Sacred Heart and Sightseeing

This morning was our earliest start of the tour – we headed to Sacred Heart School in Pacific Heights at 7am.  Got a little lost in the marble mansion but found a lovely student called Tom who escorted us to the library which is housed in another magnificent mansion next door.  I hadn’t realised that Sacred Heart has both boys and girls but they are in different buildings and classes.  Tevis Jones, the Librarian greeted us so warmly as did the Dean of Junior School, Kellie Irish.  It was great to meet them both in person after lots of emails back and forth over the last few months.

It was great that I had time before school to sign the books the students had ordered and in doing so met a whole lot of girls who came to visit me in the library.  I am hoping some will come to the Books Inc Laurel Village event tomorrow evening at 6pm.  The shop is quite close to the school and a lot of the girls said they go there all the time.

I spoke to the Year 3 students first and then went upstairs to meet the Year 2 girls.  They asked great questions again – ‘are any of the characters based on real people?’ and ‘are you any of the characters?’ and were generally fabulous and so attentive.

The view from Sacred Heart is stunning – almost identical to Hamlin and Tevis was certainly right in saying that her library has one of the best views in the city.

After the school visit we headed down town to have a quick look in Macy’s – it was a huge sale day and the store is open until 11.00pm tonight!  I think there are just too many things to look at.  I need a personal shopper as I feel completely overwhelmed.

We then did an even quicker spin through Neiman Marcus, whose catalogues I used to love getting in the mail.  Beautiful store, extraordinary prices!

This afternoon we had tickets to Alcatraz which we had fortunately pre-purchased at home.  The tours frequently sell out days ahead and when we arrived at the dock the next available tour was Sunday.  The weather was stunning – clear skies, a chilly breeze and not too choppy in the bay.  Alcatraz is daunting – rising high above the water there are buildings that are instantly recognisable from the various television shows, movies and documentaries I’d seen over the years.  We watched a video outlining the rock’s history from a military installation back in the civil war years, to a military prison then a federal penitentiary before being turned over to the National Parks.  There are a lot of myths surrounding Alcatraz – there were escapes and in one case there were prisoners who were never accounted for.  There was a murderous riot and the most famous prisoner was Al Capone.  But by and large Alcatraz was a calm and consistent place, where prisoners were well fed, sheltered, clothed and had access to medical treatment.  It was harsh and cold and some prisoners spent years in D block which was essentially two levels of solitary confinement – one section with open cells and the other with completely blacked out and isolated cells.  They weren’t allowed to spend more than 19 days straight in the dark – I think one day would do my head in!

The other thing I hadn’t realised was that at any given time there were as many as 80 children living on the island.  Guards and their families resided in a range of accommodation around the base of the rock and the first-hand accounts from children were very positive.  They had no interaction with the prisoners and loved taking the ferry to and from school each day.  The parade ground was a huge playground.  One former child resident recounted that at Christmas the children would go carolling around the island – one of his happiest memories. They would stop below the cell block and sing, then listen as the prisoners sang back and wished them a happy Christmas.  He said that what was his happiest dayof the year must have been their saddest. 

I suppose what struck me the most was the deprivation – but then reading about the prisoners and what they had done to earn their trip to Alcatraz, they were often the worst of the worst – predators, murderers, gangsters and violent thugs.  It’s certainly an interesting place and I’m really glad that we managed to get there.

I wasn’t quite so enamoured of Fisherman’s Wharf – it was a lot like Main Beach at the Gold Coast and one of the newer wharf areas reminded me of Dreamworld – it was all a bit tacky and touristy.
We rode a cable car back to the hotel – that was fun!

Tomorrow we head to Petaluma – yes back in the car.  Wish me luck with the navigating J

Welcome to San Francisco

I am without doubt the world’s worst sleeper on planes.  And that’s even flying at the pointy end of the plane.  No amount of flatbed has ever enticed me to the land of nod before.  Not that I’ve flown long haul many times but on the relatively few flights that I’ve done, I’ve mostly managed to use points and get upgrades - I've been lucky in the extreme.  I blame my husband for this affectation.  You see he’s been a business traveller since his mid 20s and doesn’t like to entertain the thought of flying ‘down the back’ these days.  Although we did a couple of years ago on my first trip to the US and after what amounted to about 27 hours of flying hell to New York, I vowed I would re-mortgage the house not to do that again.  So I’m not – doing that again – this time at least (and yes the mortgage will suffer!)  Last night I had my first ever good sleep on a plane.  All thanks to my new friends Adele and Phenergan (and no I wouldn't advocate anyone else try this but for me it worked a treat).  I discovered Phenergan recently when I was plagued with some nasty allergies.  I came to realise that a whole tablet was a bit like an elephant tranquiliser but half would put me to sleep just nicely.  Adele, I've known of for quite some time - if only from a distance.  So I took the tablet and popped on the headphones, selecting Adele's 21 album and I slept – not soundly – I woke up every hour or so and at one stage heard a message from the pilot which made me think I’d been asleep about ten minutes – but apparently not.  I slept from about 7.30pm Australian time to around 1.30am – for me a record breaker.  My husband on the other hand is usually asleep before the plane leaves the ground but this time he was wide awake and watched me snooze.  He looked exhausted.

