Escapees from Alcatraz.

Just had a San Francisco layover. Never been there before (maybe I should just say when I HAVE been somewhere before). It is such a beautiful city. We luckily caught some fantastic sunny weather (though still a bit chilly being by the water). It’s true: the hills there are actually ridiculous. They go every which way regardless of where you are. And there are literally 45 degree-angled ones.

We took the subway/transit system from the airport down to Powell station which is where you can get on the Trolley/Cable car. From there we took said cable car down to Fisherman’s Wharf. The ride is only around 20 minutes — having said that, the wait to get onto a trolley is a long one. I am told that the trolley is mainly a tourist attraction which explains the long wait. Unfortunately because our layover was rather short, we didn’t go on the Alcatraz tour even though we really wanted to. We got to take pictures of it though from the shore. Seeing it from there, it doesn’t seem that far away. And in my opinion those two escapees could have totally swam/rafted their way onto the mainland.

We got to see the Golden Gate Bridge as well, even if it was only a small speck/line in the distance. There is a beach right there on the wharf so if you really desired an afternoon dip (much too cold in my opinion), you have the option to go for one. A little bit further on the shore is the old Ghirardelli chocolate factory. Being heavily sleep deprived, even though we were specifically instructed to go there, we completely forgot. And I mean forgot to the point where I actually looked at the big “billboard-esque” sign boasting the company’s name and asked “I wonder what Ghirardelli is?” Rather sad I know. But it was okay, you are able to purchase the chocolate at a number of places, and I found out after that the factory is actually no longer a factory but just a glorified store-front to sell their product. Nevertheless, I will definitely go visit it the next time I am in the city — I mean, it’s chocolate after all!

If you get a chance, definitely go visit the city!!!

Cracktown.

“They must really like you.” Thanks cabby. That’s definitely what I want to hear at 5:30am on my way out to an Edmonton layover.

Of course, I am once again called out on a flight at 4:30am, but as I am told time and time again, I shouldn’t be expecting anything more than that, seeing that I AM categorized as the most junior, and henceforth holding absolutely no entitlement to anything other than the crappiest flights.

This is my life. I started working as a flight attendant for an unnamed company approximately 2 months ago. It kind of dropped into my lap, I applied not really thinking anything of it, but only that maybe it would be a nice opportunity to get travel perks, allowing me to travel the world (a definite dream of mine). I realize that I started this post off on a rather negative note, but in all honesty getting called for a flight in the middle of the night is the worse part of the whole sh-bang. I get to fly all over the world to shop (as I did at West Edmonton Mall this past layover), and I get to see the world at the same time.

This is hopefully just a venue for me to share some of my adventures with whomever wishes to spend some time here.

So: Cracktown. I have since my layover deemed Edmonton as such. I had never been there before; the extent of my knowledge of the city was that it housed one of the largest shopping malls in North America. Of course, being a shopper, upon arrival in the city I requested the company of my colleagues in an adventure to the mall. The “shopper” of the two decided to shop with me. We ended up spending almost 6 hours at the mall (my excuse is the sheer size of the mall itself). Unfortunately for us, we were so absorbed in the shopping that we forgot to check the bus schedule for the way home. By the time I realized that I should check it, the last express bus had already departed — we were going to have to take the normal bus.

Our hotel was downtown; one would expect the downtown area of any city to be bustling with activity and people. You know, the general “downtown buzz”. Not the case here. It was a ghost town. I think I saw maybe 3 people on the street the entire time I was there (and yes, I was there to experience enough of a day to say this with confidence). So there we were, on the bus home from the mall. This was where it all went downhill. Almost everyone that boarded was either high on drugs or just a little slow in relation to the rest of the world. There were people talking to themselves, talking to random other people, to the people they were with (but not allowing the other person to speak to them in return). There were mothers who ignored their possessed babies, and friends discussing the unnecessary locking up of dumpsters (which refrained them from going into them “after hours”). My colleague was so irritated that she put on her ipod at maximum volume and tried to block everyone out for the rest of the ride. I on the other hand did not have a choice but to continue to do some forced people-watching. The entire ride my only thoughts were “I really hope we make it back to the hotel before the sun sets because who knows what can happen to us if we were to walk around in the streets of downtown Cracktown at night.”

So a piece of advice to all those who are looking to visit Edmonton: don’t do it unless you have to, there’s nothing there anyways (except spend your money at a gigantic mall which has the same stores that you can find at any other metropolitan city in North America).