Hello San Francisco!!! How I've missed you and how excited I was to return here! Hoped Kenny loved it as much as I did... That's a yes.

Got ourselves off to a good start by getting free fancy coffees in Starbucks at the airport :) Hopped off the plane and onto a shuttle straight to the hostel. The Green Tortoise is exactly how I remembered it; good atmosphere, ok rooms, tiny bathrooms but with free breakfast daily, activities every evening and free dinner three times a week. (Which was actually really nice and healthy too.) Spent the first day just chilling in the hostel, meeting a few other hostellers, playing cards and drinking wine. Cheap and really good, as it's produced just north of San Fran in the Napa and Sonoma Valley.

Maybe shouldn't have drank so much last night with the imminent boat trip to Alcatraz today, ooo well. Get up early enough and take the long way round to get to the pier. We needed a sat nav, so done some window shopping and the cheapest was over $100. So I put up a note in the hostel; if anyone selling a sat nav, I'd be interested in buying one. So walk the whole way along the pier, watching the beautiful Bay of San Fran, seeing the fishermen, the many boats and bridges, the preparation for the America's Cup (one of the oldest sailboat races in history) and of course the seagulls. At the Alcatraz port, the next available cruise was a week away and when we tried to book the evening cruise 2 and a half week in advance, it was booked up for the next month and more.

So make our way to Alcatraz Island National Park, with beautiful views over the bay, the Golden Gate Bridge and angel island, and it's absolutely freezing; thanks for the heads up on the hoody Cinda. Spent about 3 hours there and it was quite interesting. Did the cellblock audio tour, seen the courtyard, where the staff lived and just had a general dander around. The staff told us all about the famous escape attempts, which were myths and which were truth, but I think it would have been more relevant had we watched the film 'the rock.'

When we got back, we went for a dander around the rest of the pier. First stop was pier 39, to see the seals. It's hilarious that those smelly things are so famous. Then ended up at the famous Fishermans Wharf. We really enjoyed that!! They had some sorta car show on, low-riders, who bounced the cars up and down. It was the strangest thing, but very entertaining. We finished the evening with some Clam chowder out of a sourdough bread bowl; it was amazing!! Kenny loved it too. So living by the motto,

"You can walk anywhere... If you have the time."

And on this trip we weren't in any rush. So away we go trekking up those REALLY steep streets, crazy!! The cars had to park at 90 degrees to the street and they couldn't park facing up or down, risking the car rolling away. But we made it, with a few breaks along the way and were treated by a beautiful view of San Francisco. And of course, once you've got to the top, you've got to go back down. Let's just saw I'm glad I won't be driving around this place. Quieter evening tonight, but just what was needed after a busy day :)

The next day we headed to the Golden Gate Bridge. Took the bus, knew we had to transfer to another bus at some point, see some German tourists and decide to follow them when they get off, of course it's the wrong stop, but always makes for a good adventure. Eventually get to the bridge and it's a bit foggy, but isn't every picture of the bridge emerging from fog?? Some nice pictures, then make our way across to the other side. Trying to avoid other walkers and cyclists certainly made us concentrate on where we were going, but had great views over the bay. On the other side, we walked upto the Marin headlands; crossed a very dodgey tunnel under the road, but were greeted with amazing views. If anyone does the golden gate, def take this extra 15 minute walk. Made it back to the hotel in one piece and got some good news; someone had a sat nav for sale. Got it for $30, that's nothing!! Woo hoo, saved ourselves $70 if hada bought it in the shop. To celebrate, we had another big bottle of gorgeous California wine :p, to accompany our free furry dinner from the hostel, thank you Green Tortoise.

Today we visited the crooked street in the world. I'd seen pictures if this on the internet, but seeing it up close, I'd never be able to drive it. Not a good enough driver, admittedly. On the way here, we'd passed through Little France and Little Italy; it was great to see the contrast between the two and compare it to the crazy Chinatown we were staying close to. Having noticed the cable car drive passed, it reminded me that we should have a go. We didn't really have any intended direction, so we just hopped on the closest one, the Powell line that started from Fishermans wharf. Unfortunately being a Saturday, every tourist wanted a go on the famous cars, so we had to wait about an hour before we could get on. But worth it to see Kennys wee smiling face hanging off the side. Then we jumped off at the cable car museum to learn how they worked, and why they've kept the tradition alive when so many other transport methods failed. They are actually controlled by cable under the ground, rotating from giant cogs in the museum.

So deciding we hadn't yet done enough sightseeing for the day, we headed to Golden Gate Park. Apparently bigger than Stanley Park, and if it was anywhere near as good, it would be fun. So got off the bus, headed straight for the food stand (we were starving!) then walked around for about half an hour, then decided we were too tired. See did see a rise garden, an abundance of crazy exercisers, a party in the park and a hawk, so we def had enough entertainment for one day.

Spent the morning getting packed up, so we didn't have to worry about it tomorrow in our rush to the airport. Tried to pack all the clothes we'd need for the three night trip down highway 1 so we wouldn't need to dig into our big bags. Had a great wee Skype with mum and dad, really miss them and the doggies. Eventually ready to leave and we don't have a clue where we are going. Look at the map, and decide we'll go to the Old Mint, that might be interesting. But we get there and it looks kinda run down, that's because it's been closed for 10 years, hence the old. So had a wee browse around the shops, I can't help it even if I don't have the money to buy. Done shopping, so we head back down to Fisherman's wharf. On the way, we stopped for a ice-cream in a fancy chocolate shop that giving out free chocolate! Don't mind if I do. We go for a walk in around the Anericas cup ground again, and I say to Kenny,

"Too many people are eating ice-cream, it must be free."

So off I go to the Ben and Jerry's van, and true enough, FREE ICE-CREAM!!! I love San Fran even more than I already did!! To end the evening, we had another one of those gorgeous chowder bowls, and watched some street entertainment. Also had a walk around an old dashed arcade where they had games from the early 20tg century onwards. Lots if them wooden boxes and lots of tarot readers.

My opinion of San Fran still remains the same; my fav American city so far, and Kenny loves it too. Glad I got a few more days to explore this time, but it'll always bring back memories if the first time I visited with Chloe on our greyhound trip after camp :)