The Last Post of the Holiday.

After yesterday's busy schedule, today I decided on a drive into some of the Californian countryside that I had not previously visited. I headed south towards Cupertino and then took the mountain route across towards Santa Cruz. The sunshine in the valley slowly turned to cloud as I moved up the mountains and when I reached the coast side it was distinctly cloudy and very much cooler.

Santa Cruz looked a good family seaside town with plenty of surfers,a bit like Portcawl really. I headed north out of the town on the California 1 highway towards San Francisco. Along the Pacific Coast there were many state beaches and a number of Historic Parks. I stopped at Pigeon Post Light Station the site of many shipwrecks prior to the building of the lighthouse.

The scenery here was quite spectacular but unfortunately the poor weather doesn't show it in its best light.

I continued up Highway 1 until I reached Half Moon Bay then decided to cut back inland, back across the mountains towards San Jose. The traffic got really busy with many of the streets grid locked, I soon realised what the problem was. Around virtually every corner were pumpkin farms...

Many featured mazes, pony rides and other attractions obviously Halloween is really big around here.

Leaving the pumpkin patches behind me I rose back over the mountain taking a stop at a scenic view for a photo opportunity.

Finally I drove back to the hotel so I could check-in for my flight tomorrow.

That's it for this little break not sure yet when or where we will be going next but watch this space.

 

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Bridge School Benefit -Better late than never.

The Shoreline as it's name suggests is an almost natural amphitheatre with seating at the front and a grassy area known as The Lawn at the back. The gates opened at 3 by which time large queues had formed mostly with people trying to get a good spot in the Lawn area. I was one of the first to get a seat but by this time the lawned area was already beginning to look busy.

It was a beautiful hot Californian afternoon and the atmosphere in the crowd was brilliant. I met some Irish guys in the queue, together with some regulars from Brittany who hadn't missed a show in years.

The show itself opened at just before 5 with a "traditional" native Indian blessing and dance, followed by Pegi Young, Neil's wife, explaining about the Bridge School and the reasons for the annual concert.

Neil himself then took the stage for a solo acoustic set of three songs, almost worth coming to that alone.

The afternoon and early evening continued with a list of artists, Jennifer Lewis (who performed a superb version of "Buffalo Springfield Again"), Canadian rockers Heart and Fun. This latter band, one of Poppy's favourites a short time ago, really surprised me getting the whole audience singing along to their hit records and a "fun" version of "You Can't Always Get What You Want". The kids from the school, who by the way sit at the back of the stage really loved this.

By now the sun had set and the evening took on a decidingly chilly feel and the stage responded with the introduction of Diana Krall and some cool jazz sounds. After a couple of numbers she was joined by her husband Elvis Costello. They performed a few songs together then Elvis continued by himself taking us through a series of his hits. Finally he was joined by fellow Englishman Graham Nash for a rousing version of "King Midas in Reverse", the old Hollies hit.

It was around 8.30 and the stage was reset for the next act Jack Johnson, he performed several songs in that laid back style of his, just right for the occasion. For his final song Neil joined him on stage for a rendering of "Out on the Weekend", really nice.

I hadn't heard much previously of the next band, My Morning Jacket, but they gave a smooth professional performance including "Harvest Moon" together with Mr Young.

The Killers who had been originally lined up for today had cancelled a couple of weeks ago but their more than capable replacements were Arcade Fire. A rousing heavy drumming set including several numbers from their new album. They were joined by fellow Canadian Neil for a new song called "I Dreamt a Neil Young Song".

Queens of the Stone Age performed a good solid five songs before the stage was set for the highlight of the night, CSNY.

It was gone midnight by the time they reached the stage and at the beginning of the first number their voices were a little shaky, but they soon got into the zone. The harmonies and the guitar playing were first class especially during a fantastic rendering of "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes". Absolutely fantastic.

Finally all the artists returned to the stage for the encore which was obviously, "Teach Your Children".

As I made my way towards the car park we were stopped to let a limousine through, the window opened and Graham Nash popped his head out and said "Thanks for coming". That's okay Graham it was worth every penny.

At breakfast this morning I was offered a lawn ticket for today's performance, I reluctantly turned it down as I'm not too keen on Tom Waites who replaces Arcade Fire today. Besides I don't fancy siting on a grass bank for six or seven hours at my age.

If you want to know more about the Bridge School and the work that they do check out their website www.bridgeschool.org.

 

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Another quiet day.

I decided against having another trip in San Francisco today as I was feeling very tired after yesterday. I don't know whether it's the effect of jet lag or just my age but I've been sleeping for ages. Instead I thought I would check out the local shops by visiting a couple of malls.

The first one was at Stanford not far from the university and is very much a high-end affair, with branches of Nordstrom, Blomingdales and Nieman Marcus. There was also a Macys which contained something that I had never seen before, a vending machine selling iPads, iPhones and iPads.

