Airplane! And First Impressions of San Francisco

I think it says something about my internal age that, when faced with an 11 hour flight and a list of about 20 films, the 3 I chose to watch were Shrek Forever After, The Incredibles and Toy Story 3.

I have to say, Heathrow to San Francisco hasn't been one of my worst flights so far (with 4 hours left to go...though the sudden realisation that I'm barely halfway through was a bit of a nasty one...). Which is surprising really, since I've spent the past 24 hours brewing an absolute stinker of a cold, and have spent the majority of this flight sniffling and trying to locate the least-gross place to secrete dirty tissues. But we are over halfway there now, and boredom hasn't completely killed off my braincells. Yet. But between kid's films, my book - which I'm intentionally taking desperately slowly - and my iPod, this really hasn't been so bad. I've only accidentally nearly tripped three people (long legs and no leg room - bad combination), successfully avoided the plane food and only once been spotted surreptitiously fishing my iPod out of my bra (no pockets...).

I mean don't get me wrong, I'm still itching for the plane to land, but the dulcet tones of Alex Day/Charlie McDonnell, witty writings of Jonathan Stroud and re-runs of Doctor Who will see me through...

*LATER*
So after an average to bad flight (turns out the pressure of having a cold plus the pressure of descending in a plane results in your head feeling like it's literally going to explode), the taxi from airport to hotel felt like quite the adventure. It has to be said that whilst San Francisco doesn't quite have the buzz or notoriety of New York, it certainly is not lacking in variety. I was making mental notes of 'weird things on the streets of San Francisco' throughout the drive, and after the lone woman sitting casually outside a cafe dressed as a pirate, the man standing in the middle of a five-lane motorway handing out Chinese menus and the lunatic drivers, I thought I'd seen it all. Then came the billboard of the Last Supper, with Michael Jackson's face superimposed over Jesus'. Only in America.

Still, it was nice to get to the hotel (despite the fact the corridors look eerily similar to those in The Shining), and I'm looking forward to properly exploring the eccentric San Francisco.