San Francisco 8th-12th May 2010

I'm filling in San Francisco before doing the Intrepid Trip as I'm way behind and this will be quicker to update. Finished the 8 day Intrepid Trip by pulling into San Francisco with our tour guide who gave us the quick tour of the city and dropped us off at certain spots to take pictures. These included Fishermans Wharf, Lombard, Golden Gate Bridge, the old Victorian Houses that are always used in films and a great viewpoint. I promised myself I would make a valid effort to try and visit 3 of these places thoroughly. Anyway once the tour had finished, I went with a girl from my tour and went to the hostel where we would both be staying and it was really nice to find out we were part of the same dorm. It was about 6.30 once we arrived there and I was exhausted so I didn't do anything for the rest of the night except have an early night. So the next day, got up early and decided to go explore. The hostel was in an area known as Fort Mason so had a quick walk around before heading down to the bayside and walking towards Fishermans Wharf. I decided to walk up and down some streets following the streetcar. Talk about exercise, what you see is what you get, lots of hills. Walking up the street I was surprised to find the Norweigan Church. I went in to say hello, they were friendly enough but nowhere as nice as the people back in London. Continued to walk up to Lombard and had another look before turning round and walking down to Fishermans Wharf. Did the usual Touristy stuff, 2 museums along the way, looking in Souvenir shops, eating and then headed towards the seals again and then took a look at Pier 39 shops. That was pretty much it for that day. The next day the weather was awful, it was lashing it down with rain so I was pretty limited that day. Decided to take a bus to Downtown, and it took us through Chinatown where I was going to get off but by this point it was pouring down and I was already soaked!! Got into Union and took shelter by walking and browsing all the different shops, only purchasing 2 thin long sleeve tees. I also took a walk through the financial district and by this point so soaked I headed back to Union and then took a cable car down to the Wharf. That was pretty cool but was sitting outside and at that point I was too cold to do anything else. My advice is, go to San Fransisco take a rain jacket.

The next day was perfect, the sun was out so went down to the Wharf and hired a bike to cycle across the Golden Gate Bridge. This was one thing I had wanted to do so was really happy I got to do it. Cycled down the wharf and round Mason Bay and even made it up the big hill by my hostel without having to get off and push. It was an amazing cycle up to the bridge, going through parks and along the bay and the closer you get to the bridge it's fantastic. I stopped and asked some tourists to take a picture of me as proof I done it and then started to cycle over, dodging pedestrians and stopping to take pictures along the way. Once over, headed into the beautiful village of Sausilito, parked up the bike, had a look around the shops for an hour before taking a ferry back to the wharf. That really was the highlight for me on this trip. I went back to the hostel, got ready and went out for the night. Stopped in a bar for one drink and then went for something to eat party animal that I am. The next day was my last in San Fransisco, so again I took a cable car into Union and posted off some goodies for dad so I wouldn't have to carry them with me before going to to look at some of the museums in the area and then indulging myself in a needed manicure. My nails were splitting and peeling so what else was I going to do? Took cable car one last time down to the Wharf, collected my stuff from the hostel, walked down complete with luggage, stopped at Boudin for the last time for some food and a wine before catching the bus to the train station. There I waited to start my epic 16 hour journey and was delayed by an hour. Typical!! It came and it was bye bye California. Thanks for a great 3 weeks!!!