DIY pancakes awaited us downstairs in the hostel kitchen after a surprisingly good night's sleep. It took us a few goes to realise that our English style pancakes just wouldn't work with the thick American mix, but we got there eventually! We then set out and walked up from near Union Square where we are staying, up to fisherman's wharf. On the way we spotted some amazing street art - my favourite being what looked like books with blank pages hanging off telephone wires, when we got closer we could see the words which had 'fallen out' were scattered on the pavement. At Fisherman's Wharf we bought our ticket for Alcatraz the next day and headed over to Pier 39. This was very touristy but had some great views across the bay, the bridges and of Alcatraz. The best part of Pier 39 was definitely the sealions!! I could have watched them fighting over their sunbathing spots and playing in the water for hours! Once we dragged ourselves away (and established that Donna does NOT like taffy) we continued up round the piers and found an arcade full of antique and vintage arcade games - including the Zoltar from the film Big! We headed for dinner, and picked a spot with views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the wharf as the sun began to set (we'll just ignore the fact it was an Applebee's!!). Our waiter was a black guy who claimed to be from Scotland, ("there's not many of us there"), but I have my suspiscions about that accent!!

We then took a walk to find the 'crookedest street', which surprise surprise was up a massively steep hill!! Some graffitti on the floor (which is all you could look at thanks to the gradient) summed it up nicely with 'f*** this hill'. We reached the top though, and yes it was a very crooked street indeed! Making our way back to the hostel we apparently took the hilliest route possible, up (and up, and up) Nob Hill nonethless. This hill did not offer the reward we were expecting (of being by the hostel, get your minds out of the gutter!!), but instead dropped us straight into what we dubbed Hobo-ville (later we found out this was called Tenderloin, something you would not want upon leaving this area). We were lost, but walked with a purpose like we knew what we were doing until it felt safe enough to get out the map. Leaving in East London you pick up a few tricks of the 'I shouldn't be here' trade.