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We decided to spend the day exploring a bit more of Quebec today. We were up quite a bit later so grabbed some lunch at Subway which is just around the corner, and then headed into the old town. We started up hill, and found some steps that take you up a bit quicker and after a few more steps we found ourselves on the Terrasse Dufferin which is a wooden boardwalk that wraps around the Château Frontenac which is a grand 19th century hotel. We spent quite a bit of time walking along the boardwalk, stopping on benches intermittently and taking photos of the hotel and view across the Lawrence river. The boardwalk continues quite a way beyond the city walls, eventually becoming steps that lead up to the citadelle at the very top of the hill. 

We walked all the way to the top taking in the views back across the city and the surrounding areas. We had an ice-cream, that quickly melted (halfway down my arm) so I ate it in record time before it made too much of a mess. We continued on, reaching the citadelle, which is still an active military base and home to the 22nd Regitment and official residence of the Givenor General and should she wish to use it, the Queen. You can get tickets to tour inside the residency or around the military base, with either giving you access to the museum. We opted for the tour of the base, and were taking around by Anthony who as it turned out was a teacher on his school holidays. He was really knowlegable and gave us a brief history of the regiment and took us around many of the key buildings - stopping in the shade where posible as it was really hot. One of the stops on the tour was the Kings Bastion which offers some of the best views across Quebec and a great place for photos.

After the tour, we had a walk through the museum which had some really intesting exhibits including a medals room with several examples of the Victoria Cross awarded to members of the 22nd Regiment. Finally leaving the citadelle, we headed back down the hill into the old town, stopping back at the hotel before heading out for tea. We decided to try the hotel restaurant (restaurant Louise) for tea. I had fish and chips, whilst Dani had sausage and black pudding, again very nice. We finished the evening back up on the Terrasse Dufferin, taking a few night photos before calling it a night.

We had timed tickets for the Vatican today. We had booked online this time as the last time we were here we queued for about 3 hours before we made it in. We got the Metro from Termini getting off at Ottaviano and then followed the crowds through the maze of people selling tickets and souvenirs to passing tourists. Signs were a little hard to come by but we found the way fairly readily. Arrived to find no queue at all much to our disappointment as everybody seemed to be part of a tour group or pre-booked like us. I was feeling quite warm having worn trousers today having seen the dress code on the Vatican website. As it happened they didn't appear to be enforcing it, but better to be safe than sorry.

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We didn't opt for audio guides this time deciding to wing it instead. We began by following signs for the short itinerary which lasted about 3 hours taking us through a range of Egyptian and Italian exhibits featuring sculptures, tapestries and rooms decorated with incredibly detailed painted ceilings and mosaic floors. It also included amongst other things, a suite of rooms decorated by Raphaelle and his contemporaries. It was all quite breathtaking, culminating in the Sistine chapel. 

After the initial tour we stopped for a break in the pizzeria before heading out to explore the terrace gardens. One of the gardens featured a rotating sphere within a sphere created by the Italian artist Arnoldo Pomodorowho who has similar pieces in many cities worldwide. From here we went to the picture gallery which thankfully had some air-conditioning and amongst other things featured some nice Bellini statues and a picture by Leonardo da Vinci. We stopped off at the bookshop to buy a guide book before calling it a day and heading back to the hotel. Later in the evening we went to the local restaurant Meid in Napols where we had the nicest meal yet. We highly recommend a visit, its not far from Termini, about a 2 minute walk. Arrived back at the hotel feeling stuffed!

So, I’m writing this at what is essentially about 5 AM, after what felt like, and virtually is 24 hours of travel. We travelled all the way from the UK, flying from Manchester to Heathrow, and then Heathrow to America. We slept okay in the TraveLodge and got up around eight-ish to sort ourselves out. I had to empty out my carry-on bag, to ensure all the things that I had randomly stuffed in it yesterday were ‘safe’ to take on the plane.

Then we went to get on the shuttle bus (£7 for the two of us). The driver helped us load our stuff and checked that we wanted to get Terminal 3, to which we nodded, but we didn’t actually know for sure!

Turned out it was terminal three! Got checked in for our Heathrow flight and for our San Francisco flight. The very helpful lady at check-in gave us a printout of all of our flights on our ticket for us to refer to and then we had to go to a different place to deposit our rucksacks (as we did in Europe - they are classed as ‘soft’, although they’re pretty solid due to the amount of stuff!) We then wiggled through security. Ben’s bag got stopped for a ‘random check’ - the mini suitcase was swabbed for any chemicals used for bombs, etc. But, it passed the test, so we wiggled on.

Once through, we found a seat and scoffed the remaining chocolatines and a couple of bananas. We had a bit of a wander and found a better seat, with a view of the runway. Got a couple of bottles of water from WHSmith’s and sat. And waited. For a while…

We got the call for our gate and scuttled off. Got on the plane - to find we were almost the last people on, apparently - although we were there just after the call. Clearly, everybody else was super-prompt, as we got going ahead of schedule. The flight was pretty quick, with a complimentary drink and snack. We arrived at Heathrow 15 minutes early and followed the purple signs to meet our connection. Ben recognised the terminal when we arrived - having sat and waited there when he went to Spain (on a school trip) recently. We had a wander around and admired all the designer shops and the Harrods ‘boutique’, but were surprised by the lack of places to eat as we expected more variety; clearly, Heathrow is above such things as McDonald’s and Burger King! We sat down to share a toasted steak and cheese ciabatta, which was really nice, from EAT, and then, when our gate was called, we went on the little train to get to the gate. So far, so good.

Arrived at our gate and settled in at a window seat with a nice view, which was slightly hampered by a Polish couple, who stole my seat when I went to the toilet. But, when Ben went to the toilet, our row was called - it’s all go!

Got onto the plane and sat in our little couple seat (specially selected during online check-in yesterday) and Ben lined up the films he wanted to watch. As the flight got underway, we began watching, but the complimentary headphones didn’t do much to block out the noise of the plane. So, most of the dialogue went unheard! We decided to try the headphones from my MP3 player which worked much better, though obviously we only had one pair. So, we whiled away the 10 hour flight by watching films, going to the toilet and eating! First meal: a chicken and vegetable risotto, which was very nice - perhaps more like a savoury rice pudding, but tasty all the same. Had a mini bottle of wine for me and a mini keg of Heineken for Ben. Second meal: chicken Caesar sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, and, weirdly, a mini tub of water! Saw some fantastic views as we flew over Canada - lots of mountain ranges complete with snowy blanket.

Landed at San Francisco - slightly panicky moment when looked for a minute like we were going to land on water! - but a very smooth landing. Everyone applauded when we landed - presumably due to the recent incident at San Francisco! (There was a recent crash landing at San Francisco airport, reported on the news - the wreckage was still visible from the runway where we landed). We disembarked, spent about 30 minutes queueing at customs, had to give fingerprints (!) and photos, and we were out!

Got the BART (train) into San Fran - a 25 minute journey ($8.25 each) and then walked - further than we anticipated - to the hotel. Had a rather strange experience at check-in, as the woman seemed to want to chat, but then alternated with trying to get rid of us. She worried us a little by asking us for a voucher for our stay - which we didn’t have - but, she reluctantly agreed to copy our itinerary instead, with all the necessary references and reservation numbers on.

Our room is on the 19th floor, commanding a good view of the city. We had a sit and then went out - at what felt like four in the morning, although it was actually only 8 PM US time. Bought some pizza slices from a nearby pizza place - $17 for four big slices. Started feeling very flaky, so wandered back to the hotel and turned in.