league & above my station in life but also probably was grateful to be serving a ‘normal’ person, rather than someone with money dripping from every pore!! But I did hold my own in the wine conversation re. Australia thanks to the tour I did with Kiri Tikanewa a few years back - I think that’s how he knew I wasn’t just a boob off the streets (which I was!!)

Then it was onwards to the show!! Because I was just one person, when I had booked, only yesterday - the day before - the lady on the phone started genuinely gushing as to the location of my seat!! It was 5 rows back, in the centre section on the OP or LHS if looking at the stage. Part of the package I’d picked meant you got a ‘Premium Seat’ but they covered a wide section of the lower level. My seat was smack bang there!! Only about 4m from the edge of the stage/pool with a clear view into the overhead grid, which was great being a theatre tech!! It was a prime position as the performers were still very much lifesize & I could stick my inquisitive little theatre nose into the tricks & magic!!!

There was no real narrative to the show, there were around 4 main characters that kept popping in & out but the main spectacle was the way in which the performers interacted with the water. They would literally jump/dive/fall into that water & then never be seen again or appear scenes later from the water!! Combine that with the fact that whole sections of floor came up to cover the entire surface area of the pool & you‘ve got what would be some amazing & literal underwater choreography . I’m not talking just one whole floor that could break down into a few different sized pieces, oh no, I’m talking pillars, round sections, triangle sections - everything. The chaos & madness of how a major musical works side stage but submerged…!!

There must have been airlocks or some kind of crazy trapdoor system to allow the performers to disappear & appear the way they did. At one point 8 guys in full scuba gear became a part of the show, flipping out of the pool & onto the walkway - a tiny part of the secret revealed!! There was also great rolling section of truss overhead. A huge track that ran upstage to downstage and then two smaller ones the ran from side to side. These were highly visible from where I sat & amazing to watch in motion. I’m not saying that I sat there for the entire performance looking at all the pretty lights & trying to figure out how it was done, which is the curse of any theatre tech when they actually are an audience member! I did get caught up in spectacle of the whole!!

There were some truly mesmerising moments when the performers weren’t wearing safety harnesses. When they were & due to the heights they were at, there were very visible wires & especially how near to the action I was, you could see when they were messing around unhitching or hitching someone up. I would have killed for a backstage sticky beak & wish I had been able to take a few pic’s during the show but I wasn’t going to risk it.

It was an amazing piece of entertainment & I wish I could describe it better but there’s no way to do so!! I would now consider seeing another Cirque juggernaut!! “KA” seems quite interesting… saw umpteen commercials for it on The Strip!!

I doubt that Aus would ever be able to stage something like “O” or very few of the Vegas shows, as venues are built specifically for the show. They can then just sit there & the tourist gambling dollars come to them in their droves - as mine did!! Cher is coming up at Caesars Palace… Hasn’t she melted or been locked away yet…?

Cervesa..? Vino Tinto…? Rapido, Rapido!!

Pretty much the rest of our time in Buenos was spent as we did the first day. Waking up late & then cruising around the streets, semi bar hopping, semi playing tourist, sampling food at random intervals & even doing a little bit of shopping! I picked up a shirt & Ric a pair of jeans. We were both looking for a T-shirt but the slogans they attached to images or just the slogans themselves were, like they are in non English speaking countries, just off the mark. My favourite being “I taught your girlfriend that thing you like”!

The Blundell Bruddas!!



We walked for miles over the time we were there, all thanks to the guidance of Map Man!! We had some great meals along the way too. Argentines are supposed to be quite good at BBQ & I can attest that they are!! We had lunch, which was actually breakfast, @ 1600 one day at a restaurant. I picked the 27 pesos to have a 3 course meal and you had various options for each course. 1 Aus $ will get you around 3 pesos, so it’s a pretty sweet deal. I had a great meal that you definitely couldn’t get for $10 back home. Homemade pate on thick crusty bread, then a wedge of meat that was beautiful. There was a little bit of fat on it but that was easily worked around & the meat was cooked to perfection. It was probably the first, proper dose of red meat I’ve had since leaving Aus in Dec. Dessert was a roasted almond encrusted slice of ice cream, drizzled with this rice & oh so sweet chocolate sauce. Best meal I’d eaten since Toni took Dan, Lynda & myself out for a ‘Company Dinner’ our first night in New Orleans.



We finally managed to make phone contact with Pablo - I have a feeling that their landline system may not be too stable…? We were to meet on Sunday @ around 5pm at his house and then his Dad was going to come pick us up & drive the 45mins to the stadium. We were going to see Boca Jr - Argentina’s best team - play Gymnasium, in Pablo’s hometown!! Pablo’s Godfather was an assistant trainer for Gymnasium and had managed to secure us some decent tickets.



Sat was supposed to be the day when Ric & I ventured out to see the coastline & possible beach of Buenos Aires. Woke up & it was bucketing down. We decided to see if it would wear off & we both ventured down to our local café, where Stephan showed us his photos etc. previously mentioned. Our Spanish was much better by this stage & we ordered the whole meal in Spanish!! It’s funny, every time we at least attempt Spanish, we get smiles & laughs. We’re not using all the right words - we’re still trying to figure out and, to, then etc. & we’re not always getting the right version of the verb but we do get our message across. Spanish is kinda like French but it’s not all just male & female, there’s different version for if you’re talking about ‘them’ or ‘we’ as well as ‘you’ and ‘I’! Slowly getting the hang of it!!



