I had a totally selfish me day today. The clocks went back an hour so I ended up being up even earlier (?!?). What's the betting when I'm back at work next week I won't want to be getting up so early? I just figure it's such a waste to be somewhere new and sleep through it. Anyway I'm rambling. I wanted to do my own thing today and have a bit of me time. After breakfast I thought I'd get the use out of my Metro pass (and be lazy), and bus it down to near Union S...

Was up bright and breezy again. My body clock is so screwed up. This morning we jumped in a cab down to Pier 33, for our trip to Alcatraz - the home of some of America's most notorious criminals. Our cab driver was awesome and had a real passion for her city. Alcatraz was great, seeing the conditions they lived in and the extremes they went to, to escape, were really interesting. After that, we got the boat back to the city and went to Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. ...

We left the lovely Bass Lake this morning and headed west for the city I'd been dying to get to - San Francisco. Everybody that has been here had told me how amazing it was, and to be honest when I first got here I didn't get it. But now I kinda do. We went down to Fisherman's Wharf and I had fish and chips - reminded me of home. It was also raining - again just like home. The aura of the bay felt really homely. Reminded me of Portsmouth in a bizarre way. We go...