mybigadventures.com

It's that time of year again - the one where all teachers get to breath a little easier and feel a bit more normal, that's right folks, the summer is almost here! We break up really early this year to enjoy one of the longest holidays I've had in my teaching career - nearly 7 weeks. The weather seems to have picked up and it actually feels like summer, well certainly as summery as Britain ever gets, let's hope it lasts into the break!

With just over a week to go until we depart on our Big Japanese adventure, I've spent some time checking the site, making sure everything is in tip top condition for updating whilst we're on our travels. I think everything works, but if you do spot any problems just add a comment below and I'll try and sort it out.

Keep your eye's peeled for the updates, they'll be some new albums appearing which I'll try and link into the blogs and I'll share a few bits on facebook, although I'm thinking I may start to reduce the number of photo's and things I actually share directly on the facebook platform. I hope you all, teachers and non-teachers alike, have a great summer whatever you might be up to! Enjoy!

We made a start today at Starbucks for a spot of breakfast, they had run out of the breakfast rolls we were after but ended up with an 'everything bagel' each and a cup of tea. Whilst there, we made use of the WiFi to download some local maps of the areas we're visiting as it turns out that our mobile data doesnt work here. We also picked up a paper map from the hotel and headed out for a bit of an explore. Our first destination was Ripleys Aquarium which is rated one of the top attractions in Toronto, so we went to see what all the fuss was about. We bought tickets on the way in although it turns out it can be a little cheaper if you book, you can also buy an adventure card that covers some of the other attractions in Toronto, but we gave it a miss.

The aquarium was really quite good with a particularly good moving travelator that took you around and then through the main tank in a series of glass roofed tunnels. Besides the huge range of fish, there were sharks, mantarays and turtles all swiming above and around us. It was really impressive. Heading back outside into what turned out to be a very bright sunny day we headed around to have a look at the CN tower which is next door. There was a long queue and we decided to give it a miss, at least for now anyway. Instead we had a wander around a number of old trains that you can wander around that are part of the exhibit by the train museum. We didn't go to the museum but did have a walk around the trains that were out, spotting a number of black squirrels that seemed to be residents in the area.

We had some lunch at a nearby Subway before visiting the Steam Whistle Brewery which is also located in the old train sheds close to the train museum. We went on the brewery tour which was fairly short but included a couple of beers to sample before having a sit in the beer garden. As the afternoon was getting on a bit we headed back to the hotel for a short rest before heading out once more for dinner. We ended up at a British pub for dinner, with each of us ordering the Sunday roast beef dinner off the specials board. Perfect!

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.