We sat @ our local for around 4 or so hours. Reading our books & slowly sipping on beers. For dinner we went to a fantastic place. We’d graced them the previous day for a beer but decided it was worth sampling their fare - which it was!! I had thin fillets of fish wrapped around spinach & something else that escapes me!! It was then wrapped in proscuitto (no idea of spelling!) & then baked. It was served on a bed of mash with these home made, thinly sliced potato chips. Was a gold meal! Cost 35 pesos for something that would easily be $35 or upwards back home. It was another of those situations where our waiter spoke to us in English & we conversed back in broken Spanish!!


Pablo & I recieving some 'attention' from the belly dancer @ the Indiana Jones Bar!!


We arrived home around 9, relaxed from our day if doing nothing & were planning to go out for a few drinks when the apartment phone rang… It was Caro!! She’d only just realised we were in town, that we were leaving on Mon!! “You want cervesa..? Vino..? Si..? We come to you. Pablo, Mariella, me & maybe more! Ok..? 1130 your house? Understand..? Chiao!” So 2 hours later we met Caro, Mariella & Pablo on the corner of our street & went out for a night on the town!! We caught cabs to a district that Ric & I hadn’t seen yet & we then walked around & they were pointing out this & that. You could detect a great deal of pride that we were there visiting them & they were showing us around. We finally settled into an Indiana Jones themed bar… I don’t know if this was because we were Westerners but there was definitely the Disneyland connection going on!! It was also good to see that Ric got along with them & that they warmed to him really quickly. I think they were also impressed that my Spanish had improved since the last time I’d seen them only 3.5 weeks previous & that Ric was speaking it too!!



Pablo & Ric, who appeared to both strike up a good friendship!!


Pablo & Caro insisted that we leave our wallets in our pockets. Ric managed to sneak in a round - a few beers & a bottle of vino but that’s about all we could do for the evening. When we left, Caro had hired a car & they then proceeded to drive us around Buenos showing us the darker & seedier side!! I would have had no idea that there is a transvestite prostitute network in the main park area of BA!! The area is kinda like the Botanical Gardens except there’s more roads going through it!! We stopped for one more round of drinks - again we couldn’t get any pesos on the table!! Although I did get my 1st ‘official’ Tango lesson from Caro!!



We got home and crashed around 4am, having promised Caro we’d meet her @ 1030 to out for coffee & then see some Argentine tango & other sights. For guys who had become accustomed to 12 odd hours sleep a night, & being a little merry, this was a scary prospect!! Especially as we had futbol that night… Lucky for us that we had experienced bad weather & spent the day reclining & relaxing!!


Ric & his Argentine posse of amigos- Pablo, Caro & Mariella.

It was the perfect way to finally catch up with a few of the Argentines - organised at the last minute, throwing caution to the wind & just assuming that everyone will just fall in line!! Kill-om-bo!! (Argentine chaos - I’m going to have to learn to write Spanish too I’ve realised, not just speak it badly!!)



All of us!! Finally got someone 2 take a photo of the whole gang!!

Impressions & Impersonations Of Buenos!

Some graffiti around the streets.

Myself & Ric aren’t doing to badly! Even though we were tired & it was nearly 1am, we decided to head out to see if we could find a beer. We were both of the mind that you can’t just arrive in a new place & go to bed!! We were armed with the Lonely Planet’s BA guide and set out in search of our first Argentine cervesa! We found one & upon trying to enter, found that the door was locked!! The barman came over & opened the door & let us in!! What a great guy!! He didn’t really speak any English but we managed to procure ourselves a couple of beers. It appeared as if we were getting locked in with the Staff for their knock offs!! Was a great way to welcomed to Buenos! Also a great & basic training ground for Ric & I to test our basic Spanish!! We ended up having a few rounds & wandered back home.

The following day, mainly due to jetlag (!), we woke up early afternoon!! (Which was to be standard for most of our stay!!) My first bit of business for the day was to fashion a very sexy & stylish set of shorts from one of my pairs of jeans that had developed holes in both knees over the course of Tour!! We wandered out & found our local café. I ordered a café con crème - which is basically an double expresso with cream added. Man did it taste good - especially after the American “this was filtered around 12hrs ago but because it’s on a warmer, it’s still good!” crap that has become the norm after 2 or so months. It was actually damn fine coffee & rates up there with Polish coffee & also Egyptian coffee - which is pretty much of Turkish style.

Giz has a refreshing cervesa after walking around in the heat for the first time in months!!

The menu was all in Spanish & pretty much no English was spoken by the wait staff. This kind of situation I love. I’ve eaten many times by way of “The Point” - be it from a street vendor or off a menu. It takes you out of your comfort zone & forces you to adapt & not necessarily take risks, but at least have a small gamble!! I have had some of my best meals whilst travelling this way. Also a couple of crazy dishes as well but that’s half the fun!!

