Titans USA Tour 2023

“San Francisco has only one drawback – it is hard to leave.” – Rudyard Kipling

What a difference a night’s sleep in an actual bed makes! There was a renewed bounce in the step of our Titans travellers this morning (well as bouncy as teenagers get before 10am) as they emerged from their slumber ready for breakfast. After scoffing as many of the complimentary cinnamon buns as humanly possible, the troop headed off on foot to see the sights of San Francisco.

The weather was once again uncharacteristically warm, so we were stripping off the jumpers and jackets as we made our way to Ghiradelli Square, the home of Ghiradelli Chocolate. One thing Ghiradelli has now learnt is to not to offer free chocolate tasting when a hoard of 40 students walk through the doors – we may have put a severe dent in their supplies. While enjoying the chocolate, we took in the views across the harbour to Alcatraz, before setting off on a trek along the San Francisco Bay Trail to the top of Fort Mason for our first glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge. After a brief photo opportunity (you can never have too many photo opportunities), we were still feeling reasonably spritely, and bravely made the decision (well Ciaran did) that we would make the 5km  journey along Marina Boulevard to the Palace of Fine Arts.

Two things happened on this walk, one, no matter how many times it is mentioned we somehow continually manage to spread across the entire width of the sidewalk – watch out people, we’re coming through. Two, as mentioned previously, we will always stop for a photo opportunity and this was no different, especially with the students fascination for all things shiny ie fire engines. I’m not sure if that poor unsuspecting fireman realised that a simple wave to our Titans would end up with us converging on/in/around the engine. We were in it, on it and around it. We have photographic proof!

After we eventually prised the students out of the vehicle, we continued on our merry way to the Palace of Fine Arts complete with Roman rotundas, colonnades and immaculately planted gardens. We were suitably impressed, well as impressed as teenagers get about old things.

Who would have thought though, that at a place of age and beauty, we would find basketball courts. Yep, you guessed it, some of our chatty Titans started up a conversation with the gent who runs the function centre next door, which also happened to currently be set up as basketball courts from a recent tournament. What are the chances? It seemed rude if we didn’t go in and would have been even ruder if we didn’t play so as not to disappoint our Titans hit the court to dazzle our host.

Ciaran even decided it was time to impress with his talents, so he rallied up a team (Matt Sutton and Jackson Bowden) and threw down the gauntlet for all challengers. Matt and Jackson did what they do best and used their talents on the court to keep the scoreboard ticking over for the trio, while Ciaran did his thing (we’re not exactly sure what that was). While they met some fierce competition, and while no one was keeping score except for Ciaran, it seems they apparently won their mini tournament. Ciaran would like it known, that he has yet to lose a mini tournament against the students while on US soil (no mention of any victories on Australian soil though). 😊

After the basketball tournament of the tour, we made the 5 kilometre walk back to Pier 39, where we enjoyed the bustling atmosphere and a bite to eat before boarding the double decker bus for a tour of San Francisco.

With the wind in our hair (literally), we took in the sights of Golden Gate Bridge, Chinatown, CBD, Financial District, and Theatre District to name a few. It truly is a spectacular city.

It was a team dinner tonight at Appelbee’s before a stroll through Pier 39 to finish the evening. An action packed day – we’ll be looking forward to the basketball starting so we can rest 😊

San Francisco…..you don’t say!

• The Golden Gate Bridge wasn’t intended to be a bright orange-red colour. The original proposed colour combination was black and gold, however when the architect arrived and saw the steel painted in an orange-red primer, he decided this was a much more striking colour.
• The city’s infamous fog has its own name and is actually referred to as ‘Karl’.
• San Francisco is the second most densely populated city in the United States behind New York. San Francisco is only 47 square miles yet home to 800,000 residents.
• San Francisco was originally called Yerba Buena

The Flag!

After a four year hiatus, the flag is back for the 2023 tour and for those not familiar with this concept, it is a very prestigious, some would say almost coveted, award (except if you’re the recipient 😊).  The flag recognises an individual’s moment of madness while on tour. And I’ll have you know, while it would be my preference, winners are not decided by a Blog Writer decree, oh no, this is decided by the good old democratic voting system. There might not be sealed votes, but we all vote for the lucky (?) recipient.

Some of the more common flag incidents include lost passports/wallets/uniforms to strange toileting experiences and missed alarms, some of the more hysterical relate to accidental 911 calls! Rest assured, anyone’s misfortune while on tour will be the blog’s gain and reported with glee. Over the years, we have had many family dynasties stake a claim on the award (I won’t mention names like the deWit or Withers clans), and it looks like this year will be no exception. We also have a few solo travellers who I am tipping will make an appearance – it’s going to be a blog writers buffet, a veritable smorgasboard of hysterical moments. Yippeeee!

Which brings me to the first flag announcement for the trip. Come on down, Portia McRae. While on the trip, students need to share rooms, sometimes even beds. Nothing unusual there, myself and Sharon have even shared beds more than a few times on past trips (and we’ve even deflated airbeds (which is not good for confidence, but that’s another story)). Annnnnway, our flag worthy moment though arose during our travellers first evening. After a long couple of days travel, we were all undoubtedly more than a little tired. Portia and her sleeping companion had both decreed earlier in the evening they’d never, ever, ever been this tired, and just wanted to hit the hay. They were excited when it came to bedtime, and the usual bedtime preparations entailed, so nothing unusual there either. However, it was during the early hours of the morning when things changed. Portia’s sleeping companion was lulled out of her slumber with a gentle scalp massage and soothing conversation. It was a fleeting moment but has certainly ensured that Portia now secures the bed to herself at the next stay.

Well played Portia, well played.