The discrepancy from one town to the next in San Francisco can be quick and scarily obvious. One minute you're cruising down a laid back, luxurious street from all of those San Francisco images you have in your head from the movies and T.V. and the next you're in the Tenderloin looking at a string of homeless lining up for a soup kitchen while on the other side of the road you're wondering whether or not to duck a fast metal object that may come your way. It's an area where windows are boarded with metal frames as regularly as paths are occupied by loiters. But whether it's loiterers, hipsters, fishermen, slick businessmen or billionaires San Fran has something for everybody.

I think San Francisco is probably the most fascinating of cities I've seen on this trip. No other major city has the hills and low lying morning fog that this place has and as a result no other place has so many spots where you can get such stunning views. It boasts some of the most recognizable tourist destinations in America with the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island and the Fisherman's Wharf and after visiting all three in our limited time here I'm more than happy to say if you're coming to the U.S. you must visit here.

For me the highlight was a visit to Alcatraz. Departing on a ferry from pier thirty three on the Fisherman's Wharf the night tour leaves as the sun gets weak which provides some perfect picture taking opportunities of the bridges and islands while on the way. When on the island you get the chance to do a walking audio tour of the prison where you go deep into cells, shower blocks, yards, food-halls and leaky old hallways while listening to past prisoners tell you what happened where you're standing and what you're looking at. When you see cracks on the wall and floor that resulted in actual breakout attempts and fights seventy years ago it can send a chill down your spine. Even looking around at many of the other tourists as they focused in on their audio program with their headphones showed just how engaged and respectful everybody was. What I didn't know was that Alcatraz Island is actually a national park and is therefore on the heritage list. This means you can't eat, pick up anything off the ground to take with you or smoke. The staff who work there have done an incredibly job maintaining everything over such a long period. There is actually broken toilet bowls and utensils used by prisoners to try and escape the island left over. Although I'm pretty sure the original Alcatraz did not involve a gift shop or toilet block with auto flushing lous back in the day you can still walk through and feel like you're living in the 1950's which is kinda cool. The temperature inside the prison as day turns to night is anything but cosy too which just adds to the experience.

Maddi and I took a hop on hop off tourist bus to check out most of the upper parts of San Francisco which like L.A. is the best way to cover a lot of ground in a short time. We also got a little more than we bargained for when we hit the Golden Gate Bridge on the thing too. I now understand why the driver gave fair warning about moving to the roof covered lower level of the bus before approaching the attraction. The winds were gale force and they nearly permanently parted my hair. Also going over smaller bridges and fast through winding roads and tunnels made me think I was back at Universal's theme parks. Still, the classic tourist photo ops at the bridge's foot were well worth it.

I've never been a fan of being approached on the street by beggers or charity driver's I'll admit. For these folk it can be like getting blood from a stone with me but one particular individual got me this time. Posing as a cop he proceeded to write me a ticket for my footwear. Before I could even express my bemusement he said it was actually for having such a sexy moustache and he gave me an 'I love San Francisco' sticker. He squeezed five bucks each out of Maddi and myself for a children's hospital, or so we think, so to you sir I say bravo. He didn't get us the next day though.

Like so many other places in the U.S. the restaurant scene is vibrant in San Fran but unfortunately for me the biggest thing on the menu is genuine bay seafood. Music, cycling, skateboarding, hippies, cool kids and weed are also big in this neck of the woods. In fact our seedy hostel reeked of it in the hallways every time you stepped out of the sweltering, non-air-conditioned room. I don't think we've stayed in a poorer standard place the whole trip but in the end it was a half a block walk from the good areas so you pay for the location. Yes, we were a stone's throw from a line of seedy Chinatown strip clubs and all you can hear at 3am are bass tones and yelling outside but I'd rather be there than Tenderloin or Hunter's Point. So even though you're only a street or two away from troublesome areas you can still feel safe enough to enjoy yourself and not feel like you have to look over your shoulder. Come to think of it the same rings true for nearly everywhere throughout this country.

We also paid Sacramento a visit while in the Northern end of California. The state's capitol is about ninty minutes east of San Fran and it was the site of Maddi's beloved Mavericks taking on and beating the home team Kings in overtime. I actually thought Maddi was going to jump and punch the roof when Dirk nearly hit a clutch three in the fourth quarter. It was shades of me watching my New England Patriots. Aside from the basketball arena another area I can recommend in Sac town is old Sacramento. Located on the edge of downtown when you walk through it you kinda feel like you're in the middle of an old Western film, except here all of the buildings actually trade. It's a cosy little area with wide, dusty roads and an old rail car adjacent to a pier walk which is made up of old railway sleepers. They even have their own town drunks that sing out loudly on street corners like they think they have a shred of talent.

Heading down to L.A. on the coast rail has provided some really nice scenery and yet another picture worthy sunset. The trip is long but relaxing and after a week of go, go, go moving it's just what the doctor ordered as we round towards home base. The beach and pier of Santa Monica await before the long flight home.