In this situation we both had a rough idea of how to ask basic things & this combined with my very basic knowledge of food in Spanish - picked up during Tango when the Company was bought dinner on each 2 show day put us in good stead. We were also armed with a Lonely Planet Spanish Guide which I’d first seen way back @ The Peacock in London & had managed to obtain @ Melb Airport. So in fact, the whole “Point” meal wasn’t as true to “The Point” as it should have been! Regardless, I ended up with a chicken & rice salad which was pretty tasty!! Granted, I had no idea it was a salad or that it would be served cold or contain rice but I did know it had chicken (pollo but pronounced posh-o) in it & that there were tomatoes!! Even with Ric’s fussy eating he still managed out point out a meal that was acceptable to his dietary ways!! I hate to think what he would have done when travelling a couple of years ago - especially with a language barrier!!

A familiar street name with memories of my old place in St Kilda!

The Manger came out & spoke with us briefly. It was a funny little situation, we were both trying out our newly learnt Spanish & Stephan was trying out his quite good English on us!! He was a cool guy & the next time we visited the café he came out & proudly showed us a boomerang key ring he owned. We had the feeling that he’d rummaged around at this house to show his new found Aussies something. He sat with us (he actually stood the whole time!) for around an hour and we spoke of the Faulklands, Patagonia (way south of BA) and a motorcycle trip he’d done a few years before, complete with photos. Stephan was a great guy & it was nice to make another friend along the way.

The first bar Ric & I stopped at on our 1st day. Didn't notice the name til way after we'd sat down! Quite fitting really!!

The rest of the day, well more like evening & night seeing as we got up so late, was spent just walking around the town & exploring. Ric became “Map Man” and guided us through and around the crazy intertwining streets that make up Buenos. Ric was “MM” for the rest of our time in Buenos so when I return (& I plan too), I will have no idea of where to go as I didn’t even look at the map - except for when we were sitting down and Ric would go “We’re here & we could go here or here?”!!

Map Man @ work!

That’s been one of the joys about travelling with Ric, neither of us discuss it but one of us takes the lead in any given situation, be it big or small. There hasn’t been a heated moment or anything remotely like that. Just nice & easy going for the entire time. A few people asked when they knew of the trip if they thought it would work…? I’m guessing that they don’t have an actual friendship with their siblings..? Neither of us had any hesitation that it wouldn’t work, or I know I didn’t & there was nothing visible from Ric’s end. This is also the most time we’ve spent together since Ric spent two weeks up in Ballarat during his Winter holidays in my 2nd Year of Uni - a good 11 years ago!! Before that would have been the last of the big driving holidays Dad, he & I used to take. Due to my crazy theatre hours, now compounded by the Tour & Ric’s Police roster, we don’t get to hang out as much as I reckon we’d both like too. We’ve already discussed Adventure II…

A ye olde building.

The architecture around Buenos is quite amazing. Nothing like Melbourne at all. It has echo’s of Paris in regards to the grandeur but the residential apartment blocks are very similar to Cairo, Egypt. Tall & narrow with air conditioners hanging off every window sill!! The one, truly beautiful thing about BA is that it’s so green. Not just in regards to the brownness of water restricted Australia but they have so many trees growing along the streets & the main city centre has numerous park areas. It’s nice to see that despite the large population, there has still been enough foresight to keep pockets of green everywhere.

I sent out emails to the Tango kids before we left San Fran and have received one back from Pablo & Mariella about the football. So far, no other response from the others… They better make contact or there’ll be trouble!!

A tree lined street.

One Flight To Buenos Aires With A Mexican Twist On The Rocks x 2 Thanks & Don’t Spare The Mexican!

Zoowee! What a flight! 4hrs from San Fran to Mexico City, then a further 9.5hrs to Buenos and with time going 4hrs into the future, both Ric & I started asking - “Why have we travelled so far for only 6 days of actual time on the ground..?” (We had been saying we were going to be in BA for 8 days!)

At San Fran Airport, Ric ran into a work colleague from Vic Police..!! He had caught a glimpse of the guy (name escapes me) whilst we were @ Alcatraz but he was lost in the crowd. Ric had previously stated that on every trip he’s done, he ends up meeting someone, at random, that he knows. In Thailand he sat down @ a bar next to a Teacher that Mum works with!! (Mum is an Integration Aid @ Primary School level.)

His above San Fran encounter was only possible through a series of, otherwise interminable, random events… We’d checked in @ Mexicana Airlines - which was SUPER early due to me being adamant (not harshly though - there were no arguments) that we needed to collect our bags from the Hostel & be on our way by 1730 This was a slight, even with the utmost ‘just in case’ time precaution, TOO early, so we were locked into 3.5hrs of quality Airport time prior to flight, after check-in!! On the plus side, we did end up with Exit Row Seating all the way to Buenos..!! Ta da!! Ric went for a recky & found something that resembled a bar and we ventured over. We were sitting @ an ‘outside’ table & a couple came along & took a seat along the concourse directly opposite us. Ric was convinced it was the officer he’d seen @ Alcatraz and with only a little encouragement, went on over. Sure enough, it was the guy & he & his wife promptly joined us for a beer!! In a City of ??? Million what are the chances of seeing someone you know, twice in the space of a day…?

We eventually boarded our Air Mexicana flight & we were away. The flight was uneventful - as most are thankfully!! - but upon arrival in Mexico City for our 3.5hr stop over, the fun began!! Due to my own travel & Tango Fire, I’ve “been in transit” in a number of airports, Mexico City wins, hands down as the most unfriendly to transit passengers! It was crazy. You get off the plane & you have basically been dumped with everyone - people meeting loved ones off, what I can only assume are domestic flights, people being asked to board planes to all sorts of International destinations & right in the thick of it are two bald Aussies asking “Que pasa..?” (what happened?).

