hello! greetings from san fran (note the pic is actually new york but this stupid thing gives me a choice of like 6 pics for the whole of the u.s) its the closest thing though. Fri 10th March travelled for approx 23 hours before landing at the hostel in san fran. They managed to mess the room up and put 2 males n it so we had to go into a double room- all four of us! no room to swing cat! ha- so picture the scene- a double bed pushed to the wall and two single matresses on floor- against the door to get out and bathroom door wedged wide open (better than closed we thought!) ha. Slept at 9.30 their time- shattered- but woke at three- all four of us! nightmare. Saturday 11th march After free pancakes in hostel we headed off to alcatraz, through the china town and italien district to the pier area. Tour was really amazing- we had glorious sunshine so really couldnt have been better viewing weather! pics soon to come. Then walked through pier area where there were an abundance of american restaurants including hard rock etc. there was a seafood market too with wierd and wonderful sites including the san fran famous clam chowder which was like a broth inside a sour dough ball! looked amazing! Trotted on to the famous lombard street...well when i say trotted i actually mean hiked as the streets are like vertical mountains! the queue at the foot of the hill to get on the street car was massive so we thought- lets just walk it! think i shed a few punds doing that trek! Was the windiest street i have ever seen! Then headed back to italien district for a lovely late lunch- amazing fresh pasta at delucci's. yum, the sun was beating down while we ate- in the open window. perfect first meal! Home for a mamouth nap. few drinks on evening then bed! Sunday 12th March Pancakes strike two, then off we went to union square (just two blocks from hostel) then took BART (train thing) to the golden gate ferry terminal- where we presumed the golden gate bridge was...on arrival we discoved there is a "fake golden gate bridge" and in fact the real one was on the opposite side of san fran! We laughed bucket loads then headed back into the centre- no wasted time though as it was the financial district- huge amazing buildings just like new york! took street car too- which was great fun. Went to a typically american diner- red plastic booths and a cadillac inside too! wow! milkshakes to die for! On to the famous hippie area Haight street- had an absolute amazing time there- wierd to say the least! ha! such nice cothes shops- all vintage like stuff- i had to purchase something so got a jumper (which maz thinks is utterly foul!) for only 7 pounds! bargain. After this, back to hostel then out for our last meal in san fran- Stinking Rose. Unbelievable. Garlic restaurant. We ABSOLUTELY STANK on departure! HA! our starter was actually approx 80 baked cloves! that was it! ha! Went to a all american "saloon" where a band were playing- the girl on the sax got up on to the gally like bar and absolutely rocked the place- so cool! ha To bed- up at 5.45 to get to HAWAII! yay. Update soon! xxx