San Francisco and surrounds

The last overseas stop on our holiday was San Francisco. We also visited here on our honeymoon but only for a couple of days. We really enjoyed it and decided we would visit again. It still wasn't long enough as it was three days over a weekend, but we made the most of it (i.e. I caught up with some hot rodding mates), did some shopping and strolled around a bit.

First thing I saw when we got out of the taxi was this stretched Chrysler 300C. There was actually two of them.

After a six hour flight, a two hour delay waiting for half our bags to arrive from NYC and then a one hour train ride I finally got to Sam's place. I've known Sam through various hot rod forums for a number of years and it was great to finally catch up with him in person. He's in the process of doing up a '55 Chev as an early 70s-style street racer. There's no doubt it'll be killer. That's Sam sitting down.

We did some shopping at Nordstrom's and while you wait for your wife to buy another pair of shoes you get to listen to some cool piano playing. Grand pianos are a fascinating piece of machinery.

Waiting to get on a tram in San Fran. The plan was to head down to the newly tarted up Port Building at Pier 1 and then walk up to Pier 39 to see if all the tourist junk was still there.

While we were waiting this very cool fire truck pulled up. Check it out! They flashed their lights while I was taking the pic, but I missed it.

The port building which is now full of restaurants and shops.

It's hard to tell in the pic, but this diner is fully polished. Very cool. Didn't stop for a meal though.

At Fisherman's Wharf looking out to Alcatraz. We visited Alcatraz on our honeymoon, so we didn't need to go there again.

After just missing the tram we had to wait over an hour for the next one (which was a bus). It got pretty crowded and there were lots of 'interesting' people getting on.

I had organised to meet up with Vern Tardel on the Monday up in Santa Rosa (about an hour's drive north of SF). Vern specialises in building traditionally styled hot rods, just how I like 'em, so I couldn't wait to check out his ranch and meet the guy. Everyone came along and Luka thought this Model A Tourer was very cool.

While I was there Vern started putting this '32 roadster body on its chassis. Although I'm sure they didn't need my help I jumped in anyway for the photo opportunity.

Luka got to choose a Hot Wheels car out of a big box. He picked a Fiat Topolino dragster, very cool choice. That's my boy!

We'd passed this Mel's drive-in on the way out to Santa Rosa and just had to go back for dinner and wait for the sun to go down so I could get a cool neon shot. Mel's was made famous by the film American Graffiti and although a little kitsch, the food was pretty good and the service great.

And finally one last shot of Luka and I sharing a beer. San Francisco Airport, Budweiser beer.

And that's it. Hope you enjoyed the pics and commentary from our little trip. If nothing else, we hope we've convinced some people that you can travel with a small child, have a great time and come home happy, still married and with some great memories.

Boris, Sue and Luka. 2006

New York, New York!

After an overnight stay in Helsinki it was off to New York, New York. We'd spent a week or so there on our honeymoon staying with a distant relative of Sue's right in Manhattan, so of course we got in touch with him again to see if we could freeload again!

We did give him plenty of warning that we would be travelling with a young child and thankfully he still invited us to stay. Robert's a confirmed bachelor and after a week admitted that Luka may well have changed his mind on kids. He has that affect on people. Anyway, we love NYC and had another great time checking this great city out, doing a bit of tourist stuff as well as just strolling around and getting amongst it.

We were a bit worried that Luka wouldn't fit in the bassinette towards the end of the trip. We were right!

A New York diner, can't remember the name, but it was on 3rd Ave somewhere in the 80s.

One of the more touristy things we did was go to the 'Top of the Rock'. On our honeymoon we went to the top of the Empire State Building, but the Rockefeller Center now offers a rooftop tour. It's another very cool art deco building and as you can see, the view's pretty good.

We got really lucky with the weather as the visibility was brilliant. It was pretty ordinary before we arrived and then the rest of the week we were there it was almost unbearable. Hot, humid and hazy, the worst part of New York. The subways were even worse, but thankfully the trains were all air-conditioned.

Part of the 'Top of the Rock' tour included a visit to Radio City Music Hall. I wasn't really that interested, but I'm glad Sue talked me into it. Just check out the tour guide, he was worth the entry fee on its own!

Some great statues are on display. Being made out of aluminum (the Yanks still can't say aluminium) was a very big deal back in the 1930s.

The artwork throughout the building is amazing. This is just the lift!

This is the Grand Foyer. Those chandeliers are something like 20-feet tall and can be lowered down on wires for cleaning and maintenance. The whole building is full of neat little tricks like that.

Radio City is famous for its toilets. The men's toilets have more masculine wallpapers and colours, while the women's are much more lady like.

We spent most of a day strolling through Central Park.

Luka entertaining some strangers at a cafe in Central Park.

Luka trying out an icy pole on the Great Lawn.