Based on both of our previous travels, we decided that we had to be in the right area and promptly sat down & had a nap, me more heavily than Ric. This was based on the fact that when in transit in Singapore, no immigration of any kind is required but that in Germany, you at least have to have your passport stamped… After an hour & a half of sleep both of us were slightly paranoid about the proceedings over the next 90 minutes. We found, quite quickly - as in easily, not panicking -, one of those “Departure Boards” that only stated the planes leaving for the next 20 odd minutes… Armed with our really, really bad Spanish we approached a Security looking guy, dressed like he was a General in the army - maybe he was…? - who was guarding an escalator. We showed him our boarding passes and after 3 mins of listening only to Spanish, looking at the eight different ways he was pointing & nodding in complete understanding, we both walked off in the direction of the 6th way he’d pointed, fully confident that we knew that he had said ‘Hello friends’ to us at the very start…! Beh!!

We walked all the way around our area & back again a couple of times. We kept coming back to the Immigration/Customs/Baggage Claim area - none of which we had to do… Feeling that cold & clammy sensation of “What ever we end up doing will be the wrong thing” starting to take hold & with not a word of useable Spanish between us, Ric made the call to go through Customs & see what we could find on the other side. A brave call but one that I backed up after probably looking at least a little scared & confused, but only for a second! We dutifully filled out the required forms and were ushered through.

Walking out into the main exit for international passengers did not clear up anything in the slightest. Unlike gnomes, dwarves, hobbits & many other types of adventurers who have the option of taking a detour or turning back, we did not thanks to a strong presence of Policia, both Federel & Aeroport! We followed signs that had two airplanes chasing each other around in a circle & that lead us to numerous taxi services… Retracing our steps & beyond we began to encounter what resembled check-in counters for numerous airlines. We found Air Mexicana but that was no help thanks to another tirade of Spanish… We found the Security Screening section & figured that it was at least a way back into the world of departing planes… Just before the security checkpoint there was a far more detailed “Departure” screen that stated that we were to depart form Gate 19 - the original one we had had a nap at!!

We breezed through Security, not cause we had anything to hide but because in Mexico City Airport, they have a care factor of zero! You want to blow up the plane with that kilo of C4...? Go right through Senor Laden..!!! No taking off of shoes (which is standard in the UK & throughout the USA), a simple pat down, where they clutch at what’s in your pockets but don’t investigate. Unless they’re wearing very fine, skin coloured X-Ray gloves that transmit the image to ???, we could have been taking anything aboard any number of major international carriers…!

Eventually we arrived back where we originally disembarked our inbound flight & sat down slightly frustrated, laughing but also grateful that we’d found a way to fill in our, as many of you know the pain of, dead & redundant, airport time…. Until they changed the Gate on us…! Man, what a nightmare!! We did eventually get to the right Gate & our little foray out through Customs paid off massive, but to us at the time unknown, dividends! I handed over my passport & boarding pass 1st, with Ric right on my heels. They scrutinised my Passport & relieved it of the bottom half of my Customs Form that I had filled in only an hour before. I didn’t think anything of it at all & sauntered through with great excitement at the prospect of what the next
9.5hrs would bring…! Halfway down the tunnel to the plane I turned to make a comment to Ric but he was nowhere to be seen… I immediately panicked!! Not over any Mexico City problems but because when Ric had booked all our “holiday” flights the Aus Travel Agent mentioned that it didn’t appear as if Air Mexicana had added any kind of fuel or government tax onto our fare… Upon getting confirmation of the flights but with no further addition to our bill, he/she let it slide & charged us the fee that Air Mexicana had stated. I had blessed Flight Centre, Brunswick St, Fitzroy (yes, a shameless plug!) at the time but now reversed that blessing thinking that Ric was now being asked to explain why he had paid no such taxes - and he wouldn’t be able to understand a word of it..!!

Nope, not to be. He did, finally come around the corner but he had been withheld because he has temporarily misplaced the bottom half of the Customs Form!! He was apparently not going to be allowed passage if he didn’t have the form!! If we hadn’t been bored, slightly apprehensive & of the mind & ability to take on an entire airport Security Force & it’s bureaucracy I shudder to think what would have happened! Let alone if we’d only had 1hr, let alone 1/2hr to make our connecting flight!!

Well, here we are. Safely stowed away in our 2 bedroom apartment in Polermo, Soho, Buenos Aires! We arrived here about 3hrs after our flight arrived on time due to a small portion of our flights baggage being deposited on the wrong carrousel - including both of our bags!! Airport Staff were obviously used to this as they eventually found us & said, “Oh no. Some bag come out on #2.” I mean this in no disrespect to anyone, but only “whitey’s” baggage ended up on the other carousel…

Lengthy entry & that’s just getting to Buenos!! Thanks for reading whoever & where ever you are.

(Sorry no photos on this one - Net is playing up..!)

The Adventure Through The Eyes Of Ric!

My good self @ the Newark Airport Train Platform - notice the beard I've sprouted in a vain case of warmth!!











