Thursday, 02/22/07: "Polterabend"
This is an informal party before the wedding where plates and dishes
are smashed (the broken pieces are thought to bring good luck to the
bride). The bride and groom have to clean up everything. Therefore, everybody who want to wish luck to the bride has to bring and to destroy some ceramic plates and dishes. But please bring nothing made of glass, because broken glass pieces bring acutally bad luck.
Saturday, 02/24/07: "Wedding Ceremony"
Time: 17:00 h
The wedding will take place in the
"Presidio Interfaith Chapel"
Location: 130 Fisher Loop, 94129 San Francisco, CA
more information are available at:
http://www.sanfranciscoweddings.org/
Saturday, 02/24/07: "Wedding Reception"
The reception will take place at
The Exploratorium at the Palace of Fine Arts:
the museum of science, art and human perception
This museum allows to use the use the exhibits and to play around.
So everybody can be as much child as one likes. smile
Location: 3601 Lyon Street, 94123 San Francisco, CA
more information are available at:
http://www.exploratorium.edu/
http://www.terragalleria.com/california/california.sf-palace-fine-arts.html
http://www.palaceoffinearts.org/
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Public Transportation and Car Rentals
Public transportation is no problem in San Francisco and the Bay Area. The following links give you an overview.
1. MUNI: public transportation in the San Francisco
http://www.sfmuni.com/cms/mms/home/home50.htm
2. BART: public transportation in the bay area
http://www.sfmuni.com/cms/mms/home/home50.htm
3. Amtrak: train connections between San Francisco and Davis (Sacramento)
There is no train station in San Francisco. But amtrak offers bus services from serval bus stops in downtown San Francisco to the Amtrak Station on the East side of the Bay Area (Oakland, Emeryville) with direct connections to the trains towards Sacramento/Davis. This is directly bookable from the Amtrak webpage.
http://www.amtrak.com
Timetables for the different train directions can be found here:
http://www.cwrr.com/Amtrak/wc_caps_e.html
Car rentals:
For travelers from Germany it is usually best to rent a car from Holidayauto, because all insurances are included in the rental rate, which is otherwise without any insurrances.
www.holidayauto.de
It is also cheaper to choose a pickup location with is neither an airport nor a train station
If you rent your car directly from a rental car agencies, I would suggest either Enterprise or Avis. With those two agencies i had made the best experiences. Links to different rental car companies see below:
www.enterprise.com
www.avis.com
www.nationalcar.com
www.dollar.com
www.hertz.com
1. MUNI: public transportation in the San Francisco
http://www.sfmuni.com/cms/mms/home/home50.htm
2. BART: public transportation in the bay area
http://www.sfmuni.com/cms/mms/home/home50.htm
3. Amtrak: train connections between San Francisco and Davis (Sacramento)
There is no train station in San Francisco. But amtrak offers bus services from serval bus stops in downtown San Francisco to the Amtrak Station on the East side of the Bay Area (Oakland, Emeryville) with direct connections to the trains towards Sacramento/Davis. This is directly bookable from the Amtrak webpage.
http://www.amtrak.com
Timetables for the different train directions can be found here:
http://www.cwrr.com/Amtrak/wc_caps_e.html
Car rentals:
For travelers from Germany it is usually best to rent a car from Holidayauto, because all insurances are included in the rental rate, which is otherwise without any insurrances.