Of course if you wanted to buy these items from a real shop there was a very snazzy Apple store.

But to satisfy all my readers I have to say that other computer stores were available.

A lovely shopping centre but far too exclusive for me so I made a short trip to the next centre which contained a Walmart , Kohls and Target. Much more down to earth. I bought a few meals to eat back at the hotel over the few days.

After wearing shorts yesterday and regretting it, today I wore trousers and it became very warm. A short drive back to the hotel to change into shorts was called for, before visiting the Shoreline Park. This is a huge area of coastline that has numerous trails and lakes and superb views.

There was also plenty of wild life especially birds.

While I was there a group were taking part in a team building exercise by making boats out of cardboard and plastic bags. I remember doing things like this when I was at work not in such a venue though.

I spent the evening watching television, I love US TV shows but don't enjoy watching them here. The constant interruptions for the commercials is annoying and distracts from the programme itself. In fact sometimes it's difficult to tell when the adverts stop and the show starts again. So many of the commercials are for medical products and with all the warnings they give I'm surprised that anyone buys any.

Tomorrow is the concert,gates open at 3.00 and the show starts at 5.00,I popped up to the venue this afternoon Roche k on parking. While I was there I got chatting to one of the security guys who tells me the show could go on until late. In fact he said when Paul McCartney played a few years ago he didn't take the stage until 12.30. That means I probably won't be posting until Sunday morning.

 

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San Francisco

The plan today was simple, get up earlyish catch the train into SF and do the touristy things. After phoning Sylvia at 7.30 I decided to have another five minutes nap. Big mistake. Two and a half hours later I woke up again, so much for an early start. By the time I walked to the station and caught the train I eventually got into San Francisco it was approaching one o'clock.

The train ride was very interesting seeing parts of the state that you wouldn't normally get to view.

When I arrived into the city I caught the MUNI to UnionSquare and then a trolley bus down to Fisherman's Wharf.

Fisherman's Wharf is the Mecca for tourists in the town with its restaurants, t shirt shops and buskers.

One act I remember from our last visit was Bushman, a guy who hides behind a number of tree and branches and surprises passers by. This must have proved a lucrative way of making money as he has spawned at least another three imposters!!

My original intention was to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, but with the loss of time a boat trip seemed a better idea. This gave a great opportunity to take pictures of the bridge...

Alcatraz.....

And to prove that I was there.

As you can see I was wearing shorts but this proved not to be a good idea as it was very cool on the water.

Tomorrow I will make an early start and cover some more of the city, after an early night!,

 

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Exploring Silicon Valley

After a decent breakfast in the hotel of cereal, toast and boiled eggs, I set off to explore the local area. Firstly I needed to find where Saturday's concert was being held. The Shoreline Amphitheatre is situated near the Google complex in Mountain View and was therefore quite easy to find using the search engine.

The Googleplex, as it is known, stretches over several large blocks with the employees travelling between the buildings on brightly coloured bikes which are left all around the area.

One of the main reasons for visiting Google was to see the Android operating system statues that are situated outside their main buildings. These are all named after desserts, how many can you name?

This is the latest one - the Kit-Kat.

The next stop on this Geek Tour was the Computer History Museum which again is in the Shoreline area.

From slide rules and abacuses, through punch cards and the one ton 1959 microcomputer up to the present day this told the story of the computer. In addition to having examples of many of these historic machines the exhibtion had many audio visual displays with many of the pioneers explaining their part in the revolution.

The wiring in this early computer reminds me of our office at home.

This a great little museum in which I spent about three hours but could have spent a lot longer. I would recommend it if ever you are in te area. If you want to know how to get there check on Google street view.

The star exhibit was a fully working reconstruction of Charles Babages first computer which through a series of cogs and gears calculates the value of polynomial equations.

The next stop in the trip required a short trip up the Interstate to Cupertino and a visit to the Apple HQ or Mothership as it is known at 1 Infinite Loop.

I had a quick look in the company shop but otherwise there was little to look at. One interesting point was the number of Wi-fi hotspots there were in the vicinity of the building, it would seem that each section has it's own secure network. There was of course a free one for the general public.

I drove back to my hotel and decided to walk to the local train station to find where I need to catch the train to SF tomorrow. The station is about 1.5 miles from the hotel but easy to walk. In fact, after sitting on a plane for more than 10 hours it was nice to have a good leg stretch.

Mountain View looks like a nice community with a real city centre with a Main Street with lots of small shops and restaurants. The restaurants were a nice mix of national chains together with a variety of ethnic offerings. These included Indian, Thai, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Italian and French. Not having eaten since breakfast I decided on Mexican , I hope I don't regret that!