Ric taking a self portrait whilst I'm interviewed for my Emergency Passport.

Ground Zero as seen through mesh - I kinda like the effect!

The Blundell Bruddas at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal.

Squirrels & a duck of Central Park.

Me doing what I do best in a cell @ Alcatraz..!!

What lay ahead of us....

Target aquired....

Another Ric self portrait on our hotel balcony in LA...

...& the two of us after our last night out before Ric's departure to Tokyo.

Alcatraz - Natures Prisoner, The Last Of The San Fran Chronicles.

A sign that greets you as you approach Alcatraz by sea. A group of Indians settled on & held Alcatraz in the 70's for 19 months to protest their Reservations being taken away form them. And it worked!


For our last day in San Fran, seeing as our flight to Buenos Aires wasn’t until 2230, Ric & I ventured out to Alcatraz. I mainly wanted to do it so I could finally put to good use my Sean Connery impersonation & state numerous times, “Welcome to The Rock!”, a line that he uttered in the movie of the same name. When mimicking Connery most people either choose this or the standard, “Bond. James Bond.” (Usless Trivia Point #3096)

Giz spending some quality time in a cell!

On our Tour Of The Bay yesterday, we’d pretty much seen Alcatraz from each side but from afar & decided it was worth a closer inspection. It was an interesting few hours. I’m glad I went but it wasn’t a ‘fantastic’ experience & I guess it’s not that type of attraction. They provided you with a MP3 player that talked you through a walking tour of the main cell block. It’s won all sorts of awards & I can appreciate that it would as it doesn’t just have one monotone voice relaying fact after fact, it uses the voices of actual inmates & wardens who had been interviewed. The cells themselves were tiny & I can’t imagine a life confined to that small a space - a great deterrent for my grand ideas of a life of crime!!

I remember reading in a news article, in New York I think, that there was a group who had a little clout behind them, who were campaigning to have Alcatraz demolished. Their claim was that having such a ‘bad’ iconic place as a tourist attraction was detrimental to San Fran. They wanted to erect in it’s place, a Worldwide Centre For Peace or some such thing. The first of it’s kind in the world. I can understand & appreciate their argument but it would then only be another mark of progress when another piece of modern history is mowed down & replaced. The same can be said of the Turkish Governments attempts to plough up & asphalt over sections of Gallipoli.

Ric in Solitary Confinement.

In the case of Alcatraz, a weird thing was noted by both myself & Ric. It was falling apart or had been left to go to ruin in sections. Some of this was now due to the fact that a number of sea birds now used Alcatraz as a nesting home during the winter. Certain parts were not open to the public due to this very fact. It didn’t bother me & it was interesting to see Nature taking back what had once been Hers. Cracking up through the concrete, climbing over walls and steel pipes & slowly eroding Mans presence.

Even more interesting is that I’m currently reading a great book based on the same theme. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to open up topics of discussion, think about what we humans, as an entire race, are doing to our planet, who looks at a plastic bottle & instead of holding onto it for another 500m to a recycling bin, dumps it in a waste bin. It is an incredible experiment of both thought & imagination that is based on fact & current findings.

The book is called “The World Without Us” and is written by Alan Weisman. The whole basis of the book is how quickly it would take Nature to reclaim our cities & societies if we were to just vanish. It starts off sounding a little weird but asks nothing more of any Hollywood movie - imagine we all just vanished, quickly, off the face of the earth. Be it a virus, aliens abduct us, we are taken to Heaven or Hell but not via an asteroid or worse, a nuclear strike, but something that would leave the world as we know behind & intact. How quickly would Nature rise up and take over…?

Signs of Natures rusting away what was Ours and replacing it with Hers.

Each chapter focuses on a certain area of the world or an accepted civilised, worldwide practice & goes far back into the past and traces how animals, early humans & the climate were in that particular area or how that practice came to be. This is all based on fact - fossils, documentation, photos, the small & few places in the world where man hasn’t entered and eradicated etc. Stuff that we’re aware of but never all at once - well maybe, via some BBC documentary!! It then turns to fiction based non-fiction as it tries to decipher if land would return to how it was, if animals would return, natural evolution & how long it would take to undo the damage done by our practices. I’ve always said that we’re about 30 odd years behind where we should be in regards to ‘being Green’, we’re more like a minimum 200yrs behind & that’s if we disappeared tomorrow…!

My Shadow behind bars..!

All the “what would happen” is all based on interviews with scientists, engineers, zoologists, marine biologists, oil refiners & palaeontologists. It’s well researched & written and in some places, quite jaw dropping. How quickly some of our major cities, like New York would fall is scary & how much damage, that you & I are unaware of, has already been done & due to Natures slow but always effective evolutionary process, will take thousands of years to undo.

A better idea, from the port, as to how parts of Alcatraz have been left to ruin. Alot of the garden & buildings are still maintained, just not all.

I’m not going to harp on about it anymore but it’s the perfect book for people to read, especially after “An Inconvenient Truth” & the swing to elect Kevin “Green” Rudd… And yes, I will be an even more anal retentive & annoying bastard recycler & light turner off-er-er now!!

Finally, a photo of the photo they tried to flog to us - we're actually standing in front of a backdrop...! What's worse, it was all done from the San Fran Docks..! Worse again, people bought them (not our photo, their own)!!