www.holidayauto.de
It is also cheaper to choose a pickup location with is neither an airport nor a train station
If you rent your car directly from a rental car agencies, I would suggest either Enterprise or Avis. With those two agencies i had made the best experiences. Links to different rental car companies see below:
www.enterprise.com
www.avis.com
www.nationalcar.com
www.dollar.com
www.hertz.com
Friday, October 27, 2006
What to do beside the wedding in SF
San Francisco is a great city, espcially when the weather is fine. San Francisco is very famous for the Golden Gate Bridge. But there is not only the Golden Gate Bridge. See the following links which gives you an overview what to do in San Francisco:
http://onlyinsanfrancisco.com/what_to_do/directory.asp?lv=14&mbc=attract
Not far from San Francisco, you can find a paradies with very old and tall trees: the redwoods
http://www.nps.gov/muwo/
The lake tahoe area in the Sierra Nevada is 3 hours aways. This area offers the best ski areas in California, including Squaw Valley where the 1960's Olympic Winter Games took place
http://www.squawvacations.com/
http://www.tahoe.com/
http://www.skilaketahoe.com/
Another attraktion of the area is Yosemite National Park with its wonderful scenery. Even though in winter most of the entrances are closed due to heavy snow masses, visits are possible, and who is interested in seeing some frozen water falls or even do some skiing there should go there:
http://www.nps.gov/yose/
For bus tours to yosemite national park see the following links:
http://www.travelsf.com/yosemite.html?gclid=CJS0zfyWn4gCFS8ROAodbHYonA
http://www.extranomical.com/PAGES/yosemite-tours.htm
http://onlyinsanfrancisco.com/what_to_do/directory.asp?lv=14&mbc=attract
Not far from San Francisco, you can find a paradies with very old and tall trees: the redwoods
http://www.nps.gov/muwo/
The lake tahoe area in the Sierra Nevada is 3 hours aways. This area offers the best ski areas in California, including Squaw Valley where the 1960's Olympic Winter Games took place
http://www.squawvacations.com/
http://www.tahoe.com/
http://www.skilaketahoe.com/
Another attraktion of the area is Yosemite National Park with its wonderful scenery. Even though in winter most of the entrances are closed due to heavy snow masses, visits are possible, and who is interested in seeing some frozen water falls or even do some skiing there should go there:
http://www.nps.gov/yose/
For bus tours to yosemite national park see the following links:
http://www.travelsf.com/yosemite.html?gclid=CJS0zfyWn4gCFS8ROAodbHYonA
http://www.extranomical.com/PAGES/yosemite-tours.htm
San Francisco Weather in February
Our wedding will take place at the end of winter time. Therefore the weather is very unpredictable. December and January are the oldest months of the year with temperatures about 5 to 10 C, but there is also the possibility to have very warm days with 15 to 20 C. From December throughout February at lot of winter stroms can be expected bringing anything from light showers to torrential downpours. Otherwise, spring it the time with the dryest months.
Therefore, weather prediction for San Francisco are very unstable.
In order to predict the weather you should visit the following webpage just before you leave to the us:
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/
Therefore, weather prediction for San Francisco are very unstable.
In order to predict the weather you should visit the following webpage just before you leave to the us:
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Air travel: Where to book a flight
Information on airfares
My experience (Jochen) showed that cheapest airfares to San Francisco cost between 480 to 560 Euro. I found never a cheaper flight than 480 Euro.
Usually airfares are cheapest in germany when booked in advanced, but this is not usally the case. Sometimes flights closer to the departure day are cheap as well. But if you book a flight less then 10 days in advance, the prize will unlikely to be cheap.
German agencies:
http://www.travelocity.de/de_DE/tcy/home.do
http://www.fly.de/
http://www.travel-overland.de/
http://www.mcflight.de/
http://www.travelchannel.de/
http://www.expedia.de/
http://www.opodo.de/
US agencies
http://www.orbitz.com/
http://www.expedia.com
Sometimes it is cheaper a to book a flight from germany to the us using www.orbitz.com
This of course depends on the exchange rate and on taxes.
You can do this using orbitz, but it is not possible via expedia.
airlines in germany
http://www.klm.com/travel/de_de/index_default.html
http://www.lufthansa.com/online/portal/lh/de
http://www.airfrance.de/
http://www.britishairways.com/travel/home/public/de_de
airlines in the us
http://www.nwa.com/
http://www.southwest.com/
http://www.united.com/
http://www.continental.com/web/en-US/default.aspx
http://www.delta.com/home/index.jsp
http://www.aa.com/
My experience is, that booking via the airlines directly in the us is mostly cheaper than using an agency.
My experience (Jochen) showed that cheapest airfares to San Francisco cost between 480 to 560 Euro. I found never a cheaper flight than 480 Euro.
Usually airfares are cheapest in germany when booked in advanced, but this is not usally the case. Sometimes flights closer to the departure day are cheap as well. But if you book a flight less then 10 days in advance, the prize will unlikely to be cheap.
German agencies:
http://www.travelocity.de/de_DE/tcy/home.do
http://www.fly.de/
http://www.travel-overland.de/
http://www.mcflight.de/
http://www.travelchannel.de/
http://www.expedia.de/
http://www.opodo.de/
US agencies
http://www.orbitz.com/
http://www.expedia.com
Sometimes it is cheaper a to book a flight from germany to the us using www.orbitz.com
This of course depends on the exchange rate and on taxes.