Tomorrow I'm taking the train to San Francisco.

 

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The Journey

My day started at 9.00am with the first queue of the day, the British Airways bag drop. Having checked in on-line and printed my boarding card, I thought that the process of dropping my bag off would be quick. However it still seemed to take as long as when you checked in at the counter. At least the queue for security was small and I entered that giant shopping mall called Heathrow Terminal 5. There seems to be every High Strret brand represented here, perfect if you have several hours to kill prior to a flight. I went straight to the gate and awaited the call.

The plane boarded and took off on time and after an initial scare when the system wouldn't boot up, I was able to settle down with 10 hours of in flight entertainment. I watched "Alan Partridge -alpha Papa" (the final scenes of which feature Cromer Pier), followed by "Star Trek Into Darkness" and four episodes of "Broadchurch". Having missed this when it was on the television I thought that this would give me the perfect opportunity to catch up. Unfortunately the series must have been more than four episodes in length, so I still don't know who did it !!

I arrived at San Francisco about 30 minutes earlier than scheduled but was soon put back on time by the inevitable queue to enter the USA. In fairness I was expecting longer delays here soo it wasn't too frustrating but the queue to collect the car was. Having pre booked prior to travelling it was disappointing to have to wait in line for around 45 minutes to get the vehicle. The only consolation was that the queues for the other companies were just as bad.

I only booked a small car as it's only me and one case it has to transport and this was the model I got.....

I staying at a small motel in Mountain View about 25 mikes south of SF and where the concert will be held on Saturday, and I was in my room shortly after 5 pm local time. The room is basic but has a fridge, microwave and coffee maker plus free wi-fi so should suit me fine.

After a nice meal of steak, chips and salad at the Sizzler restaurant next door (only $11.50 for seniors!!), I settle down to watch some television determined to stay awake to aclimatise to local time. By 8.15 I was asleep and am writing this at 4 in the morning now being wide awake.

Today I intend to explore the local area and visit some of the techie places, a new ipad air anyone?.

 

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.....Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair.

It is often said "If you can remember the Sixties,then you weren't really there". Ironically no-one remembers who actually first said this. My memories of this decade are a little hazy now, this being due to me reaching my 60s rather than the effects of any mind altering substances, but the one thing I do remember is the music.

I have listened to music from this decade for all of my life and the artists still play live even though some are well into their seventies. That brings me around to the purpose of this post: I am about to embark on a journey to bring back memories of that heady period. Tomorrow I fly to San Francisco and on Saturday will be seeing Crosby,Stills, Nash &Young live in concert.

My trip, over the course of the next seven days, will be a mixture of music nostalgia, modern technology (I'm staying in the heart of Silicon Valley) and good old-fashioned tourism. You will be able to follow my progress here, but as this is a solo trip I apologise now for any grammatical errors in my postings. Sylvia usually checks this before I post but this time she will be reading it at the same time as everyone else.

Next post when I arrive.

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The Final Port of Call - Gibraltar

A beautiful morning greeted us as we sailed into Gibraltar harbour. This is the third time we have visited here and so we decided not to do any trips but instead to just walk through town and on to the botanical gardens.

We took the shuttle bus to the town gate and slowly walked past the shops as they were opening at 10 am. Many of the shops are branches of UK stores with M&S, Next, Mothercare and Peacocks all featuring. The prices are however mostly more expensive than back home, no purchases were therefore made.

The first stop was the Trafalgar graveyard, where many of the sailors and their families are buried including several Walkers but no Robbins.

The botanical gardens were probably a little past their best as the middle of October approaches but there was still a variety of coloured hibiscus around.

Despite visiting the gardens on previous occasions we had never noticed the animal refuge at the rear of the site. Here animals such as monkeys, parrots and terrapins, that were being smuggled through Gibraltar are rescued. As well as seeing the animals in their cages we had the chance to walk through and meet some ring tailed lemurs.

Some of which decided to pose with Sylvia.

Before anyone makes a comment, yes I did go in the enclosure but was busy taking photographs and not posing. Sylvia described the experience with the lemurs as one of the highlights of the cruise.

We slowly walked back to the ship playing around with a couple of cannons on the way. Firstly Sylvia....

......and then me.

On previous P&O cruises that we have been on one of the highlights was the sail away from the final port a very patriotic event that was sadly lacking on the Celebrity cruise we took in May. The Crown Princess however lived up to the tradition with much flag waving and song singing and serving Pimms.

It was pleasant to see that Wales was also represented.

So with the Rock of Gibraltar gradually fading behind us we head onwards toward Southampton and the end of our cruise.

We have two days at sea now , arriving back in England on Monday morning, so this will be the last post of this holiday. I hope you have all enjoyed the journey with us and look forward to taking you all with me on my next trip shortly. Watch this space.

 

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