Travel All Over The San Fran Bay..? Ask The Blundell Brudda’s!!

A sign that states our intended path!


Saturday rolled around & brought with it the chances of major thunderstorms. Apparently the storms were supposed to have arrived anytime from 3 days before to 2 days later which is testament to San Fran’s weather. From what was gleaned from local knowledge, they’re able to predict what will happen but not as accurately as when as our meteorologists (sometimes!) do! Something to do with currents & winds & (using my own non science based conclusion, using Ballarat, Victoria as my thesis ) that due to San Fran having quite steep hills, heightened by the fact that atop these ‘mountains’, the ‘altitude’ is increased by, usually the tall & landmark buildings of the area, creating man made ‘basins’ that capture low pressure troughs & cooler temperatures, which in turn are warmed when heated by the sun, quickened by asphalt that absorbs heat rapidly & you have a sizeable area that could be prone to inclement weather patterns!! There, my first & probably last, published (!) science pondering - hell, even Darwin, Freud & Einstein had to start somewhere, why not San Fran weather…? Next stop, Melbourne’s climate!!

Funnily enough, I was too tired after putting my scientific know-how out into the world & lucky for me, whilst meeting up with Steph & Lane in the foyer the rain arrived in torrents & the thunder soon followed. Not the best if you’re planning to cycle across the Golden Gate. Plans were abandoned & we bid Steph & Lane farewell as they were leaving the next day. Ric & I were reduced to hanging around the Hostel for a few hours, which worked out OK. Both of us had a nap, there was a ‘Law & Order : SVU’ marathon on one of the cable channels & we managed to find a cinema that was close that was showing ‘Vantage Point’, late in the arvo. The movie isn’t as good or tense as the promo/previews would have you believe. It’s OK but not as brilliant as you maybe led to believe, especially due to the cast involved - William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Dennis Quaid & Forrest Whitaker, all who have won Academy Awards @ some point I’m sure, I mean, come on, who doesn’t place Quaid’s performance in “Inner Space” as one of the finest produced in the ‘80’s…?

A view of the Bridge as we walked around the bay.

No matter what your stance on “Inner Space”, the following day brought fairly decent weather & based on my earlier intellectual hypothesis we disregarded the weather report thinking “it can’t happen twice in two days” and ventured forth. We decided to catch a bus to Fisherman’s Warf where you could hire bikes & then take it from there. Upon getting closer to the Warf we got off the bus, electing to stretch out our legs and get our bearings. During the stroll we abandoned our ideas of cycling & decided to walk across the Bridge. From the Warf, the Gate is still small, as in there is no visible sign of ‘life’ upon it. Along the way to the Gate we happened to stumble upon that great, old & highly appreciated American tradition, supported by those the world over & one of course that we had to take part of… Hooters….!! We had a highly overpriced domestic beer & bailed. I knew it would be tacky, which it was, but I never assumed that it would be a place of family gatherings & girls catching up socially, which it was….!! (* & **)

* Tim Blundell only suggested entering said establishment in order to quickly give his younger brother a true taste of America that he had been able to understand over 2 months of travel. Tim or Ric would never volunteer to enter such a space if a social understanding was not required.

** the above ‘*’ is a lie but said establishment was not sought out and we did, in truth, stumble upon it by accident. For those who doubt, check the San Fran location & you will find that it is located on the waterfront & not some seedy back street & yes I bought a stubbie holder that has the address on it to prove you nay sayers wrong!!

A sign at one of the Crisis Phones.

Anyhoo, after about an hour & a bit’s walking, we reached the start of the Golden Gate Bridge. It’s quite large but easily & safely accessible for pedestrians. It is fairly obvious that the same problem exists on the Golden that exists on the West Gate except that pedestrians aren’t supposed to be on the West Gate… There are for use of a better word. “Crisis Phones” all along the walkway, which, if installed on the West Gate could prove a great assistance & deterrent to those who are feeling that way inclined…

Why is the Golden Gate called as such..? It obviously never was made of such metal & it’s iron & steel (& paint) give it a, truthfully, nice red/maroon/orange colour. Maybe it’s like Uluru at sunset during a certain part of the year…? Despite these mysteries, it took Ric & I around 45mins to cross the bridge & despite a brief shower & a wind in the middle & most open section of the Bridge that was determined to cast us aside, we crossed it!! It added an extra air or element to the fact that we’d seen a famous landmark. The view itself is nothing to quickly write home about but it’s a personal ‘victory’ & a definite memory & achievement that although thousands have done before us, on that day @ that time, that particular experience is & forever will be, uniquely mine & Ric’s. It’s not a photo, a sight to explain, a taste to describe, a tangible thing we can show, it is one of those extra special sub ticks that’s always a part of your “Things I Want To Do/See” list but that you don’t realise until you’ve actually done it. For me it ranks alongside taking the stairs, not the lift, up & down the Eiffel Tower & riding a camel around the pyramids of Giza but even more so as seeing the Golden Gate was cool to see but not as ‘important’ as the above but the crossing itself was for some reason, equal to…?!?!

Giz having a rest before continuing the journey!