You can do this using orbitz, but it is not possible via expedia.
airlines in germany
http://www.klm.com/travel/de_de/index_default.html
http://www.lufthansa.com/online/portal/lh/de
http://www.airfrance.de/
http://www.britishairways.com/travel/home/public/de_de
airlines in the us
http://www.nwa.com/
http://www.southwest.com/
http://www.united.com/
http://www.continental.com/web/en-US/default.aspx
http://www.delta.com/home/index.jsp
http://www.aa.com/
My experience is, that booking via the airlines directly in the us is mostly cheaper than using an agency.
accomodations
We have three featured hotels with reserved rooms in different categories and two hostels. Please use the booking information indicated below. The location of the hotels is indicated on the map in red. Please be aware, that the rooms at the specific hotels are only available until begining/mid of January, 2007. Other nice lodging option are also posted below and indicated on the map in the related color. The room rates listed are exclusive tax. To enlarge the map, please click on the map.
1. The Westin St Francis Hotel
room with one King or Queen bed: 189 $ 150 Euro
room with two King or Queen beds: 209$ 166 Euro
http://www.westinstfrancis.com/
Reservation: Tel: (415) 397-7000
Reserve by Jan. 24, 2007
Key word: Emily Fleming and Jochen Nuester wedding block
2. The Orchard
room with one King or Queen bed: 160$ 130 Euro (breakfast incl.)
http://www.theorchardhotel.com/
Reservation: toll free 888-717-2881 or mhaney@theorchardhotel.com
Reserve by Jan, 8, 2007
Key word: Emily Fleming and Jochen Nuester wedding block
3. Hotel Diva:
room with one King or Queen bed: 109$ 90 Euro
http://www.hoteldiva.com/
Reservation: fax (415) 351-4152 or fokun@personalityhotels.com
Reserve by Jan 8, 2007
Key word: Emily Fleming and Jochen Nuester wedding block
Hostels: (no room reserved)
4. Green Tortoise
dorm: 23$/person (20 Euro) and private 56$/room (50 Euro)
http://www.greentortoise.com/san-francisco-hostel/index.php
5. Adelaide Hotel
dorm: 20$/person (17 Euro) and private 50$/room (45 Euro)
All the locations lissted below are indicated on the map above.
Necessary infomation will be found on the links provided. If you
want to have reviews and recommodations of the hotels and hotels,
please use the following link:
http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=&find_loc=San+Francisco&x=0&y=0&cflt=hotels
3.Top Tier: black
1. Hotel Drisko:
http://www.jdvhospitality.com/hotels/hotel/6 ,
rate: starts at 209 $, suite 329 and up
1. Hotel Drisko:
rate: starts at 209 $, suite 329 and up
II. Tier: purple
1.1. Miyako Hotel:
http://www.jdvhospitality.com/hotels/hotel/361 ,
rate: starts at 109 $ 153 $ for sauna suite
rate: starts at 109 $ 153 $ for sauna suite
2.2. Petite Auberge:
http://www.jdvhospitality.com/hotels/hotel/11
rate: starts at 109 $, 219 $ for suite
http://www.jdvhospitality.com/hotels/hotel/11
rate: starts at 109 $, 219 $ for suite
III. Tier: yellow
9.9. The Red Victorian:
http://www.redvic.com/ ,
rate: starts at 129 $
IV. Tier: green
V. Tier: orange
rate: starts at 129 $
IV. Tier: green
V. Tier: orange
1.
3.1. HI-Downtown:
http://www.sfhostels.com/locations/downtown.php
rate: dorm 23 $/person , private 65 $
http://www.sfhostels.com/locations/downtown.php
rate: dorm 23 $/person , private 65 $
22. Hi-City Center:
http://www.sfhostels.com/locations/city_center.php
rate: dorm 23 $/person, private 65 $
http://www.sfhostels.com/locations/city_center.php
rate: dorm 23 $/person, private 65 $
533. Hi-Fishermans Warf:
http://www.sfhostels.com/locations/fishermans_wharf.php
rate: dorm 23 $/person, private 65 $
http://www.sfhostels.com/locations/fishermans_wharf.php
rate: dorm 23 $/person, private 65 $
6.4. Globetrotters Inn: http://www.hostels.com/en/findabed.php?ChosenCity=San%20Francisco&ChosenCountry=USA ,
rate: dorm 19 $/person
rate: dorm 19 $/person
55. European Hostel: http://www.hostels.com/en/findabed.php?ChosenCity=San%20Francisco&ChosenCountry=USA ,
rate: dorm 20 $/person, private 30 $
rate: dorm 20 $/person, private 30 $
8.6. Shih Yu-Lang Central YMCA: http://www.hostels.com/en/findabed.php?ChosenCity=San%20Francisco&ChosenCountry=USA ,
rate: privates 30 $
rate: privates 30 $
777. Taylor Hotel:
http://www.sanfrancisco-budgethotel.com/san-francisco-hostel.html?source=google ,
rate: privates 50 $
rate: privates 50 $
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