A day on Lake Leman - Geneva

We were keen to get back to Switzerland as our first visit to Zurich left us feeling a little bit disappointed. I was pretty sure the French part of Suisse (as opposed to the German part of Schweiz) would be much nicer.

To get there we went through the Mont Blanc tunnel (Monte Bianco if you're Italian) and stopped in Chamonix for some lunch. Chamonix is an absolutely stunning location and is definitely on our list of places to visit again. Next time it'll be in winter time so that we can get some skiing in. Even though it was the height of summer, there was still quite a bit of snow on the mountains.

Somewhere in the background is Mont Blanc and if you look real close you can see a glacier in the background.
"Where's Mont Blanc?"
"Right there! What are you? Blind or something!"
Not sure, but maybe these guys figured out how to get to the top without dying.

Here's another shot of the glacier. Pretty amazing.

Did you know that Geneva was founded by a couple of shield-bearing, sword-wielding lesbians? Me neither.
The things you see! A Lincoln Continental convertible parked on the side of the road.

In Switzerland they just call these 'Army Knives'.


I had been in contact with a Swiss hot rodder (Yep, they really are EVERYWHERE!), so we went up the lake a little to Versoix and met up with him. We jumped in his daily driver, a Porsche 911 Carrera 4, and then went to his apartment to pick up the good car.

It's a 1930 Model A coupe.

With a blown flathead (French block of course) and aMuncie four-speed. It goes pretty good for an old jalopy. Here's Pete filling it up.

Pete started off with a pretty mint car and only needed to do minor rust repairs to the body.

The blower is a 4/71 but it looks huge on a flathead.

We then headed back to the Port Choiseul where Pete keeps his boat. Not just any boat, but a cool old 70s speed boat that runs a small-block Chev that makes around 300hp. The boat is only 15ft long, so it makes for a pretty interesting (and fast) ride.

We headed out for a spin with a couple of Pete's mates. The guy on the left is the tattooed and silent type, while on the right is Billy, another Cheaters member who has a flamed '56 Chevy.

When you live on a lake, you've got to make your own waves. Here's Billy having a go wake-surfing.


And here's Billy falling off. I'm not laughing (honest) I'm just smiling for the camera.

In Australia we call this 'pearling' or a nosedive. In Switzerland they just call it MERDE!

That's better. Pete gets the trim just right and lets go of the rope. Very cool.

Here's the boy, happy as ever.

The only black and flamed, V8-powered, 15ft ski boat on Lake Geneva. It's also the noisiest by a long shot!

Crazy tattooed hot rodders!

After an hour or so on the lake it was back to the cafe for a bottle of milk.

Pete then took the hot rod back to the apartment as it was going to be a long night with maybe one or ten beers.

Entertainment was provided by Laurent, another crazy tattooed Swiss guy who has a very good voice. It was a great night and we hung around for a few hours drinking beer and eating wood-fired pizzas.

Our faith in Switzerland is renewed and our day on the lake was much more fun than looking at more old buildings and Swiss watch shops.

Thanks Pete, and remember. When you want to go surfing for real, come to my place. :)

Galleria Ferrari

There's a reason Ferraris have such a passionate following. They really are sex on wheels.

A 750 Monza from 1954. Just think what Ford and Chevrolet were building back then. This is powered by a 3-litre four-cylinder that makes 250 horsepower!

Ferrari are famous for their 'open gate' shifters. They really are as much a work of art as they are a brilliant piece of engineering.

This was probably my favourite car that was on display. It's a 268SP from 1962 and is obviously still actively raced as it has modern seat belts and stickers from a recent event. This one's got a proper motor in it too, a 2.6-litre V8 that makes 260hp and spins to 7500rpm.

If you're clever, you might have noticed a connection between the model number of the car and it's engine specs. Good ol' Enzo didn't just pull numbers from the air, the 26 refers to the engine capacity and the 8 for the number of cylinders. Clever, eh?

There was also a display of Ferrari V12s. They had raw castings of a cylinder block and head as well as machined versions. Here's a shot of the block. Pretty cool bit of gear.

I think this is the first V12 that Ferrari developed and is from the 125S. It only displaces 1.5-litres but made 118hp at 7800rpm.

In hot rodding we call this a set of 'triple deuces'. Not sure what the wogs call it, but it's pretty cool whichever way you look at it.


Another piece of sex on wheels. A 250LM from 1963 and has a 3.3-litre V12. I'm pretty sure that the LM bit stands for Le Mans.

There was a whole room of Ferrari Formula 1 engines as well as scale models of the F1 bodies that were used for wind tunnel testing.

Here's one of the good ol' turbo V6 engines from back in the day when a race was quite often decided by who blew up last!

I thought I'd have a go with the F1 simulator, but at 5 Euro a pop we figured a free photo was a better option!