If anyone reading my Blog steals this idea I will not sue for I know it is one I will never pursue. Especially because of what America has taught me over the last 2 months, I expected (as did Ric so I know I haven’t been ’Americanised’) that there would be refreshments available upon crossing…. No, nyet, nada..! Rest Rooms yes (thankfully) but after walking for around 3-3.5hrs from Fisherman’s Warf to across the Golden we expected a basic form of refreshment to be available, even if just one frosty cold beer..! I had actually envisioned an oasis of Macca’s, Wendy’s, Carl Jr etc, especially as, after the non San Fran end you hit highways & non pedestrian friendly motorways & more hills (although these are grassy & tree laden).
The view we could see of where we’d commenced to where we currently stood was slightly overwhelming. Not because we could envision where we’d left from after a long walk but because we could physically see our starting point & the entire path we’d walked! Figuring that walking back to the civilised side of the Golden would take longer than walking to the next taste of mankind, which was a small hamlet only 1.5 miles away but meant walking on the road & around & up some crazy corners & inclines, but on a possibly falsely remembered idea that it may have a ferry service back to the American culture we despised but wearily craved, we shrugged our shoulders, looked to the slowly darkening skies & advanced…

Upon entering the hamlet, more of a town (whose name escapes me & that I’ll hopefully remember before I post this entry…), we abandoned seeking out the ferry & stopped @ a little Italian restaurant & had a glass of red. Just one but it did arouse our hunger, justifiability so & we decided that we’d have dinner here & now. Please note that by this time we’d been walking for some 4 or more hours & that’s not counting the km’s walked before Hooters.. Ok, it was only, maybe, 1-1.5kms but it’s worth mentioning - how long it’d been since we sat or had a break of any kind, not Hooters…..

Another photo to give you an idea of the steepness of San Fran.

The food was pretty decent & we then did set out in search of the ferry again. Our waiter hadn’t filled us with much hope as he knew that the ferry’s stopped earlier in Winter & it was after 1730 when we left… Success!! We found one & managed to board it, truthfully, about 2mins before it, the last & final ferry of the day left!! On the ferry I & then Ric, met Tell again. He & his mate had cycled the Golden & then further into Muir Woods & were now heading home. It was a pleasant way to wrap up the day & upon getting deposited along the Warf, despite being knackered, Ric & I walked back to the Hostel…! Taking into account that it used to take me 50mins to walk from St Kilda to the Arts Centre (approx 5.5kms), that San Fran is REALLY hilly & finally, as a testament to our efforts that day, we covered a further 4-4.5kms bringing our entire total walked distance, not counting any kind of man made transportation to approx 20-25kms..!! Which for those Eastern Suburb readers means from pretty much Ringwood to Collingwood/CBD or alternatively, from the CBD or your nearest city/landmark to 20-25kms (13-16miles) away from it for those who aren’t from the East or don’t live in Melbourne!!

My Lil Bro being a professional photographer! It's a photo that both of us think is really cool!

I must rest now for my purge of scientific genius, delivered in pure & data supported guess-ta-mations, which I’ve suppressed for years has left me weary & I must rest... Also they are about to serve a hot meal on the plane, bound for Buenos Aires & I must eat for my brain needs nourishment (although it still seems to be in debate wether it come in liquid or solid form)!

Yes, We’re Going To San Francisco, We Can’t Wear, Flowers In Our Hair!!

This crow sat atop a church and 'cawed' at myself & Ric. Everytime we talked to it, it 'cawed' back & was very Stephen King like!!


We had a midday flight to San Fran and, unlike New Orleans, we left with plenty of time and even did it via the Subway. By this time Ric was starting to feel the onset of “The Sickness”… When we got to JFK our flight had been delayed by an hour, nothing too bad… As we were going through Security (my first flight with no SSSS search in ages!!) our flight was delayed a further half hour & then, just because they could, they delayed us a further 2 hours!! Great!! No other flights were being delayed & there was no snow!!

A photo to try & capture the 'steepness' of San Fran.

Eventually 1530 rolled around and we finally got underway. Apparently our plane had been parked at another airport so they had to fly the pilots over to collect it & when they got there it wasn’t ready to go, as in it wasn’t refuelled & then when they did get it to JFK they had to give it a full clean and then load everything on board!! Beh!

When we did arrive @ San Fran, once again we took the public transport option (BART) to the inner city. At this point I have to mention, as I have previously, how crap Melbourne’s Airport is too access. You’re only two options are to pay a minimum of $50 by taxi to get anywhere near the CBD - especially where Backpackers are concerned - or pay the damned Skybus (I hate them, I don’t know why, I’ve never used them, I just hate them!!) $15 to take you to Spencer St Station (I refuse to call it Southern Cross!) with no other stops possible & then you have to pay for another ticket to commence PT transport!! It’s so crap! Even Brisbane has a train to their airport!! In New York it cost Ric & I $2 for an hour or so journey to get to the Air Train & then it cost us a further $5 to get to our Terminal. San Fran was $5.50 for an hour ride to the stop nearest our Hostel. With BART, each stop down the line adds approx 10-20c to your ticket. Why is Melbourne so crap…?

One of San Fran's buses that operates much like a tram & has zero emmissions.. it still uses electricity though but tis pretty cool!

