Kirstie's Travel Diaries #17 : Alcatraz and San Francisco City Tour with Viator

Catch up with #16 here.

Day 17 (16/03/12)

Man this was an early start, Way too early for two girls who had been to a gig the night before... not the mention the 'couple' of vodka we had downed! But we had a trip planned and it was booked and paid for so we solidered on!
When we added San Francisco into our travel plans we knew we wanted to go to Alcatraz and well the Golden Gate bridge is just an obvious thing to want to see right? 
We had imagined cruising along the bridge in shorts and a t-shirt on bikes taking in the California sites............ well this did not happen! The weather was horrendous so it was blooming well lucky we had booked this city coach tour!
 This was the Alcatraz and San Francisco City Tour from Viator if any of you are wondering and at under $50 each it is a total bargain that I would recommend to anyone!

Anyway - we were up early and waiting patiently for our coach to come at pick us up! We were lucky enough that they picked us up from our hotel - which was really great because the weather was not the best. (basically felt like England!)

We were then taken to the main office of the travel company and told which group we were in - either tour then Alcatraz or Alcatraz and then the tour. 
As we were both a little sleepy still I was so glad to find out we were heading on the city tour first! A nice sit down on the coach, feet up and take in the sites!
First stop the Golden Gate Bridge!!

We parked up in a nearby car park and were offered the choice to get out and go for a walk upto the bridge - now some people turned this down because of the weather but there was noway we were missing out on this chance, especially as this was probably the only time were going to be able to get to the bridge!

So out we went, prepared to be wind swept and with an umbrella in hand - and it was hilarious! I hadn't been in that much rain in a long long time - and that says alot for someone who lives in England! We only had 20 minutes or so that I remember but we didn't need alot of time out in that crazy storm!

We were literally soaking after this - everyone on the coach actually laughed at us when we clambered back on, make-up down our faces and drenched clothes!

Needless to say that woke us up! 

We then popped to a local supermarket so we could get some food for the morning ahead! All I remember buying was a creme egg -- I'm sure I bought like a bag full of food though!

We then had the tour around the city which was awesome! We learnt and saw so much - the only downside was the weather - but what can ya do?!

Before we knew it it was nearly time to head to Alcatraz but we were reocmmned a restaurant by the ferry port before we did... it was rubbish don't go there (Butterfly!?)

Poncho's on, we headed to the ferry! I was really looking forward to this, I find things like this so interesting and couldn't wait to go on the tour and hear all the stories that came from this place!

I highly recommend if you ever get the chance to go to San Fransisco to go to Alcatraz! It is one of the most interesting places I've ever been! 

The tour is so well organised, you just get your own headset in your chosen language and it just guides you round the prison - narrated by former inmates and officers! 

So many stories and it really is an eye-opener! 

This trip was a total bargain - under $50 to do and see everything - fantastic!!

NEXT POST : ST. PATRICKS DAY 

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Kirstie's Travel Diaries #14 : Horse Riding In Hollywood & 21 Jump Street Premiere

Catch up with #13 here.

DAY 14 (13/03/12)

It was our last day in Hollywood, our last day in Los Angeles.... but luckily not our last day in California (keep reading to find out our next stop)! I was definitely not ready to leave the west coast just yet either ( it was so nice to have some sunshine after the freezing temps of NYC!).
We had been looking through all the leaflets, posters and other tourist type information in our hotel and something which we had wanted to do but had not yet picked up the courage was to go horse-riding.
Now I hadn't been horse-riding since I was a tiny child and even then I think it was just at a fete or something, going round in a circle.... and maybe even that was a Donkey - I only remember that because my parents have photos of it!

So yes, horse-riding was our plan for the day, and seeing as we had been good and packed most of our stuff the night before, we got up early and prepared ourselves for some cowboy action!
We called our lovely driver, the awesome and hilarious Harry, who picked us up just before midday and took us on the short journey to our destination - Sunset Ranch in Griffith Park. (and we're not the only ones to have had some fun here....)

We rocked up, paid and filled out some forms (basically so we couldn't sue) - left our bags and things... apart from our cameras of course, with the lovely people at the ranch and joined the queue.
We waited for their to be a group large enough to take out, got our helmets on (totes sexy) and then e were assigned our individual horses.
Now ... my first horse I hopped on didn't really want to co-operate and started to head back into the stables... with me on him! 
Now I am a total beginner at horse-riding and anything to do with it so I was bloody hopeless. All I could think to do was shout "umm... someone?" whilst my friend watched on crying with laughter!

My horse taking me on a ride the wrong way - HELP!

Needless to say I was off that horse and on a happier horse in seconds!

Up the trail we started and it suddenly occurred to me about the fact that I could be scared of this experience and actually... I really was, I was terrified.
I decided to cover up my wimpy-ways with laughter - I couldn't stop. My friend on the other hand decided to scream and shout - which in the end made it such a hilarious experience I still laugh about it to this very day.

The fact we were so high up made it scary enough but the fact that the horses had to walk along to side of cliff made it even scarier! This was so that if there was a predator down there they'd be able to see it coming - at this point in time I wanted to get off and run back down to those stables BUT I was in Hollywood riding a horse next to the Hollywood sign with one of the most insane views I've ever seen - I needed to take this all in.

Back on our feet and feeling a tad safer we thanked the lovely ladies for looking after us dramatic Brits and called Harry for our ride home!
This journey was hilarious as Harry came out with some amazing stories about an unfortuate wedding and a crazy MJ fan he once had to drive around LA - he truly was a highlight of LA for us!

Time for food and a wonder round Hollywood & Highland before the exciting events of the evening.
We knew that the 21 Jump Street premiere was happening that evening right by our hotel at the Chinese Theatre and there was noway we were missing out on that (Channing Tatum alert)!

We waited for what felt like hours for the big stars at arrive and the crows that gathered were insane! 
A Hollywood premiere was a seriously exciting thing for us to witness (and you may hate me for the photos I'm about to share with you!)
Channing and Jonah turned up and it all went a bit crazy! Channing came over to where we were - I could not believe it. He was really nice, making time for everyone, taking photos and signing autographs! and YES girls he is more gorgeous in real life.

It was insane and the perfect way to finish off our trip to LA! 
Round the corner and back to our hotel to bed we went - our flight the next day was at about 12pm so we knew it was a fairly early start for us! Bye Bye Hollywood.

NEXT POST - Hello San Francisco! 

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