> 29th and 30th January
> SAN FRANCISCO
> Alarm woke us up at 5.30am so that we could watch as we entered San Francisco Bay under the Golden Gate Bridge. We did have an extra hour to sleep as the clocks went back another hour last night so we’re now 8 hours behind you in the UK. The bridge was all lit up and we could just make out Alcatraz in the dark. Docked at Pier 27 this time which is right opposite the Coit Tower and after breakfast we headed for the dreaded American Immigration queue!
> Our first stop was in Bordins Bakers where they make the most delicious sour dough bread ever! You can stand outside and watch them making the bread and even have a conversation with them through the glass. Novelty bread is in the shapes of hedgehogs, teddy bears and turtles to name a few. There’s even a huge alligator one in the window! The bread is transported round the shop in wire baskets which are on a track hanging from the ceiling.
> Next stop was Ross for some shopping then walked all the way back past the ship towards Market Street for yet more shopping! By this time we were roasting as we’d gone out in our jackets but the clouds had cleared and the sun was coming through. We saw the usual sights of the trams and trolleys making their way up and down the steep hills and on our way back we stopped at Pier 39 to see the sea lions then came back on board absolutely knackered !!!!
> In the evening they had a great Barber Shop Quartet on singing to us who were also quite funny and they were for one night only whilst in SF.

> The following morning we were up and out early to walk up to Union Square. Quite a bit warmer today and by the time we were there the jackets were off as the sun was out. Had a quick scoot round then made our way back towards Pier 39 as we had arranged to meet up with our dear friends Lynn and Judy who both live just outside SF. The restaurant they had booked was lovely, right on the water front and the food was amazing! It was so lovely seeing them again and catching up with everything. After, we walked over to Ghiridelli’s Ice Cream and chocolate shop for desserts to die for! A wander along the front after to see people out swimming which must have been freezing! All too soon it was time to head back to the ship and say our goodbyes. We left them, loaded up with a huge bag of goodies all from California, that they had bought us with promises to see them again soon. The weather had been perfect all day for us and it stayed that way for our sailaway with the lights of SF fading away as we sailed out past Alcatraz Island.

31stJanuary
AT SEA
Well, what a day today was! First of all it was my Louise and Emma’s 40th Birthday! Then, Emma had her baby also on the same day ! A baby boy named Harry, born at 9.25am weighing 6lb 14oz. !