Tuesday 30 September 2014

SAN FRANSISCO!

Jesus these posts are even boring me!! But once I commit to things I like to finish them so just two more to go!

I didn't like San Fransisco as much as I'd hoped to :( there were SO MANY homeless people. It always makes me sad but seriously it was crazy. From our hotel door to the subway literally 5m away you'd pass at least 5 homeless people before getting on the subway. And while some were perfectly pleasant, others would shout, ask you for money or actually harass you which was scary! I also saw so many people shouting in public at each other, genuinely scary people on public transport and tbh I didn't feel safe omg.

That aside it's still a pretty cool city! There's a lot to see and I definitely didn't get bored. There were places I wanted to visit which we didn't get the chance to, and a lot of it was just super cool. It was just a shame about the bad parts! Like the good parts are really good, and it's just such a shame that the welfare system is in such bad shape that so many people are living in such poor conditions.

My favourite place was Haight Ashbury, which was a vintage district. I'm pretty sure it's renound for drugs/prostitutes etc and it used to be very 'hippie' and 'alternative' but it was such a cool place to live. I bought loads in a thrift shop there as well as seeing the most gorgeous 20s dresses (nearly cried at how beautiful they were) in a vintage shop.

We also did the touristy things like cycling over the Golden Gate Bridge, and Fishermen's Wharf was really cool. We got clam chowder in a bread bowl which was so nice though primarily cream so two bowls in one day was probably not the healthiest plan?

We visited some nice cafes and restaurants and yeah parts were really cool, here are some photos!






















Friday 26 September 2014

((Sorry lol... more America!)) Yosemite National Park

I'm sure everyone is seriously bored of these posts (if anyone even reads them) but I swear, we're getting to the good bits.

Yosemite National Park was not somewhere I'd ever heard of and I wasn't sure what to expect! It's pronouned Yo-Sem-It-Ee by the way; I thought it was Yo-sem-ite for ageeees!

Anyway, we drove there and it was sooo beautiful. Like wow. But I did think 'this is a bit like England..' and luckily over the next few days I was proved wrong.

We stayed at a hotel just outside the park. It wasn't great (one of my least favourites) which was a shame but the park was so lovely it made up for it.

This is a pretty self explanatory post so I'm not providing many explanations and instead just a lot of photos! Enjoy :-))








































Laura xx

Wednesday 24 September 2014

Death Valley

This may sound like some perculiar metaphor but it is in fact a realllyyyy hot part of America! I always think I love hot weather but in reality sweat/sticking to car seats/warm drinks are actually not good. When sat by a pool with a cold drink sure, but apart from that I like a cool breeeze or even snow. So Death Valley was literally BOILING. Like there are deaths caused by the heat there every year which is not surprising since it is a literal desert. The roads were long and straight and we'd drive for hours without seeing any other cars. It was so so so weird! But also terrifying because you know if you broke down you might die?! We even attempted a short walk at one point but lasted about 5 minutes. The heat is unimaginable unless you've experienced it there or somewhere similiar! Not the most interesting place but here are a few photos. It was interesting to drive through, and the hotel we stayed at had an outdoor pool which was genuinely as hot as bath water. It was almost too hot to swim in!


 We drove back to just outside Vegas and stopped at Cheesecake Factory. It was the most exciting food moment.
 My mum hates this photo but look at my excitement for cheesecake




 I hate this photo so much but I think it shows how windy it is there? The breeze is really warm though it's such a weird place!
 Salt plains