We flew United and I have to say that apart from the fried grub garnishing the spinach in my dinner it was, by and large, a very good experience.  The flight attendants were friendly enough – although the red haired woman had clearly been doing this quite a while.  Her manner could perhaps be described as officious to say the least.  However, upon learning of my spinach interloper she did appear with two vouchers and an apology – we have to log on to see what we’ve ‘won’. The seats were comfortable and the passengers generally very quiet and considerate, apart from the older woman in front of us who coughed her way from one side of the Pacific to the other.  Even her travelling companions – another couple sitting opposite made mention of it, ‘Patty really needs to see a doctor about that cough of hers.’   I hope that we were far enough away to dodge the germs.

Our arrival into SF was really smooth and the immigration official was chatty and friendly – which was very different to my only other experience in the US.  I had told my very affable husband not to joke around – it wouldn’t be appreciated.  How wrong I was!  The cab line was small, the cab driver efficient and we arrived at our hotel to the friendliest greeting of any place I’ve ever stayed. 

In the afternoon we headed out on a sparkling clear day to get our bearings.  I had always imagined SF to be a much larger city but apparently the population is around 850,000.  I think about half of them were in Union Square and the insanely enormous department stores that run around its perimeter and beyond.  I decided not to inflict any shopping on Ian – he was still a bit fragile after the lack of sleep but I’ve noted their locations and I will go back – if only just for a look.  We have weight limits on the next three flights! 

We hopped on one of the double decker tour buses – apparently there are four companies which all look deceptively similar.  Our driver took us around the city and down towards Fisherman’s Wharf.  On the way we passed through SF’s Little Italy which has loads of restaurants.  We saw the world’s most crooked street – where driver’s queue up to take a run down the 8 switch back turns.  We then headed out past the old military barracks, The Presidio that now house a range of other businesses including George Lucas’s studios.  I think our driver must have had a thing for George and his films because if he mentioned it once he mentioned it ten times!  We drove over the Golden Gate Bridge which is truly impressive.  There were hundreds of people walking and riding over it too despite the icy wind.

But the view, although hazy was great and you could see across the bay to Alcatraz and to the city and the Bay Bridge – which I think we have to negotiate on Tuesday.

Hoping to sleep well.  My first Alice-Miranda tour day is tomorrow at a girls’ school called Hamlin in Pacific Heights.  Looking forward to it.

The Final Countdown

It's two days until we hit the road on what promises to be an incredible journey.  I've spent a few hours this morning updating the itinerary which includes over 20 schools in the US and almost as many in the UK.  What's really struck me so much in organising the trip is the spirit of generosity that exists in our world.  I have approached many strangers, often found on a school website and have found them not only receptive to the idea of an author from Australia speaking to their students but genuinely excited and organising activities and events way above and beyond the call.  I cannot wait to meet these people, many of whom I'm sure will become friends.  I've also reconnected with people including a girlfriend from high school who I haven't seen in 25 years!  I think my visit has unearthed for her a whole new set of skills as I'll be talking to almost every school in Greenwood South Carolina and doing a bookshop event - all through Dianne's phenomenal networking - she should be a publicist!  I am looking forward to seeing her and meeting her husband and three children too.

Yesterday marked the end of my Australian tour with Random House, having visited 30 schools, spoken at the Somerset Celebration of Literature on the Gold Coast, visited at least 10 public libraries, had 7 bookstore events and spoken to several thousand children.  We started the tour with a huge launch for Alice-Miranda In New York in our very own Wahroonga (Central) Park with 250 enthusiastic attendees, many of whom were dressed up as Alice-Miranda.  I think if I added up the number of sessions I've spoken at I'd scare myself!  It was tiring but fantastic and I loved every minute (perhaps not the 6am flights) but other than that it was incredible.  I met so many amazing teacher librarians, public librarians, booksellers, teachers and of course children.  It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to go out in the world and talk about Alice-Miranda and Clementine Rose.

So today I am packing - or at least contemplating packing and trying to tidy my house for my mother in law who is having an extended holiday in Sydney.  My husband is quite possibly the world's fastest and calmest packer - unlike me.  I'd better get to it - the goal is to take only half a suitcase worth - and hopefully have a little bit of time to shop.

Until next time...