Ah, nothing like a quick vent!! Now I’d seen movies that featured San Fran as a backdrop & knew that parts of it were quite steep & hilly. Wrong! The whole fricking town is like that!! It’s crazy! The Hostel wasn’t that far away from BART but it just happened to be uphill the entire way! In hindsight (& yes, it’s a bitch) we should have caught a cab as the ascent to our Hostel, combined with 3.5hr delay had knocked Ric for 6. He pretty much crashed straight away, leaving me to go out and find a pretty decent Thai dinner.

The classic Trolley Car - we never rode it but had ideas of hanging out the side as it went down the hills!!

The next few days had the potential to suck - especially as this was a brand new town for both of us - & I didn’t want to go out exploring too far without Ric. As much as I wished Ric a speedy recovery it was also actually nice to have a couple of days of stop time. I went and saw a movie, sat in cafes & read newspapers (San Fran Chronicle & New York Times are by far the best world papers I’ve found) & just unwound & relaxed. Even though I wasn’t feeling stressed about anything, it was a great way to get rid of the built up tension of the past couple of months & let the muscles truly kick back after a pretty busy touring schedule.

Giz & 'Gossy' - named after Zoe Goss, a female Aus Cricketer. They were introduced on the Pub Crawl.

Ric started getting out & about & we had a few decent meals around our area. We also went & saw “No Country For Old Men”, it was a pretty good flick. I hadn’t read the book it was adapted from but from reviews I’d read, the movie was different to what I’d envisaged, which was fine.

Aard & myself!

Ric was was pretty tired come early/late evening which left me to attend the Hostel organised Pub Crawl alone!! It was a pretty fun evening. As I was by myself, it took a couple of beers before the pre-formed groups broke up and were ready to receive a bald Aussie with a really sexy side burns & beard combination!! There were actually a few Aussies on the Crawl but they were ya tru blue, stubbie & wife beater wearing yobbos! Fly the flag boys, fly the flag!! There was also a nice Aussie, Gav who was 5 weeks in to a 2.5yr plan of OS travel & living. He was to commence his 1st ‘living’ stint in London in about 3 weeks. He was pretty cool. There was also Tell from Belgium, who became my instant friend when he saw me drinking Chimmay (a Belgium beer), Aard from Sweden, who was one of the tallest people I’ve ever met, Tosh from Japan - “You no be able to say me name. Me Tosh.” & Steph from Virginia, USA who had actually met Ric earlier in the day! I was at the bar ordering a round & she asked an Aussie if he had a brother called Ric, to which I replied I did!!

Myself & Tell.

A view of San Fran from 'Vertical Park'.

The following day we headed down to Haight/Ashbury which is kinda like a cross between Brunswick St & Sydney Road. A whole bunch of cafes & second hand clothes stores, with new music & trendy new clothes thrown into the mix. We found a great café that served me prob one of the best breakfasts I’ve ever had - Huevo Rancheros, or Ranch Eggs! Dan had told me about this dish but I had yet to find it anywhere in the US. Now was my time to dine! It was gold - basically a flour tortilla, folded over but filled with layers of black beans, egg, meat, a tomato salsa, cheese & then covered with a great, white ranch sauce. The hash browns that it came with were the best I’ve eaten, & I do love my hash browns! They were homemade & nice & creamy. The coffee was also the best yet encountered in the US - I had 2 medium (read massive) soy lattes.

Our first glimpse of the Golden Gate from 'Vertical Park'.


After food we just walked the length of the street & at the far end was Golden Gate Park - which we expected to be quite ‘fancy’ as it bore the name of the bridge…. Nope! All run down & over grown. This could have something to do with the fact that pretty much everyone down that end of the street was offering to sell you “the stuff”! “Are you gonna ask the question or is he..?” “Come on man, it’s nice & you got the whole night ahead of you!” & so on & so forth!! We then found, and the best way to describe it is, a really tall park!! It wasn’t horizontally designed, it was vertical! It was bizarre but the views from the top were fantastic and we caught our first glimpse of the Golden Gate. We had been talking to Steph & the plan was for us & her friend Lane to cycle across the bridge on Saturday. Ric & I then got all adventurous and, without any kind of map or asking for directions we walked the whole way home from Haight/Ashbury (we’d taxied it there)! It took us about an hour and fifteen, so at a guess it was about 6-7kms.

We were downstairs in the Hostel & we ran into Gav who was very kind and slung a couple of beers our way. Pretty soon we were off in search of a bar. We had a few rounds at one Ric & I had seen on our walk back & then we decided that we should venture forth into San Fran & find other watering holes. The first taxi we flagged down was exactly what we were looking for. A guy anywhere between 25-35 but had that ‘cool look’ of someone who’d be hanging out at The Espy, Prince Of Wales, The Retreat, Northcote Social Club - basically, he’d have his finger on the pulse and we’d be able to trust him with our query : “Where would you head to if you were heading out at 2130 on a Fri night?” 16th Avenue in The Mission was his choice & yes, he was correct. A crossroad that had multiple bars to choose from and he stopped & pointed out many and even gave us a basic blueprint of how to run the night. The only downside being that all bars shut at 2am!

A snapshot of the first bar Ric, Gav & myslef visited.

We only ended up visiting 2 bars in the end but it was a great night. Once again we met a few really decent people and once again, as in New York, I didn’t take any photos! D’oh! As we had done previously in the day, once we were ready to head home we ended up walking home! A bit more brave seeing as it was dark & our minds weren’t as clear as earlier on but we both made it home in one piece!!